Career has been a constant struggle

[Career Compromise]

I spent the first year or so after uni deciding what I wanted to do through research and observing other people. I decided upon a career as a data analyst because I've always liked looking at data behind subjects that interest me and finding interesting facts. In a more general sense I've never liked the idea of sitting at a desk all day, but I encountered people who would be going out and about to meetings etc all the time and thought I'd like to do the same.

Around 18 months later I landed what I thought was a graduate data analyst role. When the paperwork came through I saw the job title was a more mickey mouse sounding one and the job was basically just sending out reports. There were 3 others doing the same job who were all graduates but then one left around 4 months later and an 18 year old got promoted into that role which basically confirmed it was a mickey mouse job that anyone could do. On the plus side I went to external meetings around once a month, would have preferred more but it was better than nothing.

Admittedly I'd been a bit lazy with my job applications prior to that job, but once the 18 year old got promoted I started applying for jobs every day. Despite this I ended up staying for 2 years when I finally got offered a genuine data analyst job.

The downside was that it wasn't a client facing role, but it was a big company so thought that opportunity could come later down the line. Another downside was there were no other data analysts in my division so I had to teach myself everything without really knowing if I was doing it right or not.

My boss and many others considered me to be very good at my job though. Around 3 years later I was still a one man band so thought it was a good time to move on. I had an interview where I was told my technical experience was good but not so much on the insights side. I also had an interview for a more technical job but found it very uninspiring. I like writing VBA macros and don't mind SQL but find the more technical stuff pretty boring.

Later on that year an analytics director was brought in who then became my manager. I thought maybe that was an opportunity to develop and grow, but he turned out to be the boss from hell who did his best to keep me away from the work I wanted to do. I started looking for jobs again with no success.

After 2 years of working for him I moved teams and gave up on looking for jobs as I thought it wasn't a bad place to be stuck now I had a better manager.

2 years after that my manager left and I had another boss from hell. I started looking for a new job again and had on average an interview a month but no offers. It was mostly for companies in the same industry but as time went on I decided I wanted to move to another industry because I'd grown to resent the industry I was in.

Then 2 years later I got made redundant. 6 months of unemployment followed, but I had an interview almost every week. There was one week when I had 5 interviews.

Most jobs were in different industries but at the same time I was contacted by companies and agencies about jobs in the same industry and as I was unemployed I couldn't really say know.

The job I ended up being offered and taking was in the same industry. Fortunately the job is more insights focused and its not a bad company to work for. The problem is I have no interest in the industry which makes the job very boring.

I've been there just over a year. I decided to stay for at least a year because basically I was exhausted from years of constantly job seeking with no success.

What I do have though is the constant dread of going to work. I'm questioning what's the point. I've persevered, not given up despite knock back after knock back just to end up in a job I hate.

I'm now 40 and thinking what have I done with my life and what can I do to rectify that. Admittedly I did genuinely want the job at the company I worked at for 10 years in the beginning, but everything else hasn't really been my choice i.e. I stayed there for 10 years because I never got offered another job rather than wanting to stay for 10 years and I left because I was made redundant rather than resign and I'm doing the job I'm in now because it's the only one I've been offered.

I want to do something I genuinely want to do. My original career ambition hasn't really changed, I just haven't fulfilled it.

 

[Career Compromise]

Work aside for a second, what's the rest of your life like? Fulfilling?

Yes and no. There was a time when I basically put my life on hold so I could get my career started. In the 4-5 years between uni and getting the first genuine data analyst job I didn't go on holiday at all because I didn't want it clashing with a potential job interview and I wanted to make sure I had enough annual leave in reserve to take off for an interview.

These days I do value what I do outside of work more but it still takes over to some extent. I was out all day yesterday doing something fun, but in the morning I was getting anxious about the fact that when I get home I'll go to bed and when I wake up it's a Sunday which is the day I spend dreading the week ahead. I know this is something I need to address because it isn't healthy.

What does make me angry though is for example in December 2019 when I was still at my previous place I had an interview at 2 different places which both went to 2nd interviews which both involved tasks and presentations. As a result I missed quite a few social functions to do the tasks and preparation.

