What type of jobs would not require an interview or pay much attention to a CV?

Candyapple

I did a quick search for entry level sales jobs and all of them were for graduate recruits. Unfortunately that's how it is these days. Where everyone and their dog has been pushed towards going to uni and getting a degree, it means even the entry level jobs - employers are asking for a degree as a prerequisite for applying. I saw a job advertised the other day for a receptionist for an estate agents and they specified about candidates needing a degree in any discipline.

What kind of jobs are available for unskilled/qualified workers?

• Carers
• Cleaners
• Factory line work
• Some retail shops however most of them usually hire young people and/or ask for relevant experience.

A low entry office admin job possibly, if it was a local small business. Aside from those, you have trade work but that usually requires being an apprentice and going to college at the same time. Sadly these type of schemes are generally aimed at school leavers to circa 21.

I think you are going to have to set your bar a lot lower and aim at trying to get a voluntary role and then hopefully with that experience it might make your transition back into paid work easier.
 

pinpin

Agree with CandyApple
I even remember making a thread about that issue a year or so ago.
I was applying for trainee/entry level jobs feeling excited, but they all wanted me to have a degree. Some wanted previous experience in the role, too.
I always thought the idea of a 'trainee' job is that you don't need experience and degrees and they TRAIN you, but times have changed.
My dad didn't even believe me until I showed him the ads i'd been applying for!!

So now I just pack boxes and load lorries.

Candyapple

So true pinpin. Times have definitely changed drastically and not for the better. So many people from the older generation who never had to face these adversities don't believe younger people when told about the difficulties. Things aren't made any easier when the salaries quoted and the hours per week are ridiculous meaning vast quantities of people living in NMW poverty topped up Tax Credits. It's no wonder so many people are better off not working and on benefits, than they are in work. Especially when you factor housing/rent into the equation.

Even London is no longer a safe bet, not when you factor in travel costs, time to travel to work etc.

I feel sorry for the OP, not everyone has the intelligence to go to uni and that's not a bad thing. However back in the day there were jobs for the unskilled and they were usually jobs for life or where you could at least work your way up e.g. bank teller, work your way up to manager etc. but to even get a foot in the door now would usually involve going the graduate recruitment route and then facing several telephone interviews whereby if you pass each stage you move onto the next one and then if you make it to a face to face interview you will have to spend half a day being interviewed / role playing etc, repeat this at least 2-3 times before being shortlisted if you are lucky and this whole process taking at least 3 months in total all for 1 job.

There is so much competition out there for every job and then employers require candidates with previous experience and basically for people like the OP who are willing to work but for whatever reason they have been out of the work market for a long time it's a never ending vicious cycle of being passed over in favour of someone else because employers don't have the time or want the hassle of finding out why this candidate has been out of work for so long, especially when 100 other people have applied and haven't.

makeyourdaddyproud

I would understand the difficulties of your plight if the question was thus: What type of jobs would not require an interview or pay much attention to a CV, and one which is not hard graft at minimum wage and didn't require me to learn Polish?

TBagpuss

OP, I think the suggestion to look locally is a good one - look for ads in local shops etc, as well as more 'formal' jobe seeking. If you see an ad, treat it like a proper job applicatin - e.g. note down the cotnact number and detaisl, then call when you are someone quiet, where you can speak about your experiecnce etc. If the ad says to call in to speak to a manager (or equivalent) decide whether you are appropriate dressed and presented for a job intereviewe at hat moment and if not, go home, change, spruce up and then go back, so you create a good first impression.

You may be a little late now to pick up any of the many, many temporary jobs available around Christmas.

In the short term, volunteering is a good way to demonstrate to employers that you can commit to a work routine, it can help you to brush up on workplace skills and can lead on to paid work.

In the mean time, keep applying. You may find that in the fist instnace you need to lok at jobs which are below your level of qualification etc.

Cleaning might be somehing to consider - in many cases it is possible to be fairly flexible with hours, bith in how many you work, and in what times of day, which you may find helpful if you want to combine it with building more relevant-to-your-long-term-aims experience through volunteering.

In terms of having a possible interest in working in mental health - do you curently have a support wporker or counsellor at all? have you spoken to them? Obviously your own experiences would be valuable but it might be worth considering whether you might be a bit too close to it? Would working with people going through similar dificulties risk triggering your own issues, for instance?

Short term you could look into volunteering for Mind http://www.mind.org.uk/get-involved/volunteering-participating/ is there is anything suitable near you.

Hedylogos

Candyapple wrote: »

I did a quick search for entry level sales jobs and all of them were for graduate recruits. Unfortunately that's how it is these days. Where everyone and their dog has been pushed towards going to uni and getting a degree, it means even the entry level jobs - employers are asking for a degree as a prerequisite for applying. I saw a job advertised the other day for a receptionist for an estate agents and they specified about candidates needing a degree in any discipline.

