Unemployed, struggling to get a job

[unemployedd]

I've been unemployed for 2 months after leaving my previous job due to poor mental health due to an awful line manager. I've been applying for jobs since but had no luck. I'm a graduate with a first and a master's and 3 years of decent work experience. I tailor my CV and cover letters to each job, and I prepare well for the interviews.

I can't even pinpoint where I'm going wrong. Some I just get ignored or rejected at the first hurdle despite having relevant experience. One I had a screening call with HR for which went really well and they said my experience matches what they want, they passed my CV and cover letter on to the hiring manager and I then got feedback that I don't have enough experience for what they're looking for. I've had interviews that have gone really well, where the interviewer has joked 'I won't wish you luck for your other interviews' and kept saying 'that's a really good answer' to my answers only to get an automatic rejection with no feedback.

My experience is in biology/biomedical sciences, and I've applied for anything and everything related to that. I've gone from a £35,000 job to applying for minimum wage care assistant jobs and I'm still getting rejected.

Sorry to hear that.

I think applying for jobs can be soul-destroying, especially if you had to leave your previous job in order to preserve your mental health. I've been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

Regarding the health care assistant jobs, are you tailoring the application for exactly that. I have lots of experience in working in care assistance.and I think you have to really spell things out e.g. I'm experienced in personal care - if you have not worked in the care sector, you need to think of a situation where you have given personal care e.g with your own children if you have them, for example, elderly relatives, helping out with cooking their dinners, washing clothes etc, interacting with elderly neighbour etc etc. It may sound really basic, but I think especially if you are looking for care jobs you need to list and give examples, no matter how basic it sounds, if that makes any sense... ! Silly cliches like examples of where you have gone the extra mile in the community. Tailor it to what you have experience of even if it's not directly related to care jobs and they will snap you up. I think the care sector is crying out for people if you think you would want to do it.

Don't really know what to say other than well done for applying and keeping on.

Can you use your former university (ies) careers service to help you reboot or at least reassure you? They all do online consultations now.
Wishing you the very best

Christ, I worked in care. Most care homes just care that you have a pulse and haven’t murdered anyone. I’ve always walked into the jobs, they are desperate.

Although, I did have an enlightening conversation with a manager once who wasn’t calling highly qualified people for interview as she didn’t think they were serious about actually wanting to work in care so discounted their CVs immediately (why you would apply for a job you didn’t want, I don’t know).

So maybe try leaving some qualifications out for those sort of jobs?

Obviously you are asking us to do a lot of guesswork here. But I'd think there are several likely scenarios:

• apply for jobs that are basic level, and they won't believe for one second that you will stay once you get another / any other offer. Which is probably a fair assumption, because why would you?
• A lot of employers are somewhat dubious about people leaving their job without one to go to. It suggests that there may be more to the story than meets the eye - resgning rather than face the music type scenarios?
• Have you had time off sick - if you had to leave then your mental health can't have been good at all, and perhaps sickness absence is showing? That can make people worry.
• What reason are you giving for leaving your previous role - no matter what the truth of the matter is, employers can be worried about people who criticise their former employer?
• Could you be percieved as too expensive a hire? Three years experience is something, but there will be a lot of people with none or a little who could get to your level relatively quickly - and may cost a lot less whilst doing so.
• Are you sure that your interviews are going as well as you think? Some people do not come across as good in person as their qualifications and experience suggest. For example, you say that an interviewer kept saying "that's a really good answer" - as an interviewer myself, that is the kind of answer I would be repeating when someone is coming across poorly / without confidence, and I am trying to encourage them because I think they could do better if they weren't as nervous / lacking in confidence.

What answers are you giving for why you left your previous job?

I'm afraid I have quite a bit of experience of recruiting people who'd already left/resigned from their previous job and I can't think of any who were a success in the post, so it would have to be a very good answer for that not to affect the decision making now.

I say I left because I had received another job offer which unfortunately fell through, which is true.

That does happen. But it could leave questions hanging about whether it is true - it couldriase as many alarm bells as not. For example, you left your previous role under a black cloud, the new employer found out and withdrew the offer. Not saying that happened. But recruiters may be cautious about your explanation.

I'm also trying to make a career move and apply for medicine, so was hoping to get experience working in care to get some savings and to support my application.

I honestly just feel like giving up with it all. I'm a hard worker, reliable, caring. I hate the idea of recruiters being 'cautious' and having 'alarm bells' about me for something that was out of my control.

You need to network. Where are the people you studied with at University? Could they find out if anyone they know is hiring and put in a good word for you?