I am broke

andygb

remorseless wrote: »

Thank you! Another 'new' thing to learn about the Uk!
I think it has a lot to do with main stream work ethics (must be a problem here!) as I have never been asked that question anywhere else unless it was as a social chit chat rather than a factor determining my suitability for a job.

I suppose if they ask about it, it must be a problem with employees taking jobs they cannot commit to it! How bizarre!

I used to do a 2 hour each way commute, and managed to have a better attendence record than the people who could take a tube or even walk to work.
I used to find that many people who lived inside London used to go out on the "razz" every night and not think about the consequences. I f you have to get up at 6 every morning then it tends to focus the mind IMO.

patman99

I guess that how far out the employer is willing to recruit from is based on the wage on offer. For instance, I live on the outskirts of Colchester and when looking for work, had a job in Southend added to my UJM list by my advisor.
The wage was NMW, but in order to avoid a sanction, I applied. The employer responded to my application with the following email response -
"Thank you for your application. However due to previous levels of staff turn-over when employing at NMW from beyond a 15 mile radius of our base, we will not be proceeding your application any further".

When I printed this off and showed it to my adviser, she was not surprised, but told me that it was worth applying still as it counted towards my weekly requirements.

Had the wage been £12 p/hr or above, then I guess I may well of made it to interview.

Also, as others have said, review your cv and remove anything that looks 'odd' like the 'ethical hacker' entry. This alone may well scare-off employers due to the bad press surrounding hackers in general.

Btw, I look forward to purchasing your app from the Play store and promise to leave constructive feedback.

Who knows, you may end up creating a few more apps that do what others don't already and end up making enough money from them to not have to actually work for anyone else ever again.

HappyMJ

andygb wrote: »

Both of us are unemployed and JSA is our only source of income.
We do not get housing benefit, and our mortgage will only be paid for a couple more months.
Our council tax is 38% of the full figure, so not "almost nothing".

The reality is very very harsh when you are facing it.:(

In your case you can get SMI paying the interest on your mortgage for a couple of years or until you sell and move into private rental where HB would cover the rent.

If you sold you could live on your equity for a period of time and when that drops below £6,000 you will be on full benefits covering your rent, living costs and most of your council tax.

You are not exactly broke you just have a cash flow problem. The reality for you if you can't find work is to sell your asset and live on the proceeds. The OP can't do that.

PasturesNew

Is your English holding you back? You're clearly not a native speaker and maybe your word choices are holding you back. Has anybody English checked over your CV?

evillhomer

My English is good.... if i do mistakes on forum, this is because i got used to a lot of abbreviations and Internet slang words since i was 10 years old. I write very fast. I am sure it is not that, some british persons even told me that i speak a clean english. It is easier for me to speak than write.
patman99 i finished the app ( it calculates perfectly using the taxcode, hour rate, marriage allowance etc). The problem is that i made it in python and it will take some time until i can find a solution to transform it into .apk for android.
Anyway after 3-4 hours reading about taxes in this country i finally fully understood the system. It is and it is not fair in my opinion. It is hard to check them if they assign you with the right code. I found out that i paid in the past some taxes for nothing. HAHA so ironic
And the answer for other questions:
- yes i dress smart. I look great with a suit
- Certified Ethical Hacker is the name of certification, in my cv is Penetration Tester or Security Analyst (which is a little bit too much for my experience but sometimes i use it)
Now to explain more.... 50% of the reason why I wrote the initial post was because being alone is harder to pass stressful moments. I just wished to have someone to go to a beer or a coffee, to communicate, to tell someone my pain.
20 hours / day in front of this laptop will get me crazy. I am a sociable person, but in this country people classify me by nationality not how I am.
I haven't come here for the money..... i came here because i like british culture. I wanted to live here and see it with my own eyes. BAD MOMENT , guess I should have came here 10 years ago.
I wish you all a good night and a nice weekend (1 day left )

PS: I remembered something. I tried to contact local authorities to offer a free service. I told them that I couldn't find anything related to IT in their magazine or newspaper and i can build a forum or website were people from this area can ask question or whatever they want related to IT and i will send them solutions...for free. IT support for free. I know there is google, but a normal user doesn't know how to protect himself from malicious "solutions". They never answered and I know why, an advertise on the last page can cost up to 2000 pounds. what a joke

Flyonthewall

Some employers may just see the word hacker and worry/bin your CV. Doesn't matter that it's a genuine qualification and that is the name of it. Hacker = bad to most people.

Employers glance through CVs and hacker will be the word that stands out.

Anyway, you can build apps, right? You can build websites? You can hack?

You were freelance, why are you no longer doing that? If you struggle to find new clients try going back to some old ones, see if they have any more work.

You're bound to get some spam on free websites. It doesn't cost the spammers anything either. However, that doesn't mean you should stop trying. Just make sure to stick to legit sites.

Offer all your services as well, not just web building. You may find it best to do that in different posts. You have three things to offer though so don't stick to just one.

You can also try social media and going direct to companies.

Look at sites, see if you can spot potential issues with security or any bugs. If you can build them and hack them you should be able to spot the issues. Contact the site and offer your services.

Why not build some apps and sell them or put ads on them? Even if it's not an original idea, doesn't mean you can't make a little bit of money from them. Obviously don't just copy another app, but you can get ideas from existing apps.

You could even start a blog, perhaps about the knowledge you have on these topics. You could get some money that way and, you never know, you may find someone contacts you to do a job for them.

Just to add, while your English may not be the worst, it's certainly not the best either (sorry). First thing employers see if your CV and cover letter and that's in written English. Online where you've written adverts it will also be in written English. If not written very well it will put people off.

It's not so much the abbreviations and Internet slang that are the issue (although do be careful there when writing professional things such as your CV). It's the way in which you word certain things and also a few words which I'm not sure if they are typos or you just put the wrong word (like "an advertise" should be "an advertisement" or just "an advert" or you could say "to advertise").

jobbingmusician

evillhomer wrote: »

My English is good.... if i do mistakes on forum, this is because i got used to a lot of abbreviations and Internet slang words since i was 10 years old. I write very fast.

some british persons even told me that i speak a clean english.... I look great with a suit

The phrases in red are a case in point. They are simply not idiomatic, the first is also ungrammatical, and they not obviously internet slang or typos. It would be worth you getting a native English speaker to look over your applications. One who can write grammatically - this seems to be a dying breed. (This is said to be helpful rather than critical, though, and I do understand that it's done you good to rant on the forum! )

[Deleted User]

Your grammar is appalling and reads like 'inglish' I think spelling mistakes are more tolerable online than poor grammar

I work in IT, and have done for 10 years. Have you used Linkedin? This is used by loads of IT recruiters now.

You are coming across as an 'IT generalist'; no one hires those. Find a speciality and target it. At least be a C++ coder, or a SQL guy, or something..

tomtontom

Unless applying for a specialist role, I wouldn't put Penetration Tester on your cv. Taken out of context it will get you noticed for all the wrong reasons!

culpepper

http://www.tomorrows-people.org.uk/about-us

You could try these people. They are a charity that help people to apply for work.
They can evaluate your CV and help with the wording and content.
There are several areas of London where they have offices.

They aren't a job center or employment agency , you still have to find your own places to apply to but they can be a massive help in the application process for people such as yourself who are beginning to struggle .