Is UK Unemployment Enraging You?

lewt

dave4545454 wrote: »

i don't consider myself unemployed as i've been doing voluntary charity work for all those years. i love it, it's extremely rewarding

Except to the poor sods paying for you to do that.

There is no way that you couldn't have worked in 18 years. Just cause you think you 'give back' don't make it ok to be a benefits lifer..

bristol_pilot

It is perfectly possible to be unwillingly unemployed for 18 years. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen. I know a few people who lost their job at the beginning of the last recesssion 1990/91 who, with a few years of unemployment on their CV, became unemployable for when things picked up - i.e. when there were at last jobs around they were competing with people of the same level of experience who were also younger and did not have a long 'gap' on their CV. After a while, employers just assume there must be something wrong with you. The same will happen in the current recession (which is technically almost over, but is 'just beginning' as far as unemployment, reposessions etc are concerned).

I also think it is a mistake to do too much volunteering. Sure, if you have good qualifications but zero experience it can be a good way of getting some experience onto your CV and maybe a reference or too. But employers hate perpetual volunteers as much as they hate perpetual students; volunteering will never 'count' as much as the paid employment experience that the other candidates have and too much volunteering gives the impression that you value your skills as £zero.

dave4545454

lewt wrote: »

Except to the poor sods paying for you to do that.

There is no way that you couldn't have worked in 18 years. Just cause you think you 'give back' don't make it ok to be a benefits lifer..

i've worked for 18 years and made a difference to a lot of people's lives

GoodNewmover

Truegho wrote: »

Is the dire unemployment situation in the UK making you feel really angry and depressed? It certainly is ME!

Yet another depressing, jobless Monday is drawing to an end, without ANY word at all from all these employers I have contacted on those utterly useless job sites.

I am trying EVERYWHERE I can, but all I am getting is mass silence. It really is making me seethe with anger, and causing me endless misery.

Please can somebody tell me what I have to do to get a job in this country, because I am rapidly losing hope as the phone stays silent, day in and day out!!!

An Utterly Despondent Jobhunter

Have you thought about self-employment? There are loads of people (and increasing) who are in more or less the same situation as you are in. They either have wonderful grades, were made redundant, volunteered 10 times during the summer, or wonderful work experiences and are searching for jobs and are not having much success in even getting a response.

I've noticed that a lot of people hardly ever mention self-employment. The focus is always ''someoneelse must give me a job''. I think society needs to be re-educated about a few things and given options, alternatives. Briton has many young and successful entrepreneurs such as Fraser Doherty started when he was 14 now earns like 100,000+k a year selling jam. Pauline Clifford around 55,000k selling customised trainers for famous people. Can't earn that a year spending a lifetime on the dole...

Yes you've probably got wonderful grades, certificates and work experiences. Keep job hunting using Jobcentreplus.gov.uk, Gumtree.com/Jobs, Fish4jobs. If you still have no success in finding a job I suggest you look into becoming self employed. Wish you well.

Hammyman

Truegho wrote: »

Is the dire unemployment situation in the UK making you feel really angry and depressed? It certainly is ME!

Yet another depressing, jobless Monday is drawing to an end, without ANY word at all from all these employers I have contacted on those utterly useless job sites.

I am trying EVERYWHERE I can, but all I am getting is mass silence. It really is making me seethe with anger, and causing me endless misery.

Please can somebody tell me what I have to do to get a job in this country, because I am rapidly losing hope as the phone stays silent, day in and day out!!!

Why not create your own? I did.

dickydonkin

bap98189 wrote: »

Yes it does. Somebody is being offered those jobs. They are just performing better at the recruitment process than you are. You can either complain and moan about it, or you can do something about it and next time, be the person who gets selected.

There was a brilliant post a few months back from from a person (I am almost certain she was in HR) who stated that around 70% of jobs offered are to people who are 'in the know' of the recruiter and were not offered the job based on their skills or qualifications.

