Finding it very difficult to find a job - nearly 26yo graduate with little experience

sevva888

dimestorediamond wrote: »

I'm going to agree with this poster. OP, it's not the achievements you've made, it's the short periods of employment and the gaps. It does make employers consider how much of a team player you are. You're clearly confident and driven, but it can come across as too much and without evidence, really. Plus, you have got to look at it from an employer's perspective - they are probably wondering how a person can achieve so many things in such a short time frame.

Also, this online income? Is that not a job worth putting on your CV or is it something like betting?

It was two projects and a responsibility over handling financial analysis, and I was working Mon-Fri from 9-7pm every day (which is normal in many industries).

Regarding the online income, it is matched betting (a betting method where you work to eliminate risk) and long term investments portfolio which I have gained a 8% profit on over half a year now through my picks. I don't think I can really explain matched betting without scepticism over whether it is gambling because of the fact there is the term "betting" in there. Even though, I am managing spreadsheets for my accumulators and have developed methods for ensuring I extract maximum value from every bet I do. As you will see if I showed you the spreadsheets, I am pretty efficient at spreadsheets.

However, all in all I have earned over £7000 doing it in 12 months so I am not complaining as an unemployed man, I have saved and invested all of it. HMRC are also cool with it after I explained the legalities so all is good. The key thing that marks out this online form of income is the consistency of the income, every month I am producing £600-800 on average, initially it was £300-£500 but that was more because my bank was limited and I did not have as much to invest.

Re Team Player comment? Yeah, I can see that. I could say that I worked very well with person A or person B but I cannot prove that they actually liked me like I can prove the other things because well , there is no evidence that they actually wanted to work with you. You cannot prove those things with a powerpoint, screenshot or a spreadsheet.

Really, these graduate companies can hire lower risk workers as they have the privilege of choice. They may even have less achievements but the companies would be willing to bet on them because they are a clean slate who may have long term profit value (as assets to the company) with high tolerance for !!!!!!!! from managers. Which is why I am screwed for these jobs because there are hundreds of people applying. People don't really give second chances in this climate.
I might get a shot at entrepreneurial startups and the like but I have little knowledge of that area so it is something I will have to read into. I could get legal experience and then ask for references from those places, also it gives me a plausible alibi of why I didn't want to continue working in IT Procurement. Mini-pupillages don't actually pay except in some cases, however it gives me a respectable reference.

getmore4less

dimestorediamond wrote: »

I'm going to agree with this poster. OP, it's not the achievements you've made, it's the short periods of employment and the gaps. It does make employers consider how much of a team player you are. You're clearly confident and driven, but it can come across as too much and without evidence, really. Plus, you have got to look at it from an employer's perspective - they are probably wondering how a person can achieve so many things in such a short time frame.

Also, this online income? Is that not a job worth putting on your CV or is it something like betting?

It is not about the achievements(companies that employ smart people see it all the time) untill the op understands that they are not going to get anywhere.

sevva888

getmore4less wrote: »

It is not about the achievements untill the op understands that they are not going to get anywhere.

Ok, then what do I say? I am curious. It clearly does not matter what I did there. You told me earlier in the thread to tell them the truth of why I was not retained and then I told the thread of the truth of why and how I would be comfortable with telling the interviewer. Of course, we know that is not really going to be a successful approach given the circumstances, but I am not really arriving at a clear answer.

happyandcontented

As law graduate I understand that you will have the confidence that degree brings, however, it is a fine line before that (without the work history to accompany it) slides into arrogance.

Your posts (structure and content) make me wonder whether you have crossed that line. Achievements are all well and good but employers - all employers, want someone who fits in with their current team and gets on with people. A side effect of a law degree is that it produces many quite "prickly" characters best suited to life on their feet in a courtroom rather than working at a lower level within a team. It fosters the need for autonomy and bridles at being "answerable". Not everyone can be Rumpole of the Bailey however, and it is sometimes really necessary to "suffer fools" if not gladly, but at least with good grace to get on in a working environment. It strikes me that this is an area which causes you problems. It needs to be addressed.

