The Interviews

I knew it was going to be a bit hectic today, but I didn't just realise how hectic. I left my flat this morning at 08:30 and went to Barbican station to get the Circle Line to Embankment. Even though Ihad checked the news before I left, I was still caught in unannounced delays on the clockwise line for about 15 minutes. This meant that after swapping at Embankment and going to Waterloo, I had missed one train to Twickenham, where I was due to have a second interview for a security job across the road from where I am currently working. And then the train that I did get took ten minutes longer than it should to reach its destination.
I eventually got to the Job Centre there about 5 minutes late, I had tried to phone the guy I was meeting, to tell him I would be late, but he didn't answer his phone either time. He was busy in an interview anyway when I got there and didn't realise I was late until I apologised.
As it turns out, even though they were expecting this "interview" to just be a formality, and more of an excuse to get all my details to begin my vetting, it looks like I won't even be able to work for them at all. All because of the "gross misconduct" on my record for my sacking from my previous job back in October. After initially being told to basically lie on the application form and ommit that employer, I pointed out that this would be legally wrong and could cause me worse problems. Eventually I was advised to get tons of paperwork from my business to prove details and to also provide the letter I got informing me of my dismissal and the reasons for it. This will be a problem so I think I will just give up now, even though some of the problems that were putting me off taking the job offer were negated upon clarification with this guy.
The reason the letter of my dismissal could cause me not to get the job is because it is stated on the letter that in addition to the unauthorised additional job (my business) I also breached confidentiality, which I denied and should have appealed to get this removed from the dismissal details, but couldn't be bothered to do at the time as I didn't think anyone would need to see the actual letter at any time, and I would still have been dismissed anyway. Hindsight is a wonderful, yet wholy useless thing sometimes.
The upside of this meeting being cut slightly short, to allow me to get home and start gathering this information, was that it allowed me to get to my other interview on time, which I would otherwise have been late for.
I got to the seond interview with seconds to spare and was immediately impressed with the reception area. Though dark initially after the bright sunshine outside, it was incredibly dynamic, with people milling around everywhere, and exciting and everyone was really friendly. It was very modern, belied by the old building fascade in which it was based. I was almost immediately escorted to the security area through corridors that were obviously "behind the scenes" areas as they were old looking and poorly maintained, slightly letting down the initial excited impression the reception had given.
Upon talking to the security manager I got the impression that the job itself would be very similar to the one I had had when I first started at the job I had been dismissed from last year. Though, initially at least, I would be on a stand-by team and so my hours could not be guaranteed or predicted more than 14 days in advance. I would still like to go to work there if the opportunity arrose, but unfortunately, as I had been told previously, they have no vacancies at the moment. The interview seemed to go alright, though the manager did most of the talking, telling me everything that I could possibly want to know. I left there after about an 45 minutes feeling like I may have just wasted my whole morning, and I still hadn't eaten at all. Luckily this second interview was only 10 minutes walk from home and I came home and made myself a nice sandwich while cursing every now and then at my luck (and lack of the good variety).

Back to the drawing board I think and applying for other jobs, and I think more importantly, working on my writing skills so I can get employment in another field, one that will prove more interesting and diverse.