Last week, I found myself in the unenviable position of having to figure out what Universal Credit was and to apply for it. The idea of spending the equivalent of a full-time job endlessly hunting for jobs for little more than £300 a month didn’t sit well with me. I can tolerate being poor. I can tolerate having no income. I can certainly work hard. But to be poor, with minuscule income, and working hard? Really, how is it that so many people survive for so long on the crumbs that is Universal Credit? There must be some trick about it that I’m not aware of.
So, after a very depressing walk around the cemetery the following morning, I realised I had to decide which path to go down because I really didn’t see a future for myself on the UC path.
As luck would have it, I saw a news article on one of the social media sites stating that Lidl were looking to hire over 1,000 people. Hmm, really? But surely there are so many millions of unemployed people that those jobs will be filled before advertising them?
Nevertheless, I checked out the Lidl website and discovered their careers page. I expected that there’d be no job for me because my skills these days are in web / app development, coding, IT, etc, but with no formal qualifications to enter on any application form. However, I did discover that Lidl’s nearby Regional Distribution Centre was looking for Warehouse Operatives. A job that reminded me very much of my first year at the electrical products factory where I worked on leaving school.
I applied for the position, sending my CV suitable weighted in favour of my fitness and previous factory work and with less priority given to my coding skills, and shortly thereafter received a reply inviting me to their interview “open day” the following Wednesday (three days ago). I haven’t been for a job interview of any kind since the factory, so I’ve no experience of how these things work these days. I was a bit nervous going in, even though I’d done some research into the RDC and the job of a Warehouse Operative (pretty much just like the old factory – you do whatever you’re told by the person directly senior to you).
There were about 30 of us in our session, with another session later that day. They were apparently looking for around 15 people and would ultimately see about 100 candidates. Given that most everyone in the room was a lot younger than me, I wasn’t expecting to make it through.
We had a brief introduction to Lidl, the job, and the system; followed by a fairly rapid tour of the RDC; and then asked if we wanted to go forward with the interview (everyone did). We were told that, if we were successful, we’d have the opportunity of signing contracts before leaving. In all the session took about two and a half hours. I was one of the last to be interviewed, and so I still didn’t have high hopes. Nevertheless, I went in with as much enthusiasm as I could muster – you’d have thought I was going in for the CEO or Microsoft of something. Although my age, and lack of qualifications and experience in the field, were against me, I am (un)fortunate enough to be single, have no family, and no commitments. So there was no barrier to me starting whenever they wanted, or doing whatever shift they needed me to do. I’m the ultimate of “flexible”.
I’ve no idea what others said or did to not be offered a position, I just know that I was offered one. And, yes, I did go through with the contract-signing. My first day will be on Monday, although I’ve no idea what to expect. I’ve found some preboarding information on Lidl’s website, but I’ve not actually been told anything. I’ll turn up on Monday a bit blind about what to do, where to go, and what to expect. Hey-ho, I guess that’s the way of the world.
I do know the job will be hard, because the common factor I’ve found when scouring the internet is that Lidl work their operatives hard, and you must be fast, and hit targets. I suspect that’s the same with every big employer in the 21st Century, and it’s really no different to the previous electrical products factory and their Victorian working values. Even the length of shift and breaks (half-hour for lunch, unpaid), and the expectation to work over and beyond “clocking on and clocking off” is identical to where I was 30+ years ago. I think I’ll find it familiar ground. Who knew 34 years later I’d be back where I started?
But it does mean that, going forward, I’ll be back in full-time employment. All of my previous self-employed ventures will cease, and my coding journey will reduce to hobby-status (if I can find the time for it). I just hope I can find the time to keep running. I think that’s how the world works these days. No time to live. That could be the name of the next James Bond film.