35 hours a week for Jobsearch, not possible?

dktreesea

marybelle01 wrote: »

I am somewhat astonished at the turn of this thread. Why are people attacking AP007 for making a lot of effort to gain employment, for having skills and experience in employment, and for having been made redundant in the first place? If these are things to be criticised, maybe it's right - there are no jobs for people, it isn't worth making an effort and she should sit around on benefits for the rest of her life.

If you can't get a job why not make yourself a job and become self employed? Sitting around on benefits is not the only option if you can't get a job in the "working for someone else world". I've been self employed for many years. It was hard to get established but once everything was up and running it's made me a living. Could I have earned more money in the working for someone else world? Possibly, but at the time the choices were work for myself, with unknown income, or be unemployed earning nothing.

I am sure employers who reject people who have been made redundant, or the long term unemployed "on principle" as some put it, do themselves out of good people. But by the same token, if you are on the other end of the stick, unemployed and have been for a long time, then surely it is time to think about a different approach?

makeyourdaddyproud

dktreesea wrote: »

If you can't get a job why not make yourself a job and become self employed? Sitting around on benefits is not the only option if you can't get a job in the "working for someone else world". I've been self employed for many years. It was hard to get established but once everything was up and running it's made me a living. Could I have earned more money in the working for someone else world? Possibly, but at the time the choices were work for myself, with unknown income, or be unemployed earning nothing.

I am sure employers who reject people who have been made redundant, or the long term unemployed "on principle" as some put it, do themselves out of good people. But by the same token, if you are on the other end of the stick, unemployed and have been for a long time, then surely it is time to think about a different approach?

Absolutely.

It really isn't difficult to think of opportunities to prosper via one's own effort if you choose the right business. They may even be surprised by the outcome.

Instead the miserable unemployed lot on here expect some employer somewhere to take them on for a salary. Taking time to think out of the box for a self emPloyment biz can pay dividends if done right.

Denning.

marybelle01 wrote: »

I am not here AT ALL, never mind daily, complaining about how hard my life is. But nor do I think it easy to miss out SEVEN YEARS of my life - enough time to have been in prison several times over. Let's just review my current job - programme manager, African location, managing a budget of £4.5 million per year, and 200+ professional staff. How do I hide that? Agency work?

You are just set on being insulting to everyone. I didn't ask for careers advice from you. If this is your approach then it may not be surprising that AP007 doesn't listen to you. And it still does not explain or excuse personal insults. There is a button to report abuse. There is an ignore button. Why do you have to ignore both, then think it ok to abuse others? I don't know, or care, what AP007 may have said or done on another thread. This is this thread, and she has been treated shamefully. Of course, if we are going to drag up other threads, there are a few where the "law lord" Denning got the law wrong, aren't there? So why should anyone listen to you?

Nobody has a corner on being right or being perfect. I don't claim one, but it appears you do. You have an answer for everything, even when you are wrong, and even when it means calling someone names rather than entering into a reasoned discussion. You don't know AP007. Have you read each CV they submitted and can you ascertain they didn't tailor it to the job? Do you know what their personal circumstances are, and whether they can volunteer/ have time to? Are you that intimate with them?

People can make suggestions. They may or may not work, and they may or may not be appropriate. If you think you have made "enough" suggestions and the person isn't listening, fine, say so and quit making them. But name calling suggest you are two years old. As does "she started it..."...

You need to work on your comprehension skills. If you can't read my post in the clear context it was posted then you have serious troubles.

You come across as arrogant, wanting to rub all your experience and degrees in an employers face, expecting them to be amazed and chuck low skilled jobs at you, because lets face it, you're better than that.

No need to get mad bro.

dktreesea

makeyourdaddyproud wrote: »

Absolutely.

It really isn't difficult to think of opportunities to prosper via one's own effort if you choose the right business. They may even be surprised by the outcome.

Instead the miserable unemployed lot on here expect some employer somewhere to take them on for a salary. Taking time to think out of the box for a self emPloyment biz can pay dividends if done right.

Yes, 915,000 of them at the last count, unemployed for over a year. Cameron likes to put positive spin on the unemployment figures, saying the total count is going down, but at the same time, the long term unemployed numbers march ever onwards and upwards.

I realise some people claim not to have the skills to be self employed, but this seems to me just to be an excuse. How do they know what skills they have until they try?

Chester666666

dktreesea wrote: »

Yes, 915,000 of them at the last count, unemployed for over a year. Cameron likes to put positive spin on the unemployment figures, saying the total count is going down, but at the same time, the long term unemployed numbers march ever onwards and upwards.

I realise some people claim not to have the skills to be self employed, but this seems to me just to be an excuse. How do they know what skills they have until they try?

Probably because it's too risky to be self-employed

Chester666666

makeyourdaddyproud wrote: »

Instead the miserable unemployed lot on here expect some employer somewhere to take them on for a salary. Taking time to think out of the box for a self emPloyment biz can pay dividends if done right.

