The boomers ate all the avocados

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  • pangolin
    pangolin Posts: 6,660

    Our 2 bed + a box victorian terraced house is 77.3 sqm according to the listing.

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  • sungod
    sungod Posts: 17,430

    exactly

    same across most big cities

    one family per house, terrace/semi/detached, happens mostly on the edges, london has changed over time with the slum clearances/redevelopment and post-war rebuild, but 'houses' get built in the sprawling growth of suburbia and commuter belt, not the middle

    in the middle, most development i see is refurbs of already high-cost properties or new build apartment blocks, plenty of money is being scrubbed/hidden/secured here

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  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 22,024

    Sounds like a squash and a squeeze. A wise old man would probably recommend bringing your cow inside.

  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,591

    Yeah, a lot of developments I work on these days are far more dense with a combination of short terraces, some low rise apartments and semis with a few detached houses. Street infrastructure has also become tighter since Manual for Streets was introduced 15-20 years ago. Developers generally like getting as many houses as they can on a site although there are exceptions and some areas can command a massive premium on large 'executive' houses. Part of the issue with density is again the planning system plus objectors who find the number of houses one of their big gripes. I did a site in Cheltenham that went from over a hundred units down to 25 to try to address those issues (it still got refused). Living in a flat with a communal garden would drive me mad but I appreciate different people have different preferences.

    I can remember someone on here a few years ago (not sure who it was) moaning about how small houses are in the UK compared to Europe though. I don't think we've really done much low density housing in the UK since the 60s, if you look at all the suburbs with large detached or semi detached houses with big gardens they will generally be from the early 20th century.

  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 61,801

    Useful - I guess we go with the minimum recommended then.

    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 61,801
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 22,024

    So my top tips for you to ignore. You need about 50% more space and a shorter commute. I think that means ditching Cambridge. Obviously you'll tell me that is totally impossible, because boomers.

  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 61,801
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 61,801

    Amusing Gen Z job interview fail:


    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,591

    Looks pretty much like all those LinkedIn posts you see with conversations and events that never happened like someone being an arsehole to another person on the way to an interview only to find it was the person who is interviewing you.

  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 29,811

    Seems he needs to learn that employers need to sell the job as much as applicants need to sell their skills. Possibly the applicant had a look at the dude's Twitter feed and just thought better of the 'opportunity'.

    1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
    Pinnacle Monzonite

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  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660

    Bomers used to hiring millennials who have job anxiety because they spent their working career in the shadow of the GFC.

    Gen Z have grown up in a very tight labour market - they have leverage.

  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 61,801
    edited May 1

    Looks like the one above overestimated how much leverage he had 🙂

    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,591

    You're assuming that even if this really happened (which I doubt) the person wanted the job that badly. I actually don't think it is unreasonable to ask what the status of your application is. It is pretty frustrating when you jump through all sorts of hoops as part of a process and then get no feedback at all. I got approached by a headhunter a couple of years ago as I mentioned on here at the time. I had to do an initial interview with the headhunter then record myself answering various set questions before a follow up call with the headhunter. He said everything had gone well and would be proceeding to an interview with the Director of the company he was working for. I got radio silence for a few weeks, chased to see if everything was still progressing and got told yes, they were just sorting out the person who would have been my line manager and I never heard anything about it again. Hours wasted. Recruitment is a two way street.

  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,227

    Seems fine. If they want someone to do work without questioning if it's worthwhile, both sides are better off with it not proceeding.

  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 22,024

    I like asking candidates to do some work in advance of an interview. Really helps them to demonstrate their skills in an interview. It's a two way thing though as I need to spend time reviewing their work in advance of an interview and spend time interviewing them.

    I have been intrigued though that the average candidate spends far more time doing unnecessary extras, but then manages to get the fundamentals completely wrong.

  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660

    lol love the assumption that the candidate wants the role. Obviously he doesn't.

  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660

    May I humbly suggest, in the event that it doesn't, that this occurs relatively deep into the process.

    If you are conducting your interviews well, you ought to have a pretty good idea of how they will perform in a "do a bit of the job" type exercise.

    If you're being appropriately self reflective, if their performance in a "do a bit of the job" exercise is different to your expectations having interviewed them, I would suggest re-evaluating how you interview them.

    It should be a confirmation exercise, not a demonstration exercise.

  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 61,801

    I think some of you are taking it a bit too seriously...

    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 22,024

    It's the first interview. If they pass that then they merely have to avoid offending anyone in the second interview to get the job. How do you assess someone's skills by talking about it? There'd be a lot of world class football strikers if that was all that was required.

  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,484

    Confirmation, obviously.

    You must be aware that some candidates do not tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

    I've interviewed candidates whose C.V and schpeel were outstanding. Piss poor during a practical test.

    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
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  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660
    edited May 1

    Most jobs are in part about being able to articulate things. It is usually pointless doing something if you can't explain what you're doing and why you're doing it. That's why interviews are a thing in professional services and not so much in football.


    I'd suggest making the first interview a bit more than "merely avoiding offending anyone".

  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,591

    What, the made up post on Twitter that never really happened?

  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 22,024


    I'm not looking to hire someone who can talk about something. There's plenty of people who can talk. Too many in fact. I'm looking to hire someone with a brain and skills. If they are the right person, they would be happy to demonstrate that. For what it's worth, every candidate has fully committed without complaint to the process and has done far more than I expected.

    You once complained that people complain about recruitment consultants. This would be an example of my complaint. I'm really happy with the process and it works very well, but you tell me it's all wrong.

    It's the second round where they just need to avoid offending anyone, because they've pretty much already got the job.

  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 61,801

    Par for the course for twitter then. But who cares if it is or not, made me smile 😊

    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,591

    I assume you’re not recruiting into “technical” roles? All I can ever get a feel for is whether the person will be a good fit in the team and that they understand the principles / theory of the work. You can get people that know all the theory to tell you the right stuff but you put them in front of a computer and ask them to design something and they haven’t a clue where to start or they are good but incredibly slow and pedantic. On the other hand you have people who don’t interview brilliantly but as soon as you put them on the tools they are in their element. Others can use the software brilliantly but don’t understand the principles so don’t notice things that are wrong.

    That said, doing a practical assessment is too time consuming for everyone and the probation period gives you a chance to assess if they are as capable as they claimed.

  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,484

    "Others can use the software brilliantly but don’t understand the principles so don’t notice things that are wrong."

    This is the reason that outsourcing design to India was a short lived experiment.

    Excellent use of software, useless product.

    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660

    Technical in a professional services sense, yes, absolutely. Not technical as in they are designing or manufacturing physical things.

  • Wheelspinner
    Wheelspinner Posts: 6,711
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  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 29,811

    Bit of an assumption that he didn't have a better offer already on the table.

    1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
    Pinnacle Monzonite

    Part of the anti-growth coalition