I am angry, I have reached the end of my tether

jammygreeny

I graduated with a History degree in July and have been applying for hundreds of jobs temporary and permenant in retail, customer service and warehouse positions. I have applied for a PGCE course in September 2007 so I want a job until then. I have not had a job (had a temporary 3 day job) for nearly 3 years (April 2007). I have had a load of interviews and I am not getting anywhere even when applying for easy jobs. I had a group interview at Woolworths for temporary Christmas jobs the other day, I got a letter though the post saying that I was not successful. I telephoned back to get some feedback wondering why I did not get the job. She said I was nervous and did not seem confident. I said that I am confident, but have not had a job for 3 years (I have got over 2 years retail experience). I said that I am confident and wasn't nervous. I assured her that I was confident, the degree in itself and my job experience shows that I am confident. She would not go back on her word and said that is how the interview is ran. She did not like me from the start. They never asked me about my previous experience and never saw my CV. I am angry that she saw my body language as the reason why I did not get the job and that no one seems to be giving me the opportunity to show that I am confident and a hard worker in a real work enviroment instead of a rubbish 30 minute group interview.

cattie

Unfortunately body language is part of deciding if someone is a likely candidate for a job & can often tell the interviewer more about you than is on the application form or cv.

It's unfortunate that you didn't get the job, but don't let it put you off trying. Try to learn from what you were told & focus on giving off a confident & willing (but not cocky) air at future interviews.

Sometimes the fact that you've not had a job for a few years can put employers off. Is it possible that you could take a voluntary job for a short while until you are fixed up as this can often be viewed very positively by employers. It shows you are used to being in a work enviroment & can successfully work as part of a team?

lazy_girl

Don't take this the wrong way, but you've got a DEGREE in HISTORY - why the hell are you applying for warehouse/retail jobs?

What about signing up to a supply teacher agency? a friend of mine did this after graduating, earned decent money and was offered a job by the school 'cos they liked him so much. Or teaching assistant? Or anything vaguely relevant to your degree/pgce. Any teaching experience, even if it is voluntary will be valuable to your pgce.

CFC

To be quite honest, anybody looking to employ somebody for a functional job such as the one you describe does not care one jot if you've got a Phd in Astrophysics.

It's how you do on the day that counts, and you're being arrogant in being angry and ignoring what she said. You can reply until you're blue in the face that you're confident, but she saw nervousness. It really doesn't matter what you say afterwards, the interviewer is going to go on what you say on the day and how you appear to act.

Why not start doing some interview practice? Acknowledge her opinion, learn from it and move on positively?

sarahlouise210

In a customer faced job you need to appear confident, friendly and capable - you have to show that you would need to be able to deal with difficult customers. If you do not thnk you have a problem then that is the first step..but iff others see it differently then you need to act on it. How about doing an assertiveness course?? In your next interview you could just bluff your way through(if you are able to do this) appear confident as you like..even if its difficult. Once you have the job your confidence and expeience will grow and you will then hopefully be naturally confident.

Prudent

If you are applying for a pgce, it would be a big advantage to do some work with children, even if its only voluntary. Try residential schools because they often take on care staff on a supply/ casual basis, so you will not be committed to working beyond September.

jammygreeny

I am grateful for your comments. I might have appeared nervous but I totally disgaree that I was arrogant. I was confident and I wasn't arrogant when I said she was wrong on the telephone. Anyway I agree to disagree. I have a day next week in a school and plan to do more before the course. I am just angry that the manager did not ask my retail experience and did not look at my CV. Just because a person shows confidence in a 30 minute interview in my book doesn't mean you have the potential for the job. I have experience and if my confidence doesn't show in the interview doesn't mean that I won't be confident in the work place as that is where you get the confidence. Also this might sound arrogant, but working in retail is not rocket science. I was very capable of working there even though my confidence might not have shown in the interview. In the interview I must admit it I got up on the wrong side of the bed, but she should have seen my potential. I am a fast learner, a team player, good communicator etc etc. However even though parts of the interview went wrong I think I was on par with the rest of the group and did things right where other people did things wrong.

lil_me

Sometimes people just get an impression immediately and don't let it drop. Have you tried doing voluntary work to help with getting paid work, maybe in retail etc.

Dumyat

just put it down to experience and move on. tough as it may be.
it could be that the job was already spoken for. what I'm trying to say it might have absolutely nothing with how you did.
have you had many interviews?

Emmzi

If you want *any* job to get you started again, I'd go for call centre, inbound, non-sales. If you are IT literate and have a clear speaking voice, that shoud do you.

In a group assessment - they tend to look for are you chatty with other people? I find asking lots of questions to others helps-makes you look interested in people.

LondonDiva

You should also join up with a temp agency lots of work and a chance to build up confidence and cv.