How Does Looking For Work Affect You?

grumpyoldwoman41

Thanks, I suspected that - hope never to get to week 13... fingers crossed

November5th

dmg24 wrote: »

You are going to get a shock at thirteen weeks - then you cannot limit the jobs you apply for by sector or by salary.

This is what I don't get about the way they go about job seekers. I am very skilled in a particular area, and there enough jobs to apply for in this field, it is just taking a lot of time for me this time around. Another thing about the JC jobs not stating wages, the job descriptions they provide are dire, most you just can't tell what the job is, some of it is very suspect. The jobs I am going for would never be advertised in the JC, and in fact it is imperative that I try to keep my current unemployed status hidden from future prospects, as this gets me binned.
As long as I am showing the JC the jobs I am applying for and the true efforts made they should leave me to it.
Applying for jobs you simply won't get due to its unsuitability is madness.

auntymomo

DCFC79 wrote: »

do you do a cover letter and hand 1 with each cv

For the ones that are applied online which don't require one, no but, hand delivered, sealed in a henvelope with a cover letter. I have a few cover letters saved in my documents...you never know which you'll need.... I even updated my cv.

I'ma just keep at it. :T

auntymomo

grumpyoldwoman41 wrote: »

Sorry but you need CELTA not TEFL to be able to do that.

TEFL is teaching English as a Foreign Language and is needed by English teachers teaching abroad.

Teaching English to foreigners here in UK comes under English as a Second Language (not a foreign language) and the certificate you need for this is CELTA....

All the best in this anyway

Yeah thanks for that.

SevenOfNine

Get as much freebie help as you can find in your area (& on-line) with CV writing (or getting the one you have 'critiqued'), interview skills training etc.

Try Next Step or A4e perhaps. We had a great job club run by a charity in our area, they and Next Step seperately critiqued my CV and gave some great little tips. The charity also put me through my paces with 2 'panel' type mock interviews and a very fierce one-to-one interview. Boy did I learn PLENTY from those.

There's no point in just having the skills to do the job you're applying for if you don't hone the skills you need to get yourself short-listed then interviewed successfully. Competition is fierce so you need to take advantage of anything free which will help.

Good luck

PS While I was on cont based JSA my advisor was quite happy to see all my attempts to gain some 'polish' to my jobsearch skills, just as much as 'merely' bashing out CV's/applications and checking websites etc. It all counts and all went on the JC diary thing.

auntymomo

Does anyone feel bullied by JC?

ebeegeebee_2

i had redundancy in may last year after being with the same company for over 20 years, never had been umemployed before so it all felt quite scary, i signed on with jcp and had fortnightly signings, i continued this for approx 3 months untill i felt so beaten down by the staff there, i was never shown what the computer stations were for, the telephone points etc.. i have since signed off because frankly my self worth is worth more to me.

Stew68

I seem to be in the minority here.

My job centre have been great, every time I have been in there, no matter who I have spoken to they have been very polite, respectful and very aware of how hard it is out there to find work. I am a genuine jobseeker, desperate for a job and I make sure they know that. In exchange I have always been very polite to them and done whatever they have suggested. Last week when I was in there (currently on weekly signings) I mentioned how despondent I was to be turned down for a job without even getting an interview, the job was for a lot less money than I was on before and included shiftwork. They actually told me that I should think twice about applying for those jobs knowing that with my skills I would probably get rejected as being over qualified.

So, they're not all bad and i'm grateful for the respectful way i've been treated. I feel for all of those of you who have had bad experiences. I know it can't make it any easier.

icecreamcone

I've been unemployed since December when I had to leave my job abroad. I'm lucky in that I have a place to stay until I find a new job, its just that the place is with my family in Cornwall and I'm looking for work in London!

I've found the jobcentre a lot more ruthless than the last time I was signing on. Even though I went to my first signing-on having already travelled to London for 4 interviews they still checked my little book very carefully. They knew I was doing the interviews as they helped, I used the travel to interview scheme to help with the costs as I was told I couldn't claim JSA as I didn't contribute enough to NI.

I think if I was signing-on long-term it would really affect me. I'm lucky in that I'm qualified in childcare and I know there will always be people wanting nannies- though far less than last time I looked!

Hopefully that will be the first and last time I sign on, as I have two second interviews lined up this week. But looking at the JC site, I know I would really struggle if I had family or another reason to stay in this area. My heart goes out to those really trying to find work, I'd hate to get to the point where I had to apply for just anything, and in Cornwall theres not enough much of that.

ironpetal

I personally think all these websites that youre suppose to register online are just gate keepers for employers. I would be interested to know just how many people actually got a job through registering on these websites and posting their CVs.

I couldnt progress my application with the asda website because I didnt have a landline number to put in. Another website wouldnt progress my application because I wouldnt fill in a colleague to contact as a reference...this is before I was offered anything or even had my CV uploaded.

Having come back from abroad, I tell employers this in my covering letter whether it goes against me or not. They could of course contact the Turkish language schools if they wanted but many dont want to. Its been nearly 6 years since I actually did a job in the UK.

My age will also go against me but of course the JC is insisting it wont ha ha! Im nearly 58 this year. :rotfl: And so like many others Im under the lash of the JC. Being booted up the a.....s every time I go there...thats ok I get my pension when Im 64 so only another 6 years of BS-ing JC to go...:rotfl: