The Bluestocking Womens Pub in an Adventure with Pirates!

[Magpiecomplex]

New thread. You know the deal - women's pub, men to the Staunch Ally next door.

Some of us are currently on the trail of an international seed smuggling ring, just for background information.

I used to run a small national organisation and I’m looking for similar roles but I’m rejected because a lot of the roles I go for have specialisms and I’m a generalist. I’d like to say a very good one. This latest role literally said I didn’t need experience with their specialism. I await to see who they appoint and my money is on a specialist.

I am also rejected because the organisation I ran had a budget of £1m and so they think I can’t run something bigger. It is much easier to run a bigger organisation than a small one, I promise you.

And now they ask, why haven’t you been able to get a job in over 18 months.

So I feel a bit stuffed and wasted.

Well, we think you’re bloody brilliant.

The interviewer actually asked why you haven’t been able to get a job prior to rejecting you for meeting the requirements of the role that didn’t reflect the actual requirements??
Honestly I’ve got dirt under my fingernails with more intelligence and integrity.

Thank you for the wonderful story, Myrtle! I have loved every moment. I'm so glad we all got back safely to the Bluestocking. I'm intrigued by the ticket stub shaped item in Gosie's pocket, but she'll obviously need a rest from all her travels for a while.

Very sorry to hear about the job. Don't get discouraged (drown your sorrows for today, though!) - keep trying! There will be something. (I second the new career as a children's storyteller, absolutely!)

I’m thinking graphic novels that would rapidly achieve cult status.

I think I would have been very tempted to say in extremely clipped tones "There is an economic slowdown in progress in the UK and a lot of good jobs are being axed in favor of using AI instead. Which you would know if you were unfortunate enough to be looking for work, instead of sitting in your cushy office."

Which wouldn't have helped..,

Perfect! And using AI doesn't matter. Everyone else is doing it.

What a question, about the last 18 months! You've been through so many health challenges and then periods of recovery before the next one has to be dealt with, that's why!

[Probably wise not to say 'But I had to get Gosie and co. home safely to the Bluestocking, that was my main priority recently']

What about saying that you went through a period of ill-health including X surgeries, but used that time to increase your knowledge of/expand your familiarity with/broaden your understanding of.
You could even use the '180' and 'pivot', if they were that kind of interview panel..

But that's not for now, for now you have to take care of yourself, give yourself a bit of a break, maybe you and Mr Walrus have a very nice meal with a bottle of special wine...
Then you can start thinking along job-related lines again, but a break and a rest first

Myrtle, for while when I was looking for work and I'd had a much longer time between jobs than 18 months, I explained away any gaps in my CV as "caring responsibilities " which shut most of them up pretty quickly.

For the others, since I was "at that age" I would add (although of course they weren't allowed to ask), "but [insert relative] has passed away now, and I'm mainly looking after their estate as executor now, which is just paperwork." Indicates that you are done with the elderly relative, but perfectly capable of managing and organizing complex legal projects. But also that the paperwork really isn't that taxing, so it certainly wouldn't interfere with your ability to work. They cannot penalize you for having had an elderly relative who is no longer in the picture. Most of them wouldn't dare pry further.

To be fair they didn’t ask that in this interview. I have been asked previously what I’ve been doing since leaving that role and I have been doing some strategic advisory work, but mostly that’s for free. I don’t say that.

And I have said waiting for surgery from December 2024 till summer 2025, knowing it meant six weeks off sick, then was also another three weeks in hospital and three months on nasty antibiotics that meant I couldn’t work.

But it’s not easy.

My brother died in February 2024 and I still have to manage money for my nephew, despite the social workers never calling me back. 😤

Oh @MyrtleLion I am so sorry for you.

I'm so sorry you lost your brother. You've had a rough time lately, from the sounds of things. I just wanted to say that I did actually have caring responsibilities at certain points in my life which meant that I had to drastically reduce my hours, or leave work altogether, and it was very hard. It's just that it also is a perfectly legitimate way to explain gaps, because it's often true, and everyone can relate to it.

PS I am firmly of the belief that prospective employers shouldn't be allowed to query your gaps in employment too deeply because people have all sorts of reasons for not working, many of which are to do with things they are not allowed to ask you anyway, or protected characteristics. So, I always think they are just digging at that point, and so they deserve whatever answer I give them.

If I really want or need the job, I might answer the questions "nicely". Otherwise, they get what they get.

I completely agree. A gap because the job market is tough and I’ve had to have major surgery doesn’t mean I’m flaky.

I have also found that when I apply for roles below the top job I don’t get interviewed. One recruiter told me, once you’ve been the boss it’s hard to get hired by the boss.

Many years ago I had some friends around for a total eclipse of the sun party.
It was a beautiful day, sunny cloudless and the birdsong was sublime.
As soon as the eclipse began the birds hushed. It was eerie. I felt 'odd', a primal response to their sudden wary silence.

There has to be some way around that - 'Verticality is not the way forward any more - important to apply skills and knowledge at whatever level will most benefit the organisation in today's challenging context...'

Sorry, I have no knowledge in this area, I'm just riffing....

Completely true, in my experience. Nobody wants to hire the boss. You have to move sideways, then up the ladder from there.

I was serious about the Gosie stories. People make money from their online posts and publications, why not you?

(There's a woman on YouTube who makes money by making/baking something every day from scratch, filmed step by step in real time. And people watch her! She gets product placements, advertising, the whole she-bang)

If someone can make money from other people watching her stir cake batter for the 99th time in a row, you could make money from your stories.

Yes, I have experienced that as well! I had quite a visceral response to the silence.

It is something I’m considering.

I’m currently posting the early episodes on the Substack and they were more or less 95% AI.

By the end it was about 25%.

I would probably have to rewrite the first chapters to make it fit for publication.

I wonder whether you might offer it on SM as short stories for parents to pay for their child to be included? Maybe a theme and their favourite animals? I really have no idea what I'm talking about, but just look at the childish excitement exhibited ( mine for example) at being part of a very exciting and very implausible yet entirely credible yarn. Just a thought.

Probably shouldn't base it in a pub though.

I think we established long ago that 'The Committee' handle all the dull administrative stuff we don't want to do ourselves - and do it to such a high standard that we never even notice them. Safety certificates, taxes, cleaning the gutters, replacing the lightbulbs, they are on it.

There are taxes?? (thank goodness for the Committee!)

I agree about making Gosie the Gerbil happen commercially!
It has been so gripping and exciting - possibly more for slightly older children because of the context and detail? And yes, lose the pub
But then there could be prequels, with Baby Gosie and Gosie at Rodentdean School and..😄

Can you use AI images in publications?

If you want to make it happen, Myrtle, Team Bluey is right behind you, anything at all we can do to help, just ask!

I decided to have a go with Gemini. This is what an EmpressaurusKitty looks like.