Gumtree Work Wanted Adverts

MikeyMacbeth

Good afternoon everyone, hope the Bank holiday weekend isn't too wet where you are!

Has anyone here had any experience of posting a work wanted ad on Gumtree?

I'm considering a change of job/lifestyle, with the short term aim of getting a part-time job with the aim of using my spare time to investigate ways of building my own online business in affiliate marketing, blogging etc (or whatever else I can do to turn a profit using my main skills which are mainly IT based).

To do this however, I would prefer to to have a steady and reliable income from a more regular job.

I do currently have a quite well-paid full time programming job that I am not particularly happy with so am looking to change to something that will give me more time (and energy!) to pursue my dream of a change of lifestyle, not to mention give me alternate streams of income.

Ideally I'm looking for something at around 25-30 hrs per week, which will pay the monthly outgoings that can't be avoided (around £750/month at the moment - and that's after trimming large ammounts off by adopting the ethos of our host here and trimming all the bills etc ). That works out that I'd have to be earning around £30 an hour however - which I think is pretty unlikely for a part time job:eek: so maybe I'd be better off looking for a less demanding full time (40)/week job which leaves me with a bit more mental energy than my current high-stress one - still no harm in dreaming is there?

With regards to Gumtree then:-

• Do gumtree work wanted ads bring results?
• Anyone here landed their dream job via one?
• Do you end up with loads of spam emails from scam "work from home and you could earn mega£££ just send £20 for the training pack" scheme merchants?
• Would anyone recommend putting your phone number on the ad? or does that lead to loads of spam phone calls?
• Is it just better to go down the conventional route of posting cv's on jobsite etc, scouring the job ads etc (which I'm doing anyway, but of course the agency responses I get all tend to focus on what I'm doing currently i.e. web development which is what I'm trying to break out of in terms of my main income to leave me more time and mental energy to spare for doing it for my sake - helps that I enjoy doing it, just not the circumstances that I'm doing it in currently alas).

Oops - just realised this post got a little longer than I intended - apologies in advance!

Gazing_On_Sunsets

I have found gumtree to be just scams and scammers. I had used it a little and just got people trying to sell me stuff. I have never been successful with it.

Do the conventional stuff, yeah, but also approach some places directly.

Can you not just go part time in your current job? Or find another programming job that is part time, as at least you'll be in your comfort zone as you start to explore other avenues. I do see your point of taking a less demanding job so you have mental energy to spare.

mattcyanyde

i agree with sunsets post.

gumtree is awful, and full of "real" people. If you get any real offer it will more than likely be for commission based work and you will end up out of pocket.

your best bet, is to advertise in shops, local papers, and social networking sites (someone may know their employer has an opening)

good luck,

wontfallforit

MikeyMacbeth wrote: »

Good afternoon everyone, hope the Bank holiday weekend isn't too wet where you are!

Has anyone here had any experience of posting a work wanted ad on Gumtree?

I'm considering a change of job/lifestyle, with the short term aim of getting a part-time job with the aim of using my spare time to investigate ways of building my own online business in affiliate marketing, blogging etc (or whatever else I can do to turn a profit using my main skills which are mainly IT based).

To do this however, I would prefer to to have a steady and reliable income from a more regular job.

I do currently have a quite well-paid full time programming job that I am not particularly happy with so am looking to change to something that will give me more time (and energy!) to pursue my dream of a change of lifestyle, not to mention give me alternate streams of income.

Ideally I'm looking for something at around 25-30 hrs per week, which will pay the monthly outgoings that can't be avoided (around £750/month at the moment - and that's after trimming large ammounts off by adopting the ethos of our host here and trimming all the bills etc ). That works out that I'd have to be earning around £30 an hour however - which I think is pretty unlikely for a part time job:eek: so maybe I'd be better off looking for a less demanding full time (40)/week job which leaves me with a bit more mental energy than my current high-stress one - still no harm in dreaming is there?

With regards to Gumtree then:-

• Do gumtree work wanted ads bring results?
• Anyone here landed their dream job via one?
• Do you end up with loads of spam emails from scam "work from home and you could earn mega£££ just send £20 for the training pack" scheme merchants?
• Would anyone recommend putting your phone number on the ad? or does that lead to loads of spam phone calls?
• Is it just better to go down the conventional route of posting cv's on jobsite etc, scouring the job ads etc (which I'm doing anyway, but of course the agency responses I get all tend to focus on what I'm doing currently i.e. web development which is what I'm trying to break out of in terms of my main income to leave me more time and mental energy to spare for doing it for my sake - helps that I enjoy doing it, just not the circumstances that I'm doing it in currently alas).