Furthermore, if you are the wrong side of 50, the likelihood of progressing in a job application is reduced significantly - again, irrespective of experience and qualifications.

So for someone who is a more 'mature unemployed worker' and does not network is at a distinct disadvantage. One you can do something about - the other you cannot.

So for these people, they can doctor their CV or target their applications as much as they like, but it will not make much difference, however, many organisations do recruit fairly - others (I have had experience of) blatantly do not.

The same will happen in the current recession (which is technically almost over, but is 'just beginning' as far as unemployment, reposessions etc are concerned).

Spot on bristol_pilot and just wait until the impending cuts in the public sector start to bite!

wigglebeena

GoodNewmover wrote: »

Have you thought about self-employment? There are loads of people (and increasing) who are in more or less the same situation as you are in. They either have wonderful grades, were made redundant, volunteered 10 times during the summer, or wonderful work experiences and are searching for jobs and are not having much success in even getting a response.

I've noticed that a lot of people hardly ever mention self-employment. The focus is always ''someoneelse must give me a job''. I think society needs to be re-educated about a few things and given options, alternatives. Briton has many young and successful entrepreneurs such as Fraser Doherty started when he was 14 now earns like 100,000+k a year selling jam. Pauline Clifford around 55,000k selling customised trainers for famous people. Can't earn that a year spending a lifetime on the dole...

Yes you've probably got wonderful grades, certificates and work experiences. Keep job hunting using Jobcentreplus.gov.uk, Gumtree.com/Jobs, Fish4jobs. If you still have no success in finding a job I suggest you look into becoming self employed. Wish you well.

Yeah, this. It seems like every other person round my way is setting up on a self-employed basis, either full or part-time, out of exasperation at the employment situation. Everybody has some skill or ability that they can utilise to bring in the shekels, even if just to tide them over for a bit. What is OP good at?

dickydonkin

I've noticed that a lot of people hardly ever mention self-employment. The focus is always ''someoneelse must give me a job''. I think society needs to be re-educated about a few things and given options, alternatives. Briton has many young and successful entrepreneurs such as Fraser Doherty started when he was 14 now earns like 100,000+k a year selling jam. Pauline Clifford around 55,000k selling customised trainers for famous people. Can't earn that a year spending a lifetime on the dole...

A valid argument, but I would suggest that there are many who have indeed taken such advice with disastrous consequences. Sure, you can quote successful entrepreneurs ad nauseum but for every success there are many failures and have lost everything by attempting to start their own business.

The reality is that many people, despite being academicaly gifted, just do not have the acumen to run a business.

Another hurdle would be funding, as banks are now very selective who they will lend money to and it would be unlikely that someone who has been unemployed for some time with little or no capital would be offered funding to start their own business - and many who would like to work for themselves, may just not be prepared to take the risk. (Yes - I know, starting up on your own is a risk and I know there will be stories of how someone started their own enterprise with the last ten bob to their name)

Hammyman

dpassmore wrote: »

Another hurdle would be funding,

I started the current business I have with £800 left over from selling my Capri. I started my previous one with nothing as it was providing a service so no goods needed to be bought initially.

I've been self employed three times and in two cases, started with nothing - this current one I was a bit flamboyant

dickydonkin

Hammyman wrote: »

I started the current business I have with £800 left over from selling my Capri. I started my previous one with nothing as it was providing a service so no goods needed to be bought initially.

I've been self employed three times and in two cases, started with nothing - this current one I was a bit flamboyant

Which is fine - providing you had a Capri to sell or other means of funding. Some people will argue that the world is a different beast since the Capri was on the road.

I was also considering going it alone and I would have provided a service with no ititial outlay for raw materials/goods, however, by the time professional liability insurance (which potentially could have had to be paid for many years even if I had stopped doing the work) and other costs that were involved were factored in, I decided against it.

That was a decision I made based on my circumstances at the time.