So the ball finally hit the back of the net yesterday after eight successive weeks of build-up play. As the old football cliché goes, it was a strike well worthy of winning any football match and as you can imagine, the celebrations were wild! It was all proper shirt-over-the-head, badge-kissing, air-punching stuff and if I was actually on the pitch, I think I’d have been booked for diving into the crowd! But all that celebration came after a sustained period of relative calm…
Regular readers will already be aware of the good news, so I fear that the most dramatic day of “Life After The Public Sector” so far, means that today’s introduction probably offers the least drama yet! ...You’ll already know that there’s a happy ending to this edition, so rest assured that you can sit back and relax for the next few minutes!
It might seem surprising to hear that my initial reaction wasn’t entirely one of unbridled joy and giddy ecstasy (but believe me …that did come a little bit later!). Infact, the overriding feeling was one of HUGE relief! Quite simply, it was brilliant to know that I now had a proper, paid-up, full-time, permanent job.
It’s actually quite difficult for me to articulate the deep feelings behind that word of ‘relief’. Emotionally, it was like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. In fact, it would be better to describe it as a weight being lifted from around my neck, as the ‘burden’ of being unemployed had started to drag me down on the bad days.
The word ‘relief’ however, is far easier to explain in financial terms. Luckily, I didn’t have any major financial ties and in anticipation of being made redundant, I’d managed to bank enough cash for a few month’s worth of rainy days. …But since being laid off, I haven’t bought a single item of clothing and worryingly, my wish-list was getting progressively longer!
In terms of future plans, my life had been placed totally on hold, so this news was massive! In that one phone call, I was finally be able to pay-off my holiday and start firming-up plans with friends. Over recent weeks, I’d been invited to a concert, a Sportman’s Dinner and a weekend’s away, but I was reluctant to throw my name into the hat as I was simply unable to make commitment at the time.
When I heard the good news, the first people I told were my girlfriend and my family. As you can imagine, Lindsay was chuffed to bits as she’ll no longer have to put up with me moping about by day, and blogging my troubles away by night! As mentioned above, we’d booked to go to Las Vegas and LA in September, so privately, I think she was really pleased that we could start planning our road-trip around California for real!
Having spoken to my Mum, my Dad, my Granddad and my Auntie Eileen, I was dying to tell the outside world my good news and fire out a few texts! But before bursting my excitement out all over Facebook, I had one more very important phone call to make.
As I mentioned at the beginning of today’s blog, I was a little surprised that I wasn’t quite as giddy as I thought I'd be when the good news came through. I was certainly very happy, but also a little reserved.
The reason for this of course was a certain gentleman at JD Williams and out of loyalty to him, it was only right that he was the next person to know.
After the massive peg-up he'd given me toward a potential future at JD Williams, I feel an enormous debt of gratitude toward RD and will be eternally grateful to him. After all, he’d offered me an opportunity when all other roads around me were leading to nowhere and I’d really started to enjoy my time there.
RD had been fully aware of the my application with the BBC from the off, but I was starting to get used to the idea of working as a copywriter and working in fashion, and I was immensely looking forward to my next assignment. Indeed, as I left my meeting at JD on Monday, it was looking increasingly likely that the proposed new positions of ‘in-house copywriters’ might just be signed-off by the Directors.
As I’d now come to expect, RD was full of kind words in response to my news and reassured me that if he was in my position, he’d be accepting the job too. I explained how grateful I was for everything that had happened so far and that I although I’d accepted the job offer with the BBC, I didn’t want to burn any bridges with JD Williams.
I explained that with his grace, I would continue to complete my first assignment as planned and would still go ahead and attend ‘the Sweeney assignment” on Monday. RD was more than happy to accept that and I was really pleased that I'd still be able to keep my options open for now.
So in many ways, I’m caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. I’ve already had the privilege of a sneak-peak inside a super-cool company, where I’ve been able to work creatively on a task that I’m actually quite good at doing. The people have been great, the atmosphere is unique and the feedback I’d received thus far had been really positive.
On the other hand, I have been offered a fantastic job with a worldwide-recognised organisation, in a sector that has forever been one of my passions. I’ll not only be working ‘in the media’, but also in the world of broadcasting and as fluffy as it sounds, that really is a dream come true for me. The BBC: As British an institute as the Queen herself and an establishment where I have a real chance to carve out a proper, long-term career myself.
