Lack of Interest despite 20 years experience

dodgy_gooner

I was recently made redundant by one of the large banks who are part owned by the tax payer and have been looking for work since the end of August. My background is entirely in IT and I have a huge amount of experience and knowledge but due to the way my career panned out I don't have any formal qualifications. I was in a very technical role and for the last 20 years have work on mostly Cisco but more recently Microsoft technologies. I have now applied for over 60 roles and so far only secured 2 interviews which despite very positive feedback from both not only for my technical ability but softer skills as well have come to nothing. On both occasions I was lacking a key skill which seems to be the reason why I have been declined. I'm struggling to understand why I can't even get an interview and have even been contacted by one company to apologise for turning me down because I have too much experience.

I'm at a loss as to how to progress now, my CV is aparently top notch as I have had professional advice on writting it and have even been asked to let the Jobcentre have a copy of it so that they can use it to show how a good CV is written.

I'm starting to struggle as I have never been out of work in over 20 years and now although it is only 3 months I'm finding it really hard to understand why I can't even seem to get even a fairly low level role. This has become a bit of a ramble but it really starting to affect me, if anyone has any advice or words of wisdom I'd greatly appreciate it.

Googlewhacker

I would suspect that if you are aiming for alot lower jobs compared to what you were doing then employers believe you probably will be moving as soon as a better offer comes along.

Either apply for jobs more suited to your skill set or dumb down your CV would be my advice.

whitewing

Did you get offered a course to help you handle the redundancy. I forget what they are called. If you were offered one, and didn't take it, phone up your HR dept of the old company and see if you can go on it. Then you can discuss your particular issues with the consultants. I have been on two of these over the years, and very good they were too.

scheming_gypsy

The reason you're probably struggling is that you have a high skill level and IT roles are currently paying buttons; so they expect you won't stick around too long.

Simple answer is to look at contract work rather than perm roles.

Peater

whitewing wrote: »

Did you get offered a course to help you handle the redundancy. I forget what they are called.

Think it's an 'Outplacement' or something. I went to one after i was made redundant and it was great. I had been approaching jobseeking in only 1 way and they opened my mind!

dodgy_gooner

I did receive outplacement support and attended 3 sessions with them so far, this is how my CV managed to end up in it's current state. As far as they are concerned I am doing all the right things but it does not make it any easier when nothing seems to be coming my way. I have also secured two week long IT training courses using funding from the Welsh Assembly Government but judging by some of the replies the more skills I get the less employable I become !

I'm on all the agencies books both national and local so I'm trying to give myself every chance. If nothing comes soon I might have to look at a career change as I can't afford to be out of work for more than a few more months.

scheming_gypsy

The problem with being on the agencies books is that IT jobs go on the job boards so you rarely get any contact from them unless you've worked for them.

Where are you looking for jobs to apply for?

cazziebo

Is this a part state owned bank which has offshored most of its IT to India? This is part of the problem - there are just fewer IT jobs around and lots of candidates after them.

If you want to stay in IT, I'd go with Scheming Gypsy's suggestion - do contracting work. Many of my IT friends are now doing that. Most of it is reasonably long term - 6 months at a time - and pays well enough (although not as much as it used to) to cover down time between contracts. Much of it is done by word of mouth recommendation rather than via agency.

Hope you get something soon

dodgy_gooner

I'm looking fo work anywhere from Swansea across to Bristol at the moment. I'm trying to target some of the larger employers directly too as aparently this is a good way according to the outplacement people.

Oh and yes they have offshored a lot of stuff to India, costs have gone down but so has service too but that goes for the organisation as a whole.

A favorite quote from one of the senior managers went along the lines of "Do you really think we care what service the end users get just as long as our spreadsheets show it's good thats all we need to care about"

scheming_gypsy

Sorry, I meant how rather that where location wise,.

I've been in IT for the same length of time as you and when I left a job in 2007 I had the same problem as you. Applying for jobs within my skill set and salary range and getting the odd interview; then you start dropping down a level and applying for jobs below your skill set and salary expectations just so you can get a job. But as you're finding out, people don't want to take the risk because you're over qualified.

I stumbled into contracting in 2008. I'd taken a low paying full time role that wasn't what I was looking for and it didn't last long. While I was looking for another full time job I came across a contract for 2 weeks to cover somebody who was off sick. I applied, got a call half an hour later, and was put forward for it. An hour later I got a call asking if i could start in the morning - no interview no nothing.. 5 months later I left to go to a permanent role but wished I'd taken the 3 month extension they offered.
I lasted 5 months in that job before leaving to go back contracting.

In your position I really would consider looking for contract roles rather than holding out for a permanent role.

the benefits are:

1. There's a small paper trail so you can be started the next day instead of waiting for all the politics to be sorted
2. The wages are better as you normally get paid more than permanent staff. You also have the tax breaks; mileage and food etc
3. you get paid weekly
4. Being over qualified doesn't matter as you're expected to leave at some point anyway
5. Commuting affects your wage in a positive way seeing as you claim 45p a mile instead of just paying out for petrol.
6. when you've done a contract for an agency they'll throw more your way as they know you're reliable instead of just another CV on file
7. you gain more experience in other skills

There aren't many downsides either except when the contract ends you have to find another contract. Even job security isn't a downside as contractors do seem to have better security at the minute. People don't want to invest in permanent employees due to the financial situation, so it's easier for them to bring a contractor in





Job sites... The main ones i've used are:
Monster - gash. Never rated it or found anything on it.
Jobsite - it's ok. Not the best but the search function is a bit too long winded
totaljobs - quite good. Always a number of jobs on there but they've changed their search so you can only search within 30 miles which isn't ideal.
cwjobs - the contract side of totaljobs so the same jobs normally appear
Jobserve - my favourite and the one that's got me all of my applied for contracts and very user friendly.

saintjammyswine

Contact Next Step who will give very good advice on careers, training etc.

Have you considered teaching/assessing in IT?