Matt's job log: 8
Matt Atkins has been working part time in the NHS while he considers his future. Fired It’s been an interesting couple of weeks. Somewhat confusing and slightly worrying. A little bit up and a little bit down, but interesting nonetheless. And one day in particular has set the scene for all the excitement.
I’d arrived at work in a bad mood. It was my birthday, my 25th to be exact, which is bad enough, but being a forgetful fool I’d failed to book the day off. The thought of phoning in sick had more than crossed my mind but I’m really not that sly, and besides, I could do earning money rather than drinking it away in celebration. So on what seemed like the coldest day of the year, I made the journey to the office knowing full well that, as it was Wednesday, I would be ridiculously busy. It was shaping up to be a wonderful day. My first half hour wasn’t so bad. I’d been bought a cake by a colleague and was shovelling hunks of carroty, cinnamon goodness down my throat. Hardly the most of nutritious of breakfasts but hey! The phone was quiet, I had close to zero emails and it was sunny outside. Things may not be so bad thought I. Then it happened: ‘Matt we’ve got a new girl starting next week,’ said my boss. ‘Cool.’ thought I. ‘Is she pretty?’ ‘Not really my place to say is it!’ I’d annoyed her. ‘Anyway I was wondering if you could stick around to show her the ropes?’ ‘Yeah that’s fine,’ I replied. ‘Hang about...stick around? What are you trying to say?’ ‘Errr…has nobody told you yet. Head Office said they’d tell you.’ While my boss turned a very bright shade of red, it slowly dawned on me that I’d been ‘let go’. Oh the joys of temping. I wasn’t being fired, I was being replaced, I was only ever a stop gap measure and now I’d served my purpose. Somehow I’d rather be sacked. Now I wouldn’t get the chance to go down in an argumentative blaze of glory. Another door opensIt’s not a major problem. I can go back to the agency and find new work. I really need something full time anyway, what with the money worries and all. It’s just that I felt like I’d just got settled and the people in the office were a good bunch, a first for me since I’d started working in the NHS. But I didn’t get too upset; I had bigger fish to fry. Coincidentally, on the very day I turned 25 and lost my job, I also had an interview arranged. Well…I wasn’t sure if it was going to be a full-on interview affair or just a ‘pop in and we’ll try to figure you out’ type thing. I was hoping for the latter. Like many of my stories, this one had begun in a pub. Having been strong-armed into going along to a meet-up of Birmingham bloggers by a friend (hi Dan!), I found myself talking to a bloke who worked for a TV production company. Despite talking abject rubbish for the latter part of the evening, a couple of days later I received a message saying he might have some work me. It’s freelance and very short-term, but work nonetheless. Now, for the next couple of weeks and on a part-time basis, I’m working on an online mediary type experiment. While I write this I’m yet to start the job but I’m very, very excited. I’ll be doing some online research which sounds fun, the pay will cover a few of my debts and the work I’ll be doing feeds into some of my ideas for a possible PhD. The only (very small) problem: the job comes at a time when I’m finishing off a couple of articles, so the next two weeks are going to be pretty busy. Mind you, as I’ve been replaced, I might pass off some of my work to the new girl while I work away at my own things. So there you go. A rollercoaster of a day. While it wasn’t an entire barrel of laughs it definitely ended more positively than it began. I’m putting the finishing touches to this post just before I leave the house to start the new job. I’m a bit nervous about being the new boy. Wish me luck. Read Matt's previous job logs:
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