......

[krussel]

I think one thing that has not changed as much is the sense of freedom once your out of the office and on the round. Yes you are working and maybe with a partner but your not being watched over by a supervisor. The time flies once your on delivery.

[postiemids]

I don't know if its a good idea me coming on this site a week before i start RM. The more i read the more i get angry!! Come on guys and girls surely things cant be that bad?
In 2 minds weather to stay at present job? Any advice would be very much appreciated , i should be feeling really happy about a new job but i feel deflated before even starting

id stay in your current job mate

[DICK43]

Honestly, stay where you are!, this job is hell, we are shouted at by our DOM, ridiculed and made to feel like children, we are told we can`t talk or move around the office, we have a porter that constantly brings mail to us, i have to completely prep two walks with door 2 doors + throw in sequenced and door 2 door`s for a part time walk all in the first three hours, that's before we even get near delivery which takes five hours on most days, I don`t eat any lunch- a) because it comes back up and gives me terrible indigestion and b) there is no time, if I ask if I can book my 40 mins at the end I have to get into a heated debate and lets not even mention waking up at stupid hours on my day off because of my body clock being screwed.....god, I could go on but I`m starting to depress myself...

sounds like you need a new job buddy.

I`ll probably need a new wife as well when this jobs finished with me!!

[Mike1]

You have to go in with an open mind and don't be put off by what some posters on here tell you. I'm P/T on a rolling 3 month 25 hour week contract and I've been working at RM for 10 months now.

Try to keep on good terms with the manager, even if he is clueless and you think he's an asshole. But don't be a pushover, if you want the overtime then take it, but don't be afraid to say no if it doesn't suit. The job will be tough physically and mentally for the first couple of months, but it does get easier.

You will go over your contract hours at the beginning, but if you have a decent manager then he'll pay you overtime, but you need to tell him as he will more than likely not offer it. For me, if I'm put on a new walk then I'll normally claim overtime for the first 2/3 days. If I'm familiar with a walk then I can usually finish early on Mon/tue/sat and maybe go over my contract hours on Wed/thur, but I don't claim for that as it works out at roughly 25 hours overall. We had a P/T guy at our office (in before me) and he was pretty slow, either cutting off or claiming overtime...he ended up not having his contract renewed even though he didn't do anything 'wrong'.

If you're on a 25 week contract then you'll have a F/Timer prep most of your frame before you start. You MUST make sure that they don't take the piss with you. This happened to me in the summer...I was covering a walk for 2 weeks and one of the moaners in our office was prepping it and muttering that he didn't have enough time to do the d2d's. He prepped the frame ok on Mon, then on Tue he didn't put the d2d's in, so I stupidly said nothing and reluctantly did them myself, Wed same again, plus he only did some of my packets and I then had a word with him to say I wasn't happy about it. Thur he hadn't done ANY packets or d2d's and I went straight into the managers office and brought him out so that he could see my frame. I said that this guy either sorts my frame out properly now while I have a cup of tea or he pays me overtime. I ended up booking 30min overtime for that day and the guy got a bollocking and my frame was properly prepped the following week. I'm not saying that everyone is like that....just making you aware that it can happen. If you're looking for overtime then there is the possibility of prepping your walk from scratch which is ideal.

Anyway, good luck!

Ok cool thanks for the info very much helpful. No permanent contract yet then??

No permanent contract yet, although I'm not bothered about going F/T as I don't want the early starts. I'd take a permanent 25 hour week contract.(if that's possible or exists)

Also, I do afternoon collections twice a week which is very easy compared to the walks as you're just picking up from the same businesses and post boxes...no stress. That bumps my hours up to 34 and that's enough for me!

[star2010]

I don't know if its a good idea me coming on this site a week before i start RM. The more i read the more i get angry!! Come on guys and girls surely things cant be that bad?
In 2 minds weather to stay at present job? Any advice would be very much appreciated , i should be feeling really happy about a new job but i feel deflated before even starting

id stay in your current job mate

why you say that mate? explain

[BingBong]

I enjoy the job. Good pay too. It's just the rubbish that goes with it sometimes. Gotta be able to stand up for yourself when needed that's what I'd say to you.

