On the scrap heap?

olias

Ok, feeling really sorry for myself and just looking for some support really.

I am in my 40s, unemployed and feel like I am on the scrap heap.
I left a career 12 years ago because I hated it and it was really making my health suffer. I naively thought I would fall pretty much straight into something else...how wrong I was. I have managed to find work, if you can call it that, but it has been 12 years of temporary jobs, seasonal work, minimum wage work etc etc. I am not looking to earn a fortune, just a reasonable amount. I am also not afraid of hard work. The question is, how do you get it?

I have trawled through the jobcentre, job websites, local papers, even the websites of major employers and (assuming they have any jobs, which is not often) they are all the same, they want someone with x years relevant experience in the field and a specific qualification/s.

How are you supposed to get this experience? Assuming at my age it was worth spending the thousands I have not got, together with several years to retrain or gain new qualifications, what is the point when an employer then says, sorry you haven't got the 5 years experience we want (and by the way, you're now nearly 50 so I assume you're having a laff looking for a trainee position and expecting us to take you on.)

I really feel my only option now is shelf stacking in the supermarket.

Told you I was feeling sorry for myself...

Olias

donquine

olias wrote: »

Ok, feeling really sorry for myself and just looking for some support really.

That's ok. No matter how tough skinned we all are, sometimes we just need to throw ourselves a pity party. The trick is not letting it go on for too long!

olias wrote: »

I am not looking to earn a fortune, just a reasonable amount.

That's very subjective. Some people on this site would be over the moon with £16k, others are hoping to hit more like £60k. What's your ideal ballpark?

olias wrote: »

Assuming at my age it was worth spending the thousands I have not got, together with several years to retrain or gain new qualifications, what is the point when an employer then says, sorry you haven't got the 5 years experience we want (and by the way, you're now nearly 50 so I assume you're having a laff looking for a trainee position and expecting us to take you on.)

Sad fact is you've got maybe another two decades left of work in front of you! Which means retraining isn't actually a stupid idea, the days of jacking in work in your 50s are long behind us. More training would still be an investment at your age.

What kind of work are you looking for? Is some sort of vocational qualification possible? For all people mock McJobs, you work, earn money and get a qualification along the way. I'm not necessarily suggesting that's your only or best option, but the principle stands. Could you get a relatively junior position, get the company to put you through some qualifications and start to work your way up? Rather than aim to stack shelves, could you work on the floor, get an NVQ, move up and eventually work your way up to managing the people who stack shelves rather than being one of them?

I realise you think your age is against you, but if you apply for a big national employer, they're more likely to apply anti-discrimination legislation fairly and look past that number.

Good luck in picking yourself back up. It's horrible being out of work.

starrystarry

olias wrote: »

I really feel my only option now is shelf stacking in the supermarket.

You and thousands of others unfortunately, which is why the supermarkets are getting hundreds of applications for each vacancy.

folkestonelisa

I will be 41 next month and i have for the last 10 years been lucky enough to be a stay at home mum. Though i knew that eventually i would like to go back to work.
So 4 years ago enrolled at college for an access course and am now in my last 5 weeks of university, doing a criminology and social policy degree. Its been hard work and how ive got through it i do not know, but i have.
It has enabled me to be offered a job that i wanted in January, only as and when they need me, but hopefully only for a few months, until they realise how wonderful i am, though it will be a good transition for me after not having worked for so long.
So though this may not be ideal, dont believe that you are on the shelf. I believe that i have loads to offer an employer, as i still have about 29 years left before i can offically give up work :rotfl:

olias

Hi and thanks!

donquine, I guess for me that £16000 would be reasonably ok at the moment. If I could end up in a few years earning £25000 I would be over the moon.

As for what to do, well I think part of the problem I had (have!) is that I have never known what sort of work I wanted to do. I have been envious all of my life of the people who knew exactly what they wanted to do since they were teenagers and so took the right qualifications, the right degree, and are now in senior positions in their chosen jobs.