I suppose what's getting to me now is knowing that to get a more fulfilling job I need to go through the recruitment process again and potentially put my life on hold whilst doing it with no guarantee of a successful outcome.

A lot of people feel like that, including me. Do you want to stay in the same sort of field or could you work in a different role?

I'm thinking continue as a data analyst but in a more interesting industry.

 

[Career Compromise]

Reading between the lines it sounds like he's done about ~50 interviews with only 1 job offer, so certainly need to look at how to improve that conversion ratio.

As for the work itself I would be a bit wary of expecting the same role in another industry being more interesting. You could find yourself being a "data analyst" in an "exciting" industry but basically just churning out spreadsheets or whatever with very little insight. It really depends on what a given organisation wants from the role.

I've lost count but it's easily more than 50. It was 24 in the final 2 years at my last company alone, there was rarely a moment when I wasn't either waiting to hear back from an interview or had an interview lined up during that period. Pretty sure I had more than 24 during my unemployment period and then there's the ones I had in the past.

I hear what you're saying. In the early days it was churning out spreadsheets and could have been any industry. As I've geared more towards insights though it's made me realise I have no interest in the industry I'm in. I take your point though.

It does seem like you need to identify the problems with your interview technique and how you present yourself. 4-5 years between graduation and getting a job, in a booming industry, that's not typical.

What do you want out of a job? Even just doing Excel spreadsheet 'analyst' donkey work can get you £600+ a day if you want money. If not money, then what industries would interest you?

You talk about enjoying VBA Macros....sounds a bit like you need to update your skills. Look at what data science roles are looking for.....tons of work and money around in that area.

I'm more concerned about the jobs I've not been offered in the 12 years since.

Money is a big factor but at the moment any industry seems more interesting than the one I'm in. I like my sports so any data analyst roles related to that would interest me. Transport and logistics is also one that appeals or anything geographical. I've become interested in mortgages the last few years since I first got one. Even retail could interest me, I've always liked the thought of optimising stock levels.

I have updated my skills from VBA macros. I've used things like Python and done a little bit of machine learning too, but none of that interests me. I much prefer VBA macros, but above all I much prefer providing insight over the more technical stuff.

Were you looking for work during the period where you were told of the forthcoming redundancy too?

It seems like you're able to land interviews but either you're really bad at them in general or perhaps you're failing some competency questions or some technical/domain questions etc..?

If you're bad at interviews in general then try: https://www.toastmasters.org/

That should help with general confidence etc.. + there is plenty of material online about general competency type questions too.

If it's technical/domain questions then perhaps you need to hit the books a bit/check out some online courses? What subject was your degree in? Was it relevant to data analysis?

This should, in theory, be an area where there is a lot of demand right now and if you've got some experience then you ought to be able to land a job reasonably easily, though there seems to be some issue(s) you might need to address first.

Yes, I never stopped looking in my final 2 years there.

My degree was in maths and statistics so yes relevant to data analysis.

It's often the case that if it's not one thing its the other. For example at one place I had 2 interviews back to back, the first was more competency questions which I did good at, the second was a technical interview which turned out to be sharing my screen and typing out code which I bombed. Another place they said I showed I'm clearly very good at the job but they didn't like the answers to the questions.

How many interviews have you gone to and not been successful in? A lot of interviews are a discovery and you can tell it's not for you and you kind of stop caring and don't give your best. Of those ones, it doesn't really matter how many of those there are. What do matter though, are the interviews where you gave your best all the way through, which you should be generally always doing where possible just for practice and to see if you get a favourable response/offer. Maybe, being very blunt, you just don't interview well. Maybe you nail the technical side but come across badly on the competency side or just general chat/personality. Have you had much feedback?

I've lost count, but it's a lot.

There have been interviews where I've walked out thinking I won't accept the job offer in the unlikely event I get one. That's usually either because it's become apparent it's not what it said on the tin or I really don't like the person who's interviewing me.

