career advice for totally lost man?

toasterman

Apologies for the long post. Not sure if anyone in the world can help me at the moment, but I thought I'd post here anyway.

Just under 3 months ago, I was given a choice between resigning or being fired.
I won't go into the details, but just to add that I resigned, got the equivalent of several month's pay at once (I'm not desperate for money yet), and we parted company.
They will happily give me a reference.

With all the free time I've had since, I've accomplished very little.
I've applied for maybe 6 jobs, had 1 interview, and although it went well, they weren't convinced with my ability on something. To tell the truth, nor was I. I've really lost my confidence.

I've tarted up my cv and put it on some big job search sites like Reed, Monster, etc, and so far most agencies seem to be harvesting my details, calling me and asking me lots of questions that are already listed in detail on the various sites they found me in the first place, and offering me very little.

3 months ago I was working in IT Support, and I think I was struggling. I don't seem to be able to learn anything more than I know already because as soon as I open a book written by Microsoft, my brain switches off. I haven't got any Microsoft qualifications for that reason, plus the cost involved.

I've thought about branching out doing IT Support on my own, but I've no idea where to start, and I'm actually panicking at the thought of what happens if I get customers, go to look at a problem, and can't resolve it. Having worked in IT teams before, there's always been someone else I could pass something to, if I couldn't fix it.

I'm not even sure I want to work in IT support at all, but I've been doing it for such a long time, that every agency I visit has no idea what other work to offer me. I'm not even sure I can do anything else - I'm not very good with people or numbers, but I seem to have a knack for finding solutions to computer problems (up until about 3 months ago when it seems like I haven't managed to fix anything).

Several of the jobs I've applied for (and the one I had an interview for) suggested I'd be expected to work outside of normal hours.
This is another problem for me, because I have a social activity that moves around (but always outside of normal working hours) which is the only thing that's keeping me going in life at the moment.
It's been the only thing that's kept me going for years, and much as I'd love to get paid to do it, it's unlikely to happen anytime soon.
Despite this, I feel a bit wary of mentioning it, because as far as I think most people are concerned, it's not something they would regard as really important (like a child would be, for example).

I did do a bit of admin before IT, and seemed to constantly fall out with management.
I have done some very small amounts of manual work, but I'm built like you'd imagine an IT support person. I'm also a bit clumsy where such work is involved. Left to my own devices in a house being done up, I'd injured myself in under 60 seconds.
I take my hat off to anyone who can do physically demanding work all day.

Does anything like Connexions exist for adults? Any sort of free career advice? I'm just feeling totally lost. I'm too old for an apprenticeship scheme or anything of that sort that I know of.
Looking for a job when you don't know what you want seems impossible.
Whenever I start thinking about work at the moment I just get upset and annoyed with myself.
A relative told me that not everyone has to enjoy their jobs - and maybe I've just got to get on with it and admit misery. I think 'antidepressants and a job I hate', is one for the back burner at the moment.

Thanks anyone who can help, and apologies for the long post.

timcrips

ive worked in recruitment.

I run a small business now

I wouldnt recommend setting up in business based on what you are saying, you really could do with either being at the top of your game or really love the support business.... or both.

applying for 6 jobs and getting 1 interview shouldnt be enough to knock you down, come on man you can do it, apply for 10 more jobs tomorrow.

What area of support are you in

http://www.1job.co.uk/category.php/6132/Bristol%20City/84/IT%20-%20PC,%20Software%20&%20Network%20Support,

here some jobs, sometimes it takes a few knocks to get you into that all important job you love, keep trying

and good luck.

Keep us posted at MSE

mum2one

Theres no need for apologies, you needed to get it off your chest, and you did that.
Im pretty sure that connexions would be able to advice on job structure, or they will point you in he right direction.
If you dont mind me saying I think that you have only scratched the surface tonight, I guess you need a big piece of paper, with pros and cons re IT.
The bloke who does the work on my computers he charges £30 an hr, but he has said b4 it took time to get established.
I dont know whether ur qualifications you have you could maybe squeeze into anither career, this outside activity seems to be very important to you, is their skills from that you could add to ur CV or even look at that as an option.

Conor_3

So in fact what you are is probably someone who has built computers at home and fixed families and friends and thought that meant you had real skills that you could use in employment. Once you got a job, you then found out that you knew very little at all, especially on servers and specialist server stuff such as Exchange, AD etc, tried to blag it and got found out. Sound familiar? It's a common thing in IT.

The problem is that you, as most of us do when we get older, have lost the skills to learn as we did when we were at school and now you're panicking which doesn't really help matters. You're not alone with this - most of us are the same.

OK. So you liked the IT support on the whole? Are you good at doing "home computing" type IT support as opposed to business type stuff? What about setting up a little business offering support to local people in your area? If you've been fixing computers for family and friends, you can tell them you're wanting to do this and that if they know anyone who wants a computer looking at to mention your name. It's how I started out. You find that if you do a good job for a reasonable price, word of mouth is a powerful advertising tool. You have to be careful with pricing though. I basically had a set price for each type of job. Sometimes I'd lose out when a job turned into a nightmare but it was those types of jobs that got me a good reputation in the area because sometimes I'd end up at a job that should of been a 15 minute one with the minimum 1hr callout charge and end up being there 2 hrs trying to sort out a problem which ended up being more involved but I'd only bill them the hour. Also if I'd had a quick job, I'd do soemthing like show them how to do basic housekeeping using free software to give them a feeling that the £20 I'd charged them to take 5 minutes banging in a network card wasn't that bad.

