Dave’s Blog

Dave Haddock was a fairly average kind of UK Civil Servant and he has recently taken voluntary early retirement!  But he didn’t really choose to go.  He was “persuaded” by his senior managers to make the move.

Dave knew he had to leave and he is going follow the advice on this site!  But he is still very worried about how he is going to prepare for life outside the Civil Service!

It is now over a year since Dave left his Civil Service job and he still hasn’t found the right role for him!

We are giving Dave advice, but if you have any advice to offer him please email it to me at wendymason@wisewolfcoaching.com

You can read the early part of Dave’s story at the bottom of this diary

17th May 2012 – Dave receives some great advice on starting up a business

Dave was relieved that his research into the competition hadn’t thrown up anything which made his idea look like a non starter.   After he’d written his list

he’d started to worry about whether he’d set too much store by the comments he’d heard at the golf club about the difficulties of getting someone to fix computer systems.   There were a lot of businesses offering computer services within the 30 mile radius Dave had picked but he soon discovered that people wanting those services didn’t look beyond the nearby large town of Hapmisborough.   In Hapmisborough there were four businesses providing computer services: two were small companies and two were self employed people.  There was also one self employed person working in Dave’s home town.

Dave was glad he hadn’t given up his job at the golf club.  It might not provide him with lots of customers for his proposed business but it was a great source of information.   People were happy to talk to him about his proposals and to tell him about their own experiences of the local computer service businesses.  The sort of comments people made were:  “I wouldn’t use them again – they were far too expensive”;  “He’s a computer nerd and I couldn’t understand anything he said about why my system had broken down”;  “He’s good but I had to wait over a week before he came to fix the system”;  “All he wanted to do was to tell me why I needed an expensive more up to date system”  “He cancelled the first appointment and when he did turn up he was over an hour late.  Some excuse about the previous job taking longer than expected. ”

It was John, the self employed interior designer who brought Dave back to earth by pointing out that negative experiences were what people liked to talk about and that all of the businesses must also have satisfied customers otherwise they wouldn’t still be in business.

John didn’t think Dave needed to employ an accountant.  Dave’s accounts would be relatively straightforward and, although it would be time consuming, John was sure Dave could do them himself.  He did, however, stress the same point as the contributors to Wendy’s website had made:  don’t expect too much too soon.

John said he had worked in retail and then for an interior design company before he had set up his own business.  He’d been a sought after member of the company design team so he’d had no trouble getting his first clients through personal recommendation.  He’d continued to get some customers that way but the snowball effect he’d expected hadn’t happened and it had taken him several years to build up to a full time, really profitable business.  Now, with the recession, he was finding it difficult to get work again.

John was sure Dave could eventually earn a good steady income because demand for computer services was growing despite the recession and he encouraged Dave to continue to think his plans through.  He gave Dave some advice based on the mistakes he thought he’d made at the outset.  He advised Dave:

1.  Keep your start up costs and overheads as low as you possibly can.  Don’t buy any expensive new equipment unless you really can’t do the work without it.
2. Don’t be persuaded to spend money on advertising unless there’s a good prospect that it will bring in customers.  Ask your friends and contacts how they go about getting someone to fix their computer.  Ask each customer how they heard about you.
3. Getting work via contacts and recommendations is the easiest way to build up a business but it can have disadvantages.  Think about the potential pitfalls of any work offer before you accept it.   For example, Jack complained about being told he needed an expensive new system but he may well be overloading an outdated system and it wouldn’t do your reputation any good to have Jack telling golf club members that he paid you to fix his system but it had broken down again.
4. You can waste a lot of time chasing people for payment even people you would have thought would pay promptly.  Don’t give anyone the chance to “forget” to pay your bill or to complain that the bill is much higher than expected.  Always give people a written estimate and make sure they sign it to say they accept it and if the job turns out to be more complicated than you anticipated revise the estimate and make them sign that too.   Whenever you can, insist that people pay the bill before you leave the premises.  Do that even if you are working for a friend or someone you know.
5. If you’re going to work in people’s homes, it would be helpful to get a couple of people, who know you well and have some standing in the community, to write personal references for you.

2nd May 2012 Dave starts planning for Self-Employment but what about June?

June left any suitable looking job adverts next to Dave’s favourite chair so that he couldn’t fail to see them.  Dave had designed a leaflet advertising his services, which he left in the kitchen for June to see.  But, June never mentioned the leaflet and Dave never mentioned the adverts.

Dave read Wendy’s article about de-motivation and thought wryly that at least he’d conquered that demon even if not the way Wendy had recommended.  The argument with June had shaken him out of his lethargy.  Dave hadn’t read Wendy’s posts since June had had her accident and he decided to go back to where he had left off and make notes of any advice he needed to follow up.

By the time Dave had read all the old posts, he’d realised that he had a lot more thinking and planning to do before he could turn his ideas into something resembling a potentially successful business.  And, when he’d read Margaret Adams’s post about the first five customers, he’d begun to wonder whether he was being over optimistic.  The two customers he’d found almost immediately via his job at the golf club bar, could have been just luck.

Dave made a list.   Here it is:

1.  Check out Business Link
2. Get more specific information about the competition.  How many businesses are there within a 30 mile radius offering the same or similar services?  What sort of businesses are they?  Are there any gaps, which I could fill instead of going into competition?  What sort of reputations do they have?  Are there are weaknesses in their level of service, which I could exploit?
3. What are my strengths is this area?  What are my weaknesses?  (Note to self: beware overselling/overstating skills)
4. Should I continue to plan in terms of offering both basic computer skills training and computer trouble shooting or should I focus on one or the other?
5. Identify the market.  Should I focus on particular groups eg people over 50, or people working from home or small businesses.
6. Develop a marketing strategy.  Should I use the internet including the social networking sites?  How much would it cost to advertise in the local papers or the Town Magazine.   What about the Yellow pages or equivalent?  Would a leaflet drop be helpful?  Would any local businesses or organisations be willing to display promotional material from me?
7. Talk to John* about how he started and potential pitfalls.  Go over the sort of accounts I will need to keep to make sure I haven’t overlooked anything.
8. How will I want to be paid?  Do I need to be able to accept credit/debit cards?  How much would that cost?
9. Prepare estimates of the start up costs and on-going overheads.
10.   Work out how much to charge taking account of the information gleaned about the completion and the costs and overheads.  Consider offering a discount to pensioners.
11. Talk to Inland Revenue about the tax implications .
12. Check home and car insurance and take out new insurance, if necessary.
13.  Get public liability insurance.
14.   Get VAT registration
15. Open a new bank account.

* John is self employed interior designer-  one of Dave’s golfing colleagues.

Dave knew he couldn’t make any moves on the last items on his list without June’s acceptance of the project.  His heart had sunk when he’d read Wendy’s first post on self employment with its stress on having support from family and friends.  The best he could hope for was that June would eventually accept that he was going to become self employed.

25th April 2012 – What has happened to June and Dave? Oh Dear they’ve been sulking!

On the surface, everything has been looking fine between Dave and June since we last caught up with them. But beneath the surface both have been seething with resentment.

