Are you applying for jobs?

[eyesontheball]

If you're applying for jobs today what does this look like?
Are you on the job centre website, LinkedIn, or phoning agencies?
What helps you with your applications? Have you had interviews?

Just a bit overwhelmed and not knowing where to start. I've been self employed for the last few years on a very low income.

Is an agency the quickest way to get on the employment market and do they take percentage of your income?

Looking for a chat/ mutual support.

I suppose the best route probably depends on what kind of job you want…?

I guess I'm going back to entry level admin/ database maintenance jobs.
I'm degree educated but haven't used them (2 of them) professionally.

Try the national careers service

As someone who recruits regularly, I think it depends on the industry you are in. I'm in Education and we only use agencies as a last resort, when we cannot recruit directly.
Agencies always take a cut, so do not provide good use of public funds.

Applicants who apply direct are always viewed more favourably because of this. Using our own application form also means that when we are shortlisting we can directly compare applicants - especially when we are looking for particular skills or experiences, rather than trying to sift through CVs which often don't say very much.

I got a job back in August. The main site I used was Indeed, and I also checked the NHS job portal as well. I applied for every admin/receptionist job that suited my needs regarding hours.

For every job application initially, I made a list of the skills and requirements. Then I wrote a paragraph for each one explaining how I met them, which I kept in a document. Every time I saw a new skill on an advert, I'd write a new paragraph. I tweaked these paragraphs until I felt they were the best they could be.

Then when I was applying for jobs, I just went to my document and copied the relevant paragraphs together to make my cover letter or CV relevant. I always wrote a new opening paragraph for each role tailored to the specific role, but the rest was my perfected bits.