seriously, what do i have to do to get a job!?!?!?!?

[Lopéz]

Good posts by Geoff in this thread, you'd do well to take note of them.

Be persistent, try and choose your company carefully. Try and find out if any companies who've won Investors in People awards recently are recruiting. These companies tend to be good because they like to employ people on entry level jobs and quickly grow and develop them within the role and then into new roles.

 

[Doosht]

tell them your from Poland.

 

[S@njay]

ok, heres a look at my CV

do your worst!

Erm not being rude, but as soon as i looked at your CV i did not want to read it!

Having actually read it, its really really good! The text is short and to the point. I think you should consider a rethink on your layout and presentation to make it "stick" out more.

Having said that im in your position not being able to find a job (bearing in mind i havent actually started to look proporly!) But these were hints and tips i was given, so hopefully it can help you!

 

[HighlandeR]

I.Ts still a tough area to get into.... not exactly easy, we get dozens of C.Vs @ Purpleworld daily and most of them are binned/not even looked at.

And thats even after ive explained to the person handing it in u gotta include a cover letter I say and then they still hand in just the CV lol, Cover letters explain why u want the job and show your at least interested in applying to the job.

Yes I know there a royal pain and too difficult to find the right words.... but then again a C.V without a cover letter is just another object for the recycling bin.

Thats how I got my techy job there also, cover letter won it for them they even said out of the 20-30 C.Vs very few had a cover letter.... very few had the experience/skills to back it up.

I wouldnt personaly say Ive had 7 years of help/support for friends and family... u gotta re-word it and say you worked for Tech-World or just make up your own company say u were self employed and what type of services u ran ie Healthchecks/Data retrieval/Data Backup, u gotta choose the right words!

 

[asim]

I was in the same situation, got a degree in IT, a ccna. Thing is even while applying for jobs I felt like I just wasnt interested in the IT industry. So gonna travel, and then figure out what I want to do. Nothing tech related I hope.

 

[HangTime]

When i started to take job hunting seriously (applying from 9-5) i got roughly 2 calls a day to schedule interviews, so i was doing ok. You just really have to work hard in looking for work, treat it as a job in itself. i also strived to learn at the same time so i could add stuff to my cv, i got my hands on MCSE related info, studied it, and mentioned it on my cv. When you do things off your own back, using your own initiative and drive, without it being organised by others, it really counts.

I concur. After uni I was wasting around for a few months, moaning at how hard it was to get a job, but when I actually looked at how many jobs I had actually applied for (i.e. submitted a properly completed application, not just asked around, requested a form, gone to the job centre etc) it wasn't very many at all.

If you really start spamming applications around, you'll probably land some more interviews. Note that spamming doesn't mean being slapdash, if you think about it even if you spend 2-3 hours per application you should still be able to fire off 20 applications a week.

Training courses can be a good way of showing employers that you aren't just sitting on your arse all day. I did the ECDL course while unemployed.

 

[paul@]

ok, heres a look at my CV

do your worst!

I've had a look at your CV and noticed that you worked for the NHS!

Have you applied for any IT helpdesk roles in your area within the NHS. You might have to visit some hospitals as not always the jobs are advertised on http://www.jobs.nhs.uk/

Good luck

 

[Duke]

One tip; try not to mention 'I've fixed my family/friends PCs'.. it comes across so amateurish. It's a bit like saying "yeah I used to run my own computer fixing company in my bedroom..".

 

[Ev0]

One tip; try not to mention 'I've fixed my family/friends PCs'.. it comes across so amateurish. It's a bit like saying "yeah I used to run my own computer fixing company in my bedroom..".

Can't remember what I used to put on my cv when I was doing the rounds, something like experiance in supporting small businesses and residential clients (i.e. my folks and friends homes, and my folks offices lol).

I graduated in July 2003, was looking for an IT job until Jan, then got offered a role in a small local IT firm. The pay was aweful and it was a stupid distance away from home (couldn't have moved as wages were rubbish), but i took it to get on the ladder so to speak.

I was just lucky as hell and pretty much the next day I got offered one I'd had numerous interviews and tests for over the past month which was what I'd have called a proper job

You've just got to keep plugging away. Make a list of all the decent companies in an acceptable to yourself travel radius (you know what I mean, worded badly) and check their websites regularly for posts.

Don't give up though, I was feeling rubbish for months in my naff shop job I'd been doing since school, but was such a good feeling when I finally got something, and you will get something too.

Unless you're rubbish that is

*edit* Just seen your up in Cov, gives you quite a broad area to search for positions so something will come up. Remind me I also got offered onto the next testing stages for a job at PSA, how glad am I that I never persued that!

 

[Doosht]

Don't think I've read one post from you without a mention of Poland recently

haha! Wondered when someone would notice

 

[teaboy5]

You say you have supported friends and family for 7 years?

