Things people say about getting a job that really wind you up

November5th

AP007 wrote: »

My dad worked in construction till he retired and he seems to think you can walk into ANY company get an interview and start that DAY!!

Ha ha - if only!

My favorite is the JC advisor telling a room full of people that most jobs were 'secret' (?) then at the end telling the recently out of work optometrist that he should have gone to Specsavers (I kid you not).

Oh, on my first advosr interview at the JC when we talked about how I am going to look for work:
"Have you tried Google?"

Dunroamin

Who?_me? wrote: »

What do people say to you, or make assumptions about, when they know you are jobseeking / being unemployed ? Ones that really annoy you (even if they are true, but you have heard them so many times you are sick of them). Like the "plenty more fish in the sea" when you get dumpted

I'll start
1. From a job, you'll get a job.
2. can't you just apply for a shelf stacker or something like that?
3. any job is better than no job.
4.You are being too narrow in your job search
5. Is your CV up todate? is your covering letter OK?

Any other things from Family, Friends on the JC that just make you feel totally worthless or just down right annoyed?

Unfortunately, most of those are true.

saxonrosecliff

Affynity wrote: »

The Work Programme come up with the best ones tbh.

Advisor: "How did that job application go?"
Me: "I didn't hear anything back"
Advisor: "When are you going to chase it up?"

I know they're desperate for money but if you don't get to interview stage, don't pester the employer. They won't remember people who they didn't consider at stage one and they'll tell you as much.

Advisor: "How do you feel about this job?"
Me: "It's low hours and it's miles away. I'd need to take at least two different modes of transport to get there."
Advisor: "Did we do a better off calculation? You'd probably be a fiver a week better off..."

But still dependent on the state and at the mercy of unreliable transport, and after universal credit, still be required to attend the work programme until I find full-time work.

Workshop Advisor: "You're all really lucky. You can offer to do a work trial. I couldn't offer to do a work trial because I'd be in work while looking for work."

I did three years of molecular science and already have retail experience, but please, don't take my word that I can put items on a shelf. Let me prove it to you by working for free

I have to agree with this. My first work programme interview went something like this (bear in mind I'd been unemployed for a year at this point):

Advisor: Have you got an up to date CV?

Me: Yes (while thinking of course I've got an up to date CV - what do you think I've been applying for jobs with)

Advisor: Have you got an up to date cover letter?

Me: No - I send a tailored cover letter from scratch each time.

Advisor: You really need an up to date cover letter (wrote one and emailed it to her when I got home).

Advisor: Can you let me have an up to date copy of your CV so I can forward it to potential employers.

Me: Yes but only on condition that you let me know which employers you are sending it to before you - it contains private information. I also tailor this for each application.

So far in nearly a year she's forwarded it to a grand total of two potential employers who I never heard from and then told me to chase it up on my next visit - if they don't want to interview me, I don't see what me chasing it up will achieve, will they suddenly change their mind?

szam_

I have to agree with "why don't you apply for Tesco/Asda/McDonalds/Cleaning".

When i was last desperate, McDonald's turned me down and Tesco offered me 2 hours a week. I've already worked as Asda in my late Teens and to be honest, after the way i was victimized to "make an example" so other staff don't step out of line, i wouldn't ever want to go back. This would usually happen once every 6 months, pick on a random young lad, so long as it's not the same department as last time! I cannot describe how soul destroying it was, when it was my turn.

All in all though, if i keep going back to basic jobs, I'll never get anywhere. I have a profession I'd like to advance in and have been doing it for nearly 3 years in total, more than that if you count it as a hobby at home too.

euronorris

Friend: How far are you looking? Me: Anywhere I can commute to via public transport.
F: Oh right. Are you applying for all the jobs you find? Me: Yes, of course. Why on earth would you think I wasn't?
F: Because you have good skills and a lot of experience. Where are you looking? Me: I know, but that's just how it is right now. And oh God, everywhere. Reed, Monster, Jobsite, Totaljobs, Indeed etc, County Council website, Universal Job Search website, NHS jobs website, all local newspapers weekly, with agencies, direct to companies etc
F: Well how many interviews have you had? Me: 2 in 4 weeks. The majority of the others I have either been rejected or ignored.
F: OK, well why don't you take this opportunity to do some training? Me: I'm already registered, enrolled and started studying one of the free courses available but I can't afford any others as they won't pay me any JSA or IS, only my NI stamp
F: Oh, well just keep trying, something will come up soon. Me: Yep.

