MILTON KEYNES

Concerned about Sabha Subedar’s safety, on Tuesday, I took the day off work and went to Milton Keynes.

As 12:24 London Midland train pulled out of Euston station, it occurred to me that I had forgotten to find out the address of the Argos head office. Not only that, but I suddenly began to wonder if it was actually in Milton Keynes at all. Was I going to the right place? It seemed pointless to worry about it now, the train was already moving, and so I settled down and ate the Chicken & Bacon sandwich I had bought from M&S Simply Food.

Eventually, the train arrived at Milton Keynes.

I wasn’t really sure where to go. Fortunately, there was a nearby information sign.

I was impressed by how neatly organised Milton Keynes was. All of the civic buildings were in one corner:

And all of the cultural and recreational buildings were in another corner:

I studied the map.

Avebury. That sounded familiar. Near the Central Business Exchange. I wandered off in what I hoped was the right direction.

Eventually, I found the road:

All of the main roads seemed to be described as “boulevards”. I quite liked that attempt at capturing Parisian sophistication. I am not sure if it was entirely successful though. Avebury Boulevard sort of looks like how I’d imagine Paris shortly after a nuclear holocaust.

And then I saw it. The Home Retail Group building.

The building had featured in Superman IV and I was pleased to see it hadn’t lost any of its Hollywood glamour.

I wasn’t sure what to do next. I went inside.

I walked up to the man at reception.

I asked if Sabha Subedar still worked there. He typed her name into the computer. “There is a Sabha listed here”, he said. “Hold on a second, I’ll see if she used her pass today”. I was incredibly nervous. “Hmmm, she hasn’t been in for a while. I’ll try her number.” He dialled. “Do you have a Sabha in your team there?” he spoke into the phone. “There’s a Nicky Wilson there now” he told me, “Sabha might have been a temp, it normally takes a while to update the phone directory. Do you want to speak to Nicky?” Nicky Wilson. This name was new to me, although I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before she sends me an email thanking me for my application but regretfully informing me that on this occasion I was unsuccessful but that it doesn’t mean that my skills and abilities would not be suitable for other roles within the Home Retail Group and that I should continue to check the website for new vacancies.

I walked back to the station. “Might have been a temp”. I don’t buy that for one second.

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SABHA SUBEDAR UPDATE

Following my last post, I sent Sabha an email asking if she was OK:

Hi Sabha,

Thanks for your email. If only it could have been better news, although I wish the successful candidate the very best of luck.

As you suggest, I will continue to look at your careers websites to see if any opportunities come up which may be better suited to my skills and abilities, and I thank you for your support.

However, I was a little bit concerned by one detail in your recent email. You appear to have signed the email “Kirsty Dunne”. A similar thing happened in an email I received from one of your colleagues, Toni Weston. Again, she signed her email “Kirsty Dunne”. This is most confusing, as I had previously received an email from Kirsty Dunne herself (at least I assume it was from Kirsty Dunne, as you can imagine, it is hard to tell exactly who is who).

I understand it must be stressful working in the Resourcing Team at Argos, but if two people in the same team are so overworked that they forget their own names, I think there is a problem.

Hope you’re OK – maybe ask if you can take some time off work?

Kind regards,
James

I got an Out-Of-Office reply:

Thank you for your e-mail. This email is no longer active…

No longer active? What has happened to Sabha? What has Kirsty Dunne done? This is more serious than I thought.

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JOB HUNTING UPDATE

It’s been exactly a week since I applied for every single job at Argos Head Office.

I was driven to this rather drastic course of action after Alicia Lawes of the Argos Direct E-Commerce Customer Service Team informed me that she is unable to tell me how many blue ballpoint pens are used in Argos stores every year as this information is “business sensitive” and “is not disclosed to anyone outside of the company”. Obviously, if I want to find the answer to my question, I need to get a job on the inside.

The automated reply to each of my applications informed me that:

A member of our team will aim to respond within 2 weeks to advise you whether we will be progressing your application.

However, it only took a single day before I heard that my application for the position of Reporting Analyst had been unsuccessful.

Since then, I haven’t heard anything from Argos. This can only be a good sign. If they replied immediately to say I didn’t get the Reporting Analyst role, the fact I haven’t heard anything about the other jobs for a whole week must mean they are seriously considering my applications. In fact, given that I applied for ten other jobs apart from the Reporting Analyst one, I’d say it’s pretty much guaranteed that I’ll soon be working at Argos.

The job adverts on the Argos website didn’t actually mention salary, instead simply saying:

Salary:
£ Competitive salary + excellent benefits

I suppose they would decide salary dependent on experience and the suitability of the candidate. The fact that I have my pick of ten jobs at Argos puts me in an excellent negotiating position. I imagine there would be some kind of bidding war, each department desperate to win my favour with offers of high wages and other perks. I must not let this distract me from my real goal, of course. I must find the answer to my original question. Everything else is secondary. Although, in case anyone at Argos is reading this, a private office would be quite nice.

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JOB HUNTING

I’ve just been looking at the Argos Careers website to see what vacancies they have in their Head Office. If I’m entirely honest, I don’t really want to work at Argos, but unfortunately, I have no other option available to me.

Due to the scale and diversity of our Argos business,
we can honestly say we’ve got something for everyone

Rather annoyingly, the Argos Head Office is located in Milton Keynes. This isn’t particularly convenient as I live in London. According to the National Rail Enquiries website, trains from Euston to Milton Keynes Central take about half an hour:

The office is apparently a ten minute walk from the station, but I don’t think I’d really be able to risk getting the 08:20. It would be better to get the 08:10 and then not have to worry about being late. That does mean I’d probably need to leave the house at about 7.20am, which is about an hour earlier than I leave normally. I’d get used to it though. After a while it would just be part of my daily routine. It would give me a bit more time to read or listen to podcasts or whatever.

Avebury (our Head Office) really is something special, even if we do say so ourselves. From the moment you walk in the door, you get a real feeling of what Argos is all about. The reception area is a huge, naturally lit atrium which is also used for product exhibitions and informal meetings. It really comes into its own at catalogue launch time when suppliers set up stalls to show their product ranges and hold competitions. Also, as you’d expect, there are plenty of copies of our catalogue – so everyone who comes in can take their own copy. It’s a great communal area and visitors are often amazed at how much of a ‘buzz’ they feel when they’re walking through.

Also, very excitingly, the Avebury office was used as a location for Superman IV!

There are currently eleven vacancies at the Avebury office. They are:

I thought the best way to maximise my chances would be by applying to all of them.

Fingers crossed!

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