Job hunting help

[Minus273]

My DH has been given redundancy notice this morning and I am freaking out. I am 6months pregnant and only work part time and obviously was going on mat leave. I had been looking for full time work before falling pregnant but rarely even got to interview stage (I assume I am pretty much unemployable :().

We have been told we will not be entitled to any benefits as I work. I can go back to work early before my paid part of mat leave ends but only marginally helps as I will have to support 4 of us on 8K pa. My mum has offered us her spare room to live in so that is a help too. I have asked about extending my hours but have been told no as there is a hiring freeze.

I have achieved absolutely nothing this morning and am starting to panic. We basically have 3 months for one of us to find a full time job and Can't see a way through to doing that. Where do I start?

They have said he's not entitled to anything as I can 'keep' him. They said only those in receipt of benefits were entitled to help and advice. He ended up in tears on the phone to me as they made hi feel useless for not having a new job yet. Made him feel guilty for asking for help as if we were being scroungers. Just want a little help to get back on our feet again. He's been paying tax and NI for 17 years now. I paid tax and NI on full time wages for 10 years then for 3 years on part time wages. It feels like a further kick in the teeth.

Minus - if my DH was entitled to JSA, I can't quite understand how yours wouldn't be.

There are IT jobs out there. They may not be easy to get (although DB jobs do seem to be there somewhat more than eg IT architects etc).

Don't waste your time with the job centre. If you're in a high unemployment area, they probably are overstretched. I can't imagine they would offer you much useful advice anyway since you've both been employed long-term, have good skills and are articulate, hardworking people. The job centre seems to be there mainly for people who really can't help themselves at all.

• Focus on putting a good CV together with your DH and posting it up on job sites
• Contact specialist recruitment agencies in his field of IT
• Get on LinkedIn and other networking sites to build a profile and link up to current or former colleagues who might be able to offer leads (this really does work - my DH isn't even looking at the moment and has been contacted regularly about really good opportunities through his network of professional contacts)
• Go to your local CAB for advice on benefits. They'll be more used to seeing people like yourselves who've never claimed benefits and are faced with a sudden change in circumstances

YOur DH has 2-3 months to find a job, which is really quite achievable if he starts now and is flexible about where he works. That's the only slight issues I can foresee for you - if you're in an area with high unemployment, he may have to consider working away somewhere else for a few months to keep money coming in. That's not going to be easy with you having a young baby and needing support but maybe your mother can help out? Definitely easier in any case, I would say, for your DH to find a job in the next 2-3 months than for you to.

Minus if your DH has been working for that time and making contributions then he should be entitled to contributions based JSA for six months. Not great but it will help.

CV advice (I am going through outplacement so this is all fresh from the horse's mouth):

Contents:

• name at the top (not CV, books dont say Book at the top!)
• contact details including personal email address (make sure it is sensible not something 'jokey')
• personal profile written in the third person (An experienced X,Y,Z specialising in...). Should be no more than 6 lines
• employment history in reverse order (most recent first). Dates on the right. Give job titles but try to clarify and avoid using acronyms if possible. Detail separately in bullets: responsibilities and achivements. Achievements should be specific (eg reduced XYZ development time by 40% esulting in improved turnaround times).
• include education again in reverse order (most recent first). Only include qualifications for which your DH has proof (agencies will want this).
• interests if none then skip this section. Outside interests should indicate a healthy lifestyle.

General points:

• Dont include references on the CV, get details and record them separately
• Use a nice clear font (ariel, calibri) font size 11 or above. Black font of course
• Footer with name and page numbers and out of how many (1/3, 2/3 etc)
• Get someone independant and sensible to read through the CV and give feedback
• Read through job descriptions and tailor CV to the roles. This isnt lying but bringing relevant features to the fore.
• Remember that recruitment agencies look for key words so make sure the CV has lots of them (where relevant)
• Make sure that the CV is pleasing to the eye. Remember that agencies go through loads of these in a day.
• The CV is to attract interest and make people want to talk to your DH, it shouldnt be the story of his life

All best wishes.

Once CV is done then your DH needs to update his LinkedIn profile (as InMyPrime said)

Again, get someone else to look at it

Get him to join groups on LinkedIn, LinkedIn is great for tedious old techies like me.

Many companies are starting to recruit via LinkedIn so as to save recruitment fees

Make sure that you both google yourselves and remove any photos which could be viewed as 'inappropriate'. This includes Facebook.

Even more best wishes