I don't know what I did differently in the interview for the job I'm in now but my boss has since told me I was head and shoulders above the rest of the candidates. The last interview I had prior to that I made the final stage but then never heard back. The one before that was also final stage and seemed very positive and were very complimentary about my skills and experience but was rejected because I seemed nervous. Also at the point of getting offered this job I was through to the next stage at 2 other places but both never got back to me with an interview date and I never bothered chasing because I'd been offered this job.

I would estimate I get past the first interview at least half the time so I must be doing something right there, but you're right that given my track record I clearly don't interview well.

 

[Career Compromise]

There's a lot to unpack here.

My background btw, is 10 years doing what used to be called Business Intelligence, building data warehouses mostly, for telcos, retail, wholesale, and then mainly investment banks. Got bored of it though and have been in the games industry the last 10 years.

Your interest.....sports, transport & logistics, anything geographical, mortgages, retail? Seems pretty broad. The most interesting analytics work I did was some new reports for Pret A Manger that broke down their wastage by product and store on a heatmap...it was pretty obvious which stores/products where the problem, and it immediately saved them some big sums of money. I can't say I really care about sandwiches though....does the actual industry matter?

If what you are really interested in is the actual data analysis, then you need to know your SQL/MDX, or whatever the tech is these days for querying relation and multi-dimensional databases. A lot of places will be using python/ML for getting insight from their data, but I suspect that majority of places are getting most of their useful data from plain old database queries still.

VBA macros are junk old tech and while some old places probably still use them to hold their reporting systems together with bits of string, that's not where the money or work is. It'll be in databases with an abstraction layer on top like Business Objects/Microstrategy (I may be showing how long I've been away from that industry here).

You're Pret example reflects what I'd like to do in retail i.e. try to have enough sandwiches in stock for people to buy but not too many that they have to get thrown away.

The issue I have with the industry I'm in is that it's not really needed, it's quite a basic concept with needless complication to make it sound like something it's not. It's also full of 25 year old directors of nothing useful with a degree in the history of art who think they know more about data than someone with a data job.

Regarding tools and technologies, in the beginning everything was in Excel so I had no choice but to use VBA. As time went on it became more SQL, Python etc but purely from an enjoyment perspective I prefer VBA. I've not used VBA for a while now though.

If you’re interested in mortgages OP, there are literally tons of data analyst roles at banks. There’s always loads of demand. Shouldn’t be a problem to find something else.

I did have interviews with banks during my unemployment period.

Almost certainly an issue with your interviewing ability then and perhaps a need to brush up on technical skills. You've got the right degree for it at least, plenty of "data analyst" types are more like developers who have rebranded, they can learn the relevant tools but often don't really have much understanding of statistics. Then again if the employer just requires someone to do some SQL monkey work or make pretty reports in Tableau or PowerBi then meh...

All the areas you've mentioned should have plenty of demand for a maths/stats grad who code, Python is quite popular thanks to things like Pandas, NumPy, PyTorch, Scikit-learn etc.. but you could be in a role using R too. The problem is "data analyst" can be quite a broad term ranging from roles that might otherwise be labeled "data science" through to the aforementioned monkey work.

Re: sports - there are some big gamblers/betting syndicates who employ statisticians, in particular re: football betting - AFAIK the pay can be very good and (AFAIK) might include participation in the gambling syndicate too.

You might still have some use for Excel/VBA, especially in banks, though you don't really have the domain knowledge/relevant experience it seems (maybe worth a shot tho...) - arguably if something can be done in VBA without too much faff then it's much easier to give a trader a spreadsheet that they can simply use right away than have them muck about with DLLs etc..

I've dug out the feedback from the interviews I had for the job I wanted the most during my unemployment period. First interview went well, second interview a disaster.

First interview:

"Candidate demonstrated a good understanding of many of the required tools and skills of a data analyst, and showed a strong awareness of some of the challenges and responsibilities that come with a senior role. Some of their answers to the technical questions (on SQL, Python, web analytics) could have gone into more detail on syntax, libraries and concepts they have used in the past, and this would have made it easier for me to gauge their level of understanding, but what they did provide satisfied me that they have what it takes to do the job (and the ability to fill in any gaps with a bit of training). They gave good examples of their mentoring and leadership experience within a data capability, which I would hope to see them replicate within this company."

