Am I panicking too much about getting a job?

standupguy

I am not sure if this "pull yourself together" or "I did it so why can't you" attitude in some posts is really helpful to the OP?

Everyone is individual and different.

You should not panic because you have a lot to offer, 22 years experience, maturity without being seen as "too old", no family ties to distract you and loyalty to one employer (no employer wants to spend time and money on people only to see them leave).

It might be a good idea to pay more attention to Job adverts in the local papers rather than rely too much on agencies.

All employers are watching their costs and agencies are a big cost to them in commissions.

If an employer spends money advertising then they do not want to pay agency fees on top of an advert cost.

Replying to an advert tells the employer you are interested in his company - being sent by an agency does not?

The salary you are expecting for the experience you are giving is not prohibitive.

You may be more succesful looking for employment with smaller businesses who may appreciate your skills more?

Do not get despondent - there are employers out there that want you and you will find them!

Bismarck

employment situations won't get easier in the next 6 months...I'd personally suggest getting on board somewhere to keep some money coming in.

Butterfliesarepretty

standupguy wrote: »

I am not sure if this "pull yourself together" or "I did it so why can't you" attitude in some posts is really helpful to the OP?

Everyone is individual and different.

You should not panic because you have a lot to offer, 22 years experience, maturity without being seen as "too old", no family ties to distract you and loyalty to one employer (no employer wants to spend time and money on people only to see them leave).

It might be a good idea to pay more attention to Job adverts in the local papers rather than rely too much on agencies.

All employers are watching their costs and agencies are a big cost to them in commissions.

If an employer spends money advertising then they do not want to pay agency fees on top of an advert cost.

Replying to an advert tells the employer you are interested in his company - being sent by an agency does not?

The salary you are expecting for the experience you are giving is not prohibitive.


Thankyou standup guy. I knew from last november that I was going to be offered redundancy so I planned for it and I even applied for jobs while the months passed before I left. My boss also left on the same day as me and she has more experience than me and even she is finding it difficult to get a job and she is a manager! Some of you say I will not change or learn something new. How wrong you are. I am one of the most adaptable people and I love change, I learn new things all the time. I have just sent off for a sage Payroll course and I have also been applying for social care jobs as well, even part time.

you say I should apply through papers, well yes every thursday I get a Bury Times and a Manchester Evening News and apply for loads of jobs. My cv is very good and I always email or post a professional covering letter. I have RSA's in typing, have done oracle, markview, office, word, email etc and have operated 18 different systems setting up suppliers for British Telecom on a daily basis, have also worked on the finance section of Mytravel with Steria Uk Ltd which are an outsourcing company - (we were sold off as an accounts department by BT to Steria in 2002). I had 30 days leave and flexitime on that job and know the reality that I will have to work longer hours and less annual leave in Bury.

As for working in Manchester I CAN NOT AFFORD TO DO THAT.
I would rather work in rochdale or bolton. I am doing everything in my power to secure a job. I have worked all my life and am never lazy, am confident, reliable and trustworthy.

Butterfliesarepretty

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

You might have always wanted it but that doesn't mean that you're going to get it!

I think that you have little knowledge of how the job market has changed since the last time you were job hunting over 22 year ago. Staying so long in one job will not have improved your employment prospects and neither will limiting your options. In 9 months time you may be begging employers in Manchester to take you on, particularly if you've done nothing in this period of unemployment to enhance your CV.

Surely if getting your £15,000/working in Bury ideal had been easy you would have got it years ago? If you couldn't manage it when you were in employment then it's going to be very much harder now you're unemployed and older. I really think that you need to rethink your attitude to your current situation or you're going to find yourself in long term difficulties.

How do you know I won't get a job in Bury?

I will and can get a job in Bury, it is july and I finished end of April - give me a chance. And no years ago you would not have got a salary of £15,000 in Bury, I chose to work in Manchester at 18 because BT were a very good employer, good pension, benefits and lots of promotion prosects. Yes I know how hard it is to get a job now and I expected that, did you think I expected the first interviewer to sign me up straightaway - no of course not!