I cannot see why paralegal work is not a real possiblity, and from there you can rise or move spheres into any industry which values negotiating skills and conflict resolution experience.

I don't know where you are based but all the big city firms have these departments and most are staffed with law graduates getting that hands on experience. So, there are opportunities out there in all regions of the country. However, in those places your law degree will be the norm so will not mark you out as anything special. You need to show aptitude, tenacity, committment, and dare I say it, a smidgeon of humility (at the appropriate times) to climb the ladder.

custardy

Considered Royal Mails graduate scheme?
They are hoovering up graduates at the moment as flavour of the month,fresh mindset etc.
Good starting wage,support network,development structure etc.

sevva888

happyandcontented wrote: »

As law graduate I understand that you will have the confidence that degree brings, however, it is a fine line before that (without the work history to accompany it) slides into arrogance.

Your posts (structure and content) make me wonder whether you have crossed that line. Achievements are all well and good but employers - all employers, want someone who fits in with their current team and gets on with people. A side effect of a law degree is that it produces many quite "prickly" characters best suited to life on their feet in a courtroom rather than working at a lower level within a team. It fosters the need for autonomy and bridles at being "answerable". Not everyone can be Rumpole of the Bailey however, and it is sometimes really necessary to "suffer fools" if not gladly, but at least with good grace to get on in a working environment. It strikes me that this is an area which causes you problems. It needs to be addressed.

I cannot see why paralegal work is not a real possiblity, and from there you can rise or move spheres into any industry which values negotiating skills and conflict resolution experience.

I don't know where you are based but all the big city firms have these departments and most are staffed with law graduates getting that hands on experience. So, there are opportunities out there in all regions of the country. However, in those places your law degree will be the norm so will not mark you out as anything special. You need to show aptitude, tenacity, committment, and dare I say it, a smidgeon of humility (at the appropriate times) to climb the ladder.

I will follow up on your advice on your post. Legal experience is tough to get these days, but I will have to build up some degree of momentum now. Starting from CAB if necessary like some of my peers did.

Then down the line I can say, plausibly, that other industries were not the right for me after trying it out. (I.e. IT/Tech)

I am based in the north east and there are legal firms/barristers chambers here, however, I would like to move to a bigger city with more opportunities.

Somewhere down the line if I get the paralegal work, I may fork out the 15k or so required to do the LPC.

(Btw, I did read that 50% of BPTC grads fail to achieve pupillage after paying around 15k for their qualification, that is a truly daunting statistic)


Yes, I have a biggg mountain to climb.

sevva888

custardy wrote: »

Considered Royal Mails graduate scheme?
They are hoovering up graduates at the moment as flavour of the month,fresh mindset etc.
Good starting wage,support network,development structure etc.

Worth a try, happy that I did not invest in their shares a while back like a friend of mine, but definitely worth a try for the grad scheme. Nothing to lose, really.

getmore4less

I said try convince us, with the truth and the story, they are different, you need to tell us the truth and the story you can use that does not lie but portrays someone that is hireable.

I gave you a hint with what lesson have you learnt, you failed that.

currently you come across as a liability which is the wrong end of the risk scale most employers will accept.

Think of this as an interview, I believe you are capable, now make me want to hire you...

happyandcontented

Lots of opportunities here, but some, maybe most, will inevitably, want the experience you don't have. Major on any negotiating/conflict resolution skills that you have in your application. Missing time on a CV can always be accounted for by "travelling or gap years!" I wouldn't put matched betting on as a source of income.

Another avenue which many law grads explore is Ombudsman Services. Quite a few offices nationwide and they actively seek out those with law degrees to become assessors.

sevva888

custardy wrote: »

Considered Royal Mails graduate scheme?
They are hoovering up graduates at the moment as flavour of the month,fresh mindset etc.
Good starting wage,support network,development structure etc.

Hah, just realised your username "custardy" may just be a play on the words "custody".