My return!

I knew this would happen, I knew I wouldn't be able to maintain this blog for long without a long break. It's like my written journal, it seems like I only write whenever I can't think of anything else to do. I should be able capable of a whole lot more than this, it's been almost 4 months since I last wrote in this, that is if my maths is correct...

So what have I done in that time? I could have said I was far too busy with work and with my life to write in this blog but that would be a lie. I mean sure i've had a few weeks where I haven't been able to do a whole lot more than work. I guess I just didn't make the time to write more. Even without work i've had plenty of time to do more than just play on the Playstation and watch TV, I really haven't done much more than that though.

I guess the biggest update I have for my many readers( crickets....) is the fact that i'm in the process of getting my driving license again, i'll get the test eventually, 5 attempts down, I have another few in me for sure..... I got back into doing driving lessons with the encouragement of my boss in work and a few suggestions from friends. I guess I sort of just jumped back into them again. The crazy thing about it though is the fact that I still knew how to drive, I had all the gears down fine, control wasn't an issue, learning all of the maneuvers again was and still is my biggest concern, as well as the observation and trying to eliminate all of the dumb mistakes i've been making. It was the dumb mistakes that made me fail the driving test so many times before in the past. Those small lapses in judgement however minor ended up being major. I haven't crashed the car yet but there's still plenty of time.

I'm still going at my job, i've been at it for over a year and a half now, and to think the longest job i've had before this one lasted only 3 months or so, i'm not a failure yet! I went ahead and put my name forward for supervisor training, I haven't exactly had a whole lot of training yet though. It's mainly been a few hours in a classroom type setting going over bullet points and reading from a booklet, not exactly the most interesting stuff.

I've also been somewhat interested in the technical side of things when it comes to doing the PFS, at this point i've only just been observing the supervisor doing it with me, I guess i've picked up a few things but i'm far from being at the point where I could do all of the computer stuff on my own, that's probably still a long way off.

Onto my social life, or what passes for a social life for me these days anyway/

I guess I haven't exactly been that social these last few months, other than birthdays and the odd night out I haven't really gotten the chance to be social with my friends. I don't know whether playing Playstation games and talking over a microphone counts as being social.

A big shocker for some of my friends would be the fact that I went on a date a few days ago. It wasn't that successful but at least i'm getting myself out there again. The last date I had was a few years ago and that really wasn't that successful either. I guess I can't really go on one date every few years and expect that things are going to miraculously go my way. I need to get out more, a lot more/

I guess on the social aspect me going for the supervisor training is a big plus, I mean it could still end in a major major failure and emotionally cripple me but I guess i'm getting more of a chance to talk to other people in a more professional way.

Late nights and early mornings

January was a very busy month for me when it came to work. I didn't have much time to myself at all, I still don't to be honest though. I guess i'll probably have less time to myself if I do actually go on this supervisor course for my job. It seems like there could be a lot of late nights and calls at all hours to come in and run stores. I guess that was the one issue that was putting me off going for the supervisor position in the first place.

So what has changed?

Well.... I guess I finally realised that I needed to get more out of my job and maybe see if I can make a career out of it, if not then I guess I want to have something more to show for all of the time i've spent in this job. I want to be able to say that I have more responsibilities that can show that i'm capable of more. I've been doing the garages in Tesco for about 5 months or so now and i'm beginning to want to know more about how to run them rather than just counting them and then just forgetting about them. I want to know how the checks work and whether or not there are areas I can improve on. I know I definitely need to improve one aspect for sure, I suck at showing the Tesco staff how to use our machines to count. If I did a better job at that then maybe I might get more recognition for my abilities. 

I know I could be more professional about my job. I could be more chatty and maybe start to ask more questions about how well the garages do for sales and how long each member of staff has worked there for and what their responsibilities are.

I'll definitely need to try and present myself in the best way possible if i'm going to try and convince someone that I can be an effective supervisor and I guess an effective communicator of ideas.

I know I need to ask Bridget more questions about what goes into the PFS counts. I don't want to seem like an idiot to anyone and now know what i'm doing. I didn't exactly make a good impression in the PFS the other day. I managed to take exactly the wrong tickets for the shop floor and the back room, they were both clothing tickets, I could have been done with the garage even sooner if I hadn't made that fuck up. 

There's still plenty of thinking for me to do about my future aspects with this job. I know that I don't want to make any rash decisions, not that i'm known for that or anything...

Reconsideration

It's come to that point in my job that i'm thinking about what's next. I work for a stock taking company, i've been working there for over a year now and I think I want more out of the job than what I have at the minute.

I guess when I was less experienced I had no real thoughts about where I would be at this time, I didn't know I would still have this job a year and change down the line. I never would have considered going for a supervisory role, that was something that never occurred to me at all. To be honest I never thought about being a supervisor before. I guess that was because i'd never been in a job long enough to actually make it to the point where I could consider myself experienced enough to actually apply to be a supervisor or want more out of a job in such a specific way as becoming a supervisor or a member of management.

For those not in the know about the specifics of stocktaking, here's a little bit of an idea.

1) A client approaches the company and requests their services in auditing their stores. The client will of course have their own internal auditors but it won't be anywhere near as in depth or detailed as an outside company could be.

2) The auditing company will not try and sugarcoat the results of the audit, the good, the bad and the ugly will always be revealed in great detail. The client could be trying to hide losses to the big bosses. The store might not even know its shortcomings or if there is a problem with the competence of it's managers.

3) Preparation is key when it comes to stock taking. The last thing you want is to come to a store and find that no work was done beforehand to prepare for the coming audit. It puts the counters and the person running the count at a serious disadvantage. Being prepared even just partially can greatly increase the effectiveness and accuracy of the count and help things run smoothly. No one wants to be there longer than they have to.

I guess what I really need to think about is if i'm actually capable of becoming a supervisor. Do I have the knowledge, the skill, the communication skills to effectively lead other people and represent what my company needs in doing it's job in satisfying a client?

That will be my main concern going forward if I actually put my name forward for consideration for the supervisor training.