Week One

[navybloke]

Well, it’s started and so far the good bits far outweigh the bad! At the end of week one…

Bad Bits

- The online ‘day one’ training package. Of very little practical use, lots of IT glitches.

- I don’t know who my permanent manager is, if I do indeed have one.

Good Bits

- The training. It helps that I know the bloke I’m partnered with, and that he’s taking the training seriously, which I’m enormously grateful for. PDA sorted, morning routine sorted, and on the same duty for the next two weeks.

- The overtime. Given the prep time, the 0830 start as per the advert makes no sense. I’m in at 0700, and my first job is to go see the admin girl who records all the overtime to the minute. The wheels might come off when it comes to actually getting paid, but I’m optimistic.

- The kit. Vans are shocking but PDA is good and the uniform is a) a generous allocation of stuff and b) of surprisingly good quality. The admin girl ‘found’ a RM soft shell jacket for me while I wait for my order to arrive and it’s a great outer layer. Still in my own trail running shoes for now, and might stick with them; no half sizes, which is a shame. Feeling happy not to be in my newbie high viz!

- The job. I’m lucky because my first route is a nice mix of urban and rural; I’m delivering a lot of issues of Country Life, which gives an idea of the demographic! Averaging 17-20,000 steps a day, and sleeping well. The physical bit is fine so far. Radio piped over the speakers across the depot, and the morning singing indicates generally high morale! Friendly colleagues, including the ex-London lawyer who loves the lack of stress.

…that last point is important, I think. Stress is relative, isn’t it? I’ve worked in Whitehall and done two tours each of Iraq and Afghanistan. I’ve had extremely stressful times. A RM manager ‘pressuring’ me to do overtime or moaning because I’ve had to bring stuff back does not fit my definition of stress, although I appreciate that everyone has different experiences that inform their own definition.

I might think differently by Christmas, though…

[Barnacle]

Excellent! Think you’ve had quite a good week

I think you are more impacted by the stress of manager pressure, if you feel you can’t say anything to object or if they take advantage of your newbie status.

But they’re not shooting at us. Yet.

[korky]

your "stress" is only relevant if you want to get home and complete.
the manager will always want you to complete, if you fancy the overtime then run over, if you don't then bring it back
from my recent experience of coms, they are happy if all the specials/tracked have gone and scanned ok along with boxes & collections and fetch back whatever mail, that isn't a priority now