Graduate Unemployed for one year - How do I get a half decent job?

gerretl

Life is not just about money, life is about what you do with the time.
Think back to the one thing that you enjoyed above all else. Can be anything, any time in your life.

Emmzi

anewman wrote:

I feel - if I volunteered - at the end of it all I will be in the exact same situation as I am now when it comes to applying for jobs and interviews. Why should having volunteered for 6 months make any difference to me getting a job when I will still be pretty much the same person, in the same situation at the end of it? Just as no-one can guarantee I will get a job now, noone can guarantee I will after volunteering. Yes at the end of it it won't be time wasted and I will have gained something from it rather than being at home and on moneysavingexpert forums etc - but I want a job that pays ££.

I've worked in recuritment for 3 years. For an entry level job would I rather have
-someone who has never strayed outside academia and who, on paper, has sat on their backside for a year or
-someone who has some 'life experience' and get up and go?



Not all volunteering needs mega people skills. Look here...

http://www.do-it.org.uk/

Believe me, I know job hunting is tough. I was made redundant last year. I'm facing unemployment in 5 weeks with all the cv writing etc that entails, and it's stressful as hell.

But if you're going to choose to do nothing, or retreat back into studying and not get any 'real life' experience, you aren't giving yourself a fair chance.

Do you really have so much to lose? You might even grow some confidence.

I'm sorry to sound harsh. I would love to see you make a positive change. But you have to drive, and push, and stay focused - no wallowing!

anewman

gerretl wrote:

Life is not just about money, life is about what you do with the time.
Think back to the one thing that you enjoyed above all else. Can be anything, any time in your life.

Sorry to say my student loan debt (with them sending nasty reminder letters saying if I don't reply with proof I am unemployed they will fine me £50 etc), my credit card and the fact people will not give me a job *PROVES* life is all about money. Life is all about money. Unfortunately in todays society you just can't get by in a small cottage with a big garden growing all the food you need and not needing any money whatsoever.

I wish life weren't about money but without it you can't have a roof over your head and you'll be on the streets naked and starving.

anewman

Emmzi wrote:

Not all volunteering needs mega people skills. Look here...

http://www.do-it.org.uk/

Thats the site I found out about the first volunteering opportunity I did. Here are outtakes of the first page of volunteering oppostunities in Leeds in the skills/qualifications bit.

good communicator; Excellent interpersonal skills, Good interpersonal and good communication skills; Full clean driving licence; Experience of working with young people (can be in a voluntary or informal). Friendly, good communication skills.

It just does not seem like there is anything there for me. I would really love doing something like replying to e-mails for the samaritans. But again - noone has a choice about what they do in life. Can't say I have tried but I bet that if I did try it would be the case that I couldn't do what I wanted to do. And again this would not contribute to future career prospects in any way other than communicating with people and so on.

Emmzi wrote:

But if you're going to choose to do nothing, or retreat back into studying and not get any 'real life' experience, you aren't giving yourself a fair chance.

I have tried volunteering before. I'm still in the same situation. Part of the masters will be real life experience in terms of the research project itself - and I am looking to work as a research assistant. It's not retreating. It's an attempt to do something worthwhile to make a positive change in my life; and I would in fact be committing substantial financial resources to it (loan) like I have already done to study for my degree. Yes I could volunteer alongside this. Unfortunately I do not see how volunteering means I will get a job I otherwise won't have done. I'm actually hoping I will be able to get a job alongside it and that doing a masters in itself will help me get a job.

I have also been at the other end of the scale. I left school without sitting any GCSE's because I was bullied then. I went to the connexions place (as they are now called) and asked them about doing GCSE's but he recommended I not do GCSE's based on school records. Needless to say my job applications at the time didn't get anywhere and in maybe around 100 job applications I got one interview. Needless to say I did GCSE's, A levels and I never saw myself as being good enough to go to university in the past - but I did.

All I need is that one chance - for someone to give me a job. I know what I am capable of - it's unfortunate for the employers that they don't and couldn't care less - but will give a job to someone who may be less capable than myself but who is just better at interviews and giving all the BS that you have to in interviews. But it's me who remains unemployed. I have been unemployed for a year, I really do not envisage myself volunteering for 6 months and somehow magically getting a job at the end of it. I pretty much see myself as unemployable (along with all the employers I have sent applications to obviously).