They aren’t the sort of people who have a blazing row and then make up. They have had arguments and then, if the argument became heated, one or other of them would storm out. They’d both sulk for a while. Slowly, each of them would start to see the other’s point or view and either one of them would tacitly concede or they’d reach an unspoken compromise. Then the issue, which caused the argument, would never be discussed again.

They’ve been following the same pattern but this time neither has been able to see the issues from the other’s perspective and both have separately nurturing their grievances and working on their own ideas. Neither has said anything to the other about what Dave is going to do next. So here is how things progressed….!

June thought about all the previous times she had wanted to give something to one of the children and Dave had refused. She was overlooking the fact that they had all been at the beginning of Dave’s career when they hadn’t had much money and had struggled to pay the mortgage. And, she thought bitterly that if Dave had applied himself to getting a job, he’d have got one months ago.

He’d talked about networking and had joined LinkedIn and he’d sold the barman’s job at the golf club to her on the basis that he would make useful contacts. But the only possibility he’d got out of all that, he hadn’t followed up. The only serious application he’d made had been for the school administrator’s post.

June searched the job adverts in the local and national press. She was convinced that, if Dave worked at it, he could soon get a proper job.

She was prepared to lower her sights in terms of the salary he would earn but she wasn’t prepared to consider self employment. To June self employment wasn’t something people like Dave chose to do, it was what they did when all else had failed.

Dave thought about all the sacrifices he had made for his family.

He thought June was being totally unfair. He wasn’t making excuses – it was time the children were more self reliant. He wouldn’t go on being around to bail them out. And what’s more he was sure Charlotte’s husband would prefer to organise his own family holidays, even if all they could afford was a week’s camping. And he thought about the way he’d dropped all of his plans to look after June and the house after her accidents. He felt that she ought to consider his interests for a change.

In fact, the children were beginning to sort themselves out. June’s accidents had brought home to them, in a way Dave’s redundancy hadn’t, that their parents’ lives had changed. Secretly, they’d all been impressed with the way their father had stepped in and kept everything going as normal, including the family Christmas.

Craig had been going to talk to his father about how he needed to exchange his car for a newer model but was a bit short of cash. He changed his mind after he’d asked Dave when he was going to get a new car – Dave had said that he couldn’t afford to keep changing his car any more.

Matt had a new girlfriend, Amy, who worked for one of the London boroughs. She was saving up to buy a flat of her own and didn’t want to spend money going out all the time. So, although Matt still had credit card debts, which he couldn’t afford to pay off, they were much lower than normal. And, he was beginning to think seriously about getting a proper job himself. Amy hadn’t said anything but he knew she wasn’t impressed that all he’d ever done was short term casual jobs – her parents would be even less impressed.

 19th February 2012 – Dave and June argue! 

The timing had seemed perfect.  June and Dave had met up with Oliver and Sally for a Sunday lunch in a village pub and afterwards had gone for a walk in the nearby woods.   They’d talked about the developments in Oliver’s school and the prospect of the school applying for Academy status.

Oliver is a Head of Department and Dave had applied a little while ago, unsuccessfully, for the school administrator’s job.  So Dave was keen to know how Daniel, the new administrator, had settled in.  Oliver hadn’t said much but he had indicated that Daniel wasn’t doing too well.

When they got back June thought it was the ideal time to talk to Dave about applying for the school adminstrator job again when it was re-advertised.

She told Dave everything Sally had told her and that she was sure the job would be re-advertised.  June was confident Dave would get the post this time.  Dave didn’t even stop to think about June’s proposal; he said simply that he was no longer interested in the post.  Then he told her about his plans to become a self employed computer trouble shooter.   It had turned into an argument with each of them pressing the advantages of their own proposal and pointing out all the disadvantages of the other’s ideas.

Dave said that even if he’d still been interested in the school administrator’s post, it would be absurd to pin everything on something so uncertain.  In the current economic climate Daniel wouldn’t give up the job and the school would find it difficult to get rid of him unless he performed really badly.  And, if the post was re-advertised his, Dave’s, chances of success were even lower than last year.   By then it would be more than a year since he’d worked at that sort of level.   There would be other candidates who were still in work or who had lost their jobs more recently and there was now an interest in getting people leaving the Armed Forces into schools.

June pointed out that Dave had no formal computer training or work experience and would no doubt be competing for work against younger better qualified people.  What if he made mistakes?  Could he get insurance to cover the risks and how much would that cost?  And what new equipment would he need and how much would that be?   And then there would be the cost of hiring an accountant and the wear and tear on the car.   She thought he was unlikely even to make enough money to cover his expenses and there would be no financial stability.

Dave had been going to work through all of those things but then, June had had her accident and he’d had no time to pursue it.  However, instead of saying that, Dave talked as if it was all a fait accompli.   June was both hurt and angry.   How could Dave go ahead with such a major decision, which affected the whole family, without even mentioning it to her?

The argument became personal and heated and, of course, the children came into it.   Charlotte was hoping for another baby and they would need to buy her all the things she would need.  Craig would soon want to change his car again for a newer model and they would have to help him with that.  And Matt would, no doubt, have more credit card debts they would have to pay off.   How were they going to pay for all that June wanted to know.   Dave said that they weren’t going to pay for any of it and stormed off to his “study”.

15th February 2012 - June has ideas

Surprisingly, June wasn’t worried about Dave.  She’d found her enforced period of idleness after her accident very difficult and frustrating at first but in the end she’d realised that she’d needed the rest.

It had been a very stressful nine months since Dave had lost his Civil Service job and, until her accident, June hadn’t recognised how much it had taken out of her.  She knew Dave had found it very hard too so, she felt he needed his period of relative inactivity and was confident that he’d soon snap out of his lethargy.

June’s accidents had also given her plenty of time for reflection and she, like Dave, had also realised that there were compensations to him losing his job in the Civil Service.

The obvious major one was that he had been there to look after her and take over the running of the house after she broke her ankle.  And, there was their new joint social life, which she really enjoyed.  Also, despite the stresses, Dave was more relaxed and even tempered than he had been when commuting.  Often he used to get back tired, tense and irritable.

But June was still worried about money.  Paying for the holiday with daughter Charlotte and her family at the end of the summer and giving the equivalent amount of money to the other two children had made a big dent in their savings.

Dave had insisted that he wasn’t going to take a job for the sake of continuing to provide extras for the children when they were well able to look after themselves but June thought otherwise and that meant Dave getting a “proper” job.

June didn’t see the compensations as stemming from the fact that Dave was no longer doing a stressful job but from the fact that he was no longer commuting into London every day.  So, she was scanning the papers looking for any suitable vacancy within a half hour’s drive.  She’d seen nothing so all her hopes were resting on the school administrator post, which Dave had applied for in the summer, becoming vacant again.

Oliver, their friend and Head of Department at the school,  never talked to June or Dave about Daniel, the school administrator, who’d been appointed to the post.  But he did talk to his wife, Sally.

And from Sally, June had learnt that Daniel wasn’t making a good impression.    Daniel and his wife had been unable to find a house in the area, which they both liked and could afford. So they hadn’t moved!  That meant Daniel had an hour and a half drive each way.  So, he often arrived late and left early.  He seemed to be doing the minimum he needed to do to hold down the post. 

