No idea what to do.....any advice?

BCD

Right- long one this.:mad:

I left education in 2001, and was all set to look for work when I became seriously ill. The illness lasted right up to last September when I had to start claiming JobSeekers instead of Income Support. No problem with that.

The thing is, now I'm looking very hard for jobs I'm finding it very, very difficult. I have a construction BTEC but cannot get a sniff of any kind of relevant job....even working in the offices. The BTEC is the only 'vocational' qualification I've got, so I'm trying my best to use it.

I'm 27, so every 'trainee' job I apply to rejects me (I'm sure it's because of my age....but can I prove ot? No.)

I've widened my search to include pretty much every type of jobs going, but it all comes back to the same two things- no experience and no references. I literally have no work experience, and cannot supply references other than family. (I do not know any professional people who could supply one).

So what do I do?

I'd like to think that I'm pretty intelligent, and can handle the pressure of working, but I just cannot get a break.

I've thought about going back to college or uni, but as I'm 28 this year I can't face not having a job for another 2-4 years. If I did that, I'd be 32 and still would have had no job. I'd be finished- how could I compete with 21 year old graduates?

Part time study is an option, but what career do I choose?

Can anyone help me, please?

rosered1963

Hi there.

To solve two problems in one: Why not do some voluntary work, say in a charity shop? That would give you work experience, eg experience of paperwork, handling money, etc - plus, after a short while once you have shown that you are trustworthy, you could ask the shop manager if she/he will provide you with a job and character reference. You could go in and help out one day a week, and if you didn't fancy working on the shop floor, you could sort the stock, price it and merchandise or do the cashing up at the end of the day - whatever suits your strengths. This is what I suggest you do - just walk around the charity shops on your high street and call in to chat to the managers. Meanwhile you can still take up any work that comes along. This will give you great work experience and a good reference. What d'you reckon?

pennypinchingpenguin

hi, i agree with the voluntary idea. ive been unemployed for nearly 5 years through illness so i understand how frustrating it is - especially being dependant on others to pay for even the smallest things, and wanting to work but physically not being unable to. worse when you meet people and they ask what you do and u say ''not working at the moment'' and you get ''oh'' as if its just laziness and so probably somewhat defensively i always follow with ''recovering from illness'' and then get the pity angle! (sorry i guess i needed to grumble about that!) i am still on incapacity benefit but when i told my adviser i felt ready to try some part time work she told me about Training for Work programme. basically i do work experience for a set period of time and still get paid my benefit. im not sure if this is just for ib though, but the principle is the same. technically the place i work at, i am treated the same as a volunteer but i do 20 hours a week so i am a lot more involved than a regular volunteer. but this is the best thing i have ever done. i have been there 5 months and i have so many different skills - things i thought i would be useless at! id suggest maybe researching a few different areas to volunteer in - maybe something related to your degree or career interest but also something just because you think it would be fun - it's still volunteering - whatever you choose to do, volunteering can open so many different avenues to life as well as a career! if the crunch hadnt bitten id be looking at a job with my placement now but at the very least its given me new skills and a lot more self confidence and stopped me from getting depressed at home. hope i havent harped on too much here! good luck in whatever you choose to do.

Confusedconsumer_2

Forgive my ignorance, what is a Construction BTEC? Something to do with the building trade?

Does your work have a trade union/association that you can contact for advice?

You could seek advice from your Adult Careers Office, or a careers adviser at your local college.

If I can think of anything else, I'll let you know.

Good Luck

BCD

Thanks a lot for the positive info'.

I've decided that I'm going to get a uni' place sorted out for September. In the meantime, I'll keep searching for the right job. If I haven't got a decent job sorted by the time uni starts, I'll go and get the degree done!

Sound ok?

bookduck

All depends what you study at Uni! I've mentioned in another link my friends son whats to study Paleontology, and I have never seen an advert for one of those!

Choose wisely my friend, and/or get some career advice!

Sharon87

Confusedconsumer wrote: »

Forgive my ignorance, what is a Construction BTEC? Something to do with the building trade?

Does your work have a trade union/association that you can contact for advice?

You could seek advice from your Adult Careers Office, or a careers adviser at your local college.

If I can think of anything else, I'll let you know.

Good Luck

A BTEC National Diploma is equivilant to 3 A Levels. I got one in Media Production.

I would also suggest volunteer work, it would be good. Didn't you do any work placements at school? I did, when I was 14, and so did my older brother and sister.

Why don't you contact companies in your career sector and offer your services for a week or two for free!