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Advice 4 long-term unemployed

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Hi everybody, Merry Christmas to everybody 1st of all :)

New guy here. Just looking for any type of advice basically.
I turned 23 last month and im still looking for my 1st post in work!
Unbelievable i know, well just a lil info for you ....
Completed GCSE in summer 2006 10 (A*-C) all B mainly.
Completed A-Levels in summer 2008 (Business + Pe)
AS level in geography.
Im a sports fanatic, athletic build blonde hair blue eyes 5'10.
No facial piercing or tattoo's lol
Live with my mum who works in a cafe and younger sister. No dad figure never been. I dont drive, neither does my mum i dont have a FLT liscence or CSCS card and the jobcentre are the most UN-helping people iv ever know, waiting 4 days on end or just plain rude + ignorant.
Feel in a dead end situation

My working exp is :- Paper boy aged 13-15. Kitchen assistant (in back) part time maybe 10hour per week age 15-16.Labourer doing 'Joey' work probably about 10hour per week age 16-18. Volunteer work reppin myself helping the aged with garden + house maintenance etc...

Iv been on the dole, off the dole so then id be MORE wanting a job so 2 speak because id have no money @ all.
Atm im in a relationship and she's 8week pregnant :) been together 3year she's a housekeeper on a when we need you basis,she's only 19.

If you want any more info/copy of my CV or anything, no prob

Sorry 4 the great length any advice or feedback would be appreciated.
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Comments

  • What sort of work do you want to do? What would you be good at? Do you want a career or just any job to pay the bills?

    For those with low qualifications/skills/experience good areas to look at are retail, warehousing, labouring, etc. Argos employ a lot of the youngsters in our area in their warehouse areas. Postman? Hospital porter? Waiter? Barman? there's usually lots of telesales jobs everywhere. Agencies round here are also always advertising for those people who go round picking up litter.

    Are you being too fussy about what you do? Between ages 16 and 22 my son (without a GCSE to his name) worked in a sports gear shop, did a couple of telesales jobs, one week as a chugger (yeah, I know, wouldn't like to see anyone reduced to that!), spent a whole cold winter freezing his butt off on an outdoor hotdog stand to the extent that he got chilblains, and finally settled in working as a barman in restaurants for a couple of years. What got him all those jobs was sheer determination - he worked very hard to find them, going round asking in small shops etc, looking out for new places opening, and worked extremely hard when he was there. He never got anything through job centre, so you can't rely on them. With that experience he's been able to move on and is now doing nicely in a 'proper' job, just got promoted, and has a career.

    Is it that there are zero jobs to apply for near you, that you don't fancy the jobs that there are, that you aren't really looking seriously, or that you aren't getting interviewed/appointed?

    3 years unemployed is quite surprising, to be honest. Now your circumstances have changed you need to just get that first job, any job, even if it's cleaning toilets or working on a hand car wash trolley at the supermarket, literally anything. then other employers will start to take you more seriously.
    Cash not ash from January 2nd 2011: £2565.:j

    OU student: A103 , A215 , A316 all done. Currently A230 all leading to an English Literature degree.

    Any advice given is as an individual, not as a representative of my firm.
  • Caroline_a
    Caroline_a Posts: 4,071 Forumite
    Agree that you need to take anything, but why on earth are you having a baby when you're out of work and your girlfriend appears to be in a very casual work situation?

    Go round the supermarkets, ask if they need trolley collectors, or shelf stackers, surely there was some seasonal work you could have done in the period leading up to Christmas? Well too late now unfortunately.

    Go to some of the agencies who deal with unskilled workers (Manpower are one) and tell them you are prepared to do anything. Then stick to it.

    Harsh I know, but this baby will need you to be a dad who provides for him and looks after his mother when she can't work, rather than expecting the state to do it for her.
  • I live 15-20mile from any town, and the buses come once every 30m. i live in a little village. There are 2 industrial sites nearby though they are driving jobs + warehouse but FLT jobs or CNC turning etc.... skills which i dont have.
    I apply for on average 20per week and iv had only 2interviews this entire year, id be a cleaner, a picker in a warehouse, work on the tills.
    There just isn't work in my area for people with no working skills.
    Im interested in many things, accounting as iv always excelled in maths, a bookies because i love sports, postman would be great, i ride my bike 5-10mile a day every day no prob, working in some type of business as it interests me, id take a job but im very ambitious, i want a career.

    Jobs which are withing travelling ditance are 90% of time under 16 hours.
    I just feel in a dead end, i want to feel good about myself, pay my pay, provide for my family to be !

    There was a local asda which opened in our village somehow i get rejected for 5posts yet the local junkie got a job there !!

    Atm iv been consistently trying dhl,wilkinson etc.. warehouse,royal mail, supermarkets,agencies, nhs etc but its always what working exp do you have, can you drive, when i say no they just laught 'You 23 and never worked and cant drive' literally thats what i get !
    The only place i dont really wanna work is a call centre. I need 2 be challenged ! im motivated, hungry to clean, not stupid. Just need that chance !
  • You may not wanna work in a call centre but it seems the time for a choice has gone. You will be challenged & motivated plenty with a baby and may well be happy to not be for a few hours a day!
  • Russe11
    Russe11 Posts: 1,198 Forumite
    Couple more kids and the state will give you far more than your current earning potencial.

    I'm not sure what you can do without knowing what oppourtunities are like in the area you live.
  • Hey just so you know i hate the idea of not being able to provide. I dont want the state to do it all. It was not planned but that's what's happened so iv gotta deal with it.
    What do you people do that just work for say 12 weeks or less then are back out of work, is it easier to get another job because you've just had 1 or .... im that depressed from being in this situation i dont want to fell yippeee im workin then 12week later be back at step1 again.
  • You won't get on any building site anywhere without a cscs card. When I was younger I just went from site to site, no matter how big or small and picked up labouring jobs. that lead on to labouring for bricklayers, that lead onto becoming a bricklayer and making good connections and making good dosh. Am now an electrician earning even better dosh.

    If you work hard and are worth being picked up in the morning- you will get picked up in the morning.

    What's a cscs card? £30?

    I appreciate that this is just an internet forum, but if you do things like write the number 4 instead of the word 'for', and words like iv instead of I've, then you may find this will hamper your employment prospects also.

    I have been in hiring and firing situations before now and cv's that look like they've been written by N-Dubz go straight in the bin.

    innit.
  • Along with N-Dubz themselves I hope!

    Comedy quips aside.


    Contact your local FE College who may have access to ESF (European Social Fund) Skills Support for Unemployment funding. This provides work related training with a view to returning to work.


    Entry is through referrals from JCP or WP providers and is not dependant on prior qualifications. Examples of courses run so far include
    Introduction to Hospitality (inc. customer service & food safety)
    Construction Pre Employment (inc. employability units, prep for CSCS test & test itself)
    they are all free to the candidates and as part of the funding is held back until the candidate gets a sustained job, they are often linked to specific employers with real vacancies.
  • ryandj
    ryandj Posts: 523 Forumite
    What about online work? Freelancing, writing, surveys, mystery shopping, data entry etc etc.
  • And what about volunteering, to update your CV? A day a week as assistant to any building/jobbing type person would increase your life knowledge no end!

    (To your credit, you do sound keen and enthusiastic. If you can put that over in a job application, I would interview you. Are you applying for jobs in the local paper? Are you getting shortlisted? Are your applications grammatical and correctly spelt?)
    Ex board guide. Signature now changed (if you know, you know).
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