making me employable..

Mrs.Metallica

ok so here's my story, over the last 3-4years i have been unemployed looking after my kids, in between that time ive had one job for a month or two.. my work history isnt so great either, most of my jobs were only a couple months and ive been fired from one or two.. mibby 3... my circumstances lately have drastically changed, and i need a job ASAP.. but i apply for hundreds and get nothing.. i dunno wether its my CV or just me on a whole, i really want to work and gain some more experience.. and most of all.. earn my own cash, get off the dole and get debt free..

can anyone help this hopeless jobseeker to find true work and happyness..

bumblebee23

I think that at the moment you are really going to struggle as you are up against hundreds of people vying for the same jobs you are applying for who have never been fired or left a job after a couple of months. Sorry to say this but from reading the above, you would be a last resort for an employer as you seem a little 'risky'...

I think that in the long term you would do well to consider going to college and getting some sort of training/qualification to give you an edge.

At the very least you should ensure that your CV makes it very clear why you were sacked and why you left so many jobs, although to be honest I'm not sure what explanation you could give that wouldn't still leave an employer feeling very cautious...

Perhaps try and get a more 'casual' type of job, places like bars don't tend to be too bothered about obtaining references or looking too deep into a persons employment history - and if you stick it out for a minimum of 6 months, it will be a stepping stone into a better job with at least one good reference!

Little_RAY

When you say that you've applied for hundreds of jobs, I'm guessing that you don't even get interviews for them? In this case I would say that you are maybe not representing yourself as best you could on your CV. It is the first impression that any employer ever gets of you, and so if you don't impress on the CV then it will get thrown on the 'No' pile.

Look through your CV, and if you can also ask someone else to go through it. What sort of impression do you think people get of you? There are ways to improve your CV without lying - it's all about how the truth is represented!

There are many websites that help with CV writing, and also many books. When I was unemployed I used every resource that I could find to fine tune my CV and help prepare myself for the Job application process. Libraries are a fantastic way of gathering help - there are so many books out there dedicated to helping people improve their CVs and find work. They're free, use them!

Another thing you could do to prove your dedication to working would be to take up a voluntary position somewhere. This is a great opportunity to do almost anything that you fancy! Look at www.volunteering.org or www.do-it.org.uk. Just one or two days a week will prepare you for work, and show an employer that you're serious about working.

Most importantly, you want to make sure that you are doing the best you can to be the best you can. Just do something - paid or unpaid. In the end you will feel better for it. Jobs aren't just about money, they're about self esteem and independence.

All the best!

JoolzS

I have no idea whether or not you write your applications in the same way as your posts, but if they are anything like this post then as a potential employer your application would go straight into the "no" pile.

Maybe you no longer notice that you type "mibby" instead of "maybe", but I can guarantee that an employer will notice. Wether instead of whether, happyness instead of happiness, couple months instead of a couple of months - they will all get noticed in a job application and cause that application to be binned.

I'm not trying to be picky - just pointing out the obvious.

Julie

Mrs.Metallica

hrmm.. i make sure all my spelling in my CV is spot on.. my appoligies if my spelling is not up to your standards. Thankyou for the comment.

Little_RAY

I'm sure that the OP didn't expect her spelling and grammar to be checked on and criticised in a friendly forum such as this. I am sure that Mrs. Metallica will be careful about her presentation, formatting, spelling and grammar in her CV. FIRST IMPRESSIONS COUNT when you are applying for a job!

Although, you may find it amusing to know that 'Wether' is actually the term for a castrated sheep!! I know that you meant to write 'whether' of course. Just be careful when you write your CV! Julie is only trying to be helpful, even if she may have come across a little bit hard in her post.

It may also be worth remembering that a fantastic CV will only give somebody a better chance of getting to the interview stage of a possible job position. It will not get that person the job. I've interviewed a few people with fantastic CVs who just did not live up to what I expected them to be. Confidence is the key word when it comes to interviews (not arrogance). I once got a job that I was not qualified for just because the employer said they 'believed' in me, and wanted to give me a chance. (There won't be much of that happening in the current climate!)

Mrs. Metallica, if your confidence levels are low due to being out of work then you need to think about what you can do to help build yourself up. There are jobs out there, even if they're difficult to get. Someone has to be employed to do these jobs! Don't give up - it could be you, but only if you make the effort to prove you're 'up to the job' (excuse the pun!).

Savvy_Sue

Mrs.Metallica wrote: »

hrmm.. i make sure all my spelling in my CV is spot on.. my appoligies if my spelling is not up to your standards. Thankyou for the comment.

