So very very fed up :-(

elfieb

After weeks of trying not to let my job hunt get me down, tonight I appear to have hit rock bottom.

Im looking for a job in administration. At the beginning of my search, I was hoping to find a suitable secretarial job, but at this point I would take just about anything.
Im applying for around 30 jobs a week, how many of these vacancies actually exsist I am not sure, as the majority tend to be with recruitment agencies, who seem to take great delight in making you fill in a multitude of forms, never to be heard of again!

The numbers absolutely terify me.....when apply for jobs online on one website in particular, you can see how many other candidates have applied......almost everytime the numbers are in the 200s.......how can you possibly compete??!!

Ive had occasional brain waves in thinking of going back to college, to perhaps retrain, but then reality hits in....how am I supposed to live on fresh air?? I feel absolutely trapped and helpless.:(

Nile

Don't give up elfieb. I'm sure someone will be along shortly with good advice to help you with your job search.

I hope you find work soon.

cmw1212

I know exactly how you feel. Something will come along. Only tip I can give is to update your CV on Monster/total jobs etc every couple of days so it goes to the top of the search list- I have actually had calls about specific positions from agents who've seen my cv on those and I don't have any specialist majorly in demand skills.
Also regarding the site where you see how many applicants there are (think I know the one) remember there are people out there who don't bother reading the job description/ spec they just click apply- tbh it must be a nightmare for recruiters.
Where are you based by the way?

elfieb

cmw1212 wrote: »

I know exactly how you feel. Something will come along. Only tip I can give is to update your CV on Monster/total jobs etc every couple of days so it goes to the top of the search list- I have actually had calls about specific positions from agents who've seen my cv on those and I don't have any specialist majorly in demand skills.
Also regarding the site where you see how many applicants there are (think I know the one) remember there are people out there who don't bother reading the job description/ spec they just click apply- tbh it must be a nightmare for recruiters.
Where are you based by the way?

Based in Manchester.
I tried contacting many of the big companies that are based around here, sending speculative CV's and the like.......the few that do get back to me tend to tell the same tale of recruitment being "on hold" for now......
Im trying to stay positive, but this out of work lark is so demorolising. I beginning to get into the habbit of staying up late (hence being on here at 1am), and getting out of bed even later......I don't want to do that, but waking at 7.00am with the prospect of another long day waiting for a phone call or an ellusive invitation to interview letter fills me with dread.

Aside from wearing a sign draped around my neck stating "Give me a job", and wandering around the city centre, I am fast running out of ideas....

viktory

elfieb wrote: »

Based in Manchester.
I tried contacting many of the big companies that are based around here, sending speculative CV's and the like.......the few that do get back to me tend to tell the same tale of recruitment being "on hold" for now......
Im trying to stay positive, but this out of work lark is so demorolising. I beginning to get into the habbit of staying up late (hence being on here at 1am), and getting out of bed even later......I don't want to do that, but waking at 7.00am with the prospect of another long day waiting for a phone call or an ellusive invitation to interview letter fills me with dread.

Aside from wearing a sign draped around my neck stating "Give me a job", and wandering around the city centre, I am fast running out of ideas....

I feel your pain and wish I had some constructive advice, but to be honest, I think you are doing everything you can. I am assuming you are using Jobs go public and are keeping an eye on your LA website.

Hang on in there, you will get a job.

ceridwen

Just to wish you "Good luck" with getting a suitable job.

Do bear in mind that there arent REALLY nearly as many people applying for any given job as there would appear to be - because only SOME of those job applications are "real" ones. A lot of the job applications for any given job will be "fake" ones - put in by the person concerned in order to "prove" that they are applying for more jobs than they really are IYSWIM (ie in order to ensure that benefit keeps getting paid).

At a running guesstimate - I would estimate that 80% of applications for lower-level jobs arent "real" ones IYSWIM. So - you will still be competing with a lot of other people for a position - but not as many as it looks on the face of it.

If you are that desperate to get a job - then maybe you'd stand a better chance of getting a call centre job to be going on with - whilst you look for a "keeper job".

Kate78

https://www.businessballs.com

This is a very good website, not only for practical things like CVs, interview tips and so on, but also some of the motivational stuff (not nasty OTT stuff) that may help you on your journey especially when you're feeling low.

Good luck with finding a new job, this will not last forever, even if it feels like it right now

And don't be put off by the numbers that xxx people have applied for this job - as someone else said, there are always people who apply for ANY job, even ones they are blatantly unsuited for, or seem shocked to discover the job requires a particular skill or qualification, even when it was clearly stated in the four-line job advert that it was essential. :mad:

CPJames19

elfieb wrote: »

Based in Manchester.
I tried contacting many of the big companies that are based around here, sending speculative CV's and the like.......the few that do get back to me tend to tell the same tale of recruitment being "on hold" for now......
Im trying to stay positive, but this out of work lark is so demorolising. I beginning to get into the habbit of staying up late (hence being on here at 1am), and getting out of bed even later......I don't want to do that, but waking at 7.00am with the prospect of another long day waiting for a phone call or an ellusive invitation to interview letter fills me with dread.

Aside from wearing a sign draped around my neck stating "Give me a job", and wandering around the city centre, I am fast running out of ideas....

I can understand what it feels like. I'm temping as an Administrator at the moment however, when I'm unemployed it's easy to do nothing all day and feel down in the dumps. Don't devote your entire day to applying for jobs or you will feel depressed. Try to do something constructive during the day, clean up, take up a hobby, read a book etc.

woody01

I recruited last year for an office administrator.
Good salary for job (£20k+), great hours and a relaxed working environment.
The company is also very well known and has an excellent reputation.

How many applicants........................5....................bloody 5.

Amanita_2

elfieb wrote: »

After weeks of trying not to let my job hunt get me down, tonight I appear to have hit rock bottom.

Have you tried some of the less obvious ways?

For example I once bumped into someone I hadn't seen for a couple of years in a supermarket. We recognised each other and stopped to say hello. She told me that she had just been back to college and got some secretarial qualifications.

As it happens we were half considering hiring a new administrator, I went back to the office, had a quick word with my then boss and she was offered an interview and a job.

Most of the jobs I've had have been offered to me from people I know rather than via an agency.

paulwf

As others have said it does sound like the current approach of applying for 30 jobs a week up against 200 other people isn't working. Would it be worth focusing your efforts and perhaps focusing on just a few employers a week?

It might be worth attending business events, there are endless free trade events and even if you aren't interested in that field you can get chatting to managers who may be looking for staff. That would work especially well if you fancied trying to set up as a freelancer.

Another thing I noticed is you said you were approaching large companies. Don't exclude smaller companies, it will take more effort to find them but they might have more informal recruitment procedures and they might be more likely to take on staff that are freezing recruitment even if they are expanding simply because there is a recession.