[Bernard Strummer]

Yes, was on 12 month 28 hrs contract, got changed to permanent contract on the same hours after a few months. With a bit of OT and occasional working of days off during the summer I have probably averaged 32 hrs. Spoke to someone recently from another office who started in July and he has now been made permanent.
I would recommend it as certainly for me the good days outweigh the bad, the pay is not bad for what you are doing and getting made permanent, although no financial benefit, it gives you certainty. All the best with whatever you decide.

[hampshireman]

You have to go in with an open mind and don't be put off by what some posters on here tell you. I'm P/T on a rolling 3 month 25 hour week contract and I've been working at RM for 10 months now.

Try to keep on good terms with the manager, even if he is clueless and you think he's an asshole. But don't be a pushover, if you want the overtime then take it, but don't be afraid to say no if it doesn't suit. The job will be tough physically and mentally for the first couple of months, but it does get easier.

You will go over your contract hours at the beginning, but if you have a decent manager then he'll pay you overtime, but you need to tell him as he will more than likely not offer it. For me, if I'm put on a new walk then I'll normally claim overtime for the first 2/3 days. If I'm familiar with a walk then I can usually finish early on Mon/tue/sat and maybe go over my contract hours on Wed/thur, but I don't claim for that as it works out at roughly 25 hours overall. We had a P/T guy at our office (in before me) and he was pretty slow, either cutting off or claiming overtime...he ended up not having his contract renewed even though he didn't do anything 'wrong'.If you're on a 25 week contract then you'll have a F/Timer prep most of your frame before you start. You MUST make sure that they don't take the piss with you. This happened to me in the summer...I was covering a walk for 2 weeks and one of the moaners in our office was prepping it and muttering that he didn't have enough time to do the d2d's. He prepped the frame ok on Mon, then on Tue he didn't put the d2d's in, so I stupidly said nothing and reluctantly did them myself, Wed same again, plus he only did some of my packets and I then had a word with him to say I wasn't happy about it. Thur he hadn't done ANY packets or d2d's and I went straight into the managers office and brought him out so that he could see my frame. I said that this guy either sorts my frame out properly now while I have a cup of tea or he pays me overtime. I ended up booking 30min overtime for that day and the guy got a bollocking and my frame was properly prepped the following week. I'm not saying that everyone is like that....just making you aware that it can happen. If you're looking for overtime then there is the possibility of prepping your walk from scratch which is ideal.

Anyway, good luck!

Am assuming that you are taking the p"ss

[Barbel]

I've been with RM for 10 months now on 3 month rolling contracts and I can honestly say it's the best job I've ever had. Yes it can be really tough mentally and physically and some days I've felt like crying and thought what the hell am I doing here but I can honestly say every day I wake up I look forward to going in and it beats my old job of sitting in an office for 9 hours a day. Like you, before I started and reading some of the posts on here did make me think what I was letting myself in for but just go in with an open mind and try not to take much notice of what's on this site then you can make your own mind up.

[star2010]

You have to go in with an open mind and don't be put off by what some posters on here tell you. I'm P/T on a rolling 3 month 25 hour week contract and I've been working at RM for 10 months now.

Try to keep on good terms with the manager, even if he is clueless and you think he's an asshole. But don't be a pushover, if you want the overtime then take it, but don't be afraid to say no if it doesn't suit. The job will be tough physically and mentally for the first couple of months, but it does get easier.

You will go over your contract hours at the beginning, but if you have a decent manager then he'll pay you overtime, but you need to tell him as he will more than likely not offer it. For me, if I'm put on a new walk then I'll normally claim overtime for the first 2/3 days. If I'm familiar with a walk then I can usually finish early on Mon/tue/sat and maybe go over my contract hours on Wed/thur, but I don't claim for that as it works out at roughly 25 hours overall. We had a P/T guy at our office (in before me) and he was pretty slow, either cutting off or claiming overtime...he ended up not having his contract renewed even though he didn't do anything 'wrong'.If you're on a 25 week contract then you'll have a F/Timer prep most of your frame before you start. You MUST make sure that they don't take the piss with you. This happened to me in the summer...I was covering a walk for 2 weeks and one of the moaners in our office was prepping it and muttering that he didn't have enough time to do the d2d's. He prepped the frame ok on Mon, then on Tue he didn't put the d2d's in, so I stupidly said nothing and reluctantly did them myself, Wed same again, plus he only did some of my packets and I then had a word with him to say I wasn't happy about it. Thur he hadn't done ANY packets or d2d's and I went straight into the managers office and brought him out so that he could see my frame. I said that this guy either sorts my frame out properly now while I have a cup of tea or he pays me overtime. I ended up booking 30min overtime for that day and the guy got a bollocking and my frame was properly prepped the following week. I'm not saying that everyone is like that....just making you aware that it can happen. If you're looking for overtime then there is the possibility of prepping your walk from scratch which is ideal.

