Long term unemployed looking for suggestions on jobs (WFH/Remote?)

PeteSouthgate72 · 8 January 2022 at 11:06AM

Sorry in advance if this post sounds a bit all over the place.

I've been self employed online poker player since the age of 18 to 32 living mainly abroad in Thailand. My situation is unusual for potential employers as sometimes I feel poker is misunderstood and I'm immediately marked as a "gambler". I'm hesitant to mention it at all on my CV, however if I don't mention poker there will be a gap of over 15 years to account for! I don't have a degree from University and only have a little bit of work experience that's on my CV from when I was late teens in a clothing store.

I'm in a position in my life now turning 35 this year where I'm fortunate enough to not HAVE to work because I've managed to create a stream of passive income from investments which generate roughly £40,000/per year.

Just got married and have relocated back to the UK from Thailand and now considering my options for work. I'm unsure whether trying to jump into full time employment would be best or perhaps trying to get some part time experience would be better at first.

My preference for work would be to find something which I could do online from home as I know I can be productive from my prior experience with online poker. In the last few years I've kept busy by taken it upon myself to set up multiple online groups for sports (via Meetup) in which I'm the main admin and I've also organised small fundraiser events through sports for some animal shelters and children's homes.

I've always been pretty "handy" with computers so I've just enrolled onto a I.T Security Course via the Government Online Bootcamp starting this coming week and I've started doing a CS50 course in my free time. Going down the route of I.T may make sense for the flexibility options of some roles being WFH. The last month I've applied for some entry level administrator/data entry roles hoping to get an offer so I can get some recent employment history onto my CV. My reason for applying for these roles were that I thought doing some admin for social groups could be applicable, but I've had no luck getting anything back which I'm assuming is due to not having any recent employment history.

Realistically what chances would I have getting job offers and what should I be aiming at when looking at listings? I've created some job alerts for Entry Level or 1st Line Support Helpdesk/Technician jobs but haven't started applying as of yet since I'm waiting on the Bootcamp. I believe my skill sets that I've gained from poker would be relatable to risk management/problem solving/strategising.

Would there be any recommended certifications that may improve my chances of getting WFH roles (online chat agent/customer service role?) or even getting a foot in the door within an office environment as a second choice?

Cheers

NCC1701-A · 8 January 2022 at 11:45AM

What's changed since last July?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6283962/long-term-unemployed-looking-for-suggestions-on-jobs-wfh-remote

MovingForwards · 8 January 2022 at 11:56AM

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6283962/long-term-unemployed-looking-for-suggestions-on-jobs-wfh-remote#latest

It's all about how you word your CV as to whether you'll get a look in. How have you done yours? Have you listed the skills you've picked up from poker eg organised, thinking on feet, adapts to change etc?

Look up government / public sector admin jobs and read the job spec, that's the kind of wording you need to meet for any office role. See how you can relate the spec to your background and tweak your CV.

There's OU short courses which are worth a look at and the right agency would see the potential due to your background.

I know you specifically want homeworking, but you need something, anything on your CV to show you can work in a non-poker environment.

There's a lot of us without degrees who have managed to build a good career / second career with a couple of GCSEs and progress due to experience, others do a job as it pays the bills.

PeteSouthgate72 · 8 January 2022 at 1:17PM

NCC1701-A said:

What's changed since last July?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6283962/long-term-unemployed-looking-for-suggestions-on-jobs-wfh-remote

Got stuck around the other side of the world due to Covid, finally back in the UK now and deciding to pick things up!

PeteSouthgate72 · 8 January 2022 at 1:23PM

MovingForwards said:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6283962/long-term-unemployed-looking-for-suggestions-on-jobs-wfh-remote#latest

It's all about how you word your CV as to whether you'll get a look in. How have you done yours? Have you listed the skills you've picked up from poker eg organised, thinking on feet, adapts to change etc?

Look up government / public sector admin jobs and read the job spec, that's the kind of wording you need to meet for any office role. See how you can relate the spec to your background and tweak your CV.

There's OU short courses which are worth a look at and the right agency would see the potential due to your background.

I know you specifically want homeworking, but you need something, anything on your CV to show you can work in a non-poker environment.

There's a lot of us without degrees who have managed to build a good career / second career with a couple of GCSEs and progress due to experience, others do a job as it pays the bills.

I've put a CV together myself trying to highlight skill sets which would transition over from poker to a working environment. Maybe I'll post a link to my CV (personal details hidden!) here if that's allowed on the forum.

This seems really good advice thanks, was under the impression public sector admin roles are hard to get without a degree but I guess I won't know without applying. I haven't looked at the OU yet but seems like that would be a logical solution to getting some type of certifications.

Savvy_Sue · 8 January 2022 at 2:37PM

One thing which occurs to me is that if you can manage a little longer without additional income, then voluntary work for a charity could give you the experience you need, plus a potential source of future jobs. Google volunteer plus your local area to find opportunities.

FWIW I used to work at a large charity with a semi-professional poker player. May have mentioned this on your previous thread. Their theory was that if they NEEDED to win, they'd lose, and they couldn't afford to live like that. This is before you could do this online. Sometimes they'd roll in after an all night session, but their work remained up to standard: accuracy and consistency were essential!

getmore4less · 8 January 2022 at 5:32PM

What about hospitality to get back into the work on the CV, PAYE, and some regular work.

MovingForwards · 8 January 2022 at 5:45PM

I wasn't necessarily saying go for a public sector, you'd probably struggle with how they do things but not the actual work, just use the job specs as a way of creating your CV, same with supermarkets, general retail, hospitality etc.

You can post up your CV, however just a few examples from it would be enough for us to see what style you've opted for and the type of wording.

Own_Worst_Enermy · 8 January 2022 at 6:15PM

PeteSouthgate72 said:
Would there be any recommended certifications that may improve my chances of getting WFH roles (online chat agent/customer service role?) or even getting a foot in the door within an office environment as a second choice?
Cheers

I don't know if there are. I am in receipt of 1 of 2 offers to be a live chat/email support agent (they don't take on nationally you have to live in the same county as the induction is very much non remote so please don't message me) but it's the very 2nd e-commerce company I've heard to switch the 'phones off' and go to live chat only......

In fact I don't think of it as a job offer as it has been made clear you have to pass an assessment end of week 1 to continue in employment. The assessment that it's tests what I cannot be sure. ie. typing speed or product information retain.

The interview to answer questions could have taken an hour but the employer say's an hour is for those it seems unexperienced in job interviews so there are employers out there who will help the unexperienced at interview.

If you want to be a chat robot; then look at e-commence companies aka online retailers.

To be honest it as hard starting in a group of 20 and then you end up as 5 - the why, never to be underestimated in my book.

gwynlas · 8 January 2022 at 7:21PM

Whilst you could describe your poker playing as working from home I would think the mindset of engaging in something that you enjoy would be different to actual entry level work.. Is there anythng else that you are good at or have an interest in that might lead to paid work? The other option is taking on employment at minimum wage purely for the social interaction or buildin up your CV.

DoublePolaroid · 8 January 2022 at 7:51PM

A very capable memory; a strong feel for probabilities, statistics and maths in general; intuition; the ability to read people; experience of thinking clearly under pressure. I’d probably find some way of signposting on your CV in a concise fashion how these qualities developed as a result of your previous occupation. Having sifted through many hundreds of CV’s in my time, I’d probably grant a poker player (whose CV was otherwise well written and concise) an interview, if for no other reason than for the prospect the interview might be slightly less dull than the average ones tend to be.