AIBU to think job hunting is a total nightmare at the moment?

[mrsnec]

I returned to the UK a year ago almost. I have been a shame for 10 years living abroad and I'm trying to return to work.

In 6 months I've had 2 interviews. The first one I had to chase for feedback. That process was 2 months.

I currently have one application in the pipeline, it's a minimum wage admin job. I applied 7 weeks ago, I've had 2 interviews and done 3 tests for this position and I still don't know the outcome and I've had to chase them at every stage.

It was an effort to get that far too as the majority of my applications are completely ignored.

It's starting to really get me down.

Is this just the norm these days?

The lengthy procedures the tests and the waiting are really stressing me out.

Indeed and Totaljobs are crap. Look for a recruiter in your field and get onto Linkedin.

I'd register with an agency and try and get some work whilst you wait to hear back from others. Processes can be ridiculously long in recruitment, but with a temp job they usually get you started pretty quickly. It'll also give up to date experience for your CV. Also it's a bit of a myth that entry level jobs have few applications, often its the opposite for a variety of reasons. At a basic level anyone can apply for them if you don't need x, y or z- whereas other jobs require x experience or y qualification which narrows the pool. If the job suits school hours etc then that's even more competitive even if wages are low.

Hardly discrimination

During my Mat leaves I had to keep up with conferences otherwise in the year I was out google would have had 9000 updates, new targeting requirements, FB had changed all their algorithms

That was a year

Let alone 10

@Muddybrownlegohair sounds like Cornwall needs a few reminders of the law in the employment tribunal!

It's not discrimination if your topic knowledge is out of date😐

Wrong quote. Dodgy interview questions are different matter

So answering a few questions,

I don't think that digital marketing job I liked the look of could be done remotely. Big tourist attraction. Guessing you'd need to be onsite a lot for content.

Yes my marketing knowledge is probably outdated and if I do pick that lane I would need to brush up.

I didn't choose unemployment for 10 years
I couldn't find employment when I was there, I then had 2 DC then I helped my DH.

I'm 44. I know my age is a factor. The other job I didn't get grilled me on my childcare arrangements.

I'm using the term 'crappy admin job' just to refer to this particular estate agency one because I'm so angry at the hoops I'm having to jump through to get it.

My DH went for an interview yesterday. He only applied last week and got an answer 2 hours after his interview and this was for a council management position.

My business is buying and selling high end fashion. I'm not making enough from it and the UC top up I get is virtually nothing so I'm in two minds about changing lanes I thought I'd be better off keeping my options open. But perhaps not.

Phew @Bubblebubblebah I was just going to say I had dodgy interview questions and feedback with no CV gaps.

I'm always up to date and my CV is always full.

OP has a 10 year gap so I think she needs extra up to date training and maybe some freelance work to fill her CV.

At 44 you'll struggle to get entry level marketing roles

They will have applicants younger with far more relevant and recent experience

Unless you have enough experience to go in at a more snr level you might then need to reconsider, especially if your skills are out of date

Although you mentioned doing digital marketing recently for your DHs business - what do you mean by digital marketing btw? As if you don't have paid search, AI and SEO experience most won't be suitable for you as things have moved on from just posting on Facebook

The other job I didn't get grilled me on my childcare arrangements

I can't believe this is still happening! I know you probably want the job, but I'd just look at them and ask "would you have asked a man that question"?

As for the hoops, my son applied for a summer job locally which involved packing books to send out. So not overly skilled, you just need to put the right books in the right box and send them to the right address. Quite do-able for a university student (and everyone else)! But he had to do a psychometric test as part of the application process (and then never heard back from them). Employers are just bonkers.

They most likely would do if the man has said his 10 year career gap was due to needing to support childcare at home

OP, as fun as it sounds - I don't think you're a Digital Marketing candidate. You simply don't have the skills.

I'm so sorry.

Maybe do some volunteering or go back to College so you can learn along the way. :)

I'm in South Devon and yes I've seen examples of sexism in both the jobs I've been interviewed for.

I know the childcare was an issue with the one I didn't get because they asked me so many questions about it and didn't seem reassured by my answers.

In the Estate agent job I was told the job is 20 hours a week but they're flexible because they 'like to look after their girls' 'they're either all mums or like to have time to go to the gym etc' I probably have been unsuccessful. It may be down to my age. The branch manager who interviewed me was 29 and he told me he was the oldest person in the office.

Yes my DM experience is limited to SM. We did consider broadening our horizons with the business abroad but it didn't progress.

I've never used LinkedIn before. I will look into that.

And also the estate agent admin role would have been good because it could have involved using Facebook and Instagram to market the properties, copywriting and email marketing.

So not a crappy role after all ;)

Yeah so digital marketing isn't going to be for you if your only experience is posting the odd thing on Facebook unfortunately

It's moved on a lot in the last 3-5 years, you need technical knowledge not just how to find a nice image and post with ad copy

Get on the other job sites, reed, LinkedIn etc. and have a think about additional qualifications outside of this too.

You might be best to look for smaller companies with less applicants

I handled SM for handful of businesses and I wouldn't call that digital marketing to be honest.😔

@Angelinflipflops I recommend scrapping DM stuff and focusing on the roles that are hard to fill.

I'm in Cornwall and the hardest jobs to fill here are Teaching Assistant roles. They're so poorly paid that it's better to work in Morrisons. But if you stick at it - you may find it a lovely flexible role for your family.

I know that our school TA's are mostly staffed by ex cleaners as the NVQ / HLTA TA's left and got well paid admin roles at the Council.

So, the estate agent role involves uploading the new instructions on to Rightmove. I have an interest in property anyway so I did see that this role is relevant if I want to go further down the DM route. I think I'm just frustrated.

My last interview with them was 10 days ago. The feedback from the psychometric tests and mental agility were good. I was supposed to get an answer 2 days after the interview but didn't hear anything. I emailed the branch manager and area director a week later and both ignored my email. I'm just assuming I've been unsuccessful. I feel in limbo.

I don't know if I'd be better off talking to a job centre work coach about courses.

At the moment I can't volunteer because I'm supposed to be spending all my time building my business and I'm not allowed to.

Sign up to a temping agency. They match you against jobs and do the chasing and ain for you.

Why would uploading images to right move be relevant in terms of digital marketing

It seems you don't quite understand what digital marketing is these days which is an added issue

I hadn't even considered TA roles as I assumed everyone wanted those!

Oops sorry I accidentally tagged the wrong person instead of the OP! So embarrassing haha!!

Well here in Cornwall, quite a few TA jobs only have 1 applicant per job. So even if you're the most inexperienced person ever - you'll still get it providing you pass the DBS :)

But it could be different in your area. Read up on safeguarding and go for it

(they ask if you know anything about safeguarding in the interview - you dont have to be an expert but you need to have a vague idea)

Agree with @AnnaFri ...Digital marketing jobs often involve coding, website building, SEO, data analysis and much more, so if your experience over the last ten years simply involves posting photos on social media to promote your husbands business, I can see why you're not getting interviews as anybody can do this - it's not a skill. You'll be up against people with technical skills who have a portfolio of experience and your C.V. will likely be tossed in the bin. It seems like you need to upskill or change expectations.

Tbf if you have proven results with SM, know how to target audience, how to use trends and how to achieve good engagement on different platforms etc, there are SM roles around. But there is a lot of competition and not so well paid.