I feel like I'm never going to get a job...

melysion

The reasons why some people find getting a new job easy and others not is, I beleive, a lot more complex than people would like to think.

A person's employability will depend on age, location, their skill set and what career they want to pursue. Some careers are simply more competitive and will take a lot longer and a lot of hard work to break into.

Take me as an example. I'm 42 years old (although, thankfully look a lot younger) and have been in academia all my life. I am trying to break into a highly competitive, deadline-driven field. I have to try and prove to employers I can cope with the high-paced environment of agency life and deal with age discrimination. I am doing a lot to try and get myself noticed. I write for a sports magazine, am setting up my own science blog, have lots of peer-reviewed papers. I am, hopefully, about to start some unpaid work experience (to allay fears that I can't cope in a "real job" for a start). In other words, it's not as if I am not making a huge effort.

BUT, there are lots of other jaded, highly skilled postdocs doing the same thing. We are all good and we all deserve the jobs. Sixty applicants for the last job I interviewed for, remember? Sixty. Not four.

I am expecting my job hunt to take some time, but will get there eventually. I'm lucky I have work and some money behind me in the meantime. I just have to keep driving forward. But, thought I'd just put this out there as an example of why some people take a lot longer to get a job than others.

Sometimes, it's a lot more complex than you think.
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fufu_banterwaite

mattcanary wrote: »

Still can't explain away the basic point

Re the basic point, I’ve never made any claims about the number of unemployed. All I’ve simply said is that there are plenty of jobs available. And I stand by that. I don’t know really what you want me to explain!

I am glad that we agree on one thing though – that we are both basing our opinions on personal experience, that is the best way to do things. I hate it when people base their opinions on what they read in the papers, otherwise everyone who reads the Daily Express would have believed we were going to have the worst winter in living memory this year or that we are about to have a dangerously hot summer!

fufu_banterwaite

I sympathise with you Melysion and I understand your point of view and don’t disagree with what you say. You are obviously trying very hard to get where you want and I hope you do get there. You have a specific job and target in mind and good for you.

My point was more re unemployed people looking for any reasonable job rather than someone already employed looking to change career. It sounds like the field you are interested in is very competitive.

mattcanary

fufu_banterwaite wrote: »

Re the basic point, I’ve never made any claims about the number of unemployed. All I’ve simply said is that there are plenty of jobs available. And I stand by that. I don’t know really what you want me to explain!

I am glad that we agree on one thing though – that we are both basing our opinions on personal experience, that is the best way to do things. I hate it when people base their opinions on what they read in the papers, otherwise everyone who reads the Daily Express would have believed we were going to have the worst winter in living memory this year or that we are about to have a dangerously hot summer!

I did not say I base everything upon my own personal experiences, as you well know.

You cannot directly link the number of people registered as unemployed, to the number of vacancies that are being advertised at any time. This view is laughably simplistic, for the reasons I and others have given.

For starters, are you saying that students (who cannot claim JSA during term times) and stay at home parentsm, etc never decide to apply for jobs?

fufu_banterwaite

mattcanary wrote: »

You cannot directly link the number of people registered as unemployed, to the number of vacancies that are being advertised at any time. This view is laughably simplistic, for the reasons I and others have given.

For starters, are you saying that students (who cannot claim JSA during term times) and stay at home parentsm, etc never decide to apply for jobs?

You seem to not be able to understand my point, sorry I am not sure how I can make it any clearer. I am saying there are plenty of jobs available. That is all I am saying.

Just to reiterate you said you based your opinion on:

My own experiences (especially when dealing with recruitment agencies), listening to others, previously volunteering for the Citizens Advice Bureau and a local authority, and reading papers, etc (interpreting what I read for myself).

They are all your personal experiences, unless I am missing something.

seven-day-weekend

mattcanary wrote: »

Thanks for that.

I had intended to ask my jobcoach at the Jobcentre about this at my review meeting next week. I had tried to find out myself on the internet but it seemed to draw a blank. I live in a city, so I am hopeful there will be something of that nature.

I tried using the Jobcentre yesterday to apply for jobs on their computers (I don;t have Microsoft Word at home and find it is not possible to download and complete all application forms onto my laptop at home). I only have Open Office.

What a joke that was. Their computer also didn;t have Microsoft Word and it was not physically possible to download forms onto the computer there, (let alone complete them). I didn;t bother to ask how I could print anything offf (I had wanted to print off some CVs and ask about being provbided with postage stamps too - something the Jobcentre advertises that they can do).

Glad to be of help. If you put your location into the search on the link I provided, it will be able to tell you where your nearest CAP Job Club is.

If you're in or near Wolverhampton, ours starts informally on May 1st and formally on May 15th .

In the wider Midlands, there are CAP job clubs either running or coming shortly to Birmingham (two locations), and Rugby.

melysion

fufu_banterwaite wrote: »

I sympathise with you Melysion and I understand your point of view and don’t disagree with what you say. You are obviously trying very hard to get where you want and I hope you do get there. You have a specific job and target in mind and good for you.

My point was more re unemployed people looking for any reasonable job rather than someone already employed looking to change career. It sounds like the field you are interested in is very competitive.

Thank you very much. I just got annoyed at someone else assertions as to why I haven't got myself a new job yet. Having said that, I do think my example could be extrapolated to explain why some people find jobs easier to find than others. Location, skillset, age, past work experiences. It does make a difference.

mattcanary

fufu_banterwaite wrote: »

You seem to not be able to understand my point, sorry I am not sure how I can make it any clearer. I am saying there are plenty of jobs available. That is all I am saying.

Just to reiterate you said you based your opinion on:

My own experiences (especially when dealing with recruitment agencies), listening to others, previously volunteering for the Citizens Advice Bureau and a local authority, and reading papers, etc (interpreting what I read for myself).

They are all your personal experiences, unless I am missing something.

I read about things, have spoken to people that are experiencing problems in their lives (when at the CAB) and don't just consider things that happen to me personally (or my friends, neighbours or family). That means I am not relying solely on my personal experiences. My personal insights - yes, maybe. And everyone does that, of course. But they are not affected solely by what happens to me.

I have told you there are not plenty of jobs available. How did you fit 2.3 odd million registered as unempolyed into 500, 000 or so available jobs??!!!!!!!

How can this escape you? How can you not understand this?

mattcanary

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Glad to be of help. If you put your location into the search on the link I provided, it will be able to tell you where your nearest CAP Job Club is.

If you're in or near Wolverhampton, ours starts informally on May 1st and formally on May 15th .

I entered my postcode. Unfortunately it can up with a negative reuslt. No jobclubs, run by CAP in my area.

I live in Norwich. This really surprised me to be honest. There is (or has at least previously) been a CAP group in Norwich. Norwich certainly does not have low rates of unemployment, either. Not as high as some places, of course. But some parts of Norwich are certainly in the highest quarter of deprived wards in the country.

fufu_banterwaite

mattcanary wrote: »

I have told you there are not plenty of jobs available. How did you fit 2.3 odd million registered as unempolyed into 500, 000 or so available jobs??!!!!!!!

How can this escape you? How can you not understand this?

Speaking to people that are experiencing problems is a personal experience. Call it a personal insight or personal experience, it is the same thing. You are basing your opinion on the same things as I am.

I said there are plenty of jobs available. Half a million jobs is a lot – I would call it plenty. I can understand that quite easily.[FONT=&quot][/FONT]