I am Jacks total lack of Concentration

Focus, Concentration; Things that so many of us don’t even think about actively doing. If something interests us we hone in on it, our surroundings melt away and our minds take the time to digest the information being received.

I notice my lack of concentration when it rears its head. It’s always a sign of my anxiety flaring up or my medication dosage has recently been changed. It affects my ability to do anything; hold a conversation, read a book, watch a show. These 2 paragraphs have already taken me far too long to write because I phase out half way through a train of thought.

I literally have to fight with my brain to make it focus, to make it work properly when I’m like this. It’s tiring, which makes it even more difficult. All I want to do right now is nap. I can feel myself slipping into a doze-like state, reality becoming fuzzy around the edges. This link perfectly explains the different issues I have because of it.

I’m writing this to try and make myself concentrate on one thing. It’s the only thing I can actively do to help myself. It’s also a reminder for those who don’t ever suffer from this; be patient when interacting with someone with depression. They may be struggling to follow the conversation or engage the way they would like to. It isn’t a slight to you or the conversation; it is purely an unfortunate side effect of the illness.

*

*I love a fight club reference!

 

Legalising Sex Work

Despite being ‘the oldest profession’, sex work is a profoundly controversial issue in this day and age. Many consider sex work to be purely prostitution or porn actors but this term also covers phone sex lines, exotic dancing, webcam modelling and peepshow performances. In the UK this type of work is still looked down upon and the women and men who are employed in this industry face prejudice and in some cases persecution from the law.

Earlier this year, Amnesty International made the decision to recommend the full decriminalisation of all aspects of consensual sex work. The word choice that has been used is critical in understanding what they are supporting. Consensual has been included to stress that the organisation still recognises the issue of sex trafficking and is not endorsing this. Sex trafficking is considered a separate issue to be tackled in various ways. Some argue that decriminalisation can help this; if all sex workers are registered as such then those that operate illegally will be easier to spot and therefore help.

Despite the good intentions, Amnesty International has faced a lot of criticism from various women’s groups for this decision. The decision is important as the organisation will use its weight to lobby governments to accept its point of view.

“We recognise that this critical human rights issue is hugely complex and that is why we have addressed this issue from the perspective of international human rights standards,” said Salil Shetty, the secretary general of Amnesty International. “We also consulted with our global movement to take on board different views from around the world.”

For years the debate has raged around whether or not this work should be legal and regulated, particularly in the case of prostitution. On one hand, it is argued that legalising sex work increases the chances of sex-trafficking and ignores the experiences of women who have been forced into prostitution in the past. This side of the debate maintains that men should be criminalised for buying sex therefore reducing the attraction of the trade for traffickers. Advocates for this model believe that no one chooses to enter or enjoys prostitution therefore legalising it only continues the harm that is being done to these men and women.

the other side of the argument states that prostitution can be a choice and by regulating it we can protect those who sell their body from harm. Decriminalising the act would mean that these men and women are entitled to the same rights and protection as other employees. It also could create more income for the governments in the form of taxes therefore taking the money out of the pockets of criminals and putting it to good use in society.

Personally I support the legalisation of prostitution. there is a number of issues surrounding the trade but I believe the only way to protect people is to allow them to be open and honest about what they do. This allows them the freedom to ask for help when they need it and also the freedom to leave the profession when they chose to do so. At the moment, explaining a four year employment gap in a CV could put most employers off.

I also think it is unfair to say that all men and women in this line of work do not enjoy it even if they say they do. It belittles the experiences and opinions of a wide swathe of sex workers who are bascially told that they cannot think for themselves because they are happy in their work. People should be allowed to make their own decisions in life, even if it is one that others don’t agree with.

Whatever side of the argument you stand on, Amnesty International’s decision is a huge one. The frame of mind concerning sex work around the world is changing, finally pulling the practice out into the spotlight and dealing with the various issues that it brings.

 

For more information around this topic I suggest reading

 http://www.thenation.com/article/should-buying-sex-be-illegal/

 

 

Zero Hours. Zero Power.

