Career Planning

tuphr

It seems that competitiveness in the job market leads some people to end up in a 'Catch 22' of having experience in dead-end jobs like Telesales, who are less likely to be considered for other better paid, decent jobs.

Is Career Planning the answer? And if so, where on earth can a person get decent, well thought out career planning advice?

From my experience, advisors at the jobcentre treat people as if they are just lazy and are trying to escape the workplace - which is exasperating for the jobseeker who might need some decent advice on the jobs 'market'.

..... incidentally, constructive and positive contributions to this forum would be greatly appreciated.

Southend1

Cue next poster who just happens to know a great career planning advisor.....l

tuphr

Career planning advisors charge a lot of money to help Executives plan out their careers. If you are currently looking for work and only have money to cover your bills and a little bit you allow yourself for 1 pint of beer, then obviously you can't afford to pay a Career planning advisor.

This is what I mean by 'Catch 22'. Careers advice is there for those with the money to pay for it. But these people already have successful careers!

Southend1

tuphr wrote: »

Please don't bother to type up replies like that - you are only wasting your own time and electricity.

Ditto

.

tuphr

If someone wants to improve their career prospects, they can:

Enroll on a course of further/higher education (which is likely to create Debts)
Buy a book on Career Planning (Meaning they have to do it alone)
Buy advice from a Careers Counsellor (Meaning they will have to fork out hundreds and hundreds of pounds, possibly creating more Debt)

None of the above are guaranteed to work. And if you're forced to take Temp jobs which don't last very long because your qualifications don't fit, you're stuck in a Catch 22 of recurring bad/low paid jobs. And low paid jobs 1. Use up all your time 2. Don't pay enough to save or buy books on Career Planning.

:xmassign: Doesn't anyone know a better way?

tuphr

Worst of all, is when you try most people on the subject their answer is: "Just get a job"

Paula6790

It is tough out there at the minute.

Been rejected for four jobs alone this week.

saintjammyswine

Anyone see a pattern here? Guessing the name of the company they are working for is called C a t c h 2 2.

Oh and by the way, courses at College are not likely to cause debts in all situations, best to speak to the college to find out about funding opportunities.

InsideInsurance

tuphr wrote: »

It seems that competitiveness in the job market leads some people to end up in a 'Catch 22' of having experience in dead-end jobs like Telesales, who are less likely to be considered for other better paid, decent jobs.

Never had any form of professional careers advice from either Jobcentre types or those charging hundreds and hundreds

I think if you have the attitude that you've a dead end job and wont be considered for anything else then you are basically a self fulfilling prophecy.

I know a fair number of people with no paper qualifications who have worked their way up from zombie call centre roles and now have good careers. I did 10 years of call centres from the age of 15 before moving out into what I do now. Within that 10 years, and particularly the end, I intentionally pushed to move out of telesales into more technical subjects which is how I moved into insurance claims handling

tuphr

Paula6790 wrote: »

It is tough out there at the minute.

Been rejected for four jobs alone this week.

:T At least you made 4 applications!

Keep going, looking for a job IS a full time job. You'll find something.

tuphr

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Never had any form of professional careers advice from either Jobcentre types or those charging hundreds ...

I think if you have the attitude that you've a dead end job and wont be considered for anything else then you are basically a self fulfilling prophecy.

I know a fair number of people with no paper qualifications who have worked their way up from zombie call centre roles and now have good careers. I did 10 years of call centres from the age of 15 before moving out into what I do now. Within that 10 years, and particularly the end, I intentionally pushed to move out of telesales into more technical subjects which is how I moved into insurance claims handling

When I was 15, I was in school working towards my GCSEs. I got 5 of them and then went on to college and got an A-Level in the Arts and after that a degree. It sounds special, but I only got it via hard work, nothing else. During that time I worked in Catering (progressing from Waiter to Dishwasher, to Pizza Chef) which by the end of college, I decided that I never wanted to come home from work at 2am again, hands red, water logged and stinking of onions after a swelteringly hot and busy Saturday night.

However, despite all the noise about how everyone needs qualifications, having an Arts Degree (mine was Music) seemed to do nothing for my employment prospects. It even sometimes made some potential employers jealous. Eg "I never went to University and look where I am today" type of thing.

But the worst thing of all, is that back at College when I asked about Career Planning on my course and also about projects that focus on Careers in the area I was studying, I was told by the college Lecturers that I would need to ask the College Admin Office about external Career planning services they have, which would be entirely separate from the course I was on and about as strategic as 'How to write a CV' and 'Questions to ask in a Job Interview'

The problem now, is that I've discovered that people working in the Music industry often aren't Musically qualified but have degrees in English and History, or none at all.

What is an Arts graduate to do? The majority of people would say "just get a job".

PS Well done for keeping your head down and getting out of the mundane Telesales thing,