Oops - just realised this post got a little longer than I intended - apologies in advance!

Hiya,

I posted an ad about a year ago, looking for voluntary experience in quite a specific field. I didn't get any replies regarding the specific experience I was looking for, but I got about a dozen replies.

Half of them were 'job' adverts offering commission-only positions etc. (when I wasn't even looking for a job at all), and the other half were irrelevant, but useful nonetheless, offering various bits and pieces of voluntary work, including helping a guy (unpaid) set up a website for his business. Irrelevant and a bit cheeky, but I admired his spirit!

One was actually quite touching, it was a request that I work for a NFP local programme which helps out various 'disadvantaged' people in various ways - teaching computer skills, teaching English, etc. It sounded like a really good opportunity, but unfortunately I was working fulltime and quite selfishly, could only 'afford' to spend time on activities that furthered my own career.

So...expect a lot of irrelevant replies, and more than a handful of rubbish "job" offers.

AFAIK, it's free to post an ad, so I guess it doesn't hurt.

However, if you're currently blogging - or thinking of doing so - it might be worth dedicating one small blog just to yourself and the services you can offer in exchange for ££. Wordpress all the way...

Regarding posting your phone number...why not purchase a cheap phone (you can get them for literally a tenner), or using an old phone + free SIM card (any mobile phone shop), and dedicate this phone to 'business'?

Good luck x

MikeyMacbeth

Thanks Gazing On Sunsets (nice handle!), That's more or less the conclusion I'm drawing at present, and what I'm suspecting may be the route to go down. Unfortunately decreasing hours at my present employer isn't an option... It's partly burnout from my current job that's got me thinking down these lines (I reckon I'm not alone in re-evaluating lifestyle and employment as I've seen a lot of posts on here and elsewhere that make me think that recessions do rather focus peoples attention on what's really important in life...by choice or otherwise)

Re Gumtree: that's what I reckoned might be the case - similar I suspect to the local press classified ads that have a similar tone : the "work from home and you could earn £500 - £1000 a week..." stuff :-) .

From my experience of conventional job-hunting in my sector part-time programming jobs seem to be the proverbial rocking horse do-dah...

I've been toying with the idea of approaching some local small companies that are relatively IT weak (judging by their websites, ie they look out of date or not fit for purpose) and offering my services - I've had a fairly broad range of experience over my life in various aspects of business so may have something to offer in terms of experience (I've been a buyer, worked in retail, warehouse manager, IT guy and programmer and other roles - all within one now sadly defunct business, so there may me some overlap with a company that's looking to modernise and needs a sort of IT "jack of all trades"). Getting the pitch right is critical here though I suspect; "Hi, your website is rubbish so can I work for you?" might not quite do the job :-)

BargainGalore

Gumtee is a scammers paradise. I would avoid if it was me

MikeyMacbeth

wontfallforit wrote: »

Hiya,

I posted an ad about a year ago, looking for voluntary experience in quite a specific field. I didn't get any replies regarding the specific experience I was looking for, but I got about a dozen replies.

Half of them were 'job' adverts offering commission-only positions etc. (when I wasn't even looking for a job at all), and the other half were irrelevant, but useful nonetheless, offering various bits and pieces of voluntary work, including helping a guy (unpaid) set up a website for his business. Irrelevant and a bit cheeky, but I admired his spirit!

One was actually quite touching, it was a request that I work for a NFP local programme which helps out various 'disadvantaged' people in various ways - teaching computer skills, teaching English, etc. It sounded like a really good opportunity, but unfortunately I was working fulltime and quite selfishly, could only 'afford' to spend time on activities that furthered my own career.

So...expect a lot of irrelevant replies, and more than a handful of rubbish "job" offers.

AFAIK, it's free to post an ad, so I guess it doesn't hurt.

However, if you're currently blogging - or thinking of doing so - it might be worth dedicating one small blog just to yourself and the services you can offer in exchange for ££. Wordpress all the way...

Regarding posting your phone number...why not purchase a cheap phone (you can get them for literally a tenner), or using an old phone + free SIM card (any mobile phone shop), and dedicate this phone to 'business'?

Good luck x

Good idea ref the phone ! I'm hoping to separate my business stuff from the personal anyway in terms of the project I am working towards in my spare time.

I'd like to be involved in voluntary stuff too - but as you say it's important to be able to support yourself in the first instance...

Ref Wordpress : thats the plan, I am setting up both a personal blog to function as a CV, and also for fun, and one for my business to link to the projects I am currently working on acting also as a portfolio for the biz :-)