An estimated 1.8 million people in the UK are on zero hour contracts – a form of employment that does not guarantee a set number of hours of work per week/month for the employee. These contracts are argued to provide a flexible working environment for part-time workers, such as students and single parents, whilst at the same time benefiting companies who have a workforce that can be called upon when needed.

My personal opinion of zero-hours contracts is that a “flexible jobs market” has come at the expense of basic worker rights, basic human dignity and fair remuneration. The employee is an expendable worker employed on a contract where the business’s needs are met, but the employees are not. From week to week or month to month there is no security of guaranteed pay meaning every day is spent worrying about money. Holidays or events are difficult to plan part because you may not have enough money but also because if you are offered hours that day you may not be able to afford to turn them down. This makes life all about survival, with little ability to plan for the future.

Zero hour contracts take away workers’ rights by stripping them of sick pay, holiday pay (until accumulated) and the ability to challenge their superiors. Their hours are at the discretion of the manager so any disagreement with a manager can result in loss of hours and therefore loss of money. To be in such a position, where every move or action can impact your hours, makes the working environment a dictatorship. It also restricts the ability of employees to suggest new ideas or to go to HR about a manager. The second any complaint gets to a manager they could cut your hours and there’s no way to prove it’s because of any disagreement or complaint. Everything is the manager’s discretion, leaving the employee at their mercy.

These worries put massive amounts of stress on the employee. Mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression, are on the rise and one of the biggest impacts on mental health is the work environment and money. However, being on a zero hours contract means that there is no sick pay, so time cannot be taken off to address these issues. This can cause them to get worse, slowly reducing the employee to the inability to work or lacking the desire to go to work anymore. Zero hour contracts do not place any value on the employee reducing them to nothing more than a worker who can be easily replaced.

One final point worth mentioning is that it’s not really a case of small companies being unable to afford more permanent hires – the most frequent users of zero-hours contracts are businesses with more than 250 staff. So the argument that these contracts can help small businesses the most is untrue. They help large businesses become larger.

Zero hour contracts must end. They are a factor in high poverty levels, contributing to mental health issues and preventing people from living a full life. Perhaps most importantly, ending zero-hours contracts will mean that staff are counted, and that we deserve the basic human dignity that has been stripped from us by exploitative and one-sided labour practices.

Anxiety strikes back

Like a really bad movie that continues to produce really bad sequels my anxiety has decided to raise its ugly head again. It’s never something that truly leaves you, very similar to watching a bad movie, but is, for me at least, usually manageable. Recently, not so much.

My work has been less than helpful. It’s the main reason I’m off if I am being entirely honest. Working in a place where reaching targets is more important than any of the staff produces a horrible atmosphere. The pressure is always on and one mistake can feel like the end of the world. There is little to no support from managers and showing weakness is like bleeding in shark-infested waters – not advisable.

How did we get here? When did reaching targets set by those above become more important than looking after each other? It breeds an ugly atmosphere where you can only look after number one. Personally I’ve grown to understand that I need a support structure at my work place in the form of friends I can talk to or even a manager who understands. Just someone I can go to and tell them I am having a bad day, get a hug, have a moan and get on with it. My position at the moment requires me to spend most of my day in a room myself. The one and only time I opened up to my existing manager I was asked if I regretted moving to the role and that perhaps  I should look to move back to the department I was in previously. Really helpful and supportive, obviously.

My work has shown itself to have no understanding of my condition whatsoever. Instead it’s expected I can go back to work once I have been back on my medication ASAP so I can get back to hitting target. Even while being off the pressure hasn’t eased off. I can’t have colleagues on face book without being asked why I was out if I’m not well.

I write this because I know I’m not alone. As much as mental health issues have been recognised as a legitimate reason to be off it comes down to the individual that is in charge of you. If they do not understand the illness then they can end up making things worse through their actions or, even worse, do not believe you when you explain you need to take more time off. Proper training should be provided to everyone in a position of power so that they can understand mental health issues and how to assist someone back to work instead of chasing them further away, a feeling I can definitely sympathise with right now. This should not be the case, we need the same support as someone who is off long term for any other reason, not pestered to come back because our illness isn’t visible. And to anyone who is going through the same or similar thing, do not let people bully you and know that you are not alone.

