Opportunity knocks, at a crossroads

[105.4]

I work as a Courier. I’m very, very busy, earning decent money, and even on the worst of days, I’m lucky enough to still enjoy my job.

I enjoy meeting people, bringing a little bit of joy to their lives, (I have my regular rounds), thinking on my feet and going the extra mile to solve any problems my customers may have.

The downsides are that as a sub-contractor I don’t get any holidays, I don’t get any sick pay, and a quiet day is 10 hours, 6-7 days a week.

One of my regular customers is a department manager of a very well known national company, (I won’t say which one).

This lady has asked me if I’d be interested in joining her team in a customer services type role. At which point I embarrassingly had to explain that I haven’t been to university, I haven’t got any A-Levels, and I haven’t even got any GCSE’s. Her response was that attitude, work ethic and experience was more important.

We had a brief chat about the role, about how it’s mainly home based work, (4 home, 1 office), less than half the hours I’m doing now with a basic salary half what I currently earn, but that there’s as much overtime as I want paid at a very, very generous rate, plus good pension, health cover, death in service, bonuses, and many other perks.

Having had a look around online, I’m able to verify most of what she has told me.


So here’s the crux of the matter…..

Whilst being confident that I could take to such a role with ease, (IT skills excluded), I am having a slight crisis of confidence.

In every job I’ve ever had, I’ve always worked for my customers, knowing full well that it is my customers who pay my wages.

I’ve always worked for smaller firms, where if there is an issue, if I needed to, I could go and speak to the no:1 boss.

What is the general attitude like in large corporate environments? Is it generally a case of screwing the customer over for every last penny? What are HR really like? Does everyone have to be a robot, or can you be ’you’?

Are customer service roles at genuine risk of being replaced by AI in the very near future?


I am happy where I am. I have very little Head Office bullst to put up with, but it would be nice to earn similar money whilst working 30 hours less per week whilst not spending all day soaked to the skin.


Just doing a few quick sums here;

I spend around £425-£450 pcm on diesel in the van.
My van insurance is £373 pcm.
And I put £150 pcm aside to cover any maintenance costs.
A £60 pair of boots will last me a month before the soles have holes in them.

I’m sat here wondering, do I stick or do I twist? The Wife thinks go for it, but I’m inclined to be a bit more cautious.

I’m open to any thoughts or criticism gentlemen


edited to add; Surely she’s got to be scraping the bottom of the barrel to be desperate enough to ask me, right?

Edited by 105.4 on Tuesday 18th July 23:33

[Jugosaurus]

Do you know what the recruitment process is?
It would be odd for the lady you have spoken with to not have to follow the corporate recruitment process if it’s such a sizeable company.

I’d suggest finding out what the process is/the hoops you have to jump through to formally he offered the job and then go for it if you can be bothered. If you do this and get offered the role then you’ll have a real decision to make and imagine you’ll know how you feel at that point rather than getting into the ifs and buts over something which is currently hypothetical.

If you went for it but don’t get it and find yourself really disappointed then it’s probably a sign to move on and find something else anyway.

If it’s a big company this could be a foot in the door then you can move around once in to different roles.

What is the worst case? You get the job, do 3m and don’t like it so could you go back to your courier role?

Change is scary, but exciting!

Good luck

[Petrus1983]

I'll send you a pm in the morning

[craigjm]

105.4 said:

What is the general attitude like in large corporate environments? Is it generally a case of screwing the customer over for every last penny? What are HR really like? Does everyone have to be a robot, or can you be ’you’?

It’s impossible to answer that question. They are all different and your view of their actions may be different if you have ended up on the sharp end. There is a lot of negativity on here about corporate environments, HR, managers, culture etc which is often presented in a very strange way as if it’s “us against them” I have worked with over 500 global companies and no two of them are the same.

[jules_s]

All I will say is that was/is a well worded and structured post.

If I could find people to relay a point as well as you have I'd employ them.

[fttm]

Could you put a driver in the van to keep that side running if you decide to accept her offer ?

[Royal Jelly]

Is the courier job going to be available for you to return to if a new job isn’t as you’d hoped? If so, that’s a big security blanket.

