Do I need to include dates of employment?

[OdinsLoveChild]

Ive been job hunting for over 3 years. Im just not getting anywhere. Ive had my cv professionally written for the 3rd time recently and still absolutely nothing.
The agencies are telling me I've been out of the paid workplace too long, approaching 15 years, but don't give me any advice on how to fix the issue.

Can I leave the dates of employment off my cv? I have done extensive voluntary work for the last 10 years so I dont have huge gaps in my cv but employers just dont consider voluntary work as being the same as paid employment.

I've gone from a very well paid role as PA when I left work to have my children and applied for everything from PA down to NMW roles as Admin assistant. Im just not getting anywhere with barely a handful of interviews.

Can I leave off specific dates and just put 'Employed for 4 years in this role' type statements?

newnoo
Its incredibly difficult to find agency work yes.

My CV has been both reverse chronological order of employment and skills based. I have had 1 interview for each version. (so couldn't get my money back as per their terms) Ive just rejigged it this morning putting key skills and qualifications at the top followed by paid employment.

I used Adzuna to get a 'value' on my cv and it was initially at £25,000pa for my CV before rejigging and its gone up to £36,000pa after so hopefully I've highlighted more useful skills. Obviously I'm not actually expecting to get that as a salary but it would be lovely

Volunteering is still current. I do a lot of training for 1 of the roles which is easily converted into the paid sectors. (Leadership, finance, law, business).

I'm on LinkedIn although I haven't got anyone to confirm my experience/qualifications yet because I don't know anyone personally who uses it. I dont think that helps. I also have my CV on 6 jobsites and I'm registered with 5 local agencies.

I seem to get no or limited feedback despite asking so I cant work out where its going wrong. I had 1 response today where it said they felt I didn't meet the person specification but having had another look at it today I met it in every way and exceeded it with more experience and higher grades than required. Its actually my policy to only apply if I do meet the person specification on every point so I really am at a loss.

I cant afford to retrain as my savings are now completely empty. I cant get funding either so I need to find work to save up enough money to pay to retrain. Its just 1 big circle.

I did feel if I just stated 4 years as PA instead of 2000-2004 it would look better on paper. It would show my experience and not that it was years ago.

My only thought would be whether you are using your covering letter to its full advantage? Properly tailored to each application and spelling out how you tick all the person spec boxes. You could also draw attention to all the things you've done to keep your skills 'current'.

What type of voluntary work are you doing at the moment?

newnoo I already hold ILEX Legal Secretaries certificate although its 20 years old. done on a typewriter

LadyLapsang I volunteer with CAB. I'm also a FE Governor and I'm also an Administrator for the National Trust.
Obviously CAB and National Trust do not often 'employ' people for paid roles. There are no paid roles currently in my area. The college I'm a Governor with do not have any vacancies as they're actually making redundancies.

I have an interview on Monday but they re-advertised the role on Friday . I spotted it and already had it recommended to me as a 'new role' being advertised. I'm assuming this means my application was only accepted because no one else had applied and they're holding out for a more 'suitable' younger candidate.

Could you offer virtual PA services from home?

I employ a few PA's and admin assistants

My main concerns would be how up to date you are with technology if you have been out of the market for 15 years

Also, I'm not sure where you are based, but the salary seems high, have you looked for lower level roles to start off?

Really surprised to hear you have been looking for three years. How many jobs do you apply for in an average week?

Also, not sure of your age, but in your CV do you refer to O Levels or anything such as that which will indicate your age?

How many jobs do you apply for in an average week?
I apply for anything between 2 a day and up to 5 or 6 a day. I apply for a position most days.

in your CV do you refer to O Levels or anything such as that which will indicate your age?

Yes I list my CSE's/O'Levels which do show me to be over 40 and a bit but given I'm listing 15+ years worth of employment experience (only a few employers so not a job every year) it would be difficult to not show I'm over the hill 40

I've never considered virtual PA but I have seen franchises/buy into the business type position for these roles so avoided them like the plague.

Ive had a conversation with someone who is head of HR this morning. She says that with any entry level I'm applying for they wont see me as a worthwhile employee because I have years of experience that I will most likely want to build on and leave them quickly. I'm not worth the investment because they want a long term commitment for their time and money.

Mid-high range salary bracket they will be looking for recent graduates who are looking to fly with their career and that can inject new ideas and blood into their company so I don't fit into that criteria either. I may not have as up to date ideas or ways of interacting in the modern business world and I may be a bit rusty on my skills so any investment they do with me is very risky as I may fall flat on my face and they end up paying for more training or need to employ someone else if I don't stick around.

She has suggested I try small local businesses who need someone they can rely on just to keep their business running and not big businesses who want to find that unknown superstar who can really add value to their business.

I'm off to write letters to all the small businesses in the local area and hand deliver them. I have an interview later today too. Thanks for the support.

Well, seeing that O Levels ended in 1984 (putting you at 49 plus) maybe you would be more likely to get an interview if you just put GCSE instead.Take your date of birth off and anything else that will indicate your age. You shouldn't need to of course, but unfortunately there are a lot of employers that will put your CV straight in the bin if you don't.

I volunteer with CAB. I'm also a FE Governor and I'm also an Administrator for the National Trust.

How do you have all of these displayed on your CV? Are they listed along side your previous working experience?

Thanks LadyLapsang for reminding me just how old I am I also do not include my DOB. The dates of employment give it away thats why I asked if I should remove the actual dates of employment and replace it with 'Employed as PA for 4 years'.

I cannot use GCSE instead of CSE because the certificates are not the same. I put GCSE equivalent in brackets to show a comparison.

indigox I have had my voluntary work listed as though its a current role/job just saying voluntary instead of xx salary. Ive had them also listed under a separate header of Voluntary Work.

My interview went dreadfully. They kept using jargon I didn't understand and I had to keep asking if they could rephrase the questions. I have another interview tomorrow for a completely different role I've never done before but its entry level and offers training. The pay is dreadful but I feel if I'm in employment of any sort thats a stepping stone to better things.