AIBU I’ve made myself unemployable?

[Jobdramallama]

Hi all, I’m posting here for traffic and looking for some insight.

I’m currently unemployed and applying for everything and anything. Retail, office, whatever. But absolutely no one is even replying let alone actually turning me down. My employment history is sketchy. I trained to a level 2 working in education and EY but most jobs require level 3 which id need a job to be able to train for. So those jobs don’t want me.
Anything else can see I’ve worked in education so I think turn me down on the basis of it being so different to office/retail/hospitality.
My brief hospitality experience is currently pointless.
I have huge gaps in my history for bouts of MH issues where I just fucked about because I couldn’t get my head together.
I’m in my mid 20s.

I’m so poor, DP is putting (understandably) big pressure on me to get something soon as he’s currently furloughed and his safety net of savings is getting low supporting both of us and multiple pets. I’m so desperate yet no one will take me on.

I’m in the bottom 1%, this is almost a year of unemployment now (since lockdown 1.0). UC are saying if I don’t get something soon they’ll make me work voluntary hours (30 a week, for 290 a month). I feel so worthless and desperate and I don’t know what to do.

How about a cleaner? Maybe work for a cleaning firm for a while. Learn the ropes in terms of how things should be done, how to be most efficient, tips of the trade, etc with a view to setting up on your own eventually?

Education?

Could you be a nanny, or home school help?

OP, I really feel for you. But please don't despair. You are relatively young and you will find something good.

If I were you, I would look at apprenticeships. The pay can be low but the work can be interesting and the wonderful thing is that you can work towards a qualification while being paid for it. So it is a really good way to work towards a career in a new area (or potentially a Level 3 in education or early years if that's what you want).

You can search apprenticeships close to your local area here: www.findapprenticeship.service.gov.uk/apprenticeshipsearch

I would also encourage you to look at jobs relating to the census. These will be temporary but I suspect it would give you a big boost to have some employment under your belt and you will have a chance to gain new skills. You can find them here: www.censusjobs.co.uk/

And finally, there are vaccinator jobs (for which training is given) and administration jobs relating to the vaccination effort. This may be interesting: www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/join-the-nhs-covid-19-vaccine-team

Your hospitality experience isn't useless - it shows you have people skills and can deliver good customer service. This is useful in whatever area you now go into.

I wonder if we (together) could compose your cover letter (or at least give you some strong sentences to put in that deal with your work breaks/change in sir we croon/relevant experience to date.

We must have hr people on here. We just need 3 paragraphs to base a good letter on.

Sir we croon???? Circumstances!

I think your best bet is to do a new/additional qualification.

Whether you study FT or PT, as a student you’ll probably find it easier to pick up PT work or temping because “student needs part time work” is a widely understood situation.

What do you really want to do? Could you go to uni (and get a student loan)? Or go to FE college (and maybe get an adult learners loan)?

If you pick a career you really want and work towards that, it might help your MH too.

I haven’t put anything for the gaps.

I have applied to care jobs, I even get notifications from indeed to say my application was viewed but I get no replies. I always try to add a cover letter.

I really don’t want to do voluntary work as I know my worth and refuse to work for 2.40 an hour through UC. I’m also bubble with a vulnerable adult so I don’t want to do voluntary work I’m not even being paid for to risk their health..

I will have a look at all links and websites suggested. Thank you!

Op have a look at The Princes Trust website. They provide advice and support to help young people get jobs.

Don’t use a chronological CV, use a Skills based one. Like this;

www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/cvs-and-cover-letters/example-cvs/skills-based-cv-example

You know your worth? I don't mean to be cruel and heartless but you are unemployed and unable to get a job despite trying so maybe volunteering will increase your 'worth because at the moment you are on benefits and need help. I volunteered with a national charity from childhood because my parents were involved, no payment at all involved, it only ever made me feel good about myself and increased my confidence and self worth, I started working age 17 and continued volunteering, age 25 I got the job of my dreams with prospects and a future career path in that same charity and part of my job in the beginning was to assist volunteers to move into employment within the organisation. Stop looking down on volunteering, I know its different when tied to benefits but its better than sitting at home despairing as to why you're not being successful and its shows willingness to try improve yourself and your 'worth'.

