Whathejobisthis

Good Morning

Take a look at this awesome story from Amma Aggrey Watt, who shared a story at our last inspirational career night – Tell it like it is! 07/02/12. Her determination alone is a sign of courage.

To be honest, my job as a mortgage underwriter for Britannia Building Society’ was pretty cushy. I got paid well for the job that I did.

Until I was made redundant, I’d worked for them for six years. They had merged with Co-Op Financial Services in August 2009 and everything seemed like it was on the up. Then, on March 23rd 2010, the rug was pulled out from under us. It was announced that our office was being shut down and operations were being relocated to Britannia’s head office in Leek…by that OCTOBER! People got angry, others cried. “VEXED” is the word that summed up how I felt. Before the merger, we were assured that our jobs were safe and that everything was ok – WHAT A JOKE!!

I didn’t break the news to my husband until that May when I was in Ghana – long distance marriage. How do you broach the subject? Once I did tell him, he saw it as pretty cut and dried – I should be in Ghana by mid November. To me, although we had always talked about me moving there permanently, I still had reservations. Still, it continued to be an ongoing discussion and I tried to focus on my personal relocation.

An outplacement company came in and ran workshops on everything to do with transitioning out of the job. It wasn’t that I wasn’t interested; I just had no idea what I wanted to do. Relocating was the sole thing on my agenda. I couldn’t even think about what would happen once I got to Ghana.

At the end of September 2010, myself and another colleague were nominated to stay on as Subject Matter Experts until the end of the year – the amount of anonymous daggers in the back I felt was serious. Another two months of employment/saving for Ghana/worrying about a job. JOY!!!

October to December saw me living out of hotels Monday to Friday and only being at home on the weekends. Having to train the people that are being paid 50% of your salary to do the same job is a bitter pill to swallow and it got harder every day that got closer to my exit date.  Christmas and the New Year are not even worth mentioning.

The whole of 2011 was difficult journey. It seemed to just start badly and plummet downhill after that. In February, I went to Ghana for two months. While I was there, my husband dumped me via Facebook and to be honest, things had been going downhill for a while. Until that point, blind determination in making it work had kept me from giving in but as time went on I realised that his only reason for marrying me in the first place was for his own selfish financial gain and a better immigration status. More fool him right? Days later, my mum’s mum passed away at a ripe old age. Despite all of that, it was actually a FANTASTIC TRIP. It was the like a giant weight had been taken from me and although I had no idea what to do next, I was optimistic.
I came back only to endure the trials of making a claim for Jobseekers Allowance. You’ve got to love the Department of Work and Pensions. Almost six weeks to process my claim. It was like the person that hated me most was continuing to add insult to injury.

I have realised that doubt begins to creep in after about six months; it’s that point in time where your friends and family start looking at you as the charity case and every feels sorry for you but nobody wants to help you because of their own dramas. I reached that point in August and have since cut some people in my life loose. At least until I can bear the fake smiles without puking.

Fast forward to now – it’s been a year and I’m still unemployed. This whole experience is teaching me resilience. My faith is so much stronger now and although I don’t know what is ahead of me, I have faith that it can only get better from here. The people I have around me have a lot to do with my outlook. I’m thankful that they continue to encourage me to keep going, even when I don’t feel like it and understand when I say I’m having a bad day. I’m doing things that I’d never even thought of doing before, including me standing here right now, telling my story to you.

I’m going to Ghana soon to get divorced and close that chapter in my life. I used to think of the six years that I’d invested in my husband as wasted. Now I see it as a huge investment in myself.

I thank God every day that He gives me the strength to keep going and keep smiling.

We will bring you Amma’s video very soon. Watch this space…