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Original poster

Awkward (and other) questions about MNers jobs-following on from *Pinocchio's 1st thread.

409 replies

mignonette · 13/10/2013 15:02

Following on from this thread by Pinocchio -

"I thought this would be a good way for us to get answers to those awkward questions we would never dream of asking someone to their face in their place of work.

These are questions relating to my life that i would love honest answers to.

Hairdressers - When someone with bad dandruff/psoriasis sits on your chair, do you shrug it off, or do you quickly have a look to make sure it's not lice? Are you able to tell the difference right away or does it need investigating? And do you really want to know what my plans are for the day, or would you rather work in silence?

Teachers - do you get annoyed when parents write in homework diaries that a specific piece of homework was too tricky for their child? Do you take it as an insult to your teaching skills?

Waiter/waitresses - do you expect people to offer to clean up their children's mess before they leave, or do you just shrug it off as part of the job? If you're busy and haven't had chance to clean a table yet, and a new customer came up and asked for a cloth to clean it, would you be offended?

I'm a trainee SLT so not quite sure if I'm qualified to answer any questions regarding that line of work yet.

But i have experience working in a Subway sandwich store, a library, a gym and as a cleaner. So i can answer any cleaning, book or sandwich questions that are burning away inside you all"

Pinocchio I hope you don't mind me C+Ping your original post but wanted you to have the credit for this follow on as is such a great thread!

OP posts:
Original poster
mignonette · 18/10/2013 08:39

AndThePig

What did you do in your job? What and who did you make props for? Were you freelance or employed?

Ziggie What did you study/train in to get to your position? Do you ever feel tempted to get a private pilots licence? Do you feel comfortable flying on airlines you haven't had engineering experience of? Have you known of any near misses re maintenance issues? Could you build your own airplane if you had access to space, money and the materials?

OP posts:
Ooddoyouthinkyouare · 17/10/2013 22:28

Andy risk assessments kicked jn pretty quick as I've worked in female dominated roles so pregnancy assessments are common and just need tweaking for individuals which makes it a smaller task.

Szeli · 17/10/2013 22:23

I have a question for any wedding planners what was your wedding like? Were you a major bridezilla or very laid back and low key?

andthepiggotupandslowlywalkeda · 17/10/2013 21:31

I love these threads - every time I think of a question, though, someone's already asked it, or come up with something more interesting than mine Grin

I was a prop-maker for a few years and am now a fledgling children's illustrator, if anyone has any questions about those.

HardFacedCareeristBitchNigel · 17/10/2013 20:13

Isle of Right, we regularly get samples where the sample obtained isn't large enough to obtain a complete profile. You would have to be in a soco suit to prevent leaving trace dna (every contact leaves a trace) at a scene, which is why socos on major scenes are in them, to avoid contamination.

AndysMildAdventures · 17/10/2013 20:07

Ooh, and thank you ood for answering my other question too! How far into pregnancy do they let you get before they make these adjustments?

AndysMildAdventures · 17/10/2013 20:05

Thank you so much, mignonette! Really appreciate it! Thanks I hadn't thought about keeping a record so I think I will start doing that for sure and speak to my GP too. I feel quite optimistic after your reply, yay! Grin

HorryIsUpduffed · 17/10/2013 19:48

As an aside, re DNA evidence... DH and I found out about chimerism yesterday, where a person has some of their unborn twin's DNA inside them (ew).

It made us wonder: if someone committed a crime, and particularly we were thinking of a sex crime, then the DNA they left at the scene could be completely different from the DNA they would provide as a sample for analysis.

IsleOfRight · 17/10/2013 19:40

I have some questions for anyone working in forensics.

First an ick one. I am on my period and I just wondered would you be able to tell the difference between period blood and normal blood? Sorry to be ick. But genuinely wondered.

And second is can anyone commit a crime in person and not leave traces of DNA? I shed hairs all the time for example not to mention skin and droplets of sweat etc.

Ooddoyouthinkyouare · 17/10/2013 18:24

andys when I worked in care/SN schools I was moved to less volatile locations when pg and didn't work with specific people. I also didn't lift. When I worked for social services I would double up more often for home visits potentially volatile visitors but did a lot of phone duty so got my fair share of being sworn at.

