1700 applicants for 8 jobs at costa coffee.

[usualsuspect]

wow

This is the reality for many job seekers.

I can remember receiving over 1000 applications for a receptionist job in the NHS. This was back in the early 90s way before the time of the Internet.

I was told to give the recruiting manager the first 50 off the top of the pile and bin the rest. Being very keen I took them home and spent all weekend sorting through the piles and I gave the recruiting manager the most suitable 50 applications. I wouldn't have felt comfortable binning people's applications when they had spent time completing them.

What kind of care work is it, PootlePosyPerkin?

Is it the type where you have to have a car and go around peoples houses?

It's ridiculous to suggest that huge numbers of applications are due to the online process being "too easy". As others have said, I've found (in the past) that a properly and thoughtfully completed online application can take just as long as a paper application form. In fact, if anything, in my personal experience of applying for work a while back, it was a lot easier because many employers tended to ask for a CV with a covering letter - and actual application forms were less common.

I really can't believe that huge numbers of "disinterested" applicants are applying simply for the sake of it. To suggest they are is really insulting.

when i graduated in the 80's, 80 applicants per job was the norm.

i think it must depend on where you live in the country though as both my kids have got jobs straight away - there's no way there was 80 applicants here.

people would be stupid to just apply for one job though and expect to get it. so assuming people apply for 20 jobs each thats actually 10 applicants per job i think - 1700 divided by 8 divided by 20.

if we get anothe wave of immigrants from bulgaria coming in soon that will just make it even harder to get unskilled jobs

On of my DSs is trying to find work. Has to make 15 new job applications a week to be eligible for benefits - Jobseekers Allowance. The first week, that's fine - find 15 job vacancies and apply. The second, that's fine - he can find another 15. And again for the third week. Keeps scrolling through the listings, looking for anything likely.

But eventually (unless you live somewhere where there are 15 new vacancies nearly every week) you run out of jobs to apply for. Remember, it has to be 15 a week.

You reach a point where there aren't 15 even vaguely suitable jobs you can get to from here on foot or public transport. So my poor DS is applying for jobs he hasn't a hope of getting in locations he couldn't reach even if he got an interview. Pointless, though perhaps the effort's good for him.

But what about the people advertising the jobs? How many pointless applicants are they getting? My son and others are applying for jobs they have no chance of getting because if they don't their benefits are stopped. This is one of the reasons why Costa gets 1,700 applicants for 8 vacancies.

dreaming
people would be stupid to just apply for one job though and expect to get it. so assuming people apply for 20 jobs each thats actually 10 applicants per job i think - 1700 divided by 8 divided by 20.

I don't understand your maths. Why are you dividing by 20? People aren't applying 20 times for the same job, are they?

When I was made redundant and was on Contribution based JSA I had to apply for quite a lot of jobs a week regardless of whether they were relevant to my skills, it was just a box ticking exercise. So any job which I really wanted I took a lot of care over but at the end of the week if I hadn't applied for enough I just fired off my CV to anything I could find to keep the Job Centre happy. Basically whatever was easiest to apply for. When I produced my work diary each fortnight they told me how well I was doing applying for so many jobs . Luckily this only lasted about 12 weeks and I got a job, but I think it wasted a lot of peoples time.

SugarMouse1 Yes, basically it is BUT we do employ non-drivers. They are either given single calls which are close enough together to walk to or they are paired up with a driver and given a rota of double-up calls. I live somewhere with a lot of retirement home complexes, so there are always calls very close together which can be done easily without a car.

Local care homes also struggle to fill vacancies too.

I'm not surprised.

And some care homes are using workfare.

twitpic.com/c5lswd

My DPs job had almost 8000 applicants for 4 places.

I have been job hunting since I graduated in June. The few organisations that bother to email and say that I haven't been successful say that they have had hundreds of applications. Some people are really kind and do give feedback if asked which is really helpful. They all say my application is well presented and well thought out but that I should do more volunteering or take unpaid internships. But unfortunately my childcare bill would be around £70 per day term time and probably more in the holidays which makes this extremely difficult. I am resigned to essentially working for nothing for a few years as that is where all my £ will go, but we are skint as it is.

As for online applications being easy... . Ones that involve a covering letter and C.V I have got down to 1-2 hours per application, but that is because I have 8 months worth of saved C.Vs and covering letters to C&P/adapt.

Applications that require a more complex online form and personal statement can take 2 or 3 days as I can only do them if DD naps or in the evenings after finishing all the DC and house stuff.

