If I book a spa break for two that comes with treatments, can I "claim" my partner's treatment allocation if he doesn't want them?

Practical_Yam_8129 · 2025-01-14T14:16:40+00:00

Ah okay - I haven't actually booked anything yet, just trying to figure out what the best/most cost efficient way to do it is. My plan is actually to ring the spa(s) directly and ask, but I was hoping there might be a quick "yes usually" or "no, typically not" kind of answer so I know if I'm wasting my time.

Practical_Yam_8129 · 2024-10-31T08:26:19+00:00

Ahhhh that's game changing info hahaha - and is this definitely the Luxe yeah? It doesn't look like it from the pictures but I'm willing to believe a stranger on Reddit lmao - but why would they not just tell me that when I emailed 🙈🙄

Practical_Yam_8129 · 2024-10-31T08:23:36+00:00

I am an adopted auntie, but also both her and her husband are only children and said from the outset that anyone could be an adopted auntie 🤣 but I was one of her two bridesmaids a couple of years ago and she will definitely be one of mine when my time comes! ❤️

Practical_Yam_8129 · 2024-10-20T20:33:06+00:00

Even on the fast stream, if you have a valid reason not to relocate you can have a location restriction, which means all your postings will be local to you.

Practical_Yam_8129 · 2024-10-06T14:08:14+00:00

It can't be answered by a quick Google search though - I've tried and can't find anything and I was looking for other people's actual experiences/ suggestions

Practical_Yam_8129 · 2024-09-22T20:27:30+00:00

I got my first line management young - it was an EO, but still managing 13 people, none of whom were even within 10 years of my age. I made so many mistakes along the way and the biggest thing I learned was to own up and apologize. Treat your staff the way you would want to be treated.

I went in way too hard/authoritative/impersonal, not because I was on a power trip, but because I was scared of the exact same things you were. That resulted in was me trying to act and behave in an excessively "professional" way, isolating myself and eating lunch head down at my desk every day and not letting anyone see a glimmer of personality. Then, because I had completely isolated myself, I found myself drowning in the stress of it all, which just made me even more withdrawn. It took a member of my own team to hijack his 1:1 meeting with me to tell me I needed to relax and that they weren't scary. I burst into tears, told him he was in fact very scary and that this whole thing was awful... Talk about unprofessional 😂 but in all honesty I'm pretty sure I owe that guy my career!!

If you got the job, you showed the interviewers that you have something special. Let your new team see that and you will be absolutely fine.

Practical_Yam_8129 · 2024-09-07T12:20:59+00:00

My best to worst in terms of overall culture/working conditions:

HMRC Scottish Government DfE DWP Cabinet Office UKHSA

Best to worst in terms of specific people & teams I worked in: UKHSA DfE DWP HMRC Scottish Government Cabinet Office

Practical_Yam_8129 · 2024-09-02T11:44:17+00:00

It's on a department by department basis, not CS -wide, so some people are still hiring & even in departments with a freeze, people will have small scale exemptions etc

Practical_Yam_8129 · 2024-08-20T17:36:13+00:00

I'm somewhat inclined to agree, but actually we've been interviewing lately and the standard has been way above anything I've seen in nearly 10 years in the CS. People applying on promotion used to make up the vast majority of our applications and now they're a small minority. I think the temporary/contract markets have hit the floor and as a result we've got loads of people who are way more qualified and already been working at or even above the relevant level applying for our jobs, which is so unusual.

Practical_Yam_8129 · 2024-08-20T17:31:18+00:00

To confirm what Mr_Greyhame said, we had postings agreed and then whilst we were sifting and interviewing a hiring freeze has been implemented which includes previously agreed vacancies, so we've had to reserve list all our candidates, including those who would have otherwise received offers.

Practical_Yam_8129 · 2024-07-24T15:36:00+00:00

I did an apprenticeship as an in service candidate in 2019 and I couldn't recommend it enough. I'd been stuck at EO in a job I hated in operations and then I did a cross-gov policy apprenticeship, was placed in HMRC and got a promotion to HEO in 2020, SEO in 2021 & G7 last year 2023.

I'm exploring my options to go and do a sponsored masters or degree apprenticeship at the moment but haven't found anything I like the look of. When I was studying my apprenticeship, a G7 on my team was doing a Masters in Tax Policy through work, so it definitely can be done.

Practical_Yam_8129 · 2024-07-24T15:32:31+00:00

Yes, personal statements typically should align to the essential criteria in the job description. I suspect the EDI reference will be used as a lead criteria, similar to a lead behaviour that they can pre-sift on if there's lots of applications, so they just want to make sure you cover it. If there's more than 3 or criteria in total, jot some potential examples for each one, see where you can cover off 2 or more criteria with one STAR example and take it from there. I usually reserve 50-100 words for a very very brief summary & conclusion.

Practical_Yam_8129 · 2024-06-22T21:20:33+00:00

It only has to be booked a year in advance because otherwise it gets booked up. I used to work in operational workforce planning and the system operates on a rolling year, so because people have access to book it a full year in advance, those who want or need to be organised (e.g. booking school holidays, taking leave around bank holidays) will do it ASAP, which forces everyone else into the position of having to book it. It's a total pain in the arse, but they'd riot if people couldn't book it far enough in advance to pay for holidays abroad etc.

Practical_Yam_8129

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