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[simon]

Hello friends.

I am 26 years old. I am fortunate to have a part time job. But its just a dead end, or at least it feels that way. No matter how hard i try to give it my ALL and increse my chance of been promoted, i always find myself failing. Getting in to trouble or not looking as interested as i should be. I guess the reason is that im not 100% interested in it, and no matter how hard i try i just feel like i carnt be "one of them" in order to progress !! I always find my self thinking just of the money with my job, its not something i really, really enjoy or feel good about.

I have been like this for 2 years, on part time hours i can not full-fill any of my goals my main goal is to have a career, something i feel good about, something to get up in the morning for.

I search and search for job and job which leads to dead ends, getting no reply or fobbed off when i ring up. Or even used for trial periods with no real hope of a job at the end of it. I look around and its always "no job vacancies"

I pretty much have to take what i get right now, My parents have a family business which isnt really my cup of tea, but i help out just to give myself abit of extra money, again though my heart is not in the business. Its not what i want to do.

I feel really bad been in this situation and i keep finding myself thinking that i have left the years from leaving school go to waist. I once had a full time office job when i was 18 years old and i left to because i wanted to explore the real world and i ended up in dead end jobs. I wanted something less formal, someware that i thought was fun. But its no longer fun, i need a purpus and a career which i want to progress in.

I am 26 years old, still living at home, doing a part time job and helping out now and then in the family business just to give me money really, i manage to save but its just taking ages, money is not the issue for me. Having a career and feeling good about what i do is the issue. andi feel really bad for not having it.

I didnt want to be settled in a career when i was younger but as i have got older it has become more important to me, its not just about the money and having fun anymore. Its about been someone. and doing what i love and feel good about.

Every time i get knocked back by jobs it knocks my confidence.

Sometimes thought i STILL do not know who i want t be, or where i would fit in best.

Maybe i am still young and learning about life, the world, careers and who i am....

Yet i look around and see people younger than me with kids and a rented house / flat and maybe a little job. and they seem to know what they wanted.

#Stuck in limbo

Jitterbug123

Hiya, from another 26 year old.

You say you are not interested in the job you are doing at the moment, but you don't mention what you are interested in.

Also, why are you only working part time? Have you applied for full time jobs?

I personally started in an area that I was interested in when I was 21- but wasn't that interested in the job itself. So I did my job but then I did extra things that interested me more. Because I put in the extra work I got promoted to another job, which was more interesting. I've been doing the same trick until now.

I think you need to figure out what you actually are interested in, and then try and get involved in that work. Until then, just do your job and try to feel good by doing a good job.

m3kx

I'm 22 and I feel exactly the same. I left school at 16 and have had a few different jobs since then but all in the same line of work, a line of work I'm not happy with.

In my area there is very little work, I've applied for lots of jobs over the past few months but never had an interview or even any interest. College here is very land based, not what I want but I tried anyway and I even looked at Open Uni but I can't afford it. Like you, the knock backs have hit my confidence a lot more than I ever expected (I'm not the most confident person anyway). But in saying all that, I do have some advice...

Have you looked at college? What interests do you have? I know you are 26 but careers advisers aren't only for school kids, I spoke to my local careers adviser and she was very helpful. I think this is the most relevant website to you. https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/Pages/Home.aspx

If you work part time, what about volunteering? Last year I tried volunteering and really enjoyed it. It built up my confidence as I always thought that due to my lack of experience in other working environments I could only do one thing - turns out I can do other stuff! Not only that, it looks great on a CV and you get free training. I volunteered with a lunch group for the elderly, as a mental health befriender and most recently I was an adviser for the Citizens Advice Bureaux (CAB). From that, I figured out that I didn't want to be a carer (which I had thought I wanted to do) and that I enjoyed being able to give advice and help others in trouble(which I didn't think I could do). So not only does it look good on your cv, give you great life long training but it also give you some direction.

You should have a local volunteer centre that will have all the info you need, again this might be the website for you http://www.volunteering.org.uk/where-do-i-start

I don't know if you like exercise but what about getting into the routine of either running, going out on your bike or going to the gym/swimming pool? Maybe join a sports team? I've always liked having an exercise routine cause it gives me that something to get up for and look forward too when I'm trying to block out everything else upsetting me. Exercise is also said to have many health benefits and not just for your body - also for your mental health.

I hope that helps but I know its not easy when you feel stuck in a rut.

[Deleted User]

[simon] wrote: »

Hello friends.

Yet i look around and see people younger than me with kids and a rented house / flat and maybe a little job. and they seem to know what they wanted.

#Stuck in limbo

Only because they have to? you have the world at your feet - got an inch to go travelling or anything like that?

We're always learning about life and it changes like the wind so live for today

Maybe spruce up the old cv and repost it, get some good interviews behind you even if you go for 100's to reach it and power your confidence; can you drive? that was probably the biggest confidence massage for me at 29 after spending 4 years wondering if it could happen and only came about after my 2nd of 3 redundancies over the period of working

National_Careers_Service

Hi Simon, I’m sorry to hear that you’re not happy with your work situation at the moment. It sounds like you’ve drifted into a part time position that you don’t enjoy and that doesn’t give you the hours or earning potential that you need. I often find that when people are in this situation it can be quite difficult to see a way out as there is so much going on, but there is a way out. This ‘way out’ will probably take the form of a short term and long term plan of steps that you’re going to take. Below I’m going to put a few things that you might need to think about initially to start marking a change.

