31 and never had a job

[ICantThinkOfAUniqueUsername]

I got married a bit more than a decade ago. Back then I was in my 2nd year at uni. ExH was older and a struggling musician and he convinced my stupid self to quit school so we could travel around playing random gigs.

Shortly after, he gave up on that dream and we went to live with his mum. Initially I found work at a local bookshop but less than a month in he started throwing a fit at me hanging out with my coworkers so I quit that too.

For the next 7 or so years my life was me sitting at home while he got high all day long, looking after his mum whose health was declining, and looking after his 2 teens when they visited.

I won't go into the details of the divorce but 3 years ago I left, moved back to my mum's house on the other side of the country, and started doing a distance learning uni course. 2 weeks ago I received my results and I've (finally) graduated with a BSc in Data Science!

Been applying for all sorts of entry level jobs and internships for the past 2-3 months but it seems like a hopeless endeavour. The furthest I got was an interview as an Investment Analyst Intern and they seemed very concerned about the 10 year gap in my resume. I've found a job as a receptionist at my local dentist (they said it's a temporary role) that I'm due to start next week but that's about it.

AIBU to think that I'm unemployable in my field? I'm not giving up of course but I guess I'm just feeling pretty down today.

Well done on your qualification and new life!

Linked In is your friend here. You need to network and identify companies that you want to work for.

Connect with their teams, leaders and HR. Start posting about industry trends (so much to go at with data and your field) so that you stand out as interesting and a thought leader.

What exact role are you thinking of with your data science BSC? Surely the major tech firms run internships. I work in the creative industry and we are always open to approaches from new fresh talent.

The gap in your CV wouldn't bother me, I'd be more concerned about your willingness to start at the bottom, both in terms of type of work and pay. If this isn't an issue then I'd be happy to connect with anyone in your position.

Good luck!

Data science is a massive shortage area - don’t you dare give up!

OP, don’t give up!! There is nothing more depressing in the world than applying for graduate jobs - you get rejected for the most arbitrary reasons, largely because these big employers deal with such high numbers of applications and need filtering criteria. It feels personal but often it isn’t (and I say this as someone who went through the same thing and did eventually get offers for 3 big company grad schemes).

Also the jobs market in finance / professional services is slower right now than it was a year ago. But data science makes you very employable.

Try a mixture of large and small companies. Have a few stock cover letters so you only need to change a paragraph for each application. Look at glassdoor/jobs websites to try to work out what the criteria are for success. Follow up wherever possible to get feedback. Whenever you can, find someone you know who works in the company and they can give advice. Most of all, don’t let yourself get down (easy to say, harder to do) & keep pushing - you’ll get there!

OP, you'd be an excellent candidate for Returnships - www.womenintech.co.uk/what-is-a-returnship-everything-need-know

Or programs like this -
https://aws.amazon.com/training/restart/

Well done on starting a new, more positive life for yourself.

Absolutely explain the gap in your CV. You were caring for someone in ill health for that period of time. It doesn't matter that it was your MIL, it was still a family member.

It's much better to be clear about gaps, otherwise they leap to their own conclusions (eg you had a drug problem/mental health crisis etc)

Are there any unpaid opportunities in your sector where you can start getting some experience?

Good luck with your search. You'll get there xx

Try looking at returner programmes. I know technically you aren't "returning" to work after a long break but there may be a bit more flexibility if you are moving from a caring role into work.
Something like this?

https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/careers/culture-and-inclusion/agile-working/returners-programme.html

Sorry to harp on this. But don't list your caring as a "volunteer role" (you won't exactly be able to produce a reference from a charitable org for it) and don't list the skills you acquired doing it. It's akin to the cringeworthy and unhelpful advice about positioning SAHP time as "CEO of the home" and claiming it gave you financial management skills. I agree that you should just treat your CV as though it's a fresh grad one and list your current job, degree, and old exams without dates; in other circumstances, a single line to say "X date to Y date, career break for caring responsibilities" is fine. You basically are a fresh grad, just one who has a few more years of life than some.

There is nothing, nothing wrong or shameful in taking time out, or in spending that time caring for someone, adult or child. But it does not give you proveable, helpful skills for data science jobs, and putting it on your CV as though it does just makes you look either clueless or arrogant.

I also disagree with volunteering to be honest OP, volunteering in your local charity shop isn't going to keep your data tech skills fresh. You need to be single-minded at this point.

@LaviniasBigBloomers exactly.
Also what's with everyone suggesting 'returnships'? These are for people who have already held professional roles before taking a break, clearly not the OP. Would they be suggesting a 'returnship' for a 24 year old fresh out of uni? Because that's what the OP is, age excepted.

The fact of the matter is OP has not 'failed' or anything at all. Sorry OP I know it can be very hard feeling like your age etc is against you, but many graduates don't get a job ASAP after 2-3 months anyway. Or even internships. Some may be lucky, and pass the first few they apply for but many others even take on temp jobs or other roles while searching.

Had you been applying a year, during prime time for recruitment (autumn-autumn) I'd worry but you're just getting started. It's NORMAL to apply for loads of roles and not get a callback especially depending on what you're applying for.

have you used the OU career center as well?

We would 100% consider applicants like yourself in returnships. Yes they are for people who have been on career breaks and have previous experience etc but given the tightness of the market we would consider mature new starters with high potential in this category. I would consider you high potential and you come across as very enthusiastic / go getting which is really attractive in a candidate!

Agree apprenticeships are a great way in too - we have some good ones in ROI (Skillnet) but am sure they have similar in UK.

Do try pick up some intern / free volunteer work to start showing some experience on the cv. Clubs etc often need social media support and there is often an analytics component to this that you can then build out. Even administrative roles lend themselves to an analytics lens (reporting/KPIs and such)

Finally - also worth joining some of the female stem groups and potentially volunteering for them. You can find a legion of those on LinkedIn!

I wouldn’t have left a 10 year gap on my CV if I were you. I would have put that I’d been a live-in carer for the previous 10 years in my employment history, and presented the return to university and job hunt as a career change. Did you receive any income from looking after your MIL, like a carers allowance?

Funnily enough I know somebody who has done the opposite thing, worked most of their lives at a desk job and then had a career change to become a live-in carer (not for family). The thing about live-in care work is that you can lose your job and income very suddenly when they die, so a career change decision is very explainable, either for stability reasons or because the person you were looking after has passed.

But you only received your degree two weeks ago! You have much better chance than a lot of the graduates with data science, you will find something, good luck!

Good new is that you have chosen a great career! In the sense that is a has a useful in demand skill set.

The challenge is that it is always hard to get your first job. Honestly it will take a lot of effort and drive to get it. However, once you get your first job in your area, the second will be much easier.

I think you should do projects to add to your portfolio. Potentially in platforms like upwork, I imagine there are higher paid ones...

All you need is one change, it will take time to find that one chance but trust that it will happen. Once that happens it will unlock your future career.

Good luck!