Job hunting is proving so stressful

Toomuchdebt

Lieja wrote: »

One of my friends does the online bingo hosting too, she said it was really easy to get into and she can put her feet up with a cuppa while working! She works for Tombola, but there are loads so it might be worth looking through each site to find how to apply.

Are you registered with any agencies? Lots of temp admin work and it will help boost your CV. If you're not already, then register with a few and something suitable could pop up, and there might be an opportunity for longer term work.

My OH has terrible problems with the same condition as you with his feet. Granted, what works for one won't work for another but he never got on with the prescribed exercises or insoles either. He managed to figure out for himself that bike riding worked wonders in terms of building the muscle, and he buys particular boots that he finds really support his ankles/feet. He's worked 40+ hours per week as a doorman for about 7 years now and although he still has pain, it's not enough to stop him working.

Good luck, OP. Hopefully something will come along for you soon. Trick is just to be as proactive as possible and not let the rejections get you down.

The only problem with agencies and temp work is that if I get less than the 16 hours a week and have any kind of period when I'm not working it will mess with the benefits too much and any kind of change takes ages to sort out as you know.#
I um can't ride a bike*blush*-the last time I tried I fell off and hurt my knee really badly.
I'll take a look at these bingo sites you mention-I've never looked at them before at all let alone thought of working for them.

topaztiger1983

Toomuchdebt wrote: »

When my heel was really bad I couldn't take more than 2 steps without being in pain, but a year on and exercises every day and walking is ok-it's purely the standing-I think because all the weight is then on the heels whereas when I walk it's not all the pressure in one place all the time.

Ah, I see

My heels are now completely better & I stand all day in my job (except for one 30 minute break) & I no longer have any pain at all

Sometimes the reason for the pain can be somewhat psychological, I am not saying that you have mental health problem, but the mind is a strange thing that we still don't completely understand, mine was apparently partly due to my depression & anxiety problems

Toomuchdebt

Fbaby-yes that's exactly it-it's trying to work out how to juggle everything and keep it all going that's the hard part-this is why I am looking for work preferably in school hours-it's less upheaval for everyone, no extra childcare costs...I do get that beggars can't be choosers though so I'm not only looking for those hours-I just haven't been lucky yet-I did manage to send off 3 applications yesterday. The job market here seems very quiet at the moment-only about 8 new jobs being posted a day other than the specialist kind of jobs that I can't do.
At the moment I'm honestly not that fussed about a career tbh-I'm not qualified for anything anyway so would have to do training of some kind-I wish I'd gone for what I wanted to do way back when I was still at school but was advised not to do it and listened to that advice.Things would be so much easier if I hadn't had the 2 youngest children(no it's not that I regret having them I just didn't realise how much harder it would be being alone with the age range I have). I've applied for a few night care work positions-I'm a night owl anyway and can stay awake all night quite easily and then sleep while the kids are at school, and that way I can minimise the time that my 16 year old has to look after the little ones as it's an 8:30pm start for that.
It just all feels so complicated and because I've had so many gaps in my employment it makes it harder to get into a job.
There is only one girl who lives near us who goes to the same school as my 16 year old and they have walked together -but an hour and a half is a long way when it's raining.My daughter often walks back after school as a group of them walk into town and then it's only 20 minutes from there.They all get lifts in the morning from different areas and get buses back-you have to go into the centre to get any kind of bus-there's no direct routes-such a stupid system here.I know once I find something we'll just have to deal with whatever the hours are.
I dropped off my CV at specsavers on Thursday too as I know they're looking for staff and no experience required-I'm hoping I could cope with that as I know there's some standing but they do sit down with customers and walk around too. I'm hoping that the more weight I lose the more it helps my heel.I've lost 4.5 stone so far.
I actually only have about 3 friends here in my town-I'm considered a bit of an oddity at school due to having 6 kids and being a single parent and not having lots of money.

Toomuchdebt

topaztiger1983 wrote: »

Ah, I see

My heels are now completely better & I stand all day in my job (except for one 30 minute break) & I no longer have any pain at all

Sometimes the reason for the pain can be somewhat psychological, I am not saying that you have mental health problem, but the mind is a strange thing that we still don't completely understand, mine was apparently partly due to my depression & anxiety problems

I wish it was that. One heel got better very quickly-the left has taken a long time and still causes me pain. The doc suspects my left may be worse because I had right knee trouble some time ago and he thinks I stood on my left all the time to avoid knee pain and it's damaged the tendon more.I'm hoping losing more weight will help.

sitesafe

Toomuchdebt wrote: »

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!

