what to do? no more options anymore....

vaporate

Regarding your GCSE grades, it is so easy to get either B grades or F grades.

Doesn't make sense but it is easy to go way up and turn it all around.

I would advise you to do part-time college and get C grades or higher in English, maths and science, maybe a GNVQ for good measure.

Just a thought.

Magnolia

Oh sweetheart - I wish you lived in our area. We would give you the support and advise you need.

One of the things we would be addressing is your grades in literacy and numeracy. I think this is one of the areas that is holding you back.

I have no idea why you achieved your grades nor does it matter. The thing that does matter now is to address the situation sooner rather then later.

Get yourself to you nearest college and speak with the NextStep adviser and get yourself on the right course for your needs.

Have you considered E2E? You get EMA of £30 per week and be able to work on your basic skills. Mind you - you will have to be quick as they are stopping the funding later this year.

Employers these days have the pick of the crop so it is even more important that you are able to tick the boxes on the application form.

Speak to people and see what comes of it. Make sure you make sure they know what you want to do and they will help you to get the right qualifications to get you there.

Whatever you do I wish you well and hope the outcome is to your benefit.

jobneeded

Thanks Magnolia

Yes I have tried E2E and went for the induction and was rather disgusted with how it was organized and how things were planned.
Here's what happened:
I received a call from somebody who didn't leave there name or other details just give me the address of where I had to be and time etc. (didn't say who I would be seeing etc)
I then a week later went to the induction and arrived at 10:30 when the meeting time was at 11:30 (arrived early to find out more about what E2E was about and what they did and further information of who I spoke to etc)
a few other candidate's turn up(asking questions outside away from any of the staff in the center while out for a cigarette with others) (didn't know who they were but that didn't bother me as they were just as confused as I was)(and I began to ask... who told you to come and what is it your here for etc etc)
then 11:30 comes and goes....
12:30 comes and goes...
1:00 comes and me and the 4-5 other candidate's began asking what is this all about and began to ask questions only to be answered with snotty disrespectful answers(when the staff there knew we were all confused)
again myself and the other candidate's decide to go back outside for a cigarette whilst waiting ( we then began talking and one of the center's staff told us we were not allowed out for a cigarette and asked us rather abruptly to remain in the classroom.)
By this point we are becoming ever more concerned and frustrated.
2:30 finally comes and the person that had actually arranged the meeting with us turns up with no apology and rather arrogantly asked us to fill out the forms and was giving strict orders as to what we can and cannot do. (which we weren't too bothered by)
The woman that organized the meeting then began asking who put us in touch with E2E and began asking our Connexions officer's name's(the person's name who put you forward for E2E)
as we tried to ask questions about what it is we were doing she wouldn't answer our questions and blatantly ignored our questions.( we were then told after filling out 5 to 7 forms that we would be going through Wakefield college but attending E2E instead of the college and it would only be a very small time part time course as we would be going off on trips e.g Playing football,playing game's going light water rafting etc and going on trips out)(to which i asked"well if that's the case shouldn't we actually go to Wakefield college where the learning environment is a good environment?(as we were in a childish classroom with other 12-13 year old's that were basically annoying all us candidate's(as we'd been listening to there carrying on for hours)
we are all now really fed up and hungry and all in need of a drink.
3:00 o'clock come's around and the woman then says can you sign the forms in front of you(shouted) to us all(not the fact that we had done what she had already asked)(and still waiting for an explanation as to what we was doing there)
We began to fill out the forms as instructed she then ordered us to stop! and began asking us what doe's this mean and that mean on the forms. already filled out 2-3 page's myself I told her what i knew that i had already filled out.
she then began asking us one by one to read out the information on the forms(in a patronizing manor)(the forms that they had given us that we were supposed to describe ourselves and give our information)
and then once we had read the questions on the forms i.e: what is your national insurance number OR do you give conformation for you photo taking and personal information to be shared with us)
and then she had us answering the questions!(to add insult to injury)
I then asked - what if i don't want my photo taken and my personal information to be shared? she then said" well I'm afraid with that attitude in life your going to get nowhere"
I then answered" no I simply do not want my photo being shared with members of the public and people i may not know. and cannot have my personal information shared"
and she said "just sign it"
I then got a phone call from my mother(at work) telling me about an apprenticeship i had applied for and wanting to contact them and i had to be back home for 5:00pm to take an interview before they closed)
I then re-entered the room and explained that i am having to leave the induction to attend an interview.
to which she then replied"why?!"
to which i said"as Ive recently applied for an apprenticeship and have requested to see me immediately"
She then continued to say" sorry Robert but you need good CGSE grade's for an apprenticeship" and which i replied to" no I'm sorry you don't and further more it may help you if you knew what industry I'm interested in applying for apprenticeships"
which she then replied" no sorry Robert but I'm am sure you need good GCSE grade's for an apprenticeship in any industry"
Which i then corrected her" no I'm sorry but I'm afraid you need to re-approach you research and look into apprenticeships in more detail and also i am still waiting for an explanation and apology as for you arriving late"
Which she then answered" oh right with that attitude Robert you will get nowhere in life and being in the wrong and trying to prove a much older person with a lot more experience under their belt"
i then said" no! Ive had just about enough of this
you expect us candidate's to turn up - no knowing anything about you,the company,what you do or even as to why we are even here"
Which then i said "well don't you think it is your attitude that is out of order?
You turn up late,miss in-formed about why we are even here,limited information as to who we would be seeing and why. and then turning up hours later with not even a single apology. and the center staff telling us what we can and cant do not that we were actually miss treating the area simply leaving the building and going away from the building for a cigarette and then being arrogantly and abruptly asked to do things we still didn't know as to why we were even there and another point that you may want to address when asking people to fill out forms and paperwork for you it isn't advised you be in a patronizing manor and further more i wouldn't correct somebody that actually knows what they are doing which is proved by me now leaving to attend the interview not the fact that i only applied for the apprenticeship yesterday afternoon.
I then went on to say you still haven't told us why we are here and why we need to be messing around playing football and games when what we are actually wanting is to get on and actually do something constructive. we don't know each other and only met at between 10:30 and 11:00 o'clock this morning but we all talk and get on as friends would.
so you cannot tell me and the rest of us that it all in the name of team building.
which then the other candidate's that were sat down while i was stood up getting my things together and began this well rant so to speak then began to stand up - tear up the forms and walk out in disgust.
and left feedback with the manager the next day to go on and say that the meeting yesterday(with this certain woman) was a disgrace and how she was so arrogant,obnoxious and patronizing. to which the manager simply said well I'm sorry you felt it went badly but this is just how E2E works you see." what to actually frustrate people who are already trying there best to cope with there own situations and make a bad situation worse?
to which the manager said well this is E2E we would have got you into employment - to which i said " no you wouldn't! i would have been stuck on a 2 year part time course to which i still would have had to find employment as 30 pound a week isn't enough when you have to pay your way in life such as paying your parents board money and having to buy clothes etc. to which when the 2 year course is over i would still have to find an apprenticeship and which i would have only completed a level 1 course be it NVQ level or city&guilds etc so the E2E as a company isn't a helpful resource facing the fact's.
to which the manager said"nothing and simply put the phone down"
which us candidate's are now taking it further (as are candidate's that have had meetings after us ever since us candidate's walked out other people have been and have been put back in the same situation and people are having less and less to do with e2e in west Yorkshire as it seems people are getting nowhere with them.

