How long would RM hold a job?

[CallumWatCo]

Good evening,

I have wanted to be a postie for a few years now and was gutted (but pleased for him) when someone I work with in a school left to be a postman. His application to first day took just a couple of weeks or so. This would be a problem for me as I'm currently a teacher. I need to give approximately two months notice before I can leave my job. For example, if I hand in my notice by October half term, I can't leave before mid/end of December.

I obviously can't just quit and hope a position somewhat near me comes up. If a position were to appear, and I applied and was successful... What's the longest they'd likely hold the position for me?

I have tried in vain to find a way to contact them to find out but to no avail.

Any suggestions, insights, anything?

Thanks,

C

[TopperGas]

You'd be mad to give up a teachers job to become a postman?

[CallumWatCo]

You'd be mad to give up a teachers job to become a postman?

That sounds like someone who hasn't done a teaching job!

I have my teaching qualification and with almost a decade of experience, including as a member of the senior leadership team, I know I'd be able to find a teaching job again if I hated being a postie... But teaching is all consuming. I spend all of my time either working or thinking about work still to do and I rarely have time to breathe during the school day.

Just looking for a change.

[ted_e_bear]

You'd be mad to give up a teachers job to become a postman?

That sounds like someone who hasn't done a teaching job!

I have my teaching qualification and with almost a decade of experience, including as a member of the senior leadership team, I know I'd be able to find a teaching job again if I hated being a postie... But teaching is all consuming. I spend all of my time either working or thinking about work still to do and I rarely have time to breathe during the school day.

Just looking for a change.

What about a sideways/downwards move if that's the correct way to describe it, imo you'd be much better off moving to something like a schools maintenance department or the gardening operation if you want to get away from the constant time consuming environment you're under now.

[CallumWatCo]

There are millions of jobs I could do... This is just one of the things I've thought about doing for a few years.

Any particular reason you'd stay to steer so clear away?

[Geordiepapa]

There are millions of jobs I could do... This is just one of the things I've thought about doing for a few years.

Any particular reason you'd stay to steer so clear away?

To start with:
1 The Royal Mail pension (nowhere near as good as a teachers pension,
2 Holidays, you have to wait your turn to "book" your holidays for the year ahead. Its done on a rotation basis. One year you could be top of the list to choose dates, the next you'll be bottom so have to choose from the dates that are left.
3 Sickness/absence policy, now very strict. Ill health retirement package is nowhere as good as that for public service employees.
4 Trying to get an odd day of (especially a Saturday), no matter what it's for, is almost impossible.
5 Contracts for new starts now include Sunday working. Your t & c's will be nowhere as good as your public service t & c's.
6 Outdoor work (walking for around 5 hours plus a day), great in nice weather, sh*t in the winter.
7 Office managers are mainly posties who couldn't hack doing a walk so jumped into "manager" roles without having a clue how to "manage" nor having any people skills. Majority are "yes" men for Royal Mail and do not stick up for the posties.
8 Finally, the union CWU, are useless and in the pockets of Royal Mail hierarchy and have sold the workers down the river.

I would think long and hard before abandoning your career as a teacher. I have a family member who is a teacher and, yes she admits it is challenging (unruly teenagers) but she enjoys her job and wouldn't change it.

[fb1969]

I echo Geordiepapa's post but would add a bit more to it:

2. Holiday is booked between 12 and 18 months in advance. If done according to the "rules" all leave for Apr 24 to Mar 25 should have been booked by the end of Oct 23. While RM should honour any leave you currently have booked (or pre-booked holidays as you are tied to school holidays), you will end up being allocated the periods that are available up to Mar 25 - with next to no say in whether you want those dates. And by the end of Oct 24 you will need to have booked the leave you want from Apr 25 to Mar 26.

