Forgot how bad job searching was :(

Deiwos · 10 Apr 2011 at 11:51

Finally, after about 40 or so job applications and letters/emails of rejection I've got on interview!

OK, it's kind of cheating as it's for the same job as I did from August-February and the same contract as before, but a jobs a job and so long as I don't screw up the interview I'd like to think I could get my old job back

Evil^ · 10 Apr 2011 at 12:06

Volunteering woud be a good idea as mufc said but IDK, I don't think ill ever go back on the dole like.

Around this time last year I was on JSA and was doing the dreaded 2 week course, Basically turn up that day at 9 look in newspapers, interwebs and such to find jobs basically what id been doing for the 6 months I was on the dole the targets they set were ridiculous I had to call the JSA call centre for which they gave me job info for jobs that had requirements that I didn't meet so no good to me on the third day I stopped going and went to the New Deal office and my rep actually helped me out.

I had proof (Emails, letters) of actually applying to jobs and he managed to bump me up on a scheme n get me some experience and actually kept the course away from me for another month while I really got my arse into gear.

2 weeks later I landed a job at a call centre bam foot in the door went in worked there for about 4 months and got a text from sainsburys had applied online to work in the cafe, gone through my interview with the cafe staff and everything didn't offer me that job but one on the shop floor(thank god to that no silly orange hat!).

I had no previous jobs I was in full time education until 19 I'm in a job I didn't aim for but I don't dislike it unless a customer takes a pop at me

and for 6.70 an hour as apposed to my 4.53 at the call center I think ill take a pop than sit on a phone all day, They are out there maybe not the ridiculous amount the government makes up but somewhere theres something

never give up!

A good thing about the Job seekers place down my local town, weren't half a few fitties fwah

lttlejoe · 10 Apr 2011 at 12:16

WingZero30 said:
. This is what I mean. Employers have placed so many barriers in getting the job as they seem to be only looking for 'best' candidate or I believe as humans they only choose the candidate they particularly like during interview stages.

:

You have to remember, that when a company takes someone on, they need to be sure that the new employee is not going to up and off at the first sniff of a better paid job and also it's very difficult to get rid of useless or lazy employees these days!
These days, recruitment is far more selective than it used to be as there are fewer jobs to fill with far more candidates for jobs than one would expect when times were good!

If I was an employer, I'd want the best candiate for the job...there is no given right to work and I'm sure most employers don't provide jobs for altruistic reasons...they employ the candidate who will best serve them over the longest period for the least wages they can pay! That's the reality of the market place.

Will · 10 Apr 2011 at 12:19

Neil79 said:
I was with a work course for disibilites and just two weeks ago the entire course was made redundent thanks to the conservatives pulling funding!. The work course was actually via the jobcenter, I was looking forward to my future and getting a job!. We had my CV done but i still needed interview training and a mentor for backup, but i was basically kicked out as was all the other disabled people. Some a lot worse than me! I went into the job center, i said i'm going to do this... I'm going to push myself forward, i told them the scheme i was on.

They turned me away!!, The job center actually turned me away . They said we are so so sorry, we really can't help you until june. I said i need work and again they said because of your disability we have no one here to help you get your work progressing. Please come back in June when a new scheme starts.

Thankyou Conservatives you've ruined it for me, just like Labour did

Sad

I work as a Disability Employment Advisor at the job centre, there is likely to be some provision to help you although it may not be the most obvious nor best known to some of the front line jobcentre staff, especially for the more basic elements of support like CV writing, job interview practice and so forth.

You should ask to be referred to see a specialist disability advisor (DEA), would be able to get a bit more specialist support than you get from walking in to the job centre and/or asking the people 'on the front line'.

MrMoonX · 10 Apr 2011 at 14:48

I guess it doesnt help when the job centre have quotas for cutting of peoples benefits, its truly shocking how the unemployed, disabled and sick are treated, no wonder people turn to crime, I wonder how long it will take for the crime rate to shoot up, when the police cuts hit and there are even more unemployed

PureAppleJuice · 10 Apr 2011 at 15:00

dmpoole said:
The other day it...

