Interview fatigue

Lancslass1982

Hi Northerness!:wave: I can completely empathise with your situation. I am also a graduate with seven years of experience and have been out of work for 10 months. As you can see from my username, I'm also in the North.

It is such a disheartening situation to be in. I had an rejection email yesterday for a job that I had interviewed for last week and this one hit me really hard. As pathetic as it sounds, I cried for about four hours, on and off, until my OH came home from work and whisked me out for food, to take my mind off things. I am incredibly lucky to have such a good support network around me. Without the financial support of my mum, who is fortunately in a position to be able to help me out each month, I don't know how I would actually be able to afford to live.

Almost every person close to me has said "hang in there, it wasn't meant to be and you will find a job eventually if you keep up what you are doing now." And actually, that is all we can do. Keep applying for jobs and eventually the odds will be in our favour. It is just incredibly hard to keep positive, but negativity isn't going to help the situation any.

Good luck and I hope we both find something soon. Sometimes it helps to come on here and see that you aren't the only one in this situation.:)

paddyrg

Northerness wrote: »

@paddyrg Yes, I realise the job situation is particularly tough for everyone, especially where I am in the north of England. Without giving my location away, I officially live in the worst place in the UK to find a job (I'm sure you've now worked it out)! I feel that I have so many skills so that I can make a real contribution to the city and contribute to its prospects - but it's hard when I also need help myself in the first place.

Have you considered moving? No, seriously, apply in a wider radius and move to be near the work if that's what it takes. I know this sounds a bit Tebbitish, but desperate times and all that. People move all over the country, Europe and the world for work all the time, it might take a bit of getting your head round, bit it is always an option?

Northerness

paddyrg wrote: »

Have you considered moving? No, seriously, apply in a wider radius and move to be near the work if that's what it takes. I know this sounds a bit Tebbitish, but desperate times and all that. People move all over the country, Europe and the world for work all the time, it might take a bit of getting your head round, bit it is always an option?

Hi- yes I've spent the past five years living all over the country in several different major cities for my other jobs - I never wanted to move from my hometown in the first place but had to because of a redundancy when I was 22 and they relocated me. The problem is that I really need to be near my family now, and I also have a house in my hometown which I've been renting out to a tenant for the past few years but which I'm hoping to move into once I get a job to pay the mortgage (it's a cheap mortgage so half the price pcm of the last place I was renting - and much bigger!). He wants to move out later this year so this is an ideal time to move in once I get a wage, I'm staying with my parents at the moment. Moving around the country has been great for my career but because of this I feel like I'm lacking in roots/relationships and I just want to settle down in one place and build a life here. I haven't had a holiday in all my working career because my 25days a year were always spent visiting family back home - which was a 4.5 hour train journey from my last city. There's no place like home really and there are opportunities here, I just seem to fall at the last hurdle. I'm sure I'll get one of the jobs eventually, I just need to keep optimistic. Thanks for your advice.

Northerness

Hi Lanclass1982, seems we're in the same boat. I'm a 1982 baby too , it's a shame the government isn't doing more to help the unemployed like us - who don't happen to be in their 16-24 bracket. How do you find the job centre? Are they of any use? My advisor's very nice but there seems to be very little that they can do. They seem to appreciate that I'm doing all in my powers to find work but haven't actually pulled out any jobs. All they can offer is English lessons or help writing a CV - neither of which is a problem for most people with significant professional experience.

Like you, my parents are also a great help. I don't have too many outgoings but they take me out for lots of nice meals and make sure I can always go out and treat myself to latte. These things are so important to keep your self-esteem and optimism up, it really helps to get out of the house and do normal things!

It's good to let things out on here because I'd never tell friends how it really feels and about all the rejection - in the typically British way I really dont want them to feel sorry for me. Keep going, hopefully we'll both find something soon - I like to think that each door closed is one step further towards that open door : )

lilymay1

Northerness wrote: »

I'm a 1982 baby too , it's a shame the government isn't doing more to help the unemployed like us - who don't happen to be in their 16-24 bracket.

The government does not help everyone aged 16-24, only those with zero qualifications, skills or ability. A graduate fresh out of Uni has just as many problems as you do, probably more so, as they don't have your level of work experience. You also own a house, something many of those who fit into the 16-24 category won't have for many decades, if ever.

MrChandlerBing

You have to look at the industry as well. I was reviewing my friends cv last night and it was brilliant. far, far superior to my own. However he can't get a job. It's because he wants to get into journalism.

