Longbridge, Birmingham, June 7th
See how the walking bloke adds so much more to the image?
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And so it came to pass that, two months after the application deadline and a month after the actual interview, I was informed that I didn’t get the permanent caretaker job. It was close though, shortlisted down to two and, as I understand it, the preferred candidate of my immediate boss, but the other guy has decades of caretaking experience and, once his references checked out, the powers that be decided he was the better choice.
I was surprisingly down about this, given that the job in itself is really nothing special and I’ve only been there for 9 weeks, not to mention the random nature of my employed life these last few years. I kinda realised I actually liked working there. The job was random enough to be interesting but, critically, not too interesting and the people were nice. I liked the fact that I could do anything they threw at me immediately and without complaint and I especially liked the fact that they were grateful for this. I think I’ll genuinely be missed, which is an odd thing for an agency worker to say. I, and everyone else, knew I was just covering the vacancy while the process crawled torturously to it’s conclusion, but had I got the job the transfer from temp to perm would have been seamless so it feels a little like I’ve been fired.
Of course in my role as temp I’ll still be covering the position for a week, maybe two, until new guy can start, which will be slightly strange but I’d be a fool not to make the most of the 9am-1pm shift while I can. The only ray of light is the last person they gave the position to only lasted a week before leaving. If this new chap also doesn’t work out then I’ll be back.
On the other hand this does open up a couple of potentials I’d had to dismiss due to my maybe-perm status (including, yes, a very theoretical extended trip to New Zealand) along with putting me back on the cash-in-hand odd-job market. You got a garden needs clearing? A load of heavy things need shifting? Something needs painting? Get in touch.
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In other news, Birmingham-based photographers should note the impending Flickr meet this Sunday where we’ll be touring Digbeth with our cameras before ending up in the pub. The last one was excellent and with any luck those red bricks should glow in the sunshine. (Yes, I’ve seen the forecast but it’s never accurate…)
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I’m sure I’m supposed be to doing something tomorrow (Saturday) but I’ve got no idea what it is. Any ideas?
(No, it’s not the football. I’ll be using those 90 minutes to get some shopping done in town.)