I was in a similar position a while ago. Sent off countless job applications, speculative CVs, generic applications on sites such as reed.co.uk even with follow up calls. Local agencies. Nothing. Rarely got a reply.

Quite a lot jobs I applied for I even didn't get a 'Sorry, you've been unsuccesful etc. etc.'

I can only assume that with the current employment climate employers can take the liberty to be rude with the vast applications. Outrageous really.

SexyGreyFox · 10 Apr 2011 at 15:13

jidh007 said:
I was in a similar position a while ago. Sent off countless job applications, speculative CVs, generic applications on sites such as reed.co.uk even with follow up calls. Local agencies. Nothing. Rarely got a reply.

Quite a lot jobs I applied for I even didn't get a 'Sorry, you've been unsuccesful etc. etc.'

I can only assume that with the current employment climate employers can take the liberty to be rude with the vast applications. Outrageous really.

The worst is when an Agency rings him up and says "Can you make it to ***** for 3pm, they want you until 11pm?" so off he drives and it's been a 40 mile round trip.
He's got there and they've just turned him back which has happened at least 50 times.

The worst case was a warehouse in Stafford where it was a 17 mile journey there and he clocked on at 8am and at 9am they said that will be all for today.
The following day they rang him in the afternoon and asked if he could turn up at 8pm that evening and they wanted him to work until 10pm :eek:

Obviously he refused because he was losing money on petrol.

He thought he had finally got a job in his old trade working on a building site.
He knew he would have to work from the bottom and he was asked if he'd be willing to work in London for 1 month on minimum wage and he agreed.
He then asked about transport & accommodation and was told it all had to come out of his pocket

When he was leaving the site 2 blokes came over to him and said that everybody who has agreed to it have come home owing money.

I suppose it's an employers market and they can take the pee.

PureAppleJuice · 10 Apr 2011 at 15:20

That sounds pretty harsh. I can only hope it works out for him, which in the long run, it will. It's just not nice being stuck like that.

SexyGreyFox · 13 Apr 2011 at 07:56

dmpoole said:
There is a little bit of hope for tomorrow because on Friday he was asked to go to a well known warehouse and told that if he kept his nose clean he could end up with a permanent job but we've heard it all before.

Well he turned up on monday and they set him on a 24 week contract but told him if he kept his nose clean it would continue.
They looked at his CV and decided not to put him on order picking but instead in the battery room where the fork lifts come in - basically he had dropped on.
My daughter dropped him at work at 6:50 this morning (2 miles by car, 1 mile as the crow flies) and atr 7:20 he comes walking back in the house.
The warehouse had sent every body home until Sunday

They said it has happened in the past but not very often.

GTAMADDOG · 13 Apr 2011 at 08:59

Well, my sister got some bad news yesterday. Apparently she and her colleagues risk being made redundant as the company she works for has suddenly decided they want to up shop and move their office to Blackpool. So she either has to move to the other side of the country or find a new job which I know isn't an easy task in this area.

It was only yesterday morning she was looking to start renting a house and she'd already been to see one.

As soon as I get a job she loses her's.

sunlitsix · 13 Apr 2011 at 09:22

dmpoole said:
Well he turned up on monday and they set him on a 24 week contract but told him if he kept his nose clean it would continue.
They looked at his CV and decided not to put him on order picking but instead in the battery room where the fork lifts come in - basically he had dropped on.
My daughter dropped him at work at 6:50 this morning (2 miles by car, 1 mile as the crow flies) and atr 7:20 he comes walking back in the house.
The warehouse had sent every body home until Sunday
They said it has happened in the past but not very often.

What warehouse is this at?! Is he on agency or employed by whoever it is?

SexyGreyFox · 13 Apr 2011 at 18:12

sunlitsix said:
What warehouse is this at?! Is he on agency or employed by whoever it is?

Pets At Home
Agency

They are normally working 24/7 but this morning sent everybody home.

Mp4 · 14 Apr 2011 at 09:22

Well from my last encounter on page 15 (of this post) been to 2x other interviews for computer technician (field) and gained squat

and both said I don't have experience ...sigh. Still stuck in retail..