I would suggest you are having the same problem. PR and marketing are mega competitive. Much more people than jobs. Essentially, just keep at it.

VfM4meplse

MrChandlerBing wrote: »

Much more people than jobs. Essentially, just keep at it.

And don't internalise the madness. Atm it reflects the job market, not you.

Stay chipper.

Northerness

lilymay1 wrote: »

The government does not help everyone aged 16-24, only those with zero qualifications, skills or ability. A graduate fresh out of Uni has just as many problems as you do, probably more so, as they don't have your level of work experience. You also own a house, something many of those who fit into the 16-24 category won't have for many decades, if ever.

The problem is that there are X number of jobs and X number of applicants, which exceed this. The Job Centre doesn't care what your experience is, they just want you in a job (any job) - with experience this puts you out of the equation for many jobs as you're over qualified. They have options to help 16-24 year olds but there are zero options for 24+. I'd be pretty miffed if I got put on Workfare (since I worked in shops part-time for five years from 16-22, so have plenty of shop experience) but all 16-24 year olds do get support and work experience offered. There are many work experience schemes and apprenticeships for 16-24 year olds but this doesn't help anyone with a professional background.

The government should be encouraging the Job Centre to engage with local companies, profile professionals and mentor them - this doesn't happen...at all. The problem is that government statistics always focus on the 16-24 market, watch the news - they only ever mention the 16-24 years olds out of work because this is what the government measures itself on where unemployment is concerned. If you don't believe me Google news stories about unemployment, they never ever mention the experienced older demographic.

Also, I bought my house when I was 22, I come from a working class background and took a lot of risks on it and had saved an awful lot of money (on my own) throughout my teenage years in order to afford it and renovate it (I've worked non-stop since 15...until now -as well as earning two degrees at the same time). It's paid off and I'm a single female with my own house, and I did it through my own merit - no-one helped me do it (I didn't win money or gain inheritance) and I was on a very low wage when I bought it.

Unfortunately I can't live in my house because the authorities wouldn't give me any housing benefit, they would rather I sell it and go 50,000 steps back on the housing ladder, which I could never recover from without a miracle- so I still rent it out. The irony is that my tenant can claim housing benefit but I can not, so I'm living with my parents. This sort of system really doesn't help the economy, selling my house and then claiming housing benefit will not help the country in any way - it would simply make me more dependant on the state in the future as rents where I live are far more expensive than my mortgage will ever be. Anyway, rant over.

londoner1998

Hey Northerness

whilst I agree with everything you have said, I would advise you to focus just on you, not on how unfair the system is (and yes, it is unfair). It helps to get it out of your system though.

Go through it day by day, and take every opportunity as it comes. If you think about the longer term, then it gets uch more daunting... all that 'what if'...there is no point. Just go about it in a practical way, focus on your skills and experience and if you feel flagging and grouchy, take a little break. Nobody said it is easy, but you are working towards it.

I am a 1974 babe , so older than you, but I refuse to even think about the younger people or whatever. I got to the Job Centre every two weeks , sign on , tell them what I have done and smile sweetly. I don't expect them for a second to understand me or see where I want to go with my job search. So far all the interviews I got have been under my own steam.
Speaking of which: my interview yesterday went really well and I have a voice mail message in my answerphone to call them back. I did but had to leave a message myself. I think it is likely they will offer it to me: but it is only a six month contract and I have an interview on Friday for a much better job, funded for three years, in higher education. I am reading material now to prepare a presentation and trying to get to grips with the whole thing: it is only a 5 min one but I am sort of out of ideas!!
I'll figure it out somehow... I have to!

Good luck and keep us posted.
x

DVardysShadow

Northerness wrote: »

I don't actually think the feedback means anything, I used to cling on every word but the more feedback I get the more it all contradicts itself. Sometimes I've had second interviews but then being given one of these excuses - so I'd like to think it isn't too focused on simply not liking my personality, otherwise they would have got rid at the first opportunity. A lot of companies also don't like giving feedback or aren't allowed to, so this is just a brief description of what I could squeeze out of them. Many replies just say " a different candidate was more suited". Many recruitment agencies tell me I come across well when they meet me in person and feel I would be good in an interview, maybe they are just saying this. I don't know

Feedback. I think Mr Snuggles little assessments are about right - and what I note about them is that they say more about the potential employer than they do about you.

With feedback, whether it be for job hunting or for selling a house, you will find that 90% of the feedback is more to do with the giver of the feedback than it is to do with you. What you need to do is to listen for repeated themes from different sources. This is feedback about you, which is what you need to take notice of.