here's what really annoyed me and all the other candidate's i was with : that we didn't know why we was there,when we asked why we were blatantly ignored and when we patiently waited for her arrival we didn't receive as much as an apology and then when i had to leave for an interview she then began to try and correct me when she frankly didn't even know what the interview was about and what industry.
being treat like naughty children all day and being patronized by arrogant obnoxious woman.

that's why I don't deal with e2e anymore like most people round where i live now... this was over two months ago and quite a lot of people are not going to e2e as a pose able option.

I found it really annoying how she expected us candidate's to get from Castleford(me) and other candidate's to come from place's like York,Wetherby,Selby,Goole and such place's to go from place's where they live to come to Wakefield everyday to do about 2 hours coursework and then the next 2 or 3 days messing about playing game's and football and so on!

when really all we wanted to do was get on a course get the course do in quickly and well or help in locating any such employment! but when i began asking her questions etc and making a stand for us all. which she either couldn't answer or gave a reason that basically was making the situation worse we all just walked out and left.

Ive been on things like that before.. as had a few other of the candidate's to which was basically to make the people in charge have a reason for a wage (as we all know the course's etc are all government funded) and the 30 pound Ema isn't Ema as such its what the government pays place's like E2E for saving a place at the main college's and the college's just basically send sheet and paperwork for the students to do which really isn't a bright idea in my opinion and in a lot of other people's opinions as your then mixed in with people from junior and high schools that miss-behave and cause an annoyance easily leading to a lack of concentration.
"if you want anything done right,do it yourself
"always better to get the right thing first time as it save's a disappointment" is what i know go by....

