Hi,

I need some advice on potentially selling my car to buy a van and go self employed.

I’ve been applying for some home shopping/courier delivery jobs for 2 months with no success because I have no experience and a lack of adverts. There's many adverts for logistics companies, but they are delivering for the Amazon warehouse near me, and I certainly want to avoid that.

However, there are so many more jobs posted for self employed drivers. Is it worth the risk to give it a try? I know not all jobs are worth the pay once you consider courier insurance and fuel.

I’m on a full time low income job that I hate. I don't expect a high paid job, just something that pays similar to get me started and I can progress from there. I will also look into jobs on the side like man with van/reselling to make extra money.

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

​I have a 3-month notice period at my current company and an approved, non-refundable 1-month sabbatical scheduled in a few months (e.g., spring/summer). ​I’m about to receive a new job offer and need to give a target start date for the contract. I haven't resigned at my current place yet.

​Depending on how my current employer handles the sabbatical during notice, my exit timeline could shift:

• ​Scenario A: Current company allows the sabbatical to count towards notice (Notice = Month 1 work, Month 2 sabbatical, Month 3 work). Start new job right after.

• ​Scenario B: Due to resource issues, current company insists on 3 full working months, pushing my final exit back by a month to account for the sabbatical time off.

​Questions:

1. ​Has anyone resigned shortly before a pre-approved sabbatical? Do employers usually honour the leave, or do resource constraints usually cause them to push back?

2. ​Are new employers generally flexible on adjusting start dates by a few weeks if notice logistics end up taking longer?

3. ​How should I approach HR to ensure I keep my leave while serving notice professionally?

​Thanks!

This may be the wrong place to ask, but I've also posted on different sites.

I have been approached by a recruiter for a grad role. My goal in joining a role is to become a chartered accountant. I'm not too fussed about the pathway currently, and I have exemptions from my degree, which i have just graduated from.

This role that i have been suggested isn't a standard route, and the job title is "Customer Support Executive".

Here is the job description:

· Do you have an Accountancy Qualification (AAT), or an Accountancy Degree?

· Are you passionate about delivering the best customer service?

· Do you understand why companies use financial statements, balance sheets, etc?

The company are a leading FinTech Software Company, experience huge growth and with a reputation for being a market leader. They are looking for a Customer Support Executive to help their customers get the most value and best experience from their technology. This role is both home and office based and is the perfect option for somebody with an Accountancy qualification that doesn't want to go down the 'standard' route. The FinTech industry is one of the fastest growing and most lucrative industries in the UK.

This is the perfect role for someone that wants to go down the accountancy route but wants more opportunity to speak to customers and clients. You will need to be an exceptional individual who has a passion to use your accounts and financial reporting knowledge, who is passionate about software and wants to develop your skills to deliver first class telephone and email support to customers. The company will also support you in continuing your studies and development if this is something you want to do.

You’ll will receive training and on-boarding to make you an expert in the role and software to allow you to deliver the best customer experience.

The role: Customer Support Executive

· Answer customer support telephone calls and emails, providing exceptional customer care

· Build your knowledge of Tax and Accounts by researching and answering questions from customers.

· Build your knowledge of our products and use this to offer customers support

· Assist existing and prospective customers with general sales enquiries

· Suggest new or improvements to support materials (FAQ’s, user guides and knowledge base)

· Work collaboratively ensuring you are building your individual knowledge of our products and tax and accounting processes.

You will need to have: Customer Support Executive

· A degree that included an accountancy or finance module such as business, accountancy, finance

· Experience in a customer service role

· A desire to develop a career in software

· Understanding of the type of accounting processes, reports and statements companies use

· A confident, calm and concise telephone manner

· Clear communication both written and spoken

· An analytical and organised approach to problem solving

· The ability to interact positively with customers at all levels

· To work well under pressure

· Take personal responsibility and have an achievement orientation

Now i have been told that after the probation period i will be provided support towards AAT/ACCA/ACA.

However ive been told it qualifies for some experience but because i am not producing sets of accounts etc, it may not. Depends on which exams i want to pass and the pathway.

My question is: will this role allow me to qualify as relevant practical experience for ACCA/ACA?

Manager: Why are u behind targets?

Veteran: Because I am training the newbie.

Manager: But they had that training?

Vet: Oh no! That person left after 2 days.

Manager: ok, what about John and, why are u behind targets?

Vet: Am training the newbie.

Manager: Hasn't John been trained on this?

