Comments on: In Between One England and Another

By: markswalkingblog

markswalkingblog — Mon, 01 Sep 2014 20:52:37 +0000

Thanks Alen, I will try to avoid David Brent speak!

By: McEff

McEff — Mon, 01 Sep 2014 20:27:51 +0000

Hi Mark. Good to hear from you. Funnily enough I’ve had another run-in with the world of jobs advertising only today ??? so I can feel another post coming on. Keep on using proper words. The business world needs real people.
All the best, Alen

By: markswalkingblog

markswalkingblog — Mon, 01 Sep 2014 20:17:26 +0000

Hi Alen, my RSS feed failed, so I have some posts to read. I cannot believe the job descriptions you have had thrust at you. Bollocks is the right word. I have my own business and believe it or not we advertise for jobs using words like experienced, hard working, enthusiastic,- we must be doing it all wrong!! Seriously I do hope you get the right opportunity came along soon.

All the best

By: McEff

McEff — Mon, 25 Aug 2014 13:20:30 +0000

Hi Chris. Good to hear from you. Thanks for that contribution. Yes, that’s another angle to the jargon plague ??? grandiose titles for mundane jobs. And “competitive salary”. If it’s competitive, then we need to know with what it’s competing, otherwise the phrase is meaningless. But, really, we know what its competing with most of the time ??? the minimum wage or the lowest common denominator for that particular type of work. You have to laugh.
All the best, Alen

By: McEff

McEff — Mon, 25 Aug 2014 13:10:44 +0000

Hi Liz. Thanks for that. I’m glad I stirred some memories. You’ve given me an idea for a post there. I’ve done a few articles on the North York Moors but never one on the hills around Captain Cook’s Monument, so I think I’m due a visit. I walked past it a long time ago while doing the Cleveland Way, but that was long before this blog was created.
We used to pick elderberries as kids, for jam and such, and I have made wine out of them, but they seem to be neglected these days. I don’t suppose they are to everyone’s taste.
I hope your brother flourished after leaving the Echo. I was made redundant on May 6 and I am absolutely flourishing, although without a job. But you can’t have everything.
All the best, Alen

By: McEff

McEff — Mon, 25 Aug 2014 13:02:33 +0000

You’ve hit a nail on its head there, Mrs P. In other words, if you don’t speak the language then you’re not one of us ??? you are an outsider and therefore we don’t want you. Outsiders can be a threat to the system and upset the equilibrium.
I’ll go along with that. I shall retain my humour and sanity, an remain on the outside.
Cheers, now, Alen

By: theopeningsentence

theopeningsentence — Mon, 25 Aug 2014 12:51:07 +0000

I made a list of the names used on job websites for ‘catalogue distributor.’ You can call yourself a sales executive or remote customer accounts supervisor or retail distribution personnel. Just for posting Betterware catalogues through doors. I think a lot of the gobbledegook is used to disguise or hide the fact that the job is crap and low paid. (Competitive salary: competitive with what, China, Indonesia, Namibia?)

Fortunately you have all that countryside to stroll into when you need a break.

Chris
(normally commenting via my other ‘Walking Diary’ blog)

By: Liz Adams

Liz Adams — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 22:29:59 +0000

Thanks so much for this post. I grew up in north Yorks, up on the moors near Captain Cook’s monument, then on Teesside, and haven’t been in the UK for, ah, 50 years….but these scenes really made me misty. I could name all the wild plants and shrubs in your post! remember elderberry picking as a little kid, and learning which berries were elders and which were poisonous.

And my brother’s first job in journalism, before he went on to other papers, was the Echo! he was their, I think, Northallerton correspondent for a while! anyway, I’ve signed up to follow you, and totally agree with the notion of taking your camera. Just having it there alerts you to all kinds of interesting items and details.

And here’s hoping you land on your feet in the job world, gads, it’s tough.

By: rthepotter

rthepotter — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 20:54:42 +0000

Bollocks, yes, but coded bollocks – they are looking for people who will at least pretend to believe all the bs and want to be one of the group. In other words, can you say ‘Shibboleth’? – The jargon is recent, but the technique is hoary with age…
Commiserations, as a sense of humour is probably a disadvantage when looking for any work these days. On the other hand, your blog readers will love you :)

By: Hanna

Hanna — Sat, 23 Aug 2014 20:05:12 +0000

You ask if it’s the same in Denmark, Alen. Maybe it’s worse. When the right-wing government came to power they introduced a significantly privatised employment and activation in 2002 and generated a significant market for private actors.
Studies have demonstrated that private actors have not been cheaper, but rather two or three times more expensive.
It has been a big circus where many resources went to the wrong people. Instead of prioritising training for the people who were unemployed on the basis of little or no training.
As for CV there are lots of stories about people who learnt to put the CV on a right formal. In order to do so they met in on a seven-day course where they had to learn what animal they were. It enabled them to find the right job, and not least put the right words on their CV. The private sector grew rich on their ingenuity, but it did not help the unemployed.
It has improved with Helle Thorning behind the wheel :-)

By: Jo Woolf

Jo Woolf — Sat, 23 Aug 2014 11:20:25 +0000

Haha, quite probably! Don’t under-estimate yourself though. I am currently struggling with the SEO on Colin’s site. I woke up yesterday thinking I was an SEO expert and the illusion hasn’t worn off yet.

By: McEff

McEff — Sat, 23 Aug 2014 11:08:05 +0000

They might be set up by people like me who became totally disillusioned with the world of work at the age of 17 and never recovered. Only I wouldn’t have a clue how to set up a website like that. This one stretches my technical know-how.
Cheers, Alen