not to beleve in all these jobs

[Orangejuicemarathoner]

Supposedly there are thousands and thousands of vacancies, but if you actually look, most are agencies. You don't so much apply for a vacancy as get lured in to sign up for an agency. They might or might not then put your name forward for something, and it might not be suitable if they do.

And most of the jobs that are not actually just imaginary fronts to help an agency get your details on file, require ownership of a vehicle.

AIBU to believe that there are actually far far fewer vacancies than the news headline figures are suggesting.

I would guess 10-20% at most

The company i work for (retirement) has 100 vacancies on their vacancies board today pretty good job too

MrsF "maybe someone should set up a recruitment agency for people who want to return to work in flexible, part time work". I think there are some companies like this eg www.termtimerecruitment.co.uk/welcome

[quote RestingPandaFace]@LyndaLaHughes don’t be put off moving into tech because of your age. We are seeing more older devs coming through and it’s great to be able to balance our teams with a little more life experience and better developed soft skills.[/quote]
That's really good to know. Thank you.

Rannva

In my case it has been the agencies asking me my DOB because I did leave it off my CV.
Back in 2017, I was doing a business course and the tutor had her own recruitment agency. She told us that she was routinely asked by employers not to send CV's of people over the age of 50.
Yes, I know that is illegal, but I also know it happens.

PandorasMailbox

It is so frustrating to be applying for all these jobs and only get a handful of replies.

@OverTheRubicon

Ultimately, job share is often a nightmare as an employer - you end up with double the people to manage, double the cost of some of the benefits and the admin (days of leave are pro rata, but no decent employer is going to pro rata someone's death in service or healthcare benefits), if one person leaves / underperforms / doesn't get on with the other it's tricky to manage. If you want to work school hours, then job sharing around that is again unlikely to be appealing to someone else, and they'll still have issues of hours without coverage.

Part time is available for many roles advertised as full time - but often it's easier to ask for 3 or 4 full days, shorter days can again be difficult if it means you won't match with client hours or the rest of the team.

I think a lot of women do themselves out of good opportunities by looking for school hours only, when they could get a good 3 day job that's WFH a day a week or more. The extra pay will often cover the wraparound care, the 2 full days off per week is great during school holidays, and there are often more opportunities to flex hours once you're in a business and established yourself. Not right for everyone, but can work out really well - and far far easier to get as an applicant than joining the flock of over-qualified women vying for any dinner lady job on the basis of working hours.

Thats the problem, there is NO wraparound care and even when there was, you were working just to pay for it.

As of the last 5 years advice has been not to include GCSEs on your CV and only discuss your last 2-3 roles, or only the last few years' worth of roles.

Gone are the days you should be including O Levels on there.

Try explaining that to HR managers in the public sector, who - back when they actually bothered to even acknowledge your application - message you back to ask why your application form omits your GCSE subjects and grades. "Because I have two relevant degrees, which kind of supersede the GCSEs I did when Caesar was a boy" doesn't cut it for them.

And there's plenty of application forms which insist on covering every single day from leaving education to the present day in the "employment history" section.

Public Sector application forms are so outdated in the main. Arduous and archaic.

@MrsFTigalar

Just to be contrary I thought that while settling DS2 for his nap, I'd check out these millionty vacancies that I'm overlooking -

Care work - now, I can do care work - but won't get recruited because my sector experience is care and pre babies I was a national manager. Interviewers visibly pale and the feedback is always "overqualified" That said at the moment I can't do it because shift work and eternal pedestrianism doesn't work around here.

Restaurant/ café work - not during school hours. Only afternoons and evenings. Minimum wage doesn't cover childcare - DH not home until after childcare providers close.

Shop work - again it's hours, but it could work if the salary covers necessary childcare which on initial calculations, it doesn't. Shocker

Guardian jobs/ indeed/ total jobs/ charity job and Prospectus threw up a grand total of 1 suitable role which I've emailed about. It's allegedly home based, part time, but the holding email mentioned regional travel which the ad didn't.

I think what's frustrating me is that I'm not stupid, or unwilling, I'm capable and intelligent, but it's frowned upon to let a toddler roam the streets while his mother picks up a shift in Clarks and to book childcare I can't do a job where I'm called on the morning to come in because it's a zero hours contract. Ffs maybe someone should set up a recruitment agency for people who want to return to work in flexible, part time work - there have to be employers out there!