I do clerical and admin work, I am good at it and will find something soon.

Horace

List your CV on Monster Jobs

Look at Times Online or buy the Times (I think that Tuesdays are PA days)

Look at Civil Service Gateway for jobs in the civil service.

How about Jobs.ac.uk for jobs in Universities and colleges. Universities also have peri pools and these are a way into getting a permanent job.

Take a leaf out of the Work Directions book (this is an agency employed by the government to find work for long term unemployed and disabled people), they suggest that you walk around to every single business in your locality and drop off your CV to them.

No one has called you lazy what we are saying is that the job market has changed considerably in the last 22 years and is changing all the time.

£15K isnt a lot of money for your skills and by applying for these you could be selling yourself short - go for a higher rate. A PA with your skills would expect to be earning £25K minimum.

How about setting up your own business offering a typing service to small companies who cannot necessarily afford to employ someone full time? This way you can set the rate you want to charge and the amount of money you want to draw to live on and so on. It might be an idea.

A quick trawl of the Net has found jobs suitable for you on Totaljobs.com, fish4jobs.com and there is an excellent one in Bury but I don't think you would be interested as it is for 6 months maternity cover but it pays £18K - this was seen on allthetopbananas.com

floss2

shawtj2 wrote: »

.......I will and can get a job in Bury, it is july and I finished end of April - give me a chance. And no years ago you would not have got a salary of £15,000 in Bury, I chose to work in Manchester at 18 because BT were a very good employer, good pension, benefits and lots of promotion prosects. Yes I know how hard it is to get a job now and I expected that, did you think I expected the first interviewer to sign me up straightaway - no of course not!

I do clerical and admin work, I am good at it and will find something soon.

But this is a contrast to your thread title: Am I panicking too much about getting a job?

Yes, you WILL find something, but in the meantime, why not try other options as suggested? Virtual PA work would suit your wide ranging experience.

Also, Jobs Northwest is out on Fridays...this has ALL the NW jobs, not just the MEN & Bury Times, as does the other jobs newspaper (can't rememebr the name, think its NW Jobs)

Local Authority job adverts usually update on Thursdays. Some still have casual registers (I got a really interesting job in a Coroner's Office that way) - try ringing & speaking to their HR department.

I think the NHS website can have alerts set up for when any matching jobs get loaded.

Try Reed.com - it lists lots of agency & company adverts, not just their own. You don't need to register with the branch either, all online.

therealdessie

Have a look at http://www.secrecruit.co.uk - they specialise in PA/Senior Assistant roles. Might find something there (a search for Bury came up with 12 roles in the last 7 days).

Oldernotwiser

shawtj2 wrote: »

How do you know I won't get a job in Bury?

I will and can get a job in Bury, it is july and I finished end of April - give me a chance. And no years ago you would not have got a salary of £15,000 in Bury, I chose to work in Manchester at 18 because BT were a very good employer, good pension, benefits and lots of promotion prosects. Yes I know how hard it is to get a job now and I expected that, did you think I expected the first interviewer to sign me up straightaway - no of course not!

I do clerical and admin work, I am good at it and will find something soon.

I didn't say you won't get a job, but you're obviously having some difficulties which will only increase as the months slip away. As you've been applying for 9 months now I'd think you'd have a better understanding of the problems involved. You've obviously misjudged your career so far (good prospects with BT, but you're an admin clerk earning £15,000 after 22 years!) so now might be a good time to reassess your strategies before you get left behind even further. I do wish you good luck but I think you need to worry more rather than less!

Horace

Well said Oldernotwiser.

The OP reminds me of those individuals who worked at Rover, they were paid way over the odds for manufacturing cars and a lot of them are still unemployed because they refuse to accept lower pay. Sure some of them have jobs, one chap I know became a dustman, an ex boyfriend (went out with him at 18) is a bus driver, another is a security guard - all these jobs pay considerably less than the salary they received at Rover. What has become of the factory now? Well, I can tell you, it is just a mound of earth and bricks - it is less than 5 mins walk from me.