What should you do about your current part time job?

In your post you mentioned that your part time job isn’t giving you the income you need and that you’re not feeling fulfilled doing it. In this situation I suppose the first thing to consider is; what do I do now?

One option would be to start applying for full time jobs or an additional part time job to increase your income. To give you the best chance this would most probably need to be in something that you have the right experience for or an entry level job that requires little or no experience. Whilst this may lead to another role that you don’t feel fulfilled in, it will offer the added bonus of earning more money.

From your post it does sound like you’ve already been applying for other jobs, so I wondered whether you feel you have the necessary experience for them. If you do have the experience needed, something in the application stage is letting you down. Either your CV or your application isn’t selling your skills and experience, as they’re not getting you to the interview stage. If that’s the case I’d suggest some advice to help you to strengthen your CV or applications. You can talk to one of our careers advisers over the phone or face to face for some support on 0800 100 900, it's a free service. If you’re on a mobile it’s best to book a call back on the website so you don’t get charged for the call. http://goo.gl/mz2LD8

In the meantime you could also take a look at CV advice on our website which you may find useful.

If on the other hand you don’t want to apply for another job, the alternative is to look at what else you could be doing. You mentioned that you don’t feel fulfilled in your job. Do you have any ideas about what you would feel happier doing?
Working out what you enjoy and what drives you can be an important first step towards developing a long term career plan. This drive or motivator could be a desire to help people/animals, it could be a desire to pursue a role related to an interest of yours, or it could be something that focuses on a particular skill that you’d like to develop. When you think about it like that, what’s the first thing that comes into your head?

The next item on the list of things to think about is:

Do I need to gain experience or complete some training?

If you do decide that a career change is what you’re looking for and you have an idea about what you’d like to do, it’s likely that you’ll either have to gain some experience, complete some training or work your way up from the bottom in an organisation that may offer you more fulfilment.

When it comes to gaining experience, volunteering can be a great way to go. Volunteering can also be a great way of testing out ideas that you might have for a future career. Or, if you’re struggling to work out what you want to do, it could help you to come up with some ideas. If you would like to try some volunteering get in touch with your local volunteer centre to see what’s available in your area.

On the training side of things our advisers can help you to find the right course if you find you need to do some training. Get back to me with a little more info about what you’d like to do and we can go from there. Alternatively if you are really unsure about what you want to do we can help you to figure out what you want to do and help you to develop a plan of how to get there!

Good luck with it all and I’ll look forward to your reply.

Leo

pmduk

Additionally I found the Skills Healthcheck on the National Careers Service website to be very helpful, both in terms of identifying work sectors to consider and skill areas that needed improving.

whodathunkit

[simon] wrote: »

Hello friends.

I am 26 years old. I am fortunate to have a part time job. But its just a dead end, or at least it feels that way. No matter how hard i try to give it my ALL and increse my chance of been promoted, i always find myself failing. Getting in to trouble or not looking as interested as i should be. I guess the reason is that im not 100% interested in it, and no matter how hard i try i just feel like i carnt be "one of them" in order to progress !! I always find my self thinking just of the money with my job, its not something i really, really enjoy or feel good about.

I have been like this for 2 years, on part time hours i can not full-fill any of my goals my main goal is to have a career, something i feel good about, something to get up in the morning for.

I search and search for job and job which leads to dead ends, getting no reply or fobbed off when i ring up. Or even used for trial periods with no real hope of a job at the end of it. I look around and its always "no job vacancies"

I pretty much have to take what i get right now, My parents have a family business which isnt really my cup of tea, but i help out just to give myself abit of extra money, again though my heart is not in the business. Its not what i want to do.

I feel really bad been in this situation and i keep finding myself thinking that i have left the years from leaving school go to waist. I once had a full time office job when i was 18 years old and i left to because i wanted to explore the real world and i ended up in dead end jobs. I wanted something less formal, someware that i thought was fun. But its no longer fun, i need a purpus and a career which i want to progress in.

I am 26 years old, still living at home, doing a part time job and helping out now and then in the family business just to give me money really, i manage to save but its just taking ages, money is not the issue for me. Having a career and feeling good about what i do is the issue. andi feel really bad for not having it.

I didnt want to be settled in a career when i was younger but as i have got older it has become more important to me, its not just about the money and having fun anymore. Its about been someone. and doing what i love and feel good about.

Every time i get knocked back by jobs it knocks my confidence.

Sometimes thought i STILL do not know who i want t be, or where i would fit in best.

Maybe i am still young and learning about life, the world, careers and who i am....

Yet i look around and see people younger than me with kids and a rented house / flat and maybe a little job. and they seem to know what they wanted.

#Stuck in limbo

IME most people don't "really, really enjoy" their job so perhaps you need to be more realistic in your expectations.

[simon]

I do many things out side of work, running, swimming, tennis, i enjoy doing things on the pc too. I read books.

I would love to travel to many places around the world. I need money for that though.

I think i might enjoy working for my self if am honest, earning as much as i put in to my work. and having control over my earnings. Rather than letting a company treat me as they wish to run there own business !