Profile of someone likely to become long-term unemployed?

melysion

scooby088 wrote: »

I have been long term unemployed, I didnt set out to be long termer though, you can put in a great deal of effort in searching using transferable skills into other lines of work, there is only time that rejection after rejection starts hitting home and you start to do little applying, researching, you lose nearly all motivation and do the bare minimum.

I think its more to do with mindset, being long term unemployed there are no finances to relocate or commute unless you can get around that. Funding for retraining being cut in this financial climate, so those who are long termers even more obstacles to employment. I believe if you havent got a job in the first few months you are more than likely to be unemployed long term.

You have to believe you still have a chance though some long termer on here have found jobs

tomterm8

melysion wrote: »

But you can't "give up looking regularly" can you? Not if you are a JSA claimants in any case.

Hmm. This is all very interesting. Thanks for your comments so far.

As regards to the wage thing - the field I am trying to get into will mean a massive drop in salary compared to what I'm earning now - but hopefully only in the short term. I guess there is a lot to be said for building things back up again.

JSA is around £70 a week. It's relatively easy to make a small business that earns more than that... even without finding a job. At least in my area.

AP007

melysion wrote: »

What I'm trying to say is - not that I have much experience - is that people do have to be realistic about what they can get and that works on both sides of the skills range. Why would a shop employ someone who's only work experience is as a scientist? They would (very correctly) suspect I'd !!!!!! off as soon as I found something else. And it would be impossible for me to dumb down my cv so I had a realistic change of getting such a job.

Of course not hence the 'you are over qualified' or if they want someone in an office to do basic admin and you have headed an office as office manager the same will happen.

It's all well and good people saying 'apply for anything' but the anything will not interview you.

AP007

melysion wrote: »

I imagine that can be a lot easier said than done but you are probably right. Feeling negative and demotivated will certainly have an effect.

The only negative part I experience is having no money and no social life. I used to spend more on black cabs/lunch in a week than the money I get on JSA so it's a massive shock when you have nothing.

EmmaHerts

melysion wrote: »

Too many knock backs? Low self esteem?

My little brother couldn't find work for that very reason, I believe.
Then he did a Prince's Trust course for young people that seemed to be about building self esteem. They took them to the New Forest and did various activities- my little brother ended up getting a job not long after that.

It would be nice if they did things like that for older people.

melysion

EmmaHerts wrote: »

My little brother couldn't find work for that very reason, I believe.
Then he did a Prince's Trust course for young people that seemed to be about building self esteem. They took them to the New Forest and did various activities- my little brother ended up getting a job not long after that.

It would be nice if they did things like that for older people.

Well done to your brother. That's brilliant news :j

tiger_eyes

It can be absolutely soul-destroying being unemployed. It reinforces with every rejection that you have nothing to offer anybody, that any skills and experience you have are worthless, that you're worth nothing as a person. You feel like there's no point even applying any more because there's no way that anyone will ever want you. I was unemployed before starting my own business eighteen months ago and I still have an intense feeling of worthlessness, so I understand how people spiral down into depression and long-term unemployment.

DaveTheMus

melysion wrote: »

Narrow minded attitude? What does that mean? (sorry, being thick)

the type of person that says;

'I'm not stacking shelves in Tesco...'

Horace

I did not set out to be long term unemployed - I had a business which I started at the start of the recession but then the recession really hit home and work dried up, there was no alternative but the dole.

I hate being unemployed and have applied for over 2000 jobs and if I dumbed down my CV any more then it would only have my name and address on it! I have been on courses to better myself and have recently finished a residential course (I was sent by the jobcentre) where I updated my secretarial qualifications - I made darn sure I got distinctions in those qualifications too.

I am disadvantaged by age ( you may say that ageism does not exist - it shouldn't but it does) and the fact I have a severe visual impairment. Again people see disability and think oh that person cannot do anything when it is pretty obvious that I can and can do a lot more than they think.:mad:

I have been applying for a wide spectrum of jobs from retail assistant, administrator, secretary right through to business development manager. I keep being shoved towards care work - I have no interest in care work nor am I qualified to do it, if I had wanted to go into the care business then I would have pursued that as a career when I came out of school.

I hate being unemployed and for me it certainly is not a career choice so I shall continue to apply for jobs, however, disheartening the rejections can be - it is their loss if they don't employ me. One day someone will recognise just how valuable I could be to their company.

As for my self employment - I haven't given up on the idea of that altogether, I have to wait until we come out of the recession .

AP007

Horace wrote: »

I did not set out to be long term unemployed - I had a business which I started at the start of the recession but then the recession really hit home and work dried up, there was no alternative but the dole.

I hate being unemployed and have applied for over 2000 jobs and if I dumbed down my CV any more then it would only have my name and address on it! I have been on courses to better myself and have recently finished a residential course (I was sent by the jobcentre) where I updated my secretarial qualifications - I made darn sure I got distinctions in those qualifications too. .

Yeah people who say dumb down the CV are clueless.

Dumb is down and the question will be for example 'I see you were office manger, but you dont appear to have done the job of one'

Or 'why have you not progressed in career'

and so on....................