Anyway, good luck!

Am assuming that you are taking the p"ss

haha why is he taking the p*ss?

[Mike1]

You have to go in with an open mind and don't be put off by what some posters on here tell you. I'm P/T on a rolling 3 month 25 hour week contract and I've been working at RM for 10 months now.

Try to keep on good terms with the manager, even if he is clueless and you think he's an asshole. But don't be a pushover, if you want the overtime then take it, but don't be afraid to say no if it doesn't suit. The job will be tough physically and mentally for the first couple of months, but it does get easier.

You will go over your contract hours at the beginning, but if you have a decent manager then he'll pay you overtime, but you need to tell him as he will more than likely not offer it. For me, if I'm put on a new walk then I'll normally claim overtime for the first 2/3 days. If I'm familiar with a walk then I can usually finish early on Mon/tue/sat and maybe go over my contract hours on Wed/thur, but I don't claim for that as it works out at roughly 25 hours overall. We had a P/T guy at our office (in before me) and he was pretty slow, either cutting off or claiming overtime...he ended up not having his contract renewed even though he didn't do anything 'wrong'.If you're on a 25 week contract then you'll have a F/Timer prep most of your frame before you start. You MUST make sure that they don't take the piss with you. This happened to me in the summer...I was covering a walk for 2 weeks and one of the moaners in our office was prepping it and muttering that he didn't have enough time to do the d2d's. He prepped the frame ok on Mon, then on Tue he didn't put the d2d's in, so I stupidly said nothing and reluctantly did them myself, Wed same again, plus he only did some of my packets and I then had a word with him to say I wasn't happy about it. Thur he hadn't done ANY packets or d2d's and I went straight into the managers office and brought him out so that he could see my frame. I said that this guy either sorts my frame out properly now while I have a cup of tea or he pays me overtime. I ended up booking 30min overtime for that day and the guy got a bollocking and my frame was properly prepped the following week. I'm not saying that everyone is like that....just making you aware that it can happen. If you're looking for overtime then there is the possibility of prepping your walk from scratch which is ideal.

Anyway, good luck!

Am assuming that you are taking the p"ss

haha why is he taking the p*ss?

I don't know why he thinks I'm taking the piss and don't particularly care either. I agree with Barbel...don't take too much notice of some the negative posters on this forum.

[star2010]

You have to go in with an open mind and don't be put off by what some posters on here tell you. I'm P/T on a rolling 3 month 25 hour week contract and I've been working at RM for 10 months now.

Try to keep on good terms with the manager, even if he is clueless and you think he's an asshole. But don't be a pushover, if you want the overtime then take it, but don't be afraid to say no if it doesn't suit. The job will be tough physically and mentally for the first couple of months, but it does get easier.

You will go over your contract hours at the beginning, but if you have a decent manager then he'll pay you overtime, but you need to tell him as he will more than likely not offer it. For me, if I'm put on a new walk then I'll normally claim overtime for the first 2/3 days. If I'm familiar with a walk then I can usually finish early on Mon/tue/sat and maybe go over my contract hours on Wed/thur, but I don't claim for that as it works out at roughly 25 hours overall. We had a P/T guy at our office (in before me) and he was pretty slow, either cutting off or claiming overtime...he ended up not having his contract renewed even though he didn't do anything 'wrong'.If you're on a 25 week contract then you'll have a F/Timer prep most of your frame before you start. You MUST make sure that they don't take the piss with you. This happened to me in the summer...I was covering a walk for 2 weeks and one of the moaners in our office was prepping it and muttering that he didn't have enough time to do the d2d's. He prepped the frame ok on Mon, then on Tue he didn't put the d2d's in, so I stupidly said nothing and reluctantly did them myself, Wed same again, plus he only did some of my packets and I then had a word with him to say I wasn't happy about it. Thur he hadn't done ANY packets or d2d's and I went straight into the managers office and brought him out so that he could see my frame. I said that this guy either sorts my frame out properly now while I have a cup of tea or he pays me overtime. I ended up booking 30min overtime for that day and the guy got a bollocking and my frame was properly prepped the following week. I'm not saying that everyone is like that....just making you aware that it can happen. If you're looking for overtime then there is the possibility of prepping your walk from scratch which is ideal.

