Tell me a job is better than no job, lol

sickofusernames

I'd love to get an interview for any old job right now but one look at my CV and i just know they wont pick me as they'll think I'd move on quickly.

I'm secondary school educated but gradually progressed into a technical role in telecomms, now you tell me, would you employ me for a warehouse job? Probably not because a) I don't have FLT licence or b) I've not had previous warehouse experience.

It's catch 22 and I can't see it getting any easier.:wall:

SueC_2

sickofusernames wrote: »

I'd love to get an interview for any old job right now but one look at my CV and i just know they wont pick me as they'll think I'd move on quickly.

I'm secondary school educated but gradually progressed into a technical role in telecomms, now you tell me, would you employ me for a warehouse job? Probably not because a) I don't have FLT licence or b) I've not had previous warehouse experience.

It's catch 22 and I can't see it getting any easier.:wall:

It is tough, and you will most likely be up against people with more relevant experience than you. But it's not an impossible situation to overcome.

I've employed many many people over the years, but two of the ones that I remember as being most successful were:

- A lady who was only months away from retirement age, and felt she would never be offered a job because of that.

- A lady who hadn't worked for many years due to being a stay at home mum, and felt she had no relevant experience to offer.

In both cases I was struck by the honesty of both of them, and their eagerness to work despite the odds being stacked against them. I took them both on, and they worked their socks off - they were so grateful to have been given the opportunity and just wanted to 'prove' that I had done the right thing in giving them a chance. They were probably the most loyal, and hard-working, employees I ever had (and yes, this was for a very basic grade, manual type job).

Admittedly, not all employers will have the same outlook, and you may not be successful first time. But I'd still say that if you tackle the issue head on, acknowledge the reasons that the employer might not want to take you on, and then give a counter argument for each of them, then you're probably in with a chance.

Most importantly, don't be defeated before you've started!

Good luck.

wabuthu

SueC wrote: »

being unemployed is an absolutely soul-destroying, confidence shattering, mind numbing and persistently degenerative state. ... so many people go from being confident and independent to being riddled with self-doubt and anxiety.

This is so true! I have previous call centre experience but from a while back, which is why i thought i wouldn't have a problem getting those...so recently went for a call centre interview (it was mostly a group of us interviewees in various roll play situations) and knew i'd ace it...to my shock and horror what looked like a 19yr old recruiter told me that she was not going to take me on because she felt i "LACKED CONFIDENCE" :mad: at that very point in time i was mad as hell and felt very insulted.

But a few days later and after having cooled off and looked back at the situation it occurred to me that as much as I'd hate to admit it, she was right, having been unemployed for so long and having done lots of applications with no responses whatsoever or rejections or even worse going for interviews and failing to get the job....that whole process really and truely does crush the soul...made me feel like i'd really hit rock bottom....and i guess that was projected in my interviews.

Which is why i decided to flip the script and apply for the one job that i'd never tried applying for (the care job) and the interview was actually a very pleasant experience and was delighted i got offered the job! this has since boosted my confidence ten fold and waiting on the start date so that i can finally feel independent once again.:j

mumcoll

When my hubby was on the dole during the recession of the early 1980's, he got a job that was 35 minutes away that paid the same as he got on the dole so was actually £15 a week worse off! However, the self esteem it gave both of us was worth it. Also, the skills he learnt allowed him to progress and 8 years later was earning 40k with benefits and company car. So yes, a poor job is definitely better than signing on.

BTW, he hasn't got that lovely well paid job anymore, redundancies came and he now earns 16k with a 13% paycut recently introduced. But, It's a job!

UnderPressure

From what you said about your partner being able to earn £100 in a morning is there any need for you to be doing this job at all? Surely it would be more beneficial in the long run for you to carry on with your own business? This is some people fail to grasp with being self employed in the early days you can work 80 hours a week for sod all it takes time sometimes lots of it but as long as you put the hard work in eventually you should be rewarded, just because things are quiet now does not mean it will stay that way.

What is your self employed business? Do you sell something? Make something? Do you have an internet presence? Have tries some spcific target marketing? I would be more inclined to concentrate on gaining customers for my own business especially if my partner can provide £100+ for a mornings work

So far as employers looking favourably on candiates that are already in employment, I think some of the time maybe but would have to disagree in another, if the candidate has a good education and has a CV to demonstrate that they have had "professional" work before then I would be questioning as to why nobody else has employed them in a similar role since, and why would they take on a minimum wage job when they are capable of earning much more, to me this would demonstrate defeat rather than a will to work, I would much rather see a candidate applying for any jobs going in the field that they are qualified for and even better if they rang my company out of the blue to enquire if there were any positions even though I had not advertised for anyone, I would take their name and they would have a big star next to it for when a position did become available.

It is true we live in hard time but even unemployed if you are using your time constructively there is a lot to be gained

Hope that helps and best of luck............

Voyager2002

A candidate for a "good" job who has spent the previous few months doing nothing (unemployed) is clearly at a tremendous disadvantage. But a candidate who has a recent track record of voluntary work, particularly in a responsible or challenging role, could well be more employable than someone who has spent the time doing minimum-wage work.

kr15snw

I'm a graphic designer, mainly print based work.

The reason I want to leave self employment is I havent had a paid job in the past 3 months I have tried everything to sell myself and nothing is coming in.

I promised myself I'd give it 5-6 months and go from there.

Plus unfortunately we booked a very expensive wedding / honeymoon package for this Christmas which we simply can't afford unless I'm working. And if we cancel we will lose about 5k in deposits etc as well as not getting married! Lol. When we booked this we were both in very well paid jobs, hence why we weren't expecting to be in this situation. If I don't start earning soon we're in trouble.

And I can't get tax credits as I'm too young (stupid system).

Plus I hate having my partner pay for everything. I want to pay my way and cannot stand being supported by him (he put me through uni and I hated having to ask him for money for shopping etc. I want to be able to support myself!)

UnderPressure

kr15snw wrote: »

I'm a graphic designer, mainly print based work.

The reason I want to leave self employment is I havent had a paid job in the past 3 months I have tried everything to sell myself and nothing is coming in.

I promised myself I'd give it 5-6 months and go from there.

Plus unfortunately we booked a very expensive wedding / honeymoon package for this Christmas which we simply can't afford unless I'm working. And if we cancel we will lose about 5k in deposits etc as well as not getting married! Lol. When we booked this we were both in very well paid jobs, hence why we weren't expecting to be in this situation. If I don't start earning soon we're in trouble.

And I can't get tax credits as I'm too young (stupid system).

Plus I hate having my partner pay for everything. I want to pay my way and cannot stand being supported by him (he put me through uni and I hated having to ask him for money for shopping etc. I want to be able to support myself!)

Have sent you a pm

BOB_A_H

kr15snw wrote: »

Hmm it's definately an interesting thing to think about. Just told my OH and he agrees with patman. He said I'd be earning about £100 a week which he can earn in a morning, lol. So he doesn't see the point.

Bu the interview will be good practice so I'll still go to that.

What does your OH do for a living, and could he not help you into the same line of work?