The headmaster and the other senior teachers had been sympathetic at the outset but concerns were now being raised about Daniel’s performance and commitment to the school.  Sally was sure that if Daniel didn’t jump he’d be pushed.

Dave had been second choice for the administrator’s post last year and June was sure that, if it was re-advertised, Dave would get the job.   And, she was confident that Dave would want to re-apply.

6th February 2012 – What has happened to Dave (and June)? 

After that he’d bought a couple of recipe books and experimented.  Christmas was a triumph.  Charlotte ,his daughter, had initially offered to do the traditional family Christmas, but her husband had made such a fuss about it, Dave had decided it would be less trouble to have all their children to stay as he and June normally did and to cook the Christmas dinner himself.

20th September 2011 – Dave sets off in a new direction!

When he wasn’t playing golf, Dave used his time in Portugal to take stock.  When he’d first been retired, he felt that he wanted to do something different but he hadn’t known what.  Then he’d been swept up in his family’s and friends’ expectation that he’d get another middle management job and he hadn’t  been able to sort out whether he really wanted to do something different or whether that was just an excuse because he was afraid of being rejected and not getting another job.

Now he was at a crossroads.  Coming so close to getting the school administrator’s job had restored his self belief and he knew he could use the experience in applying for other jobs.  But, he’d also learnt that another similar job wasn’t what he wanted.  He’d been disappointed not to be offered the school administrator’s job but there was also a sense of relief.  And he’d now got some ideas about other things he could do.

Dave wasn’t a computer expert but he knew more than most and he’d identified what he thought were two gaps in the local market.  The first was someone to teach older people basic computer skills and the other was someone to sort out basic computer problems – a trouble shooter.

Dave hadn’t mentioned his ideas to June.  He knew she wouldn’t approve and he wanted to make sure they really were feasible before he said anything.  Neither would earn him a lot of money but he thought that once he was established he could earn a decent income.

Dave decided to do some more research on the potential demand and how he might market himself and to write to Wendy for any advice she could give on going into self employment

“Dear Wendy

As you know I didn’t get the school administrator’s job.  I was very disappointed at first but applying for it and going for interview was a useful experience and it has helped me to clarify what I really want to do next.

When I first retired I thought I would prefer to do something different rather than seek another similar middle management post and now I feel sure that that really is what I want to do.  I’m thinking about becoming a self employed computer skills teacher and trouble shooter.   I have the technical skills and my personal relationship skills have always been one of my strengths.  I’ve got a lot more work to do to identify the market etc but I think it is a realistic proposition.

I know your blog is mainly aimed at people looking for work in the private or voluntary sector but I wondered whether you had any advice to offer for those thinking about self employment, as I am.

Regards

Dave”

26th August 2011 Dave Bounces Back

Dave and June had just got back from a holiday in Portugal with their daughter Charlotte and her family.  In the end they had not only paid for the holiday but had gone with them to act as baby sitters.  Going with them had been June’s idea.  She thought it would do Charlotte and her husband good to have time on their own together and that the break would help Dave recover from his disappointment about the school administrator’s job.

June had gone on saving job adverts for Dave and when she’d given him a pile he’d promised to read them but, later, she’d found them in the paper recycling box.  Sally, her friend, had told her not to worry and that Dave just needed time and space to recover his confidence.  A family holiday in Portugal had seemed just the thing.

It had not, however, gone as June had hoped.  Dave had been happy for her to go but it had taken much nagging and many tears to persuade him to take time off from his barman’s job to go as well.  Then, they’d left it so late to book, the holiday had cost twice as much as June had anticipated.

Dave had spent nearly all the time on the local golf course and, although he’d made new friends, he had not, as far as June could tell, made any useful connections.  And, far from encouraging him to get another job so that they could afford to do the same next year, Dave had told Charlotte and her husband that he wouldn’t be able to pay for them to have a holiday again.

Afterwards, when June had remonstrated, Dave had said that it wasn’t just about the money, it was time she left Charlotte and her husband to lead their own lives.  June was very upset – it made her sound interfering when she had just wanted to help.  She put it all down to Dave’s disappointment.

In fact, it hadn’t taken Dave long to get over the disappointment about the administrator’s job.  He had talked to Oliver who had told him how close he’d come to actually getting the job, which had restored Dave’s self esteem.  And he’d read Wendy’s piece on retirement and been reminded of how he had started out wanting to do something different. It also made him realise how much of his current lifestyle he appreciated.

Dave hadn’t realised before how worn down he’d become with the commuting and working  long hours: he felt much fitter and healthier now.  When he’d first met up with ex-colleagues for lunch and listened to them talking about the latest developments,  he’d felt resentful at not being part of it any more and bitter at the way he’d been moved out: now he felt glad to be out of it.

When  he was working he hadn’t had time for much of a social life: now he and June often had friends round for a meal or were invited out themselves.  Previously, the Age Concern visiting had felt like a chore but now he enjoyed it and was thinking of doing more.  Also, for the first time, since they had moved to the town years ago, he felt like part of the local community.

So, whilst he was disappointed about the school administrator’s job Dave felt that they were a lot of compensations.

29th July 2011 Dave is disappointed

14th July 2011 Things look rosy but not to June

Dave had come back from his interview feeling on top of the world.   He knew it had gone well and that he’d made a very positive impression on the interviewing panel.  He recognised at the outset, from the questions she asked, that one of the interviewers was sceptical about his suitability for the job, but he was sure he’d convinced her by the end.  He hadn’t tried to blag his way round the fact that there were a few aspects of the job for which he didn’t have any relevant experience but had stressed that he’d done of lot a research on them and he was able to explain why he was confident that he would be able to handle them well.

June was pleased that Dave felt he’d done well and she knew that, if he felt like that, he would have done well but she was still worried.  She knew from Sally that at least two of the other people being interviewed were equally good candidates.   And she knew that Dave hadn’t even looked at any job advertisements, since he found out about the school administrators job.  Someone at the golf club had told him about what had sounded like a suitable vacancy in the company he worked for but Dave hadn’t followed it up at all.

So, if Dave didn’t get the school job, it would be an enormous blow to his confidence and he wouldn’t have anything else in the pipeline.

June hadn’t expected Dave to be out of work for long and she’d thought that after a short gap life would carry on in the same   way.

Life for June was primarily centered  on her children even though they were now all grown up and living away from home.    She still wanted to be involved in their lives and she still wanted to be able to help them out financially.    Last year, they had paid for their eldest daughter, Charlotte, and her family to have a summer holiday in Portugal.  Charlotte had a 3 year old and didn’t work and her husband was a teacher, so a holiday abroad would have been out of the question if Dave and June hadn’t paid for it.  June had told Charlotte that they would pay for their holiday again this year but, now, it looked as if they would have to use their savings to do so.

If they paid for a holiday for Charlotte and her family, they would have to do the same for their second child, Craig, even though he didn’t actually need their help.

Then there was Matt and his credit card debts.  Matt hadn’t taken kindly to their attempts to persuade him to reduce his expenditure – he’d ranted about how they had always favoured Charlotte and Craig and how badly he had been treated compared to them. Dave and June were so upset by what he said that they didn’t set any limits on the debts they would pay as they had previously agreed between themselves.

