The Red Mist - like anyone actually cares…

Having left the world of academia behind, Gddik Jr. is now embarking upon what will, hopefully, be an enriching and fulfilling career.

I hope.

Anyone leaving school or university now is facing possibly the hardest employment landscape for decades, and I don’t envy them one bit. I left school at the other extreme, in the early seventies. I walked into a job, and had the pick of several. I didn’t even get the luxury of a summer holiday that year - just the weekend off after leaving school. Easy peasy. That job set me off on a course in I.T. that I was fortunate enough to follow all the way through to retirement this year. Linear career development all the way. Not so today, though, I fear.

Gddik Jr. immediately set off on his quest by sending speculative CVs out as far and wide as possible within the area, as well as applying for advertised vacancies and registering with agencies. It got him part-time work at the local branch of a big national chain of sportswear retailers; at least he had some money coming in.

But after four weeks of being treated like a dog it got to him, and he packed it in. I can’t say I blame him. Employers have the upper hand at the moment, but there’s no excuse or need for treating staff badly, just because you can.

So, Saturday was his last shift, and he was back to searching for the Holy Grail again. Or was he?

At 10 o’clock on Monday morning, he got a phone call from a local company that sells and installs digital TV. He’d applied for an office admin job there, but they reckoned he was qualified for something better, so they wanted to talk to him about a marketing position. Interview at 11:30. Hired at 12:00 noon. Starting today at 09:00. Precisely one day out of work.

So, despite the bleak outlook, it does go to show that it can be done.

It may or may not turn out to be the job of his dreams, but at least it’s full time, more lucrative than his previous false start, and gives him the opportunity to develop a role that he can make his own. If he’s lucky, it will set him off on a path that has lasting rewards, just as my first real job did. I hope so.

Wish him luck. He deserves it.