Turned down for yet another job.
- Thread starter Converge
- Start date
Yeah, im being general, but its just what i know i've been good at on group projects and previous experience in retail. Maybe it's more what i aspire to be, not literally what i can get right now. It's not as if i've listed my life's work experience on here either.
Leon.
You've answered the question yourself mate. Gotta ditch any reference to the disability. The world of work's cruel and competitive and the slightest disadvantage will bum you out. Getting a job's a masterclass in illusion and appearance. Recruitment is a right old caper particularly these days and you like everyone else will need to resort to every trick in the book.
Your job application has one objective - to land an interview. You're up against every other Tom, Dick and Harry and in my experience it's amazing what people will resort to. CVs, profiles - call 'em what you will, almost everyone concocts and embelishes to gain advantage be it lying about non-existent qualifications, claims of skills and experience they don't have or overly customising to tailor their application to match the job requirement.
Here are a few tips for the old CV. All positives. No negatives. Periods of employment can be blended out. Easily done. Compress the unemployment gaps by expanding the employment periods to approximate months rather than the old twaddle of specifying exact dates of employment. Specific dates are old hat these days.
Disguise dismissals as voluntary initiatives to move on to new challenges!! Fill embarassing gaps with plausible positives - education and training courses etc. Example - Distance learning course in chauffeuring/etiquette theoreticals for expats working in North America. (that one needs work) A preparatory course in industrial electronics (convincing - will anyone know enough to risk asking you the difference between delta and star 3-phase waveform?? Doubtful..)
Human Physiology and it's relevance to industrial environments.. (Plausible)
Foundation course in architecture and facility management (means you've replaced the loo float valve, done some wallpapering and reset an MCB circuitbreaker).
Here's a funny by way of example: One geezer at work told everyone he was a computer consultant. On closer examination he told me he'd worked occasional Saturdays cash-in-hand while signing on! He realised I'd rumbled him when I asked him what 39 was in hexadecimal and how many bits in a byte. I assume he thought I was talking about cheese sandwiches... He had, however, blagged his way into the job...
Creativity will be needed to conceal longer term gaps in employment. This one would sound fairly convincing to the average HR oik: Statistical Survey Technician - Mycological Science Faculty, Hirobo-Breur (UK), PO 422638, Cerne.
Hmm.. that one's even convinced me!! Might bear that one in mind next time I'm lookin'...
You've answered the question yourself mate. Gotta ditch any reference to the disability. The world of work's cruel and competitive and the slightest disadvantage will bum you out. Getting a job's a masterclass in illusion and appearance. Recruitment is a right old caper particularly these days and you like everyone else will need to resort to every trick in the book.
Your job application has one objective - to land an interview. You're up against every other Tom, Dick and Harry and in my experience it's amazing what people will resort to. CVs, profiles - call 'em what you will, almost everyone concocts and embelishes to gain advantage be it lying about non-existent qualifications, claims of skills and experience they don't have or overly customising to tailor their application to match the job requirement.
Here are a few tips for the old CV. All positives. No negatives. Periods of employment can be blended out. Easily done. Compress the unemployment gaps by expanding the employment periods to approximate months rather than the old twaddle of specifying exact dates of employment. Specific dates are old hat these days.
Disguise dismissals as voluntary initiatives to move on to new challenges!! Fill embarassing gaps with plausible positives - education and training courses etc. Example - Distance learning course in chauffeuring/etiquette theoreticals for expats working in North America. (that one needs work) A preparatory course in industrial electronics (convincing - will anyone know enough to risk asking you the difference between delta and star 3-phase waveform?? Doubtful..)
Human Physiology and it's relevance to industrial environments.. (Plausible)
Foundation course in architecture and facility management (means you've replaced the loo float valve, done some wallpapering and reset an MCB circuitbreaker).
