job advice required for partner

TomandBarbara

My partner suffers from very low esteem and depression and has been out of work since Sept last year.

Hes done so many different jobs, but his problem is he does get bored easily and needs something to hold his attention plus always gets very disheartened as most companies he has worked with have let him down with false promises regarding promotion more money etc.

Hes a real hard worker and will put his hand to anything just needs somone to give him a break!

Jobs done are fishery warden, waste water sampling, computer programmer/tester, and last one was landscape gardening.

He likes the idea of lots of little jobs that he can do ie gardening stuff on computers etc.

All advice welcome!

Thanks
Suzanne

Conor_3

He needs to figure out what the hell he wants to do and stick to it. As an employer, TBH I'd not give someone with a string of short term completely unrelated jobs a position.

Perhaps he should consider working for employment agencies where it's adhoc short term work where you may be at a different place every week? Or what about self employment?

TomandBarbara

Thanks for your reply but I have to say that he is in his thirties and has stuck out all his jobs! The shortest job he ever had was his last one and that was over a year, he left because his salary never increased and health and safety was not top of his bosses agenda.

When he was in programming his boss almost went bankrupt and he carried on working for a few months with NO PAY to help this bloke out and was practically holding the company up with someone else.

It is not easy to just 'figure out what the hell he wants to do'!!!

Self employment is what I think he needs to do, its just getting him to have some self belief and confidence to do it.

Sorry I should have mentioned in the beginning that his jobs have been wardening, shop work, computer programmer, water sampling and landscaping but this is in 14 years!

jayne.doe

With all due respect though an employer could still think thats a lot of jobs. The trick is to get a very good C.V. made up and word it properly to show what he is aiming for now in his career. An employer will ask why he has had so many jobs. I would suggest a trip to somewhere like connexions they are not just for young people. I still think they help the more mature of us with career advice:)

If you think self employment is the route i dont know about your local council. But ours will help with a business plan and advice about becoming self employed. Might be worth giving them a call.

Oldernotwiser

I should also add that he's not doing himself any favours by leaving jobs without other employment to go to. Employers will see this as being irresponsible and work shy.

Are you sure he suffers from low self esteem? It sounds as if he thinks that he's too good for the jobs he's had and that he lacks staying power. What has he been doing with himself since he left his last job? Has he been using his time productively? (eg voluntary work/further study)

TomandBarbara

his first job was when he was in sixth form, then he went to the wardening job where he was promoted to the next one. he then studied to get into computers and had to leave there as the company finally did go into liquidation. Found a landscaper job then and like I said left because of the lack of money and also the health and safety was so bad it wasn't worth it.

So he has not just left when he has felt like it. He does have low self esteem and does not think he is too good for the jobs!!! I've been with him for years and know what he is like hes currently having counselling and has had on and off since he was about 18.

Oldernotwiser

Hardly a youngster; he's in his thirties! I agree that he's got to put together a good CV and go for it. That's why I asked how he's been using his time since he left his last job. The world is an oyster for very few people these days; without decent qualifications, good skills and good references it can be very difficult to get an interesting and well paid job in many areas of the country.

ts_aly2000, are you saying that let your personal experience get in the way of your professional role; I'll bet your employers would have been thrilled to know this!

Conor_3

suzynick wrote: »

Thanks for your reply but I have to say that he is in his thirties and has stuck out all his jobs! The shortest job he ever had was his last one and that was over a year, he left because his salary never increased and health and safety was not top of his bosses agenda.

Sorry. I assumed by "short term" it was the usual !!!!less waster "Did it for a few weeks and it was crap so I left" routine.

He is however going to have to figure out what he wants to do or be content with having sporadic short term employment.

The thing is, he's in his thirties. By that age most people have realised that for the majority of the working population, the "You can do whatever you want to do, be whatever you want to be" is a downright lie. Work sucks, you'll never get the job you want and you just have to find something you can live with, buckle down and get on with the daily grind.

As regarding Landscaping, it is quite revealing what you say he said about it as it gives me a clue as to how he goes about choosing what he wants to have a go at next. It's not a secret that for landscaping, the pay is crap - usually minimum wage, there's absolutely no scope for career advancement and there's some dodgy working practices. He needs to actually have a think about the job he's considering in regards to pay, promotion possibilities and whether the company is likely to be around for any length of time instead of just going "I reckon I could do that" which seems to be the only test he applies to a job advert.

CFC

Being self employed can be very difficult and stressful, and for someone who is perhaps a little fragile it may not be the best option. There is much potential for outright 'failure', as most new businesses do fail. You also need bags of confidence because essentially you are selling yourself. In order to ensure a steady stream of income, you have to be prepared to work very, very hard, and if it's going well, you need to be prepared to work all hours of the day. It's easier if you have a recognised trade such as a plumber, because those practical trades are always in demand. He doesn't have a trade so it would be ten times harder. I'm not sure that it would be helpful to his 'self esteem/depression' issue so you might want to think it over seriously and carefully before encouraging him down this path.

Do you really need his income coming in? I think that the answer to this question might dictate the direction you encourage him to move in.

I do think it's really important to get him doing SOMETHING or his depression may get worse and his CV will look bad. Can you not persuade him to do some voluntary work, possibly assisting elderly people with their gardens or such like?

cazziebo

I'd say good advice from CFC and Conor.

Dealing with tax, invoicing, insurance, customers not happy/not paying, moving goal posts, wondering where your next job is coming from- being self employed is very stressful indeed.

Not many people in this world have free choice over what they do - most of us go to work because we need the money. We put up with nasty colleagues, less than perfect terms and conditions, etc etc because we have to. I have left a job with nothing else to go to, but only because I'd been way overpromised what it was about, and I was pretty damn sure I'd pick up something else quickly. Oh to have the luxury to choose only what I like!

There's a great series of books called "Fish". Basically about working in a fish market - smelly, cold, damp, early starts, low paid. if people can enjoy that work, then anyone can enjoy work. The general message is "If you can't choose your job, then choose your attitude to it." Great advice that I've had to remind myself at times!

Good luck to both of you

Cazzie
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The_President_2

I don't see any mention of a driving licence.

To give him more flexibility I think that this would be a priority.
If he was considering self employment, unless office based, then he would find it impractical not to have one.

If he DOES have a licence, then there are a huge number of jobs that he could do and of course, he can travel to find work.