Matt's job log: 10
After losing his NHS job and finishing his freelance TV work, Matt Atkins urgently needs income. Life recycled ‘What am I doing? I can’t BELIEVE this has happened. I swore I wouldn’t go back to office work and I’ve now done nine months of it. I’m walking today mate.’
Last Tuesday started with an email rant to a friend. I was sick and tired of everything. Jaded even. A single week of full-time work had taken its toll and I was ready to go. In fact, now I come to think of it, I’d only been in my new job for two days. The previous week had been one mainly spent phoning my temping agency at regular intervals and worrying. I was only out of work for four days though and by Thursday had a placement arranged in a different department of the hospital. I wasn’t exactly thrilled, but was pleased that my money situation wasn’t going to get any worse. Women onlyThe relief didn’t last very long and fairly soon I would be sending an email asking for a different job. Despite doing practically the same work as previously, my time in the new department has been infuriating. It’s strange. The staff are nice but, and it’s a big but, the office is made up exclusively of women. This really isn’t as fun as it sounds. From my experience, the NHS seems to make it a policy not to employ anyone remotely dateable, which is probably a conspiracy or something. Also, as the only male in the office, I’ve spent quite a lot of time trying to not listen to their girly conversations and an equal amount attempting to scrub the mental imagery it has conjured up from my brain. The major bugbear, however, has been in the way that they work. It’s obvious that they’ve been in the office for some time and seem to have developed some odd habits. Generally I can cope with people’s quirks, and I did put up with a fair amount that defied all logic and common sense on a number of occasions, but after being told I wasn’t using a highlighter pen properly, I’d sort of had it. As luck would have it, when I stormed out of the office to get some fresh air, I bumped into a former colleague, and, even more exciting, my old department wanted me back! I didn’t really need to be asked twice, so after sweet talking the staff at my agency I’d arranged to move back. I’ve got a couple days left in the annoying job and it can’t end soon enough. Pause for thoughtIf I’m being absolutely honest, I’ve done very little in terms of actual job hunting over the past couple of weeks. It’s not that I’ve become apathetic, I just feel that as I’m thinking about a PhD, I should have a chat with someone before I throw myself into sending off anymore job applications and such. I’ve a meeting arranged for the beginning of June so I’m now spending a fair amount of my now sadly reduced free time in the library throwing around ideas for what I actually want to study. I’ve also been concentrating on trying to save some money, not an activity I’m particularly good at, but one which is pretty important at the moment. I’m currently looking for places to live with a couple of friends. I can only imagine that this move will save the sanity of my family. It’s actually been easier living back at home than I imagined, but in recent weeks the arguments have become longer and a little fiercer. Maybe it’s something to do with the heat? Familiar groundDespite the fact that very little has actually happened, it’s been a stressful couple of weeks. I’m not the type of person that can stick out a job they hate, but two days is definitely a new record. I’m looking forward to moving back to the old department as I know the job, and the people. Thankfully I’m working for a different division and have new bosses so hopefully I won’t be covertly ‘released’ this time round. I feel a bit lame for putting the career stuff on hold for the past couple of weeks but I know that what I am getting done is equally important. Sometimes it’s a case of juggling what you have to get done with want you want to. Read Matt's previous job logs:
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