Support Each Other In Looking For Work?

persa

minicooper272 wrote: »

I've just finished uni now and I'm in a serious limbo... I need some income until I get a permanent job but most of the 'right here, right now' employers will not take on someone actively job hunting for something better. Grumble.

Have you tried registering with local agencies for temporary office work? I know it's hard to get your first assignment and sometimes there genuinely isn't anything going in your local area, but if you're in between uni and your first 'proper' job, temping is definitely the biggest avenue to explore. They expect you to move on, so don't hold your degree against you like a lot of retailers tend to do.

EndlessStruggle

I have removed all traces of myself from the internet. I can't believe I hadn't seen it before. I think last time I searched I didn't use my full name and this time I did. Silly me, hoping it will disappear or at least they can't see my page anymore yay.

persa

EndlessStruggle wrote: »

I have removed all traces of myself from the internet. I can't believe I hadn't seen it before. I think last time I searched I didn't use my full name and this time I did. Silly me, hoping it will disappear or at least they can't see my page anymore yay.

It will take a little while to disappear as it'll stay up until Google trawl your MySpace page again. As it's an old page without much regular traffic, it won't be scheduled to be trawled that often. But it will in time disappear, promise.

Have been sorting things out for the big move - everything has gone fine, now all that's really left is doing the job itself. I'm both really excited to be back in work and incredibly terrified at messing up, but I guess it's only natural. Most people would be apprehensive about moving jobs, even if they didn't have a big gap of unemployment in the middle.

I'm very lucky to have this opportunity (I know how hard everyone has been looking here), so I can't let it go wrong!

livermum

Just received an email from a job I applied for ages ago and have an interview on Friday! At least it gives me something to look forward to rather than just moping about over my rejection last week.

minicooper272

persa wrote: »

Have you tried registering with local agencies for temporary office work? I know it's hard to get your first assignment and sometimes there genuinely isn't anything going in your local area, but if you're in between uni and your first 'proper' job, temping is definitely the biggest avenue to explore. They expect you to move on, so don't hold your degree against you like a lot of retailers tend to do.

Yes!!!! I've been thinking about this for a couple of weeks but I don't know where to find any agencies. Do you know? I've been googling to no avail! If you've done this before, did you find it easy to get time off for interviews?

persa

minicooper272 wrote: »

Yes!!!! I've been thinking about this for a couple of weeks but I don't know where to find any agencies. Do you know? I've been googling to no avail! If you've done this before, did you find it easy to get time off for interviews?

Type in "temp agency" followed by the name of your town, or if you're rural, nearest big town and you'll pull up loads of results.

In my experience, independent local agencies are much better, but you may not have the luxury of choice where you live! Big names are agencies like Hay's, Reed, Office Angels, etc. If it's a chain, you'll find how good it is really does vary from city to city.

I have temped in the past and found it very flexible. I did a lot of short assignments and turned down work in between if I needed time off - easier than booking holiday and messing around a client.

If you're happy to post the city or cities where you would be able to temp (really depends on where you live and what access to transport you have), some of the posters here might have some local recommendations. I really would recommend temping for someone in your position - you never know, once you temp at a company, you may get to find out first about a permanent, much more interesting role opening up at that company in the near future.

minicooper272

Thanks persa! I'm a rubbish googler... it never occurred to me to type the city I'm in into the search box. As long as the job doesn't need me to be fantastic with google though, I think I'll be fine!

I'm up in Dundee but know there is an Office Angels near my parents as well so I can try both areas, keep the options open!

Drea

I agree, the smaller agencies tend to be better. Office Angels in particular are VERY fussy.

I have an interview tomorrow and then one on Wednesday in Bristol (although I never received the email so will need to chase that tomorrow). A bit fed up.

persa

minicooper272 wrote: »

Thanks persa! I'm a rubbish googler... it never occurred to me to type the city I'm in into the search box. As long as the job doesn't need me to be fantastic with google though, I think I'll be fine!

I'm up in Dundee but know there is an Office Angels near my parents as well so I can try both areas, keep the options open!

Bear in mind when you register with an agency, they will want you to come in and see them, plus you may get offered jobs at fairly short notice.

For office work, they'll probably get you to do a very basic computing test and typing test, but if you've been through uni, chances are you can cope with Microsoft Word and turning a computer on and off.

I'm afraid I don't know of any specific agencies in Dundee that are any cop, but maybe someone else will. Did a quick search and couldn't spot any good sounding independents, but it looks like you've got some of the well known chains to choose from, like Hay's, Brook Street, Adecco and Pertemps, as well as Office Angels.

Once you register with a temping agency, you need to call them every other day until they find you work. It sounds rude, pestering them all the time, but it's how temping works. You need to be persistent.

have-hope

November5th,

Well done on the job - is this the maternity cover job that you recently went for? Good Luck for tomorrow.