*RANT* Whatever happened to courtesy

[medusa 16]

I was lucky enough when I was in the job market that most of the employers who I applied to paid for my expenses when attending for interview (at their head offices usually, which involved 4 hours on a train often) and actually let me know when I was unsuccessful in writing. In a couple of months of unemployment I filled a notebook with adverts for jobs for which I had applied and got a folder of over 100 rejection letters, all of which proved to the bods at the job centre that I had been applying for work.

 

I find the lack of respect to applicants when employers just don't let them know that they've been rejected both unfair and discourteous- there's no need for it and all it would take to let all of the unsuccessful applicants know that they weren't in the running would be a simple mail shot letter to everyone on their applicant database. A grand total of about 50p per applicant (if you include paper and envelope cost) isn't really too much to ask, is it?

[bigbear 10]

since leaving the army

 

if your papers are all in order, why don't you perhaps talk to a few larger reputable security companies to see if they will put you through a SIA course, and you get "bonded"with them for a while.

 

i'm not just talking about door supervision for pubs/clubs, but also along the lines of security for retail shops, being an events warden etc etc.

 

i know of a few firms that invest in people by getting them their SIA certification. a look at gumtree or similar will bring up some contacts you can talk to further without much cost through email?

 

this could perhaps be a line where you can investigate?

[Wayneos 10]

f your papers are all in order, why don't you perhaps talk to a few larger reputable security companies to see if they will put you through a SIA course, and you get "bonded"with them for a while.

 

I've tried the security trade recently but the hours are mad, great for a single man but I was asked to work 12 hrs a day, 7 days a week, the pay was excellent but I have a family so I would never see them and that would just make things ten times worse, I am actually getting somewhere right now, they all seem to be calling at the same, typical really...you hear from no one for weeks and then ten call on the same day....

[Natane 10]

Well I have to say, it is a rarity for someone to be so polite and even nice on this forum, THANK YOU maggi.

 

I would love to set up on my own, it is a dream I have had since leaving the army but nothing has ever emerged, and as for funding it, well it's safe to say I don't think that will ever happen, you see I'm not much of a risk taker, so to put my money into something that has a chance of failing just isn't an option, there are things such as the princes trust but from what I am led to believe, that is set up for people less privileged than myself, as in only certain areas such as the manor and pitsmoor.

 

I have to kneel at the mercy of these ignorant, self centered sods for the foreseeable future I'm afraid...

 

 

Princes Trust funding is for people under 31 years of age and is mostly in the form of low interest loans (about 3%) sometimes with a low repayment to start with. Less rarely, they offer a start up grant but its not very much in relation to what you will actually need.

 

The funding available to people living in deprived wards is called NES (for burngreave, pitsmoor, sharrow, etc etc) and is aimed at disadvantaged people i.e. unemployed, disabled, single parents, etc. It offers eligible people upto £1500 towards start up costs.

 

Also, if you have been unemployed over 6 months you could be eligible for New Deal for Self Employment, whereby you can 'test trade' for upto 6 months and still receive your benefits plus a little extra, without any penalty or obligation if it doesnt work out.

 

You can be actually be on all 3 schemes at once if eligible for them, or maybe just 2 of them. So you are not limited to applying for just the one scheme if you fit the criteria for all 3.

 

 

visit http://www.senta.co.uk for more information on all the schemes above or phone 0114 281 4621. They offer free advice and training for anyone from novice upwards.

 

Good luck.

[Shaibin05 10]

Hi there,

 

Apply for a job as Clinical Support Worker in the NHS mate. It may or may not be the right role for you but rest assured that you will definitely receive a decent feedback at every stage. The contact number for the same is 01142713253. Try it mate & I am sure it will help.

 

Leave a message & your address if you land on the answer phone & you will definitely receive a letter inviting you to an information session on 28 September at the Northern General Hospital.

 

Regards

[LesleyB 10]

Ricon

 

I support other's comments about your written communication skills. You do appear to have good skills in that department at least and a very positive attitude to work. With the cost of education being so prohibitive these days, experience and attitude are beginning to count as much as any formal qualification. You really do deserve a good job.

 

I also agree about the lack of common courtesy in business operations these days. Since the Thatcher years drove so many people onto the dole queues, companies have used the excuse that they couldn't afford to write and send the rejection letters to the hundreds of people who applied for the work. It's not just the cost of the letter, envelope and the stamp but also the paying of a salary for someone to create the mail merge onto the standard letter and then put it in the envelope and get it out in the post. With the Thatcher way companies just decided they didn't need to do this anymore.

 

Here's my rant in a similar vein.

<rant>

This inconsiderate behaviour does not limit itself to job applications. As a customer of some organisations you can expect similar treatment.

 

This month I reclaimed some fees I had paid in advance to do something I now won't be able to do because I am moving. By sheer coinicidence the organisation sent out a cheque for a lesser amount with no letter of explanation or even so much as a compliments slip with a note on it. I'm moving and was in the process, the day I received that cheque, of temporarily rehoming my cat with my Mum 200 miles away - a fairly stressful event.

 

I rang the organisation only to be asked to send in an email. This took up my time. The only information I had to go on was that they had sent 30% of the fees back and I could only presume they would be retaining the remaining 70% and sending two more parts of 30% out on later dates and retaining 10% for themselves.

 

Instead of getting away as early as possible that day, I finally got away a couple of hours late with a cat that had been kept in all morning and was meowing her head off about it all the time, and me feeling very stressed with a 200 mile drive ahead of me.

 

These fees I paid presumably contribute overall to the salaries and continued work expectations of the people who sent me that cheque and, in modern parlance, I think I would be termed a customer or client. I rang the organisation on my return to discover the rest of the refund was in the process of being sent out.

 

That organisation caused me a lot of stress and distress by their actions and lack of consideration. No note, not a word of explanation, until I was able to contact the one person who knew what was happening. It cost me time and money to find out what was happening. I strongly resent that when a simple letter or note would have prevented that whole experience.

 

This is how customers are treated by some organisations and I think it simply encourages the same lack of civility in youngsters today. As youngsters and young adults we all learn from and are influenced by those around us including the organisations we encounter. If they see an organisation behaving in this manner then why should they not behave similarly? If they work for an organisation that behaves this way then they will learn these behaviours too. They will simply fail to learn how to be civilised especially when dealing with people in any environment.

 

My view on it is that lack of civility implies a lack of civilization which therefore implies savage behaviours.

</rant>

 

Good luck with your hunt for work. I am sure you will find some.

 

Regards

 

L.