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

[mignonette]

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!

Oh wow, there's loads to it, Coconuts! Must keep you very busy.

Not daft at all, Dee. It was the first job I applied for after uni -- I really wanted to move to Germany, and this was my ticket here. I didn't realise how much I'd love it!

Most of the stuff I read is advertising, and a lot of it has been written by non-native speakers, so I have a lot of corrections to make usually.

I enjoy coming up with slogans and taglines for new products when their suggestions don't work in English.

Sometimes it's complete nonsense and impossible to work out what they mean. Every so often I will correct something, only to be told by the client that those words don't exist in English and that they spent a summer in California back in '94 and know very well that their English is perfectly fine, thank you very much. That always makes me laugh.

Hearts I think some people don't realise what a tough job it is to be Chair, as some chair several schools and most have regular jobs too! Most I've come across have been dedicated, some try to bring in their own agenda but you can tell which 'characters' are going to be hushed down by the more established GBs, but on the whole they have very good ideas to bring. You've got to remember you're working with individuals with opinions and not just a collective as well, so it can be interesting to bear witness to the debates that go on! Some very passionate ones, and sometimes about what most of us would consider pretty minor things.

I don't have DC but I find it very insightful to know how schools are run, so if/when I do, I'm hopefully not going to be a parent who sends their child off and expects miracles. I don't know if I would volunteer to be a governor because I may have had my fill of it by then, but I think it's a very worthwhile thing to do.

Someone upthread asked about how to become a governor. You can approach the school to find out if they have any vacancies, many still like to be able to elect their own candidates, the advantage being this may be a person already known to the school. Alternatively you can contact your Local Authority and declare your interest in becoming a governor, they will probably ask about your skills and what you feel you can bring to the GB.

The LA will then contact local schools with a list of people who have declared interest in governance, and ask for them to be considered for any vacancies. The school may already have someone in mind, but it gets your name out there. I definitely recommend contacting schools directly though, become a known entity and show enthusiasm. Of course if you were put forward as a candidate you'd have to be elected officially (different processes for different Gov types.)

Long winded, but hopefully of some help!

Hearts, wrt succession planning. If the chair was to leave at any point, I'd want him to give as much notice as possible, one thing GBs really stress over is being left in the lurch and/or being left with an inexperienced chair. As you can't really just 'line up' who you want as the next chair, I think it's important for the current Vice Chair to become as closely involved with the Chair as possible, I'm amazed at how inactive a role some Vice Chairs have, as some schools just see them as a back-up rather than a support system IYSWIM. If the VC is aware and involved as much as possible, when the new chair is elected, they can act as a mentor. If the VC succeeds as new Chair, then the new VC will be mentored under the Chair. It's the only way to really plan a handover and should really be carried out over a reasonable period of time.

Don't know if that made sense at all.

I meant chair several schools over a course of time, not at the same time. I don't know if this can be done as it is probably considered a conflict of interest? But I'd be interested to know if anyone does know of a Chair acting in more than one school at the same time. Clerks can be assigned to several schools, but they are impartial. Also members of the GB can sit on other GBs at the discretion of both schools. Obviously no confidential info can be disclosed, but it is sometimes useful for the purposes of sharing best practice.

I do behaviour support in a secondary school and also some teaching too if anyone has any questions.

I have a question. For nurses care workers or anyone else really. When someone dies do you notice anything "go" do they change immediately? I know people's faces will relax because of muscles but do you get a feeling of a soul/spirit/the person themselves leaving? I find it really strange that you can be a living human and then just not all of a sudden (very sorry if upsetting to anyone)

to the pole dancers -
do the poles get a quick wipe between ladies?
do you get possessive over the big tipper customers?
ever had a stalker?

anyone ever worked at a casino? ever seen a card counter / cheat in action?

in the beginning Mignonette answered that beautifully and at length in the 1st thread, there were lots of related questions too, if you want to have a squizz the link is on the OP post of thissun I think

What a great thread! womban how did you get into lapdancing? What was the interview like? Did you have to dance? What was the training like? Were you really nervous or self conscious at all?

Im a doctors surgery receptionist (dons bullet proof attire...)

Re the VBAC question, definitely worth going for, in your scenario more than most as a malposition is an easily identified reason for labour not progressing as it should and one that is correctable if the baby is in the right place so no reason why it should happen again. Of course it could but it's not something that will definitely occur again. I'm not explaining myself very well!!

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

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?

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

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!

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.

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.

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

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.

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!)

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.

I wikl have a look

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.

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.

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 :)

InTheBeginning

I always open a window after death because it is so entrenched within me to let the 'Soul', energy, spirit or whatever one calls it fly away despite my own atheism. However I have never noticed anything 'depart' other than any pain, discomfort or worries of the person who has died. I have always carried on talking to and holding the hand of the deceased because I do believe they have brain activity for a little while after cessation of heart beat and breathing and it seems odd to suddenly withdraw physical and emotional comfort.

I always talk to them, even hours after their deaths. Again it would seem too odd and disrespectful to engage in Last Offices (the care and preparation of a persons body after death) without doing so and I know other people on this thread (and the first) have also said the same.

I am off to catch my plane now and will catch up with this wonderful thread later.

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)?