Second interview:

"Candidate was good talking about the high level concepts and approaches, but when drilling into details they softened struggled to articulate their answers or did not have the awareness. As a data analyst I would expect them to have a much stronger grasp of SQL and they struggled with some basic concepts.

Candidate struggled to give examples of requirements gathering, which is a key aspect of interacting with customers to understand the needs the analysis or visualisations. Again this is a key area

Most of the examples candidate used were about creating VB macros in Excel. This did not sell their potential very well, whereas their CV shows more modern technologies and approaches."

 

[Career Compromise]

Your interview feedback confirms what I've said, Excel and VBA is just not the way any more (it's frightening what stuff at banks was run with it in the past though!).

If you aren't hugely interested in the actual data manipulation side of it, SQL etc, more the VBA scripting....have you considered getting into programming?

As I mentioned, I did data analysis/BI for many years, now I'm an AI programmer in the games industry. Best move I ever made! Lots of the technical stuff carries over.

If you do want to stick with data analyst role....the one thing that will make you stand out above other candidates, is your ability to talk to and understand the business. A big part of the job is just looking at their processes and identify what data from their systems is going to be useful, and why. It's more of a management consultant role if you're good at it. If you can do that part, AND then build the data model/reporting infrastructure.....you'll be laughing.

Programming doesn't interest me. I think the reason I liked VBA above everything else is because it's not proper programming. The more I went down the technical route the more I realised I'd much rather be interpreting the data than transform it etc. I mainly use SQL now, but the key thing is providing actionable insights which is what I want to do. It got very boring very quickly though because there really isn't anything interesting in the data due to the nature of the industry.

I was living off past glories in the final 6 years at my last company. All the things I did that ended with positive outcomes through me being proactive came in the first 4 years. As all the data sat on spreadsheets using VBA almost always featured.

I learned the other technologies like Python in the final 6 years but never really did anything useful thanks to politics and nightmare managers so anything I did using Python was basically someone saying write a Python script to transform the data from this to that. Any questions about what it was to be used for and whether there's a better way was met with not our problem. I was not allowed to speak to people outside the department about doing work for them without a project manager or one of the senior managers with me. I could only do what was asked, thinking about the bigger picture wasn't our problem. It was a truly awful place to work in those last 6 years.

Hopefully I can find some solid examples of good work in my job now, but I still can't help but think I'll be ridiculed for them.

True point about banks - VBA doesn't cope with 180GB of realtime data a day, with history, to be actioned within a second or two! Also the skillsets are transferrable across many different areas. Looking for patterns in data is pretty common within most industries.

Most banks are large enough to use multiple cloud vendors to reduce risk, hence you may find transactional processing on say AWS but then data science on Google, and others used for their specific purposes. The good news is that the concepts are typically available on both, also you'd be working in a cross functional team of developers etc that would sort out performance, security etc.

If you want to stick close to the market you're in I would look at Google and AWS and how a data science processing pipeline can be built.

Another option on the front end - specifically customer interactions and optimisations of journeys - most retail/commercial banks will utilise packages like PEGA etc to gleam information from their customer interactions/customer base across mobile, web and general transactions.

TL;DR - my point is your statistics skills are transferrable but you may need todo some work around implementation.

I've used both Google and AWS. I think the looking for patterns in data is transferable. If I had no interest in sport I could still easily spot that a tennis match had high viewership in Switzerland by looking at the data, but because I am interested in Sport I could see that Roger Federer was playing which is what explains it. It's the latter that's the interesting bit and what my industry lacks.

 

[Career Compromise]

I've used Python, R and Matlab. I've also used Tableau and Power BI.

Well you can do "proper" programming in VBA/VB but most places don't. You can access it through other "proper" frameworks.
The issue is, even though MS still support it, they stopped development a long time ago. Even though there is nothing really to replace it.
The other issue is any experience in it, is no longer valued, hasn't been valued for a long time. I still think its powerful and I think many places will struggle to replace it. But that ship has sailed.

