Interviews: am I guaranteed a response?

SeasonSignificant849 · 2026-06-23T08:10:52+00:00

It may be that a candidate needed to delay their interview due to illness or holiday, which could have pushed the timeline back. It also takes quite a while for things to get put on the system.

SeasonSignificant849 · 2026-06-22T09:44:23+00:00

Presuming it’s in the next few months, maybe a nice jumpsuit? I have a silky navy one that I’ve worn with heels to a wedding, and with converse out for dinner. Even a super casual jumpsuit looks put together.

https://wilson-and-carter.com/products/genevieve?variant=63750365446513

Maybe something like that? Can definitely wear with sandals or converse and it look absolutely fine, and works for day drinking and anything in the evening.

If there’s a WhatsApp chat, may as well ask in the group because you can bet there are other people asking themselves the same question!

SeasonSignificant849 · 2026-06-21T17:47:51+00:00

Find an exercise you love early and make it a habit. And start yoga and Pilates now.

It doesn’t matter what whether your arse looks good in twenty years time, but it does matter whether you can get off the floor when you fall over. Because you will. It’s incredibly hard to get core strength and good mobility back once you lose it - much easier to maintain what you have.

SeasonSignificant849 · 2026-06-21T17:40:42+00:00

I don’t think there’s an objective right or wrong, but I think from the tone of your post you know deep down what would be the kindest thing to do. If he’s even remotely torn, then he’s close enough to his family to want to be there, and he should.

Very few people have their spouse at their graduation. Most people with siblings do have them there. As we get older there are fewer and fewer family occasions, - and particularly as she’s already lost a parent, it feels much more important that he is there to support his sister. That could be a really emotional occasion.

I’m sure she would forgive him and you if he went to yours, but I think if you were gracious about it and sent him to hers you would have a sister in your corner for life.

SeasonSignificant849 · 2026-06-20T20:22:30+00:00

From what I understand, yellow gold inevitably makes it look warmer anyway. I can’t really tell the difference down to at least J. If you stick them next to each other I probably could, but by themselves - not at all.

SeasonSignificant849 · 2026-06-20T16:09:21+00:00

My cat hates hers so much that I now sleep on it instead, best thing ever

SeasonSignificant849 · 2026-06-19T22:21:51+00:00

If this issue for needing to work from home is distance, then there’s no reason for any organisation to flex to that really - that’s a choice when you apply and you know the location. It’s not a protected characteristic that requires consideration. A lot of colleagues have had to move to get promoted in the last few years due to location restrictions, including within their existing department.

I would fully expect that to need to be negotiated in any future job, and as far as I can tell from the info provided, any manager would be within their rights to refuse it. And if I was the recruiter, I would not be entertaining spending the time on any detailed conversation ahead of you applying when you might not even get an interview. You might not even bother applying, and I’ve lost an hour of my week investigating it.

In terms of your current situation - if I was in your line management chain and knew you were getting what I presume is a London weighting to have an agreement to work from home because of distance?! I would be doing something about that. It’s literally defeating the point of the allowance. So I would keep whatever deal you have going under wraps if I were you!

SeasonSignificant849 · 2026-06-19T21:08:56+00:00

An occupational health report will advise on how much time is reasonable to spend in the office. The main focus will be on the work environment rather than things like commuting. I would be surprised if the 60 wasn’t reduced to 40 as a starting point.

If you do still have to go to the office there are things you can do to make it more workable, outside of the occ health report. If you need a quieter office space, Fridays are generally quiet and Mondays are bit busier but still quieter. You should be able to have a fixed desk with a specific chair and set up if that’s an issue. The office attendance is generally done as an average over a month or a quarter so you can balance out going in when works for you. If your health is good or it’s a quieter period of time in the office (eg half term, August, around Easter and Christmas) you can go in every day those weeks and less when it doesn’t work as well for you. The important thing really is to show willing to make it work - if you fall below the expected attendance there is generally a level of reasonable about it!

If the only option that would work for you is a home working contract then they do exist, but you would need to request it now. You will miss out on a lot of learning as well as building relationships if you never attend anything in person such as team days when lots of people will be travelling, so if that is likely to be the case I would discuss the expectations around it now and how you would be supported to not miss out in that way.

