can you help me work out why i can't get a supermarket job?

[jobrequired]

Tale as old as time, i'm mid 40s, husband and i are discussing terms of theoretical separation and divorce and i need to work.

Please be decent if you reply, don't leave inflammatory responses, i'm going through a very difficult time and every day is a struggle.

I am looking for helpful insight.

i have worked in a traditional/classic "status" profession (eg chartered accounting, clergy, medicine) for 5 years but have suffered very poor MH , GAD with the presence of panic attacks which continue to this very day and significantly impact me daily. I only have a couple of friends i'm in touch with and they agree that I am not suited to returning to the profession and don't think i could perform to the level required. On paper, I'm highly skilled but in reality, i really struggled to perform and work things out on the job.

I have been out of work for 5 years and i want a job that isn't too demanding and that i can just go in to do without yet more training. I've been rejected from admin roles even though I've got admin experience.

i feel that i've adapted my CV to the roles I've applied for. Specifically for the supermarket and retail jobs, I have taken off post-graduate qualifications and the professional roles.

I currently do volunteer work at a school and go in one morning a week to read with children. It's a very basic function and i don't organise anything as the school don't want that nor do i use any skills. I literally listen and prompt so i don't think this voluntary work could progress into paid employment.

On another thread, I read about a woman in her 50s who hadn't worked for a while and was in a similar situation in terms of marriage status and she was told to get a job at a supermarket to get her back into working. Separate to that, I had already been applying for low paid roles in retail and supermarkets. I've been rejected from Morrisons,Tesco, Cinton Cards Seasalt and Boots.

I have my own suspicions as to why I'm getting rejected but would like to hear of success stories and how people actually do get jobs in places such as these.

What do I need to do in the tests - Tesco one was very different from the Morrisons!

What would a successful candidate CV look like and contain or avoid?

Can anyone help me with suggestions on how to return to work or any resources?

I've been trying off and on for 3 years to return to work, so i'm not sitting passively hoping to just submit a CV and get an interview. I've been filling applications, doing virtual/ automated preliminary interviews etc but don't seem to progress.

Thank you.

@jobrequired

Would you consider support work?

@jobrequired apologies just saw you answer above which I initially missed

I hear you! I couldn’t either even though I’ve spent my entire working life previous to being a SAHM in offices and having the sort of jobs you had to look smart in and fraternise with clients (rather than customers), yet no one wanted me 🙁 I ended up joining an agency that do zero hours work and got jobs in supermarkets that way. Ironically, when I applied for a permanent job at one of the branches I haven’t worked in I still didn’t get it even though I’ve been working casually for the same company for ages. 🤷‍♀️

If you swatted up on education, with your in-school volunteering and all of your experience (not leaving it out on CV), could you try and look for a TA job in a local school?

Thanks 👍

For supermarket applications I don't get past the initial screening or multiple choice of what would you do eg " if a colleague asked for help to do xyz but you have been told to refill empty shelves and remove packaging as soon as possible." My approach would be to do my task first and then help but there were no answers to reflect this and I can't go back to access my test now.
For other retail roles I have done the automated system interviews eg "describe a time when you encountered a problem and delivered a solution" type questions. I don't get through to interview in person.

In administration roles, either I don't get through to interview or fail the admin/ spreadsheet test and then that gets stored in my Indeed or Total jobs profile other companies use it if their recruitment process requires a test. When I was a professional, I didn't have a secretary or typists or assistant so I did my own admin and invoicing but that was a long time ago and I was doing it to my own standards. Perhaps I should do a course on MS Office skills to update and refresh.

If I remove my professional roles I have administration work that I did for 1 year, voluntary work at the school and retail work from 2000s while a uni and postgraduate student.

Have you been to the job centre? They will have someone go through your CV with you and help you look at getting into up-skilling in the areas that you might want to apply for.

I really, really feel for you.

I volunteer at a heritage site where there are also paid jobs in visitor service. Many of the people in them are over 50 and in their second careers. The visitors tend to be really lovely, and it is a very gentle atmosphere. Would it be worth trying any museums or heritage sites near you?

Sending you the very best of luck.

Plant nursery? My local one always seems to be struggling to fill vacancies.

I have thought about TA and frequently check vacancies in local council and direct on school websites - just not seeing that many jobs available in my area and the TA roles require further qualification , taking a good few months to complete ( need to check)and the course has on the job voluntary work in classroom.

Get rid of the degree off your cv and make sure you can account for your most recent 5 years, show that you can be an effective team member in the workplace.
I hope you are including any and all recent volunteering?

This may have changed, but when I was applying for Tesco some years ago whilst in sixth form I kept getting rejected before interview and couldn’t work out why. As I lived in a small town, my boyfriend also worked there and he got some tips from the “personnel manager” as she was then. She told us that my answers on the multiple choice quiz were too focused on myself as an individual and needed to choose the options that were more team-based. Not sure if that helps at all or if they even run that kind of test now. I redid it and managed to get the role.

