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What do you do for a living?

Good luck! Filled in all the big white boxes with 3 sentences summarising your entire existence, then? :D
Basically! 5 x 200 words, a little space for presentations etc... and that's about it.

It's a fucking joke. Complete nonsense way of assessing the potential quality of a doctor. Do they at least interview still?

The old-fashioned nepotistic/corrupt way of getting a job with a consultant you liked and liked you, worked SO much better. Just because it was unequal doesn't mean it was unjust! :p
 
No interview. Standardised scoring of answers to national answers (50%), in combination with a medical school quartile academic score (40%), and a small consideration of additional degrees, publications, presentations. (10%)

Placement based on preference and score to 1 of approximately 20 foundation schools. Subsequent placement into FY1/2 rotations usually based on the candidate's total application score. Regions not considering additional CVs.

It's very anonymous.

That's my understanding for most if not all of the country, anyway. Certainly the case in Scotland who have traditionally been a little more old-fashioned than most.
 
No interview. Standardised scoring of answers to national answers (50%), in combination with a medical school quartile academic score (40%), and a small consideration of additional degrees, publications, presentations. (10%)

Placement based on preference and score to 1 of approximately 20 foundation schools. Subsequent placement into FY1/2 rotations usually based on the candidate's total application score. Regions not considering additional CVs.

It's very anonymous.

Seriously, what do you and your peer group think of this new system of job allocation?

To those of us who had more traditional selection processes, it seems appallingly inhuman, kafkaesque and frankly almost stalinistic. I got a taste of this modern system when I had to reapply for my own job during the MMC debacle, and that was enough to sour me on it for life (thank god I ended up with a run-through post and so I'll never deal with it again and I'll be largely leaving the NHS when I get my CCT soon anyway). But those of you coming through the system now, you haven't really known it any other way personally (though of course you get folks like me bitching about it). A lot of students I teach and even F1s/F2s I talk to superficially complain about it but at the end of the day think it is a "least worst" system of allocation, which to be honest I really don't really think it is. What's the feeling like in your part of the country?
 
For money? I'm a job-hunter. Being the pro-active fellow I am, I was laid off just before the massive country-wide layoffs.

I consider myself a writer/composer/lyricist. (New original show opening December 4th).

For money, primarily I've been a Mac support tech, which is a great job because Macs need so little technical support.

--Ted
 
Seriously, what do you and your peer group think of this new system of job allocation?
I think the reality is that FY1, and to an extent FY2, is the same job everywhere. This is especially so with 4 monthly rotations. Applying to a particular unit/firm doesn't quite have the same impact anymore so it makes sense that the system is geographical.

The form itself? I don't know. I think broadly people who do well in medical school will do okay out of the system, and people who don't will come out less well. Even then, 90% of people get their first choice of region.

It's also been a surprisingly stress free experience. The questions were an annoyance and took a lot of time - but I think I'd have been put off my studies more by a series of interviews. YMMV when it comes to applying to more competitive foundation schools, however. I applied to Scotland which generally matches job numbers with applicants.

The system for us is okay, and most people are happy enough with it. I get the impression that isn't the case with speciality appointments.
 
Don't worry. All psychologists are crazy ... at least the good ones; empathy is important in psychology and psychiatry! In all seriousness, I think it I quite common for people who study and/or practice in the field to have personal experience with psychological problems. It what draws them to the field in the first place (though I've no stats to back me up, this is a personal observation).

And yes, I studied psychology too (double major). :shifty:

So I'm Kestra, currently crazy, future psychologist! Hmm, that doesn't sound very promising does it?

Pretty common profile.

Works for Holdfast and me.

:techman:

Thanks guys. :lol:

I wish I had a little more support from people around me, but I have one friend in particular that's been really supportive. And more than that, I've realized that I don't care what everyone else thinks and that I'm going to do this anyway. And I feel pretty good about that.
 
Depends on what day it is. Some days I'm a bookstore clerk, other days I'm an Assistant for the Archaeology Lab, some days I'm a freelance Web Developer, some days Technical Consultant, and some days I'm a Graphic Designer. Some days all of the above.
 
I am a caregiver (of my disabled mother) contracted with Washington Dept. of Social and Health Services, and laid off from retail work.

While I live off of my DSHS Salary, I don't view it as a job, as its purpose is to sustain my mother's wellbeing, not to provide me with a career path. It is a blessing and a curse all at once. Having a relative - especially a mother - 100% dependent on YOU from the time you turn 18 until "whenever it might somehow end in the distant future" has a way of really screwing up the youthful desire to lead a normal professional and personal life. On the same scale, especially in this economy, I'd be crazy to talk bad about anything that brings in capital and keeps the lights on.
 
I work in the targeted sales hell of a Vodafone call centre. I hate everything about it (aside from a few of the people I work with).

We work for the same network! :eek: Weird.

Hehe, what are the odds? So is your store getting a Gold, Silver, or Bronze 360 display? ;) :lol:

People don't seem to like our store, so we'll probably get the "rustic" variant. They'll send us a bit of cardboard and a marker pen and tell us to do it ourselves. :lol:

I am SO NOT looking forward to POS change on Thursday. I hate doing them.
 
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We work for the same network! :eek: Weird.

Hehe, what are the odds? So is your store getting a Gold, Silver, or Bronze 360 display? ;) :lol:

People don't seem to like our store, so we'll probably get the "rustic" variant. They'll send us a bit of cardboard and a marker pen and tell us to do it ourselves. :lol:

I am SO NOT looking forward to POS change on Thursday. I hate doing them.

How many reps have you had in your store demonstrating new phones this month? We've had Blackberry reps, Samsung reps, and the "360 team" in our call centre in the last week alone.
 
Until recently I worked in paleoclimatology research, and volunteered as a police officer but this year decided academia wasn't for me, and to sell my soul to the public sector, take the plunge and join the thin blue line on a full time basis. Leaving me with that wonderful future choice of 'stay doing the job you signed on for and max out your career prospects around age 30', or 'become an administrator/manager instead and get paid more to sit behidn a desk instead of doing what you love'.
Ah well, that's way off yet.
 
Seriously, what do you and your peer group think of this new system of job allocation?
I think the reality is that FY1, and to an extent FY2, is the same job everywhere.

Honestly they're really really not.

Yes, you're right in terms of what you might learn and yes in terms of the rota, pay, hours, etc.

But those factors are the least of what makes a job good or not. Things like: who you're working with; how sensible is your boss; are there nice/attractive/amusing people there; can you skive off easily; is there a good cafe and shopping round the corner, etc, etc.

These human factors are what make a job enjoyable or not. I know you say it's "only four months", but once you get into the attitude of thinking like this, that's how you end up viewing your core training years too... and then the higher training years... and then your first consultant post... then thinking about your pension... etc, etc, etc. It's a corrosive, toxic way of thinking that burns up years before you realise they've gone. Delayed gratification is all very well, but time keeps ticking by as you're waiting for the good times to come.

The new system encourages this sort of thinking by roboticising & anonymising the process of getting jobs. Getting jobs is NOT about training; it's NOT about being employed for the sake of being employed as a doctor; it's NOT even about making money; it's about enjoying the work and that DOES vary from post to post, even if it's "just four months".

I know I sound cranky & patronising but it concerns me what is happening to the medical profession in this country. I've lost patience with this drift and will be branching up and out soon enough, but still, you're going to end up treating me for something or other at some point (hopefully not for many, many decades into the future!) so I figure I'm allowed to be concerned for a while longer yet! :D
 
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