We have a job going ATM at work. It is perfect hours for a parent. Only three and a half hours in the evening, but starts at six. Two or three evenings a week. Team leader position. Slightly over nmw. We can't fill it!

rihannon
"I think we should go back to having to fill in proper paper application forms. It's too easy to apply for jobs nowadays, hence the 100s of applications for every job. "

i think people should have to fill in proper application forms to post on threads. it's too easy to post on threads nowadays, hence the 'entirely missing the point' comments on threads like these

dialmavis - could you not volunteer in the evenings or at weekends?

Post a link to the job here, CoffeeAndDunkin.

dreaming, My DP works weekends and evenings (& normal hours too). If he gets a pay rise soon we are going to put DD into Playschool 2 mornings a week, and i can find something then. Its £12.50 a session, but we can't stretch to that at present and she wont receive funding until next Jan. Something is bound to turn up, others are in a far worse position as one of us is working & DPs job does have the potential to pay well. Even though i enjoyed my degree and got good grades, it currently feels like a complete waste of time (& am almost 20k in debt for the damn thing!)

I really hope that Costa (and cabbage) gave those jobs to unwaged- employed people rather than the unwages-unemployed i.e. those just claiming benefits

Those who are using some of the considerable free time that they have time by doing some kind of voluntary or community work are so much more deserving than other who sit on their arse whilst claiming benefits.

Disengenious of a previous poster who said that they would be too worried to apply for a Costa job in case it was held against them - as if claiming benefits is more respectable [hmmm]

My DS spent just over 2 years on JSA after graduating, two years that were soul-destroying and wrecked his confidence.

The local job centre was worse than useless, the person who was supposedly assigned to discuss his situation told him he was over-qualified for all the jobs on their books, and sent him on his way each time with a cheery keep trying.

DS applied for dozens of jobs every week, getting more and more desperate as time went by, especially when it became clear that he would not even be considered for low-paid work because of his degree.

He tried applying for seasonal jobs, the competition was fierce - a particularly low point was last winter when he applied to Boots for a Christmas job (online application) and was turned down.

He said to me Im not even fit to stack shelves anymore`

Rhiannon is completely wrong about online applications being too easy. DS applied for dozens of jobs where the application involved timed tests, some of which could take 2 hours to complete. He spent hours every day searching and researching.

DS worked and paid taxes for 3 years before going to university, and did part-time work as a student except in his final year - the HR manager changed and demanded that he did full-time as they were cutting back on staff. Of course DS couldnt work full-time because of studying, so his contract wasnt renewed.

None of his work experience was considered relevant as employers only seemed interested in the previous 6/12 months.

It`s a very hard world for job seekers these days, especially in the North East.

So depressing. I live in London and even 3 or 4 years ago it was the norm to have a job in a bar/cafe in addition to your regular job. Now it is difficult to get a job in a bar/cafe at all.

So many people I know leaving London because they just can't afford it any more.

Zavi would those be the same benefits that a lot of claimants have paid National Insurance towards beforehand!

My DH was unemployed for 4 years until last October. He'd been a senior IT manager, and the market has utterly changed.

For most of that time he's had no benefits because I've been working, and didn't receive JSA because of bad advice from the job centre.

He applied for hundreds of jobs, and probably spent about 30-40 hours a week preparing applications. He was dismissed as overqualified for shop work, but dismissed by people advertising roles like his previous ones because he was unemployed. He's also got a disability, which despite discrimination laws did for a couple of his previous roles. He volunteered locally, which didn't seem to help his CV at all.

Good luck to everyone who is looking for a job, it sucks.

Sunnywithshowers I`m so glad your DH got a job finally, those 4 years must have been a horrendous strain on both of you.

My DS also missed out on jobs because he was unemployed - its a crazy situation when you cant get a job because you haven`t already got one, but it happened to DS time and time again. The longer you are unemployed, the less chance you have of being given a job.

On several occasions Ds went through lengthy selection processes only to be rejected at the final stage. He was once in the final six of 1,820 applicants for five jobs in one particular company. He came sixth in the final selection and was gutted. When he asked for feedback to see where he had gone wrong, he was told it was his body language - he came across as too confident! FFS!

Your poor DS.

DH didn't get a job, he's at uni retraining. I hope he's able to get a job afterwards, it seems insane that he can't. :( He's so much happier at uni which is terrific.

Sorry I misunderstood, Sunny, but glad your DH is happier now.

My DS did an intensive study course in September in something slightly different from his degree.

He was offered a job at the end of November

Fingers crossed for your DH too