You know what, I would just enjoy your children, stuff worrying about society and whether they will judge you or not. I was in the same position as you and that was with only one child (ex husband didn't live up to his responsibilities so for 18 years didn't pay child support). I desperately wanted a career to give my child a better standard of living, did the college thing, blah blah ... got a job, spend more money on childcare and taxis (yes, if i'd have got a bus it was an hour's walk to the relevant bus stop (so an extra two hours a day on top of the child minding bill and an extra two hours not seeing my child). I was spending more on childcare and transport than anything else and our standard of living was by no means better plus our relationship suffered. All because I wanted to prove myself to society. And now I look at people I know that didn't go out to work and stayed at home and do I seem happier than them, do I have more than them? Not at all. If I had my time again I wouldn't put my neck out. It must be a horrendous struggle for you with kids at different schools, with so many people thinking its normal to drive their kids to school every day it's easy for them to lack understanding of your situation. People can be quick to judge, but they often judge by comparing what they have - they might have an ex who pays maintenance and helps out with the kids practically, or a very supportive and local family to help out, they might drive or have done well out of a divorce and have been left with a nice house to live in. but doing it on your own, really on your own, is hard. I wish you all the best.

Toomuchdebt

sitesafe thank you for your support. I don't have a choice though about whether I work or not-my Income Support finishes in May and I can't afford to lose £280 a month. If my ex(the dad of the younger 2) was reliable I could do weekend work somewhere but he can go weeks without seeing the kids-he had them last week from Sat afternoon to Sun afternoon,hasn't seen them at all this week,won't see them next week
I don't want to wait until May to look for work though as I don't want to get to the point where I'm forced to take something totally unsuitable-that's why even though my heel isn't 100% I'm looking for work now before the situation gets desperate, and doing courses to try and improve my chances.

topaztiger1983

On the weight loss issue, this does also help things with the PF as it takes the pressure off of the heels when standing, I found that mine got better after losing a bit of weight too (never officially told by doctor that mine was PF though, but from the symptoms it was most likely that)

topaztiger1983

Toomuchdebt wrote: »

sitesafe thank you for your support. I don't have a choice though about whether I work or not-my Income Support finishes in May and I can't afford to lose £280 a month. If my ex(the dad of the younger 2) was reliable I could do weekend work somewhere but he can go weeks without seeing the kids-he had them last week from Sat afternoon to Sun afternoon,hasn't seen them at all this week,won't see them next week
I don't want to wait until May to look for work though as I don't want to get to the point where I'm forced to take something totally unsuitable-that's why even though my heel isn't 100% I'm looking for work now before the situation gets desperate, and doing courses to try and improve my chances.

I did my voluntary work in a shop standing & walking all day, even with the heel pain, sometimes you just gotta put up with a bit of pain to get where you want to be, no pain, no gain

I am currently suffering from "Tennis Elbow" & I am still working through the pain, I can't afford the time off, I was forced to take 2 weeks off last month due to Tendonitis in my right wrist & thumb (could not work as it was all strapped up, if it wasn't I would have been at work the next day)

sitesafe

Toomuchdebt wrote: »

sitesafe thank you for your support. I don't have a choice though about whether I work or not-my Income Support finishes in May and I can't afford to lose £280 a month. If my ex(the dad of the younger 2) was reliable I could do weekend work somewhere but he can go weeks without seeing the kids-he had them last week from Sat afternoon to Sun afternoon,hasn't seen them at all this week,won't see them next week
I don't want to wait until May to look for work though as I don't want to get to the point where I'm forced to take something totally unsuitable-that's why even though my heel isn't 100% I'm looking for work now before the situation gets desperate, and doing courses to try and improve my chances.

Good constructive thinking, doing the courses to improve your chances there At least there are plenty of online courses around so you don't have to worry so much about childcare etc.

duchy

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OP take a look at arise and firstsource - both do call centre work based at home for large well known companies. Provided you have a room you can work in without child or animal noise creeping in - they might suit.