Forgot how bad job searching was :(
- Thread starter Delvis
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Associate
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If its any help, we are recruiting 37.5 hour Telesales guys here at Three in Glasgow, I believe we are looking to really expand our outbound telesales operations.
I am currently studying IT in college and working part time in a local PC repair shop. At college I am studying a Level 3 extended diploma in IT and I have just applied to take the Cisco and Microsoft certifications that they offer here.
I was hoping that I could use these to get a job in the IT sector. Reading a few posts on here looks like I am going to struggle.
Starting to think if I should look at a different career. I know its hard in all areas but still.
I was hoping that I could use these to get a job in the IT sector. Reading a few posts on here looks like I am going to struggle.
Starting to think if I should look at a different career. I know its hard in all areas but still.
Harsh Reality.
Oh I know. I'm just lucky that its my Wife who's told me to quit, rather than me bringing it up first - yes I desperately want to quit my current job, but I'm not sure how well it would have gone down if I'd just brought it up!
When applying for jobs through email that ask for a CV and covering letter, do you send your covering letter and CV as separate attached documents, or as one? Or, do you attach your CV but put the covering letter in the body of the email?
I've always done two attachments, and mentioned in the body the position that I'm applying for and that I have attached a covering letter and a CV.
I've always done two attachments, and mentioned in the body the position that I'm applying for and that I have attached a covering letter and a CV.
This is what I do.
I've finally found my balls again and am properly looking to further myself in an IT based career now, but am unsure of my chances based on my absolutely pathetic educational grades.
I despised school, and bunked off most of it, and therefore have attrocious GCSE results, and only a distinction in an IGNVQ IT to my name.
I do however have around 10 years experience of repairs and servicing, viral removal, new builds etc. 2 of which years were working for a local IT place, and the past year and a bit working for myself. Before that I was a mobile retail manager and always had an interest in the latest technology, and used to do servicing and new builds on the side as well as laptop and phone repairs.
I don't want to go back into retail again as it's soul destroying depite me being good at it, but don't know whether I know enough to get into a corporate environment doing 2nd line support or something?
My CV probably needs a look at as well....
I despised school, and bunked off most of it, and therefore have attrocious GCSE results, and only a distinction in an IGNVQ IT to my name.
I do however have around 10 years experience of repairs and servicing, viral removal, new builds etc. 2 of which years were working for a local IT place, and the past year and a bit working for myself. Before that I was a mobile retail manager and always had an interest in the latest technology, and used to do servicing and new builds on the side as well as laptop and phone repairs.
I don't want to go back into retail again as it's soul destroying depite me being good at it, but don't know whether I know enough to get into a corporate environment doing 2nd line support or something?
My CV probably needs a look at as well....
Always worth posting your CV up on here for feedback. You could look at doing Industry Certs such as CompTia A+ and MCTS Windows or Cisco ones if that's your thing which do help. I even with a Degree haven't had much luck as there is just so much competition and most have had experience of some sort where as I haven't had as much.
Well, looks like it's off to the dole queue again, business is virtually at a standstill. So here's my metaphorical two pence.
Your mileage may vary, but over the last decade or so I've found that you need both experience and qualifications to stand out. That's assuming you take the conventional route when applying for jobs and don't have a contact of some sort. That said, fresh graduates and college leavers seem to have the unpaid internship option wide open to them (which is fine if they don't pay their own bills I guess).
Very much an employers' market and I can only see it getting worse with the budget changes the current government are implementing. Scattered apprenticeships won't make up for that unless you're in the age range they're targeting (16-19). I know a couple of youngsters who got work that way recently, but the application process is very long (up to 6 months) and it's still possible to lose out because of administrative errors or less-than-perfect reference\background checks.
Your mileage may vary, but over the last decade or so I've found that you need both experience and qualifications to stand out. That's assuming you take the conventional route when applying for jobs and don't have a contact of some sort. That said, fresh graduates and college leavers seem to have the unpaid internship option wide open to them (which is fine if they don't pay their own bills I guess).
Very much an employers' market and I can only see it getting worse with the budget changes the current government are implementing. Scattered apprenticeships won't make up for that unless you're in the age range they're targeting (16-19). I know a couple of youngsters who got work that way recently, but the application process is very long (up to 6 months) and it's still possible to lose out because of administrative errors or less-than-perfect reference\background checks.
I disagree sr. I think that there is plenty of work out there, it's just that many people refuse to do some jobs. I work two jobs (one is kind of related to what I want to do), my friend works two (neither of which are related to his degree), my girlfriend has three jobs (none of them being career jobs) and there are plenty of other people in this situation. The problem is so many people expect that they can walk into a 'career' job straight from university or whatever and be earning a decent wage. This just isn't the way that the World works anymore, and it would be true no matter what government is in power. People need to realise that a job is better than no job, and if that means that you're a waiter with a Masters, so be it.
Soldato
- Joined
- 17 Sep 2007
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- West Yorkshire / Market Bosworth
It's a tough job market at the moment.
Been on my current contract job for the past 5 weeks or so and things are going okay, dare I say it good so far. After a few months out of work I had to take anything I was offered and snapped this up straight away. Still going to work/update my CV a bit at the weekend and keep an eye out for any good opportunities. Getting an interview for a more permanent position seems near impossible, I might get 1 interview for every 20+ perm jobs I apply for and getting any further past that is even more of a challenge.
Had to take a pay cut on this current job. In my previous position I was on a £90 day rate (before tax) and now I am on £6.19 per hour. It really annoys me but it was something that I just had to do especially since I wasn't in work. All I can say to others out there still looking for work is good luck in the job hunt!