Why should we conceal who we are

 

Tattoo concealer is a relatively new product on the market but is growing fast with a wide range of brands existing from those made by professional makeup artists to those sponsored by famous tattoo artists (Kat Von D). Tattoo concealer is a thicker type of make-up created for the sole purpose of covering up tattoos although some brands also promote the use of it to hide scars and skin pigmentations/defects. The ease in which it can be applied and removed (most last for about 24 hours) makes it popular for those who either cannot afford or who do not want to go through the process of permanent tattoo removal.

A darker interpretation of the popularity of this product is that although more of the population are tattooed, their visibility in certain circumstances or occasions is still considered taboo.  Most of the brands selling tattoo concealer boast of the ability to ‘cover up’ for ‘weddings, job interviews or smart events’. The insinuation or assumption that tattoos are inappropriate for these situations perpetuates the traditional stereotypes associated with tattooed individuals; that they are low class, unprofessional or ,in the case of women, for ‘slags’.

 

I do understand the desire to hide tattoos in some occasions, a common occasion being a bride wishing to hide them for her wedding. I myself did not cover mine  at my own wedding and recently it has become a fashion to incorporate tattoos into the theme of the wedding; the most published one being a couple whose bride had a large peacock back piece so they used this as inspiration for the wedding.  However, with the concealer market sales increased by 32% in the last year, brides cannot be the only consumers of this product.

 

According to research carried out by the Pew Research centres in the USA in 2013, 17% of those with tattoos regret them with 11% of these people either looking to get them removed or have already done so. In the UK figures are similar, with the Huffington Post reporting earlier this year that four out of ten people with tattoos regret then and just under a quarter of these individuals want them removed. Some link these figures to the rise of tattoos as fashion accessories promoted through the ‘celebrity tattoo’. In situations such as this having a cheap, affordable alternative to tattoo removal can be a great relief, particularly if the tattoo is small or in an obvious place such as on the hands (in the fashion of Rhianna) or the face (such as Kat Von D).

 

Tattoo concealer can clearly be used for different reasons but I disagree with the assumption made by the marketing teams of this product that tattoos should be hidden in certain circumstances. Brands such as Tattoo secret, veil Cover cream, tattoo camo and Kat Von D Lock-it tattoo concealer, to name a few, all to some extent promote the assumption that there is certain occasions where tattoos are inappropriate. This conservative stance is what allows some employers to insist tattoos be covered as they are deemed ‘unprofessional’. The wording of the marketing promotes old, outdated ideas of tattoos that have been getting broken down as new generations accept tattoos as an everyday part of life. Younger generations are more likely to be tattooed and to view them as art or an expression of themselves rather than as the mark of a criminal or an outsider from society. Young professionals are now adorned with tattoos ranging from traditional Japanese art work, watercolour designs, anime and old school American style.

 

One brand of concealer ‘Tattoo Secret’ boasts of its reviews in the Daily Mail, Sunday Times and The Express. All of these newspapers are known to hold conservative views around tattoos, often describing someone as ‘tattooed’ in order to conjure negative images of that individual. These opinions should not be forced upon a new generation but instead should be allowed to progress to become more acceptable. Tattoo culture has come a long way from what it was with professional salons existing now whose highest concern is with hygiene and high quality work.

It is good that alternative measures from tattoo removal exist and the option to hide tattoos in some circumstances can be a blessing but the decisions as to when they are hidden or shown should be a personal preference and not dictated, however subtly, when they are appropriate or not. The more we see tattoos, the more normal they become and perhaps there will eventually be no circumstances where they are considered inappropriate.

 

Burst the Bubble

The Bank of England can, at times, use interest rates as an effective way to influence the economy. However, whether it would be useful in the current financial market is something that needs to be explored.

