en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/3669479 Comments by Determination http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/northern-ireland-grinds-to-a-halt-as-public-sector-closes-down-16084406.html#IDComment230355743 @gaychristian, I don't need to be duped by anyone, I can make my own mind up. Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:08:14 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/northern-ireland-grinds-to-a-halt-as-public-sector-closes-down-16084406.html#IDComment230355743 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/northern-ireland-grinds-to-a-halt-as-public-sector-closes-down-16084406.html#IDComment230167068 More like shame on the strikers. At least they have a job. Wed, 30 Nov 2011 13:46:23 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/northern-ireland-grinds-to-a-halt-as-public-sector-closes-down-16084406.html#IDComment230167068 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/northern-ireland-grinds-to-a-halt-as-public-sector-closes-down-16084406.html#IDComment230166286 Many of the civil service jobs are overstaffed. For example, there are always plenty of staff in the job centre standing round gossiping and doing no work. Wed, 30 Nov 2011 13:45:10 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/northern-ireland-grinds-to-a-halt-as-public-sector-closes-down-16084406.html#IDComment230166286 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/northern-ireland-grinds-to-a-halt-as-public-sector-closes-down-16084406.html#IDComment230156158 Very true. If these strikers are so miserable in their jobs, they should leave and let people who actually want to work have their jobs. A lot of those public sector jobs are overstaffed. Wed, 30 Nov 2011 13:31:39 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/northern-ireland-grinds-to-a-halt-as-public-sector-closes-down-16084406.html#IDComment230156158 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/northern-ireland-grinds-to-a-halt-as-public-sector-closes-down-16084406.html#IDComment230148681 @ 8 billion - At least they are getting wages. Wed, 30 Nov 2011 13:21:27 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/northern-ireland-grinds-to-a-halt-as-public-sector-closes-down-16084406.html#IDComment230148681 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/viewpoint/shared-education-is-way-forward-16080888.html#IDComment225791383 Exactly! Tue, 22 Nov 2011 18:30:27 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/viewpoint/shared-education-is-way-forward-16080888.html#IDComment225791383 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/viewpoint/shared-education-is-way-forward-16080888.html#IDComment225569018 It really is time to end this segregated education system, which is out dated a long time ago. It would also save money if the schools were mixed. When children leave school and go to the tech or university - those places are not segregated. In this day and age, people should be able to get on with each other without having to go to seperate schools. If the schools were mixed, then children from all sides would get to know each other better. I'm sure there are no other countries which have such a silly system in place. Tue, 22 Nov 2011 08:24:32 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/viewpoint/shared-education-is-way-forward-16080888.html#IDComment225569018 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/technology-gadgets/five-bt-engineers-later-and-still-couples-internet-service-is-down-16079714.html#IDComment225562591 Of course BT wants them to sign a new contract for another 12 months, then they will be left stuck with BT for another year. Who would want to stay with a company who messed their customer about so much?The next modem that BT wants to supply could be just as bad. What solution will BT offer then? I would say that by being unable to fix the problem, BT must have broken their own contract by leaving this couple without a service for so long. The couple have been more than reasonable by ringing the call centre many times and BT haven't been able to fix the problem, even after sending 5 engineers. Surely if the modem was faulty, the first engineer would have spotted that. BT should allow the couple to leave (if they want) without charging them any penalty fee, as BT are the ones who have messed up. Tue, 22 Nov 2011 08:12:55 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/technology-gadgets/five-bt-engineers-later-and-still-couples-internet-service-is-down-16079714.html#IDComment225562591 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/third-of-northern-ireland-drivers-cant-change-a-tyre-16070124.html?#IDComment216948270 What about all the drivers who have bald tyres on their cars? Plenty of those about. Fri, 4 Nov 2011 20:13:34 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/third-of-northern-ireland-drivers-cant-change-a-tyre-16070124.html?#IDComment216948270 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/education/belfast-metropolitan-college-a-campus-like-yoursquove-never-seen-before-16072909.html#IDComment216940902 What a disgusting waste of money! So much for the recession and cutbacks. Instead of cutting back on spending, they are throwing the money round them as hard as they can. What a shocking decision someone made! Fri, 4 Nov 2011 19:58:52 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/education/belfast-metropolitan-college-a-campus-like-yoursquove-never-seen-before-16072909.html#IDComment216940902 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/when-headline-writers-get-it-wrong-bloopers-and-blunders-16054168.html#IDComment198642662 I found a mistake in the Wednesday 21 September edition of the Belfast Telegraph. The mistake was on page 18 of the Car Finder section, 'Yaris Holds Value Well Over 3 Years' . The article mentions that figures from CAP have estimated how the new Yaris will hold its value even better than the previous