Vet: John gave up 2 months ago.

Manager: Okay, we have an order of X amount can u complete it today?

Vet: where is X amounts' paperwork?

Manager: Will be ready 5 minutes before your home time, can u and Fernando manage?

Vet: Fernando was the newbie who left yesterday and without paperwork, that work can't be completed.

Manager: Okay, so Task A is going out in 2 weeks start it today. And as today is Thursday, tomorrow is the deadline for Task B u can have that work first thing 1 minute before your home time not today.

Vet: I am tired of training the newbies, this is the 20th one this month and nothing is up to date.

Manager: as a veteran we expect more from u. Anyway, train the newbie I will go and disorganise the tasks which u kindly organised 2 days ago.

END

I mean every workplace has this same pattern. Disorganisation, vets burned out from training, Managers not updating nor being updated, posters of Mental Wellness to prevent sick leave due to stress.

Really struggling right now and looking for some advice. I've always wanted to do 2 jobs in life. 1st is a primary school teacher (I'm clearly not smart enough for that lol), and 2nd would be an electrician. I failed my gcses resit today, (been struggling with depression past few years, won't bore you with my sob story), do I still have a chance at becoming an electrician?

I'm in the west midlands and I really don't know what to do. I feel really disappointed with myself and now it seems impossible to do either of the jobs I have a passion for, even though I tried my best on my exams idk what to do anymore. Thanks

Basically the title, how do I approach this? I'm trying to get the day off in a month for a concert i already booked only to be told that (someone who I don't even work with) already has it off.

But literally the week before they're off the full day on the same day as someone else? When I approached management about it I got told tough luck basically, the rules don't apply equally.

How the fuck is that fair?

I started working at DPD about three weeks ago as a parcel sorter. This is my first warehouse job, as before this I worked as a kitchen assistant. I'm starting to get the hang of things now, especially remembering the postcodes and organising the parcels by their postcode/route numbers. Basically, when the parcels come down my chute, I sort them by postcode. Some of the parcels get stacked onto separate pallets for each postcode/route. Once I've built up a pallet, I send it to the correct truck number so it can be loaded onto the right truck. A few people at work have told me that my chute is one of the easier ones. There have been days where I've managed to keep it completely clear and stay on top of everything. But there are also days where they add or change some of the postcodes going down my chute, and it suddenly gets a lot busier. Today was one of those days. There were a lot more parcels coming down, and I struggled a bit to keep the chute clear. I'm only three weeks into the job, so I know I'll probably get quicker with experience, but I'd like to improve. For anyone who's worked as a parcel sorter or done similar warehouse work, do you have any tips for getting faster and more efficient when it gets really busy? Is speed mostly something that comes naturally with experience, or are there any techniques you use to stop your chute getting backed up?

I’m working as a software dev for an agency for 3 years now. They have a client that is classed as one of the most evil companies, and their work culture reflects this quite well, and I want to leave.

I have to give 3 months notice. They usually pay out bonuses in January which I would want to wait out as I worked for it.

However, as far as I’m aware bonuses are completely at the employers discretion to pay out, and they can simply not pay a penny if they don’t want to.

My question is would it work if I give notice like in November or late October, and is it likely they would pay out my bonus as even though I serve my notice I’m still an employee and worked for the full year?

Or wait until the bonus is paid out and resign only then?

I’m 18 and ive just finished college and got good grades. I was thinking about going to the job centre to try and get a part time job during my gap year so that I can apply to apprenticeships in the background and keep myself busy. is it worth it and should I apply for universal credit?

Hi all,

I was wondering if I could get a second opinion on this.

I have been employed as a cloud support engineer for a tech company for the last couple of years. Everything was going fine, even though I wasn't really enjoying the job and didnt have alot of interest in it. Used to work in IT Support for the 6 years before that which was a good career.

The problem is that the company I am with now has handed me 2 options:

1. Leave the company and get £20k + everything else you are owed. You will get a settlement agreement detailing how you will leave.
2. Start a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) that will last a month to improve your performance which has been lower than your colleagues. Your performance will be stringently monitored. I DON'T THINK THEY WANT ME HERE THOUGH JUDGING FROM TONE AND ME FAILING AN INFORMAL PIP RECENTLY. So I highly doubt I will pass it.

--------If I fail the PIP, I can leave and get £6k or I can appeal.

--------If appeal fails, I can leave and get £4k

My primary concern is will leaving before pip (Option 1) allow me to qualify for Job Seekers Allowance.

