What more can be done?

Frizz1986

I'm posting for my husband as im trying to help him find work.
Background is that he was a teacher for 6 years (science) and generally liked it but the workload was increasing and he always landed in temp roles so didn't have security.
Unfortunately he ended up without a job due to some false references (these have now been corrected but too late to save the job he had been offered and no we can't pursue legally) The whole thing made him question the career and he decided to leave the profession. I support this whole heartedly as he was growing to hate it and it was having a big impact on his mental health.
Well fast forward and he has been unable to find work. It's been a year now and nothing. He's applying for everything from admin to night shifts at supermarkets and no one wants him.
He started an Accountancy qualification from home but no one wants him for that either as no experience.
He's signed up with jobcentre and has sent cvs and letters to local firms offering free services for him to get experience. He's also called and registered with agencies and offered to work as a volunteer to get more experience.

What else can we do? Where else can give us help? He needs work but it feels like we are running out of options!

Takeaway_Addict

Can he not do bank work teaching wise or whatever its called whilst he looks?

He may not like it but it brings some money in and gets him out of the house.

[Deleted User]

Interview practice - is there a saying of the wrong things at interview? if it were me this would be so easy I'd be trying to sell myself over the employed candidate in that I were available immediately as selling point. (Maybe people feel threatened initially by teachers alike as wrong as it is)

More importantly - If not already ask the Jobcentre to arrange to see someone from the National Careers Advice Service. I remember the guy I saw when arranged by my JC a few years ago now was them self an ex teacher!

A lot of companies I notice increasingly are offering nothing more than spectatulative applications via job boards in all very weird so it's a case of not believing in every single job advert too sometimes as that is also soul destroying in the "what am I doing wrong over thinking" over the ad for the job which didn't really exist anyway. Jobs that get taken down of a job board less then 48 hours later is pretty insulting or incompetent so perhaps your fella is just going through unlucky patch.

Previous positions shouldn't define anybody.

asajj

Is he doing AAT? Perhaps AAT has some sort of system where it connects students and employers. He can look for accounts payables/receivables type job as a starter point in accountancy/finance.
The market isn't great at the moment. As above, National Career Advice can be useful to contact too. Good luck !

Frizz1986

He has spoken to careers advice and they set up a meeting to sort his cv and gave him some websites to keep an eye on and that was it.
He's not had any interviews at all, not one.
He can't go back to teaching. He did supply for a bit but the effect on his mental health was huge and it made me concerned about his state of mind.

All the agencies he's met with keep telling him he doesn't have experience but they'll see what they can do and then nothing. If he calls to check up they just say they are still trying for him but they don't have anything suitable at the moment.

Frizz1986

And yes he's doing AAT so I'll get him to look into if they offer any assistance.

bugslet

Deleted%20User wrote: »

Jobs that get taken down of a job board less then 48 hours later is pretty insulting or incompetent .

Last job we advertised online was up for little more than 48 hours - if you get too many applicants, then there is no point leaving it up for longer as you won't be getting back to people.

gettingtheresometime

I know you said he didn't want to go back into teaching but has he considered tutoring ?

Flyonthewall

If he's happy to volunteer and needs experience then have a look at https://do-it.org/

It's got various different volunteer positions and you just apply for them as you would a paid job.

YouAsked

I was given a CV to look over recently from an ex-teacher and the first thing I noticed was that there was no attempt to draw out experience from teaching which could be transferred and it was full of things which would only make sense to other teachers.

I say this all the time, but don't just send the same CV off to each job - tailor it (and covering letters/applications) accordingly!

We all know teachers have an ever increasing amount of admin - your husband should be highlighting what he did in a way that makes it transferrable to any environment - reconciling data, looking for trends, keeping accurate records, preparing reports for management etc.

If he's going for customer service roles then he should be highlighting the experience from teaching - communicating, disemminating information at appropriate level, handling sensitive situations, diplomacy etc.

Don't say things that are specific to teaching - so instead of saying "experience of SIMS" , say industry specific software such as SIMS or quite simply "database which contained individual records, used for management reporting" or whatever. Make it relatable.

He'll be DBS checked, have had safeguarding/Prevent training etc - highlight this as commitment to CPD, keeping abreast of sector developments etc.

I also say this a lot: don't assume that a recruiter will read between the lines. If a CV says "managed a budget", I want to know how big the budget was, HOW you managed it etc. SImilarly, bland statements such as "motivated individual" do nothing for me - HOW is that motivation demonstrated. Hit me in the face with the "how" and the evidence - because if you're not doing that, someone else will be.

Oh and lots of job sites have maximum characters for covering letters - think of what the 2-3 key things are that can be concisely stated in a small character limit.

But keep going. There are LOADS of skills that teachers acquire that would stand them in good stead for any job, the trick is to highlight them.

Good luck!

TBagpuss

If he isn't getting any interviews at all then it may be that he needs to consider the content of his CV and covering letters. Is he taioloring these to each job as he applies?

As YouAsked says, he needs to show what experience and skills he has which are relevant / transferrable to the jobs he is looking for.

its also worth thinking about what it is/was about teaching which made him unwell. To what extent are those things also likely to be true of (say) private tutoring, working as a teaching asistant? Would they apply if her were looking for temporary teaching work or looking specifcilly for work in a 6th Form college, for instance?

How is he dealing, in his CV and cover letters, with the career change and gap? It may be that for the 'shelf stacking' jobs he is seen as overqualified and therefore unlikely to stay long.

In terms of the change of carer, It might be worth his looking for more junior roles such as reception or admin work in an accountancy office - he can then explain that he is looking to obtain formal qualifications and to have the opportunity to work his way up internally.