Completely agree. The reason I stated for wanting SQL training in the first place was because it was a desirable skill for the job, but the real reason was because it was a requirement for many other jobs and it had become apparent by then that VBA wasn't a skill that was valued. The frustration I had in the VBA days was knowing VBA skills won't get me another job.

What gets me overall is that when I've had a choice in what direction I take my number one consideration is what will make me more employable but it hasn't worked.

 

[Career Compromise]

Unfortunately technology moves fast and companies prefer to hire in new staff with experience rather than cross train existing staff.

I did a 4 year software engineering degree, including set theory and formal methods. I also specialised in parallel & distributed systems and databases which is why I studied numerical computation and have a maths/set slant to the way I see languages/systems.

I started in software -> 6502/ARMassembler/BASIC -> Pascal/Fortran77 (uni) -> C/C++/Pro*C/SQL (work) -> Java (work) -> Objective C/OpenCL/C++/Python/R (work/home).

I can see Python is great for hacking up something, the reality is it's not great. I'm considering learning Go but at the moment the focus is on find a new job.

This is another reason why I want to be more focused on data than technology.

Basically you are interested in supply chain. Have a look at oil&gas companies, the likes of BP have a massive need for insight on their supply chain at the moment. In fact generally I would imagine the market for supply chain analysis has grown in the past year or two in a lot of industries.

As you have highlighted however, you have to be a bit wary of what the job entails. Some organisations aren't really structured to empower analysts to provide insight, they are essentially just there to mash data together and then have a business SME interpret and suggestion actions based on the data. I've seen it first hand where a data scientist (who seemed pretty switched on in the short time I as there) was itching to really get stuck in to some datasets and surface interesting patterns etc was basically reduced to churning out spreadsheets to meet the baseline hygiene factors of having numbers to look at. It's maybe an anachronism handed down from where 'data provisioning' used to be seen as this completely segregated thing sat in IT with "actionable insights" being something handled by completely different sets of people. I think the most agile organisations will find ways to harness unicorn skillsets whereby they can have skilled analysts both leverage modern technology but also generate useful insight and keep those people interested and engaged through them being a business partner, rather than just a 'supplier'.

I suppose I am.

Have you looked into no code/low code app development?

I work for a consulting firm and we are seeing a lot of interest in companies adding these to their software stack. In essence these no code platforms often replace bits of excel vba/python that was hacked to together to make a report or perform some workflow

Doesn't sound like the sort of thing I'd want to do.

So you've apparently got the degree and you've got relevant skills/job title that is very much in demand right now... You need to work on the interviews - if you're claiming those things on your CV but all your examples are work done in VBA then that perhaps raises questions for a start.



That's completely context-dependent, again it's used in banks etc... Excel isn't going away anytime soon. It's not necessarily useful if you're dealing with large datasets but that isn't necessarily going to be the case at all.

I get the impression interviewers want to hear about times you were proactive and achieved some sort of result. Unfortunately when I started to use Python etc my job was to do what I was told and most of what I did seemed pointless. A lot of people think I should be able to easily get a job but the reality is the opposite.

 

[Career Compromise]

Yup you should be able to get a job quite easily, the reality is there is lots of demand for these skills and you've obviously been able to land the interviews but you're failing at that stage.

Have you ever done any kaggle competitions or similar? Have you used any of this stuff in your spare time at all and could stick some side projects on github etc..?

No I don't do anything like that in my spare time. I do some data analysis around sports for my own interest, but nothing too technical and certain no fancy tools get used. Manually trawling through the sports data is part of the fun and some of it is in books.

 

[Career Compromise]

You will find there is a market of sports results analysis in the betting industry.

The issue I would have being so focused is that the majority of companies want a system to identify new concepts, the existing analysis they can leave to their computers without the need of a human analyst. Banks went through the same - where people once manually processed data, they now simply use computer algorithms and the humans design the frameworks (such as Quantum or ML/AI) to build the new algorithm. Coupled with the statistics that bank traders were no more successful than 50% minus the expense account, this pushed banks and industry to switch to use algorithms.

