The grumpy thread

[vulgalour]

More news on the house front and it turns out my worst fears about what's been holding it all up are true.  I'm not wanting to go into massive personal details about it here, merely vent my frustration.  Estimated 1-5 years to find a suitable property and once found, it won't actually be home, it'll be somewhere I live.  That's not ideal, not even close to ideal.

 

In looking more at the rental market it's seriously depressing.  A single person trying to rent somewhere suitably sized for working from home and with a safe parking space for one car is difficult enough, finding that in a meagre budget is pretty much impossible outside of really incredibly shitty areas.  The ramshackle state of properties that landlords are wanting in excess of £600 pcm for is mind boggling.  Anybody would think the private rental market and the money charged wasn't regulated and people were just out to get as much money as they could for as little investment as possible...

 

Feeling pretty grumpy about the whole thing really.  Even house-sharing with friends isn't ideal because of the cost and the fact that it would be temporary, leaving them in the lurch when I finally do move on.  It just feels like a different sort of limbo now.  I'll do what I always do: sink into work and shut it all out.

 

On the subject of work, going into a 'normal job' sees me no better off financially and all of my experience as a self-employed person - accounting, planning work schedules, customer facing, retail, promotion, advertisement creation, project management, customer expectation management, hourly rates, meeting deadlines, use of various online services and computer programes - is discounted if I attempt to go into regular employment because for some bizarre reason, a self-employed person seeking a change of career is someone that doesn't know what they're doing and can't be trusted.  That in turn means the WORST sorts of jobs because apparently, none of my skills are transferable (bollocks to that) and I'll need training in how to push buttons and take abuse over the headset all day in whatever shitty call centre I'd end up in.  Maybe I'd end up in a warehouse and treated like dirt there on a zero hour contract instead.

 

*90s teenage nihilism increases*

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Sorry to hear that, mate.  Housing and property are a very sore subject for many and having been a recent renter, I completely agree with your assessment of the market.

 

The last place we rented had safe parking for two, was in a rural location and was £700 PCM and well-sized.  We were incredibly lucky.  It was down in Kent and I suspect it's neither available nor in an area you want to live, but I can always pass on the address via PM if it's any help.  The landlord was into cars and motorbikes, too...

[myglaren]

^ That's a very frustrating situation to have to deal with

My youngest daughter pretty much just walked into her house a year ago and now my youngest son has done the same with a house + garage & shed on the other side of this estate - less than a mile from me.

Both single.  Both in steady 'normal' jobs.  Not highly paid though.

[loserone]

Not in the Midlands or the south though.

[vulgalour]

Wouldn't be any point, Grumpius, though I appreciate the offer.  £700 is way beyond my meagre one-person budget and the South is too expensive for me to live on my own.  Midlands is as far south as I can afford to go and it's central enough that the long-distance relationship thing I've been doing for five years now will at least be less of a strain for the two of us.  I just have to accept I'm going to be stuck in the North East for some time to come and make the best of it.

 

It'll sort eventually, life is better now than it could be by quite some margin, Mike is fairly easy to live with for the most part (the same cannot be said of me), it's just the frustration of the situation and being promised such a big thing (a house with my bf that isn't rented!) and then finding that the original deal was actually very different to what was actually on offer.  I can't be too ungrateful, and indeed I'm grateful of the help, it's just the accidental dishonesty attached.  I like people to be honest and straight talking, I don't like to be protected from the truth of a thing.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Understandable.  Best of luck to you.

[Mrcento]

a self-employed person seeking a change of career is someone that doesn't know what they're doing and can't be trusted.  That in turn means the WORST sorts of jobs because apparently, none of my skills are transferable (bollocks to that) and I'll need training in how to push buttons and take abuse over the headset all day in whatever shitty call centre I'd end up in.  Maybe I'd end up in a warehouse and treated like dirt there on a zero hour contract instead.

 

*90s teenage nihilism increases*

 

Agree with the whole post RE property and employment, sorry to hear that,

 

I'm in similar boat on the job side too (hence above post looking for a unit to start my own thing up), i'm technically self employed at the moment but that leads to so many issues when looking to do something else more financially stable.

