Newbie is panicking

[Dave74]

Today was the second day of me doing a walk by myself. It went terrible and was just about to bust into tears. I started at 11am, did an estate and that went well. Then I headed towards a high street, started with even (214-476) and it took me sooo long to reach the end and start on the odds((479-121) (finished at 5pm). Confusing bits were business shop and flats with the same number but flats had A,B,C... I was told today that from day one (last Tuesday) I was taught wrong. Not organising the parcels but instead having to search all parcels till I got to the one I needed. Rushing in the sorting office which of course leads to wastage of time on the route. I have had 3 different persons telling me different things.
I work well under pressure and I know I can do this job but right now I feel really low and having doubts.
I thought that a bit more time were given to newbies.
Where am I going wrong.

Thanks

[Sick Postie]

Don't give up, we all felt like that at the start and I know there is less training given now than whenever I started.

Is there not a Coach in your office? If not try and find a friendly face that you feel might give you some advice.

When I started I promised myself that I wouldn't throw in the towel on a bad day and believe me you will have many! Just stick at it and you will get quicker

[wannabeek]

It's bad you've not been consistently trained but this is the RM way of doing it. Whenever I do an unfamiliar or even blind duty I write down a list of where all the parcels are - just house number / name and last 3 digits of the postcode. This list is not in the right walk order because I don't know the duty, tho the postcodes are all grouped together. When I get to one of them I cross it off the list, dig it out of wherever it is. Usually by the end of the walk the list is all crossed off!

Just bear in mind that the first few weeks of this job are the hardest of all. If you can get through these then it should become much easier as your body and brain become used to it.

[doorstepped]

as the others have said, the first week or two can be very testing, but it does get better and quickly at that.

you should be kept on the walk you are now on for approx 6 weeks so you will get a better idea of how the job is done etc and you will get your speed up as well.

once you have got your head around the whole job you will be fine, even after a few years of doing the job you will still have bad days and even bad weeks, but they are far outweighed by the good days.

keep your head up and enjoy being outside rather than sitting in a stuffy office / factory in the nice weather.

good luck to you and please reply to this post in a few weeks time to let us know how you are getting on.

[Dave74]

The replies to my post has made me feel better. A lot better. I was seriously getting worried that my manager would tell me that I was no good for the job. Seriously. Thanks people. Thanks and I will certainly post back here with(hopefully good news)

[Spedley]

It takes at least a month to know what you are doing and then 3 months to get good at it. You wouldn't think so but learning to hold a bundle of letters, then removing the bands and holding the letterbox open whilst posting takes quite a bit of learning. Then there is the house number problem you have already come across and even finding the right street or flats sometimes. Then you have all the organisation of bundling your mail in the right order and knowing what packets you have and where.

Like any job it is hard work learning the ropes and getting the habits which save hours of effort and concentration. My advice is do your best to stay on the same job for a week or so, argue your case if you need to as there are always other options to moving you. Take your time and expect to take ages - 2 hours overtime per day is quite expected within the first couple of weeks. Do you best to be aware of what you are doing and how you are doing it, don't just try and get done as fast as possible because you won't learn like that.

[spiderj]

Chill fella,takes a while to get In to the swing of it.

Do your best and if you feck up,hands up.

Take a notepad with you sometimes it helps.

Otherwise,ears open,head down,arce up.

[arnold cheshire]

Today was the second day of me doing a walk by myself. It went terrible and was just about to bust into tears. I started at 11am, did an estate and that went well. Then I headed towards a high street, started with even (214-476) and it took me sooo long to reach the end and start on the odds((479-121) (finished at 5pm). Confusing bits were business shop and flats with the same number but flats had A,B,C... I was told today that from day one (last Tuesday) I was taught wrong. Not organising the parcels but instead having to search all parcels till I got to the one I needed. Rushing in the sorting office which of course leads to wastage of time on the route. I have had 3 different persons telling me different things.
I work well under pressure and I know I can do this job but right now I feel really low and having doubts.
I thought that a bit more time were given to newbies.
Where am I going wrong.

Thanks

who does a walk by themselves now anyway ??????????????????????????????

[stroller]

I have been in the job a long time. And take it from me learning a new walk takes time, every day gets better and you learn something new, even senior men struggle to do a new walk in the first couple of weeks until you learn the delivery points.

Hope this helps

[Dave74]

Certainly helps. And thanks to everyone else. Tip of the day must be - chill out! And yes I seem to be the only one doing the walk without a second person. LOL

[Judgee]

Just relax and learn to breathe a bit more!

Everyone is nervous when they start. In time you will find your own way of doing things that work best for you. You are on a learning curve that seems steep at first but soon levels out.

No one expects you to know everything at first and even management will tend to cut you some lack if they are even remotely human.

If you are kept on the round for a while it will get easier very quickly. If they start to move you about, try and look at your new rounds before you start. When I started at RM if I was going to start on a new route in unfamiliar territory I would often have a quick look at it on the way home the day before, I found it helped a lot.

Later on I trained a few people (way before work place coaches!) I printed them up a check sheet so they could get into a routine easier. Try and find a work place coach in your place or even just a friendly laid back postie. See if you can come up with a check list and write it down. It'll help until things start to become second nature.

Most importantly don't be too hard on yourself, you'll get there!

[manboss]

Sounds like they chucked you it at the deep end, which is of no surprise. Why are you starting at 11?

[Darren Bent]

Don't panic as you have to learn the system and walk. Sound like they put you on a difficult walk to learn. Ask other postal workers for some help if they are friendly enough to approach. Keep going. First delivery day alone is always the worse. Good luck.

[Dave74]

It's part time (10-3. Part time because I drop and pick my daughter off school. Can't go earlier to work in the mornings because of that. I help finish off the sorting and by the time am off to the walk it's 11ish. I originally applied for postperson with driving and I never really expected to be doing walk. Thought I was going to be having driving role from day one.

[Nondescript]

How many duties in your office? You might get lucky and be kept on the same duty, which you'll pick up fairly quickly. The first day on a duty you don't know is always very frustrating, the second day usually much less so and so on. your speed and fitness will also increase in the next few weeks, making it a bit easier.