Anyway, good luck!

Am assuming that you are taking the p"ss

haha why is he taking the p*ss?

I don't know why he thinks I'm taking the piss and don't particularly care either. I agree with Barbel...don't take too much notice of some the negative posters on this forum.

by the sound of things every DO is different and all have issues full stop.

[2pints]

Dunno if you saw my reply in your other thread but I started working for RM a few weeks ago and I'm liking it so far. I was in the same boat as you after reading this forum but don't let all the doom and gloom put you off.

Haven't had any problems with the job so far apart from the shite PDAs. My manager is a sound guy; really approachable and always happy to help out.

Getting paid for overtime hasn't been an issue. If I don't think I'm gonna be done on time I'll call my manager and let him know, adding that I'm happy to work overtime to finish. He will agree to this and thank me. Docket gets filled in when I get back then the extra money is on next week's payslip. No drama.

Thanks yea can be a bit of a when you see this website but ive spoken to some really nice people , got good advice and feel ready for action. fingers crossed everything goes to plan for me. leaving my job now is quite a big move for me but i need a change.

I was the same before I started (been 6 months now) cam on this forum,seen all the hugely negative posts and attitudes of a lot of people and started to worry.There really is no need to worry,there are 2 different people in life,people who get on with it and people who moan.I have always got on with it and have had some miserable jobs with very poor pay in the past but I just did it and got paid,moaning is a waste of energy and just stresses you out.I love the job personally,do not let things get to you just keep your head down and focus on the job at hand.Most people in my office are good people who work hard and have a laugh,very little moaning going on,this forum seems to have ALOT of moaners,i suppose it is like feedback,if you have a negative experience you tell everyone about it,if you are happy then no one hears of it.

So basically do not worry! This forum was very helpful for me in preparing for my interview and knowing what to expect but it also can be very off-putting for potential employees.

[cloherty1976]

I was the same before I started (been 6 months now) cam on this forum,seen all the hugely negative posts and attitudes of a lot of people and started to worry.There really is no need to worry,there are 2 different people in life,people who get on with it and people who moan.I have always got on with it and have had some miserable jobs with very poor pay in the past but I just did it and got paid,moaning is a waste of energy and just stresses you out.I love the job personally,do not let things get to you just keep your head down and focus on the job at hand.Most people in my office are good people who work hard and have a laugh,very little moaning going on,this forum seems to have ALOT of moaners,i suppose it is like feedback,if you have a negative experience you tell everyone about it,if you are happy then no one hears of it.

So basically do not worry! This forum was very helpful for me in preparing for my interview and knowing what to expect but it also can be very off-putting for potential employees.

So well put. It can be such a great job whatevever you do with so many choices of different career paths to take..

[fishtank]

there are 2 different people in life,people who get on with it and people who moan.I have always got on with it.

There are millions of different people in the world,don't try to stick them all in two boxes.
There are also people who moan and get on with it and people who don't moan and don't get on with it,there are also people who take s**t and blame everybody else or the economy or anything else except themselves and there are people who just don't take any s**t.
There are also people who keep their heads down and won't help a colleague who's being bullied because as long as they are ok they don't care and there are people who talk a lot but do nothing.
There are people who will make personal sacrifices to protect the job for everyone and there are people who would rather others made the sacrifice while they "got on with it".

I suppose it matters what your definition of moaning and your definition of getting on with it really is.
If you're hiding behind either because you lack the courage to stand up for yourself or others then it's nothing to be proud of in my opinion.