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

alcibiades In the English department we do pretty much everything on screen (PDFs and Word files), but nearly all the German proofreads (I work for a German company) are done by hand. Occasionally we're asked to do that, too. I only use one colour, but yes, it's lots of weird-looking scribbles.

Szeli You have a thing for ear wax?!

I like Namey's question!

FamiliesShareGerms, are you actually a spy? Don't they all say they're "civil servants" when asked?

Wedding dress shop people, do you lie and tell brides they look fab when you think they look like a sack of shit? Are you on commission?

RE: ear wax, I have a look but that's because I have a 'thing' for it. Can't really see much mostly

There were many many times that I wanted to ask where the child was in order to go and pick them up and take them home with me. If we thought the child was in immediate physical danger, we would call the police and they would attend.

I don't do it now, but, harrowing calls? Hmmm sometimes I was ' ok' with them, in that I managed not to dwell on the call. Other times really really badly. We always had a debriefing with senior colleagues but sometimes the calls were so upsetting that nothing but the passage of time helped.

Doinmummy how do you and your colleagues cope with harrowing calls from children?

I was also a volunteer on the phone lines for Childline if anyone would like to know more

Thanks Sunshine

I've a question but don't know if it's already been asked or will be answered! Forum Moderators (MNHQ and/or any others) Do you sign up with a different username to post about regular topics? Do you generally enjoy lurking on threads in your downtime or only read during work hours? What are the hours actually like, I'm guessing some people could do it from home? Do you feel like a traitor if you sign up and post on a 'competitor' site? Not expecting an answer from MNHQ about the traitor one!

GrandPoohBah – that's much more scary than I had envisioned. I had thought about an actor maybe being noticed in a supermarket queue or something – not that people would misidentify an actor who had played a rapist and knowing where he lived.

BabyLabyrinth – do proofreaders do everything on screen these days, or do you still get galley proofs and write symbols in the text and margin (from memory it was red for printer errors and blue for author errors)?

question for an optician - when is the best time to come to you to have eyes tested
morning or afternoon
sunny or cloudy day
or maybe there's no difference at all :)

TheTruthWillOut and Whirliwig72 why do packets often have strips of colourful blocks on then under the tabs: my fish fingers box has yellow, magenta, blue and black in various shades in a long strip.

I've bought print in various jobs for over 20 years.

Most coloured items are printed in 'four colour' process. The printer will use 4 colours which are Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black - which are tweaked to represent all colours. Each of the colours has its own plate, and paper goes through each colour ink separately.

The wee boxes etc are there for the printer to check that the paper has not shifted during print, and the four colours are lining up correctly. You'll notice when they don't because it gives that horrible 'shadow' effect that makes your eyes go squiggly (at least it does mine ). If you see C M Y K on the border that also means cyan, magenta, yellow and black.

For a lot of printed thingies, the printer's marks are cut off (e.g. magazines). However, for some things such as newspapers and boxes, that's not always the case.

Viva apply for a job! External recruitment to the civil service is much lower at the moment, due to budget cuts and austerity measures, but things like the Fast Stream for graduates are still running (at lower volumes) and certain professional skills like procurement are in big demand.

I wikl have a look

I am IT Engineer and work in a software house. I support servers on which program bought by our customers resides (is hosted). Ask away if any of my experience of 12 years in IT as a programmer and engineer can help - I shall answer.
I also used to work for financial institution and briefly for a pension administrators.

OohDoctor, it will vary considerably from role to role ("civil servant" is a wide description that covers eg border force officers as well as one pushers like me),but most policy advisers in central government have a reasonably similar role. Essentially you develop or maintain policy on a particular area, which involves things like advising ministers on particular proposals or questions (including from Parliament, the media and the public); drafting responses to said questions; writing documents eg consultations for publication; meeting stakeholders to discuss the policy; supporting the process to make new laws; and joining up with the people who implement policy to make sure that it us working as intended.

Does that make sense? (I had no clue what a civil servant did before I applied to become one!)

How do you get to be a civil servant? Often wondered. I'm thinking more working in the ministry of defence rather than local council.

For the person who asked about when people die.....I don't notice any difference like their soul has left. But I'm quite a practical/non emotional person. I think someone who's died just looks like they're very deeply asleep.

families I've no idea what a civil servant actually does.

Thetruth those coloured strips are to do with the printing process. Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and blacK (CMYK) are the four colours used in printing. Each is applied separately. The strip you see is a test so the printer can see everything is lined up properly and working correctly. If not the box can end up a right mess, completely illegible.

nameey. I am used to the flack now so am ok with it (though not sure that's ok though iykwim). I've been in this job 10 years but when I first started I was just 21 and remember one man making me cry after calling me a 'stubborn little cow' because we didn't have any appointments. Since then I've grown a backbone but am still shocked at some rudeness. However, I do work with one or two jobsworths but that's just the way they are, their colleagues don't like them either! I don't agree with the reasons why people think were jobsworth when only implementing policies etc, but do realise there are some idiots in the role as in any other emplyment, and no more than that.

I don't want to out myself under my NC but the 'jobsworth' in my case was to do with requesting someone to fill out paperwork when they were clearly having a bad allergic reaction. But then I do wonder if to avoid the red tape they should have just been sent to A&E in the first place. I am mostly in awe of all the metaphorical ball juggling you do!

were quite thick skinned. we get quite a lot of rude patients. I've been sworn at many times. some patients think we hold all the answers and they don't realise how strict it all is and how many procedures we have to stick to. we ask all the questions we ask because we have to not because we get a kick out of knowing what's wrong with a patient. i know i do my job well so if anyone thinks im a jobsworth then so be it

Dr surgery receptionists. How do you really feel about all the flak you get. Do you agree that there's a lot of arses in the profession, or are you very defensive about it. It must be a very tough job trying to please everyone and follow strict policy at the same time. I've only come across one jobsworth, most seem genuinely helpful. You must get jaded by the number of people slagging you off?

I'm a civil servant if anyone has any burning questions about the machinations of government....? (Unlikely!)