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For 2023 (and 2024 ...) - we are now fully retired from IT training.
We have made many, many friends over 25 years of teaching about Python, Tcl, Perl, PHP, Lua, Java, C and C++ - and MySQL, Linux and Solaris/SunOS too. Our training notes are now very much out of date, but due to upward compatability most of our examples remain operational and even relevant ad you are welcome to make us if them "as seen" and at your own risk.

Lisa and I (Graham) now live in what was our training centre in Melksham - happy to meet with former delegates here - but do check ahead before coming round. We are far from inactive - rather, enjoying the times that we are retired but still healthy enough in mind and body to be active!

I am also active in many other area and still look after a lot of web sites - you can find an index ((here))
Exhilarating day!

We've got a great team at Well House Manor. I'll share a message I tweeted to Lisa quite late in the day, after we were past the "every garden table occupied" peak mid-afternoon:

Excellent staff is .... Heather showing people around and making sure they're happy, Rachel stopping around while we were in a rush, and Sarah calling in to see if we were rushed off our feet and needing a hand. ... a big "Thank you" to our team.

Customers left happy ... only little glitches as we would have expected at a dress rehearsal (and far fewer glitches than I would have expected) and we enjoyed ourselves running the afternoon, meeting new customers and showing them around. And those last elements are so important - "we enjoyed ourselves". A happy team, round pegs in round holes and square pegs in square holes. Or actually a lot of star shaped holes, and stars to fill them.

I don't have any pictures ... while I was at "The Manor" I was far too involved too ...




I was going to start this post differently, and far more negative. A phone call yesterday morning from a young lady - let's call her Susan - seeking employment. Not an unusual call, but just at the moment / for the summer, we might have some extra shifts to fill in during staff holidays, and an extra depth of casual availability would be useful. Susan was clearly very nervous on the phone and made a couple of classic errors - but then we would be looking for someone to help with hotel work and not a telesales coldcaller, so such errors are revealing rather than eliminating. However, when invited to pop over later, Susan declined ... and so I took details of her email address to get back with her. Alas, during that conclusion of the call, other things that Susan said (and failed to say / answer) started to form a pattern that was telling me she wouldn't fit in, even over the nervousness.

Susan called again - twice more - on the staff number and spoke to the cream tea team. Getting details of who she spoke to earlier, and giving her phone number (previously she had withheld it) in case I wanted to get back. Our team is professional, let me know, and assured Susan that I would get back as promised (even though they only knew half the story). By the time Susan made her fourth call - this time to me again - saying that Mum said she could come down a bit later after all - I had concluded that there was a high risk she would be a round peg in a square hole. So - as gently as I could, I let her down - "I'm sorry - after the further discussions, I don't think this is going to work". Don't get me wrong - there ARE round holes out there, and Susan could well do very well in roles that we don't have. Better to let her down than go through the charade of an interview when she had already revealed her shape over the phone. Better not to set up for a bigger let down for her after meeting up. I really feel for first time job applicants, and this is never easy.

A few minutes later, Susan's Mum is on the phone, giving me an earful - I couldn't get a word in (and no bad thing, as I'm limited as to what I could say). Wow. It rather reminded me of the time, may years ago at another job where I was a middle level manager and the wife of one of my team marched into the office and demanded that I not keep her Gary late at work every night. "Funny" thing was ... I wasn't / wouldn't. There was a new baby at home, and Gary had been staying on alone, it transpired, to play computer games.

Susan may develop into a star. I hope she does. But I fear that she's been and being overprotected at home by a "Helicopter" parent, and whilst I might well have been open to a future approach should we ever be looking again before that final call, she's now - in my mind - on a bargepole list while she remains under the roof of / control of a parent.




It was a real day of it actually ... I also stopped around until 7 p.m. to meet up with Theresa (again, not her real name) who had phoned the day we got back looking for weekend work while at college. Extra depth at the weekend would be really helpful - a Saturday breakfast shift, 7:30 to 15:30 ... and extra fill-in capability. After the initial call, Theresa had emailed me, as requested, her details and we had set up the meeting online. And - sharp at 7 - she walked in.

