Job hunting is proving so stressful

Toomuchdebt

There's nothing that I can do(I have plantar fascitis so can't stand up for hours on end any more which means I can no longer work in a shop) with hours that I can manage(looking for school hours as I'm a single parent and don't have anyone to look after the kids outside of school hours...there is an after school club for the 2 youngest but it's £6.50 an hour for one child so doing that for more than 2 days would be too expensive.) I have 5 children at 3 schools so that makes it really complicated. So many jobs I have seen starting at 9-but the school doesn't have a breakfast club and I can't leave a 6 and a 4 year old alone in the playground to get to work for 9. Even supermarkets have nothing suitable-all I have seen in my area are different hours every day.
Why is it so hard now to find something?Previously I have done data entry,basic admin,worked in 2 banks(they won't take me now due to being in a DMP) and various shops. I was also a cleaner but that was evenings and my eldest almost failed her A levels due to me being at work and her looking after the kids instead of revising.Luckily she did pass and got a university place. My next one down is now doing A levels so I won't risk her future the same way.
I'm doing an IT course with Learn Direct and plan to do a bookkeeping course next but if I don't find something before May I am stuffed as they say.I'm reasonably intelligent, flying through the IT course(passed level 1 in 3 days instead of the 5 it's meant to take) but being a single parent nobody wants to take a chance on me

Babbawah

I've always been a great believer in spirit over ambition & attitude above ability.

Where I come from, we engineer our own destiny.

Toomuchdebt

Babbawah wrote: »

I've always been a great believer in spirit over ambition & attitude above ability.

Where I come from, we engineer our own destiny.

Call me dumb but I actually have no idea what this is meant to mean. Perhaps you're trying to tell me it's my fault for having children and being a single parent to which I will say that I didn't know in advance that my ex was going to cheat on me and go off with another woman. Perhaps you're telling me my attitude stinks? I honestly don't know.
All I know is I don't know where to turn next to try and find a job.

lost_for_words

I know how you feel mate. In a different situation to you but hate the job hunting and applying for jobs I know Im not going to get. I would rather work for my jsa as long as they paid for my fares. But im in a different position than most.

FBaby

In the end, unless you are prepared to make sacrifices/take chances, you are likely to struggle. You need to look at solutions rather than restrictions. You say you don't want your DD to suffer like the other, although your eldest did fine. Could you consider jobs after your youngest bed time in the evening so it doesn't affect your DD so much?

You say there are no breakfast club at the school but have you investigated if there are independent clubs that do offer it for that school? My DS was allocated a school which didn't have any breakfast/after school club but an local charity did offer the service, along with mini bus drop off/pick up to all the local primary schools that didn't have a club of their own.

Otherwise, you could look at childminders. Surely you will be entitled to tax credits. Not easy to be a single working mum, but you have at least 2 already independent children, so you should be able to make it work, especially if only looking for a part-time job.

Babbawah

Toomuchdebt wrote: »

Call me dumb but I actually have no idea what this is meant to mean. Perhaps you're trying to tell me it's my fault for having children and being a single parent to which I will say that I didn't know in advance that my ex was going to cheat on me and go off with another woman. Perhaps you're telling me my attitude stinks? I honestly don't know.

All of the negatives I expected, missing a few, but there you go.

Toomuchdebt wrote: »

All I know is I don't know where to turn next to try and find a job.

You misunderstood the "engineer your own destiny" bit.

Perhaps your next job will be offered to you on an MSE forum plate !

Babbawah

lost_for_words wrote: »

I know how you feel mate. In a different situation to you but hate the job hunting and applying for jobs I know Im not going to get. I would rather work for my jsa as long as they paid for my fares. But im in a different position than most.

I'm in exactly the same place as you matey. If I sit here long enough, then surely it will all come to me, eventually.

mattcanary

Babbawah wrote: »

I'm in exactly the same place as you matey. If I sit here long enough, then surely it will all come to me, eventually.

