First Impressions

So the last I time I blogged I worked in a senior school in Wales. Well I've changed jobs and I am now happily settled in the Audit Commission.

I've been here a few weeks now and I thought I would blog about my first impressions of the place.

I had been to a couple of interviews here before this one and unfortunately, my impressions from that time were not good. Getting feedback from interviews was like getting blood out of a stone and in the second interview I had, I actually gave up. I had that interview through an agent and they gave up as well!
Anyway, I was slightly dubious after those experiences but I was successful in my third attempt. Three times the charm is actually true! Although this time I did have the actual qualification and experience, they were looking for (before I was trying to break into a different role).

So what do I think?

I do have a different perspective to most people with my bad eyesight, but I am impressed with how they reacted. First, I now have two 19" monitors so I effectively have one enormous one. Even better, I usually have to have the keyboard right at the edge of the desk so I can get as close to the monitors as possible. This means that I can get a crick in my wrist. Work at the Commission? Problem solved! They've given me monitor mounts so the monitors are suspended off the desk which means that I can have the keyboard further in. So full marks for accessibility from me.

The people

Everyone I've met so far has been friendly and inclusive as well as professional. It is very different from working with kids!

The offices

The offices are nice and there is a minimum of clutter. There is lots of light and it feels incredibly spacious even though it houses a lot of people. Basically someone has really thought about the design.

The benefits

The benefits are great but for me the best one is the in-house gym they inherited from a previous organisation. For only £10 a month, you get unlimited use of the gym. It is small but it has everything you need and if anyone wanted to suddenly become a world class athlete they could always pop over to the gym at UWE!
The downside

They do flexible working but not flexi working. The word processing/email software is not the latest and I like it so much I might stay there too long!

If I were to award stars one to five for this organisation, I would give 4.5. In the other places I have worked, the school 3, the National Assembly for Wales 3 and JA Kemp 4.

Still, although I am still in the first few weeks I am so far impressed with the professionalism and dedication I have witnessed so far. It really is a great place to work!