beckiwoo

Hey everyone!!!

it has been a while since I posted but I thought I would mark my three years.

September 1st marks my third canniversary. Not much has changed, I am still in Vancouver and I still would like to leave but right now my focus is on other areas.

The bad news is, I lost my job end of July so it has been a difficult five weeks adjusting. Unfortunately there was a lot of Management change in my department, my Manager got promoted and we all thought that the Assistant Manager would get the position, instead they made his position redundant and although he had been getting prepped for the Manager role (he had been there 5 years) they decided to take the Assistant Manager from the shelter and a person I didn't really know but someone that I knew didn't share the same outlook as me.

After two weeks from the start of the new Manager taking over, of being micromanaged, two supervisions where he had nothing positive to say about my work and found anything to 'nit pick' at and a bully email that I pushed professionally but assertively pushed back with he decided I wasn't a 'good fit' for the department (I had been there 2 years an 8 months) so I knew that was a load of rubbish) and terminated me without cause.

I know now that it was blessing in disguise and that I would not have been able to stay there and focus on helping the youth that would come in with all the cr*p going on in the background. Thankfully I already had my PR as well otherwise losing the job would have had a serious impact on my application and my points

I am currently working some night shifts to get some money in and have had a couple of job offers so I am not in a really bad way but it does feel like I am starting from the bottom again.

I am still with my partner. We have had some ups and downs but he has been so supportive with me losing my job and helping me to try and cheer up - luckily its the summer and the weather has been great . His job is going well but he is looking at other opportunities, possibly in Squamish where they desperately need Project Managers. The downside is that after we both looked at a real estate website - houses are out of control up there as with much of Vancouver and Fraser Valley. His apartment is downtown in a fantastic location so he can easily sell it for a lot more then he paid for it but it is only 500 square foot and one bedroom - no good for a family and I am reluctant to move in completely due to the lack of space. (I still rent my basement suite in South Vancouver) but am spending most of my time downtown.

This concerns me a lot as it doesn't look like real estate is going to cool any time soon so possibly the only options is to move further and further out (Mission, Hope etc) or to another province.

One good thing about losing the job was that I have focused on my self-care a lot more. I am painting and drawing and eating better (no meat and no coffee)! Two weekends ago we went to Satura island (Gulf Islands) to his friend's cabin and it was amazing. We are off to Kelowna end of September depending on the wildfires so I am really looking forward to seeing that for the first time.

I am not sure when I will go back to the UK again but I don't feel the need to right now. Despite the run of bad luck, I still feel Canada is home and will be for the immediate future.

The plans for the next year is after settling into a job, deciding what I want to do in the future - possibly go back to school, I was also looking at probation service but i know it is hard to get in there. I am hoping my partner and I are going to make some kind of decision about housing and where we might need to relocate to in order to achieve that.

I'll end it there

BristolUK

Sorry for the bad news (or good ) but good to see you're hanging in there.

I saw from your blog that you were still breathing, just not here.

I thought you were in the public sector but it doesn't sound like it.

beckiwoo

Oh cool you still follow my blog

No I was working for a non-profit for youth services downtown

DandNHill

I had a very similar job to that in rural Nova Scotia. Probably my best job ever!!!
Good luck with the future. We sometimes think these things that challenge us are "Canadian" but in fact they are just challenges we could encounter even in the U.K.

BristolUK

Indeed. A friend of mine has been working for the red cross back in England and this management change sounds uncannily like what just happened to him. He resigned.

Shakyuk

Very sorry to hear about the job, that can't have been an easy period! I had a similar thing years ago; I went from a great manager to the worst manager and I ended up leaving. My job was only a job I had to get through uni though and not something I was emotionally or professionally invested in like I'm sure you were and so I'd imagine that was much harder.


I have found I look back on every missed opportunity or negative situation over the years and think in the end things have worked out better. Perhaps it's a bit of luck but I think sticking at it makes all the difference. You may feel like you're starting at the bottom, but it's easy to underestimate the value of experience and the knowledge you have gained. It's all experience in the bag. Good luck with the job hunt!


Although I respect you are happy to eat no meat and no coffee.. for me that would be the end of the world!


Has the introduction of the property tax in BC not cooled the market at all? You seemed to like NS a lot? Have you considered a move out that way?

beckiwoo

Thanks

beckiwoo

Not really, well I mean it did for a few months or at least flatlined it but its still going up like crazy.

I have thought about NS so so much but at the same time it's finding work and dealing with 'proper winters'. Also my partner's family are all in South Surrey so in his mind staying closer will mean an unpaid babysitter (in his mum) for when we have a family...whilst I see where he is going with that - its not enough of a reason lol.

I've been asked to look at real estate websites tonight during my night shift (working casual shifts right now) in the hope of finding something - I think he is more optimistic

Howefamily

I am sorry to read this about work, that does indeed suck. Not just losing your job but the whole change and then the crappy manager. Crappy managers can indeed make one miserable (been there done that too many times)
I follow your blog too, and wish you luck in whatever comes next.

beckiwoo

Thank you

scrubbedexpat091

Happy 3 years. Sorry to hear about the job, but the manager doesn't seem like a pleasent person so it's likely for the best.

Squamish is out of control, started around 2013 or so, prior to that it was still a fairly affordable little town, even rents are out of this world now there, in 2013 we looked a 1 bed condo for rent in a newer building and it was 900, now that same building units rent for 1,800-1,900.

But that is why we left, why pay a premium to live in a small town when Vancouver rentals can be found for the same or even less...

MIL home in Squamish has more then doubled in value since 2013, her neighbors sold recently for 1.1 million and they bought it in summer 2015 for 745,000.

beckiwoo

Thanks Jsmith. No he wasn't pleasant - he didn't have a good reputation with the youth in the shelter and a few staff didn't like him either - he also had a very annoying high pitched laugh so I'm well out of it to be honest .

Yeah Squamish is nuts! My partner has a meeting with this potential new employer next week and I've told him to tell them that it is going be near impossible but they have locations in the interior and out near Abbotsford so perhaps there might be something there for him.

jandro

Sorry to hear that. Yours is a not uncommon story in the Canadian job market.

In a previous job I returned from a vacation and learned my manager was fired and replaced by an inexperienced manager from another department who never worked in this field. She was going to bring great improvements with her new managment style it was claimed. Instead there was a lot of turnover as her staff complained of being micro managed and having to attend too many meetings to account for their actions. I stayed as my knowledge was useful to her until she hired the staff she preferred. Every fault was found even if I successfully finished a project. I felt I was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

My last performance review was basically a summary of how rubbish I was. With a fake smile she handed me a pen to sign that I agreed with this. At the next company downsizing I was let go along with several others - escorted off the premises. I heard she was eventually sacked herself though.

In retrospect I wish I had just left when I knew the writing was on the wall.

Shard

Well done on 3 years Becky!

Shakyuk

When I read about the changes to BC tax changes regarding property I did think they sounded a bit too weak to make a significant difference. If they wanted to resolve this issue quickly they could do like many countries and just say all owners must be permanent residence, citizens and resident for tax purposes. It's the same in the UK, very frustrating!


I can understand the pull of some family being close by when you do have children, for the convenience but also so your children have a relationship with grandparents. Hopefully something will be done about the property prices in the area, a stronger government representing people rather than the banks and the rich may be too much to ask for.