 

What i have qualifications for, nowhere will touch me because, frankly, i'm more qualified than the guys running the departments and too much of a threat to their own job. (i've been overlooked for even an interview on at least 4 occasions for jobs in digital media that went to boys who don't even own a computer) Other jobs, where i have clear experience and transferable skills won't touch me because of a gap on my CV and managerial experience = Bigshot they fear would come in and want to run the place. Apparently even the most basic of basic transferable skills like van driving (i regularly did it as part of my last job) suddenly isn't applicable to a van driving job, even when the job you have experience in is vastly more difficult than the job you're applying for, because it wasn't directly titled "Van driver".

 

I mean, ffs, i even applied for a job that was basically hygiene control at a local facility and was rejected on application because i didn't have relevant experience in following daily procedures required for cleaning protocols.... which is odd, because my previous job running a fucking animal rescue centre involved doing exactly that on a daily basis, including infection and outbreak control where i'd be fully suited and booted like a forensic coroner working in a nuclear war zone, dismantling and disinfecting areas roof to floor. Setting up quarantine zones, all the protocols required to keep the place open and stopping the spread etc. But apparently that's not good enough.

 

Applied for warehouse work. again "No experience, would need training", despite the fact i've also worked in stock control.

 

But, good news.... i might one day get that van driving job after all.

 

Providing i agree to do the job for free for 3 months trial/training to prove the minimum wage job i already have experience of doing is one i can handle. (newsflash, the job comes up every 3 months, i.e they takes a poor desperate sap on trial and let them go and take another, let them go....free labour).

[dean36014]

Got a room to rent in Coventry Angyl if you fancy a temporary move to the Midlands

[vulgalour]

I feel your pain, Mrcento.  Makes me feel better that I'm not just imagining it all and other folks are going through the same bullshit.  Doesn't fix anything, just makes me feel a bit better.

 

Dean:  offer appreciated, and if I get really stuck, you're on my little back-up list.  Only problem is, I reckon I'd struggle to set up the work space I'd need at yours and we'd only end up rescuing MORE Citroens.  You know it would happen.

[alcyonecorporation]

Providing i agree to do the job for free for 3 months trial/training to prove the minimum wage job i already have experience of doing is one i can handle. (newsflash, the job comes up every 3 months, i.e they takes a poor desperate sap on trial and let them go and take another, let them go....free labour).

How the fuck is that legal?

[alcyonecorporation]

No, seriously, how are they getting people to work gratis for three months?

[Mrcento]

How the fuck is that legal?

 

Can ask the exact same question about many employment things at that end of the jobs market.

 

Everyone is treated as disposable dirt because they assume everyone will take anything, even for free and work their arses off for nothing in the hope of eventually getting paid.

 

Saddest thing of all, the Job centre pushes places like that to get folk off their stats.

 

They still get JSA whilst "on trial". if they refuse to take the trial, they're deemed rejecting a job opportunity and sanctioned.

[vulgalour]

There's all sorts of stuff they get away with.  Sports Direct decided not to pay my tax when I was working for them on an agency contract and I got stung with the bill.  My brother got his tax money back, I never did, and no explanation beyond "you should have known better".  Mind you, they were also getting us to put full price stickers on products that had previously been marked down for sale, and treated their staff like utter shit. Clock in a minute late, get 15 minutes pay docked, but the machines used to clock in weren't reliable nor of sufficient quantity for the staff employed, so someone always got docked pay.  On leaving every day, you had to empty your pockets into a plastic tray for inspection and they did stop checks to pull people into an office for strip searching, just in case you'd stolen anything.  They pulled me into the office and I kicked off, they looked very sheepish and didn't dare suggest they search me.  Not long after, I was ill at work (collapsed on the warehouse floor) and my brother had to drive me home.  They fired him for illegal time off.  They didn't tell me I was fired either until I turned up for work the next day and the agency denied all knowledge that I was employed.

 

It was an absolute shitstorm and totally normal for this end of the work market.  Sports Direct is a shitty, shitty, shitty, shitty, shitty, company.

[Mrcento]

Can ask the exact same question about many employment things at that end of the jobs market.

 

Everyone is treated as disposable dirt because they assume everyone will take anything, even for free and work their arses off for nothing in the hope of eventually getting paid.