Very quickly, she let me know that she had been looking elsewhere too (sensible young lady!) and had actually been offered weekend work earlier in the day - in fact so keen was the other place that she had then done a half-shift for them, but come over to the "The Manor" anyway to keep her appointment. A quick chat, and it transpired that she's got college during the week when we have heavy staff holidays, she's away on holiday too when Lisa and I are next away, and that our Saturday morning shift would clash on alternate weeks with the shift that she's just accepted elsewhere.

I showed Theresa round, had a further brief chat, and we agreed that at this stage there was little point in taking it further. I wished her well, suggested she get in touch if circumstances change (as indeed they do for us all) and we parted on the best of terms.

A failed day staffing wise then? No way! We have three fulltime stars. Phil, Kim and Anne are stars too - and anyone else needs to be a star - that's in themselves, and in their lifestyle and support system. Stars are special, few and far between, and I'm keeping my eyes open. Theresa may turn into someone's star very quickly (I don't know enough about her to say), and in the future Susan, too, could come out and twinkle. I learned from meeting them - in person, email and on the phone - and I hope / know that they learned a little from their experience too. A good day, then.
(written 2011-05-30)

 
Associated topics are indexed as below, or enter http://melksh.am/nnnn for individual articles
G207 - Well House Consultants - Staff
  [10] What do you look for in your IT trainer? - (2004-08-10)
  [41] A Thousand and four words - (2004-09-07)
  [88] Getting the right level of trainer - (2004-10-14)
  [168] Welcoming Leah Davies to our team - (2005-01-04)
  [185] Who am I? - (2005-01-21)
  [371] The training team that's looking out for you - (2005-07-07)
  [393] Trainer answers phone - (2005-07-28)
  [578] Woman screaming at me - (2006-01-26)
  [862] 4 weeks to go - (2006-09-11)
  [895] Welcome, Martin - (2006-10-16)
  [972] Both one team and two - (2006-12-08)
  [1002] Meet the neighbours - (2006-12-20)
  [1065] Graham Ellis - an Introduction - (2007-02-05)
  [1083] Behind the scenes - (2007-02-17)
  [1141] A strong team broadens the professional coverage - (2007-04-10)
  [1324] Well House Manor appoints a General Manager - (2007-08-28)
  [2009] The Royal Mail Receipt - (2009-01-26)
  [2044] Please Trouble me - (2009-02-16)
  [2050] Why the Pony Tail? - (2009-02-21)
  [2164] Updating my public profile - Graham Ellis - (2009-05-09)
  [2566] Excellent staff make for excellent hotel - (2010-01-07)
  [2772] Graham Ellis - Summary of Training Record - (2010-05-21)
  [2775] Declarations of interest - knowing where you stand with people - (2010-05-22)
  [2934] Not so much software training - more hotel keeping! - (2010-08-25)
  [2960] The Well House team - September 2010 - (2010-09-19)
  [3051] Positively reforming the system - could it be done? - (2010-11-14)
  [3103] Thank you - and Happy Christmas - (2010-12-24)
  [3201] A change to the Well House team - thank you and good luck, Chris - (2011-03-14)
  [3212] Well House Manor - a home from home for the business and leisure guest in Melksham - (2011-03-26)
  [3425] Our National Autograss Champion, from Melksham - (2011-09-08)
  [3460] Flying Colours! - (2011-09-28)
  [3490] How not to call when job seeking ... - (2011-10-20)
  [3586] Emergency First Aid Provision at Well House Manor - part of the service - (2012-01-19)
  [3961] Well House Staff Party - (2012-12-22)
  [4189] Who are we - Lisa, Graham, Gypsy and Billy - (2013-10-07)
  [4227] Happy Christmas from the Well House Manor team - (2013-12-25)


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Some other Articles
Friday - Electrician, Food Festival, C++ Course, Rail Group Meeting
Garden Seating, Well House Manor
What does our MP do on a Bank Holiday?
Are you cheerful, reliable and available on Saturday mornings?
Exhilarating day!
How fast is your Internet access? Do you need something faster for your business or home?
Tipping Policy - Well House Manor
Behind the scenes - setting up a cafe
Melksham Community Radio launches
Photogenic Place
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This is a page archived from The Horse's Mouth at http://www.wellho.net/horse/ - the diary and writings of Graham Ellis. Every attempt was made to provide current information at the time the page was written, but things do move forward in our business - new software releases, price changes, new techniques. Please check back via our main site for current courses, prices, versions, etc - any mention of a price in "The Horse's Mouth" cannot be taken as an offer to supply at that price.

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