She is very blinkered in her outlook and I feel that this is limiting her search and I am beginning to think that she has over-estimated her capabilities. Personally, I would give her another 12 months of looking for work before she swallows her pride and goes temping, or considers working outside the confines of Bury. We haven't heard the whole story, she put in for voluntary redundancy and was accepted, another employer will ask why and they will ask what she has been doing between now and then. If she comes out with the attitude that she has demonstrated on here then I very much doubt she will get a job this side of Christmas - harsh but true.

In the meantime I wish her luck in her job search because she is going to need it.

Butterfliesarepretty

Horace wrote: »

Well said Oldernotwiser.

The OP reminds me of those individuals who worked at Rover, they were paid way over the odds for manufacturing cars and a lot of them are still unemployed because they refuse to accept lower pay. Sure some of them have jobs, one chap I know became a dustman, an ex boyfriend (went out with him at 18) is a bus driver, another is a security guard - all these jobs pay considerably less than the salary they received at Rover. What has become of the factory now? Well, I can tell you, it is just a mound of earth and bricks - it is less than 5 mins walk from me.

She is very blinkered in her outlook and I feel that this is limiting her search and I am beginning to think that she has over-estimated her capabilities. Personally, I would give her another 12 months of looking for work before she swallows her pride and goes temping, or considers working outside the confines of Bury. We haven't heard the whole story, she put in for voluntary redundancy and was accepted, another employer will ask why and they will ask what she has been doing between now and then. If she comes out with the attitude that she has demonstrated on here then I very much doubt she will get a job this side of Christmas - harsh but true.

In the meantime I wish her luck in her job search because she is going to need it.

I'll give you the whole story then and lets see if you understand it!

Started work at BT as a TEMP aged 18, got taken on after 12 months, good pension, good pay. Worked in accounts and finance from 1986 on different roles until 2002. Tried to get promotion but was held back by my confidence which was pretty bad when I was young. In 2002 British Telecom decided it would be cheaper to outsource the work to a company called Xansa Plc. The lease on the BT building was up and everyone had to vacate it and we moved (approx 70 people) to a new building at Parkway 4 on Princess Parkway in Moss Side so we were employed by Xansa with all of BT's terms and conditions (thanks to the union) but still doing contract work for BT. In 2005 I was moved onto the MyTravel Account which Xansa secured which was also finance and accounts and in November 2007 it was announced that Thomas Cook who took over mytravel intended to use Accenture and not Xansa for their finance functions. This then resulted in mytravel staff taking redundancy on not so good terms or finding a job within Xansa. Five of us who were ex-BT staff with over 20 years with BT took the voluntary redundancy to enable us to get better or similar jobs closer to home.

Xansa PLc then were took over by Steria UK Ltd who are french company and it now seems that Parkway Four will be closing with loss of jobs and so the company will operate from their warrington depot.

So yes I did the right thing to leave as i would have lost my job anyway and still got the same redundancy package as it was set in my terms and conditions when we were moved from BT. Also when we moved from BT we were not offered redundancy. Yes BT does pay well, but thats what we got, as if we would turn round and say ' excuse me BT but you are paying us too much can you lower the salary'.

A friend of mine works for a retail shop and she has to drive all over the country training shop staff and she is never home, she is 27 and is single. She earns £21,000. Would I do that ? No way. Do you know why? I am 41, had kids, and prefer to live rather than be stressed out and get ill.
At work I was ill a lot due to the stress of driving every day to work, people coming in ill and afraid to stay at home when they were ill.

I am not sure about my own business, I have a child to pay for and a mortgage and I know two people who work for themselves and they are always struggling to get work. I have not got that kind of confidence and prefer a steady monthly wage to pay my bills.