It doesn't help that I live fairly rurally in a small market town so options are limited anyway unless I want a long commute.

I would love to work in some sort of environmental/conservation/waterboard type job, but unfortunately there arent even junior positions - I have looked.

To give an example I posted on another thread, Last year I saw a position for a trainee countryside ranger which I would have loved, probably my ideal job. Then I looked at the essential requirements - a degree in a relevant environmental science, at least 3 years relevant work experience, and the pay was minimum wage! I gave up.

Olias

donquine

olias wrote: »

It doesn't help that I live fairly rurally in a small market town so options are limited anyway unless I want a long commute.

[...]

To give an example I posted on another thread, Last year I saw a position for a trainee countryside ranger which I would have loved, probably my ideal job. Then I looked at the essential requirements - a degree in a relevant environmental science, at least 3 years relevant work experience, and the pay was minimum wage! I gave up.

Gamekeeper?

A friend of a friend is in that line of work, doesn't really have any qualifications but is a naturally outdoorsy person. His take home pay isn't brilliant, but most of his past jobs have come with accommodation, which makes the real salary if you like, a bit more reasonable.

Is relocating an option for you? (Assuming you could get work elsewhere.)

McKneff

Could you go self employed, gardening, decorating, window cleaning.

None of them too expensive to start up, my OH started his own business with a £300 van and some vynil lettering which we put on it.
He was experienced of course but he never looked back.

olias

Thanks again all,

I personally would be interested in Gamekeeping, unfortunately my wife is very anti blood sports and so it's a non starter.

Self employment/own business is looking like it is possibly the way to go. We are in the process of selling our house so have the option of using some of the equity when sold to start a business - the question again is what? I think I will have to start to research more thoroughly various possibilities. Thanks all for listening to my moans. Any more advice will be greatly appreciated.

Olias

dseventy

starrystarry wrote: »

You and thousands of others unfortunately, which is why the supermarkets are getting hundreds of applications for each vacancy.

Rubbish!

People might say they are applying, supermarkets may get lots of applications, but if you were to view some of the applications, you would see that most are doing it because they have to (JSA).

Most have spelling mistakes, badly typed, poor grammar or miss the deadline. (before people point mine out, this isn't an application form!).

My local Aldi have 4 staff vacancies, they did 2 days of 30 min slots and found no-one suitable. Most never turned up despite an application, some were drunk, some were unsuitable, others were just rude.

If you really want a job, you can get one!

OP, have you looked at your CV, interview technique? Have you thought out of the box? (Like got a suit on, printed out 100 CVs, and walked the high street and visited every store asking to speak to the manager?).

D70

DCFC79

Ah not having an incling what work you fancy doing/want to do, yes i went through and i guess i still am, i dont think i will find out what i wan to do or what id be good at so i do feel for you, i just want to find a simple job that i have some kind of interest in

starrystarry

dseventy wrote: »

Rubbish!

People might say they are applying, supermarkets may get lots of applications, but if you were to view some of the applications, you would see that most are doing it because they have to (JSA).

Most have spelling mistakes, badly typed, poor grammar or miss the deadline. (before people point mine out, this isn't an application form!).

My local Aldi have 4 staff vacancies, they did 2 days of 30 min slots and found no-one suitable. Most never turned up despite an application, some were drunk, some were unsuitable, others were just rude.

If you really want a job, you can get one!

OP, have you looked at your CV, interview technique? Have you thought out of the box? (Like got a suit on, printed out 100 CVs, and walked the high street and visited every store asking to speak to the manager?).

D70

Why so angry? I made a fair point. I know that a supermarket received 2500 applications for 15 part time jobs recently. I didn't say all the applicants were suitable for the job, only that there are a lot of applicants for each job. You don't need to jump down my throat. For the record, I don't want a job, I have one I'm very happy in.