about never landing a job again.
This is my first post on mumsnet, but I have been lurking for a while before finally taking the plunge and registering.
I've been unemployed since returning to the UK about 18 months ago. I have applied for everything under the sun (and I tailor my application to each job, including my CV if it needs it) but I am still unemployed. I've had one interview but that was almost a year ago and I am getting increasingly desperate to the point that it is affecting my life. I have registered with employment agencies and pester them but...nothing. I joined a local job club but it was run by a volunteer who had been unemployed for 5 years himself and he admitted that he could probably not do a lot for me when it came to tweaking my resume. I have been to job fairs, armed with business cards and resumes but despite what was advertised, the only jobs on offer were HGV drivers, carers or retail, and none of those fit in the slightest with my CV.
I am well educated (two degrees, one of which is an M.A), speak 2 languages fluently and get by in a third (They're not very commercially exciting, but I am mentioning it because it shows I can learn new skills?). I was a tutor/lecturer before moving abroad but I do not want to go back into teaching. I would prefer to stay in education (in an admin role for instance) but I am flexible. I worked in a very, very busy admin role for the last two years that I was abroad, so I do have some background in that (not to mention all the admin I had to do when I was a teacher)
My friends and family all tell me "something will come along" (but clearly it hasn't in the last 18 months and the longer I'm unemployed, the harder it will be) and everybody seems baffled as to why I am still unemployed, which makes me feel even more of a loser. I have held off doing voluntary work so far, because I have been concentrating on getting a paid job but, would that make a difference? The only voluntary work that seems to be on offer here is working in a charity job, and I'm not sure that would make a difference on my CV.
Why am I posting here? I'm not sure...I just feel so useless and so worthless after so many rejections that I am seriously starting to wonder what the point is anymore.
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Getting increasingly more desperate
whatkindoffreshhellisthis · 01/02/2016 16:03
My job involves helping people get jobs. Honestly, if you haven't had an interview after applying for 18 months I would say it's likely not to be anything to do with your age or your qualifications. The most common issues I come across when people are in your situation are these:
1.Are you applying for REAL vacancies? . What do I mean by real? The way recruitment is working these days goes like this - Company A puts a job on the vacancies section of their site and invites applications. Scanning programs scout the www and a multitude of little online agencies put the vacancy on their site and invite you to send your CV to them in the hopes that they can get a candidate in and bag the commission or get some suitable workers to place in other roles that may crop up. You send your CV to them all in the belief that you are applying for lots of different real jobs when in fact company A has already filled the post and no employer is ever getting to read your CV. Or public sector organisation B advertises a post externally to be fair and open when there's already an internal candidate lined up. So, balance your online agency applications with jobs advertised on employers' own sites that actually get read by real people. Wherever possible apply for jobs that have a named human being and company. Then follow up your application with a phone call to discuss the role. Get seen and heard.
- Are you applying for ENOUGH jobs? I'd actually say 2 applications a week is not actually very much at all. (Think of perhaps 50 applicants per vacancy for the type job you want, so statistically you'd need to apply for nearly a year at the rate of 1 job a week to be getting your 1 in 50 chance.)
- Are you applying for jobs you have a realistic chance of getting? Perhaps not if you're not scoring any interviews. I wonder if you're looking at jobs and thinking I'd like to do that instead of Would that employer choose me to do that? . It's very difficult to persuade an employer that a candidate who's been out of the game for a few years is as employable as the one who's already working in a similar role at the organisation round the corner. You may need to accept a job at a lower level on the career ladder than you're used to, to climb back up again. You should also be filling that gap on your CV with volunteering and gaining relevant experience by work shadowing in the type of place you'd like to work. How else have you kept yourself up to date? Courses?
- Are you really tailoring your CV? enough? How are you tailoring it? Are you matching the skills you present very specifically to the person spec and job description? Are you identifying the areas where your previous roles correspond to the one you're applying for? Does your CV start with your education (possibly irrelevant to the employer) or your particular skills for THAT role? Are you demonstrating how you added value to the jobs you did rather than just listing a duties/ responsibilities or worse copying and pasting your previous job description?
I hope this doesn't come across as preachy. You've obviously got loads to offer but for whatever reason you're being over-looked. Hope this helps. I'd be happy to go on if it helps but it's late. [yawn]
Good luck
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