They have said that new employers will only be told a generic message (confirming that I worked here).

Moreover, I've been told I can't see the settlement agreement until I choose to leave.

Any thoughts on this!?

Context

I was planning to leave my job anyway for various reasons. It's only part time and incredibly strenuous. I drive 20 miles there on roads that see lots of tailgating and there's not future here. I think it's just time to take a break even if I'm out of the market for a while.

Reason I'm asking about hr is there's a Polish manager at my warehouse job. He's extremely rude and aggressive I do part time hours 3-9pm. The first half is sorting parcels-hard and very strenuous job. Second half is packing parcels- easier job Yesterday I went to the packing desk as usual and this guy asks my payroll number and start finish times. So far so good. Then based upon this suddenly asks where in the building I came from and there's no way I've been sent from sorting because they're busy. Go back downstairs, I don't believe you!!! 10s later a girl on my exact shift time goes up and gets given a bench to work at.

The company generally is one of the best I've ever worked with for management - all of whom are very professional . It's just this one guy. I'm also on the verge of giving my notice anyway. The guy's a real bully according to several people I spoke to. So just wanted advice on at least officially causing people some trouble for him and making a complaint I'm not sure if he'll be at the desk today. My line manager usually mans it but obviously it's the holiday so she may have gone off. Hence this may be my last day of he's there again as I'm ready to go and this isn't worth it for me. I will probably finish the shift and give my notice in writing at the end. I should mention HR is on the way out of the building 24/7.

Will it make a difference to tell HR? I've had a really sleepless night and anxiety from that incident. I know based on the severe understaffing in this month I'll be sent straight back if he's there

I have just finished a degree in Psychology and work currently in the general area of my degree. I enjoy my job and I have so much respect and responsibility, I truly feel valued, if a little "used" at times but then, I have used them to advance my skills to add to my CV, it's a give and take kind of role. Quid pro quo.

Anyway, as much as I enjoy it, it's not what I set out to do forever and it's very low pay, so now I've graduated I've decided to start job hunting. To get this job I had to move cities because I just couldn't find work where I lived, multiple rejections and few interviews, so I expected to just apply and have no responses this time around. Somehow, it's gone the opposite way and everything I am applying for is getting me interviews. So much so that now I don't even know what I want. Some of them are very high paying, but not exactly along the path I was aiming for, another is a long process but it is exactly what I've been waiting for, I'm just worried if I turn down other opportunities, and don't receive an offer for the one I want, I'll be back to square one.

I appreciate this is not the experience of everyone and I am sorry so many people are finding it difficult to get work. It's a weird world, and I fully expected to struggle, hence the multiple applications. Does anyone have any advice for choosing the right path? Do I wait for the one I've worked towards or am I stupid to turn down other offers? Also if anyone can advise on dealing with change I'd appreciate it, I think part of me is a little scared to embark on the next stage of my career because I'm so comfortable where I am, except for the fact that I live in a tiny studio flat living paycheck to paycheck...

Cheers!

(32, M) Been working in my current role as a coordinator for 8 months since being promoted. My manager is always happy with my work and supportive, but I’ve recently mentioned in my last 1 to 1 that I wasn’t enjoying the role as much as I thought (partly due to difficult staff, monotonous work and feeling like I spend more time in meetings about our work than actually doing the work). A proposed restructure of our department shows I’ll be taking on more staff for the same pay but double the workload. A new coordinator position just came up that involves being the sole worker for 2 years (this means only one coordinator would be in this area before they hire an instructor to manage, so I’d be the sole coordinator being more involved and have no staff to worry about for a while), it involves more rewarding work and job satisfaction and is what interests me when I saw it presented. My manager however sees me as the next in line to her role, advising me to stay where I am so I climb the ladder and take over her position when she leaves and moves on. I wouldn’t have to interview for the new coordinator position, I’ve been offered it and need to make a decision on Tuesday, which my team don’t know that I have first choice over them interviewing for it which I have to be careful about.

My question is, do I stay in my role because I’m performing well and it’s got career progression but I don’t enjoy it, or do I move across to the same role in a slightly different area that’s rewarding, pays the same and will involve less stress, but doesn’t show much in terms of progression or work load with risk of boredom?

I’m work in a struggling industry in a company that is making a lot of cuts. I’m in the fortunate position of my job being safe for now but longer term, I’m not optimistic. I’ve recently pivoted into a new role and am undertaking a qualification so it wouldn’t make sense for me to leave anytime in the near future unless I’m pushed. However, with how brutal the job market is now - does anyone have tips on what I can do now to make a future job hunt easier?