The BOE governor, Mark Cairney, has recently hinted that the base rate may increase in the near future, having a massive impact on those with mortgages and those looking to buy in the near future. The base rate has sat at 0.5% for an unprecedented long period of time and any change could make homeowners struggle to pay mortgages that they took out at the low rate and were just affordable then. This rise in rates could burst the current housing market which has seen rapid inflation, this year alone prices in the UK rose 10% from the start of the year until April and in London this increase was 19%. With rates expected to reach 2.5%/3% in the next year or so, this could halt this increase as less people are able to afford the mortgages at these rates. In turn this could slow down the growth of the ‘housing bubble’ rather than crash it therefore preventing the housing market from crashing.

Keeping interest rates as they are could prevent people defaulting on unaffordable mortgages but it could lead to massive inflation in the house prices forcing a large percentage of the population out of the housing market. At the moment 80% of homes are unaffordable for the average family, forcing first time buyers into mortgages they can just afford at the low rates and therefore would find themselves in financial difficulty should the rates rise.

The Bank of England could choose to use the powers it holds in the Financial Policy Committee. They have the authority to introduce policy that makes mortgage lending more strict and controlled in order to keep a stable housing market. This committee could tighten affordability checks to ensure the public could still afford their mortgage payments if interest rates increase. RBS and Lloyds have current voluntary measures where they will not lend more than 4 times a person’s income on mortgages over £500,000. This limit could also be lowered as not many average housing cost more than half a million and formalised as an official requirement of home loans.

A combination of slowly rising interest rates and introducing new policy and restrictions on the mortgage market could help to stabilise the UK housing market and prevent a crash. This cannot be achieved using interests rates alone however, an effective combination of actions and policies need to be actioned to avoid the crash at the moment and to prevent one form happening in the future no matter what way the interest rates go.

Generation wh(Y) bother?

 

 

 

This week The Guardian newspaper is doing an ongoing coverage of ‘Generation Y’ and its’ problems. Those born between 1980 and 2000 are now facing their own unique problems not faced by the generation before.  Careers, technology, relationships, culture and living standards are all issues faced by every generation but are different for each and this generation is no different.

Generation Y is characterised by high levels of education, high unemployment or under-employment, increased use of technology in everyday life and often living with parents or paying high private rents. This generation (my generation; so I completely relate) were brought up to believe that education was the key. It was the key to a career you wanted, to money and to happiness. Yet this promise has been broken. I know many people who, like me, worked hard at school, then university to graduate only to discover that there are no jobs available that pay. There are internships or apprenticeships but any job that pays requires experience. Experience is a difficult thing to acquire when no one will give you a chance.

Networking suddenly matters again as does your family’s financial status. Who you know means you’re more likely to get the job in a large company and whether or not your family can finically support effects whether or not you can afford to take an unpaid internship. Careers are for the wealthy again, everyone takes any old job. We are a generation of Customer Service Representatives.

Home ownership is a distant dream for many of us also. Mortgages are difficult to get, deposits are hard to save for particularly if you’re currently paying high private rent. Landlords have seized an opportunity, realising that there’s a whole generation wishing to move out of their family homes but unable to buy so they charge high rents and this doesn’t just apply to London. I live in a town outside Glasgow and rents are typically £500 a month for a one bedroom flat. So we stay at home or we flat share, neither ideal.  I recently moved back to my family home due to money and was only there for 8 months. Over 6 years of living in my own place made it difficult to be at home and removes the feeling of independence and adulthood that having your own space and responsibilities it gives you.

Relationships have changed. We’re supposedly the generation of casual encounters yet many people I know are in long-term relationships or are getting married. In the past year I know of 4 weddings and three couples engaged. We crave connections, stability, support and someone to share our lives with. We are a generation to marry young but unable to start families due to financial constraints. Instead we struggle with mental illness, debt and a feeling of being stuck.

Not all is doom and gloom though. We are a generation of self-starters and we utilise technology in new wonderful ways. Our busy lives mean technology features in everything we do keeping our connections with each other strong and enabling dating to be taken to a new frontier.