I'm left thinking, 'Right, cos I was just gonna sit back and do f all and hope that a job would magically land in my lap!'! Honestly! All of this from someone who spent over 6 months out of work just 3 years ago and ended up depressed because of it. How quickly she forgets!

out_of_cash

AP007 wrote: »

The job centre 'how's the job search going'?
Me 'If it was going well, I wouldn't be here' :O

---

Thats exactly what i say and they still ask the same stupid questions trying to intimidate people.They need to try harder with their line of questioning.

I keep every single copy of all local papers so i can wham it on their desk and ask the question"which of these so called jobs at£6 an hour should i have applied for" their not so thick as to overlook the simple maths involved, although certain Mps are.

AP007

Oh yes here is another one friends say

'oh god, you will have to take anything'

me 'what anything'?

Them 'oh have you not been offered anything'?

zeddy1

my one and i often say this to other people is "you have to know people". which in my defence is quite true. every place i've worked everyone knew someone from somewhere else. and if you were quite high up, you were related to or good friends with someone higher up.

coolcait

purpledonkey wrote: »

I'm so glad I'm not the only one that feels this way. I've been baking to pass the time and give me a sense of doing something and I know people mean well but they keep suggesting I do it full time. I have to subtly remind them that I spent 4 years studying and then a further 4 years trying to get somewhere in my chosen industry.

Baking takes my mind off the stress of job hunting and finding job adverts that completely take the p!ss. For example after applying for 30 jobs in the last 4 weeks one company told me I wasn't qualified for an entry level position but offered me unpaid work experience for a week (without any travel expenses for 12-16 hours a day). Another told me I was too qualified for an entry level position.

So my main bugbear is people telling me to give up the career I'm trying to get into and do something else!

I hope that made sense

And yet a woman I know has given up the career she worked hard to achieve, so that she can follow her culinary hobby full-time...

She's making more money out of it than her 'real' career, and her 'new' career is now a successful business.

Reading this thread makes me wonder what - if anything - it is acceptable to say to people who are looking for work.

If you try to be interested, and positive, and offer suggestions, then apparently that just p*sses people off.

If you try to empathise with their difficulties, then you're being negative and p*ssing them off.

If you point out that they have a real talent and skill for something which is outside the career box they're looking at, then you p*ss them off.

If you work in the job centre, or similar, and you ask a neutral open question like 'How's the job search going?', you'll p*ss them off.

Any tips on what the rest of us can say, which won't p*ss you off, if you're looking for a job?

coolcait

euronorris wrote: »

Friend: How far are you looking? Me: Anywhere I can commute to via public transport.
F: Oh right. Are you applying for all the jobs you find? Me: Yes, of course. Why on earth would you think I wasn't?
F: Because you have good skills and a lot of experience. Where are you looking? Me: I know, but that's just how it is right now. And oh God, everywhere. Reed, Monster, Jobsite, Totaljobs, Indeed etc, County Council website, Universal Job Search website, NHS jobs website, all local newspapers weekly, with agencies, direct to companies etc
F: Well how many interviews have you had? Me: 2 in 4 weeks. The majority of the others I have either been rejected or ignored.
F: OK, well why don't you take this opportunity to do some training? Me: I'm already registered, enrolled and started studying one of the free courses available but I can't afford any others as they won't pay me any JSA or IS, only my NI stamp
F: Oh, well just keep trying, something will come up soon. Me: Yep.

I'm left thinking, 'Right, cos I was just gonna sit back and do f all and hope that a job would magically land in my lap!'! Honestly! All of this from someone who spent over 6 months out of work just 3 years ago and ended up depressed because of it. How quickly she forgets!

On the other hand, it might be because she remembers it all very clearly - and that's why she's trying to support you, by showing an interest, trying to be helpful etc.