i could do with a bit of advice...

klairbear

my sister is 25 on tuesday and i am starting to worry that life so far may be damaging her career prospects.

let me explain:

we both live at home with my disabled mother, who needs a lot of care. my dad was the sole wage earner and when he died i got a job and started to finacially support my family. my sister was in college and i wanted her to finish, as did she, knowing how much it would mean to dad.

she completed her course in three years (a gnvq) and started the first year of a foundation degree, getting a part time cleaning/customer care job, which she still does. however she became quite ill, was diagnosed with depression and had to take a year out. it was during this year she decided to change what course she wanted to do, quitting college and starting a degree with the ou.

she failed the first year, but has passed the second module and almost completed the third (she has to resit the exam). we share the care for mum and she still works at the cleaning/customer care job. she also volunteers, supporting adults with mental health issues providng social and creative activities for groups.

my worry is this won't be enough on her cv so to speak...will employers value the skills she has gained in these experiences. she is considering further volunteering but is wondering whether paid work, any paid work, would be beter, regardless of whether it is linked to her degree (health and social care)as the volunteering would link to this. she has looked for jobs with training provided in this area but so far no luck, and she feels that as time goes by it will look worse.

she claims no benefits eg jsa, and should she get employment we would both finacially contribute to a carer for mum. she does want to continue caring for mum, but is worrying about her future.

hope that all made sense!!

what do people think?

3plus1

Hello,

I'm a wee bit younger than your sister and I work as a graduate trainee for a big accountancy firm. I have my own role within the firm, and that's accountancy related, but from time to time I dip my toe in graduate recruitment, so I do know a fair bit about the job application process with us. I know your sister is hoping to work in a completely unrelated field, but the same priniciples tend to apply across the board.

Yes, we look for people with strings of As to their name, top degrees from good universities, voluntary work, paid jobs and and all that jazz. We don't process applications from people who don't meet our minimum criteria because they got drunk during their first year of uni or who were just plain lazy and didn't bother getting a job. It's tough. However, and this is the part that will interest you, we take extenuating circumstances very seriously.

If someone didn't make the grades because they were ill, or there was some pretty heavy stuff going on with their family at the time, we don't give a blank no. We consider the impact this would have had on their life and whether it would be reasonable or not to expect them to have been able to achieve their potential. If someone didn't have time to get a job or couldn't volunteer because they were busy caring for a family member, we don't give a blank no. To be honest, caring for someone is a job inself, whether you get paid for it or not, and we would see a lot of transferable skills there. It would also say a lot about the type of person you are and that's the sort of person we would like to have with us! We're people people and we like to have people who give a damn about everyone else. Really!

The only area for concern could be your sister's dedication to her chosen field - you say she dropped out and didn't know what she wanted to do for a while. But if she's after a job in heath and social care, these sort of questions can be dealt with smoothly by drawing on her life experiences of caring for your mother.

So what if she hasn't had a paid job recently in her chosen field? She's a carer. I'm going repeat myself here - that's a job in itself. And it's actually a related job to her chosen field - plenty of experience there to draw on.

You say your sister is volunteering in a relevant area and has an unrelated paid job.

To be perfectly honest, it sounds as if your sister is doing all she can to cope with what life has thrown at her and to make herself marketable as a job candidate. It's a difficult time at the moment, what with the state of the economy and all that, and it's really easy to get disheartened. However, I think you should advise your sister to keep doing what she's doing, to persevere, to seek feedback whenever she's unsusccesful and to generally try and keep her smiling.

I know I'm from a different field, but I wouldn't write your sister off just yet.

All the best.

klairbear

i am not writing her off, i want her to be happy, she deserves to be and i know your advice will reassure her.

i have said that she has so many skills and loads of experience, we were both just a litle worried as you never know what employers will look for

she is fantastic, has coped with lifes hurdles, sometimes better than i have!!

3plus1

klairbear wrote: »

i am not writing her off, i want her to be happy, she deserves to be

Sorry, I didn't mean to come across like that. Of course you want her to be happy and of course you think she's capable of achieving anything. You're her sister, and if I've read your original post correctly, you're her big sister. You're looking out for her. I have a big sister myself.

klairbear wrote: »

i have said that she has so many skills and loads of experience, we were both just a litle worried as you never know what employers will look for

Employers are looking for people with a 'can do' attitude. It sounds to me like your sister has one of those - and I'm sure you'll back me up there. A lack of qualifications and/or paid work can start ringing alarm bells, but a set of genuine extenuating circumstances can explain that and put you back on a level playing field. As long as your sister is prepared to disclose what she's been through, no employer is going to disregard her. She has a whole heap of skills and experiences to draw on, and if she can learn how to talk about them in a way that's attractive to recruiters, she has the right tools to get where she wants to be.

klairbear wrote: »

she is fantastic, has coped with lifes hurdles, sometimes better than i have!!

I don't doubt that for one second.

klairbear

i am her big sister yes!! and its my birthday on tuesday too!!

i'm sure that whatever happens in the future she will be amazing - she is young and has lots of time to do anything she wants!! and i think i need to tell her that more often!