Here's a funny by way of example: One geezer at work told everyone he was a computer consultant. On closer examination he told me he'd worked occasional Saturdays cash-in-hand while signing on! He realised I'd rumbled him when I asked him what 39 was in hexadecimal and how many bits in a byte. I assume he thought I was talking about cheese sandwiches... He had, however, blagged his way into the job...
Creativity will be needed to conceal longer term gaps in employment. This one would sound fairly convincing to the average HR oik: Statistical Survey Technician - Mycological Science Faculty, Hirobo-Breur (UK), PO 422638, Cerne.
Hmm.. that one's even convinced me!! Might bear that one in mind next time I'm lookin'...
Associate
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- 28 Mar 2004
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- 1,992
woohoo! runners united. I've started applying for some now as well, London only though so will have to relocate. have you tried grapevine website?
Soldato
- Joined
- 22 Feb 2008
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- 11,114
The entertainment industry is the hardest to break. As far as journalism/media goes, you're on your own and it's a really hard egg to break. I've been stuck in a dead-end helpdesk job for 4 years since leaving Uni due to personal circumstance, while carrying a film/media degree. Basically, to make it in this field you need to work almost three times as hard as others, maybe even become self-employed as a freelance - whether that be writing, reviewing, or part of a crew. To do so, however, you need stability behind you. For example, you've got the fact you still live with parents there. I have a mortgage and bills to pay, which has all but shattered my dreams and all I've worked for so far.
Don't give up, is all I'll say. Network, network, network - talk to anyone and everyone. Attend premieres and festivals in and around London. You NEED to do this.
Don't give up, is all I'll say. Network, network, network - talk to anyone and everyone. Attend premieres and festivals in and around London. You NEED to do this.
Man of Honour
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- 29 May 2004
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- 4,488
- Location
- Tall building nearby
I have one long huge gap in my employment history because the muscle wasting I have went off the chart for a while before it was stable again, about 12 years
, dont know how to fill that without mentioning the disability. And if I have been told to include it in my CV or I can be turned down at interview for not saying before is that right or wrong?. Also about the Statistical survey job, lol thats a good one, dont employers check your history?, or is it more to the point if you can do the job and what you say you can do any enrichment of a CV might as well be true. Just dont spin a yarn on stuff you have no idea of or you will be in deep when you are faced with it and can't cut the mustard or make a complete bugger of it.
Man of Honour
- Joined
- 29 May 2004
- Posts
- 4,488
- Location
- Tall building nearby
Anyone?
More tips for you Leon
Sounds like your disability is muscdys. Benefit-wise no need to disclose your situation but here's some info:
If you're on DLA it's payable both in and out of work so if you get a job it should be unaffected but check the rules with DLA
If you're on IB check out Permitted Work. Your Jobcentre will have a Disability Employment Advisor. Several types of PW: Permitted Work Lower Limit is £20. You can earn up to £20/wk on IB for as long as you like and IB should be unaffected.
Permitted Work Higher Limit: Less than 16 hours/wk and net income not exceeding £88.50/wk for up to a year and then a year's break. Means you can still receive your IB but also the permitted work earnings.
Supported Permitted Work: More flexible hours (as far as I can remember) but, again, with an £88.50/wk net income max. Has to be done under the auspices of an approved employer with support officer involvement.
Permitted Work PCA exempt: special category applying to severe Incap. Yours may/may not be a qualifying Incap.
With a disability you should qualify for a job Guaranteed Interview Scheme.
In which case, with your disability, no point concealing 12 years. Better to focus on packing it out with evidence of doing things. List your achievements and activities to see if you can substantiate them by validating them with short courses to provide evidence.
With permitted work, if you're live-in-payment IB there are no big issues but if you or whoever you live with receives housing benefit check out whether permitted work will compromise their housing benefit.
If you're credits-only IB you're being paid IS. Possibly with DP/SDP premiums. Clarify this because if so, IS want to know about permitted work and will dock you anything above their £20/wk disregard.