Try doing it 9 - 5 Monday to friday, literally doing nothing but fixing PC's, then you can say you have experience. Because you never know what problems are going to happen etc. My Suggestion? find a job as something like a builder monkey and work your way up from there. Climb the ladder, you will gain so much from starting from the bottom and working your way up. Gotta get your real experience from somewhere


And as far as "ive been job hunting since June" I was doing it since christmas, and only got the job 6 weeks ago, and now don't have it anymore, so I'm looking for a job again! Hunting since June isn't very long

God stop moaning? Are you the one in the temp job that was going perm? If so, fill in the application form and hope they give it to you, which they might since you know the company and employees. For all you know they could be putting an ad out for job to keep within the law and so on.

 

[Phate]

God stop moaning? Are you the one in the temp job that was going perm? If so, fill in the application form and hope they give it to you, which they might since you know the company and employees. For all you know they could be putting an ad out for job to keep within the law and so on.

hardly moaning, merely pointing out to him life isn't all bad at his end of the stick. and as a matter of fact i can moan all i like, your all strangers at the end of the day. and notice i posted that on the day it happened so just stfu

 

[Beren]

Big nod to geoff for making a lot of sense!

I used to have a biometric profile that I used when looking at c.v's and ruled out about 70% with it, just on the odds of a person with a certain background being a success were very low.

The person that said a covering letter is good - speaketh the truth! If you have neat handwriting I would actually suggest handwriting a covering letter and sending it in with your c.v. there is an emotional string pulled when someone has made the effort to a) post something to you hard copy not bung it in your email. b) actually writing something that is obviously personal asking for the job.

Obvious points but register with ALL the mid sized up agencies in the area. Anything temp will do to get your foot in the door.

Try re-writing your c.v. and downgrading it a bit. I might well de-select you for a £12k job the moment I saw A+ and 6 years experience as looking at the wrong job.

 

[teaboy5]

hardly moaning, merely pointing out to him life isn't all bad at his end of the stick. and as a matter of fact i can moan all i like, your all strangers at the end of the day. and notice i posted that on the day it happened so just stfu

But where moaning, for example you said "I was doing it since christmas, and only got the job 6 weeks ago, and now don't have it anymore, so I'm looking for a job again!" The point is you think your hard done by, but as far as i am aware you still have the job for another month and if you put in an application you may well get it. So its all good.

 

[crashuk]

Really get into something else, the IT job market in this country is fading away fast. IT work is so boring you might aswell shoot yourself..

 

[DJammyRasta]

i have a job interview for what i hope to be my next job tomorrow.

I seriously doubt i will get it though

i have been working at the university of bedfordshire for 2+ years now... as a temp, but they will not give me a real job.. which to be honest is completely stoopid, i am currently the acting field administrator for the sports department, yet the last job i applied for was a simple programme admin (field admins footstool) position.. and for some reason they didn't give me the job...

which was very confusing considering i am currently quite happily fillng the role in a much more demanding job, went to the interview with all the confidence u can have knowing you can easily do the job on offer, answered all of the questions they asked with relative ease (i have been working here 2 years and have delt with pretty much everything) but no they gave the job to some random... not saying he isn't doing the job fine, but i dont understand why they wouldn't give the job to somebody they know can do it from experience actually working for them!

...

sorry to hijack the thread, umm keep applying as people have said attempt to spice up your cv, the first hurdle is it actually getting noticed and not just bundled in a pile of average people.

 

[Sp00n]

I quit uni and it took me 8 months to find a decent job in I.T, i was made redundant from that job and i had a new job 3 days later.

Without experience its VERY hard to get a job.

 

[yer_averagejoe]

I've just been looking for a part time job for months. A part time job that any monkey could get. It strikes me as amazing that there are so few jobs going.
Anyway, I just landed me a christmas temp job at tkmaxx to keep me going.

For someone with a degree to have difficulty getting a job is ridiculous. Remember though that theres a lot of IT guys out there. Just ask who you have to sleep with in a sincere manner. It might work..

 

[Messiah Khan]

I certainly ecco all the good advice in this thread. It took me 7-8 months after uni to find a helpdesk job in IT (Which im still doing and enjoying) While I was looking, I did several temp jobs in factories and warehouses. I know from first hand experience how depressing and degrading it can become, but stick with it and you'll find one enventually.

After I got this job though, I was offered jobs all over the place. I think it was 2-3 weeks after starting I got 3 phone calls in a week asking me to interviews etc. I have no doubt now though, if I go for another job it will be much easier with a few years experience behind me.

 

[Bobcat]

the IT job market in this country is fading away fast. IT work is so boring you might aswell shoot yourself..

This is also the truth, after 7 years in a Help/Service Desk i am getting a little fed-up to say the leased, im starting to think of other jobs (Outside of IT) that will be MUCH more rewarding and will probably pay better with less stress.

Also im seeing a lot of IT Jobs are being exported to places like Bangalore as it costs the company much less.