However, these good points do not make up for the broken promises. As a generation we need to be involved in politics more or take action to show our displeasure. We should be angry yet the demonstrations of this anger have dissipated. The student protests have stopped, the occupy movement has shrunk and we plod along complaining but taking no action. We need to take control back. The government rules because we allow it to. Let’s not let them rule us this way; let’s make a difference and cause change. Let that be our generations’ legacy.

Recovery, what recovery?

 

 

2014 is the year everything will get better. Or so we are told. The economy has improved, house prices recovering therefore life should improve. Yet for many this is not the case. Just this week it was reported that in Scotland 1 in 4 worry that they will not afford mortgage or rent payments at some point during the year. So where’s the recovery for us?

Payday loans have become the norm and although the government is trying to put a leash on them they do not question why these companies are needed in the first place. The massive growth of ‘Wonga’ and other lenders are due to demand and need for these services. People have no money for rent, food, childcare or travel. The use of food banks is on the rise, even in the more affluent areas of the country. More people in work are in poverty in the UK than those unemployed.

Household debt is an issue and the hard hearted may say that this is the individuals fault for living above their means. However, when rent is so high and wages so low sometimes there is very little choice other than to live on credit. Having a family is now a difficult financial question, as is having your own flat or even going on holiday. Our choices are dwindling everyday and leave the majority of the country working purely to survive with little hope of improvement in the future.

Maybe 2014 will be the year this changes. Perhaps we will see the living wage introduced, help offered for those in their mid-20s stuck at home or an increase in high skilled jobs in the UK. Without something changing I see as bleak a year ahead as the one just passed.

First interview – part 1

Interview 1

 

First of all can you give me an overview of your experience of working in call centres?

Well  worked in call centres on and off for about ten years, I’ve done outbound cold calling, outbound leads, inbound sales, customer service, retentions, banking…..pretty much every type of job you can do in a call centre. Done a bit coaching. Bit of everything really.

Ok. So first off I’d like to ask about your experiences with training. What sort of things does training consist of and what did you think of each training you’ve done?

Pretty much every training group I’ve done is, as near as it makes no difference, identical. Like the in the structure in it. Some places its five minutes listening to someone else on the phone then on you go but that tends to be more outbound side of things. Where you’ve got barely limited knowledge just enough knowledge to sell it and system knowledge then do. You don’t really get taught any soft skills or anything like that because you don’t need them your selling, they teach how to sell.

But usually, generally, when you’re going into an inbound role the training structures the same. The first day is this is company, this is building, tells us a bit about yourself, make a poster. Or three. Then telling you a bit about what training will consist of. Then the first week kinda slowly it’s more to do with the company and the work the company do then it goes into products and systems and soft skills like how to deal with customers and complaints etc.

So what things have you done in training specifically?

You make a lot of posters. Trainers in some places are put through loads of training courses. There’s one company I worked for, for example, where their trainers aren’t trainers they’re neuro-linguistic programming specialists. They are called trainers but they have qualifications in low level psychology. But it all amounts to the same thing the places spend a lot of money on trainer departments, making sure their trainers know what they’re doing. They don’t spend any money on the training systems or anything like that because it’s a waste of money in their eyes. Trainers, however, are important. They’re the first impression you get of a company, when you come into a job they’re who you meet first. So it’s the trainer’s job to sell the job to you. To ensure you stick out the training and stay in the role. So they invest a lot in their trainers. Trainers get paid stupid money too.

You said there that they put a lot of money into trainers but not a lot into systems. Do you think they need to change that?

(Hesitates) I’ve spoke to trainers, I generally get on well with most trainers partly because I’m experienced I’ve done it all so I’m only really there to learn the system and product. The rest I tend to not have much interest in, I do it because I have to but I tend to spend a lot more time helping other people in my group. I pick things up quite quickly so I talk to the trainers. A couple of them said they would like new training system that are up to date with the systems on the floor and work like the systems on the floor but companies wont put the money into it because they won’t get a return. It snot like on the floor they need to invest because the system effects the customer in training it doesn’t. When you’re buddying you’re seeing the system being used live and when you go live you’ve got someone there to listen and help out. Some companies when your buddying, towards the end of things you work the systems while the other person does the talking or maybe get you taking some calls. A lot of places the best way to learn the system is to get out and use it because the training system is useless but companies won’t invest in it because there’s no direct return.

