Hello all, how are you doing?I have been away for a while mainly because I was job hunting. I really needed a job to pay my bills even though my husband works and has a good salary, I am still responsible for my own bills and unfortunetaly my student loan debt :-(.
I applied here and there and got some invitations for a job interview. I always told myself not to get a job through an employment agency because I have really bad experience with them and also online I read a lot of bad reviews about employment agencies for the fact that payments are too late and you have to fill in a declarationform every single week for the hours you have worked( even though you work 40 hours every week e.g.). My worst experience with an employment agency was that I got a call from them to work for a Dutch bank and I should visit them all the way in Utrecht, which means traveling with the train and pay in total €20 for travelling. She was very happy with me and said that I was a great candidate for this job at the bank. I signed everything and she said I could probably start in 10 days. I waited 10 days and I didn't hear anything. So I called them many times and they said the lady wasn't working that day. I was very pissed because I really had hope and really believed I would get the job. This is by the way one example of my bad experience. In general, employment agencies who ever called me, promised me a job that I eventually never got.
After a few years, I suddenly received a phonecall from an employment agency that offered me a job at a Dutch bank. I was suspicious but I was also aware that they could give me false hope again. I decided to give it a try. I had to do an online test first. I passed the test and got an invitation from the bank and the employment agency. First I thought I would work at the bank and meet clients face to face. Later I found out I only have clients contact through phone....Which I really hate. I never liked calling people especially clients. I am also not good with computers. Every time an employment agency offered me a call center job, I refused. But with this bank it was slighlty different. I didn't have to call clients but they would call us for questions. My clients would be expats and non residents. So I gave it a try. I wanted to give it a try and maybe I would suddenly like to speak on the phone with clients.
I had to learn for my Wft certificate in order to be able to work for a bank. Learning for my certificate took me 2 weeks to study it and pass the exam. I passed the exam and could finally start working. The first 3 weeks was a full time training and I had to travel 1,5 hours to get there at the bank. The first days of my training were very tough because I missed my kids and I didn't work for a while and suddenly had to work full time. I also realized during my training it was nothing for me. I didn't like the management style, the travelling and the annoying declaration forms I had to print out, signed and uploaded every single week for the employment agency. In my contract it was written I would work 28 hours every single week after the training would be over. But still I had to do it manually online for every week, which was very weird and annoying.
I really wanted to get out there and quit. It just didn't feel right and I didn't feel it was my place to be. BUT maybe it was just the beginning and I have to get used to it? Maybe I should give it a few weeks? Every morning I left the house with weights hanging around my ankles--> that's how it felt for me. I also knew, that if I wanted to resign, I have to pay back the money they invested in me which is the certificate itself. So I felt somehow trapped as a prisoner. The only way to resign is if they fire me. I know it sounds strange if you want to get fired. The management was poor( micro-management). I only heard my colleagues saying negetive things about the rules there. No one was happy. They were just happy seeing each other.
I know it sounds beautiful if people ask you where you work and you say that you work for a bank. It sounds amazing but the truth is, the job was terrible because of the management style, the poor communication with employment agency, the traveling time and some arrogant experienced colleagues. I was looking at the receptionist and thought:" what a nice job she has." I really wanted to resign but I didn't want to pay back the costs of the certificate. So one day my team leader called me and said (to make a long story short) that she had to let me go. She didn't feel I was happy and that I can't call independently in the nearest future. I am happy I am fired and so are my kids and husband. On the other hand, I am sad because I met some nice people at the office that I really could laugh with.
I am now jobless but I am happy I don't have to travel that distance with the train and I know now 100% that I won't say yes to a company where I have to be on the phone with the clients all day and upload declaration forms every single week. I am currently looking for a job closeby home and it doesn't matter that the job isn't matching my education. As long I am happy and can see my kids in the morning when they go to school.