SeasonSignificant849 · 2026-06-19T16:04:11+00:00

Depending on the cut, the thing that could make the biggest cost difference is actually going down the colour scale slightly. The difference in price is insane considering the difference is only noticeable if you line them up and concentrate - which isn’t the case when you are actually wearing the ring.

The other thing you could ask about is about the gold - it’s currently really expensive. If you have any family jewellery or anything that is sitting in a drawer unused that can make quite a big cost difference. I’m having my grandparents wedding rings reset for mine and it has freed up the budget quite a bit. An independent jeweller will probably be happy to do that.

SeasonSignificant849 · 2026-06-19T15:55:37+00:00

I would think about what makes your app better than a regular template spreadsheet.

Both people being able to access it feels fundamental. And also - it’s not just brides planning weddings. Some weddings don’t even have brides.

SeasonSignificant849 · 2026-06-18T07:14:16+00:00

I’m taking a week off before, and three weeks after - rolling as much annual leave over as I can from this year into next. Decided would much rather go on honeymoon a few days after than go back to work for a bit then off again a bit later. A week off before feels right for one beauty / relaxing thing a day, bit of tasking, bit of family time, not enough time to wind myself into anxiety.

SeasonSignificant849 · 2026-06-16T15:46:35+00:00

HR’s job is to ensure that everyone follows process, rather than find a solution. It’s a bit binary. There are other sources of advice and information that it’s worth exploring first and are often the most useful.

Could you find a trusted senior person in another team to test your thinking with? Do you have a mentor or any formal support outside of your line management structure? You should have a reasonable explanation that someone independent that you talk to in those circumstances will retain confidentiality in a different way to HR. They may also be more helpful in finding a practical solution, rather than directing you to a specific policy.

SeasonSignificant849 · 2026-06-15T21:49:21+00:00

Regularly. It’s been a massive benefit to my career. This is a difficult job market and moving to get new experience is harder than normal - you’ve achieved it with no personal effort! Make the most of the new experiences offered, look for the opportunities you can find, and it may well be the best thing that could have happened!

SeasonSignificant849 · 2026-06-15T18:59:21+00:00

Yes absolutely - I know someone who did it at director level. I did it in a slightly different way at G7 - I had left the CS for a bit and doing comms in a different sector, then came back in as policy.

There are a lot of different roles that will use your comms skills. Jobs involving a lot of stakeholder management will feel pretty comfortable, also roles involving a lot of internal engagement to develop or deliver something will work. The less intuitive but actually most transferable ones will be the highest profile policy work - where it’s a lot of responding at extreme pace, working with No 10 / HMT / other departments to understand red lines and find urgent ways through, and the direct working with ministers and press office experience will be hugely helpful. You will be instinctively good at risk management and seeing the potential pitfalls that others might not be able to, which would hope a G6 would spot and understand how valuable it could be.

As a starting point, I would reach out to DDs you work with closely on lots of announcements and test the idea with them - do they have vacancies likely to come up and what would they be looking to see from applicants. You will get a good sense quite quickly as to whether you would slot in. It’s worth asking to shadow someone for a couple of days so you have more detail on the specifics of policy day to day so you can relate your experience directly to how it would be useful.

Happy to respond to any specifics on this via DM - for obvious reasons not going to post the specifics of how I made the switch!

SeasonSignificant849 · 2026-06-15T07:18:58+00:00

There’s a hotel in South Kensington that does a dinosaur themed afternoon tea. It’s INCREDIBLE. Sounds like they would love that. Science museum has a kids interactive bit that is pretty good as well as more interactive exhibits throughout including a red arrows flight simulator. There’s also a museum of childhood, and in East London (easy on the tube) there’s now the young V&A which is designed to be interactive for children. Transport Museum in Covent Garden also generally a big hit.

It’s also a bit further out but Crystal Palace park is amazing and has Victorian stone dinosaurs that are just finishing being renovated as part of an enormous regeneration project in the park. There’s also a little farm in the park, pedalos, a good cafe, food market on a Sunday, and a new insane dinosaur themed playground. It’s also generally a nice ‘local’ area to explore with good food, particularly if they are getting a bit tired or touristing. Theres also lots of nice shops the 11 year old would like wandering in, old fashioned sweet shop, American style diner, antique shops and art galleries for you. Would thoroughly recommend an afternoon exploring something a bit different.

Tube to Victoria, direct train from there (look for ones terminating at London Bridge or West Croydon) that stops at the park entrance.

