Job interview

I was not really looking forward to it as I don't think I do well in interviews, but then again I haven't had many as I have worked in the same place for so long.  The whole process is a bit daft really as I think they have already decided who they do, or do not, want and the idea that they have to give us priority for these jobs is rubbish.

In the end I think that it went quite well, although I was getting very nervous just before especially as they were running late which somehow makes waiting seem longer.  I managed to keep myself calm and reminded myself that I could only do my best at that particular time, and just be myself.  It is always the waiting that is the worst; that feeling as though you should just run away from the whole thing and hide somewhere.  Anyway I will find out on Thursday how it has gone and whether I got the job.  I must say that I feel rather neutral about the whole thing now.  It is over and done with and I don't think I will be too upset if the answer is no.  It is quite difficult to get much enthusiasm about the whole thing as it will all be very different in the new academic year and a lot of it seems to be a matter of trial and error.  Pretty sure that we minnions will get the blame if it doesn't work out ok as management always seems to slide out of the firing line.

It is really just a shame that our little attendance team is just being dismantled and thrown away as though we are useless.  I really don't think that management has much of an idea what we do.  We have been administering a couple of student allowances, Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) for 16 - 18 year olds, and the Adult Learning Grant (ALG) for 19+ students and the government have now decided to abolish them.  The administration of the EMA and ALG have always, and wrongly in my opinion, overshadowed the Attendance part of the job so that the powers that be seem to think we will not have much to do next year.  In reality the EMA and ALG only take up a small part of what we do.  But the decision has been made and there is nothing we can do about it now.  They say there will be new attendance tracking systems next year, but those of us in attendance know nothing about them so I have no idea how good they will be...time will tell.

I actually wore some 'high' heeled shoes for the interview yesterday.  That is high to me, all one inch of them!  I got them for Vicky's wedding a month ago and thought that I ought to make a bit of an effort and dress a bit more smartly than normal.  Anyway all my other shoes are really ragged and I didn't know whether the panel would be able to see them during the interview as the only clonkers might give a bad impression.  I wasn't going to go over the top and wear a suit mainly because I don't have one, or anything else that could really be remotely thought of as power dressy.  When I wore the new shoes of the wedding I was really stiff and found walking difficult the next day, but this time I have adjusted a bit better, partly because I consciously made myself keep my feet in a better position.  I usually wear special insoles, but the new shoes aren't big enought to take them, at least until I have worn them in well!