 

Saddest thing of all, the Job centre pushes places like that to get folk off their stats.

 

They still get JSA whilst "on trial". if they refuse to take the trial, they're deemed rejecting a job opportunity and sanctioned.

 

Just to further my above post. the whole Job Centre/JSA process is a lot more sinister than folk really realise, they're happy to take government statistics at face value.

 

Having been in that systems and working alongside volunteers in it at the time and hearing their experiences, it's no wonder the suicide and starvation rates are so high.

 

Example above being one- sent to work a full weeks labour for your pittance of JSA in the hope you'll be kept on- gets you off their casebook for a while if nothing else. Employer gets a desperate worker for free, paid for by government. Reject it? Instant sanction. So you can't.

 

"Educational centres".... these are a fucking cracker.... Sent on to be "educated" somewhere else, educated in what? Fuck all. There are no lessons, qualifications or certificates, It involves being interviewed every day then sitting in a room for 4+ hours whilst somebody walks around the room supervising you to make sure you are job searching. Of course it's packaged as "support", it's not.

 

The people at these outsourced, privately run centres are incentivised to get people sanctioned (allegedly £80 if they hit their quota). Their favourite trick is to schedule an interview with you by letter, only for you to show up and find the person conducting the interview is not there and be told "We're very sorry, that's our fault, we will reschedule it, your advisor will send you a letter confirming the date and time, you can go".... 3 days later, they get a letter with their new appointment....2 days ago (they'd rescheduled it for the very next morning, no phone call), Person goes in or phones and is told they have not attended a meeting, have breeched the terms of their JS agreement and have been reported. Job centre immediately sanction. Letter submitted as evidence? It's dated the 19th, your interview was the 20th, you got it on the 22nd? tough titties, in their opinion, you should have been phoning them every day. Sanction stands.

 

I've had to deal with volunteers coming in, in tears terrified they can't pay rent, for food etc because they've been shafted like that, thankfully knew enough about it and where to point them locally for the best advice on where to access hardship payments and the like.

 

Don't get me wrong, there's a good number of folk who likely deserve some of the sanctions, taking the piss, trying to milk money for nothing, but the vast majority are not, they're just stuck in the system that should help them, but can't get out of it because their safety net is doing more to hurt them.

 

I've even seen people sanctioned for not attending reviews when the reason they couldn't go was having a job interview the Job centre sent them to!! Attend interview = Not attend Job Centre when requested (they'll refuse to reschedule for anything) = Sanction. Not attend interview = rejecting a job opportunity = sanction. Rock, meet hard place.

[vulgalour]

It's all very League of Gentlemen these days.

[New POD]

Had the kitchen ceiling repaired at last. Only taken since October.

 

Plasterers made the minimum attempts at clearing up their mess. I've spent since about 4 o'clock clearing plaster dust from the kitchen surfaces & cupboards, hallway, lounge, there's even dusty footprints going up the stairs and in the bog.

 

Bunch of arseholes.

 

Many photos taken and e-mailed to letting agent.

 

Why this couldn't wait 2 weeks for us to move out, they'd have had an empty house and no people to disrupt.

In future. Ring agent. Tell them you are going out for tea because the kitchen isn't clean, and as they have a key you expect it to be spotless on your return.

Don't take this shit.

[New POD]

I have just read some of the posts above and it makes the film I Daniel Blake look positively positive.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

A few years ago, I worked for a private adult education firm.  They had multiple branches and I was assigned to one as a tutor. My job was to run courses and assessment for a group of learners.  I typically had a week with each group and the group size varied from a couple to about 10.

 

The courses themselves were things like employability, customer service, IT skills and were generally pitched at or just below basic GCSE equivalency.  If a learner came in on a Monday, they went through the registration process (all morning) and then filled out a self-assessment for the relevant course.  Three boxes for each category, 20-odd categories.  What they ticked with regards to pre-existing knowledge in that subject area determined the level of funding we would get for that learner.  No pre-existing knowledge meant full funding, a certain threshold meant part funding and over another threshold would be no funding - which, of course, was useless to us.  If a learner had a pre-existing qualification in that subject area at the same level or higher, they weren't eligible for funding, etc.