Emmzi

Uh huh. They also have roles for van drivers; people to just organise equipment; gardening; puppy socialisers; kitchen helpers..and so on. But I am fairly sure you have 'good reasons' to rule out all 463 vacancies.

You give up pretty easily. If YOU think you're unemployable, then you are. If you change your mindset, you'll get a break, eventually.

But you need to build experience to DEMONSTRATE in interview. Maybe it's not BS the other candidates have. Maybe it's experience and attitude.

Ok. It seems you have decided 'how life is' and do not really want advice, certainly from me. I hope someone else here has something more useful for you.

I am stopping posting on this thread.

Good luck in whatever you do.

kittykate_2

this is gonna sound harsh but maybe you need to throw yourself in the deep end and see if you like it. It's alright you sat in front of your monitor thinking about it all but you gotta get out there and do it. You know this learned helplessness can be reversed, but you gotta want to do it. your name isn't "I can't, I can't, I can't", it's 'anewman', start to be a new man, get out there and grab your life before you don't get chance to and you have nothing left.

kKxxx


ps, i used to volunteer for a teen mentoring site answering emails to teens from all over the world. no physical contact, just replying to emails.

seven-day-weekend

Also, please forgive me, but I don't think doing your Masters is going to help you get a job.

Be a volunteer puppy walker for Guide Dogs for the Blind, be a volunteer helper in a school library, even be a volunteer Church Treasurer like me if you attend a church....none of these need great verbal skills but will develop your confidence and make you far more employable than a Masters degree will.

anewman

Argh I seem to have got unnecessarily worked up and depressed over this. But I haven't been sat doing nothing for a year. I do want to make something of my life which is why I made this post in the first place. I do not want to spend another year applying for jobs and getting just 3 interviews and going nowhere - which is why I have applied to do a masters.

I have never had a job in my life. I left school with no GCSE's and didn't get a job then. I spent 3 years at college and 3 years at University, racking up student loans. All with the sole intent of inproving my employment prospects. I did a degree because I thought the whole point was it gave you some employable skills - and you stand a better chance of getting a job paying above minimum wage. It even mentions employable skills in the course handbook for the degree I did. I would even go so far as to say if I had to do an interview to get on the degree course I did and the one I have applied for, I would not have got on them. One year on I am still unemployed so please forgive me for feeling depressed and helpless about it all after not getting a job of any kind ever in my life.

I'm not expecting everything for nothing. I have put lots of effort into applying for jobs and got nowhere. I'm not expecting lots of money, I'd be happy with minimum wage. I also applied for jobs in geographically diverse areas. Even though I live in Leeds, the 3 interviews I had were in Hull, Manchester and Huddersfield - so I am not set on staying in Leeds.

If I didn't get the skills and abilities I need to be employable in 6 years of full time education - how will I get it in 6 months of volunteering a few days a week? Does a first class degree after 3 years of studying not show I am dedicated to work, can get out of bed, am good at time keeping and responsible?! (if you handed work in a second after the deadline it was maximum mark of 40% which would obviously make it difficult to get a first). I may well go for the volunteering route in the future if I remain unemployed - but after 7 years I want a paid job and I don't think it's too much to want.

All this applying for jobs and not getting interviews - and the few interviews I get going poorly and not leading to job offers is just really getting me down. I really feel like I have no control over my destiny and it's all in the hands of employers - I'm sure most of you could appreciate that.

flossy_splodge

anewman, I have PM'd you. hope it might help.

seven-day-weekend

anewman wrote:

If I didn't get the skills and abilities I need to be employable in 6 years of full time education - how will I get it in 6 months of volunteering a few days a week? Does a first class degree after 3 years of studying not show I am dedicated to work, can get out of bed, am good at time keeping and responsible?! QUOTE]

I know how hard you have to work to get a first....my husband has one and he worked every hour he could. He also left school with no qualifications.

Unfortunately, employers do like to know what you are actually like in the workplace. I know this is difficult when they won't give you a job to start with. This is why we are suggesting voluntary work. You will then have a workplace reference and workplace experience.

Many employers will see six years of study as six years of being protected in the ivory tower of academia and not having any experience of the 'real world'.
They would be far more impressed with a workplace record than with yet more study. This may be unfair, but you have to work with how things are, not how they should be.

Get yourself down the nearest charity shop and help hang the clothes on the rails, if you don't yet feel you can serve customers.