Original poster
mignonette · 17/10/2013 18:17

I would advise speaking to your doctor about this and contacting the MH team that treated you for clarification. If you were discharged then the CMHT would have closed your care spell and this would be communicated to anybody enquiring about your status.

Keeping a record of what you have been doing to keep on top of it is always useful-remember your CBT homework? Think of keeping very brief notes on your own work. These can be shown to occupational health. Evidence that you have worked on relapse awareness and know your triggers all counts.

The biggest evidence of recovery is recovery. Not needing to use the services whilst living a productive and content life is proof in itself so don't be disheartened.

Quite a few jobs actually ask for applications from actual or former service users. I can think of one in a former trust I worked for in access to psychological therapies where employees are trained to deliver low level CBT. They ask for former service users. That kind of employment would be ideall as a way in to MH professions. Indeed it may be enough for you and so interesting that actually nurse training is not so important.

Well done on all the hard work in managing and overcoming your OCD . I know just how hard you must have worked Andy. Good for you!

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AndysMildAdventures · 17/10/2013 18:04

Thank you for the detailed reply mignonette. Very much appreciated! My MH problem is OCD so I do worry that the fact it can be triggered by stress means the Occupational Health people might not want to risk having me on the course :( Can I be cheeky and ask another question that takes advantage of your knowledge a bit? I'm not currently seen by any MH professionals (after a year with a peri natal team and CBT which ended because my time was up) but since that ended I've been working on it alone applying what I learned and its working and I feel positive that I'm getting to a point where "normal" living (for lack of a better word) is going to be possible (that's why I'm finally able to look at having a career Grin ). How would I go about having it on my medical record that the OCD is under control so that when/if I do apply to the course, the Occupational Health people can see that its not an active problem? I'm wary of the fact that I could have it under control for the next few years but then a lack of update on my medical notes could mean they don't believe me!

ziggiestardust · 17/10/2013 18:03

I'm an aircraft engineer, I've worked on commercial, military and private aircraft if anyone has any questions Smile

Grin
HardFacedCareeristBitchNigel · 17/10/2013 17:56

it's a pleasure, Mignonette. I used to love teaching apprentices, I love passing my skills and experience on to others. If I'd stayed in hospitality my intention was to go into teaching when I got older and no longer fancied the heat and hustle of the kitchen :)

HardFacedCareeristBitchNigel · 17/10/2013 17:52

is it Westminster Kingsway college ? Their course is reputed to be the dogs doohdah's

I did the Academie Culinaire competition there one year and have fond/hideous memories of it. You were supposed to have at least 1 year's experience, my Head Chef pushed me into it when I'd only been working for about 6 months and it was pretty scary !!!! I remember having to make a pithivier from scratch, including the puff pastry and a croquembouche

Original poster
mignonette · 17/10/2013 17:52

Thank you Hard. I have C+Ped your advice into an email to my DD. She will appreciate it.

OP posts:
Original poster
mignonette · 17/10/2013 17:51

The general advice is to have a couple of years of symptom free or stability in your MH Andy before being accepted onto a training course.

I would advise maybe working in MH as a nursing assistant or with one of the MH charities for a while to see if it suits you. Also the conditions of entry will require evidence of recent study plus experience paid or not in a related field. These related fields are very broad and more concerned with experience working with people.

Yes it is a stressful job and may not be the best choice for people with a very serious mental health problem that relapses and remits. However I know many MH nurses who have depression and anxiety either predisposing the job or as a result of it. I have been treated for reactive Depression of a mild to medium level. I continued to work but I was not seriously unwell. I have worked with nurses who I believe to have personality disorders too. That can be more challenging because it can make managing your emotions and reactions to others much harder.

If you declared an illness at interview you would go through the occupational health assessment and a decision would be made by them regarding fitness to train and work. Yes your illness could be triggered by the stress of the job but it would not be right to say that is a definite. Neither would you need to work in the higher stress specialities nor full time. The training is stressful though, I cannot deny but there could be strategies in place to assist you.