 

Aside from the poor workplace practises I witnessed (bullying, harassment, threatening physical violence on learners by the centre manager, having things thrown at me by a learner, etc.) there was a major issue with fraud.  The centre manager's salary was partly determined by KPIs - the most important one being how many learners he had come through the centre that had started courses and completed courses.  I once had a learner turn up that declared they had a Microsoft Server Administration certificate from a few years ago (that had expired) and I told him that as a result, I couldn't officially teach him the Level 1 ICT course.  After lunch, the learner came back and the centre manager had persuaded him to 'forget that he had it' and fill out a new form.  If learners were late, they could (and were) sanctioned by the Job Centre.

 

I saw multiple staff forging signatures of learners when the paperwork wasn't quite right.  I saw staff openly encouraging leaners to fill out the pre-course assessment questionnaire incorrectly so the centre would be fully funded for their course, rather than part-funded.  One time we had an external audit due and had to pull all of our paperwork out of files and re-audit everything.  We were expected to work late whilst our boss fucked off home after an extra hour.  One chap stayed all night and when we came back, was still auditing paperwork.  The centre manager made him stay.  Then the centre manager fucked off again in the afternoon and the second in charge sent him home at 3PM.  The guy had worked from 8.30AM until 3PM the following day.  

 

I really am just scratching the surface of the shit that I saw - but in short the place was criminally fraudulent, unsafe and deeply corrupt.  The government contract we had was worth over £10 million.  I'm glad to say that despite all the shit, I never filled anything out fraudulently.  I didn't 'play the game', so I left after a few months.

[beko1987]

Could be worse, I'm starting the process if angling for a pay rise this year, which I've never done before! We need a 3 bed house, which will be £1100 to £1300 a month. Which I can't afford on my current salery!

 

My plan is we get somewhere with a garage so I can set it up as a workshop/film studio and step up the vacuum fixing and youtube stuff to bring in some cash to, oh I don't know, buy things above and beyond bills!

[rainagain]

Agree with the whole post RE property and employment, sorry to hear that,

 

I'm in similar boat on the job side too (hence above post looking for a unit to start my own thing up), i'm technically self employed at the moment but that leads to so many issues when looking to do something else more financially stable.

 

What i have qualifications for, nowhere will touch me because, frankly, i'm more qualified than the guys running the departments and too much of a threat to their own job. (i've been overlooked for even an interview on at least 4 occasions for jobs in digital media that went to boys who don't even own a computer) Other jobs, where i have clear experience and transferable skills won't touch me because of a gap on my CV and managerial experience = Bigshot they fear would come in and want to run the place. Apparently even the most basic of basic transferable skills like van driving (i regularly did it as part of my last job) suddenly isn't applicable to a van driving job, even when the job you have experience in is vastly more difficult than the job you're applying for, because it wasn't directly titled "Van driver".

 

I mean, ffs, i even applied for a job that was basically hygiene control at a local facility and was rejected on application because i didn't have relevant experience in following daily procedures required for cleaning protocols.... which is odd, because my previous job running a fucking animal rescue centre involved doing exactly that on a daily basis, including infection and outbreak control where i'd be fully suited and booted like a forensic coroner working in a nuclear war zone, dismantling and disinfecting areas roof to floor. Setting up quarantine zones, all the protocols required to keep the place open and stopping the spread etc. But apparently that's not good enough.

 

Applied for warehouse work. again "No experience, would need training", despite the fact i've also worked in stock control.

 

But, good news.... i might one day get that van driving job after all.

 

Providing i agree to do the job for free for 3 months trial/training to prove the minimum wage job i already have experience of doing is one i can handle. (newsflash, the job comes up every 3 months, i.e they takes a poor desperate sap on trial and let them go and take another, let them go....free labour).

 

If I were you I would start to tailor your CV to each job you apply for so you don't scare them off, applying to drive a van? Remove the stuff that over qualifies you for this. Regarding the gap why don't you just massage the jobs around it to fill it? Or invent a nice holiday/finding yourself trip you went on, just think of a good holiday you had and stretch this out. Do you have family somewhere else in the UK? Just say you went and stayed with them for X months and did some sort of menial work until the place shut down, e.g. bar work just to experience living somewhere else, the shut down bit stops them asking for references although this is highly unlikely anyway. I'm often on the interviewer side of the fence and we do look at gaps in CVs, as long as there's some reasonable explanation we don't dig further. E.g. don't say you sat around in your pants for six months watching Jeremy Kyle as you have no work ethic. 

