Can I ask what employers are looking for?

[Pepperypig]

My son has been trying to get a job for ages. He has an honours degree and to be honest possibly messed about a bit and didn't get a job straight away. He is not wanting to work in the profession of his degree and I doubt he would ever get a job in it anyway. He has had a couple of part time temporary jobs and is desperate for a full time job. He has been for quite a few interviews and is always told they will let him know one way or another - they very rarely do and he has to contact them directly to be told he doesn't have the job. Any tips from any employers? He will literally do anything at this point.

If he is getting interviews but not getting the post...
There is an on line free education site called Future Learn, one of their courses is "How to succeed at interviews" which might give him some useful ideas.

I think you should encourage him to go to an interview coach. They will help him with everything from his appearance, posture, body language, answering questions and knowing how to converse in an engaging way. This could really help his confidence.

MercianQueen the thing is there is a lot of competition in those jobs and he's just not getting anywhere. The Job Centre force you to do 35 hours of job searching a week and apply for anything you can do so you can't exactly pick and choose what you want to apply for.

Lazypuppy he does plenty of research on the company beforehand, however, as I have said, he doesn't really have the patter so maybe that lets him down. It just seems there are so many people after the jobs these days.

Is he having any problems getting interviews, or is it mainly that's he's not hearing back after an interview?

If the former, that would imply that his CV is fine.

If the latter, it could be the way he's presenting himself in interviews.

I, personally, have been really lucky and I have a, possibly, 90% success rate in interviews. Sorry, not so stealth boast.

My field is 1st line software support/customer support. Does not require technical skills, but a willingness and ability to learn quickly and assist customers with their queries.

So my tips would be

1. Think of the type of questions you might be asked, and prepare answers. The recruiter might be able to help with this, or Google common types of questions for that role.
2. Research the company. Take note of their values and when discussing how you would work/why you are good for the job, mention those particular values and how they relate to you.
3. find out who their competitors are. You might not get asked, but you might be able to drop it into the conversation.
4. Don't think of it as a job interview. Think of it as a conversation, and just roll with it.
5. Have at least 5 questions to ask them.
6. Take your notes with you, and don't be afraid to look at them. It will show you've come prepared and is better than umming and aahhing.

Peppery I'd also encourage him to use any contacts he may have to get a foot in the door somewhere. Has he spread the word amongst friends so they think of him if they hear of an opening where they work? Is there any possibility his tutors might know of openings or have any advice? Do you or his dad know anyone who needs someone or could recommend him to someone they know?

It must be very disheartening for him I know but I'd definitely say prioritize doing the interview course as it could make all the difference. He's not having problems getting interviews so there are jobs out there that he's potentially suitable for, he might just not be selling himself as well as he could.

AdaColeman very useful thank you. Aquamarine102 that might well be the next step. The thing is I think nowadays it is not what you know it's who you know - he just needs given a chance. He's a clever lad but hasn't put enough effort in in the past.

It’s possible he doesn’t have much to say rather than having no ‘patter’ - if he went from school to uni and had no real experience beyond that - hard to answer questions in depth with not much to draw on

Could he do some relevant work experience?

@Lazypuppy, have you thought that they might be spending the rest of their time studying? Or maybe they didn't need that hallowed part time job that you set so much store by?

Jeez, finding a job is hard enough without employers deciding on bizarre and irrelevant requirements. Like the PP, I'm glad I haven't interviewed or worked for you!

Lots of useful advice, thank you very much all of you. I wish I could get him a foot in the door somewhere but unfortunately I don't know anyone who could give him a job. His dad works for the Local Authority and back in the day all you had to do was speak to someone and you could get someone in but it's different now. You can't even hand your CV in places now - it's all form filling online and they don't know the person applying.

ghostyslovesheets I've suggested work experience. I've even suggested offering to do a day's shift without pay.

Can he make use of his useful IT skills in a voluntary capacity for somebody? Either approach a local charity, anything from the local churches, Scouting or similar, sports clubs etc. Could he tidy up their database, improve their security settings, do some network analysis write some macros for their spreadsheets, 'tune up' their hardware: he'll know what he can and can't do, but he may have to be pro-active. It's likely that he has skills he's not valuing, and any of these activities might lead to something directly (eg leader of Scouts employs him in his own company) or indirectly - because he has more to talk about at interviews. A can-do attitude an a bit of initiative is always attractive, by which I mean someone who goes out and finds work / makes work.

Would an agency be able to find him any temp work?

