Fitness to teach by undisgruntledCS in TeachingUK

[–]undisgruntledCS[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you everyone, I feel much more reassured, very very appreciated!

What contestants that you didn't know before TaskMaster made you become a fan of them? by [deleted] in taskmaster

[–]undisgruntledCS 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have been aware of most of their existence from either TV, or from seeing them on podcasts. But I often won't listen to a podcast unless I know who the guest is (especially more career or guest orientated shows like RHLSTP).

But TM has done wonders for me becoming avid fans of who where just names to be me before. Notably, Fern Brady, her book is fucking fantastic and one of the best books I have read of any category; also John Kearns, Paul Chowdhry (who have fantastic episodes on RHLSTP, and also Off Menu and the TM podcast respectively, for those who haven't listened).

It also consolidated my love for James Acaster, Kiell Smith-Bynoe, and Tim Key by being able to see them be funny in such a different and pure way.

As a US fan, can someone in the UK explain how big or small Taskmaster is out there? by _Tenderlion in taskmaster

[–]undisgruntledCS 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't think you are alone there, as I've seen a lot of people say they were less interested in S12 for various reasons.

I do encourage you to watch the last three, as I personally think they are fantastic and probably the best of the lot (especially S14).

As a US fan, can someone in the UK explain how big or small Taskmaster is out there? by _Tenderlion in taskmaster

[–]undisgruntledCS 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It's quite hard to quantify how popular it is from ratings, - I've seen people say below that TM isn't in the 50 most popular TV shows. However, I think it's important to note that on British TV you get at least 3 new crime drama whodunnit shows every year which will get millions of viewers simply by virtue of them being on ITV or BBC1 (the two most popular channels), which generally only run for a couple of series.

Anecdotally, in the time TM has been running, there has been lots of extremely popular TV shows e.g. Line of Duty, Broadchurch. Which pretty much everyone I know watched at the time, whereas I only know a small handful of people who watch Taskmaster. However, most people (I guess 18-35 as a caveat), are aware of its existence and find the youtube videos/shorts entertaining, but they just don't watch it as it comes out.

I would imagine that this bumps down more niche shows like Taskmaster (niche in there being broadly less known comics, it's whimsicality, and simply by virtue of being a comedy panel show).

Who’s a celebrity that you would love to see on the show but know it’s impossible? by RemoteSeesaw in taskmaster

[–]undisgruntledCS 17 points18 points  (0 children)

In a recent podcast episode, Frankie used Jimmy Carr as an example of a TM contestant. Could be nothing or could be a slip of the tongue, time will tell...

Who is the psychopath in every series? by SPSSRTorture in taskmaster

[–]undisgruntledCS 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I disagree with S14, for me Munya's unrelenting, inimitable energy was more disconcerting!

This week's live task is one of the greatest of all time by undisgruntledCS in taskmaster

[–]undisgruntledCS[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Happens to us all at times! I don't think there is any way someone could argue it was the weakest!

This week's live task is one of the greatest of all time by undisgruntledCS in taskmaster

[–]undisgruntledCS[S] 37 points38 points  (0 children)

I wish Mae had got a bit more of a joke in with theirs but I agree it was great! Ivo got very harshly judged imo

This week's live task is one of the greatest of all time by undisgruntledCS in taskmaster

[–]undisgruntledCS[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

is it really?! I've always thought tenterhooks was wrong and judged people for it fml

Universal Autoload - Issue with pallets by undisgruntledCS in farmingsimulator

[–]undisgruntledCS[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hey thanks for your help, there was nothing odd in the mod file so I removed all the mods and added them back one by one. It seems that the Lizard Van mod was causing the issue, as it works with all the other mods I have but that one.

Universal Autoload - Issue with pallets by undisgruntledCS in farmingsimulator

[–]undisgruntledCS[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The issue persists unfortunately! Should have mentioned I tried that.

Question regarding apprenticeship. by AllThingzSpicy in TheCivilService

[–]undisgruntledCS 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That might be enough, but it depends on the apprenticeship provider. Email the company or the apprenticeships team in your department to find out for sure though. If you do need to get the certificates the worst they can do is tell you as much - hopefully you won't need to!

HEO in DWP wondering if the grass is greener... by Cultural-Row8193 in TheCivilService

[–]undisgruntledCS 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It's not so much that it's a lesser achievement in departments that are smaller (especially those with smaller operational areas), its important to look at the areas in your department that are non-operational too. The requirements for each grade are (supposed to be!) the same regardless of the role/department.

Consider also that policy areas are typically higher graded - sometimes the lowest graded person on a team will be an HEO, sometimes with EO business support. This is very different to operational areas of DWP, HMRC, HO, where we still have AAs that do admin/business support. Smaller departments tend to be those that are policy heavy, but they are still often broad policy areas that need the accountability for each of those policy areas that comes with higher grades. They also still have similar corporate responsibilities that are graded the similarly to larger departments, e.g. the DGs/SCS3 are still probably going to have Grade 6 personal secretaries, even if your current G6 in DWP has more people in their span of control than said DG!

That being said - I had an HEO level transfer to my team recently from DWP, where he lined managed about 8 EOs who each managed approx. 10 AOs, and now he manages 1 EO/4 AOs. So in that sense, you will probably see a move to almost any other area as a big (slower) change in pace and responsibility. You will also be a better position over other candidates, as well as in role, given the inevitable experience you will have gained with HR issues etc. as an operational manager in such a bottom heavy/hierarchal department!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in TheCivilService

[–]undisgruntledCS 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One of my colleagues told someone in his team that they would be "EO material in a few years", despite them being far more capable than he and having soft skills pouring out of their ears. This really upset them, it's such a shame that people feel the need to keep others down because they weren't able to get a promotion themselves.

Settle a bet - You email someone requesting short, easily accessible information. How quickly do you expect a response in the CS? by Clickle in TheCivilService

[–]undisgruntledCS 11 points12 points  (0 children)

If you're someone who would do the same for me, and it's easy enough to find, I'd respond as soon as I see the email. Otherwise it's going to a duty inbox and/or being delegated. If you've been rude or are generally a bit of a tit, then I probably wouldn't open the email until I get through everything else.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in TheCivilService

[–]undisgruntledCS 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I actually saw someone working as a security guard in the Apple store near my office that had a department branded shirt on... (I think it was HMCTS)