When I joined in 2012 there was no way that RM would have held the job open for me. I was emailed on a Wednesday telling me to report to the mail centre for my Induction Day the following Monday, and it was next to impossible to contact anyone if that hadn't been convenient. Having said that, since trashing the Terms and Conditions RM are fairly desperate to recruit people - I have heard of many cases where someone has had a telephone interview within hours of applying, and have been offered the job during the call. So some 'negotiation' may be possible in those circumstances.

[TopperGas]

You'd be mad to give up a teachers job to become a postman?

That sounds like someone who hasn't done a teaching job!

I have my teaching qualification and with almost a decade of experience, including as a member of the senior leadership team, I know I'd be able to find a teaching job again if I hated being a postie... But teaching is all consuming. I spend all of my time either working or thinking about work still to do and I rarely have time to breathe during the school day.

Just looking for a change.

Why do you feel a posties job is going to be an easier, do you think we just wander around chatting to customers all day whilst we deliver the odd letter?

[CallumWatCo]

There are millions of jobs I could do... This is just one of the things I've thought about doing for a few years.

Any particular reason you'd stay to steer so clear away?

To start with:
1 The Royal Mail pension (nowhere near as good as a teachers pension,
2 Holidays, you have to wait your turn to "book" your holidays for the year ahead. Its done on a rotation basis. One year you could be top of the list to choose dates, the next you'll be bottom so have to choose from the dates that are left.
3 Sickness/absence policy, now very strict. Ill health retirement package is nowhere as good as that for public service employees.
4 Trying to get an odd day of (especially a Saturday), no matter what it's for, is almost impossible.
5 Contracts for new starts now include Sunday working. Your t & c's will be nowhere as good as your public service t & c's.
6 Outdoor work (walking for around 5 hours plus a day), great in nice weather, sh*t in the winter.
7 Office managers are mainly posties who couldn't hack doing a walk so jumped into "manager" roles without having a clue how to "manage" nor having any people skills. Majority are "yes" men for Royal Mail and do not stick up for the posties.
8 Finally, the union CWU, are useless and in the pockets of Royal Mail hierarchy and have sold the workers down the river.

I would think long and hard before abandoning your career as a teacher. I have a family member who is a teacher and, yes she admits it is challenging (unruly teenagers) but she enjoys her job and wouldn't change it.

Thank you for sharing your different points. It definitely gives me some things to think about.

I appreciate your point about abandoning my career but I really don't see it that way. It would essentially be putting it on pause as I could go back to it any time I wanted. I'm pleased your family member wouldn't change their job but by that logic, I should also then listen to a member of our school staff who left in and started as a postie in December who said he's never been happier because he says his balance is so much better now.

[CallumWatCo]

I echo Geordiepapa's post but would add a bit more to it:

2. Holiday is booked between 12 and 18 months in advance. If done according to the "rules" all leave for Apr 24 to Mar 25 should have been booked by the end of Oct 23. While RM should honour any leave you currently have booked (or pre-booked holidays as you are tied to school holidays), you will end up being allocated the periods that are available up to Mar 25 - with next to no say in whether you want those dates. And by the end of Oct 24 you will need to have booked the leave you want from Apr 25 to Mar 26.

When I joined in 2012 there was no way that RM would have held the job open for me. I was emailed on a Wednesday telling me to report to the mail centre for my Induction Day the following Monday, and it was next to impossible to contact anyone if that hadn't been convenient. Having said that, since trashing the Terms and Conditions RM are fairly desperate to recruit people - I have heard of many cases where someone has had a telephone interview within hours of applying, and have been offered the job during the call. So some 'negotiation' may be possible in those circumstances.

Booking leave off for main holidays that far in advance isn't the end of the world as my husband and I tend to plan quite far in advance anyway for holidays but the odd day off throughout the year it would be frustrating to not be able to figure out a compromise I suppose.

Thank you for your points.

[CallumWatCo]

You'd be mad to give up a teachers job to become a postman?

That sounds like someone who hasn't done a teaching job!