I do sympathise, I know it's hard. My DD was kind of in this situation (completely different degree, not vocational). She began by door-knocking for a charity she supported, on a commission-only basis (and hated it). She joined the local branch of the charity and promptly found herself on the committee. She was then asked to run their stall at events, where she was spotted by a small company looking for a keen individual to do some admin - not her chosen career! She took it though, and through that job was able to branch out into another role as the company grew. Finally she had enough useful experience to get a graduate-level role in a respected company. That was about 18 months after she started the door-to-door malarkey. No-one could have planned these moves out in advance.

Hope things pick up for your DS shortly.

@Lazypuppy i was one of those people who had very little contact time at university. contact time is just the time in lectures, where they pretty much just give you an outline of a topic. The majority of the degree is self taught through your own research and revision! You can be expected to study 4-6 hours per week PER MODULE. And you will do 6 modules per year. Can you do the maths?

For any of you not aware looking for a job now is a full time job in itself. You have to keep a log of all the jobs you have applied for and interviews you have gone on. I think this is only right and proper and I think sometimes I think that people end up interviewing time wasters, however, he is certainly not one of those. I just wish someone would give him a chance - he's a lovely lad, just maybe a bit quiet.

back in the day all you had to do was speak to someone and you could get someone in but it's different now.

That still works (assuming you mean someone you actually know; you can't just walk in the door ask ask to 'speak to the manager').

Some of my best hires have been formally unsuitable candidates that came with personal recommendations.

@Pepperypig, would he be willing to do something like a TEFL qualification, and potentially do summer work at language schools/camps to give him a feel for whether he could manage teaching?

It would be a lot cheaper than committing to a PGCE/PGDE and it would be a useful qualification to have (particularly if he wanted to go abroad at some stage).

TERFousBreakdown that might work for independent places but not for the bigger operations - everything goes through HR and you have to jump through so many hoops now.

ButchyRestingFace I'm not sure but I will ask him.

I completely agree with previous posters who say that I need to be sure that he wants to work in my sector, or the functional role I’m offering before I would consider employing him. Why would I want to employ someone who is just looking for any old job - what I do and what my company does is unique and important and I want to meet people who are really keen to do it too. (It’s not, actually, but still!) passion is really important - even in jobs that don’t seem that exciting - convince the interviewer that he really wants to be there.

So the questions he should answer are:
1.what is he passionate about? If he could do anything, regardless of practicality, what would he do?

1. Does that Job/ role / profession / industry exist where you live? Does he have the ability to develop the skills he will need to work and progress?
2. How can he get experience working in the area? Can he volunteer? Work as an intern for a basic wage? Study a new skill? Join social networking groups connected to the Job? What can he find out about companies in the field? What skills do they need? Which of those skills can he demonstrate? Who can he write to speculatively? Who does he know who does that job? Who else can he talk to?

All of these activities are effective job seeking, endlessly replying to adverts for hundreds of different things is not. I look for grads who are sparky, motivated and passionate - I want to see that they work hard, and that they understand and respect what we do.

ICouldBeSomebodyYouKnow all great suggestions, and ones I hadn't considered - many thanks.

whyismykid thanks. He has been close a few times to a job he really wants but he always seems to get let down.

@Pepperypig, not IME. I've brought people in that were recommended to me and whom I liked and I work in a global corporation. I have several colleagues that were brought in this way, too.

The problem may be finding the right kind of person who actually gets to make this kind of judgment call. There are not all that many of them. Very senior people have all the freedom in the world but are hard to come by. Too junior and nobody cares. And if they have no need it may not work either way.

I have a 1st class degree and a masters degree from a top 10 uni, I also managed a bar whilst at uni .... I applied for jobs for 3 months before I even got an interview and then i got my current job. I’m an apprentice because any higher level job wanted direct experience which I didn’t have. He needs to scale his expectations right back.... everyone has a degree now so it’s the bare minimum. Or he needs to get valid and directly applicable experience.

It’s shit I know.

From my experience of graduate recruitment:

1. Candidate who have worked at whilst at Uni
2. If it's a niche area have done some work experience in the field.

I know it's not what you want to hear but once you get to 4 months after graduation your chances of getting a competitive grad position are low. Hiring managers will question why he is yet to get a job and pass him over in favour of those in the next year intake or someone who has had a reason for not applying for jobs i.e travelling.

At this point in the year he will be competing with next year's intake who have adhered to points 1 and 2.

Perhaps he needs to look at other ways of getting into the industry.

TalkFastThinkSlow's suggestions are excellent.

Does your DS change his CV to make it 100% applicable to each job spec? Rarely does one CV fit all. Also has he considered temporary work through a recruitment agency? Having proved he is good at the job they can sometimes lead to a permanent position.

I wish him good luck at finding a job soon.