Mrs M says (19:29):
just thought i'd let you know that as of 21st June i'll be unemployed
Ok, in fairness, that's not an exact quote, as I don't actually have her labelled as "Mrs M" on Messenger, but still, other than that ;)
It's certainly all... interesting ;)
Now, her parents live around 2.5 hours drive away from here. They moved back "home" a few years ago, but she has lived here since she was a wee nipper at the age of two.
Allow me to try to summarise the plans we've been through here. Starting with:
Plan 1 (One week ago)
- Having looked at jobs both in this area and around her parents area, she has decided that she cannot see a job she prefers to her current one (IT Manager), despite the fact that she doesn't really like it (Although I think technically, this job may theoretically roughly match her ideal description of a job from a few years ago).
- She considered moving to get out of "our" house but eventually decided against it.
- She has just redecorated the bathroom.
- Last week (literally!) she had double-glazing installed.
- She is/was planning a new kitchen.
- She has half-stripped the wallpaper in the living room.
- She has just switched to a better deal on broadband supplier (the new modem arrived *today*)
Plan 2 (Friday / Saturday)
- Buy a 'mobile' home in a holiday resort near her parents (Obviously substantially cheaper than buying a 'real' house). She will do this immediately, by using her savings and borrowing money from her parents and [theoretically as per The Plan] me.
- Sell the house here (I don't know why this couldn't be done first - I assume that with the holiday season coming, she was conerned a 'mobile' home there would not be available), and repay people.
- Quit her job here
- Overall she described this as taking a "gap year". She'd get a job in Tesco or similar to tide her over.
Plan 3 (Today)
- Quit job (Done)
- Sell house (The estate agent is booked to come 'round on Thursday) (When I spoke to her this evening, she was trying to get more wallpaper stripped)
- Initially move in with her parents for a bit
- Look to rent somewhere
- She is still calling it a "gap year" and I assume is still thinking of the Tesco-level of job.
I can actually understand her "gap year" idea, although I'm a bit surprised by the complete 180 that went from literally getting double-glazing installed last week to selling the house this week.
I loosely pondered myself late last year the idea of taking a leave of absence from my current job to do something simpler - although my reasoning was to give myself more time (I have 101 projects I'd love to do one day), and potentially to find something more "people-facing". I figured I can think about it when the pressure's off at work... ;) Hmmm ;)
(Which, incidentally, I am still overall holding my concentration at recently. Yay! :) )
So... That there is 'er plan then :)
Interesting to see how the choices have progressed.
ReplyDeleteNot that any of the following is your responsibility, but as you're helping her think things over:-
Are her parents ok about her moving back with them, and presumably supporting her financially until she gets a job? (Even getting a job at Tescos is not a given, and the application/interview process can take about 4-6 weeks) As she is leaving her job voluntarily, I'm not if she'd qualify for Jobseekers right away - though maybe later. She should qualify for contributions' based Jobseekers at some stage, even if she has savings (plus whatever part of the proceeds from the house sale become hers).
Leaving her current job without having another to go to will create a gap on her CV, which may make it more difficult for her to get employment later on. Not impossible, obviously, but it's likely to produce questions at the interview (if the application gets that far). Prospective employers are also suspicious of someone who leaves a well-paid job to do either nothing or work that requires only basic skills. They can also be reluctant to even employ someone for a "basic" job, either considering them overqualified or even wondering if they have mental instability or other issues. I've worked in personnel (or human resources as they call it now!) and I know that this definitely happens.
Are you going to divide up the proceeds of the house sale yourselves, or are you going to get a lawyer to do it?
Zeb.