It's terrible isn't it that unemployed people think that a wage is fair dues for having a job, that a wage that people can be happy with is fair as opposed to a gamble that may not work and leaves you worse off.
Plus who said all unemployed are miserable?

earthbound_misfit

I think part of the problem - and what is getting the OP's back up - is that the Jobcentre has a very specific definition of "jobsearch". So the other suggestions (thanks for the tips, by the way!) might well be a better way of finding work but not fit the narrow definition of what a particular advisor deems to be recordable, concrete jobsearch. Friends of mine on JSA have been sent on ridiculous, unsuitable courses (one got 109% in a basic maths test, which is a particularly ludicrous example) and had conditions like spending a certain amount of hours on Universal Jobsmatch website. Also, again depending on the advisor, part-time courses and voluntary work can be frowned upon despite people doing them for references or learning skills which will help in the long run.

I'm currently on ESA but looking to volunteer to get experience and a reference, also cannot cope with fulltime work just anywhere. However on JSA which is most likely where I'm headed right now (waiting to hear from Atos) one has to be ready and able to take up fulltime work anywhere... I'm scared I'll end up cracking under the pressure or taking a fulltime job and getting fired if I can't cope and setting back my recovery. It makes much more sense to start part-time in a manageable job and work up from there. I mention this as there are now a lot of people on JSA who are struggling with illness and disabilities (don't know if this includes the OP). Another aspect here is that if you don't have much work history/it's patchy, CV's are impossible (and the guidance from JC+ is aimed at those with literacy difficulties, not how to write a CV that is significantly more gaps than jobs). And everywhere wants CV's, lots of references, and experience... gone are the days of walking into a shop or cafe who've put a sign in the window advertising staff, and getting a job because you appear polite and capable. Not trying to be too negative about it, but one has to worm your way in somewhere eg. by volunteering, and a lot of the spec letters and sending out CV's stuff is not helpful in these circumstances.

thistledome

earthbound_misfit wrote: »

I'm currently on ESA but looking to volunteer to get experience and a reference, also cannot cope with fulltime work just anywhere. However on JSA which is most likely where I'm headed right now (waiting to hear from Atos) one has to be ready and able to take up fulltime work anywhere... I'm scared I'll end up cracking under the pressure or taking a fulltime job and getting fired if I can't cope and setting back my recovery. It makes much more sense to start part-time in a manageable job and work up from there. I mention this as there are now a lot of people on JSA who are struggling with illness and disabilities (don't know if this includes the OP). Another aspect here is that if you don't have much work history/it's patchy, CV's are impossible (and the guidance from JC+ is aimed at those with literacy difficulties, not how to write a CV that is significantly more gaps than jobs). And everywhere wants CV's, lots of references, and experience... gone are the days of walking into a shop or cafe who've put a sign in the window advertising staff, and getting a job because you appear polite and capable. Not trying to be too negative about it, but one has to worm your way in somewhere eg. by volunteering, and a lot of the spec letters and sending out CV's stuff is not helpful in these circumstances.

I totally agree. When I started work in the 1970's it was that easy to get a job. Just walk in and be pleasant and look capable and they'd take your name and address down and start you on Monday. Those days are long gone. I wish you luck with it all, it's very hard nowadays.

On this thread in general....

It's typical of these kind of threads that the judgemental people think just because they've done something that everybody else should do it. "I'm self-employed, so why aren't you?" "I spend 40 hours a week applying for jobs, so why don't you?" "I'm not being made redundant, so if you are then it must be your own fault" "I'm happy to lie on my CV, why aren't you?".

NEWSFLASH: Everybody's different. There is no one size that fits all. There aren't jobs for everyone. There are people who can't cope with full time work for various reasons, physical, emotional or mental.

Box-ticking interviewers with no imagination, empathy or humanity are now the norm, unfortunately. They might as well be replaced by robots. If you don't meet their narrow minded criteria you don't have a chance of a job.

marybelle01

Denning. wrote: »

You need to work on your comprehension skills. If you can't read my post in the clear context it was posted then you have serious troubles.

You come across as arrogant, wanting to rub all your experience and degrees in an employers face, expecting them to be amazed and chuck low skilled jobs at you, because lets face it, you're better than that.

No need to get mad bro.

Wow - Pot, kettle, black? What exactly are your skills and experience to be calling people names about what they have or haven't done? And as for comprehension skills - I don't need to "rub all my experince and degrees in an employers face" because I am not looking for a job since I have one, thank you very much. Your "advice" consists of "do what I tell you and if you don't I will hurl personal comments and abuse at you". Arrogance appears to be something you possess in abundance.

Liz3yy

Christ is this thread still going? Think I should get some popcorn in and settle down for the long haul....

The question at the start was....is it possible to spend 35 hours per week job searching?

Answer...yes it most certainly is, I am doing it at the moment in-between keeping the house tidy. I've been out of work almost a fortnight and in that time have secured 3 interviews - one being tomorrow, the other two next week - spruced up my CV, applied for countless jobs online, via old fashioned snail mail, and sent out speculative applications to local firms. One of whom was impressed enough with my CV to circulate it amongst their colleagues.

I hate being out of work, after all I have bills to pay and OH can't support me long term, I have got off my !!!! and made it my mission to find work, any paid work at all