To think I’m unemployable?

[23andbroke]

I’m 24 next month. I graduated university (psychology) in 2019, then decided to take spend time travelling before entering the world of work. When the first lockdown happened I had to immediately return home, and I haven’t been able to find a job since!

I feel like a complete failure for having a massive career gap on my CV. I have had retail jobs in the past but there aren’t many retail roles available right now, the jobs are in high demand due to pandemic redundancies etc and I’ve been unsuccessful each time.

Would really appreciate advice on how to get out of this mess as it’s honestly depressing

Support work?
Is there a psychiatric hospital or ward nearby? You could look into a health care assistant role or a band 2 support role on the wards.

@SnackSizeRaisin

Don't give up. It's a difficult time, and a shame you missed out on your travels too. Second what others have said. Make a long term plan. Consult university careers service. Make sure your CV and covering letter are as good as possible. Consider extra training if it would help you get somewhere. Meanwhile, apply for any local job you see - it's far better to be doing something however menial, and you can gain something from even the most humble job. 2 evenings a week in a chip shop or bargain booze will be something whilst you keep applying for stuff more suited to your qualifications.

If OP graduated c.June 2019, first lockdown didn't happen until March 2020 so presume she still got a bit of travelling in even if not as much as hoped for.

OP it's hard to give advice and reassure you without you explaining what you've done in the last year to try and get a job e.g. have you looked only at retail or have you tried other sectors, have you tried volunteering or free development opportunities (learn coding or a language or something relevant to what you want to do), what's your long term plan, etc?

I wouldn't worry about a long gap on your CV necessarily, particularly one that says 2020-2021 because everyone will know what happened and a lot of people will have the same gap! If you had done a whole year or more travelling you would have had a gap on your CV even without covid. Obviously what you don't want though is a gap from 2019-onwards without anything at all in it, even if it's not paid employment.

Are you only applying for retail or are you applying for everything? What is your plan? If it's down the clinical psychology route have you looked on NHS jobs in your local mental health trust for HCA/ support work, psychology assistant jobs? It's also worth looking private like cygnet healthcare/ BUPA (or whatever's local).

Loads of good ideas ( and some tough love) on here OP?
What do you think?

@thesandwich

Loads of good ideas ( and some tough love) on here OP? What do you think?

OP seems to have little interest. Didn't even stick around 20 minutes to see if people answered. Hasn't been back in hours. Might explain why they are struggling with jobs.

OP seems to have little interest. Didn't even stick around 20 minutes to see if people answered. Hasn't been back in hours. Might explain why they are struggling with jobs.

Get a grip.

You are absolutely NOT unemployable but it’s a fucking shocking time and I really feel for you.

Right now how much do you need to earn? IE are you living with your parents. Secondly do you have any idea what you want to do?

Given you did psychology I’m just wondering if PT care work alongside volunteer work i the field you want to get into might work? As entry level jobs go, care work can read well on a CV for the people skills etc, and even now I am told there is work around, depending on where you live obviously.

@AnaofBroceliande

I'd rather turn to crime than do care work. How about warehouse work?

Haha. Care work is going to read a lot better on a CV.

@Moondust001 what a ridiculous statement.

What had you planned after travelling around the world? What field(s) did you have in mind? What sort of internships/work placements did you do before?

Where abouts in the country are you OP?

I did psychology at Uni but my Mum also made me do a touch typing and a course in Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Not sure how good your office based skills are? But having those skills gave me a foot in the door into a few different industries until I found what I wanted to do. I was mostly interested in media and I have a good job in TV now in which I do use my psychology in terms of audience research. Temping always worked well for me. I was offered a few permanent roles by going in as a temp. Appreciate the times are much tougher however. Best of luck.

IF you look at the NHS jobs website, there are plenty of Band 2 and Band 3 positions that require no specialist qualifications.

It does sound harsh, but also - what were you expecting to do with a psychology degree? What career area were you interested in? Counselling? Teaching? What was your plan?

It's a starting point for something. But you now need some experience.

Having graduated in the recession of the 1990s, where there were hardly any graduate jobs, many of us had to diversify. What got me work and kept me in work were skills. You need to be able to do something that distinguishes you from the entire working population. My advice would be start learning a skill. Could be coding, counselling, book keeping, spreadsheets, pretty much anything. Pick something and get some training.

Wow people are projecting A LOT onto the OP.

She's not expecting people to pay her unearned income. She's not said that 'it's not fair'. We know nothing about the parenting she received. We don't know whether she is doing any training/volunteering/side-hustles etc.

She's conscious of a gap in her CV, and asked for advice job hunting right now, that's all.

You could check with your university to see if they have a careers service who can help with applications and interview techniques. The university I work for helps alumni up to 3 years after graduation.

I work as an internal recruiter if you would like my perspective.

You graduated in 2019 so I would need to see that you have been proactive since then. You say that you went travelling, did you obtain part time work while travelling or use your initiative to make money somehow?

If you haven’t been able to find a job since returning from your travels have you taken advantage of the free online courses that have been made available by local councils and the Open University to boost your skills? Have you volunteered and thereby gained work experience as many have done during the pandemic?

Even if you can’t find the ideal job at the moment there are many places that are hiring (Track and Trace, supermarkets, delivery services etc.) and I would rather see someone putting in the effort to work than not working at all.

If you have been proactive and shown that you are self motivated I would see you as an employable person.

If not I suggest you start ASAP.

I would honestly see if you can get on a masters course for September. There's loans now for PG study. Would help you defer the job search for a bit and hopefully make you a bit more attractive to employers.

But do something that will help with the employability - I know psychology sometimes involves a bit of maths/stats, lots of jobs that pay well require experience of quantitative research, or numerate degrees these days.

Thank you for taking the time to reply, give advice and offer support - it does mean a lot that you’re helping me🤍

I worked in retail (full time team leader) whilst at university and stayed in the same company after I graduated. I went travelling from Feb-March last year - there’s been just over a year gap in employment. I had 2 clinical placements whilst at university, completed a mental health first aider course last year and host a podcast with a friend.

I thought I could go back to my old job if I wanted to. I worked at TOPSHOP, stores are permanently closed and my previous managers are searching for new roles themselves. I naively didn’t think that it would be difficult to get a entry level clinical role as my CV was okay. I have definitely been humbled.

I would like a support worker or assistant clinical psychologist role. I have interviewed for a range of jobs: classroom assistant, civil service, HR/recruitment and retail head office. I get quite shy during interviews and need to work on that as that’s where I’m going wrong perhaps? My confidence isn’t great. I hate watching myself on video so probably come across poorly on Zoom and pre-recorded interviews! 😬

The year gap is another hurdle, but it’s reassuring to know that I’m not the only one! I am disappointed in myself as I worked hard at my old job and feel like I have let myself down.

So what have you been doing for the last year? And what do you think of suggestions here? What is your goal?

We get a lot of psychology graduates working as health care assistants on our (psych) ward.
Lots go on to study mental health nursing as a masters.

Cross post..contact your uni careers service. Lots of help and advice available.
Look at voluntary work to build your confidence.

You’re not unemployable, you’re just trying to get a job in a pandemic. Be kind to yourself.
I would look for anything that pays money whilst also trying to add to your CV with volunteering/internships/things in the field you’re interested in.
What is it you want to do?