June was getting really worried about how they were going to manage it all, if Dave didn’t soon get a well paid job.

11th July 2011 Dave Applies for A Job

Dave followed Wendy’s advice on interviews avidly.  He’d put in his application for the school administrator’s job and had then agonised over whether he would get an interview.   Writing his CV in today’s style had been a struggle even with Wendy’s help.  He understood and was really impressed with the way she had re-written his introduction but had found it very difficult to re-do the rest of it in the same way.  Eventually, with more help from Wendy he’d got there but at the end he’d felt totally demoralised because he’d had to rely so heavily on Wendy for help.

He’d felt stressed out during the wait to hear whether he’d been short listed and relations with June (and everybody else!) had been strained.  Fortunately, he was selected for interview and reading Wendy’s advice had increased his confidence.   He hadn’t known how to write a CV but he did know how to prepare for an interview and he’d done all of the things she’d suggested.

He had read up on education policy and schools generally, had researched the LEA and found out a lot about the particular school from Oliver.  Doing his CV had helped him to work out how to explain his Civil Service work to non Civil Servants and he’d thought through how to link his past experience with the requirements of the job.   And, Oliver hadn’t been able to tell him everything about the job, so he’d already got a series of questions, which he hoped to get the chance to ask at the interview.  He’d even decided what he was going to wear.

On the morning before his interview, he logged into Wendy’s blog again and found the advice about bad interviewers.   Dave had done some interviewing for junior direct entrants as a Civil Servant and he knew just how hopeless at interviewing some people were, but he hadn’t thought about what it would be like to be on the receiving end of it.    He opened the link and read through the various types and the advice about handling them.  Really useful stuff, he thought.  He read Wendy’s post on dealing with nerves as well.

So, by the time he came to go to the interview, Dave felt a bit nervous but comfortable that he was well prepared and had done everything he could to give it his best shot.

16th June 2011 – Dave is feeling good – it is a pity about June! 

Dave is feeling good.  He has taken the barman’s job at the golf club and it is going really well.  The club manager has been very impressed with Dave’s efficiency and the way he handles customers.  Dave has a knack of being able to have a serious conversation with someone, whilst serving everyone else.  Dave had been a bit worried that being the barman would change how people saw him – as not quite an equal – but that hasn’t happened and most people have been pleased that he has been willing to step in to help, when the normal barman is off sick.

When not at the golf club, Dave is researching the background to the school administrator job.  He’s talked to Oliver about the school, the personalities; the problems it faced etc.  He’s researched educational policy at a national and county level.  He’s found out who all the school governors were and had researched their backgrounds and interests.  He’s identified the county councillors with an interest in education and had looked up their standing and political views.

June isn’t feeling so good.  Dave isn’t looking at the job adverts anymore and she is worried that he seemed to have set his heart on the school administrator job.  Dave would be a good candidate but not an exceptional one.   He has never done any building management work and has never worked in education.    Jobs are being shed across the public sector and there might be candidates who have worked in education at national or county level.  An administrator, who knows the way round the county machine would be a big asset to the school.  And there will be candidates, who were administrators at smaller schools and who wanted to take a step up the ladder.

Over supper yesterday June told Dave about the job adverts she’s seen in the Guardian Society supplement.  One was for a chief executive of a small charity at about his previous salary level.  Dave said that would be aiming too high.  Another was for the head of a policy unit at one of the Royal Medical Colleges.  They were looking for someone to respond to Government consultations, for which Dave was well qualified.  Dave said that someone from the Department of Health would have been earmarked for that job.  The Canadian High Commission were advertising for Immigration Program officers, for which Dave was also well qualified.  Dave thought that job sounded interesting but he needed to focus on the school administrator post.

June wondered whether the school administrator job appealed to Dave because it felt safe.   When she’d been a teacher she talked to him a lot about the issues, so they would feel familiar to him.  The job was local.  Dave didn’t know the school, but they had lived in the town for a long time and he knew the area well.  And, if he got the job, now he’d got to know a few of the teachers, he wouldn’t be working with complete strangers.

Anyway at least he has now sent his CV to Wendy for her comments so he is making some progress again!

15th June 2011 – One step forward, two steps back

Dave contacted Oliver to find out more about the school administrator job.  The post was about to be advertised at a higher level and salary than before because they were hoping to recruit someone who could take sole responsibility for administration, thus relieving the pressure on the Headmaster and senior teaching staff.   Dave decided it was the job he’d been waiting for.

June wasn’t so sure but it was the first job Dave had shown any enthusiasm for and she wanted to encourage him.  Sally and Oliver knew the headmaster and his wife well and she was sure Sally would be happy to arrange a super party so that Dave could meet the headmaster.  And some of the School governors might be golf club members and Dave might be able to use his contacts to talk to them.  Dave wasn’t having any of that.  He would take up Oliver’s offer to talk about the school and the problems they were facing but he wasn’t going to engineer meetings and he didn’t want anyone else to engineer them on his behalf.  If he met the headmaster or any of the governors in the normal course of events, if the right opportunity arose, he would talk to them about the job.

June explained that she hadn’t had that sort of meeting in mind.  In any event, it would be inappropriate to invite the headmaster and his wife to a relaxing supper and then expect him to talk about work.  The occasions would be purely social ones – a chance for Dave to get to know some of the personalities involved and for them to get to know him.

Dave was unimpressed.  If he got the job he wanted it to be on his merits not because his wife’s friends happened to know the headmaster.  June pointed out that, if he did get the job, it would be on merit because the headmaster wasn’t likely to favour Dave over a better candidate because he’d met him once at a supper party.  On the other hand, if there were two equally good candidates the headmaster might prefer to appoint someone he’d already met and knew he could work with.

Dave didn’t have his listening ears on.

14th June 2011 – More progress

Having successfully networked with June, Dave started thinking about networking with Matt his son.   He’d tried to talk to June about the problem with Matt’s credit card bills, after Matt had gone back to the flat he shared with his friends.

But Dave had approached it in completely the wrong way.  He’d raised the issue with June in the context of him not getting a similarly well paid job and it had ended with him ranting about how irresponsible and spoilt Matt was.  Dave didn’t know where the anger had come from – if anyone had spoilt Matt it was him because he’d encouraged him to travel and see the world before he settled down.

This time Dave recognised that he’d need June on board if he was going to tackle the problem successfully.  June agreed that they couldn’t let Matt continue to build up larger and larger credit card debts but she was adamant that they couldn’t suddenly refuse to pay them off anymore.  They’d never quibbled about paying them off before and they couldn’t suddenly cut him off.  They needed to talk to Matt and find a way forward that they could all accept.  Dave knew she was right and they agreed to talk to Matt next time he came home.

Dave was relieved that he and June were working to solve problems together again.  June’s first supper party had also been a success.