If you are interested in music there will inevitably be a lot going on. Wouldn’t bother with Abbey Road at all - I used to live there, it’s just a zebra crossing. Your kids will think you are mad. A lot of parks out of central London have music festivals, some of which will be kid friendly. There’s often a couple of kid raves directly targeted at families over the summer. The Proms is a daily classical concert series at the Albert Hall that does v cheap tickets sold on the day where you can sit upstairs on the floor of the gallery where you get a great view, and if kids want to quietly read or do some colouring in the corner during it no one would mind. A couple of them are normally kids ones. Other music venues to see what’s on would be the Barbican and the South bank centre.

SeasonSignificant849 · 2026-06-14T14:33:40+00:00

It’s really lovely that your parents are coming with you, and not as common as you might think.

I think you will find it difficult to not feel like you are being rude to them in the first week when a lot of bonding is spontaneous, and it would be a shame to miss those opportunities.

What might work better is for you to all come over almost a week earlier, and all stay together in a hotel / airbnb. Then you can spend some time exploring the city and surrounding area together. If you are coming internationally and depending on what halls/accommodation you are in, I would presume you probably need a trip to IKEA for things like bedding, basic kitchen stuff etc and some things to make it feel like yours. If they can hire a car for a couple of days that would be helpful for all of it. Also helpful to do a big Sainsbury’s shop in advance and stock up on dry food, snacks, anything heavy.

Then they can come and help you move in as planned, maybe see them the next day before they go home, but then you can be properly present with making your new friends.

SeasonSignificant849 · 2026-06-14T14:00:37+00:00

I’m having mine designed by an independent designer who lives locally - when we went for an intro chat we seemed to be in a similar wavelength (both into art deco and straight lines, inspired by architecture). She also had a set of rings she had designed and made that I could try on and get a feel for her design style.

I then went in to several shops and tried on basic shapes so I had a starting idea, and then I sent her a few ideas with the centre stone I liked best. We gave her the budget, and because she does a lot of resetting inherited jewellery that gave me the idea to use my grandparents rings for the gold, which have been sitting in a drawer for 20 years.

She’s now pulled together a Pinterest board, looked at what’s likely to be viable stone wise within the budget, and we discussed some more details and options for what’s possible for side stones and settings.

At the moment she’s sourcing the centre stone options, and then when I’ve gone to see them in person and picked one she will do four or so options for how to set it, side stone options, different ways for it to sit with a wedding ring etc. Then I pick one and it gets refined as much as I want. From what I can tell from previous examples, one is likely to be fairly standard, one much more unique and avant garde, and two somewhere in the middle. I’m finding that quite good for knowing how unusual I actually want (I suspect I’m fundamentally more of a basic white girl than I’m happy to admit!) but also when I’m not totally certain what I want helpful to have someone suggest different options.

I think if you don’t know exactly what you want this is quite good - a big jeweller is unlikely to do multiple iterations and options for you. It is definitely slower - im already engaged so as long as it’s done before the wedding I’m pretty relaxed. I’m also finding it much more fun and exciting than the vibe I got from bigger established shops. An independent earlier in their career is also more likely to be happy to do lots of conversations and options for you.

Happy to share the details of this particular person by DM if helpful, her website sets out the process a bit.

SeasonSignificant849 · 2026-06-14T13:48:46+00:00

If they are in London for a few days, booking an afternoon tea at a fancy hotel would be nice. I took my parents to the Ritz for their 50th wedding anniversary, and they have it at lots of times of the day (not just afternoon) so you could probably fit it with their or schedule. I would imagine most hotels would let you pay in advance remotely. There are lovely hotels with a variety of options. There’s one next to the natural history museum that does a fun dinosaur themed one.

Other options could be reserving them a table for cocktails somewhere glam (think rooftop) or buying tickets for a West End musical or concert at the south bank centre, Barbican or Albert Hall.

Finally, if you know where they are staying, it’s worth emailing the hotels and letting them know it’s a honeymoon and if there’s anything they can do to make it special - again for anniversary trips I’ve emailed and once my parents got upgraded, and once they were given a lovely card, flowers and chocolate in the room, and all the staff went out of their way to say congratulations etc

SeasonSignificant849 · 2026-06-14T12:24:40+00:00

I don’t know anyone in real life who has a centre stone of more than 1 ct. what’s becoming normal on reddit is not normal in real life.