Been on my current contract job for the past 5 weeks or so and things are going okay, dare I say it good so far. After a few months out of work I had to take anything I was offered and snapped this up straight away. Still going to work/update my CV a bit at the weekend and keep an eye out for any good opportunities. Getting an interview for a more permanent position seems near impossible, I might get 1 interview for every 20+ perm jobs I apply for and getting any further past that is even more of a challenge.
Had to take a pay cut on this current job. In my previous position I was on a £90 day rate (before tax) and now I am on £6.19 per hour. It really annoys me but it was something that I just had to do especially since I wasn't in work. All I can say to others out there still looking for work is good luck in the job hunt!
Juggling three different jobs? What are they and what hours? I take whatever I can get, but that strikes me as less than ideal. Times are indeed tough if that's the case. As for "plenty of jobs", even the government hasn't said that, IIRC the DWP quotes around 470,000 vacancies against a jobless tally around 2.5 million. Simple mathematics will tell you that's only good enough to get about 1 out of 5 jobseekers into work.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10604117
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/newsroom/press-releases/2012/aug-2012/dwp091-12.shtml
She works 55-65 hour weeks, I suppose. A shop worker, a waitress and a barmaid. She's considering leaving one of the jobs though, which is something I've suggested as I'm sure that she would be fine financially without one of them. But, she does work hard and has expensive make up tastes!
I suppose that I should have worded my original statement better. I believe that there is plenty of work for those who are generally wanting & seeking work. There are vast swathes of people who aren't wanting a job, and many people who would refuse to do a certain job. Hell, I've read it on here. People stating that because they have a degree and a couple of years experience, they would never consider working in a job which they deem "beneath them".
I apologise for suggesting that you weren't willing to take anything, comprehension failure on my part.
Heads up to graduates: graduate scheme application windows are now beginning to open.
However; goodness me, the forms and overall processes for applying are long-winded and tedious. e.g I'm currently applying to a scheme and there's 1) Online application (this will take a few hours to complete. Questions such as ''Recommend how we can improve as a company'', ''What do you think the biggest challenges facing this company are?'' etc etc 2) Online test 3) 1st interview 4) Assessment centre.
Another I applied to a few weeks ago had a five step process - 1) Online 2) Telephone 3) Online test 4) Group interview 5) One-to-one interview.
Anyway, I'm not going to complain. At least there's a lot to get applying to now.
However; goodness me, the forms and overall processes for applying are long-winded and tedious. e.g I'm currently applying to a scheme and there's 1) Online application (this will take a few hours to complete. Questions such as ''Recommend how we can improve as a company'', ''What do you think the biggest challenges facing this company are?'' etc etc 2) Online test 3) 1st interview 4) Assessment centre.
Another I applied to a few weeks ago had a five step process - 1) Online 2) Telephone 3) Online test 4) Group interview 5) One-to-one interview.
Anyway, I'm not going to complain. At least there's a lot to get applying to now.
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She works 55-65 hour weeks, I suppose. A shop worker, a waitress and a barmaid. She's considering leaving one of the jobs though, which is something I've suggested as I'm sure that she would be fine financially without one of them. But, she does work hard and has expensive make up tastes!
I see. The death of the 8 hour work day is getting closer by the sound of it.
We'll have to agree to disagree on this point - I believe you are applying prejudice and ill-informed speculation to people you know little about. I quoted statistics to prove my point but you insist on this tiresome rhetoric - tell me, how does this benefit the posters in this thread seeking advice? Don't you think there's enough of that on the forum already without bringing it into this thread as well?
Be that as it may, I don't concern myself with those individuals - they clearly have a choice in the matter as finances and\or their living condition doesn't force the issue. I'll be honest, I'm not going to complain about less competition. I do feel sorry for the 150,000 workers being made redundant each quarter though, or the workforce that saw their pay increase by two-thirds less than the inflation rate (again, from the DWP press release).
I didn't think you were referring to me specifically, I just objected to the age-old "they're lazy" generalisation. At the very least, I'd prefer it were applied equally to those at the top of the food chain sitting on unearned wealth and receiving special treatment from the government. Much as I dislike celebrities such as Wayne Rooney, he earned his riches. I cannot say the same with much confidence for Capita.
Even that is quite utopian because you typically expect to have 'natural' unemployment in the job market - even if there were suitable candidates to fill those 470k vacancies, by the time it was complete more people would have entered the pool (and of course new vacancies sprung up). The market is imperfect (hiring isn't instant) so with a workforce of say 30m you are always going to have at least few hundred thousand inbetween jobs even if there are suitable vacancies for them. It's one reason why some statistics look at 'long term' unemployed.
My confidence has taken a bit of knock over the past year having had applications dismissed out of hand for jobs I felt I warranted an interview for, plus a couple of 'failed' interviews. Traditionally I've always felt confident that should I lose my job I could get back in the saddle quickly, but I suspect I may have to set my sights lower if that happens (i.e. stop looking for more money/seniority and take something I'm overqualified for).
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Yes, there is a cycling of both vacancies and people into\out of the system. I worked with a contractor that claimed an 84% success rate on New Deal - clearly this wasn't stopping the fresh flow of clients so there is some structural unemployment.
Of course I neglected to mention that employed people are also competing for the vacancy pool. I don't know the specifics of your search but I wish you good luck regardless.
Soldato
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I completely understand this. I was fortunate that the company I work for offered me a job merely after the first interview and I walked straight in and have now been here for four years (quite a long time for my first real career type job). But to have to jump through all the interview hoops that some of the large companies (Rolls Royce, BAE, etc) have seems like a hugely daunting and tedious prospect to me. Obviously if you want the job badly enough you will be prepared to go through those hoops, but some of them are extreme to say the least, with a high intake of applicants for few permanant positions.