She’d invited a friend from the charity shop and her husband who worked in the City in finance and a friend from her teaching days, Sally, and her husband, Oliver, who was also a teacher.   Oliver was head of English at the local comprehensive and during the meal, he’d mentioned that they school were looking for a new administrator.  He’d half jokingly said that Dave should apply for the job.   He’d said “A bit below your capacity, I know, but we could do with someone like you.  Brian (the current administrator) is OK but he never uses any initiative and he approaches everything the wrong way and sets peoples’ backs up”   Then he’d gone on to tell an amusing story about the administrator’s undiplomatic handling of the OFSTED inspectors.   Fortunately, the school had nevertheless got a good report, otherwise the story wouldn’t have been so funny.

Dave had left the conversation to flow but he’d been interested in the news about the administrator’s job – it could be just the thing for him.

13th June 2011- A step in the right direction

Dave started to wonder what was happening to him.  He claimed to have problem solving and decision making skills but he hadn’t even been able to decide on a barman’s job on his own.  And influencing and persuading people were supposed to be among his strengths!  He hadn’t been able to persuade his wife that there would be advantages in him doing the barman work for a few months.  Dave thought wryly that if he needed to network, it was with his family.   Then he realised that was exactly what he needed to do.

He’d take June for a networking lunch.  The venue needed to be somewhere new – not one of the places they usually went where they would just fall into the old routine.  So, Dave chose a gourmet pub recommended by one of his golf club contacts.

June was amused but pleased when Dave had told her that he wanted to invite her to a networking lunch.  She was also very pleased that Dave was taking a more positive attitude to networking.  When Dave had told her about Wendy’s advice on networking she’d tried to explain that it wasn’t about being given a job regardless of merit.  She’d reminded Dave that he’d used networking in the Civil Service and that had been how he’d got the job in the Minister’s office.   Dave had got very angry and accused her of saying that he’d got the job by the back door.  That wasn’t what June was saying at all.  She knew he’d had to compete for the job against two other candidates but, if he hadn’t got to know someone who’d worked in a Minister’s office and let people know that was the sort of job he wanted, he wouldn’t have been in the frame for the job at all.

June’s friends were mostly teachers or ex-teachers but she’s also made friends through her work in the charity shop.  Dave hardly knew any of them.  They did family things together but, by default rather than by design, their social lives were quite separate.   June suggested that she should start to invite her friends and their partners for a drink and a meal – not formal dinner parties but informal suppers where people could relax and chat.  They wouldn’t be networking events as such but social evenings, which would enable Dave to get to know more people.

June also suggested that Dave join a networking group but that was an idea too far for Dave.  June understood why.  Dave got on with almost everybody but he would never approach anyone he didn’t know unless he had a reason to do so and, for him, networking wouldn’t be reason enough.  That was when June recognised that the barman idea wasn’t such a bad one after all, particularly now that Wendy thought it was a good idea too.  If Dave just went to the golf club he’d play a round or two and talk to the people he already knew.  If he was the barman, people would go to him and they would start chatting.   If Dave made it clear that he was doing the job to help the club out whilst the real barman was off sick, perhaps it wouldn’t harm his prospects.

That afternoon Dave went to talk to the club manager about doing the job and June made plans for her first supper party.

The key issue of what Dave was going to do next remained unresolved but it was all a step in the right direction.

9th June 2011 – Wendy replies to Dave

Dear Dave

It is really good to hear from you.  I am sorry I didn’t reply to your earlier letter, so I’m going to cover both here.

I think you are making some really solid progress.  I’m so glad you are using LinkedIn and I’m looking forward to reviewing your CV.

You mention looking for “just the right job” and that made me wonder.  Looking back on your Civil Service career was every move you made into exactly the right post?  I suspect not.  I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t just the best match that was around at the time, because that would be what it is like for most of us.   

Most of us have to compromise about something when we choose a job.  Very few of us find exactly the right fit.  But we balance everything up and see if it meets enough of our needs for us to make the choice.  I think it might be a very good idea for you to spend a little time thinking about what is really critical for you right now. What is the priority?

As for the barman’s job, I can understand June’s fears but you are right.  Most employers will look very favourably on your wish to be gainfully employed– the greater continuity of employment you have the better.  If you could make clear that you were simply doing it to help them out, would that help avoid any potential embarrassment for June?  As you say, you would meet a wide range of contacts and that should be helpful, as well as generating some extra income.

I’m looking forward to hearing more.

Best wishes

Wendy

8th June 2011 – Dave tries networking and wonders

Dave had had a successful few days.

He’s met John, his former line manager for a drink after work.  John had been surprisingly pleased to see him and very ready to offer support and advice.  He’d been very honest in his appraisal of Dave’s skills and had emphasised that Dave should look for something using his organisational, management and people skills.  He’d suggested that Dave re-train as a teacher because good teachers were still much in demand and Dave would make an excellent teacher.  Dave had never wanted to be a teacher but he knew John was right and that it was something he’d be good at.  So, he’d decided to add it to his list of options and do some research on what re-training would involve.

Norman, his previous line manager, had also been pleased to hear from him and they’d arranged to have lunch together in a couple of week’s time.

Dawn, the Age Concern organiser had also been very helpful and had been pleased to be asked to be a referee.  She’d suggested that Dave should think about using his computer skills because there were always people needing help to sort of problems of one sort or another.

At the Golf club Dave had got chatting to the club manager, who had told him that he was looking for a barman to look after the bar on weekday lunchtimes.  The current barman was going into hospital for an operation and was expected to be off for several months.  The manager had asked Dave, if he knew anyone who would be suitable, but Dave had thought that it would be just the job for him.  He hadn’t got any experience but he was sure he wouldn’t have any difficult learning the ropes.   The pay wasn’t much but it would help and it would be a new interest and enable him to get know lots of the golf club members.

However, when he’d told June about it, she was totally opposed to the idea.  She thought that having barman on his CV would ruin his chances of getting a good job.   Dave thought that doing any job would impress employers more that being unemployed but June wasn’t convinced.  Dave decided to ask Wendy for her advice.

Dear Wendy

I am sorry to trouble you again, when I’ve only just written but I would be grateful for your advice on whether I should apply for a temporary barman’s job, which I know is about to become vacant.

My wife thinks that doing that sort of job would prejudice my chances of getting a middle management post.  However, I would prefer to do something like that whilst I’m looking for a permanent position.  The big advantage of it is that it would be very helpful to me in broadening my network of contacts.  The job is at the golf club, of which I’m a member, and it would enable me to get to know a wide range of members.  

I would be grateful for your views.  Keen as I am, I wouldn’t want to take it on if it would disadvantage me.

Regards

Dave Haddock

5th June – Dave sees the light!

Having joined LinkedIn, Dave started to think again about the rest of Wendy’s advice about networking and thought about his contacts.

He’d spoken to his former Civil Service line manager, John, about a reference before he’d left the Department, but only briefly and that was months ago now.  Dave thought it would be helpful to know what sort of reference he’d get and to have an open informal discussion with John about his strengths and weaknesses.  So, he decided to invite John to lunch or for a drink after work.

Then there was his previous line manager, Norman, who was now in a senior position.  Dave had always got on really well with Norman – they had the same sense of humour and both enjoyed golf.  And, Dave knew that Norman had thought highly of him.  So, he decided to arrange to see Norman as well.

He’d also thought of asking the Age Concern organiser, if she would give him a personal reference but had done nothing about it.  He knew her quite well, not only because he acted as an Age Concern voluntary visitor but also because he’d sorted out her computer for her a couple of times.  So, he added her to his list of people to see.