It's always a good idea to get someone else to check too, especially if you regularly write very informally (txtspk, dashing off quick emails etc).

Like Joolz, I'm not trying to be picky, but if you're used to taking shortcuts in the way you write, it's harder to get it right when it matters, or to notice when you haven't.

I'm one of those sad people who HAS to write everything properly, if I spot a typo in one of my previous posts I usually edit it to put it right even if it's perfectly clear what I meant!

I don't have a problem with less formal styles of English, as long as I can read them easily, but I do prefer people to 'talk proper' when they write.

BTW, another suggestion would be to make sure you're presenting your skills in the best light: many people present themselves as 'only' having been at home with the children, whereas in fact they've also been on the PTA, helped out at playgroup, or things like that. Experienced gained outside work can (and should) be used to demonstrate that you meet the requirements of a job description / person specification.

msflowerfairy

Also if you are on the dole you can approach your advisor and say that you would be willing to do a work trial which means a company takes you on while you are still claiming to see how you both fit in, to see if you can do the job, and most importantly to see if you like the job. You still receive your benefits, and they also give you money for travel and lunch.
It is worth a go.
On the other side of the coin i am a trained Facilities Manager, and was made redundant at the end of January, and despite applying for over 250 jobs i am still out of work, so i would say to you grab anything you can off the job centre, ask them if they can put you on a training scheme, anything helps, and as a result your confidence within the workplace will increase.
Good Luck.

Oldernotwiser

bumblebee23 wrote: »

At the very least you should ensure that your CV makes it very clear why you were sacked and why you left so many jobs, although to be honest I'm not sure what explanation you could give that wouldn't still leave an employer feeling very cautious...

You should NEVER give this sort of information in a CV! Everything in a CV should be positive and based on what you can do rather than your failings. However, it would be a good idea to think through some kind of explanation as to how these situations arose (although that will be difficult!) in case the issue is raised at interview.

In addition to further training, why not look at getting some voluntary work? This will enable you to update your skills and get a more recent reference. On the other hand, there'll be no point in doing this if you make the same mistakes you made when you were employed. A reference will need to be exemplary to counterbalance all the negative background that already exists.

MrsTinks

Firstly - you were never fired or sacked. You were let go NEVER use negative terms in interviews, letters or CVs
I've interviewed more people than I care to think about and those that made it through to interviews were people who had impeccable CVs and could write well. I don't think anyone has meant anything negative about your posts but I too have noticed that not only in this post but others too then there are lots of text speak and less than perfect gramma etc - that's honestly not a critisism! The reason I and others have commented on it is that as mentioned it's often very hard to change habits and you might not spot them all in your CV or applications - yet even just ONE text speak like that in a CV would have landed you in my "no" pile and you wouldn't even have gotten to the interview stage. An applicant can spend weeks on a CV before sending it to me and so i expect it to be 100% perfect... ANY spelling errors would in my view be deeply careless so wouldn't make it through my initial screening.
I don't have perfect gramma or spelling - and I make loads of typo's especially on here lol - but in work I use spellcheck like it's going out of fashion because I often send mails to clients.

Layout of CVs can also be important - most recruitment agencies will be able to help you with a guide to writing a CV and if you ask nicely most will help you put yours together too. Use the guides at libraries and then get someone you know who has recruited people in th past to look it over because they might spot any areas that you have missed that to an employer looks like a red flashing beacon

Your employment history... ok this is a stumbling block...
Get something that shows you can be reliable and stick something long term - if that means 6 months of cleaning peoples floors then that's what it means! Ofcourse when writing it up on the CV later you don't put cleaner but find a slightly fancier term However I have hired people into IT based jobs from waiting tables because they convinced me that they had what it took to do the job so work on selling yourself once you get through to the interview.

But first step - get a job - voluntary is fine! - to prove you can hold it down longer than 1 month or two because this would be my HUGE warning beacon if I was hiring... whether you left or were let go doesn't matter, I wanted people who weren't going to be gone in 6-8 weeks once I'd spent a lot of my time and my teams time training them not to mention the actual cost of recruiting - running adverts and using recruitment agencies ain't cheap so hiring someone has a financial implication too if they are going to leave after a short period...

Good luck!

bloaty

My son is looking for work at the moment having obtained his degree, taken a year out to travel and he is now finding it very difficult to obtain work.

I will share this post with him as I have suggested all the things you have so positively shared but it is sometimes easier to learn from other peoples mistakes/experiences.

Thank you all for your helpful/positive contributions to this thread.