E2E = entry 2 employment is a joke:T

But all in all i thank you for the suggestion just wanted to give you a taste of what it was actually like when i went and what it is like for people my age with the following grade's.....

As you maybe able to tell having written this. My english could deffinatly be improve'd for my CV purpose's but im not willing to go through the ups and then downs of thinking im getting somewhere just to be let down... and then the rubbish connexions come out with to bring you a sprinkle of hope to only be left feeling more frustrated with the position as to which you are left.
As i say Ive personally found out(as have my friends and other people my age and older and younger that have just left school) have all said and suggested and advised other people." don't bother with companies such as connexions and city limits and youth-fax and e2e - college and university certain! but the others don't touch with a barge pole unless your willingness is stronger than a brick Poo house!

Thanks tho'

Rob

vaporate

From experience I have found connexions and other career advice to be not so helpful. It IS helpful if you know what you want to do but I think that choosing a job/career is something one has to figure out for themself.

Anyway, I suggest GCSE maths, English, single science retake.

English should be the easiest from my experience but everyone is different.

All the best.

Magnolia

Oh Robert - I don't know what to say - I am so sorry you had such a bad experience of E2E. Only yesterday one of the lads in our college came up to me and told me he had achieved his level 2 literacy - I am so proud of him as he has turned his life round since being with E2E in our college and now has the 2 level 2's that are most important for moving onwards and upwards.

You are not that far away from us but I do know it is a 2 bus journey to get here that takes 1.5 hours each way

There are new things coming up in September - I am not sure what they are calling it but it is linked to the new diplomas that are being rolled out this year. Might be called Foundation Learning Tier of summat like. Whatever they end up calling it they will be concentrating on core skills.

BTW - reading your posts you do seem to be very eloquent and have a good grasp of the English language and its uses. Have you tried Learn Direct? You can go in and do a skills test to see if you would be able to do the on line learning and maybe achieve your level 2 literacy that way.

There is a learndirect centre in your town - phone number is 01977 727 651 and the course if free!

Good luck sweetheart (((hugs)))

E2E will not get you employment but it will help build the skills you need for the future

DCFC79

It seems you havent had it good robert, good luck in finding something that you want to do

jobneeded

hi and thanks for your support here:A
Still waiting till monday to hear back about this interview as the man i had the interview with and who is organising it all has gone away(poor organisation in my opinion but can only wait and see) "no news is good news" is what i say :rotfl:

today while feeling rather down decide right enough is enough! - shower,suit,CV in hand and visited a few industrial estates the 1st company i came to "fresh produce" i left my CV at reception and then was pointed towards a grey porta kabin as it was called :rotfl:
i knocked and entered to be left talking to somebody who i rather liked:p and they began asking my details etc and then was told what i would be doing! there and then! lol!!! and then she then organised me an appointment for tomorow :eek: and then asked my age... i said i was 18 on the 2nd of april she then said. ok no problem ring this number on the wednesday and we will arrange you an appointment on your birthday (good friday) i hope its good :rotfl:! lol
so... the appointment has basically been knocked on the head for now until im 18 but she basically gave me the job there and then!:A Damm!! why did i say i was 18 on the 2nd...:rotfl:

Oh well least now i have a few good options again

Rob:beer:

bigmacman

have you thought of asking the jobcentre what courses they offer for free to get your english and maths up to a good standard i got a advanced IT course free and im doing adult literacy level 2 free with it aswell.

Wine_of_the_World

Hi there

I am currently working in the motor industry (not in your area) and have to say that there are still jobs about - but there is a lot of competition.

The other day a very smartly dressed young man came into the showroom with his CV as he was looking for work as an apprenice mechanic. He was not able to meet with the manager of the workshop as he was busy, but was able to hand in in CV (which he had printed out and had an envelope ready).

So, I think if an apprentice is really what you are after then definatly visit in person (dressed smartly, especially if its attached to a showroom), and have your CV ready. Then also phone a few days later - this young lad didnt - but he did impress the manager by the fact that he took the time to visit in person, and showed he was not only motivated but well organised.

Good luck!

Oldernotwiser

Magnolia wrote: »

Get yourself to you nearest college and speak with the NextStep adviser and get yourself on the right course for your needs.
.

The OP isn't 18 yet and needs to be 19 for Nextstep; he is still in the Connexions age group.

I think it's his attitude that's the problem here and it's obviously coming across in his applications!