Then there was the Golf Club.  Dave friends there were all public servants of one sort or another but the general membership included local business people as well as people, who were employed in the private sector.

Thinking about the golf club members, Dave realised he should be pursuing both options – looking for a similar job to the one he had before and working out what doing something different might actually mean.  He’d been so caught up in the arguments about the pros and cons of each option that he’d ended up doing nothing about either.

Since his retirement, Dave had stuck to his previous routine of playing golf with same group of friends at the weekend.  So, Dave added to his “to do” list – go to the golf club during the week.   If he got to know a few more golf club members he could learn a lot about a whole range of different employment types and get some helpful ideas and advice.

4th June 2011 – Dave prevaricates 

Up in his office, Dave was thinking about his youngest son, Matt, who had turned up unexpectedly the night before.  Matt had never been interested in a career.  After leaving University two years ago, he’d spent a year travelling in Central and South America and since then had only had a few short term casual jobs.  Dave had thought that Matt might understand his increasing desire to do something different, but he’d found himself unable to even mention the possibility.  Instead, he talked confidently about his action plan and the advice from Wendy, who he now thought of as his coach.  Matt was impressed and June was reassured.

Dave was worried.  Matt was in trouble with his credit card bills again and was clearly expecting Dave to pay them off.  Dave had been paying off Matt’s credit card bills since his son had started university and each time the amount had been larger.  Now he owed £8,000.   Dave had been happy to help his son and his other two children when he had a well paid and, as he’d thought, secure job but he wouldn’t be able to go on doing it now unless he could get an equally well paid post.  He’d have to use their savings to pay off Matt’s latest debts.

Dave knew that he ought to go down and talk to Matt about it but, instead, he logged on to Wendy’s blog.  Re-reading her advice about networking, he realised that there was something in it for him – he’d have to make a serious attempt to get a new job, if he wasn’t going to let his family down and, if he was going to get a job, he’d need to do more than skim the adverts in the newspapers.

Dave was already on Facebook and Twitter but he used those for friends and family, so he decided to join LinkedIn.   He couldn’t find anyone he knew on there but writing up his work experience in terms of his skills rather than job titles was a morale booster.    He wasn’t creative but he had all the other skills and personal attributes, Wendy had listed in her advice on CVs.

Thinking about Wendy’s advice on CVs, Dave felt rather guilty that he hadn’t got back in touch with her to thank her for following up his request. He also felt ashamed that he hadn’t done anything about his own CV.   The trouble was he didn’t know what to say to her.  He’d first approached her, when he was  keen to get another job and felt he couldn’t tell her that he was now having doubts about it. And, although he was increasingly thinking about doing something different, he didn’t know what that something different was.  And, anyway, he couldn’t do something different because the whole family was relying on him getting another well paid job.

This is how Dave ended up writing to Wendy:

Dear  Wendy

Thought I’d just drop you a line to thank you for all the advice on the blog and to let you know that I’m making good progress.

The advice has been really useful.  I realised you were right about the need to network and I’ve now joined LinkedIn.  You’ll see that I’ve described my work experience in terms of my skills – I hope that was the right thing to do.  

I’ve also been looking at the job adverts in the papers every day but so far there hasn’t been anything, which I think would be just right for me.  And, I think I do need to wait for the right job. 

I’m grateful for your offer to review my CV.   I’m going to follow your advice and tailor it to the job, so, when the right job comes up, I’ll write my CV  and send it to you before I put in my application.

Regards

Dave Haddock

3rd June 2011 No Progress

Dave wasn’t making any progress on anything.  He’d converted one of the spare bedrooms to an “office” and spent most of his time there out of June’s way.  He took up the local and national papers and told June that he was searching for a job, but what he really did was to read the news; skim the job adverts and spend most of his time messing about on his computer.

Dave had tried to talk to June about not really wanting to do the sort of job he’d had in the Civil Service, but she hadn’t understood.

The first time, he’d tried to get her to see his retirement as an opportunity to do something different without the usual financial pressures.  He’d gone through their financial position to show her that even if he didn’t earn as much as he’d done before, they could still live very comfortably.  And, he’d carefully refrained from suggesting that she could contribute to their finances even though that was what he thought.

June wasn’t unsympathetic.  She understood that being eased out would have been an enormous blow to Dave’s confidence and she did her best to boost his morale and to be understanding but she couldn’t understand his desire to do something different.  He’d enjoyed his job and done well at it so not wanting another similar job seemed to her to be a failure of confidence rather than a genuine wish for change.

So, then Dave had tried to explain to her that, realistically, he wasn’t likely to get a similar job.  There were hundreds of former middle ranking public servants out there looking for another job and only those who had something specific and special to offer were likely to get the few jobs on offer.   He wasn’t being modest or lacking confidence in saying that there was nothing special about him – he was average and he was being realistic about his prospects.  June thought that was defeatist and they ended up having another row.

Dave read Wendy’s blog about family relationships and thought that some independent, professional help would be really helpful but he knew June would never agree to it.  As far as she was concerned – he was the problem and it was nothing to do with her.

31st May 2011  What’s up with Dave? 

After they got back from their recent holiday in Spain, Dave’s wife, June, started to nag him about getting another job.  It was mild at first but then she kept going on and on about it.  In the end, Dave lost his temper and told her to go get herself a job.

June used to be a primary school teacher.  She gave up when the children were born and went back to it when the youngest left school.  But, she found it difficult to cope with the way things had changed in her absence and after a few years she retired on ill health grounds.

Dave knows  she won’t be able to go back to teaching but there are other things she could do.   If they both got jobs, with Dave’s pension, even if they weren’t well paid jobs, between them they could earn enough to bring their income back to its previous level.

So, when things had calmed down a bit, Dave tried to talk to June about the options.  June refused to consider the possibility of her getting a job – she was too busy with the house and the garden, the grandchild etc.  Dave has always supported women’s rights but he is beginning to think that it’s about wanting rights without the responsibilities.

June has been adamantly opposed to the one thing Dave really wanted to do when he was voluntarily retired.

He went from school to university and then straight into the Civil Service.   He has always regretted not taking a gap year to see more of the world.  Dave has read about other people like him using redundancy as an opportunity to travel, so he’s checked out all the options for doing voluntary work in the third world.  But, June has just dismissed the idea out of hand!

All June wants is for life to go on as before and that means Dave getting a “proper” job.

To please her, he has looked at the job adverts in the papers every day and has applied for a couple of them.

He knew the CV he’d drawn up wasn’t what employers are looking for these days and that he has undersold himself, so he wasn’t surprised to get straight rejections.

But, he was disheartened even though he hadn’t really wanted either job.

He’s told June that we’ve advised him to take time to work out what he is going to do next and to prepare thoroughly for whatever he decides to do but June isn’t impressed.

June thinks that’s fine for those with plenty of money but Dave can’t afford to do it!

In fact, they aren’t badly off.  Dave’s pension, whilst less than half his previous salary, is still more than average earnings.  And they have his lump sum, which they can dip into if necessary.

But it’s the children, who are the real drain on their resources.  They are all now in their twenties but all of them still look to their parents for financial help and support.

