porntrooper
Posts: 2516
Joined: 6/9/2006 From: Sheffield
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I'm not out of work at the moment, but was made redundant in the not so distant past. After 10 years working my arse off at Virgin Media to carve out a great carerer, developing skill sets and pushing myself to be invaluable, the time came when I was made redundant in mid 2009. I was genuinely, genuinely upset by it. I loved working for that place and managed to work in several areas, but when changes were made at the top there was only one option, move to Reading or be made redundant. Personal circumstances at the time meant a move away was near as dammit impossible, so to the Job Centre I went. I don't mind admitting the 6 months I was out of work was one of the most depressing times of my life. I didnt struggle financially as I'd received over 34K in my redundancy package and I had cover on all my outgoings (mortgage,insurance,car etc) but not having anything to do with my time was killer. Personally, I thought the Job Centre was pointless, they simply were not well trained enough to help look for work for someone in my position. Without wanting to sound big headed, I had pushed hard and worked hard at VM to get myself into a really strong position and all the JOb Centre wanted to do was push me into Call Centre jobs. More skilled jobs in my field of expertise seemed to scare the life out of the reps at the Job Centre and they more often than not couldnt offer any advice, and they simply became somewhere for me to claim petrol/rail fare for job interviews. Also, a lot of Job Centre reps seemed genuinely surprised that I was applying for so many jobs and going to so many interviews, as if they expected me to apply for one or two a week at most. It was awful. Thankfully, a number of agencies fared better and after 6 months I finally found a new job, and although I was never happy there, it was enough to see me through until I found my current position. My advice would definately be to claim for all the benefits allowed, check with Job Centres etc on cover for travel expenses to jobs/signing on etc...it all adds up and helps. Sign up for as many agencies as possible, they were sooo much better than the Job Centre at helping me find work. Dont get into a routine of staying in bed all day and keep active..... a colleague of mine made redundant at the time as me didnt start job hunting until 8 months after he was made redundant, utilising his redundancy package and insurance cover to live a life on the sofa. He's regretting it now as he had to take major steps back in his career. If youve been lucky enough to receive a redundancy pay out, take care of it, dont squander it on lifes luxuries, leave that till youre back in work. Best of luck to all that are out of work, facing redundancy etc, I know your pain, but opportunities are out there!
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"I've got an idea for a special infiltration technique. It involves draining a man of his blood and replacing it with Tizer."
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