Yaris models. The mistake is that the photograph used is of the old Yaris instead of the new model. Sun, 25 Sep 2011 17:17:24 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/when-headline-writers-get-it-wrong-bloopers-and-blunders-16054168.html#IDComment198642662 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/business-news/business-owner-finally-finds-right-candidate-for-post-16044811.html#IDComment195207930 •A girl behind the desk in a local veterinary surgery asked how to spell poodle. •A field sales rep visited recently for a telecoms company.Her blouse was stained with makeup and she was very disorganised.She appeared to have had little or no training.She told me not to give my mobile/email as the company she worked for would send me,in her words ‘a load of spam’. How do these people get the jobs? Mon, 19 Sep 2011 10:11:16 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/business-news/business-owner-finally-finds-right-candidate-for-post-16044811.html#IDComment195207930 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/business-news/business-owner-finally-finds-right-candidate-for-post-16044811.html#IDComment195207819 As for the staff I have met in some places, •I went to a major electrical retailer but the item was out of stock.The member of staff suggested I should try another company.He did not check to see when the item would be in stock and did not offer me an alternative. •The staff of a NI electrical retailer usually ignored customers.The same retailer is now closed.The only decent member of staff I met in that shop was a university student, there for the summer,he put the other staff to shame. •In a carpet&bed store the salesman sat behind the desk and ignored me the whole time I was there.He did not even say hello. •I bought a kitchen but they delivered the wrong taps.The same shop messed up my order for bedroom furniture. •In a local independent furniture shop,the staff knew nothing about beds and had no selling skills.There was plastic laying on floor,both members of staff saw this but ignored it. Mon, 19 Sep 2011 10:10:48 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/business-news/business-owner-finally-finds-right-candidate-for-post-16044811.html#IDComment195207819 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/business-news/business-owner-finally-finds-right-candidate-for-post-16044811.html#IDComment195206171 •Another health centre sent me an application form,in which they spelled centre as ‘center’.They did not spell the name of the road properly for their own address at the top of the form. I attended an interview for an office job at a tool hire business, where I was kept waiting for 10 minutes.When the interviewer finally arrived,he gave a silly excuse that he had been sending an email.If the email was urgent,he could have sent it earlier,or got another member of staff to do it.During the interview he displayed an aggressive personality and told me that ‘exams were rubbish and coursework is better’.He seemed to want to pick a fight. Mon, 19 Sep 2011 10:03:34 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/business-news/business-owner-finally-finds-right-candidate-for-post-16044811.html#IDComment195206171 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/business-news/business-owner-finally-finds-right-candidate-for-post-16044811.html#IDComment195205968 As for the mistakes made by job seekers,I have seen the other side of this. Plenty of people are employed,but still make lots of errors in their work.I have received letters from companies which contained spelling mistakes and other errors,eg unsigned letters,references to enclosures which had not been included.Other EGs below: •An estate agency sent two identical letters of rejection,both contained the same error, ‘. for the for the future.’ •A letter from an insurance company had,‘yours sincerely’on the right hand side of the page instead of the left. •A letter from a hotel with two black ink streaks running down the page and my name handwritten into the letter. •A letter from a solicitor’s office containing this error, ‘Dear miss ms’. •A letter with my name and address at the top,then,‘Dear Danielle'-the wrong name. •A letter from a health centre contained these mistakes,‘Octber’ and ‘Septembers3pm’.The envelope had a window,but my name and address had been handwritten on the envelope,the sender could not manage to fold the letter so those details would be visible through the window. Mon, 19 Sep 2011 10:02:39 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/business-news/business-owner-finally-finds-right-candidate-for-post-16044811.html#IDComment195205968 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/business-news/business-owner-finally-finds-right-candidate-for-post-16044811.html#IDComment195204251 The business man in the above article mentioned his ‘pet hates’ from applicants. Of all the mistakes he mentioned,I have made none of them.I have been applying for jobs for years but I am still unemployed. His description of the appearance of some interviewees reminds me of the staff in the job centre.They are normally dressed very untidily,in wrinkled t-shirts and shabby jeans.The receptionist in my local job centre wears a grey hoody,with the hood up. I was in the job centre and the security man was sitting on the desk with his feet on desk.The vast majority of the staff there stand around doing nothing.Clearly the job centres are overstaffed.The job centre staff get paid to do very little work, and do nothing to help jobseekers.The only place to find interview tips/CV writing advice is a recruitment agency website.The staff in the job centre are incapable of providing such information,I shouldn’t be surprised as they do not even need one GCSE to work there. Mon, 19 Sep 2011 09:55:24 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/business-news/business-owner-finally-finds-right-candidate-for-post-16044811.html#IDComment195204251