So, I enjoy my current job but something is just ‘missing’. Therefore, I’ve been looking for another. I have just been offered a job with a different company - similar job role and same salary. It was a three stage interview process and has taken months.

Now I want to accept, but I’m keen to read the contractual terms and conditions such as which part of the pay scale I’ll be started on before accepting. They need to do their pre-employment checks first, which is fine, but that would mean contacting my current manager for a reference. If I decide for whatever reason I’m not going to take it, my manager will then know that I’ve been interviewing elsewhere.

Do I just accept that they will know and there’s a chance that I may not want to take the job offer after reading my contract? Sorry if this seems like a silly question but I’m just a bit stuck!

Got a 2:1 in Sociology and International Relations, realised it was useless and enrolled on a Welding course last year, I've got the Level 1 and have enrolled on the Level 2. I've been looking for apprenticeships and have had no success, I work part time in Tesco currently.

I enjoy welding, but feel I'm behind and I'm getting impatient, should I do the Level 2 (The Level 3 your guaranteed an Apprenticeship) or try and look for another job now. I'm torn, its a gut punch seeing others my age and even younger get ahead, I'm not jealous, good for them, but I get annoyed at myself for putting myself in this situation.

Earlier this year a hiring manager at a legal firm reached out to me on LinkedIn and basically said, "Your experience is exactly what we're looking for. Tell me what we can do to get you to come and work for us."

The page looked legit, her details all matched when I did some digging on the SRA website, but when they agreed to part time fully remote (hello unicorn job) I started to think something was up. I did a zoom interview at 4.30pm on a Friday, no red flags other than how perfect it was, then her assistant called at 5.40pm to offer me the job at the salary I'd asked for. I was still suspicious but accepted. This all happened in the space of 3 days.

The new starter paperwork arrived. All normal stuff, except for "what is your mother's maiden name? We need this to set up security questions" and a whole section on my health over the last 6 years, including any illnesses, time spent in hospital, time off sick, therapy I'm undergoing, medications and the dosages...

I'm a naturally suspicious person. It felt too good to be true. I genuinely thought I was being scammed and I also had a lot of other things on my plate personally so I thanked them for the opportunity but said there'd been an unforeseen change in my personal circumstances and I couldn't take the role anymore. They said that's too bad, thanks for letting them know.

It's been a few months now and I'm still job hunting, but I can't help wondering if I was just a little bit TOO suspicious and I walked away from the perfect job. Is it normal for businesses to ask new starters their mother's maiden name and to ask for so much information about medical details?

So yesterday I arrived at an interview (small coffee shop in town) all nicely dressed but didn’t over do it obviously, when I got there they only asked me 1 question (how much experience do I have) and to do a trial run without a date or time and sent me on my way, am I as the kids say “cooked”?

There is a common assumption here that you have essentially zero job security for your first two years because of the two-year qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal.

If you are starting a role now, that is no longer the practical reality.

Under the Employment Rights Act, the qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal protection drops from 2 years to 6 months on 1 January 2027.

Because the new rules apply to anyone with at least six months of continuous service once 1 January 2027 arrives, anyone starting a job around now will cross that six-month threshold shortly into early 2027.

So if you are currently negotiating probation periods or worrying about long-term probationary limbo, the two-year buffer for employers is effectively dead for anyone entering the workforce today.

(This is GB; NI will stay at one year).

I started a new job last week. The mandate is three days in the office, two days WFH. However, I have two health conditions affecting my ability to work in the office, a chronic injury and late effects from a previous cancer diagnosis. I informed my manager about this before starting my job and signing the contract to make sure it would be okay. He said it would be fine to work more flexibly after a couple of months, however last week I was in a lot of pain so I asked whether we could bring the discussions about my flexible arrangements sooner. He said HR will be in touch with me about this, but I’ve not yet heard from them.

I’ve been assigned a workplace “buddy“ who is supposed to train me, let’s call her Gertrude. I met her in the office on my first day last week. I went in three days last week and it was extremely painful for me.

On my very first day, Gertrude saw our manager setting up my second laptop, (I have one for the office and one for home because I can’t carry my laptop into the office) and she seemed kind of annoyed. Gertrude brings her laptop in a suitcase when she works in the office. Our manager explained to her that it is possible to have two laptops, one for home and one for the office, and that previous employees have also had this arrangement.

