So, I Got A Job…

Hey pals,

So I have a different kind of blog post for you today. A life update, I suppose. So, you may remember a while back I wrote a blog post about how I don’t think I’ll ever work, and I still stand to that. I specifically don’t believe I could work full-time or in a toxic environment. I’ve worked in customer service full-time with people shouting and swearing at me down the phone and a lot of people in my office were awful to me and that was what really affected me.

However, I have been job-hunting for part-time roles. I’ve wanted to go into being a librarian but unfortunately there aren’t many of those around that are accessible to me. I’ve also been looking at other jobs too and been to a few interviews.

The job I got an offer for is three days a week and is local with parking. I love in the middle of nowhere with no public transport so a car park is actually really important. I’ve gone for two other jobs similar and had interviews for those too, and they were quite the disaster. (In time I’ll either write up a blog post or make a YT video on these interviews because they were actually kind of astonishing.) The one I got an offer for though? The interview was really in-depth and was in three parts. The first person I met I believe was in an admin/managerial role, he was really nice and actually read my CV and actively asked me questions based on my CV – this does not happen ever, no one reads your CV anymore – then I had a mini-interview with the lady who is currently in the job I’m going for (and she still will be, I think they have a selection of part-time people for this). She was really welcoming, laughed at my jokes and joked back, took me round and introduced me to other people and staff and she also had a quick look at my CV and asked me about my experiences. I really felt listened to, which is so rare! THEN (this is the best bit, honestly) I was interviewed by one of the residents! This makes so much sense, but I don’t think anywhere would do this. It certainly didn’t happen at either of my other interviews for a similar role!

Basically, the staff seemed so nice and I was told about how diverse it is and that the staff do genuinely get along and support each other. I felt really welcomed. I turned up a bit nervous and kind of dreading it because of the previous experiences I’d had, but they showed me they cared about the details. Detail is so important to me. I hate a group of people being given one thing because no one can be bothered to make their service truly personal. The staff that interviewed me showed me this and they showed the same care for me! They cared about what I would bring that others couldn’t but they also care to give support. They’re even giving me three trial shifts so I CAN DECIDE if I think this job is for me, and they will pay for all these shifts regardless of if I end up taking the job or not. No work-place does this.

So, I’m actually excited about this. I did disclose my disability and explained in the form that depending on the activity will depend on my personal abilities and they haven’t mentioned it. No weird or invasive questions or doubting my ability to do the job overall. Just offered me the job. This will give me some structure to my weeks, some money to put in my pocket, and new skills and experiences to write or talk about! Obviously, respecting privacy!

Let me know about your experiences with job interviews! Or tell me about a job/project that you’re really excited about right now!

See you next week !

~ Artie