I have tried betting companies before. I had an interview with one but they rejected me because I kept using the same insight in my examples which suggested I'd only ever made one useful insight (which at the time was true).

Thinking back to the early days of my career it was by no means perfect but I was generally satisfied. I'd finally landed the sort of job I'd been pursuing and found that I was good at it. I thought the sky was the limit and was optimistic about the future.

A combination of outgrowing my job without anything to really progress to in the company I was at and being rejected in all the jobs I interviewed for followed by things turning very ugly very quickly where I was at has basically made me resent it all.

The optimism that my talents as a data analyst will take me places has been replaced by fear that one day I'll be facing a lifetime of unemployment.

I'm long gone from that toxic hellhole I used to work at but I just can't let go of my anger.

 

[Career Compromise]

Well, you ought to let go of it at some point as you can't change the past, address the issues with your interviews, go get another job and stop stressing over your old employer - they might have been naff but it's also your fault for staying there too.

I could have done more to try and leave. In hindsight I didn't apply for many jobs whilst working there. Most of my interviews came from companies or recruitment agencies contacting me and even then there were plenty of jobs I chose not to be put forward for which may have been adequate.

 

[Career Compromise]

That's also in the past now, just focus on being able to pass the interviews, you can clearly get the interviews and you've got the right background/job title etc.. to be very employable right now.

If you still struggle with interviews now then get some feedback from a third party, even consider paying for this from some sort of career coach (say an ex HR person or recruiter etc..) as the money you leave on the table here makes the fees for this sort of thing trivial in comparison.

I had a job coach when I was unemployed. Basically the whole being unhappy and feeling stuck at my old place took its toll on my mental health and there was a service those with mental health issues and out of work could use.

From the beginning he felt I was close to getting a job. He said the fact I was getting so many interviews meant I was getting everything else right. I kept sending him the feedback I was getting but he kept saying there's lots of positives to take and to keep plugging away. I also had a mock interview with him and he said some bits could be fine tuned but overall he couldn't see much wrong.

That's the ultimate frustration because the quantity of interviews I've had with no offers implies something is wrong but it's like there's something everyone knows except me and nobody is willing to tell me what it is. Don't get me wrong I've come out of some interviews knowing full well I haven't got the job, some of which I've decided myself there's no way I'm working for that idiot who just interviewed me. There's been far too many that have been along the lines of we thought you were wonderful but we're not giving you a job though.

 

[Career Compromise]

So that sounds unlikely to be what I suggested then...

What was this person's background? Was he a mental health professional or was he a former recruiter or HR person?

You clearly are having issues with interviews, someone like that could probably give you the feedback you need.

(I mean you could perhaps even record an interview, technically people might say "muh ethics etc.." - easy to do if it's an online one or just with a small voice recorded in a live one and have a third party/friend give you feedback)

Ultimately that's the crucial thing here it seems, you apparently have the skills, you can get interviews so the CV sounds like it's fine but you keep screwing up at that stage.

He wasn't a mental health professional, it was a company who's focus is getting people into work. I'm not sure what the difference between that and what you suggested is.

I've not had an interview since the one for my current job and haven't applied for any jobs yet.

Have you considered that whilst you're talking to the job spec, you're not selling yourself?

Here's an actual example from my life; I left a secure role and moved internally because the US organisation I worked for at the time was selling the site and I wanted to remain employed by them (not TUPE'd to a tiny UK org).

What I say in an interview if asked: I left that role because the business recognised my achievements and did not want to let me go. I had delivered xyz results which led to them offering me a senior position in another business within the organisation. I accepted as I felt that it was the right fit and offered a new challenge that excited me etc etc.

Basically, I'm telling them why I am the **** and why that business was lucky to keep me. In reality, I was always going to leave and I was lucky to stay within the large organisation

Possibly. In the beginning I thought I was super talented and just needed the opportunity. At some point I started to question what exactly my talent is. I've honestly never found my job particularly difficult and feel like anyone could do it.

