Blasted Employers Snubbing Long Term Jobless People!

Sambucus_Nigra

Employers will go for the best person that gets through screening of CVs/application forms and then presents the best at interview for the position that they are recruiting for.

That's what they do.

It's not their fault that you don't get through to interview or present the best at interview, is it?

Daedalus

MissSarah1972 wrote: »

Who wants people to be in work? I am out of work.

Yes I have it in writing from companies and agencies they want people who are working.

I was agreeing with you. It is the absurdity of wanting candidates who are already working whilst also expecting them to interview at a drop of a hat at a time of their own choosing. If someone works 9-5 they are not going to be able to come for an interview without a very nice boss or lying about illness etc, former would be rare and the latter would be a negative mark against a candidate IMO.

MissSarah1972

Daedalus wrote: »

I was agreeing with you. It is the absurdity of wanting candidates who are already working whilst also expecting them to interview at a drop of a hat at a time of their own choosing. If someone works 9-5 they are not going to be able to come for an interview without a very nice boss or lying about illness etc, former would be rare and the latter would be a negative mark against a candidate IMO.

sorry miss read that. Yes even jobs on immediate start don't really seem to be so. I have seen one advertised twice by the same agency with two different girls at the same office. One said she'd get back to me (10 days later even thought it was immediate) then it was advertised again for an immediate start.

MissSarah1972

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

Employers will go for the best person that gets through screening of CVs/application forms and then presents the best at interview for the position that they are recruiting for.

That's what they do.

It's not their fault that you don't get through to interview or present the best at interview, is it?

That's only if they read them all and they do not.

Sambucus_Nigra

MissSarah1972 wrote: »

That's only if they read them all and they do not.

Why's that then?

Truegho

Re. voluntary work, just to let you know that I have just applied for a couple of admin and reception jobs in my area, and am waiting for word back. So to all those of you who doubt that I am doing enough to help myself and whether I am assimilating your advice - you SEE, I AM doing everything I can, and more, to find a job.

heretolearn wrote: »

I understand the need to vent.

But perhaps you need to take on board some of the advice on other threads.

25 years admin experience wouldn't mean any more to me than 5 years, to be honest, things have changed so much that your experience from before that is obsolete.

You don't have any IT qualifications or experience in basic admin software like Excel. Frankly, I suspect your CV will make you look quite out of date with current admin/office practice.

What you seem to be thinking of as an 'admin' role may be quite different to the reality of what you are applying for these days, especially if you've not been in an office for a few years, and especially if you were at your last employer for quite some time without any changes to how things were done. There are no jobs out there where all you need is a nice phone manner and an ability to file in alphabetical order, and able to type a letter in Word.

Our new office manager has advanced Excel and Access and is rejuvenating our tired old systems we set up only a few years ago but now look about 100 years old compared to what is possible now. Does 'cloud' mean anything to you? It should. Can you do mailmerge not only to paper but also to an email list? Excel lookups and so on? Can you manage electronic diaries? Can you type at a reasonable speed (over say 40wpm)? All these are now very basic level admin staff skills.

Update yourself. Training. Get some recent experience even if voluntary.

Truegho

Do you think learning a package like Sage Payroll would help improve my employment prospects? Would I need a knowledge of book keeping first, or could I just learn it without?

heretolearn wrote: »

I understand the need to vent.

But perhaps you need to take on board some of the advice on other threads.

25 years admin experience wouldn't mean any more to me than 5 years, to be honest, things have changed so much that your experience from before that is obsolete.

You don't have any IT qualifications or experience in basic admin software like Excel. Frankly, I suspect your CV will make you look quite out of date with current admin/office practice.

What you seem to be thinking of as an 'admin' role may be quite different to the reality of what you are applying for these days, especially if you've not been in an office for a few years, and especially if you were at your last employer for quite some time without any changes to how things were done. There are no jobs out there where all you need is a nice phone manner and an ability to file in alphabetical order, and able to type a letter in Word.

Our new office manager has advanced Excel and Access and is rejuvenating our tired old systems we set up only a few years ago but now look about 100 years old compared to what is possible now. Does 'cloud' mean anything to you? It should. Can you do mailmerge not only to paper but also to an email list? Excel lookups and so on? Can you manage electronic diaries? Can you type at a reasonable speed (over say 40wpm)? All these are now very basic level admin staff skills.

Update yourself. Training. Get some recent experience even if voluntary.

MissSarah1972

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

Why's that then?

Becuase they:
Have had too many people apply and can not read them all.
OR
Do not have to read them all.

Daedalus

Truegho wrote: »

Re. voluntary work, just to let you know that I have just applied for a couple of admin and reception jobs in my area, and am waiting for word back. So to all those of you who doubt that I am doing enough to help myself and whether I am assimilating your advice - you SEE, I AM doing everything I can, and more, to find a job.

It has taken you years to think of applying for voluntary work? Isn't that one of the first pieces of advice the job centre give? Try and get some voluntary work to fill the gap, even if it is just 1 hour a week.

MissSarah1972 wrote: »

sorry miss read that. Yes even jobs on immediate start don't really seem to be so. I have seen one advertised twice by the same agency with two different girls at the same office. One said she'd get back to me (10 days later even thought it was immediate) then it was advertised again for an immediate start.

It is one thing to not reply to ever application. It is annoying but partially forgivable, I know places that do receive 1000 applications and if they are by post/email then sending rejects is too much. For online platforms like taelo there is no excuse IMO to send a simple generic rejection.

Not getting a response from a telephone/ interview is just horrible. If someone has taken the time and often expense of attending an interview you should atleast let them know they are unsuccessful. This happens with big companies with dedicated HR departments, I refuse to accept someone can't spend 30 seconds sending of an email to the 5 unsuccessful candidates. The amount of goodwill that is lost greatly outweighs the labour costs.

MissSarah1972

Daedalus wrote: »

Not getting a response from a telephone/ interview is just horrible. If someone has taken the time and often expense of attending an interview you should atleast let them know they are unsuccessful. This happens with big companies with dedicated HR departments, I refuse to accept someone can't spend 30 seconds sending of an email to the 5 unsuccessful candidates.

Oh I have been there when the interview went a bit sour 20 mins in and they said they'd let me know cutting it short and I had to chase it up 4 times.