Using past experience

debtfreenewbie

HI guys. . I need to get a job and would like to go back to retail,got lots of experience but long time ago.
The last three jobs were not really what I wanted and doesnt prove my skills/experience.
I have a cv and have had several interviews but no job offer.

How do I prove to company what I can do?

Hammyman

Do a skills based CV, rather than a chronological employment one. You still list the last several years jobs but they're more of a footnote and the main part is your qualifications and experience. I did one and it managed to get me shortlisted for interview - 6 out of 300 applicants - for an engineering job and I'd been out of the field for 18 years.

Monster.co.uk has good advice on how to construct a skills based CV.

Edinburgh65

Hello.

It might be worth you getting a grant to use for a customer service course? Although you probably have more than enough real customer service experience, you would be able to add the course to your CV, and it would show future employers that you are actively trying to gain proof of your skills.

I got a £200 grant from ILA Scotland earlier this year (not sure what the English equivalent would be), which I used for a basic book-keeping course, and employers seemed to be quite impressed about this addition to my CV, even though the course was indeed quite basic.

Good luck!

debtfreenewbie

Thanks guys, a course might be a good idea. Ive had another interview but its for checkout more than sales but its a start. Might look into doing a course. It doesnt help either thyat the clothes firm I worked for went bust so I cant use them as a reference.
Thanks again.

Psykicpup

Use the most recent jobs as 'experience gaining employment' & state it as such... & dont forget what might seem to be unrelated can sometimes be related ... ie shopping is also 'purchasing' & stock rotation' .. just like an office job might give 'photocoping' is 'repeat market targetting' etc ... try to think what the job actually aimed at rather than its title ......& inc that in your skills
I got a job purely on describing my housewife/mother jobs as if I was employing someone else (hence the stock rotation thing hehe)