Rejected after interview - asking them for voluntary work

[Bedtimeforever]

I am a qualified teacher and am wanting to change careers. Naturally, most my experience is in schools and so even though I have interviews, I am usually rejected and haven’t found a job yet.

There is a field I am interested in and I just find I get rejected due to more experienced people getting the job. I want to ask how it comes across if I email the interviewer and ask if I can perhaps come in a day or two in a week for some voluntary work so I can get some experience in the field (and I genuinely am interested in doing so). However, I am not sure if it just screams desperate & no self respect so just hoping somebody could give me some insight please.

I don't know what the field is, but I work in an area where I got experience volunteering before looking for paid work - it made all the difference. As you have already been rejected by the organisation for paid work it is maybe unlikely you would be asked to interview anytime soon. I don't see a disadvantage to enquiring BUT I would definitely check out any other volunteering opportunities that are available in this sector first.

I personally don't think it screams desperate, I think it seems proactive and that you are willing to do what it takes. BUT I don't work in recruitment either.

I think it depends on the field. I have two jobs and in one it would be an absolute no-no due to confidentiality but the other it would be entirely possible.

How do other people get experience- is there a way of volunteering at other similar places etc

But if you commit to doing 1 or 2 days a week volunteering wouldn’t it make it more difficult finding a paid job to fit around that?

If you've been told that you haven't been given the job due to lack of experience I think the employer would see this as a real positive- you've been given feedback and are taking the initiative to act on it. Definitely something that everyone looks for in a recruit! I have been involved in recruiting for trainee positions in the past and it was not unusual for a candidate to be turned down first time, go away and work on areas indicated in feedback, and interview again successfully.

Deoends kn field. Whats the field - might help you get some advice on how to break in.

Thanks for your replies. The field is Admissions and Recruitment in HEI’s .. I have got recent admin experience but not much in admissions (why I’ve been rejected) and am quite clueless how to gain experience in this field if l can’t get into a starting position to begin with.

We are very short staffed in this department at the moment, so in theory would be keen, but you'd need training which would reduce the tiny staffing even more for a time. Worth a try though. Maybe try a different HEI from the one you applied to?

Admissions is really a software systems and checking requirements task, so if you're good at picking up new systems you should be OK.

Thanks for your reply. I’ve been rejected from a few. Maybe this should be my cue to to give up and find something else but I'm not sure why the rejections are making me more adamant that this is what I want to do! 😅

But if this fails I will have to find something else. I’m just a little confused as even the assistant job salaries are on the lower end of the 20’s, yet its all about being rejected on the basis of experience so just don't know where to start if I’m honest.

It's a strange job to ask for voluntary work in IMO but it might be worth asking if they're likely to have any entry level jobs available any time soon.

I work in a very closely-related field at a HEI - we don't take volunteers, but I don't really know why not. Once you get a job with one of us, you will see that there are all sorts of weird and wonderful procedures and practices!

I would advise developing skills in these areas, either in your current role or in other volunteer work:

• Excel - macros, pivot tables, etc. There's a lot of data so if you can present it well that's helpful! I'm sure as a teacher you do this.
• GDPR and other data regulations (as above, and it's all quite sensitive!) - also any experience of 'cleaning' and using data you may have (emailing Brownie parents for example and excluding certain groups of parents from it, e.g. those not going on pack holiday)
• Stakeholder management - have an example or two up your sleeve of how you won around a difficult person (there are a lot of these in HE )
• Customer management - how have you dealt with complaints over email or the phone?

Also advise looking at WonkHE or THE so you can talk about current issues in HE and how they may affect Admissions (it's always on our list of interview questions).

Happy to chat more on DM if you have any questions.