 

This bit "i even applied for a job that was basically hygiene control at a local facility and was rejected on application because i didn't have relevant experience in following daily procedures required for cleaning protocols" why did they not know about your experience at the animal centre, was it not on your CV, did you mention it in your covering letter? If we're looking for a XY nut size checker the people who always get a guaranteed interview are those who mention previous experience carrying out the role in their covering letter. E.g. "I am writing to apply for the position as an XY nut size checker as you can see from my enclosed CV I have four years checking nuts and I look forward to bringing this experience to the position. I am a hard worker..."

 

You sound like you have some desirable skills/qualifications, have you tired contacting relevant employment agencies? I got the job I'm in now by approaching agencies with my CV and telling them I was looking for jobs in the central belt of Scotland with a salary of £Y a year, and could they please let me know when something suitable is available. They then just phoned me every time something came up, remember they work on commission so they want to find you a job. Register with as many of them as you can, even if you think their core employment area doesn't includes you, after all it doesn't cost you anything!

 

Have you had you CV checked over by anyone? A lot of the CVs I receive are terrible, four pages of small print waffle describing their live story at every job, when you've got a pile to go through and you're busy they just get skipped. You don't want this to happen to yours.

 

It's hard to get tone across in a post but please read the above in a helpful tone and not criticising tone!

[Mrcento]

It's hard to get tone across in a post but please read the above in a helpful tone and not criticising tone!

 

I read it as helpful, thanks, a lot of good tips/pointers in there.

 

I'm not readily firing off CV's willy nilly on a daily basis, i'm self employed as it stands, mostly doing freelance work to tide me over but the pay is just poor/inconsistent, so i hit that point of wanting more financial security when things aren't going so well and see what's out there that might change it.

 

RE- CV, yes, i have had it looked over professionally and even attended one of those employability courses, the person taking it looked at my CV, interviewed me and basically sat there at the end of it saying "I'm going to level with you.... you shouldn't be here, the CV is good, you came across very well in the interview, just keep doing what you're doing".

 

For things like Van driving, i mention it was part of a previous job and enjoyed that element etc, but seemingly as it was only part of the job, not a daily thing it's deemed irrelevant as i haven't ever been employed as a "van driver" in their eyes.

 

With the glorified cleaning job, i believe it was a different story, i've effectively done the same job in 2 separate places, 1 as a full time, paid employee and one part time voluntary (how i got into doing it to begin with), i believe they basically read it as all voluntary level work so not to professional standard and thus, irrelevant.

 

I find a lot of employers are very off with anyone who has done voluntary or even worked alongside voluntary. When i was at the voluntary i was in the JSA system and applying for anything going, a few seemed to feel that showed a good work ethic and desire to learn/improve etc, but most seemed to think meaningless nonsense and not work relevant (i even had one reply to an application basically saying i wasn't a serious applicant because in their eyes, i probably just fed cats all day!!

 

My CV gap is partly down to self employment (not a gap per se, but seemingly not desirable either), but also party due to health.

 

Agencies i haven't tried so will certainly look into them more, especially given the fact i am starting to look more seriously into a career change/new start.

 

Thanks for the tips!

[sierraman]

Could be worse, I'm starting the process if angling for a pay rise this year, which I've never done before! We need a 3 bed house, which will be £1100 to £1300 a month. Which I can't afford on my current salery!

 

My plan is we get somewhere with a garage so I can set it up as a workshop/film studio and step up the vacuum fixing and youtube stuff to bring in some cash to, oh I don't know, buy things above and beyond bills!

£1300 a month! Fuck me blind. You could buy one up north for £4-500 a month.

[beko1987]

I could, but that would involve an uproot, and I'm in the (hopefully) nice position of being a bit indespensable at work...

 

I've got a plan B that involves Manchester though, but Amy probably wouldn't come with me, but that's a whole dilemma for another day!

 

£1300 is cheap too... I refelted our own shed so we didn't trouble the landlord and have him remember that we haven't had a rent increase in a few years...

