How did you get there?

Way ahead of you on this one! It'll be one of the first things I'll be sorting out when I've got a little income again. :)

The test centre I did them at has closed down and moved now anyway. Depends if they've still got the notorious names at the new one though! Definitely not willing to throw any more money at them.
 
Nix said:
I know how to drive mate. I was shafted by the test centre here prior to university. Anyone local knows how ridiculous it is here to pass. My second theory literally just ran out so I've got to do it for a third time...
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So just take the theory again, then the test. The test centre don't want to fail you, that's a cop out. You had a bad test, or bad luck, or one grumpy examiner, just take it again. It'll help your prospects no end. You're so restricted with work if you can't drive, unless you work in London or some nearby town centres.

Your last test was what, four years ago? Get over it, take it again! Don't be so defeatist, and don't tell me you're not because we both know you are :p
 
Perhaps your overly negative attitude is preventing you from getting a job and contributing to your problems. Seems like all you have done in this thread is moan about the lack of prospects, your location, lack of friends, lack of money and the lack of a driving license.

Get out there and find a job. Who cares what it is doing. You will meet people and gain valuable experience plus money. It may not be ideal, but let's face it, very few people have an ideal job. I don't, but I do enjoy it. Both friends and money stem from working in my opinion, they go hand in hand.

My boss once said to me, having gaps in a CV is the thing that turns him off the most. Therefore, I read into this in your situation to get yourself a job and show some progression. Moaning about it on an internet forum is hardly contructive nor is it going to improve your situation.
 
PardonTheWait said:
So just take the theory again, then the test. The test centre don't want to fail you, that's a cop out. You had a bad test, or bad luck, or one grumpy examiner, just take it again. It'll help your prospects no end. You're so restricted with work if you can't drive, unless you work in London or some nearby town centres.

Your last test was what, four years ago? Get over it, take it again! Don't be so defeatist, and don't tell me you're not because we both know you are :p
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Bah, people are being too quick to jumo down my throat here.

I'm not being defeatist, it's just a sore point for me as I 'should' really - considering I can drive and the money I poured into it - have the little red card and thus be able to apply for more work. But I don't, and it's just another sodding thing which is holding me back.

I'm taking the test as soon as I have cash again, don't worry about that - I'll jump through as many hoops as I need to to get it sorted. It's just a inconvenience (and an expensive one at that) that I have to do the theory for a third time.

Adam said:
Perhaps your overly negative attitude is preventing you from getting a job and contributing to your problems. Seems like all you have done in this thread is moan about the lack of prospects, your location, lack of friends, lack of money and the lack of a driving license.
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This is exactly why I don't bother airing my dirty laundry because people are too quick to make assumptions. I don't have a negative attitude - I have a learned cynicism developed over years of having my naivity and optimism dashed. I am optimistic insofar as I am not prepared to sit around and allow myself to fall off the side of the world and am very much looking to the stars to change that.

I'm not moaning, I'm merely explaining present circumstance because whether you like it or not: it is the reason I'm currently stuck bashing my head against the wall. I'm not moaning because I'm not looking for pity. I want practical solutions so as to get my life back on track hence why this thread even exists. Understand now?
 
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I graduated with a 2:2 in Comp Sci from Sunderland and couldn't find anything up north.

Moved 600 odd miles to Winchester to live with my then G/f and ended up temping for a few months.

Then got a job doing analysis for Adult Social Care earning circa £18k

After a year got a job doing second line support/project management at the same council

am now on £25k a year :)

took me to get where i am now i had to get myself out of my comfort zone
 
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Nix: write a book.

Seriously. I did it, you can too. It won't help you get a job but it'll give you some purpose, fill some time, and it's a good thing to do I think.

I assume you've got a computer and you write very nice posts and you're obviously into books a bit, that's more than you need. Not that it's easy, it's very very difficult to keep going, but it's doable. I suggest you aim for 50000 words, start right now and just keep going until it's done. Make sure you do some every day. Should take you about 40-50 hours if you type fast and have some backbone. It'll be awful, but all first drafts are, and you'll have done something that most people can only dream about, and maybe found a new career :)

This is helpful: http://lab.drwicked.com/writeordie.html

This is where I got the idea to do mine: http://www.nanowrimo.org/

What say you?
 
I started at the bottom. I dropped out of college where I was studying Modern History, Computing and Business Studies and took a year out. I worked a bit here and there (worked at McDonalds during college, as soon as I dropped that, I quit there) mainly with a family friend which my best friend at the time worked for too. This involved moving all over the country, fititng lockers and locker rooms etc. Pretty borin and a hard graft, but it was a good laugh. After about 6 months, my ambitious side of me told me I was going no where, the pay was rubbish and although I enjoyed the job and the people, I wanted something more. So I applied for a modern apprentership here in Telford. 2 days after applying I had an interview, a week later I had a job, I was awfully lucky.

