Well, that’s it. After nearly 18 years in a role I never expected to have, and never had any experience of beforehand, I have now officially finished my first job at Torbay Council, alongside my other colleagues from our now-closed printing department who have also lost their positions, as our work has been outsourced to save money.
It is a very sad moment but, as I’ve previously discussed in my redundancy post, it’s also an exciting one given the opportunities that now lie ahead. As one door closes, many more are potentially opening. And as my mother and I are in a financially sound position for the time being, I can have a bit of a break to relax and reset, and take my time to figure out what to do next. I don’t yet have any firm plans, but I am already involved with a couple of paid research projects, I’m doing a bit of volunteering, I’m keeping my copy of the Disability Confident list of employers up to date, and I have connections in my network who are kindly alerting me to vacancies that may be of interest. So it’s all ticking along nicely. My door is also still wide open to further advice, connections and opportunities that anyone may wish to offer.
The one thing that we have now decided is that my mother and I are not going to move house, for the time being anyway. Given the huge increases in energy bills and soaring inflation, the potential impact of increasing strike action, and the lack of political leadership to deal with it thus far, the last thing we want to do is add even more uncertainty and expense to that. We’re better off staying where we are, while we can be certain of our outgoings and can budget accordingly. We will still move eventually, it’s just not essential.
So there’s plenty to look forward to. But here in this post I just thought I’d share how things have gone during my final month, including some of the lovely messages I’ve received and my parting words to my colleagues. It will give you a good sense of how much mutual respect there has been, and how much we will miss one another.
Continue reading “Copy That, Over & Out – Leaving My First Job”
Well Eye Never 