30 hours a week for 290 a month. Ridiculous! Plus job searches. No way. Look, she's clearly trying but it's dire atm. If U. C provide slave labour aka volunteers to these companies there'll be even less proper jobs available🙄
OP could you see if there's any demand for delivering, cleaning as self employed? Register as S. E Make a nominal amount to start it'll keep them off your back.
Or retrain.... Will you get help with costs on U. C?

I dont know if you live near a high street? A local care agency may be be really interested in people who live near their clients?

If you're applying for care work and not even getting called for interview, there's issues with your applications. That industry doesn't blink at unexplained absences as there's so many women who've had to step out periodically to raise kids or care for parents.

An apprenticeship actually sounds like the ideal way forward for you. Gain qualifications and experience plus get paid.

Try child care agencies. I used to work in child care and we used a few different agencies to fill up cover spots. Quite often if we liked someone we’d end up hiring them full time. A few people used agencies to get work whilst looking for more full time options and ended up getting a full time job through them.

Also a lot of places will take someone on who don’t yet have level three, a few people were completing it in the company I worked for.

I second the nannying idea. Lots of people looking at the moment and I did this in the first lockdown when I was unemployed for a bit. It helped fill in a gap and someone else who I can ask for reference, plus the children I looked after were lovely!

Has anyone looked at your applications? Are you tailoring them to the job or at least the job sector each time? I agree with the poster above that there must be an issue with your applications if you’re not getting any interviews after applying for multiple care jobs.

A SEN school a friend works for us crying out for decent LSAs. Rubbish pay but better than nothing

If you're qualified to L2 you're not unemployable to most NMW jobs and I think you meet the criteria for free further education, wouldn't you?

If you look at it differently, you're in a good position to start in an entry level position and work your way up. I hope that doesn't sound patronising. I have a postgrad qualification but on trying to change careers, I found that my level 3 post paid less than a supermarket job (I quit).

@fuckitsstillworking it's not really volunteering though, it's working full time for 2.40 an hour whilst also being expected to look for work however many hours a week on top. Why would anyone hire actual employees when they can just take on forced 'volunteers' who HAVE to be there or risk losing their only - minute and not even minimum wage - income?

I was also going to suggest volunteering, I know you say you know your worth, but even a few hours a week could help boost your cv a bit?

I've known people who have been unemployed and struggled to find work, volunteered and then moved into employment.

It may seem unfair but women can get off with (quite long) gaps in their employment record far more easily than men by implying "caring responsibilities". If a man has a long gap it may be assumed that he was in prison, a mental institution or somewhere similar but somehow this never seems to be assumed for a woman.

Have you got a driving license @Jobdramallama? If so have you considered being a dotcom driver for a supermarket given that their online delivery side of business is so busy thanks to covid? Or even a picker for dotcom? From personal experience supermarkets employ people from a huge, wide variety of backgrounds. Students, graduates, professionals who’ve lost jobs/want to retrain and work on the side. The skills you get working in a supermarket are super transferable, in fact, I only got my graduate job because my manager who interviewed me used to work a similar role in retail and valued my experience even though it was totally irrelevant to my graduate job.
Failing that, courier work?

Have NC as some of my other posts are a little more personal, but am a regular poster.

I'm involved as one of many providers implementing the government's new lifetime skills guarantee, digital skills initiative. The next free training courses go live in June (after we providers have been through a tonne of red tape). There are some really great training opportunities for those currently seeking work and its completely free. The training we are offering is focused on really tangible and useful digital skills that will help with finding a new role. Please feel free to message me if think it might suit you or to get some more details. A lot of info can be found on the gov.uk website too, but as it's all region based it can seem a bit confusing to know what's available where.

It sounds as though you cannot afford all the pets and should perhaps consider rehoming some. Some good advice above re: employment.