As above - you come across well and given your customer service attitude I’m sure you’d succeed and enjoy helping customers in another way. Not to get too far ahead of ourselves, but being a big company I’d guess there’s some possibility of promotions within the department in due course, also?

You’re probably aware of the level of customer service we can expect a lot of the time, so knowing that you can far exceed that might lead you down a pathway where more doors open.

I say give it a good dose of consideration. After all, you only have to make a decision if you’re offered the job and get to see the actual terms and conditions.

[GiantEnemyCrab]

Any scope to get the salary boosted a bit? If give it a go, can always go back if you want.

[NNH]

105.4 said:

(Editied highlights)
One of my regular customers is a department manager of a very well known national company, (I won’t say which one).

This lady has asked me if I’d be interested in joining her team in a customer services type role. At which point I embarrassingly had to explain that I haven’t been to university, I haven’t got any A-Levels, and I haven’t even got any GCSE’s. Her response was that attitude, work ethic and experience was more important.




What is the general attitude like in large corporate environments? Is it generally a case of screwing the customer over for every last penny? What are HR really like? Does everyone have to be a robot, or can you be ’you’?

Are customer service roles at genuine risk of being replaced by AI in the very near future?


I am happy where I am. I have very little Head Office bullst to put up with, but it would be nice to earn similar money whilst working 30 hours less per week whilst not spending all day soaked to the skin.


edited to add; Surely she’s got to be scraping the bottom of the barrel to be desperate enough to ask me, right?

Edited by 105.4 on Tuesday 18th July 23:33

Random thoughts from a manager.

1) Some years ago at a bank, I stole a guyfrom the call centre for my Analytics team. He didn't have a degree like the rest of the team, but he also had a lot of customer expertise and a great sense for how we used our Dialler system. He did so well that he got stolen from me by a bigger bank within two years for a senior role. I think your new manager has seen something similar in you, and she believes in you.

2) Big companies don't have to be soulless. The processes can be more consistent, but people like your manager know when to follow the rules and when to do something a little different.

3) When a manager gets HR onside for a "different" hire, she's gone to a lot of effort. There's no way she's scraping the bottom of the barrel. She sees something in you that you might not even see yourself yet.

Essentially, if this manager believes in you so strongly, then grab this opportunity with both hands.

[105.4]

Jugosaurus said:

Do you know what the recruitment process is?
It would be odd for the lady you have spoken with to not have to follow the corporate recruitment process if it’s such a sizeable company.

I’d suggest finding out what the process is/the hoops you have to jump through to formally he offered the job and then go for it if you can be bothered. If you do this and get offered the role then you’ll have a real decision to make and imagine you’ll know how you feel at that point rather than getting into the ifs and buts over something which is currently hypothetical.

If you went for it but don’t get it and find yourself really disappointed then it’s probably a sign to move on and find something else anyway.

If it’s a big company this could be a foot in the door then you can move around once in to different roles.

What is the worst case? You get the job, do 3m and don’t like it so could you go back to your courier role?

Change is scary, but exciting!

Good luck

Thank you everyone for your positive replies. It’s appreciated

I don’t know what the formal application process is besides submitting my CV for the advertised roles, (not that I even have a CV). I can only assume that perhaps this lady has had a word with HR that would allow me to skip a step when applying for a role?

In regards to applying for the role just to turn it down, whilst I agree that applying for a job is a two-way street, (is the candidate suitable for the company, but also is the company suitable for the candidate), I wouldn’t want to be seen as wasting peoples time if I turn the role down, especially if people have gone out of their way to help me out.

[Shaw Tarse]

There are people on PH who will help you with a CV

[105.4]

fttm said:

Could you put a driver in the van to keep that side running if you decide to accept her offer ?

Yes. Possibly.

There’s three people that I have in mind for that.

The problem is that, believe it or not, working as a courier is hard, physical work. You’re under the gun all day long, constantly racing the clock with no breaks.

It’s not a job that many people can stick at, especially on the busy rounds. If I put someone in my van and they quit a couple of months down the line, they’re working on my account and I’m responsible for their conduct and performance.