How do you feel that affects the training experience?

I don’t see it affect me as much because I’m pretty confident now navigating different systems; I’ve used a lot of them. There are people when you go into training, like my last job, there was people in the training group when it was time to go live were not confident at all on using the system. Although most systems are simple when looking at them they look complicated. I think it must be a requirement when designing a system for a call centre is that it looks as complicated as possible while being easy. In * the system looked so complicated with four windows open but it’s ridiculously easy once you use it. Even there it was one of the best training systems I used but there was still a lot you couldn’t do so once on the floor, again, asking what you do if you get this call or that call. We get told we should have covered that in training and you explain you did but couldn’t see the system because it wouldn’t let us do it.

I can imagine that causes problems. So posters and training systems. Is there anything else you do at all?

You learn a lot of soft skills, things like how to build rapport and empathy, when to show empathy, the different customer types you get. Whether they are to the point or indecisive. You deal with different types of advisor and what type you are and work on getting you from an advisor that just does what the customer wants, what they call an order taker, to someone who listens to everything and all the background info and takes in what’s on the system in front of you and goes that extra mile for the customer. There’s a lot of work goes into that. Like I said these days trainers are low level psychologists, it’s not just about do you know the material and can you teach it its now about how you facilitate the people in the group, the different ways of learning. Teach a lot about high and low level language, what words are good to use and what ones are bad. A lot of unnecessary stuff in my opinion.

What do you think makes a good training experience?

For me what makes training a good training period, most training periods are 4 weeks and that can be too much and things can be dragged out. The best training is where what you’re delivered is concise, you know, to the point. Not dragged out over two hours when it takes half an hour to learn it.  And when things do get changed up so it’s not all, like if you’ve maybe got a day where its fact heavy, if it’s to do with legal stuff, if its broken up playing games or a quiz just something to break it up so you don’t get too bored. One of the things that was done at * which I’ve subsequently suggested elsewhere is things like standing in the circle and throw a ball and people who are left with the ball are asked a question. It gets everybody up and moving, get the blood and energy flowing and when your answering questions you’re still learning but you’re having a laugh too. It’s already stuff you’ve learned but it keeps it fresh because when you get on the phone you’ll be asked these questions so doing things like that helps you to remember things. I don’t like drawing posters, I don’t think they help. Some people might but I don’t. I get that they are handy to have up and refer to during training but they could be pre-made and stuck up already rather than us making them. I know we make them to help us remember it but going back to facilitating others learning methods, no everyone learns that way.

Do you feel training always accurately prepares you for your role?

No it never does. Training isn’t there to prepare you for your role, trainings there to ensure you have the knowledge you need to do the role. The only way to prepare for role is to do it. Even buddying doesn’t prepare you for the role.

In that case you said training can take weeks do you think that’s a waste if it’s not actually training you for the role?

Aye. It takes so long because again there are a lot of things they try to teach that might not be a lot of use. Like how to talk to customers. If you’ve never worked in a call centre before it can occasionally be handy but these days have worked in call centres or have dealt with customers in some capacity whether it be in a shop or clients with a business. It takes up time which could be better used spending the time in academy’s or grad bays where you’re live but with support n lowered targets.

Update

So I’ve not been here for a while. However I have a new idea but I need people interested to talk to me. I want to do an article about working in a call centre. Most people I know these days work in one, everyone moans about them but no one seems to write about it. I’m going to try and blog once a week (preferably more often) about my experiences whilst gathering up other peoples. In a few months (before Christmas) I will collate all this and publish a full blown article about it all. If you have anything to contribute either comment or get in touch because the more people I talk to the better this piece will hopefully be.

Keep popping back here for updates and no doubt a good moan from me about work.  We’ll see where this takes me.