I'm unemployable :(

chippy_250 · 8 September 2008 at 12:29PM

could someone please help me. i know this is my own fault but i've dug myself into a hole and i cant get out now.
im 18 and i've left the 6th form and now unepmployed. i've just signed on JSA and im looking for work. however i cant find work and i've been seaching for months. this is the reason:
1st ever job december 2006 (won't say the place) but i was on a till doing a xmas temp contract. however i was suffering from anxiety at the time which made the job 10x as hard. so i quit after 2 weeks.
2nd job , july 2007. this was in a well known supermarket. but they put me in the customer cafe as an assistant and it was the worst job ever, having to clean dishes, tabels and the cookers etc. so i quit that after about 10 days.
now here is the problem.
when applying for another job (which i will actually keep, i promise this time) should i mention my previous employment?
if i do mention the two jobs then they'll give me bad references and never give me a job. or do i lie and say this will be my 1st job. however i do actually have two P45's and when i fill out a P46 what would i put down on it, and will i get found out?
please help

mitchaa · 8 September 2008 at 1:15PM

Thought about a career in the military, not neccassarily as a soldier but in a traded profession, engineering, electronics etc?

I would probably try and keep the other jobs quiet as next time you go in for an interview, they may deem you unsuitable due to the fact you haven't managed to hold down a job previously. I.e, why would they risk you starting with them only for you to leave them a couple of months later?

Not sure how you would get round the P46 issue and reference with that though?

zappster1966 · 8 September 2008 at 1:22PM

Welcome to the real world, matey.

Well, no-one's unemployable & I hope you find a job you enjoy doing & which suits your own needs (hope everyone finds one of those !) . But I think you're being a little bit unrealistic in expecting every job to be "all hunky dory" ... I know plenty of folks working away & doing the 9 to 5 who can't stand their jobs but who have to stick it out simply because it pays the bills.

I don't think you should lie on your application forms, if found out that's grounds for dismissal. Like you said you've got a P45 & any competent HR person will pick up on the fact you've worked somewhere else. Think you're just going to have to bite the bullet & tell any potential employer that the jobs didn't suit you. Meantime get some more work experience behind you to prove to your next employer that you're someone who can be depended upon ... even if it means doing some voluntary work in your local charity shop or something along those lines. Maybe try a college course too, can't do any harm either.

Good luck to you.

chippy_250 · 8 September 2008 at 1:32PM

hmm im really confussed. i dont know what to do. i suppose i'll have to say i've worked before. maybe i'll just tell them about the 2nd job and not the 1st. yer i think voluntary work would help things.

Summercherry · 8 September 2008 at 1:36PM

I look at CV's all the time and I employ mainly students due to the type of job. What I personally look for is experience so I would put both jobs down on your CV. I would also bend the truth a little by saying the reason you left the first job was it was a temporary position which is true, to a degree, and the second job I would put that you had to leave due to study commitments but now you have finished 6th form you are looking for something permenant.

Put on your CV "references available upon request" then if asked by a new employer, give the name of a tutor at your 6th form rather than the previous employers.

And try to keep the 3rd job! lol

Good Luck in finding something!

Fran · 8 September 2008 at 1:41PM

Yes I was going to say the temporary job should be okay as just that. Had you left school in 07 or this year? If you haven't worked for a year then some sort of training/volutary work would be a way in. You could also look at christmas jobs as they might take you on. Good luck.

Paparika · 8 September 2008 at 1:41PM

How about some agency work for a while, build up some experience.

As for some reason why for the past year you haven't worked, just say you've been applying but nothing as yet has come through.

I've had my fare share of carp jobs and left or was asked to leave, i being female have been able to put on my cv that i was having a career break in the gaps (gaps being the jobs i didn't want to admit to), because i was single handedly bringing up my son (well that bit is true)

Google around and find some ways to be creative with your cv.

Idiophreak · 8 September 2008 at 1:51PM

Temp agencies will (generalising, obv) not really care about your past record - they'll allow you to prove yourself in a couple of miserable jobs they give you first, then give you something slightly better and so on - this will get you some experience and some money coming in whilst you're looking for something better, anyway.

Conor_3 · 8 September 2008 at 1:58PM

The reason you're unemployable is one of your own making. Going on your posts comments about having to do the stuff you did in the cafe at the supermarket, what did you expect? You've left school and to an employer, people fresh out of school have basically no worthwhile skills so you start off at the bottom. Yeah you may have a string of GCSE's and A levels but the ability to do calculus, name the capital cities of the world etc etc is about as much use as a chocolate fireguard in the majority of jobs. All you have is proof that you have the ability to learn.

It's not your fault you think as you do. The current education system is geared heavily to promoting the need for qualifications and how having them means you can walk into your perfect job and do away with the need to do the "broom pushing and tea making" that your parents and their parents and generations of apprentices had to do when they first started working. The death of apprenticeships hasn't helped to counter that. The reality is somewhat different as even those who've graduated from Uni are finding out. When lots of people have qualifications their worth diminishes in jobhunting and experience counts over qualifications. At the moment you've not got any and you've got to get your head around the fact that any job you start you're most likely to be the one getting the rubbish jobs until you've proven your worth. Good news is that it doesn't last long but it's certainly going to be at least for a number of weeks, not 10 days.

The next job you get, grit your teeth and put up with the rubbish tasks for a month or two.

chippy_250 · 8 September 2008 at 2:06PM

i know it's my own fault i've admitted that. i've been suffering from depression/anxiety and pretty much lazyness too. i duno, i just cant do things i hate, i just quit them. no i havnt been doing nothing for a year. i stayed on 6th form from 2006 to 2008 this summer gone. but i've been looking for a job since feb becasue i've got a girlfriend and i need money.

ClareEmily · 8 September 2008 at 2:37PM

chippy_250 wrote: »

i know it's my own fault i've admitted that. i've been suffering from depression/anxiety and pretty much lazyness too. i duno, i just cant do things i hate, i just quit them. no i havnt been doing nothing for a year. i stayed on 6th form from 2006 to 2008 this summer gone. but i've been looking for a job since feb becasue i've got a girlfriend and i need money.

Hi there

I left sixth form and tried to find employment too (everyone else in my class went off to Uni), my plan was to become a Veterinary Nurse but I couldn't drive and basically the openings in that career are so hard to come by (lots of people want to work with fluffy animals).

I was unemployed for over a year, and applied for numerious jobs, was very depressing. I wasn't being really fussy but most of the jobs involved you having to be able to drive, having previous experience, and either working in an old people's home or in a call centre (both of which I really didn't want to do).

Anyone one day in the job centre I found out about a 6 week free course which was available for anyone unemployed 16-18 years old (although I am sure I was 19 when I did it), please note they weren't just going to tell me about it though.
I did NVQ Administrative Level 2
http://www.sussextraining.co.uk/

No doubt there will be similar schemes in your area, not all office based jobs so don't worry if that is your idea of hell

So ask your local job centre for your nearest training college.

It gave me hands on experience of working in an office environment and they helped you create a CV, motivate you etc, and one week before I finished I was offered a job as an admin assistant, all due to this course which was brilliant by the way.

Now we are talking 1996 BUT you need to ask the job centre about any training opportunties available or any apprenticeship schemes.

Good luck and like others have suggested, say the previous jobs were just temp posts.

I'm unemployable :(

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