I have my teaching qualification and with almost a decade of experience, including as a member of the senior leadership team, I know I'd be able to find a teaching job again if I hated being a postie... But teaching is all consuming. I spend all of my time either working or thinking about work still to do and I rarely have time to breathe during the school day.

Just looking for a change.

Why do you feel a posties job is going to be an easier, do you think we just wander around chatting to customers all day whilst we deliver the odd letter?

No need to get defensive. I'm not against working hard and never said a postie job would be easier but at least I wouldn't need to be doing work outside of my working hours. If I'm at school from 7am until 6pm, the work doesn't stop at 6. The night before last, I had to keep working from when I got home until 11pm and I'm not paid any extra for it. Let's say I stopped for an hour for dinner, that's still a 16 hour day and it's not uncommon.

[Basildon Bond]

Why not hop onto a new lily pad in life if you can (and especially if you feel you can hop back again)!

On this site you'll have to battle a lot of members who are negative (especially the ex-royal mail staff). Some are very bitter and probably cannot see by how much because they have been annoyed by RM for so long but will not quit because they cannot imagine not working for RM. They all should have read "Who Moved My Cheese?" years ago and re-read it every month as a refresher.

It is a physically demanding job - from the off, first day you will be walking a lot. And you have to be able to rinse repeat that the next day and so on. Long legs and comfortable shoes are ideal. Weak backs/necks/knees/joints - you'll struggle. Needing the toilet every hour isn't great either (only drink water and cut the carbs / low-carb diet can help some - try it). We're all built differently and it's not going to work out for everyone and especially those that will not change themselves to fit.

For the first few weeks your head will be spinning trying to learn and remember everything but you'll probably find you start to relax into the role (as long as you don't stress over the workload). The bags are often heavy and some of the managers expect you to complete and that can p*ss you off fast and destroy that "home in the afternoon" smile. It's a better time of year to join as you will have missed Christmas and the parcels will be declining a bit now.

Why not apply and see how it goes. Better to have an email saying you've got the job and you reply "thanks but no thanks". If you get the job you can always ask for a later start date - some places are crying out for staff and even better those that stick around. Even go and show your face at the DO in the morning (6am or earlier) and find a manager and let them know you want the job but have to work your notice period.

This job definitely frees your mind compared to jobs that you take home. I'm not a RM lifer and so I know what it's like to commute home/work from home and work into the night. Having zero work/life balance as you are always thinking about work and planning ahead and adjusting. One really big plus as a postie is that you can flick that work switch off the moment you leave the office.

Good luck.

[TopperGas]

You'd be mad to give up a teachers job to become a postman?

That sounds like someone who hasn't done a teaching job!

I have my teaching qualification and with almost a decade of experience, including as a member of the senior leadership team, I know I'd be able to find a teaching job again if I hated being a postie... But teaching is all consuming. I spend all of my time either working or thinking about work still to do and I rarely have time to breathe during the school day.

Just looking for a change.

Why do you feel a posties job is going to be an easier, do you think we just wander around chatting to customers all day whilst we deliver the odd letter?

No need to get defensive. I'm not against working hard and never said a postie job would be easier but at least I wouldn't need to be doing work outside of my working hours. If I'm at school from 7am until 6pm, the work doesn't stop at 6. The night before last, I had to keep working from when I got home until 11pm and I'm not paid any extra for it. Let's say I stopped for an hour for dinner, that's still a 16 hour day and it's not uncommon.

Have you considered the different rate of pay? I assume a FT teacher is on £35K+ p.a. where's a FT postie is on £25K p.a. and if your local DO is anything like ours then getting a FT contract is almost impossible, plus you could have to work most Sundays, or at least 1 in 4.

[ted_e_bear]

Just as an observation for existing colleagues, one of the things I really liked when I first started was when you returned from a day off or holiday, unlike my last couple of jobs you didn't have to catch up any work as everything had to be delivered, end of, oh how times have changed !