trouble getting a new job

pinpin

I've been in my warehouse packing job for the last 6 years or so.
I'm 28
Company no longer need most of their staff, don't seem to be making any money and I think they are about to 'fold'

I've been sending about 10 CV's off per day.
I've registered with 4 big agencies.

Initially I registered with the intention of maybe starting off at the bottom in some sort of office role (since I hate life as a minimum wage warehouse slave), but the agencies don't seem interested in me at all. I think they want someone with a degree or at least lots of previous office experience.

I then resigned myself to the fact that i'm likely only good for packing boxes etc, and so registered with the more 'manual' work agencies, but depressingly, I've had little joy there, too.
So far only one warehouse role was offered but it 'fell through' according to the agency.

I'm kind of at a loss. I have a few K in savings. (Somehow! Despite earning a pittance. Cheap rent at brothers flat).

I'm uncertain of what to do:
Carry on plodding away sending off CV's for warehouse roles (which I hate but at least I have experience in)

Carry on applying for entry level office roles? (Been sending speculative CV's for over a year and no real interest unfortunately, so probably a waste of time?)

Spend my Savings on some sort of training? (don't know what training. Just Something to improve my potential pay and general work prospects. Some sort of trade? An office skill??)

Look into the possibility of benefits instead of work?? (Doctor thinks i'm depressed and wants me on medication)

---

I never realsied quite how hard it is to get a job at the moment.
I have a new level of empathy for job hunters.

27yearoldmale

Is there a particular industry you are interested in?

With dedication and hard work it is possible without higher education.

DCFC79

Id forget about applying for office jobs if you have no experience.

InsideInsurance

I wouldnt forget about applying for anything.

Agencies, particularly for volume roles, only want easy placements. They're fine if you want to keep on doing the same job in another company but very limited usefulness if you are wanting a change in direction etc unless they have a very odd thing on their books that they cannot find anyone with experience for.

You are at a disadvantage applying for a job you dont have experience for but ultimately if its entry level then there really as much about your fit with the team as the skills you can bring with you

DCFC79

InsideInsurance wrote: »

You are at a disadvantage applying for a job you dont have experience for but ultimately if its entry level then there really as much about your fit with the team as the skills you can bring with you

Ok when you put it lik that yes you have a point.

AlecEiffel

You could apply for the work you are most likely to find employment in soonest, and once you are in there use some of your money to train in another area you are interested in.

If its office work you want to do you could do a computer course at a local college in the evenings to boost MS Word/Excel skills (if you need to). If you find yourself out of work for a little bit is there any local charity that needs help in the office to let you build up office based skills/experience?

Where I last worked I was an office worker for my company (in supply chain) but was based at the logistics provider's premises. Their warehousing staff had some scope to move from picking and packing roles to still doing warehousing roles, but using the computers more also - maintaining spreadsheets, updating the order systems etc. You could maybe try to push for that sort of thing to widen skills and maybe land more office based work in the future.

pinpin

27yearoldmale wrote: »

Is there a particular industry you are interested in?

Unfortunately, nothing I can think of

AlecEiffel wrote: »

You could apply for the work you are most likely to find employment in soonest, and once you are in there use some of your money to train in another area you are interested in.

Thanks.
That's more or less exactly what my plan was, although like I said, even that is proving to be much harder than I thought it would be!
There appear to be zero jobs like that advertised my employers. Agencies seem to hoover them all up, but i'm currently having no joy with agencies, either. Maybe they've got literally thousands of guys like me on their books and there's too much competition for every single role ?
I also don't know what 'other area' I would look to train in

AlecEiffel wrote: »

If its office work you want to do you could do a computer course at a local college in the evenings to boost MS Word/Excel skills (if you need to). If you find yourself out of work for a little bit is there any local charity that needs help in the office to let you build up office based skills/experience?


Where I last worked I was an office worker for my company (in supply chain) but was based at the logistics provider's premises. Their warehousing staff had some scope to move from picking and packing roles to still doing warehousing roles, but using the computers more also - maintaining spreadsheets, updating the order systems etc. You could maybe try to push for that sort of thing to widen skills and maybe land more office based work in the future.

My job before my last one was more or less what you seem to be describing.
I was a warehouse assistant, but also used excel spreadsheet to reflect deliveries that had been made that day, and also some data entry. Doesn't seem to cut any ice when looking for office work, though.

Derwent

If you ultimately want to do office admin work then you don't need to spend a fortune on training. A qualification like ECDL would be a good and relatively cheap qualification to have as it would demonstrate you have acquired skills in computer based work and usage of various software packages. You can do the ECDL course from home for about £100 or thereabouts.

gettingready

Not sure how ECDL would help? I used to run and ECDL Centre, did not rate this much at all to be honest - are employers looking at it at all?

I would think more office based experience - perhaps some voluntary work on days off from current job, some admin experience would be more helpful...

Derwent

gettingready wrote: »

Not sure how ECDL would help? I used to run and ECDL Centre, did not rate this much at all to be honest - are employers looking at it at all?

Quite a lot of major employers (e.g. Tesco, NHS) recognise ECDL as a qualification. If nothing else it demonstrates computer literacy which is a requirement for almost every office based job.

I_Can_Haz_Job?

Have you thought about going for an English teaching course? If you have savings you can get onto an intensive 4-week one for around £1k. I did my CELTA last summer and went on to teach as a volunteer as well as picking up paid lessons at a night school. It's a tough course but most people pass it and it's a ticket into work abroad - if you fancy that. My plan was to swan off to China and teach then return to the UK when the job market had improved. Thing is, by teaching as a volunteer I hit the radar of the charity sector headhunters and got a full time job out of it. It's worth thinking about - you seem articulate enough and you don't really need to have any experience in teaching or even an academic background - age doesn't even matter.