I agree. While I was at university I had a Saturday job in a supermarket, saving extra money for a holiday. It was bloody stressful and not a pleasant experience at all. Some customers would speak to you like dirt, and talk down to you, because you were a shop worker. The reality was that most of the staff appeared to be young people or students from the local college and university. Fun for that reason alone. Doing it full time to support and pay the bills, no.

Is it seen as easy entry level job for someone mid 40s to apply for? I'm almost that age and couldn't do it now and it wouldn't be suitable for me I wouldn't 'fit' now and I suspect they'd notice that and I wouldn't get past interview stage.

I think Waitrose and John Lewis would be more interested in employing a more educated person. I know someone who’s just got a job in John Lewis and she was a teacher. She’s late 50s.

If you're finding the very corporate recruitment stuff very hard, can you try smaller places which are less formal? E.g. ask at the school you work at, do you have any admin work going? Ask at the local shop, do you have any vacancies? Or just put a CV together (without gaps! If not at all relevant to the role just explain briefly on it e.g. 2005-2015 Worked as a solicitor) which explains on it that you're looking to move into retail/hospitality/education/whatever it is, drop it in locally.

Ask your neighbours/the teachers/other school mums if they know of any work going. I have got SO many more jobs/flats etc by word of mouth than just by looking online.

The other suggestion that would work to echo a PP is join an agency, one of my family members has done tonnes of agency work over the years and it's very low responsibility but you also get to see different jobs in action.

Lastly, don't think of yourself as unemployable - you sound like a highly skilled decent person who's going through a hard time. Better times are ahead x

Sign up with an agency. I moved over 200 miles and was mid 40s had two young kids and a disabled husband, I wasn't an ideal candidate. Signed on with agency and at first booking they said they were interested in offering me a job and would be in touch. Started second booking and two days later got the phone call from first job, started on not much above minimum wage working part time, 20 years later I was a senior manager on £100k. Sometimes people don't look right on paper but if people meet you, see you working it can be different.

Good luck.

My school can’t recruit TAs at all, even when we offer to put people through the qualification on the job. Bare this in mind when applying because they may still consider you, although it isn’t an easy role and there is a lot of individual thinking.

Have you been to the job centre for assistance?

What stage of the process are you getting rejected?
Are you actually getting called for interview or are you getting rejected after interview/test stages?

Seeing you need money coming in NOW and you also have some MH issues, Id start looking at what sort benefits you can get. Yes its never a lot but it will help you until you can find a job.
In particular, you need to look at the UC and the low capability for work and whether you would qualify. If you need a cleaner because you cant do a lot of the stuff at home too, Id look into PIP asap too (Both of those take a few months to be sorted at best - sometimes longer)

When my dm retired she got a job in the sorting office.
She never told anyone that she had been a midwifery sister.
She knew that a) they may not believe her anyway
b) she would certainly have been teased.

Keep your cv bland and keep trying.

From the kind of applications you describe, your CV is not making a blind bit of difference.

It’s situational judgement and it’s STAR techniques.

It’s difficult to tell whether these recruitment techniques are failing you appropriately, as they are designed to do for unsuitable applicants, or whether you just need practice in how to complete them.

FYI - my 16 year old has passed the online tests for Tesco on his own, with no help or guidance. Obviously he’s not done this on the basis of any experience at all in the world of work. He just has the right mindset.

Any sort of siloed thinking “I must just complete my task quickly and not be distracted…..I just need to get the job done and switch off……I just need something easy to do and then I can do it well…..etc etc” is not going to pass those tests.

Hi @jobrequired . My DS works for a big supermarket part time whilst at uni. He did his induction with 4 other new starters and was youngest by many years; he's 18 and others ranged from mid 30s to late 50s.
All except one other had previous retail experience ( and the other new starter had years of face to face customer experience).
So age not a factor it appears but, if you're not young, previous experience might be.
As others have said though, it's tough work.
You're trained and expected to do everything and some of it is very physical, shifting loads in warehouse for example.
You're on very tight timescales to pick Deliveroo orders as another example and some customers are far from pleasant so maybe not good if your MH is fragile?

I've just applied for PIP.

I'm also waiting for more NHS therapy to see if I can make a breakthrough this time with the impact of GAD and panic disorder.

I was looking at retail as a short to medium term prospect while we are deciding about divorce and settlement terms.

It's all a nightmare to be honest.

Also, I don’t understand these conflicting statements:

I really need to earn money quickly but I currently pay a cleaner.

I would like to work in a dirty supermarket, and am physically fit, but cannot do cleaning jobs.

I was doing a professional role up until 5 years ago, but I don’t know how to use MS Office.

I have to say it’s not blowing me away as an employer.

What about stop paying a cleaner and there’s some instant extra income?

Skirt to medium term as in a few years.

Apply for a call centre instead. With no experience you'll likely need to start minimum wage, but then can change to a job that pays more.

I did that after 6 months of illness years ago. 5 years is a lot. That's your main issue. Also never tick the disability box.

"I have been out of work for 5 years and i want a job that isn't too demanding"

I haven't worked in a supermarket though I'm certain most are demanding.