At this time, there’s no firm offer on the table from JD Williams, so in real terms, there's no dilemma. With the BBC though, the meat and bones of this job offer is that after five years of job-hopping, I’ve finally secured a PERMANENT contract. Who knows what will happen in the next chapter of my career, but with a permanent contract in the bag, the BBC offers the kind of opportunities that none of my previous jobs have.
Being an employee of the BBC allows one the chance to picture a 65 year old version of oneself saying something along the lines of “By heck …I’ve been working for the BBC for last 35 years …”!
After letting RD know the news, I could finally proclaim my joy to the rest of the world …and it was a massively heart-warming response from my friends! 77 ‘Comments’ and 40 ‘Likes’ later, I was buzzing from a natural high and was unable to concentrate at all on finishing my JD Williams assignment.
The assignment became even more difficult to finish yesterday when I got another phone call from the BBC later that day. It was the HR Team calling to confirm my references …
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| The inner sanctum at New Broadcasting House |
…and let me know my start-date! The gentleman explained that pending the prompt and satisfactory receipt of my two references, I would be required to start on Monday. …THIS Monday!
So, with my first day at the BBC now highly likely to be in just a few days time, it looks as though my search for work is officially over. If for whatever reason the references don’t make it in time to start on Monday, I will of course travel to Manchester on Monday anyway, to continue building bridges with JD Williams.
But it’s great to say that my days of being unemployed are finally done and dusted …and there’s much to celebrate!
For starters, (I’m hoping) that I’ll never, ever, ever have to visit the job centre, ever again! For the record, I’ve received five weeks worth of Job Seekers Allowance, so I don’t feel I’ve been too much of a drain on the system, but even so, I’d prefer not to claim a penny ever again.
I finally got round to completing and submitting my assignment today, which took me almost six hours! It’s not looking like I’ll be able to make it to JD on Monday now, but I’ll put in a phone call to confirm my position over the next few days. Having completed my assignment late this afternoon, I set about tying up a few loose ends…
One thing I found immensely satisfying was clearing out my inbox! It was a case of multiple ‘delete’ on all the applications I’d submitted and a bunch of job-related crap I’d received. Dozens upon dozens of sent CV’s and applications were wiped out, whilst their faceless responses informing me that “a member of our recruitment team will be in touch in due course” were also condemned to the trash can. I also logged into all those useless jobsearch websites to amend my account settings and to hit those UNSUBSCRIBE links!
During my moments of desperation, I signed up for e-mail alerts for everybody from Virgin to the big Supermarkets and companies from as far and wide as London to Abu Dhabi. I even signed up for ‘StarNow’ - an online agency that casts regular people like me as TV extras! You’ll be pleased to know I also hit the UNSUBSCRIBE button on that too, so I won’t be popping up in your living room on a television screen anytime soon!
But what of the future, and what of this blog…
Now I’ve got myself a job, does this mark the inevitable end of my blogging days?
…Of course not!!
There will always be a life after “Life After The Public Sector”. But very soon, this blog will reach its natural end. Since the blog began, it’s been wonderful to share my experiences with friends and in exchange, I’ve received some brilliant advice, some much needed help and a huge amount of much appreciated encouragement.
All those Facebook ‘Comments’ and ‘Likes’ I spoke of earlier testify the strong friendship foundations that I’ve been able to build upon during this time. The feedback I’ve received on this blog has also been unbelievably humbling and the kind words that I've received will never be forgot. As a result of this, there’ll be a very special and final between now and the end of the week, dedicated to everyone that has taken the time to support me.
I’ll continue to be a lead role of my own story, that may even have been scripted for me by the stars a long time ago. But I’m not entirely sure if I’ll be able to do it without you guys now!
Over the coming weeks, I’ve still got some huge decisions to make. Straight from the top of my head, I wonder about the degree course I've applied for. And then I'll need to start figuring out my transport conundrum.
Even if I had the hugest salary in the world, could I possibly justify spending £250 a month on my car, plus £60 in insurance, plus £60 in fuel ….plus £140 on train fares!!!
Do I cash-in and get ‘a little run around’, or do I wait until the BBC moves to MediaCity in May? (A little research earlier showed that the nearest train station to MediaCity is actually the MUFC station, but trains don’t run regularly here.) So a ‘train journey’ to my future place of work will actually involve a car ride to the train station, a train-ride to Salford Crescent and a further tram-ride or huge walk to MediaCity.
But that’s another dilemma, for another blog, on another day.
Until next time, many blessings,
Jason
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