There are a lot of people working in MH and substance misuse especially who are former or actual service users. Many former substance misusers go onto have very successful careers in the field without relapsing into using drugs again.

I would think that your experiences can make you an especially sensitive MH professional used wisely and with regard to your own well being too and I would have no qualms about working alongside a nurse who had had MH problems.

OP posts:
HardFacedCareeristBitchNigel · 17/10/2013 17:49

yay here it is

HardFacedCareeristBitchNigel · 17/10/2013 17:48

This is the long serrated knife I mean here although that one is plastic handled.

HardFacedCareeristBitchNigel · 17/10/2013 17:46

Hmmm... kit.. well, in a commercial kitchen pastry chefs are always known by our blunt knives ;D To be honest, as a working pastry chef you don't need much in the way of kit. All I owned when I worked professionally was a few knives, my steel and that was about it.

Depending on how much you want to spend, some ideas for useful gifts would be

  1. Those lakeland oven gloves (the knitted ones)
  2. A good quality, long silicone rolling pin that she can save for fondant/marzipan as they scratch easily with general use
  3. A sugar thermometer
  4. A kitchenaid depending on how much money you want to spend.
  5. A roll of acetate
  6. Fabric piping bags
  7. Nozzles are always welcome, you can't have too many (number 1, 1.5, 2 and 6 being the most used for me)
  8. Something which she will find very useful in the future (for those personal bits of kit which you don't want to end up nicked) is a workman's toolbox with padlock.
  9. Knives - Victorinox long serrated, bendy, pointed rosewood handled knife. Blade 30cm I think - the patissier's friend !! A long cranked palette knife, also victorinox. A large chopping knife. And finally a round ended victorinox tomato knife x 2 or 3. Those are all the knives you need.
  10. Silpat mats
AndysMildAdventures · 17/10/2013 17:25

Oooh, can I ask you another question mignonette? If I wanted to become a nurse and was leaning towards doing mental health nursing, would you say that following that path of nursing runs the risk of triggering my own mental illness off again? Do your or any of your colleagues (that you know of) work successfully in MH despite their own problems? Hope that's not crossing into too awkward a question!

Original poster
mignonette · 17/10/2013 17:18

HardFaced... Thank you for those posts. Very helpful. One of her tutors is ex Savoy so that is one contact. I will C+P your posts and email them to her.

She is mid twenties and training within 40 miles of London. Her course and tutors are very highly thought of in the industry. She is very very hard working and will not give up on a technique until she has mastered it. She bakes for a regional tea shop chain to earn money and has earned respect and an offer of development chef after grad but she wants to spread her wings and gain experience first.

I want to buy her some useful kit for Christmas (she has knives/decorating tools/basic patisserie stuff) and wondered if you could recommend pans or other useful items? I bought her some bread pans and Mermaid sandwich tins last year so anything else she might need and may not have thought of?

I have been teaching her French. She did GCSE at school but I'm brushing up her skills and making sure she understands all the terminology. Pierre Herme would be a dream of a place to stage at.

OP posts:
AndysMildAdventures · 17/10/2013 17:13

Thanks mignonette. I think the fact it was a visitor makes it even more shocking. I didn't even think of the risk of visitors for nurses Shock

HardFacedCareeristBitchNigel · 17/10/2013 17:05

oh and finally, brush up your french. If you're going into patisserie you'll be working with a lot of French people. You'll find it useful

HardFacedCareeristBitchNigel · 17/10/2013 17:04

And words of advice, this is the advice I would give the 20 year old me that was just starting out from college..
If you find yourself getting bored after a couple of years in one place, it's not your vocation that you're bored of. You've just got everything you can out of the hotel. It's time to move on, not change direction.
Keep on the move in your early career - once you've learnt all they can teach you, move on. Gain as much experience in as many different techniques and styles as you can, this will add weight to your CV and your earning potential. Get into a michelin kitchen as quickly as you can, while you're young. Cane it while you are young. Relaxation and a 6-3 weekday schedule can come later.