The Work Thread 2 - Get back to work!

[Squinty]

Hoping my work are fine with me being off today.

I have a really bad ear infection in my good ear, earache, extreme deafness. Had this since Friday. Didn't see the point in going in because my job is phone based.

[Zilnad]

"Let me know if you don't receive this email"

Second time they've said that now. Are they taking the piss?

[Johnny Ryall]

It’s been 11 months today since I was last in the office, crazy to think I haven’t seen any of my colleagues in nearly a year.

Really hoping they stick to their word in saying that we will have flexible WFH arrangements when the office is back open, I am so much more zen working at home.

[Drumstick]

It’s been 11 months today since I was last in the office, crazy to think I haven’t seen any of my colleagues in nearly a year.

Really hoping they stick to their word in saying that we will have flexible WFH arrangements when the office is back open, I am so much more zen working at home.

We all are, mate.

Where ya been, anyway? Great to see you back here.

[Cuttooth]

Craig. is no longer out of office.

[Johnny Ryall]

It’s been 11 months today since I was last in the office, crazy to think I haven’t seen any of my colleagues in nearly a year.

Really hoping they stick to their word in saying that we will have flexible WFH arrangements when the office is back open, I am so much more zen working at home.

We all are, mate.

Where ya been, anyway? Great to see you back here.

Oh I’ve been checking in every so often just not been posting much anywhere really!

That might change I dunno

[Lagamorph]

Called in sick for the first time in years today due to a seriously messed up stomach all night and this morning.

I feel kind of bad about it as I had stuff I wanted to get done, but I think most of the guilt comes from actually liking my job.
If I need a day off sick though then I'll take it. I'm lucky enough to get paid for it and I know I shouldn't feel at all guilty for it.

[Zilnad]

Agency rang me today with a potential job so I've asked them to forward my CV to the company hiring. Now I feel sick to the stomach in case I get an interview. I hate feeling like this.

I'm desperate to leave my current employer as soon as I can but when an opportunity actually comes up, I go into a blind panic and look for any excuse to turn it down.

When I've had interviews in the past, I've spent days in a state of constant anxiety, prepping and practicing for the big day and usually I do well enough.

I'm wondering whether to try a new approach this time though and just try not to think about it at all and just go with it on the day. It could result in me crashing and burning but, even if it did, it might make me less fearful of failing the next time?

Eugh, I just hate feeling gooseberry fool scared.

[Trelliz]

Rather than thinking about what you're going to say, think about what you want to ask them. It sounds like your the victim in an abusive relationship trying to convince themselves to stay when there's a possible way out. Remind yourself of all the bullshit if you start thinking like that and how nice it would be to not deal with that.

[Oblomov Boblomov]

Ask them what sort of interview it will be, such as the style of questioning and what sort of assessments you can expect, so you can be well-prepared to demonstrate your skill and experience on the day.

If they reject your request for more information then they're either poorly organised and can't tell you because they don't know yet themselves or they're the sort of gimps who think an important part of the test is being able to bullshit your way through something without being prepared for it, which could say a lot about the state of their working environment.

I've done plenty of recruitment and if someone gets in touch with me to ask for information about the interview up front it tells me they are organised, proactive and (assuming you don't write emails like a doggo meme) able to communicate effectively.

An added bonus to this is that it should help you to feel less nervous overall.

[Zilnad]

Those are both great pieces of advice. Thank you both.

[Green Gecko]

It's been 5 years and I've implemented my first canned response / automatic email, despite having said the same thing about 1000 times every time until then.

I even put a nice picture of a truck in it. Hello corporate world.

[Lagamorph]

It's been 5 years and I've implemented my first canned response / automatic email, despite having said the same thing about 1000 times every time until then.

I even put a nice picture of a truck in it. Hello corporate world.

You've officially become "the man" now GG. I'm disappointed in you

[Green Gecko]

It's actually closer to 7 years but I'm not sure if I had my website up which according to Squarespace "makes it real"

If I don't turn a net profit (during a pandemic, huh) and start optimising my business processes this year then I'm gonna have to start questioning all these investments!

I'm far too stubborn to pour money into advertising or even promote half the stuff I do. It's super hard to advertise services organically at the moment though.

I just don't want to spend all day posting on social media. Might go shopping for a VA. Ideally it would be great if I could just dump a load of high quality photography and video content together with some brand guidelines and crib sheets and just have someone else do it, but it's really hard to track KPIs against an hourly rate for something like that especially when I could do it myself for free. I'm just sick of laptop screen time lately, I need to make something big but I need projects to do that.

I had a giant box of almost 100 shirts arrive today so I'll be doing that but it's only two day's wage in all so I won't want those sitting around for long or I'm just willingly working slowly on below NMW.

Considering my knowledge around SEO/SMM maybe an apprentice through a local college isn't a terrible idea. Isn't the government still funding them as part of Covid-19 relief too? I think they're pretty much requiring ongoing employment from that though, which would only make sense if I actually saw considerably increased sales as a consequence. Or it's just another big overhead that balances out at nothing at the end of every year.

[Karl_]

I've done plenty of recruitment and if someone gets in touch with me to ask for information about the interview up front it tells me they are organised, proactive and (assuming you don't write emails like a doggo meme) able to communicate effectively.

wow query,

at the interview what questions?

such preparation very want job

like really thank you,
doge

[Rocsteady]

In your position I'd cobble together a few ads using PS or even PPT then spend the money you'd use on hiring someone on advertising instead, whether that be through FB/Insta/local papers or wherever makes most sense for your business. Simple geo targeting will do the job if you go down the SM route.

Edit: for GG, obv

[Rocsteady]

Also that way you can just do 1 or 2 great posts and have them on rotation rather than trying to create 30 posts and promote them organically.

[Green Gecko]

Also that way you can just do 1 or 2 great posts and have them on rotation rather than trying to create 30 posts and promote them organically.

You're right.

The DTG is really easy to sell too:

High quality
Low overhead (bought outright, no lease agreement)
Low direct cost
Fast
Gross margin about 80-90%
B2B "gains" negotiable but reselling value is generally about 150-200% that of cost
No minimum quantity hence low to zero risk whereas competition levies MOQs / setup fees
Account manager gives a strawberry float

Cons:

The competition is ridiculous, but the local options are pretty sparse, so geotargeting makes sense.

I'd definitely do them in AI/PS though rather than PPT

[Clarkman]

After four months of planning and work, my business will be launching next week. I'm feeling pretty good about it currently.

[That's not a growth]

That's great! Good luck! You able to tell us more about it yet?