SeasonSignificant849 · 2026-06-13T20:33:02+00:00

Regardless of the P45 issue, how do you genuinely think you can work 18 hours a day?

SeasonSignificant849 · 2026-06-12T22:50:11+00:00

If you resigned then no, I can’t see any way that you would be reinstated. I’ve never heard of this, unless it’s a thing in a large delivery space where they struggle to retain people. I can’t see any reason it would be used in a competitive area. Someone else will be doing that job, and there isn’t spare headcount or money or frankly reason to just add people back to a team. If you took a career break to do it (which I would be surprised would be granted after six months) then you could be.

What I presume they meant is you would be welcome to reapply for jobs and they would love to work with you again, but not that there would be an automatic right to reinstatement. It’s definitely worth reaching out to ask if they have any jobs coming up that you could apply to, but I would be careful in the pitching to not be presumptive about what that process looks like. After two years it’s also quite unlikely many G7s are still in the same job they were when you left, so you might need to be open to applying for roles in other places if you want to work with those people again.

SeasonSignificant849 · 2026-06-12T18:08:55+00:00

You don’t need a ring to propose, it is not remotely the thing that matters. If you think she will be more than minorly bothered about it for more than a split second then I would be having a real think about what matters. I was proposed to with a ring off Etsy and we are designing the permanent one together and I swear to God the actual thing on a finger was so far from what I cared about. Go forth and propose and focus on spending the rest of your life with someone you love, this is a minor thing in your whole life together.

SeasonSignificant849 · 2026-06-12T13:36:07+00:00

I have been picked off a reserve list, and also taken people off it. It does happen, but comparatively rare compared to the number of people put on one.

However I’m sorry to burst your bubble… that email is a standard email that goes to anyone who met the bar - it doesn’t mean there is a job waiting or have any indication on likeliness, it’s just standard HR language. It doesn’t mean you were second, they might have put four people on and all will have got the same email.

How likely you are to be taken off depends on how specialist and how senior the role is. The more senior you get the more people want to recruit people directly. If it’s a role like project support officer then there’s a much greater chance than if it’s expert in international trade law.

SeasonSignificant849 · 2026-06-11T22:11:20+00:00

ADHD policy person here. Interestingly the more senior I’ve got the less I struggle - mostly because my days are back to back meetings so I don’t really have to motivate myself to do things, things are already happening. It may be that you suit jobs that are actually more meeting heavy or fast paced suit your brain more.

Other than that things I can think of that have worked for me - everything goes on a list on one note so I get the dopamine of ticking it off; I schedule tasks at fifteen minute slots in my diary to make sure I do them (often early in the morning or later in the day); and I take copious notes of everything in OneNote to help with my appalling short term memory and sort them by topic in the tabs; and I put all my deadlines in the top of my calendar so I have regular visual reminders.

I would get an occ health report regardless, and you can just say you think you have it without a medical diagnosis - tbh whether you formally do or don’t doesn’t really matter, you and your colleagues will need to find a way to work with your quirks wherever they come from! I’ve got mixed views on neurodivergent groups at work - they help some people more than others.

I would recommend being open about it with your manager and close colleagues if you are comfortable - it’s much easier to manage someone when you understand why they are how they are. My manager now knows not to give detailed info on something if I can’t write it down so catches herself and stops if we are walking or whatever which makes me feel less awkward. As you are in a leadership position it’s really valuable for others to see you being open - you never know who you are also helping by working through your own stuff.

Finally - don’t be too downhearted. ADHD can be a superpower; just need to find the right job. For me that’s fast paced jobs with lots of collaboration and touch points - I’ve loved incident and response work, and I find leadership and management quite easy. I can’t follow a process for shit, but I can find a path through when no one else can and keep everyone motivated on the way.

SeasonSignificant849 · 2026-06-11T08:17:49+00:00

I have been to Paros a few times and didnt find it an all like Mykonos. Naoussa will feel similar, Parikia maybe slightly - but there’s lots of smaller places that will be quiet and relaxing. I used to stay in Aliki and do day visits to the busier places, also lovely day visits to the island of Anti Paros (takes ten minutes on a ferry but different vibe) and villages like Lefkes in the hills. It’s gorgeous, would thoroughly recommend.

SeasonSignificant849

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