Dave feels a bit resentful.  He understands that the change is hard for June as well but he had expected her at least to consider alternatives to him getting the same sort of job he had before.

He knows he has to find something to interest him and occupy his time.  The house and garden have become June’s territory and he can tell she is frustrated having him there all the time.

June has built up a life of her own with a bit of charity work and a circle of friends!

Dave knows he needs to build a new life for himself and he doesn’t necessarily want it to be more of the same.  He certainly doesn’t want to be rushed into anything.

What advice would you give Dave?

17th May 2011 Wendy replies to Dave’s latest letter and promises new posts on CV writing.

Wendy is a bit worried about Dave, particularly his reluctance to network.  She hopes that her recent posts have encouraged him to give it a try.

She isn’t surprised that Dave is feeling a bit depressed and that things are difficult with his wife. Being made redundant is stressful for the individual concerned and those around them.

Life changes for the partner or spouse too and this can take a toll.  It helps if you can talk about this together. And sometimes you may need outside help from a counsellor.

Keep an eye on how things are developing between you and if they are getting worse have the courage to ask for help!  Much better that than to lose the relationship. 

Dear Dave

Thanks for your last letter.

I hope that my recent posts have encouraged you to try networking.  I’m sure it really will help in your search for the right kind of work.  I’ll be very  interested to hear how you are getting on 

In my next couple of posts I’m going to concentrate on CVs and how you can use the work you have done on your STAR stories to show your competencies.

Yes, I do think potential employers will be interested in both your Civil Service jobs and the voluntary work you have done.  But it is up to you to work out how to explain what you have done in a way that shows other people what you have delivered.  Potential employers want to see evidence that you can deliver what they need. I’ll help you with this!

That is one of the reasons why you need to establish your own CV template that you can then adapt to each job application.  If you read the adverts carefully you will usually find each advertiser is looking for something a little different.  If it isn’t obvious from the advert then it may be when you do your home work. 

If you are serious about your application, it is worth finding out more about each organization you are applying to be part of.  You should be able to find out quite a lot using the internet.  Then work out what extras you may be able to offer in terms of your particular experience.  As I say above this needn’t just be related to paid work.

Anyway, when you have read my next couple of posts, I hope you have a go at producing the first version of you CV.  I’ll be very pleased to review it for you.

 Mean while, if you have any further questions please get in touch.  

As I’ve said before, if there are other things you would like me to write about here please let me know

With very best wishes

Wendy

5th May 2011 A New Letter from Dave and an update

Dave has returned from a golfing holiday in Spain feeling relaxed and more positive about the future.  But he had a major row with his wife, June, at the beginning of the holiday because, when he told people he was a civil servant, June said immediately “You mean, you used to be”.  She then told everyone how he’d been “voluntary” retired.  Dave felt embarrassed and humiliated.

But, the rest of the holiday had been good – he’d enjoyed the golf and his wife had enjoyed the spa and the pool.  Wendy had been right about needing to have fun as well as working on getting a new job.

When he saw that Wendy had replied to his email and commented on his star story, he felt galvanised and decided to write some more star stories.  The two jobs he’d most enjoyed and felt he’d done really well had been when he’d been private secretary to a junior minister and when he’d been the manager for a major piece of legislation.  He also wrote  a star story about his voluntary work.

Reading the advice Wendy had given whilst he’d been away, he felt he was doing OK.  He thought he wasn’t angry about losing his job – just a bit depressed and daunted about the future.  (June, his wife, however, thought differently – they never used to argue but since he’d “retired” he’d always been getting angry about something).   And he was certainly fit and healthy – he didn’t need to worry about that.   He thought the stuff about networking was interesting but not for him.  He had friends but not contacts as such and anyway he didn’t want to humiliate himself by begging for help and advice.

So, having read all the advice he wrote to Wendy again.  

“Dear Wendy

Thank you so much for your advice on my star story.  I’ve written three more star stories and have set them out in the way you suggested. 

The first one was about the time I spent as the Private Secretary to a junior Minister.  I had to manage the Minister’s office of 4 staff and act as the liaison officer between the Minister and the Department.  I had to make sure that the Minister got all the advice he needed and that officials understood what the Minister wanted to achieve.  It was a very demanding job because it meant working long hours; was always busy and I needed to know about all of the Departments business and deal with difficult issues and sometimes difficult people diplomatically .

The second one covered the time I acted as the manager for a major piece of legislation.   It was the equivalent of a project managers’ job – my role was to ensure that at each stage of the legislation everyone produced all the material needed to time and to standard.

I’ve also written a star story about the voluntary work I do.  When my mother was in a nursing home I used to visit her regularly and I noticed that a lot of the residents had no visitors at all.  So, after my mother died, I got in touch with Age Concern and since then I’ve been visiting an elderly person every week.  I know it’s not much but I do think it shows commitment because most of the time I was working I had very little free time but I always made time to do the visits and never missed a week.

You suggested in your earlier advice on the blog that people should use their star stories as a basis for a CV and in preparation for interviews.  I’d be grateful for your advice on whether you think the jobs and the voluntary work are ones I could use for that.   Would anyone outside the Whitehall Civil Service understand what the jobs entail?  

I’m planning next to do as you suggested and identify the skills and competencies I’ve developed in my work.  I think that when I’ve done that I’ll find it easier to explain to an outsider what my work actually involved.  

I saw that you also suggested that people should start to think about networking but I don’t think that would be helpful for me.   My work colleagues were all civil servants and even if they could help me, I wouldn’t want to ask my friends to get me a new job.  I think people should be employed on merit not because of who they know.

Thanks for your help

Dave  (Haddock)

So what advice would you give Dave?

—————————————————————————————— 

5th April 2011 – Wendy replies to Dave’s Letter (see below)

Dear Dave

Thank you for writing to me.  I’m very glad you like the blog and I hope you go on finding it useful.  I know this is a difficult time!  But I am sure you have got an interesting and challenging future ahead of you.  I will enjoy working with you to develop your plans.

You have made a really good start with your STAR stories but as you requested I’ve some comments.  You will have to bear with me, if I have misunderstood something.

Here are my comments

First of all I give each story a title.  How about for this?

Streamlining the delivery of YCA, making savings and improving performance

Then I would add Situation, Task, Action and Result as a heading to each section to guide the reader through. 

Later on, that break down will help when we analyse your stories to provide evidence of your competencies – one of the reasons for writing them. 

So now for this time only, I’ll have ago at re-writing each section with your information and some questions where I think you might need to add some other material

Situation

I would add some more detail and explanation for non-Civil Servants! Could you add how big the benefit is?  Perhaps you could say how many people receive it? I wouldn’t add the cost of delivering because that might dwarf your savings! People might not understand how significant your saving is in terms of the cost of headquarters.

This is how I would write this section with the material we have so far;

“As policy manager (section leader) for Young Carers’ Allowance (YCA),  I had to monitor customer feedback and the take up of the benefit, as well as the costs of providing it. I was responsible for deciding whether system changes were needed to reduce costs or to improve customer service. I had a team of five – three subject matter experts (HEOs) and two support officers (EO).  There was another small team dealing with development of the benefit, itself.  They consisted of a policy manager (section leader), two subject matter experts (HEO) and a part time support officer (EO). This made 10.5 people working on the benefit.”