If you want to take college courses etc you'll need to tell IB/IS to ensure they approve.
Employers checking work history? Many won't. If you're plucking turkeys they won't be bothered. Here's an example: One geezer set himself up as a forensic scientist. No qualifications. A degree he bought for $20 off a Florida website. He worked freelance and was hired as expert witness by solicitors, courts and police authorities all over the UK for 20 years before they sussed him out. Seven hundred civil and criminal cases are currently under review because no-one bothered to authenticate his claim that he was a qualified forensic scientist. He outwitted everone with pure BS
12 missing years? Howza bout this one guys and gals...
During a Turkish holiday in 1996 you single-handedly scaled the drainpipe on the wall of a burning Istanbul apartment block and threw a small child to the crowd below waiting with a blanket. They you fell. Onto cobbles. As opposed to cobblers.
After 11 years in a persistent vegetative state and thanks to a revolutionary new incision-less laser/opto-audiotronic form of neurosurgery pioneered by the reclusive and little known (so little known in fact that your employer won't find him on glooble) Lithuanian-born Professor Llanislow Petrorovic, you came out of your coma and married your nurse.
Now you're lookin' for work.
What a heart-breakin' story. Someone phone Max Clifford quick.
Sorted...
Sounds like your disability is muscdys. Benefit-wise no need to disclose your situation but here's some info:
If you're on DLA it's payable both in and out of work so if you get a job it should be unaffected but check the rules with DLA
If you're on IB check out Permitted Work. Your Jobcentre will have a Disability Employment Advisor. Several types of PW: Permitted Work Lower Limit is £20. You can earn up to £20/wk on IB for as long as you like and IB should be unaffected.
Permitted Work Higher Limit: Less than 16 hours/wk and net income not exceeding £88.50/wk for up to a year and then a year's break. Means you can still receive your IB but also the permitted work earnings.
Supported Permitted Work: More flexible hours (as far as I can remember) but, again, with an £88.50/wk net income max. Has to be done under the auspices of an approved employer with support officer involvement.
Permitted Work PCA exempt: special category applying to severe Incap. Yours may/may not be a qualifying Incap.
With a disability you should qualify for a job Guaranteed Interview Scheme.
In which case, with your disability, no point concealing 12 years. Better to focus on packing it out with evidence of doing things. List your achievements and activities to see if you can substantiate them by validating them with short courses to provide evidence.
With permitted work, if you're live-in-payment IB there are no big issues but if you or whoever you live with receives housing benefit check out whether permitted work will compromise their housing benefit.
If you're credits-only IB you're being paid IS. Possibly with DP/SDP premiums. Clarify this because if so, IS want to know about permitted work and will dock you anything above their £20/wk disregard.
If you want to take college courses etc you'll need to tell IB/IS to ensure they approve.
Employers checking work history? Many won't. If you're plucking turkeys they won't be bothered. Here's an example: One geezer set himself up as a forensic scientist. No qualifications. A degree he bought for $20 off a Florida website. He worked freelance and was hired as expert witness by solicitors, courts and police authorities all over the UK for 20 years before they sussed him out. Seven hundred civil and criminal cases are currently under review because no-one bothered to authenticate his claim that he was a qualified forensic scientist. He outwitted everone with pure BS
12 missing years? Howza bout this one guys and gals...
During a Turkish holiday in 1996 you single-handedly scaled the drainpipe on the wall of a burning Istanbul apartment block and threw a small child to the crowd below waiting with a blanket. They you fell. Onto cobbles. As opposed to cobblers.
After 11 years in a persistent vegetative state and thanks to a revolutionary new incision-less laser/opto-audiotronic form of neurosurgery pioneered by the reclusive and little known (so little known in fact that your employer won't find him on glooble) Lithuanian-born Professor Llanislow Petrorovic, you came out of your coma and married your nurse.
Now you're lookin' for work.
What a heart-breakin' story. Someone phone Max Clifford quick.
Sorted...