They have done. Find GPS Return on LinkedIn. It's what they do.

@Otherpeoplesteens same in industry! If you get an interview you can also be expected to explain why you left Blogget & Co in 1989 (I was genuinely asked this question very recently). I think some people do it just to prove they read your CV.

Indeed. I once got asked 15 years later why I left a job I'd been headhunted to after only 18 months. "Because I was ordered to conceal evidence in a corporate manslaughter investigation" shut her up.

@SW1amp

What sort of places were they working in before that didn’t need them to drive?

I’m surprised at all the bar work needing them to stay until 3am, given clubs didn’t reopen til late July

Did they leave it quite late in the summer to start looking? Most students have their summer jobs lined up by June IME

no, started looking around April

@Overthebow

So there were jobs available, just not ones they wanted.

no.

A job is not "available" if it requires a car, and you don't have one

@Sylvvie Thats the problem, there is NO wraparound care and even when there was, you were working just to pay for it.

That is hard. Are there local childminders who take children after school? Usually they're quite keen because it doesn't mess with ratios.

Sent too early.. also, even if you're not making a profit on the wraparound hours, you're almost certainly making money on the time overall, especially with tax credits off and if you also consider pension contribution, other benefits, likely NI, and also the value of not having to try to find a job with a really long CV gap.

Cirin

Your kids have no GCSEs at all

I think it's going to be harder to find work if they haven't been able to complete basic education, that's a given really. The manager might take the time to ask what happened, but they will probably assume there are behavioural issues at play which could affect the workplace

They are self employed in an industry that closed during lock down.

Dd is in managerial roles in one of the industries she works in.

Why would you think behavioural issues?

Both are severely dyslexic and have ADHD.
It doesn’t mean they are not intelligent and incapable unless you think everyone’s intellect is based on exams

@Bythemillpond

Cirin

Your kids have no GCSEs at all

I think it's going to be harder to find work if they haven't been able to complete basic education, that's a given really. The manager might take the time to ask what happened, but they will probably assume there are behavioural issues at play which could affect the workplace

They are self employed in an industry that closed during lock down.

Dd is in managerial roles in one of the industries she works in.

Why would you think behavioural issues?

Both are severely dyslexic and have ADHD.
It doesn’t mean they are not intelligent and incapable unless you think everyone’s intellect is based on exams

Dyslexia and ADHD are not a bar to achieving GCSEs

Over 3000 jobs in the Guardian this week. All sorts.

26,000 + in the NHS.

Seymour5

26,000 + in the NHS.“

I heard over 100,000 quoted on the radio this week?

@Bythemillpond

Cirin

Your kids have no GCSEs at all

I think it's going to be harder to find work if they haven't been able to complete basic education, that's a given really. The manager might take the time to ask what happened, but they will probably assume there are behavioural issues at play which could affect the workplace

They are self employed in an industry that closed during lock down.

Dd is in managerial roles in one of the industries she works in.

Why would you think behavioural issues?

Both are severely dyslexic and have ADHD.
It doesn’t mean they are not intelligent and incapable unless you think everyone’s intellect is based on exams

I don't, but what I said was an employer might.

Kids with dyslexia and ADHD pass GCSEs. To have none at all is very unusual, and the first thing an employer will think its not that they are dyslexic, but that they simply quit school or didn't turn up for the exam, which reflects poorly.

If they have CVs of experience, though, like you say, then it really shouldn't be an issue. Experience will trump exams, and most experienced adults won't be including them on a CV anyway.

@MrsSkylerWhite

Seymour5

26,000 + in the NHS.“

I heard over 100,000 quoted on the radio this week?

Maybe. Here’s where I got the figure. www.jobs.nhs.uk/

NHS vacancies are bollocks. Even if the qualified staff were out there, which they are not, huge numbers of vacancies are deliberately held vacant because it's one of the few realistic ways of reaching efficiency savings targets. They have no intention of filling many of them, and it has been like that for a good ten years.

Some of the expectations of the Nhs job adverts are ridiculous. They want a whole list of demands things from their applicant and then offer it as a band 2 post.

I've seen signs in shop windows for the first time in years.

Bus companies are having to cut services because they don't have enough drivers.