3,000 job applications in little over a year and still no job?

[Londonista1975]

In the Standard today:

www.standard.co.uk/news/work/special-report-a-generation-of-young-londoners-with-no-job-no-prospects-and-no-hope-8156404.html

I looked at the front page today in shock and had to read the article twice to check I hadn't misunderstood. I know she's lacking confidence, has no degree, and hardly any experience, but still...I find it incredible she still hasn't got a job yet.

Am I wrong to suspect there's more to it? Or am I a heartless c!nt who has no idea about the real world?

I'm joining you on the heartless bench but if someone is applying for 10 jobs a day there is no way they're tailoring their CV and skills to the job specification, etc etc etc. She's not doing it properly. Although I really do feel for her, don't the job centres show people how to do this properly?

No way is she tailoring her cv for the relevant jobs or doing any research.

I wonder if she does
Cover letters?

Also boo frickin hoo the companies didn't contact her to give feedback.

You call THEM to get feedback surely?

I wonder if she goes in to shops and chats to people. Quickest way to get a job IMO, and then you're armed with more than 5 days experience when something better comes along.

I was in a cynical mood and thought she might have come up with that figure just to get publicity and a job, or the journalist exaggerated the figure for a sensationalist headline. But maybe you're both right about not tailoring her CV's.

I am sorry but clearly there is something wrong. Probably a rubbish cv and or covering letter.
I advertised jobs at ten job centre for our restaurant. We got emailed CVs from really stupid email address such [email protected] for example. Doesn't make you want to interview them. Maybe its something like that?

Yeh I really doubt this. I moved to a new city with no job cos I knew it wouldn't be THAT hard to find one. I got offered 3 in 2 weeks and I'm not mega qualified/experienced

I'm guessing she's i) got a shit email address and ii) is sending a shit CV and iii) is sending only a shit CV and no covering letter - and even to places which ask you to fill in a form, and not send a CV.

She also 'wanted to take anti- depressants' - what for shits and giggles? Don't you need a doctor for that? Apparently your mother can cure you of depression instead

What a shit article

I can see that happening though agree with those who say she's not tailoring it at all if she's managing ten CVs a day! I was looking for 3 months for local jobs in my parents home town and put in hundreds of CVs and applications, spent about an hour each time writing cover letters (though had a set of CVs tailored to specific skill-sets, so one childcare, one care homes, one shop work, etc) and was doing about three or four properly a day that entire time. I got two interviews and one job offer (which I took, then dropped out of the training and went back into seasonal work and got offered work within a week )

I did call places and ask for feedback and got some good advice, but also got a lot of very rude HR staff members telling me I just wasn't good enough, which isn't exactly helpful when you need to know why you are not good enough.

I thought that the job centre offered training courses if you've been on benefits for a certain amount of time? And local authorities tend to have free courses in Maths/English/IT too don't they?

Would be interested to know about the Standard's record on employing people, given the media's reputation for shitty employment terms and unpaid "internships".

My OH was unemployed for a year after being made redundant and he has a degree!

He has finally got a part time job now and is going to be a stay at home dad when I go back to work and work tge job round my hours.

It is shit out there :-(

barriers lots of young people face:
lack of experience
bad cv
lack of qualifications
being second/ third generation of unemployed and work not "paying"
lack of I.d. (especially in temp jobs)
cost of travel to work

I think the market is very tough now, especially for young people without much work experience. However, I do a lot of recruitment in my role, and it's certainly the case that many people have no clue how to go about applying for a job. I think schools need to do much more to teach people about this kind of thing.

I too find it hard to believe that the girl in the article has submitted 3000 "proper" job applications without any positive results.

My opinions on this young woman are neither here nor there, I feel for her and it is difficult for young people, but clearly there are things which she could be doing better. But Wilson, the Job Centre doesn't meaningfully help people with CV writing and applying for jobs properly. They don't really seem provide meaningful help with anything, they seem to exist as some bloated juggernaut with a misnomer. In my experience and that of anyone I know who has used them, the staff seem to have no skill in actually helping people find suitable work, but a lot of skill in demeaning and belittling them. It can be pretty demoralising even if you have a thick skin, and humiliating if you don't.

NatashaBee Connexions were shit when I went to them in my teens for advice about jobs and getting on the career ladder, they said "We don't do that" which made a 16 year old me question their purpose. Granted this was about a decade ago, maybe they are better, but I thought they were winding Connexions down?

The article does state the obvious (the "how can you get experience if no one will give you a job?" thing has existed since the dawn of time), and young people almost always have to do shit jobs to start with, unless they are really lucky or well connected. In the other case studies, I felt for Mark as life threw a lot at him in his short life and his education suffered. But Jubbed had a job and jacked it in because it was boring?! That's just foolish, knowing how things are at the moment.

I do feel for young people, it has always been hard getting that first step but it is extra crap at the moment. They just have to keep ploughing away, they will get a break eventually.

re connexions (well young peoples services around here) do a brilliant job of helping the most vulnerable in society IMHO. the FLIP course has really helped a lot of the young people I work with.

I can believe it. I know people who have applied for hundreds of jobs in the last year, who have a degree, a good CV and work experience and have got nowhere. This girl has limited qualifications, no experience and probably a poor CV. It's really not that much of a surprise.

She does also live in a v disadvantaged area of London, which prejudiced though it may sound may also be a factor.

I'm sure there are a lot of young people in a similar position to her.

I can believe it too.

I believe it
It's not a crap cv, she has no experience
And there are unemployed people with a couple of years experience that will be ahead of her
I reckon I'm close to a 1000 applications
I've got a degree and 15 years experience, but in a very specialised field
I've been out for 5 years and the people with more recent experience are getting the jobs
Any disadvantage becomes a huge issue in this market

Lots of people are talking about having a degree and/or work experience as if that should get people an interview, but all the qualifications and experience in the world will be irrelevant if people don't know how to present their applications.

I can certainly believe the article and it's a very depressing fact that there are thousands of young people with very few prospects.

I think there are a combination of factors at play - obviously the current economic climate plays a role. But mostly it's to do with how they present themselves, how their CVs are, how they go about finding a job. Unfortunately, there is very little good advice out there, and often people give terrible advice that hinders job applications.

Basic things that would be automatic to a middle-class pushy parent, helping their child get their first job, aren't automatic to a lot of people in places like Tower Hamlets. Things like having an appropriate email address, correct spelling and punctuation, talking clearly, making eye contact, dressing appropriately, tailoring applications, being pro-active, contacting charities for help or to volunteer - all these things are crucial, yet there are swathes of people who just don't know how to approach job-hunting and have no support.