The job was as an IT techie, building PC's, laptops and servers, support and installation for an IT Reseller amongst other things (whcih supplied to OCuK at times...). I was on a 24 month NVQ which I finished and signed of in 8 months. After that I was taken on full time by said company. A couple of things happened down the line and I was then moved to supporting the internal IT Network, after a couple of years I was heading that up on my own.

I then got offered another job with a global IT Company, I was told it was doin pretty much the same as what I was doing, but more money and more prospects, so I packed my bags and joined them. Unfortunately it was nothing of the support and I ended up on a Tier 1 IT Support Desk.

I was doing the job for a month when they realised thankyfully that this wasn't using the best of my abilities, so I was moved onto 2nd Line Support. After doing that and heading up a number of projects I moved again internally and ended up doing 4th Line IT Support, looking after a number of directories and major pieces of software (up to 110k accounts have access daily).

I love the place I'm at, I'm grateful for the luck I have had and the blessings of being with good people who have aided me along the way, but after a long hard think about things I'm leaving the IT Business shortly to pursue one of my dreams. I'm only 25, so I'm still at that age that I can make mistakes as I have little to no major financial burden. So we'll see how it works out.

The advice I'd give to you Nix, is keep trying. Don't be afraid to start at the bottom and work your way up, it's do-able.

Good luck.
 
Rich_L said:
Or just move to London where a car is totally unnecessary and there are tons of jobs :p
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I'd move if it wasn't for two things:

1. London is a poo-hole and one of last places I want to live. I'd be happier somewhere like Zurich or Toronto. If I had to live somewhere where people will let you die in the corner, I'd rather try New York - at least there's a bit of difference there. :p

2. The credit-card option isn't open at present as I'm still paying off debts from credit-cards.

- This will be resolved very, very shortly after working. Just a little hard to pay it off when you're on JSA. :p
 
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Your first paragraph:

So, I've just spent another morning exploring my options for employment and as a consequence found myself once again being shot down as I painfully stumble across more avenues where the doors are closed then there are windows open. Of course, it really doesn't help that there's the recession, but it's simply the reality now; it's not going away anytime soon. This rejection has been the story for quite some time and now I'm well and truly in a rut: I'm becoming apathetic and my life lacks any purpose. I'm now at the point where I just can't be bothered to apply anywhere anymore as I already know it's not going to help; it's simply a wasted effort on my part. It's unhealthy thinking, but it's what I've been left with: ladies and gentlemen, it seems I've fallen through the preverbial cracks.
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Just a reminder of the position you are criticising from.

If you aren't prepared to live in a 'poo-hole' (which incidentally is one of the greatest cities in the world) and somewhere where you can work and start doing something with your life, then there isn't much hope tbh.
 
Great thread idea, I love hearing about how people get to where they are as it's never as easy as walking into 'that' job.

I work for one of the UK's largest laptop resellers, at present (if the higher-up's are to be believed) we're currently in the top 5 for online sales for Acer, Samsung, and ASUS laptops. I originally did my work experience at the company way back before we started selling laptops and built systems to order, and after dropping out of uni, I saw an ad on the Job Centre website so thought I'd give it a bash.

I got the job after a week, and my initial role was to just answer phones and queries/returns. I've now been here for a year and have now been given loads more responsibility (which is always great) and now deal with new products, a bit of buying work, and some online advertising through the likes of Google. I can't really say I do one task at work as I'm constantly on something different.

The general work atmosphere here is unbelievably relaxed and brilliant, we're not a massive company where you're just another number in a department. I feel like I'm part of a team and since joining here, my confidence levels have just sky-rocketed. On top of that, our MD is probably the most down to earth guy I've met, and also takes the whole company out for free food and drinks every couple of months.

Salary wise, I started off on £14k, after the 6 month appraisal, it went up to £18.5k, and my year one should push that up to (hopefully:p) £21k. As there are only a few of us here, as profits increase, which they do quite often, we can get better payrises and so forth.
 
Nix said:
Bah, people are being too quick to jumo down my other airing my dirty laundry because people are too quick to make assumptions. I don't have a negative attitude - I have a learned cynicism developed over years of having my naivity and optimism dashed. I am optimistic insofar as I am not prepared to sit around and allow myself to fall off the side of the world and am very much looking to the stars to change that.