 

[Career Compromise]

Well, perhaps you could elaborate then.

Was this person a former recruiter or HR professional?

I can only guess here but my suggestion was to pay for someone like that who is set up as a career coach. I don't know that that is necessarily what you're talking about if you're referring to say some government-funded service to get unemployed people/people suffering from mental health issues back into work?

The bottom line is that there is clearly an issue here with you and your ability to interview so you should probably get third-party feedback on that.

Have you tried toastmasters?

All I know is that he was a job coach. We had group sessions that covered all aspects of applying for jobs and then individual sessions which was more focused on interviews because that was where the problem was.

What would a career coach do differently?

I've not tried toastmasters but just googled it. Looks like it's American.

 

[Career Compromise]

Not so much what they can do but what they can advise/what sort of feedback they can give - if it had worked then why are you still in this position? Multiple people have interviewed you and there seems to have been a problem.

Anyone can conduct a mock interview, maybe it will be useful in and of itself for the sake of simply practicing and maybe they can give you some feedback - I remember people would do that at school and uni (careers service would offer it etc..).

A recruiter or former HR professional might well have a bit more insight.

The bottom line is you've got a problem that you're apparently unable to fix by yourself ergo you need feedback, short of recording yourself in an interview and posting it on here none of us are able to give you much feedback beyond guessing based on stuff you've posted ergo you need a third party to do it.



So what? Is there something wrong with organisations headquartered in America?

There is a guy currently doing it in this thread, I know people who've found it very useful:

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/toastmasters.18949603/

Failing multiple interviews you're otherwise suitable for on paper does suggest soft skills could be an issue. It might not be that, there might be some domain-specific things you're tripping up over or some general competency questions, an ex recruiter won't likely be able to help with the domain-specific stuff but can pick up on general soft skills issues and competency questions. You could try to find former uni mates/colleagues to help with domain-specific questions.

It's true that I didn't find having a job coach particularly useful. That's why I want to know what one I pay for would do differently.

I thought you were referring to it as a place to find a job coach.

You're right that soft skills could be an issue which brings me back to the issue I have with my industry. Basically if I know what I'm talking about or at least find what I'm talking about interesting then I can talk quite confidently about it but if I don't know what I'm talking about and/or find the subject boring then I struggle.

A friend and former colleague told me that they could sense my apathy towards my job but when they saw me present about something that wasn't work related they saw a different person. Likewise many years ago I did presentation training where we had to first present on a subject of our choice and then present something related to work. The trainers loved my first presentation but didn't think much to the second and acknowledged the subject of the presentation was likely the main factor.

Another issue I have is that one of my main strengths in the beginning was remembering things. Since things went ugly at my old place my memory has become like a sieve when it comes to remembering basic terminology. At one interview I stated return on investment as spend divided by investment even though I've always considered the return on investment equation to be a very basic one.

One of my day to day struggles is being quiet. I'm not a quiet person. In-fact in my first ever job (part time) I was known to be loud and even got a verbal warning for too much talking and not enough working. Now I'm really quiet at work, I really want to speak but I have nothing to say.

 

[Career Compromise]

It reads to me like you've lost the passion with your work and may have developed some sort of depression with your situation.

Without resolving your issues* which are impacting your passion for the role, it may be difficult to find land a new job in such a competitive market.

*- making some wild assumptions here based on what you've written. You may well be very happy in your personal life but something isn't adding up for me.

You're right on both counts.

I definitely had enthusiasm when I started out but my experience as time went on at my last company coupled with my inability to find another job made me resent it and I've not been able to get my enthusiasm back.

 

[Career Compromise]

That's up to you. Find something else you're interested in maybe, there isn't anything you're "meant to do" after all, these are all your own choices, there is a bit of randomness thrown in that you can't control but you've got a lot of control yourself too.

This is my frustration in a way. My first graduate job interview was at a well known transport company and I had bags of enthusiasm. I started to accept I had to compromise but it got to a point where I ended up doing something I didn't like at all.