Voyager2002

You asked whether there was anything like Connections for adults. One possible answer is to visit your local job centre. Most of the staff there have been trained to give advice on careers and job-seeking: they spend most of their time dealing with benefits claims and so get cynical, but are likely to be helpful if someone who genuinely wants work, and advice about work, comes to them for assistance.

And I think you should be more up-front about your social activity, and why you care about it so much. If it were to conflict with job requirements, perhaps someone could suggest something else that you might find equally satisfying. More to the point, many of the things that you do in it and the skills that you have developed there might be relevant to particular jobs, and so details of your social life might give clues to other careers that might be good for you.

SunnySusie

MS qualifications arent as well recognised as some might think. 10yrs in IT with MS products and i dont have any! I have been involved in recruitment for my teams in a couple of places now and we give little weight to that kind of thing.

That said, keeping up to date is important. I manage it just because I love IT and im always reading magazines, blogs, news, tinkering at home etc so it just comes naturally.

How about working at a school? The IT guys at my partner's place are (with respect) not the highest skilled guys (else they'd be working in the private sector). Yet they seem to do some interesting things from building new machines to maintaining the network. Also IT infrastructure is quickly becoming more key in schools so now would be a good time to get in - with smartboards in classrooms, laptops/touchscreens for kids, automated registers, etc, etc. And I bet many of them use it as a stepping stone to bigger and better things once they pick up new stuff.

Other things to try in your spare time or looking for work could be affiliate marketing or blogging. It's at least something to have a go at while you wait. Just buy up some cheap webspace at eukhost.com or uk2.net, and then download some free software such as wordpress.org or e107.org.

Best of luck! PM me if you want to know more and let us all know how you do !

Conor_3

SunnySusie wrote: »

MS qualifications arent as well recognised as some might think. 10yrs in IT with MS products and i dont have any! I have been involved in recruitment for my teams in a couple of places now and we give little weight to that kind of thing.

LOL, your company got bitten by paper MCSEs back in the day as well ?

BYALPHAINDIA

I think you should 'call it a day' like some people do when they are up & down like a 'Yoyo'

I know it's all about money, But you may qualify for benefits, And get a part time job.

This is maybe not the best advice in most people's eyes, But you could carry on applying for jobs and get even more 'stressed & disilusioned' with everything??


Or work for yourself, There's plenty of opportunities, And more people seem to work forthemselves thesedays.

Most employers seem to be a 'waste' of time now, And don't have any idea of what they are doing, Like some of the Recruitment Agencies I used to register with they were a 'total' waste of time.

I always found the 'out of town' Agencies worked harder to find jobs, Than the 'Plush' city centre Agencies who were sitting pretty!!

It was ok when they wanted me, But when I wanted them there was no work available!!

Good Luck Eitherway.

dad-of-4

A relative told me that not everyone has to enjoy their jobs - and maybe I've just got to get on with it and admit misery. I think 'antidepressants and a job I hate', is one for the back burner at the moment.

i would never do a job i didnt enjoy, your relative is an idiot who just wants someone to share his missery.

everything you do in life should be for enjoyment. you know this already, its why the social thing you have going on is something you cherish and hold in high enough regard to not trade it for missery.
so enough of the talk about putting up with missery and numbing it with antidepressants.

their are pleanty of jobs i wouldnt doo for love nor money, but i wouldnt do a any job that didnt offer both.

dad-of-4

BYALPHAINDIA wrote: »

I think you should 'call it a day' like some people do when they are up & down like a 'Yoyo'

I know it's all about money, But you may qualify for benefits, And get a part time job.

This is maybe not the best advice in most people's eyes, But you could carry on applying for jobs and get even more 'stressed & disilusioned' with everything??


Or work for yourself, There's plenty of opportunities, And more people seem to work forthemselves thesedays.

Most employers seem to be a 'waste' of time now, And don't have any idea of what they are doing, Like some of the Recruitment Agencies I used to register with they were a 'total' waste of time.

I always found the 'out of town' Agencies worked harder to find jobs, Than the 'Plush' city centre Agencies who were sitting pretty!!

It was ok when they wanted me, But when I wanted them there was no work available!!

Good Luck Eitherway.

holy crapola, you have a very dim outlook, doesnt it wory you??

dag_2

Does anything like Connexions exist for adults? Any sort of free career advice?

Yes - it does exist! Try the LearnDirect service, or "Next Step". Although they say that Next Step is particularly aimed at those who haven't got GCSE's, in practice, I wouldn't let that worry you; just ask for help anyway. Be patient though; you may have to wait a long time to get to see anyone.

It's also worth trying the careers advice service that's attached to any universities, higher education or further education colleges that are near you. The fact that you might not be a student at such an instutition doesn't necessarily mean you're barred from the careers service. Plus, also, look out for any university or college open days.

As for your local Jobcentre Plus - bear in mind that the people you see for the fortnightly signing sessions are not trained careers advisers. However, you can ask them to make an appointment for you with someone who is a trained careers adviser. If you're on benefits, it doesn't matter, you can still say whatever you like to the careers adviser, without risk of benefit sanction or disallowance. It's only the people you see on your fortnightly signing that you have to watch what you say with.

If you're not on benefits, though, that doesn't matter either; you can still set up an appointment to see a careers adviser at Jobcentre Plus anyway.

As for how urgently you need to get another job, and whether you're prepared to run the risk of benefit sanctions or not, I suppose that'll depend on how desperate your financial situation is. The payoff you've just had means you probably won't be able to get means-tested benefits until a month or two has passed anyway, although that doesn't stop you picking up the form and filling it in, so that payment will start as soon as you qualify.