The Meeting & Volunteering

Well, I went to the Home for the meeting with the Manager.
It did not go well.
It saddens me very much, but I have had to turn the Job down.

This is for many, many reasons;

• There is no certainty attached to the job - I like a little bit of a routine, this Job offers no routine, job security and stability.
• The manager didn't like my questions and gave me what I call 'Robotic answers' (Replies you would get automatically). She would then Answer my question with a question. I perceive this in a way that makes me think they have something to hide.
• The contract could not be changed - it was all one sided and offered me no protection at all.
• The job offered was a management job - only with 3 times lower pay.
• The staff turnover is extremely high - which to me, says no one likes working there/it's a dead-end job with no opportunity of moving through the ranks.
• They state they do not have the Budget to employ 2 Activities Coordinator's, when the CQC (Care Quality Commission) done a review of the Home in Jan 2012 they suggested the home employ 2 Activities Coordinators and the Interim Manager at the time promised to employ 2 members of staff for this. The home are insisting on only 1 member of staff for this Job. They want 2 for the poor price of one.
• I found it difficult to get an appointment with the Manager to discuss my pre-employment issues - I have to meet with her every time I need to purchase something from the Budget, which will turn the Job into a nightmare if I have to keep hunting the manager down just to buy something for the home. I would also have had to meet with her weekly and monthly for reviews on my work. These would have been a battle alone.

Aside from all of those legitimate reasons, I am simply not up to working over Full time (They want 40 hours a week as standard, I know for a fact this is a 60 hour a week job at the minimum). 

They flatly refused my suggestion of me working Part time alongside another Activities Coordinator.

I am upset that I couldn't take this job, however, it has made me realise a few things about myself.

I could not possibly cope with working full time. 

I'm still not well enough to work.

I am so glad I tried though, it has given me a good tester to see what I am capable of, so either way the outcome is positive. 

At least I know what I am capable of now, and I am seriously thinking of trying volunteering, just a few hours a week - and the manager of the home said she doesn't want to lose me completely, and to get back in touch with her at the end of June regarding volunteering (once she has hopefully found a willing victim to take the full time job). 

Volunteering is a better idea, I have been out of work for so long and am not well enough to be reliable enough for paid work. I am happy to give that a try to really test my capabilities and strengths. 

So now to take a new path - find a good volunteering opportunities. 

I have to say Volunteering, well even Job opportunities are extremely lacking in the area I live. It's an underprivileged area and opportunities are few and far between, which is why I am sad that this job offer has not worked out. But I won't be taken advantage of - they knew my health problems and that I haven't worked for almost 7 years, and I think they was trying to take advantage of that. 

Anyway, Now to look into the possibility of volunteering....