Friend never worked a day in his life

Chloe_L

Good evening all,

I have a friend who recently turned 26, and who has never had a job or as much as unpaid work experience. His mother unfortunately has wrapped him in cotton wool all of his adult life, and he spends most of his days playing PC computer games. Anyway, since his recent birthday he has said he determined to "turn it around" and has asked me for advice. Normally I am not bad at writing CV's for people but on this occasion I just don't know where to begin as there is literally nothing to write about.

I have explained to him that his chances will likely be best in supermarket work, or working in a fast food restaurant, to gain some experience so that he can at least use this to put on his CV and progress up the ladder a bit. This is how I done it and many people I know. However unfortunately he seems to have an idea that this type of work is "beneath his intelligence" and is not willing to consider it. He seems to think he can walk into a £25,000 year job, which is obviously unrealistic.

I want to help the guy out, but I am feeling as though he isn't wanting to help himself, no matter how much he talks about "wanting to change". Other than mastering the art of playing PC games it is very difficult to say what his skills are.

Am I wasting my time even trying to give advice here?

Gingernutty

Is he claiming benefits?

Are there any Job Clubs or a JobChange he can go to?

He could try volunteering or something to get a reference, I suppose....

DCFC79

Gingernutty wrote: »

Is he claiming benefits?

Are there any Job Clubs or a JobChange he can go to?

He could try volunteering or something to get a reference, I suppose....

If volunteering is beneath his intelligence then theres no helping him.

xapprenticex

yeah you're wasting your time, it should be him spending his time on this, not you spending your time.

If he was proactive then fair enough but he is currently in a dream world and at 26 i cant really fell sorry for him.

I will go as far as to say, his best friend and his worst enemy is his mother and as long as he is in his bedroom being looked after by mommy, he wont have any real incentive to wake up. unfortunately for most of us, mommy wont be there forever so he has hard times coming if he doesn't sort himself out.

If he wants a start he needs to go to an agency that offers basic unskilled work. He can start from there then work towards whatever it is that he wants.

Chloe_L

Gingernutty wrote: »

Is he claiming benefits?

Are there any Job Clubs or a JobChange he can go to?

He could try volunteering or something to get a reference, I suppose....

Yes he has been claiming Job Seekers Allowance since being entitled to it, I think since he dropped out of college. A Job Club/Job Change isn't something I have thought about so I will look into that and pass on the information, thanks. I have suggested volunteering however predictably his response towards that is not positive. If only he was receptive to the idea it would be a step forward to getting out of the rut he is in.

DCFC79

Dont go spending too much time helping him, he has 2 options either carry on as he is or do something about it and drop this whole beneath his intelligence idea.

xapprenticex

Chloe_L wrote: »

... I will look into that ...

Why? Tell him about it and let him look into it. He's good on computers so im sure he can use google.

gettingready

Chloe_L wrote: »

Good evening all,

I have a friend who recently turned 26, and who has never had a job or as much as unpaid work experience. His mother unfortunately has wrapped him in cotton wool all of his adult life, and he spends most of his days playing PC computer games. Anyway, since his recent birthday he has said he determined to "turn it around" and has asked me for advice. Normally I am not bad at writing CV's for people but on this occasion I just don't know where to begin as there is literally nothing to write about.

I have explained to him that his chances will likely be best in supermarket work, or working in a fast food restaurant, to gain some experience so that he can at least use this to put on his CV and progress up the ladder a bit. This is how I done it and many people I know. However unfortunately he seems to have an idea that this type of work is "beneath his intelligence" and is not willing to consider it. He seems to think he can walk into a £25,000 year job, which is obviously unrealistic.

I want to help the guy out, but I am feeling as though he isn't wanting to help himself, no matter how much he talks about "wanting to change". Other than mastering the art of playing PC games it is very difficult to say what his skills are.

Am I wasting my time even trying to give advice here?

Hmmmmm

Games Tester - £12p/ h
Premium Job From Modis IT Resource Management
Recruiter: Modis IT Resource Management
Listed on: 10th July
Location: Feltham
Salary/Rate: £12
Type: Contract
Start Date: ASAP
Reference: 368740-A_1499680944

:A

System

gettingready wrote: »

Hmmmmm

Games Tester - £12p/ h
Premium Job From Modis IT Resource Management
Recruiter: Modis IT Resource Management
Listed on: 10th July
Location: Feltham
Salary/Rate: £12
Type: Contract
Start Date: ASAP
Reference: 368740-A_1499680944

:A

He will probably moan that the games are not worthy enough of his attention :rotfl:

Geoff1963

Any job is what you make of it.
If he volunteers, that is zero money ; so he can't say the wage is too low, because it isn't a job.

Chloe_L

I have spoken to him briefly tonight, and whilst he was the one who approached me initially for advice, he appears to be touchy regarding the subject if I put forward ideas, which has led to a bit of a falling out, which is kind of upsetting. He needs to grow up before he makes himself completely unemployable.