Stuck!

LL30

I've been 'redundant' AKA unemployed for nearly 3 weeks. I've got a few issues regarding childcare (single mother) which means that I need regular set hours so she can stay in nursery. I had an interview a couple of weeks ago, and the position wasn't suitable due to their 'on call' system which we discussed at interview. The interview was OK, but they didn't leave a great impression on me (they were late for starters - first interview of the day and they sauntered into the building 10mins after the start time with no apology) and overall, they were just a little beige....anyway, it took them a week to get back to me, and via email at that, and they offered me a different position. I looked at the position on their website, as the email didn't contain a lot of information, and it was £7 an hour and they don't pay mileage. They cover 2 cities, so petrol costs would be considerable, and whilst I accept that I will have to take a pay cut (£7 is around half my usual hourly rate) I simply couldn't afford to do it due to petrol costs. I emailed them back and said Thank you, but declined.

Yesterday I got a text from a friend who works there and it turns out his boss has asked him to try and 'butter me up' for the position. They are now offering £9 an hour plus mileage, with hours to suit me and my childcare issues (she only has 2 days allocated at the moment, but I do have a childminder on standby). Sounds great, but their set up really is a shambles, I'm already worried about how they run things and to be honest, I'd love to get my teeth into their operational systems!! I've got more interviews pending and awaiting the outcome from 2 the other day (1 is a no no, I had to blag a proportion of it! The other was good, but the hours may be difficult, although £14 an hour which is great) So I'm stuck! Taking the job would solve my problems, mean I don't have to fill in more application forms, go to interviews and struggle to pay my daughter's child care fees (I'm on IS, but I'm not, because it's all got messed up) but, the company worries me!

I'm intending to do my MA next year, so I only need a minimum of 16 hours a week to see us through til then - it's not about progressing career, but keeping a hand in and maintaining my daughter's childcare. What would you do? It seems like a good solution to my problems, but I've dealt with 2 really awful employers in the past, and I'd quite like a nice one

hello2007

Maybe take the job as temporary measure why you are looking for something better however if you are getting bad vibes from the interview then I would say its no no unless you really need the job.

FunnySaving

It's always easier to find a job when you have a job, so I'd say take it and let them know that you think you could help them out with their systems (for a fee of course!) and see if you can make it work. If not, keep looking but at least you'd know that you had money in the bank while you were looking.