I can’t get a job

Jobhunt

I left my last job.I have tried everything to get a job. I’ve had 5 interviews, no joy . Some of that was bad luck, some just not able to answer the questions well . I’ve been to see national careers, another employment service and I’ve signed up to agencies.I can’t even get temp work.I used to be quite good at interviews.

I have a degree and strong admin experience. What can I do now ? Should I apply for jobs such as retail etc, I’m wondering if they will go for me. I am so depressed and I’m wondering if it’s because I now have a gap on my cv.

TELLIT01

Have you requested feedback from the interviews? If not, why not and if you have received feedback what did they say?

Jobhunt

Hello. Yes I’ve requested feedback from three . Got it from two. One said I did well but it was very competitive. The only said my answers were good but not focused on the area( didn’t have any direct experience in it ) .

The other ignored my request ( and I’ve seen they tend to not give it). One was such a shambles ( role play , test etc) I didn’t ask .

[Deleted User]

Has long has it been? Can you truly afford part time if say you've been full time. If people were really put off by gaps, you and me would simply not get interviews.

Changing careers only works if you are certain. I got a job offer in a care home a week ago, offered there and then today I am not even yet in receipt of any written confirmation let alone start date - I've just been there to provide alternative proof of address as HR rejected the first causing even more of a delay. Gosh an industry so under staffed and bogged down with (rightful) red tape it cannot process applications quicker.

I've turned down a job because in 8 weeks time I don't want to be in the same position and I can't bare to let another employer down when temp'ing isn't going to cover gaps anymore, so very personally I don't think you should be quick with random alternate moves. Even temporary employers require commitment and the old sage of getting a job just to look for another can seriously land you in boiling water.

I've had 5 interviews too - one of these last week I arrived at the company premises 14:25 and was driving away by 14:36 - slightly baffled by my 5 minutes interview but as the interviewer said we're not that organised and when the lady who's maternity leave cover was the job showed me out it turned out she'd been there 8/9 years so it was good to find reasons for the brief meeting as I rather get the impression then the employer had no interview experience.

Anyway nice task for me today remind the latest former workplaces, they will receive reference request. Should have done this ages ago but it took a run-in with blast from the past to want to do this.

Keep going.

68squared

Seriously consider doing suitable voluntary work; if you might consider retail work, then working in a charity shop actually is seen as positive by more and more employers, and as nowadays so many interviews consist of those annoying competency questions, a few weeks in a charity shop could easily give you real life examples of dealing with an unhappy customer, dealing with a difficult situation, resolving a conflict or complaint, team working, bla bla bla (show what I personally think of such questions but heh ho)

Consider what free online courses you can do to refresh your qualifications. Degree or no degree, some employers like to see recent examples of study or professional development. There are about 50 level 1 and 2 courses currently available which can be accessed through your nearest college, one of these government funded schemes.
"Courses are fully funded for people who have lived in England for the past three years and are classed as “home fee paying students”, are aged 19 yrs or over and are not currently accessing any other government funding."
Choose the totally free option and ignore any fancy certificate fees.

Keep ploughing through the various job boards, and applying for roles that you could do even if you don't really want that sort of work. If you get interviews then at least it gives you more interview experience.

Finally, look after your mental health. If you start to get down, this can reflect on your interview success. Make sure that outside the job of looking for a job, you are still doing something that you enjoy doing, whether it's a creative hobby such as pottery or wood turning, gardening, hill walking, photography, dancing etc etc. And keep up your social contacts. Please don't get down about it, these last few months have been hard on all jobseekers because of the uncertainty fostered by the prolonged brexit procedure coming at the end of the year meant that there were very few employers creating new roles so you were in competition with me and 5 million others looking for better work prospects. Things are already beginning to improve and it's not the end of January yet. Keep hoping

googler

In what subject is your degree?

"One was such a shambles ( role play , test etc) I didn’t ask "

I'm reading Mike Massimino's biography at the moment, and in the chapter just gone, he describes his college days, doing "oral exams" in front of the Thesis Committee. Essentially, he would have to stand up at a chalkboard, outline his thesis, and field questions from the committee, who by all accounts, would put the candidates through the wringer. He describes moving into shared lodgings with another student described as 'freakishly smart', and to cut a long story short, this guy put together a mock thesis committee for Massimino and others to practice in front of. This put them through their paces and toughened them up for next time.