What kind of jobs are available for unskilled/qualified workers?

• Carers
• Cleaners
• Factory line work
• Some retail shops however most of them usually hire young people and/or ask for relevant experience.

A low entry office admin job possibly, if it was a local small business. Aside from those, you have trade work but that usually requires being an apprentice and going to college at the same time. Sadly these type of schemes are generally aimed at school leavers to circa 21.

I think you are going to have to set your bar a lot lower and aim at trying to get a voluntary role and then hopefully with that experience it might make your transition back into paid work easier.
 

Sounds about right. I constantly hear and read of how a degree is required for even entry level jobs - very frustrating. I just don't cope well in the traditional study sense, so for e.g. all the classroom learning, test taking and essay writing. I enjoy self learning from home and in my own time, reading about all the various things i have interests in. I also have interests in so many areas that i do not have a singular subject that i have more interest in than others, especially not interests that are aimed at guaranteed employment if i was to study and graduate university.

I really enjoy music and have done the odd bit of producing from my laptop, and writing a few songs occasionally, but i never had a strong enough motivation to pursue when i was young. I probably would have done okay in music because i have been told i have a good singing voice, i am able to write songs (haven't done it for a while due to my mindset/depression and general mental health). I have thought about going to college/university to study music, but i just feel that i am too old to enter the industry now. There are people who have said that my age isn't a problem, but i don't know...

I have looked at the college courses at my local community college, but they all seem like general interest/hobby-esque courses, rather than actually being genuine qualifications aimed at helping a person into employment. I know my weakness is maths, so maths bases jobs are kind of out of the question. I do plan to go back to college and gain my GCSE maths and English next year, but would have to go on the pre-GCSE course beforehand to prepare me. Until then i just have to try and figure out my future i guess.

Hedylogos

Candyapple wrote: »

So true pinpin. Times have definitely changed drastically and not for the better. So many people from the older generation who never had to face these adversities don't believe younger people when told about the difficulties. Things aren't made any easier when the salaries quoted and the hours per week are ridiculous meaning vast quantities of people living in NMW poverty topped up Tax Credits. It's no wonder so many people are better off not working and on benefits, than they are in work. Especially when you factor housing/rent into the equation.

Even London is no longer a safe bet, not when you factor in travel costs, time to travel to work etc.

I feel sorry for the OP, not everyone has the intelligence to go to uni and that's not a bad thing. However back in the day there were jobs for the unskilled and they were usually jobs for life or where you could at least work your way up e.g. bank teller, work your way up to manager etc. but to even get a foot in the door now would usually involve going the graduate recruitment route and then facing several telephone interviews whereby if you pass each stage you move onto the next one and then if you make it to a face to face interview you will have to spend half a day being interviewed / role playing etc, repeat this at least 2-3 times before being shortlisted if you are lucky and this whole process taking at least 3 months in total all for 1 job.

There is so much competition out there for every job and then employers require candidates with previous experience and basically for people like the OP who are willing to work but for whatever reason they have been out of the work market for a long time it's a never ending vicious cycle of being passed over in favour of someone else because employers don't have the time or want the hassle of finding out why this candidate has been out of work for so long, especially when 100 other people have applied and haven't.

So what is the answer? I am thinking i may need to start my own business somehow because if i don't go to university there's no other option really. I need a job and money first though, but even then i have no idea of any kind of business route to go down. It's hard times if you don't have a piece of paper that says you achieved a '2:1' or even a '2:2', hell i wouldn't be surprised if people with a 3rd are in twice as good a position as i am.

Hedylogos

Oh yeah, i saw a advert in the window of the local town Library mentioning volunteering there. It wasn't open today, so tomorrow i will go in there and enquire about the volunteering opportunities.

theoretica

Music is one of the fields where if it sounds good, you are good, and people care less about qualifications. With the right sort of flamboyance and right area even busking can be fairly lucrative.

Candyapple wrote: »

I feel sorry for the OP, not everyone has the intelligence to go to uni and that's not a bad thing. However back in the day there were jobs for the unskilled and they were usually jobs for life or where you could at least work your way up e.g. bank teller, work your way up to manager etc.

I think there might be a bit of rose tinted glasses - the people who had the intelligence and drive to work up from bank teller to manager are probably the people who now would be able to do well at university. The unskilled jobs for life were there, but many of them were long hours, low paid and backbreaking and the quality of life they bought could be very grim.

DKLS

Nothing wrong with volunteering, I now have a career and a "good job" according to my mother!

I started off volunteering at a hospice.I can recommend that, if you think you have problems, working at a hospice will put them into perspective, and it lead directly onto paying work.

Even now if I feel like a good moan about something, remembering some of the patients I had the good fortune to meet sorts me out.