Task

I’d put the reason for making the change next under “Task”.  Were there special reasons for needing to save money at this time and could they be added?

“After a few weeks in the job I realised systems could be streamlined and savings could be made. 

There was overlap and duplication of work

·         Within my team

·         Between the two team

And there was room for more, and better, delegation. 

The two teams could be combined saving of one HEO post initially and more after streamlining. 

Action

I think your description of the first stage is spot on!  Then I’d make the explanation of what you did next a bit more generic for the lay reader

“I achieved the first part of this goal by:

1.            Keeping a diary of all the work I did over a one month period and getting all my staff to do the same.

2.            Undertaking an audit of staff skills and competencies.

3.            From the diaries, identifying work, which could be dropped or significantly reduced and drawing up a first draft of a new split of responsibilities.

4.            Involving my staff in finalising the split of responsibilities and agreeing  a programme of change

5.            Agreeing an individual training programme with each member of staff to ensure they had the necessary skills to enable work higher quality work to be delegated to them.

6.            Getting my line managers agreement to the changes and a small increase in my staff training budget.

7.            Getting stakeholders agreement to work being dropped or reduced and a timetable for making the changes.

Changing how work was delegated meant I could take on a wider span of work at my level.  Once I had demonstrated the improvements that could be made by removing overlaps, my line manager had no difficulty accepting that merging the HEO and EO level work would result in staff savings.“

Result

I don’t think you have done yourself justice here. 

This looks like quite an achievement to me – to reduce staff while maintaining morale shows very strong management and leadership skills.  So I’ve reorganised to bring this out more strongly. 

Hope you like what I’ve said. But you could add a bit here or above about how to make sure everyone stood to gain, its key I think. But what would you have considered if that had not been possible?

“Because I had anticipated possible hurdles and thought about how I would deal with them, the changes were introduced smoothly and I achieved my goal. 

I made sure work was maintained to a good standard during the change – even though some staff were away on training courses and others were leaving. 

I made sure that everyone involved stood to gain from making the changes successfully, morale was maintained and everyone worked extra hard throughout.

Two separate teams of 10.5 staff working on YCA were replaced by one highly motivated team of six – a saving of 45% in staff time (four a half posts).   Systems were improved and made more efficient.

Well done Dave – the success here will be clear to all

Let me know what you think of my comments.  I hope you find them helpful.

If you, or any of your colleagues, have any further questions please get in touch.  If there are things you would like me to write about here please let me know

With very best wishes

Wendy

31^st March 2011 – Dave starts his Star Stories 

Dave looked again at the advice he’d read about Star Stories on Leaving the Public Sector.  He re-read his star story and felt more depressed than ever.  No one outside the Civil Service would understand it.  Dave didn’t want to say anything publicly about the actual policies he’d worked on – he was afraid that someone might read it and use it for political reasons.

So, he decided to make up a fictitious benefit – Young Carers’ Allowance paid in respect of anyone under age 21, who had caring responsibilities.  And, thinking about his last job as a policy manager, he decided that it was akin to a product manager.  Someone working for a big holiday company who was product manager for say, holidays in Africa ,would have similar responsibilities.

They would need to know about all of the holidays on offer – how well they sold; their profit margins; customer feedback etc.  And they would need to consider whether changes were needed to the products to improve profitability or respond to customer concerns.  And, if changes were needed they would need to liaise with other parts of the company – the sales department, the finance department etc in much the same way as he did.  So, then Dave re-wrote his star story.

This is what he wrote:

My last job in the Civil Service was as a policy manager for Young Carers’ Allowance (YCA).  That is broadly the same as being a product manager.  I was responsible for maintaining the policy on YCA.  I had five staff – three HEOs and two Eos.  There was another small team dealing with policy (product) development of YCA consisting of a policy manager, two HEOs and a part time EO.

My achievement was that I made improvements in the organisation and management of work on YCA that led to a reduction in the staff resources required of one third.

After a few weeks in the job I realised that substantial staff savings could be made if the work was reorganised and delegated more effectively.

The problems were

1. The way the work was split meant that there was a lot of overlap and duplication both within my team and between my team and the policy development team.
2. Work was not being delegated efficiently or effectively.

So I set myself the goal of reducing my team by one HEO and of subsequently making more savings by combining the work of the two teams.  I achieved the first part of this goal by:

1. Keeping a diary of all the work I did over a one month period and getting all my staff to do the same.
2. Undertaking an audit of staff skills and competencies.
3. From the diaries, identifying work , which could be dropped or significantly reduced and drawing up a first draft of a new split of responsibilities.
4. Involving my staff in finalising the split of responsibilities and agreeing  a programme of change
5. Agreeing an individual training programme with each member of staff to ensure they had the necessary skills to enable work to be appropriately delegated.
6. Getting my line managers agreement to the changes and a small increase in my staff training budget.
7. Getting stakeholders agreement to work being dropped or reduced and a timetable for making the changes.

Since I had anticipated possible hurdles and thought about how I would deal with them, the changes were introduced smoothly and I was able to achieve my goal.  The most difficult part was maintaining the same standards of work whilst the changes were being introduced and staff were away on their training courses.  But I had made sure that everyone involved stood to gain from successfully making the changes so everyone worked extra hard and did their bit to make sure standards did not drop.

Having made the first change successfully, I had no difficulty with the second.

Effective delegation meant that I had capacity to take on the policy development work at section management level.  And I had demonstrated the improvements in efficiency from removing the overlaps so my line manager had no difficulty accepting that merging the HEO and EO level work would result in staff savings.

The end result was that instead of two separate teams of 10.5 staff working on YCA , we had one team of 6 staff.

Dave re-read what he had written but he was still unsure about it .  He wished he could get advice on whether he was on the right lines from the nice lady who wrote the Blog on helping public servants .

Well, he could ask her couldn’t he!

First lesson:  DON’T BE AFRAID OF REJECTION

So he wrote this letter;

Dear Wendy

I’ve been following your Blog about helping people who are leaving the public sector and I got your email address from a friend of a friend of a friend.

I think your advice is spot on and I’m very grateful for your help and support.  I’ve been thinking about star stories and you are quite right – thinking about your achievments throughout your career does make you feel more confident and positive.  I’ve written a story about one of my achievments but I really don’t know whether I’m on the right lines. (I’m attaching a copy of it. )  I’ve worked in the Civil Service all my life and have never had to do anything like that before.  So, I’d be so grateful if you could find the time to let me have some comments on it.

I thought maybe you could put my story with your comments on it on your blog and that might help other people too.  I’m sure there are others like me who don’t really know how to go about writing that sort of thing’

Thanks for your help

Dave  (Haddock)

So what advice would you give Dave about his STAR story?  How do you think improvements could be made.

Do you face a dilemma similar to Dave’s?  Do you think people in the private sector will understand what you have been doing?

I would love to hear from you.  You can email me at wendymason@wisewolfcoaching.com

Wendy’s reply to Dave will be appearing here shortly!

*Dave is a composite of several different but very real people affected by current changes