Do you have any friends or associates who would help you role-play?

Practice, practice, practice.

Years ago I was applying for an IT position, and had to sit an aptitude test. Research indicated the general format it would take, and a week or so in advance I got a trio of quiz books with this type of test, and worked through them in the days preceding.

yksi

Do an internet search for likely interview questions and prepare answers. In particular, you'll need a story of when something went wrong at work and how you solved it - they nearly always ask this, although they change the wording (Tell me about a challenging situation... Explain how you resolved a conflict... Describe a time when things went wrong...) and if you are customer-facing, you will probably need to describe how you deal with an angry customer.

Just FYI the stories can be completely made up! But you need to practice telling them so that you can answer this question when it comes up in the interview.

Another common one is to describe your biggest weakness, which is awful, but just choose something that WAS an issue but that you are now working on, something mild like you used to want to do it all yourself but now you're very good at asking for help when you need it.

The more you have practiced the common Q&A, the more prepared you will feel, and you will look more confident at the interview.

And remember, you are who you are. You can't be anyone else. Much of it's out of your control, so just try to remember that you're here to show who you are and it's up to them whether they like you Good luck.

pickledonionspaceraider

Jobhunt wrote: »

I left my last job.I have tried everything to get a job. I’ve had 5 interviews, no joy . Some of that was bad luck, some just not able to answer the questions well . I’ve been to see national careers, another employment service and I’ve signed up to agencies.I can’t even get temp work.I used to be quite good at interviews.

I have a degree and strong admin experience. What can I do now ? Should I apply for jobs such as retail etc, I’m wondering if they will go for me. I am so depressed and I’m wondering if it’s because I now have a gap on my cv.

If you are starting to struggle financially, then apply for everything

Maybe you are being too picky?

Retail will not necessarily turn you away, I transitioned once

lloydl26

I'm in a similar situation, I was laid off from my last job. Been out of work for 6 months now, applied for 100s of jobs, not just ones I'm experienced in and lower paid jobs so not being picky.

In that whole time I've had 2 interviews, each of which I was told I was too experienced for the job and they were worried I'd get bored.

Not sure where to go from here.

yksi

lloydl26 wrote: »

I'm in a similar situation, I was laid off from my last job. Been out of work for 6 months now, applied for 100s of jobs, not just ones I'm experienced in and lower paid jobs so not being picky.

In that whole time I've had 2 interviews, each of which I was told I was too experienced for the job and they were worried I'd get bored.

Your CV should be tailored to the job you're going for and this tells you that it wasn't - leave off the higher qualifications if you are applying for an entry level position and re-write the previous job experience to tone down the level of work that you were doing - for instance say that you helped supervise the other staff rather than managed the department.

It's referred-to as dumbing down, but it's not, it's making sure that you match yourself to the type of person that the employer would like to employ.

I would also suggest getting in touch with agencies so that you have work, any work at all, because at six months' gap this will be starting to put future employers off.

lloydl26

yksi wrote: »

Your CV should be tailored to the job you're going for and this tells you that it wasn't - leave off the higher qualifications if you are applying for an entry level position and re-write the previous job experience to tone down the level of work that you were doing - for instance say that you helped supervise the other staff rather than managed the department.

It's referred-to as dumbing down, but it's not, it's making sure that you match yourself to the type of person that the employer would like to employ.

I would also suggest getting in touch with agencies so that you have work, any work at all, because at six months' gap this will be starting to put future employers off.

Thanks yksi - I paid for to have my CV professionally rewritten and I do amend it to the jobs I'm applying for but wasn't aware of the dumbing down aspect for lower graded roles.

Whilst I've been out I've set up my own business, I don't get a lot from it, will take 2 - 3 years to develop a good salary I imagine. I haven't put this on my CV, I was worried that employers would fear I'd be looking to jump ship as soon as it picks up. Do you have any thoughts on this?