No idea what else to aim for! I've gone back to night college doing photography but even that's hard to do self employed.

Ev0 · 14 Apr 2011 at 11:37

Am so close to finding out about a position I really want, as a person I'm top of their list, but they want another interview with people to see if my lack of senior management stuff will be a problem

Frustrating as I've no more leave to use up so will have to take some unpaid leave, and if this is a real deal breaker for them then there's not a lot I can do to magic up the experience

But they do like me and am hearing positive things so will see what happens.

End of the day I've still got another job in the bag when I leave here, just that this one is sooo good

Delvis · 28 Apr 2011 at 09:58

Ev0 said:
Am so close to finding out about a position I really want, as a person I'm top of their list, but they want another interview with people to see if my lack of senior management stuff will be a problem

Frustrating as I've no more leave to use up so will have to take some unpaid leave, and if this is a real deal breaker for them then there's not a lot I can do to magic up the experience

But they do like me and am hearing positive things so will see what happens.

End of the day I've still got another job in the bag when I leave here, just that this one is sooo good

Hey, how are things going since this post? Heard anything else or?

I'm still figuring out what I actually want to be doing in life...I've had a couple of offers for further helpdesk work but I just absolutely HATE the idea of it

...Been there, got depressed, and left...Really don't think I can do it again as I know i'll just end up in the same boat...

My problem currently is my wage packet, its just poor, and i'm struggling every month...I just dunno what I'm doing! I don't want to do helpdesk, I may like the idea of break-fix engineer, but in all honesty, I have no clue!

Ev0 · 28 Apr 2011 at 10:08

Delvis said:
Hey, how are things going since this post? Heard anything else or?

Had my second interview last week, got my feedback yesterday which was largely good...

Basically they've interviewed 3 people, and they want to hire all 3 of us. However as it stands they've only got authorisation from the business to take on 2 people at the moment.

So they have applied for a third 'ticket', but as people are off on leave etc this week they can't really say any more yet.

So worst case is they get refused the 3rd hire and pick the other 2. Pretty much any other scenario is a win for me though.

So I'm pretty happy but still a little furstrated, although I do still have another job in the bag I'm supposed to be starting in 8 weeks, but that one isn't as good career and money wise.

Delvis · 28 Apr 2011 at 10:39

Ev0 said:
Had my second interview last week, got my feedback yesterday which was largely good...

Basically they've interviewed 3 people, and they want to hire all 3 of us. However as it stands they've only got authorisation from the business to take on 2 people at the moment.

So they have applied for a third 'ticket', but as people are off on leave etc this week they can't really say any more yet.

So worst case is they get refused the 3rd hire and pick the other 2. Pretty much any other scenario is a win for me though.

So I'm pretty happy but still a little furstrated, although I do still have another job in the bag I'm supposed to be starting in 8 weeks, but that one isn't as good career and money wise.

Fair play buddy

Least you know what you are after in some shape or form...Keep us all posted

Mp4 · 28 Apr 2011 at 11:38

I've applied for 3x jobs the last week and have had feed back from 1 of them where my application was received but that is it

So need to get out of retail

Zodar · 28 Apr 2011 at 12:04

Mp4 said:
I've applied for 3x jobs the last week and have had feed back from 1 of them where my application was received but that is it

So need to get out of retail

I feel you. Trying to get onto an accounting training scheme (ACA), getting nowhere. While I consistently get 90-100% on all numerical and verbal reasoning tests etc, I seem to get nowhere in the interview stages.

And this is when I hear back from them at all. Out of every 10 I apply for, like 6 don't even seem to acknowledge my application. And don't think I don't put the time into the application forms - I do.

VeNT · 28 Apr 2011 at 13:35

Mp4 said:
Well from my last encounter on page 15 (of this post) been to 2x other interviews for computer technician (field) and gained squat and both said I don't have experience ...sigh. Still stuck in retail..

No idea what else to aim for! I've gone back to night college doing photography but even that's hard to do self employed.

servicedesk
GET A SERVICEDESK 1 JOB
thats what you're always going to have to start on. progress from there!