Looooooooooong gap in employment... advice wanted

Bettie

christopherrobin wrote: »

Not sure on the househusband thing really - not married for starters! I do do the housework but we've no children or anything and I'm in my 20s.

Would quite like to work for a bookies, it's always interested me slightly. Have looked online at the various bookies though as well as checking the stores in town and there doesn't seem to be anything going at the moment. Do you mind if I ask when you got your job with one?

You can PRETEND you've looked after an imaginary partner's kids!
I've worked in the bookie for three years. They are always taking people on even if no jobs are advertised it's worth doing the online application or asking in a shop.

christopherrobin_2

Thanks, I'll try that

Savvy_Sue

Bettie wrote: »

You can PRETEND you've looked after an imaginary partner's kids!

Nooooooo!

By all means say you've been a househusband, but do NOT invent children, your own or anyone else's. That's exactly the kind of thing you'd get caught out on ...

Bettie

christopherrobin wrote: »

Thanks, I'll try that

Good luck.
If you know anyone that works in a bookies ( friend relative) that will recommend you it always goes down well. I'm not sure how they would look on your interest in online match betting/Betfair so maybe keep it quiet - everyone else does hee hee.
It's quite casual at the interview, they are far more interested in your ability to fill in the test papers ( really easy stuff) and use a keyboard than anything else.

DVardysShadow

christopherrobin wrote: »

Not really an option financially now (perhaps something I should have considered a couple of years ago) and to be honest I was desperately struggling with it when doing it, despite a great tutor and friends to bounce ideas off. Was just a really bad choice of degree.

Bettie wrote: »

I had a 17 year gap to fill when I applied online for a well known bookie and I told them I had been a housewife. ( Could you have been a househusband?) Had an interview and got taken on straight away. references were never checked - I gave a personal one. I told them I had done a bit of cash in hand waitressing which was true but I couldn't have proved it.

I think you are not going to step into where you should be - you are going to have to take a journey to find your place.

The idea of the bookies looks to be not a bad fit. But don't dismiss the OU. When OldernotWiser talks about an OU top up, this is not necessarily in your original subject - the OU will give you freedom to take on something entirely different, but you could still have credit for what you have achieved already. Or you could carry on with your writing. Or you could use the OU to further your writing.

In fact your problem splits into 2. How to develop your career and how to get enough money to do it.

christopherrobin_2

OU is definitely something I want to visit further down the line - like you say really, just a case of getting into a position to be able to do so financially. Still infuriates me that I made such a rash choice of degree and think it always will until/unless I complete one.

The big issue for me is just getting into work. I'm pretty confident that if I can manage that (hopefully when rather than if), even if it's a very low-skilled job, I'll be able to push on from there and (to an extent) make up for lost time - in my previous jobs I've always progressed quickly. Will likely be a journey to get to somewhere I really want to be working like you say, but so be it.

Have taken onboard what people have said about volunteering and am going to have a serious look at that this week. Thinking right now is that I can hopefully do that (seems to be some interesting opportunities in this area) while still applying for jobs and hoping someone gives me a chance, and if worst comes to worst I'd hope I'd at least be able to land a temp job at christmas somewhere. Not going to turn me into a hot prospect but a few months of volunteering and a christmas temp job will put me in a much better position than I'm in now.

DVardysShadow

christopherrobin wrote: »

OU is definitely something I want to visit further down the line - like you say really, just a case of getting into a position to be able to do so financially. Still infuriates me that I made such a rash choice of degree and think it always will until/unless I complete one.

You have not told us what you studied ... But stop kicking yourself for it. I believe that if you get your life into balance and the longer term is meaning ful in your thinking, then this experience will come to enable you to do something which would not have been possible otherwise.

christopherrobin_2

Basically I was brought up in a sleepy little home counties town and really went to university for the wrong reasons (getting out of said sleepy town, going to the big city, even going to a uni near my beloved football team...). Did Multimedia Technology without putting anywhere near enough thought into it or having any major interest in it - predictably struggled with that after a couple of years, but instead of bailing out, I panicked, transferred onto a similar course (Media Technology), struggled with that too and dropped out. Don't regret going to uni just because I met my girlfriend in the first month there and made some amazing friends, but didn't handle the academic side well at all.

The reason I kick myself now is that back then, I just thought going to uni was the way forward but didn't have any real course ideas. Totally different now, where there are a few things I'd absolutely love to study. C'est la vie though, and I do generally subscribe to 'things happen for a reason'. Quite optimistic for the long-term, just the short-term that has me fretting somewhat.

christopherrobin_2

Hi, sorry to up this again but I really need some advice, I think I've made a complete mess of things. Not sure if this is the best place but I figure people on here will have some experience of it.

Got a letter through the post from the student loans company today, stating that they'd been informed by HMRC that they've no record of me being employed or claiming benefits (naturally, because I'm not and I'm not). They want me to send details of how I'm supporting myself so they can assess whether I'm eligible to make repayments on my student loan.

Now at this point in time, I am essentially supporting myself via my girlfriend's income, while actively looking for work. How on earth do I send evidence of that? A payslip of hers or something? Are they likely to start charging her for my student loan repayments? I'm really worried they're either going to do that or I'm going to be in some sort of trouble.

sfm82

You should probably start a new thread with your new query