I'm not moaning, I'm merely explaining present circumstance because whether you like it or not: it is the reason I'm currently stuck bashing my head against the wall. I'm not moaning because I'm not looking for pity. I want practical solutions so as to get my life back on track hence why this thread even exists. Understand now?
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No assumptions have been made, my reply was based on your other replies. You are incredibly negative and I suspect that's contributing to your problems. If you don't appreciate replies like mine then don't post on public forums. I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that you are doing the right thing because you aren't. The fact is, there are jobs out there despite the recession, you aren't going to walk into a director level job, you have to earn it by starting at the bottom and proving yourself. Neither of which will be achieved by being negative on an Internet forum.

You seem like an intelligent bloke, don't waste it by thinking jobs are beneath you. Progression and ambition shows a lot about someone. Doing nothing doesn't demonstrate progression at all. If I were to interview you I would pick up on that and find out more.
 
Rich_L said:
Your first paragraph:

Just a reminder of the position you are criticising from.

If you aren't prepared to live in a 'poo-hole' (which incidentally is one of the greatest cities in the world) and somewhere where you can work and start doing something with your life, then there isn't much hope tbh.
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I'll work in London if I found work there Rich. I'm just not happy to take a gamble (which could easily backfire) to move to a city I'm not particularly fond of. That's basically the logic I'm seeing. :)

lowrider007 said:
No offence but it just seems you have a convenient answer for everything, get off your ass and do something and stop feeling sorry for-self, make drastic changes if you have to.
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Bad day. :o

:D

I'm just a little defensive is all. It's hard not to be when you open yourself up like this. Notice if you will that I'm listening to each comment and taking on board advice I genuinely feel is beneficial. If I feel someone is going for my jugular, I'm going to bite back.

That aside, step by step if you would be as kind: what is it you suggest I do?
 
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Backfire? You mean if it all goes wrong you end up living with your parents in a town you hate with no job, wait a sec... :p

Zurich, Toronto, New York - think about them when you've pulled yourself out of the little hole you've ended up in, dreaming about and waiting for the the perfect job and the perfect opportunity to land in your lap won't get you anywhere - opportunities present themselves to those who make themselves available and put themselves in those positions in the first place.

Go read 'Yes Man' or something :p
 
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Nix said:
I'll work in London if I found work there Rich. I'm just not happy to take a gamble (which could easily backfire) to move to a city I'm not particularly fond of. That's basically the logic I'm seeing. :)



Bad day. :o

:D
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No, your either depressed, lazy, or overly fussy, which one is it ? like others have said there is know denying your an intelligent chap but I guess because of your age your lacking a good dose of wisdom.


Nix said:
That aside, step by step if you would be as kind: what is it you suggest I do?
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Take the best job you can get your hands on for now because atm your living one step above a homeless person, get some money in, enjoy yourself for a bit but also continue aggressively looking for that ideal job.
 
lowrider007 said:
No, your either depressed, lazy, or overly fussy, which one is it ? like others have said there is know denying your an intelligent chap but I guess because of your age your lacking a good dose of wisdom.
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Recovering from the former. As someone mentioned earlier: it has a habit of recurring and it hit me pretty bad not so long ago. I'm not mopey at the moment, but I'm not going to deny the fact that things don't quite smell as sweet as they should

Take the best job you can get your hands on for now because atm your living one step above a homeless person, get some money in, enjoy yourself for a bit but also continue aggressively looking for that ideal job.
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As I said earlier (I don't know if you saw), a friend mentioned to me in passing earlier today that his company are recruiting. A year ago I wouldn't have wanted to know (my eyes were set a little higher - blind optimism if you will), but I am more than willing to work there. I want to take whatever job is around. For months however, the problem has been that although the jobs may have been there - I was getting nowhere with them.

Adam said:
You seem like an intelligent bloke, don't waste it by thinking jobs are beneath you. Progression and ambition shows a lot about someone. Doing nothing doesn't demonstrate progression at all. If I were to interview you I would pick up on that and find out more.
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The only work I've ruled out has been fast-food. It's not that I think it's beneath me - I'm just being 'funny' about it. As said, nothing short of having a child to feed would make me work there. I'm just not interested. The majority of work I have been looking for has been typically entry level or basic first line customer service type roles. Within a day of these roles appearing, there is usually 70+ applicants but I still apply. I want work, I just don't want to flip burgers. I'm happy to shelf-stack at night but even those jobs are taken at present. I am not afraid to get my hands dirty, so please don't mistake me for the kind of person who is.

Thank you for taking the time to respond all the same. As said, I'm a little defensive but I am listening.
 
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