Best path to take after long term unemployment

yenool

gone....................................

CBR

I have read your post with interest.

A good friend of mine sought help with a wonderful organisation called the shaw Trust who took the time and trouble to assist him with retraining and return to work.

I was very impressed with the service they provided as they specialise in assisting people with long term disabilities back into to work place.

I believe Remploy also do the same type of work.

Have a look on the Shaw Trust web site for the services they offer.

Good luck for the future.

horsechestnut

A Degree ( or any qualification) is not a guarantee to employment, however it does help you to get a job as you have education in a specific field (you can always add to your degree by doing voluntary work; if you will work for free, then it shows that you are worth employing for a wage).

Does your local college have a student services or careers department? They often are more helpful than the ordinary careers service, as they are used to dealing with the specific areas in which their college specialises.

yenool

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ben_reza

I wont burn you down at all here, sometimes our circumstances are not what we would choose.

I would suggest you demonstrate that you want to get back to work by going out and applying for everything. Paper shops, shelf stacking, call centres, anything and everything.
1- you will be getting money you have earned
2- you are demonstrating to future employers that you do want to work

Unfortunatly you do have to start from the bottom here I think. Once you have a foot in the door either keep applying for other jobs and work around that way, or get your head down, work hard, get NVQ's or any qualifications that are available thru your enployer and work your way up that way.

I would take with a pinch of salt the advertised 'IT Courses' that apparently get you right into a job. I work in IT, and the majority of these courses are a waste of time. Experience is critical in this area, not (and no offence intended here to anyone) mickey mouse IT qualifications.

paulwf

Perhaps the first thing to do is make sure you have the basics covered, you can't progress without a good foundation. Make sure you have GCSE's at C level or above in English and Maths at the very least, plenty of basic jobs require this so you can demonstrate numeracy and literacy. There isn't any point in getting a degree but not having a broad spectrum of basic GCSE qualifications.

Although you say your health is better you also say you might get flair ups. Therefore choose your career direction with care. You mention Tesco's a couple of times...retail work is very physical with long periods standing on your feet, and myself and most of my supermarket colleagues have got bad backs, aching shoulders etc .

Try and think about what you are interested in, a passion for what you do is the only way to really progress in an employment field. There is no point in doing a law degree because you think it will lead to a good job if you find law work dry and boring, you'll end up quitting after a week (I know I would!).

There should be some college open days coming up so go and have a look round and see what interests you, and try and do some short or part time courses for now to see if they stimulate you. Don't rule out vocational courses either, they might give you a good chance of getting a job at the end of it.

yenool

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ben_reza

I work in 3rd line support, working with servers and comms.

I started about 12 years ago with a GNVQ in IT, and a 1 year hardware maintenance course. I think that is all equivalent to 2 A levels. While I was doing this I worked part time in a motorway services.
I applied for a job in a small IT department but didnt get it, however was offered a job in the customer service department for the same company.
I did that for 2 years, then applied for IT again, and due to my experience of the companies systems as a user, I got the job.
For the next 6 or 7 years I gained experience, did lots of courses and playing around with lots of technology.

I left there 2 years ago for the job I am in now, specialising in what used to be just one part of my previous job.

nunnygirl

Currently undertaking an Access course myself, Access to Health Professionals as I want to get into Nursing. It is a fabulous course, but it is a 2 year A Level course in 8 months, very hard and very quick. I've only been on mine since January and I have already filled an A4 lever arch folder with the stuff we're doing in the classes.

If you do decide to go down the Access route please do not be put off by the work you will be doing. All my tutors are great and are always on hand, either in person or via e-mail, if I need them

yenool

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leedsfan_3

Chris one of my suggestions would be to maybe do some voluntary work for a charity i.e. CAB, or maybe PDSA anything like that really. They aren't going to put pressure on you, it will be good experience, it's entirely of your own volition. As far as GSCSE's are concerned, you could always take night classes, or indeed go back to college as a mature student.