Get off your superior high horse

Takeaway_Addict

Toomuchdebt wrote: »

There's nothing that I can do(I have plantar fascitis so can't stand up for hours on end any more which means I can no longer work in a shop) with hours that I can manage(looking for school hours as I'm a single parent and don't have anyone to look after the kids outside of school hours...there is an after school club for the 2 youngest but it's £6.50 an hour for one child so doing that for more than 2 days would be too expensive.) I have 5 children at 3 schools so that makes it really complicated. So many jobs I have seen starting at 9-but the school doesn't have a breakfast club and I can't leave a 6 and a 4 year old alone in the playground to get to work for 9. Even supermarkets have nothing suitable-all I have seen in my area are different hours every day.
Why is it so hard now to find something?Previously I have done data entry,basic admin,worked in 2 banks(they won't take me now due to being in a DMP) and various shops. I was also a cleaner but that was evenings and my eldest almost failed her A levels due to me being at work and her looking after the kids instead of revising.Luckily she did pass and got a university place. My next one down is now doing A levels so I won't risk her future the same way.
I'm doing an IT course with Learn Direct and plan to do a bookkeeping course next but if I don't find something before May I am stuffed as they say.I'm reasonably intelligent, flying through the IT course(passed level 1 in 3 days instead of the 5 it's meant to take) but being a single parent nobody wants to take a chance on me

No one really cares if people are single parents, there are so many around now its common place. You are however looking for a very specific job based on a specific working pattern and working abilities...this does mean of course the number of jobs suitable is going to be greatly reduced.

All you can do is keep plugging away but you may at some point have to compromise on your limitations.

Toomuchdebt

There aren't any breakfast clubs that will take children to a totally different school. Yes of course I will get tax credits but if you think you can organise 5 children to 3 different schools by getting childminders then I will be in shock. My eldest goes to a school which is 90 mins walk away. There are buses from town(20 minute walk) but they are £45 a month. My 2 youngest go to school 50 minute walk away and there are no buses. My 2 middle ones go to a school 25 minutes walk away so they are fine.That leaves the 16 year old to get to school-of course she can walk but at this time of year she would be walking in the dark for the first part of the journey which I don't think is a good idea. The little ones-50 minutes is a little too long for them especially as my youngest has issues with his hip which means walking that far will be painful. After school causes problems too-my eldest either has clubs(related to her A levels such as drama) or she works part time. My 6 year old has choir whereas my 4 year old doesn't. I can't see a childminder hanging around in the car for an hour like I do. My 14 and 11 year old would be able to walk home from school no problem but the area we are in isn't great and I don't like the idea of them being home alone.
Perhaps I should put them all in care so I can work 40 hours a week??Or work all night and then magically be wide awake and get them all to school on time.
I'm not expecting to have someone offer me a job here and whoever suggested that-that was just plain stupid. I thought someone might suggest some job areas I hadn't thought of, or you know, just a friendly bit of support to say it's ok something will come along.I forgot that people on here like to be judgemental towards single parents, people on benefits and people who dare to only look for part time hours!

Toomuchdebt

Takeaway_Addict wrote: »

No one really cares if people are single parents, there are so many around now its common place. You are however looking for a very specific job based on a specific working pattern and working abilities...this does mean of course the number of jobs suitable is going to be greatly reduced.

All you can do is keep plugging away but you may at some point have to compromise on your limitations.

Trouble is there's not much I can compromise on-if I take any standing jobs I will end up losing my job from being in too much pain to do it. The hours are the only thing I can compromise on and if it was after school club once or twice a week then I could manage I think but not 5 days a week-plus the after school club is only from 3:15 till 5pm, so no good any later than that. I have applied for several night shifts but haven't been successful. I'm not just looking for school hours and expecting to find something in those hours alone. I found a bank job that would have been ideal but I failed the credit check so was rejected. The other jobs I have no experience or need further training hence me doing the bookkeeping course as soon as I have finished the IT course.There seems to be a lack of part time jobs of any description at the moment.