[105.4]

Petrus1983 said:

I'll send you a pm in the morning

Thank you

[105.4]

Royal Jelly said:

Is the courier job going to be available for you to return to if a new job isn’t as you’d hoped? If so, that’s a big security blanket.

As above - you come across well and given your customer service attitude I’m sure you’d succeed and enjoy helping customers in another way. Not to get too far ahead of ourselves, but being a big company I’d guess there’s some possibility of promotions within the department in due course, also?

You’re probably aware of the level of customer service we can expect a lot of the time, so knowing that you can far exceed that might lead you down a pathway where more doors open.

I say give it a good dose of consideration. After all, you only have to make a decision if you’re offered the job and get to see the actual terms and conditions.

If I were to leave my current role, I’d do so properly with at least a couple of weeks notice.

Considering that all of my stats, all of my KPI’s are at 99.xx%, I’m pretty sure that I’d be welcomed back if I needed to go back.

The problem is that I’d probably lose the busy rounds that I currently hold.

[105.4]

NNH said:

Random thoughts from a manager.

1) Some years ago at a bank, I stole a guyfrom the call centre for my Analytics team. He didn't have a degree like the rest of the team, but he also had a lot of customer expertise and a great sense for how we used our Dialler system. He did so well that he got stolen from me by a bigger bank within two years for a senior role. I think your new manager has seen something similar in you, and she believes in you.

2) Big companies don't have to be soulless. The processes can be more consistent, but people like your manager know when to follow the rules and when to do something a little different.

3) When a manager gets HR onside for a "different" hire, she's gone to a lot of effort. There's no way she's scraping the bottom of the barrel. She sees something in you that you might not even see yourself yet.

Essentially, if this manager believes in you so strongly, then grab this opportunity with both hands.

Thank you for your confidence boosting and kind words

[105.4]

Shaw Tarse said:

There are people on PH who will help you with a CV

Funnily enough I was only thinking about that yesterday.

There’s the CV King on here, but I can’t remember what the guys username is?

I’ll do a PH search for that later on, but now, back to work, (and it’s raining again )

[Teddy Lop]

NNH said:

3) When a manager gets HR onside for a "different" hire, she's gone to a lot of effort. There's no way she's scraping the bottom of the barrel. She sees something in you that you might not even see yourself yet.

Essentially, if this manager believes in you so strongly, then grab this opportunity with both hands.

It's nice to be seen and appreciated. Too little of it in the world it often seems; take it where you can get it, and offer it generously where it's deserved.

What's the downside? Surely the courier job isn't difficult to depart on friendly terms and they'll always welcome back a reliable worker, you don't even have to sell the van immediately. It's there for you as a fallback.

Sure, like the old joke about the bloke deciding heaven vs. hell you could find the role has nothing to do with Mrs niceypants or that she's promoted/poached/hit by a bus and you're toiling for someone with a disciplinary quota, well in the words of the dead kennedys, you tell them to take this job and shove it.

When we worked sites it was standard practice if you got a new start you'd call in sick for the site you were on, so you'd spend a day on the new one and have the choice to stick or twist. Not right but that's the industry...

[heisthegaffer]

Sounds like a brilliant opportunity to me albeit I get the sense of you liking the variety of what you do, the interaction with people and possibly the hard physical work?

Reason I'm pointing this out is that sitting behind a desk offers different rewards and satisfaction but you may find there's less variety and interaction with people etc.

Worth thinking about but equally, the other benefits of a corporate (pension, sick pay, holiday entitlement, maybe a bonus) are all big draws.

Either way good luck and keep us posted.

[soad]

105.4 said:

Shaw Tarse said:

There are people on PH who will help you with a CV

Funnily enough I was only thinking about that yesterday.

There’s the CV King on here, but I can’t remember what the guys username is?

I’ll do a PH search for that later on, but now, back to work, (and it’s raining again )

rog007

[bearman68]

It's all about the money. If you're valued so highly, you'll be paid highly. Companies don't show appreciation in anything other than salary. (OK, not quite true, but pretty much).
I don't know if I would want to jump from a long physical job back to desk sitting, and working for the man. (But I jumped the other way 15 years ago, and no way would I go back, so I'm biased).

Interesting question OP, and best of luck in what you decide. Either way, it's a nice compliment.