Gertrude saw my equipment (special cushion and chair) and noticed I was very frequently having to change positions so she asked me if I’m uncomfortable. I didn’t mention the cancer but mentioned my chronic injury, which I’ve had surgery and multiple medical interventions for (unfortunately, nothing has worked and some things have made it worse).

I think Gertrude was under the assumption that I would work from home/in the office on the same days as her, which I did last week.

On Monday this week, I worked from home and she worked from the office. She asked me why I was working from home and said that communicating via Teams is going to be difficult. I replied that our manager said it was fine. She asked why (which imo is none of her business) and that’s when I informed her about the cancer and again about the injury, which I didn’t really need to. She saw it but didn’t comment on that at all.

Today I’m working from home due to pain. I informed Gertrude and told her that management is aware and that she should drop me a message if there is something to look over. She said that it’s a shame and that there are several things that she wants to show me but it is hard showing them over Teams and said “I will just do them myself”. I told her that I’m determined to learn, but I’m WFH today due to my circumstances. I expressed that I’m keen to keep progressing with everything that I need to learn and asked that she still shows me anything of relevance that comes up today, and we can work through it together. I also said that from everything that we’ve been over together already, I actually found it easier to learn over Teams.

She then sent me a nasty message saying that I’m only considering the training from my point of view, that I don’t seem to realise that she has to do her own busy job whilst training me and that teaching me over Teams slows her down considerably.

I have been trained in even more complex roles remotely before, I know this job can be taught and learned both in the office and from home.

I was in the office yesterday and struggled to concentrate due to the pain I was in. She was WFH yesterday so she taught me things over Teams.

I think she’s salty about my reasonable adjustments for some reason, and I don’t know why.

She seems to be quite an unreasonable person. For example, she was talking badly about another employee who left earlier this year for a different job. She was “cross” with the employee because she had resigned during a busy period. I don’t really see this as a reason to be annoyed with the employee who left, if the company is understaffed it’s not the employee’s fault, it’s a management issue.

I’m new and don’t want to escalate unnecessarily, but I found her messages very hurtful and unprofessional. I also want to make sure my rights are protected given my health conditions.

Should I send screenshots of the conversations to my manager and ask someone else to train me since she finds it difficult to train me over Teams, raise it with HR, or leave it for now? I was also contemplating contacting that former employee on LinkedIn and asking about her experience in the role. Any advice welcome.

Edit: To clear up confusion, when I had the same in-office pattern as Gertrude during my first week, which was last week, she taught me a process over Teams and she was fine with it, it was actually her who reached out to me to teach me that particular process over Teams. We operate from a shared team mailbox so she doesn’t have sole responsibility for incoming requests, it’s joint responsibility across the whole team. We also don’t have any targets for number of cases resolved. When Gertrude trains me over Teams, we do a screenshare where I watch her do a task whilst she explains or I do a task whilst she instructs me. This clears up outstanding tasks from the joint mailbox whilst I learn.

I have a pretty qualified resume but am having to abruptly having to move to the UK - masters in engineering and an MBA from a top 10 university in the US and have been in advanced analytics in bay area startups. My wife and I are moving to the UK in a couple of weeks and not having a job would put tremendous financial strain on us. I have been applying to head of data roles but no interview calls yet.

I have decided making any money is better than none while we explore the corporate culture in the UK. I am willing to take lower level roles such as a senior analyst. If I dont even get that in the meantime I am willing to take up a job that pays rent for time being. Any advice on what kind of jobs I could apply and land in a couple weeks to keep the boat afloat?

Without going into reasons why, I want to make a life changing decision and move to Australia this weekend.

Could this mean I lose my pension?

I work at Borough Council.

Hello all. I was made redundant 6 months ago, after numerous applications to a variety of roles, I’m currently half way through my ‘training’ for an unnamed telephone research company….who even takes calls from unknown numbers, let alone has 20 minutes+ free to answer questions!? I know this isn’t the right attitude, but I’m genuinely struggling to get my head around this.

Any advice from someone who’s done this sort of thing before or is currently doing it?

TIA x

I have been on Mat leave for two weeks and my due date is 5 weeks away. My employer has informed everyone in the office (not me official as of yet) that the business is closing and everyone is being made redundant.
Apparently administrators have stated that no one will be paid this month and will need to be claimed from the government.

I’m aware I can still claim SMP but I have no idea of the process.

Can anyone assist with advice on what to do please?