[fordperv]

Could be worse, I'm starting the process if angling for a pay rise this year, which I've never done before! We need a 3 bed house, which will be £1100 to £1300 a month. Which I can't afford on my current salery!

 

My plan is we get somewhere with a garage so I can set it up as a workshop/film studio and step up the vacuum fixing and youtube stuff to bring in some cash to, oh I don't know, buy things above and beyond bills!

Holy shit pipes, I am in a rented 3 bed with a drive I can get 4 cars in at a push and its £515pcm if I bought it would be a little cheaper as sierraman says

[beko1987]

Yep, welcome to the South!

 

What I really need is our resident scum landlord to buy a house in Aylesbury or similar and us move in! But he's too busy buying x5's and bloody jags

[beko1987]

And now I've read that I suppose it's equally depressing that it's totally normal for me!

 

Still, mustn't grumble!

[Kiltox]

Holy shit pipes, I am in a rented 3 bed with a drive I can get 4 cars in at a push and its £515pcm if I bought it would be a little cheaper as sierraman says

I’ve just moved out of a £795pcm 2 bed flat with an allocated parking space to buy a £300k 3 bed mid terrace with the same.... it’s grim down south! (I’d be looking for the same kind of rental figures as Beko’s on about)

 

At the other end of the scale I own a £22k 1 bed flat that I rent for £300...... in Ayrshire

[New POD]

Could be worse, I'm starting the process if angling for a pay rise this year, which I've never done before! We need a 3 bed house, which will be £1100 to £1300 a month. Which I can't afford on my current salery!

 

My plan is we get somewhere with a garage so I can set it up as a workshop/film studio and step up the vacuum fixing and youtube stuff to bring in some cash to, oh I don't know, buy things above and beyond bills!

Have you ever heard of decision trees.

 

It's a technique used to assess the potential outcomes of various potential decisions.

 

So at present you have at least 4 options.

 

1. Do nothing.

2. Demand pay rise.

3. Look for new job locally,

4. Look for new job in new location.

 

For each option there are a number of potential outcomes.

 

So. Do nothing.

Outcomes could be

1) Rents go up. Pay does not.

2) landlord issues S20. New place requires more or 3) less rent

4) rents go down, pay goes up.

 

For each outcome there are both financial and personal outcomes.

 

For each outcome there is also another set of decisions to be made. Each with its own set of outcomes.

 

You can estimate the probabity of each outcome and mathematically come up with a likely cost/benefit.

 

These trees can get quite big.

 

What if you look for a new job in a new location. Potential outcomes are find a job, and move. Or find a job and use it to get the pay rise you want, and don't.move.

 

It sounds like a bit of bull shit but it's a good way of talking through all the options and issues with your family.

 

 

As an aside. A nephew and his wife, were living in A shared house on the edge of London, with no way of raising a deposit.

 

They moved in with parents in a northern town, and got jobs.locally on less money. Saved a deposit, bought a 3 bed.terrace in a nice bit of Liverpool and now have started a family.

 

On the other hand my dads cousin, spent all his working life as an accountant in London from 1980, and when he retired his 3 bed semi.bought a farm in Leomister and paid for a decent pension. So it depends how long term you think.

[Kiltox]

Holy fuck. Local agent notorious for rinsing deposits has teamed up with this https://flatfair.co.uk

 

What a massive scam. Pay yet another upfront non refundable admin fee (but it’s not an agent fee, first of the workarounds for the new law coming?) and we will just bill you at the end of your tenancy for any damage rather than holding a deposit

[New POD]

Holy fuck. Local agent notorious for rinsing deposits has teamed up with this https://flatfair.co.uk

 

What a massive scam. Pay yet another upfront non refundable admin fee (but it’s not an agent fee, first of the workarounds for the new law coming?) and we will just bill you at the end of your tenancy for any damage rather than holding a deposit

The alternative is that agents charge landlords for a tenant find and or manage service. And landlord takes out insurance to cover risks. And the landlord spreads out those costs into a monthly rent.

Rent could drop if tenant decides to stay on, as no costs to landlord of finding new tenant.

Always said that we won't put the rent after 1st year of tenant being in, and will review at 24 months and always be below the rent an agency would try to charge. That way 100% occupancy and no stressful churn.