If you're unemployed, how many jobs have you applied for so far?

Dreamscometrue

I make mine to be around 106 since the end of Jan when I became unemployed. I'm applying for various things and not just those with an exact match for my (very niche) IT background. 

moneysavinghero

Not unemployed currently but when in that position i usually go for the quality over quantity approach. Invest my time applying for jobs that i think i am suitable for rather than just everything and anything. Trying to come up with 106 reasons why i want to work for x company when actually i don't care who i work for i just want a job would be a pain.

The less jobs you apply for the more time you can devote to each application. Also reduces the depression from receiving 106 thanks but no thanks letters (or more realistically these days not hearing back anything at all).

But then this will depend on how desperate you are for the money. If you need the money then applying for everything may be the route you have to take.

Dreamscometrue

I need the money so I'm applying for the good, the bad and the ugly! I am applying for jobs where I have transferable skills. There's next to nothing going (anywhere worldwide!) in my usual IT role but I am retraining. I'd be happy to do anything in IT (if I have the skills), office admin (temp/contract) or customer services (temp/contract). I've applied for lots of roles as I've seen lots of jobs advertised that I'd be happy to do. I have a bit of retail, customer services and general office admin experience gained recently during gaps in my contract IT work. I have spent a lot of time working on my CVs and cover letters. I have over 20 years worth of experience as a career contractor in IT. Anyhow, I shall plough on, I'm certainly not depressed yet.

[Deleted User]

Was unemployed 15/02/21 to 22/02/21 applied for about 20 jobs easily as one click that week. Had 3 interviews lined up that week I converted 2 out of 3. I was relived a parcel company said no thanks although on the 11th I would have said that was where I was most destined for (2 were preset from week prior to the 15th I will admit) seems the people struggling to get and out of work 1yrs plus are those who just don’t drive. Anyway I took the job offer with the one job applied for I honestly wouldn’t thought amounted to much, but which turned out the saviour, the spark was there as my application was viewed though have ended in a ‘very young’ cultured company (yes I’m positively granny to them!) with a 60 mile round trip each day but that was the only one permanent from outset and quick start in a job where I thought I could mostly do the role and wasn’t the only new person starting so that has been of massive comfort. One good thing about corona is it probably has put a stop to group interviews for those that didn’t like them! I see a lot about NHS work being very possible when I’ve seen other people saying about struggling to find work on another social media site. 

TELLIT01

Deleted User said:

Was unemployed 15/02/21 to 22/02/21 applied for about 20 jobs easily as one click that week.

If you are applying for 20 jobs with one click you are wasting the potential employers time as you should modify the CV dependant on the requirements of the role.

yksi

I definitely echo the quality over quantity thing. But something I suspect you are starting to realise is that the job market is in the poo right now. I found myself in a not-dissimilar situation a couple of years ago and ended up casting my net wider, but still putting in real effort to tailor every application, and applied for "anything". I ended up with a "second job" in a supermarket and found it suited me so much better than my main job that I left that to concentrate on the supermarket. It's the best employment decision I ever made because now I am in junior management and love what I do. I never expected to be back in retail 26 years after I left it.

NaughtiusMaximus

TELLIT01 said:

Deleted User said:

Was unemployed 15/02/21 to 22/02/21 applied for about 20 jobs easily as one click that week.

If you are applying for 20 jobs with one click you are wasting the potential employers time as you should modify the CV dependant on the requirements of the role.

This exactly.

I work for the NHS and have been involved in the shortlisting/interview process for a number of office based jobs the past year or so, it's not uncommon to get over 100 applicants for 1 position, on 2 occasions over 200 people applied.

With those sort of numbers you can easily get 40 or 50 people who are suitable for interview but that's totally impractical, realistically we have to narrow it down to 6-8 maximum. One of the ways of doing this is by seeing if there is any indication the applicant has tailored their application to the role, many are obviously generically worded applications designed to cover a range of different jobs, virtually guaranteeing they won't get an interview.

This isn't just an NHS/public sector specific thing, my sister sits on interview panels at one of the bigger banks, they do exactly the same for posts with high numbers of applicants.

Dreamscometrue

I've certainly been tailoring my CVs and cover letters. I have a master CV for IT jobs matching my background (very rare) and I use various other CVs for other IT roles (I don't have all of the skills required but I'm working on it). I have other CVs and cover letters for general office jobs, customer service jobs and other roles where I feel my skills are transferable. I'm seeking permanent/contract/graduate (I'm a mature student) /placement IT roles but only temporary/contract roles in other areas. I have to admit that I have very little experience of permanent work as I've almost exclusively worked as a career contractor contracting out my services through my own limited company. Most of my work has been in London but I've worked in many locations across the UK and overseas. I'm feeling that I'm viewed as underqualified for half of these roles and overqualified for the other half! I am beginning to feel very frustrated.

alittlelife

It is very frustrating, I sympathise!

A lot of these types of jobs are recruited for via agencies. What recruiter relationships do you have? It might be worth reaching out to a couple directly to ask what they have on their books. There's a lot of IT vacancies going up here in central Scotland at the moment, but as I say it's usually via agencies. 

Dreamscometrue

alittlelife said:

It is very frustrating, I sympathise!

A lot of these types of jobs are recruited for via agencies. What recruiter relationships do you have? It might be worth reaching out to a couple directly to ask what they have on their books. There's a lot of IT vacancies going up here in central Scotland at the moment, but as I say it's usually via agencies. 

I'm on good terms with several agencies and if anything crops up that's a match for my skills they'll be straight on the phone. Those jobs are now rare so I'm retraining with the aim of getting my foot in the door in another area of IT. I'd also be more than happy to do something outside of IT for a while if anyone will have me!

alittlelife

Dreamscometrue said:

alittlelife said:

It is very frustrating, I sympathise!

A lot of these types of jobs are recruited for via agencies. What recruiter relationships do you have? It might be worth reaching out to a couple directly to ask what they have on their books. There's a lot of IT vacancies going up here in central Scotland at the moment, but as I say it's usually via agencies. 

I'm on good terms with several agencies and if anything crops up that's a match for my skills they'll be straight on the phone. Those jobs are now rare so I'm retraining with the aim of getting my foot in the door in another area of IT. I'd also be more than happy to do something outside of IT for a while if anyone will have me!

Without knowing the specifics it's hard to advise, but could you still do within IT but less specialised? - eg architecture, design lead, systems or data analysis? I suspect you have a lot of transferable skills.