What do I do pls

[helpmehelpus]

🤔 forgive me but I have just stumbled on this thread.

My career is a big fat mess

BA in international relations and MA in theory and practice of human rights both from same uni in UK. Top uni too but no tangle job only hot job as a customer service for the past 4 years very demoralising on low pay after all the hard work to get those 2 degrees

I had a 2:1 and a merit and even got unconditional offer for PHD

Any advice on what I can do?
I have searched high and low for a decent paying job but no luck

He just wrote his name as John Smith) - actually I think he used his legal surname - on the CV, no legal name change required. When it then came to employment, he gave his full legal name and ID etc and explained the JS name was how he was known socially. It was his first name that was more obviously not a traditional English name.

He's a British national (dual nationality with Ghana) so no issues with visas etc.

You may not need to change your name at all, but you do need to be very clear about your nationality and right to work in the UK at the point of application.

I assume you have no issues around visas, overstaying or being able to prove the right to work / leave to remain?

I'd also get a native English speaker to check your CV and applications if you can, just to check for syntax errors. There are quite a number of them in this thread which "outs" you as it being a slightly imperfect second language for you.

Don’t do another degree, OP. You need some work experience now to support your qualifications.

Quals aren’t necessary to get most entry level
jobs so you need to major on skills. I don’t have a degree or a masters but I worked my way up in the public sector, did professional quals and am now at a very senior level in the private sector.

There’s something about the way you write that could be affecting your applications. Civil service is competency based - “tell me about a time when you…..” rather than “what would you do if…….” - do you have the examples to answer these sorts of questions? What level of role are you applying for?
Any opportunities to gain further experience in your current job? Supervisory experience would be very helpful, for example.

I’m working with the FCDO at the moment and Linked in with some contacts. A few went to unattractive departments first, DWP etc then moved once in the civil service. Maybe move to a job, I know of many charities struggling to recruit, I put up two fully remote roles and had almost 100 applicants for each, but office ones often have less applicants, just apply for jobs you like and move wherever and see it as 2 years to get the first step. Second job is easier than the first.

I didn't address that you wanted to do another MA - how much debt are you in with all these degrees? Can you really afford to add another £20k plus to it for a social work degree?! How will you pay for it?

Remote/hybrid jobs mean you’re now competing with the whole country- it’s commonplace to have 100+ applications for those these days.

You’re trying to crack into a new industry. Apply for office based jobs in the industry you want to get into. Move if you have to. You may have to take the less well paid ones to get your foot in the door- do it anyway. Once you’re in an industry you can then work your way up much easier.

Also, I am sorry to say but I also suspected from your posts that English might not be your first language. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, of course- but it may be that filtering software is picking it up or that an employer might think your written style isn’t quite as good as someone else’s- and in policy based roles, that could be the difference between you and another applicant. Maybe get someone with native English to take a look over your applications and just check for that? I don’t mean to offend you- you are clearly intelligent and motivated, so just trying to help rule out any potential problems. Good luck :)

Yes,
I am a foreigner
English not my 1st language,
I have a foreign name
I am brown
Foreign accent

All of the above are against me
I am VERY discouraged and I don't see a way out or forward

I have always known the list above does not help but I have always ignored it but then 4 years down the line, I now get it and can't ignore it anymore.

If a native speaker checks my cover letters & I get the job, then I won't be able to do the job confidently. It won't be possible for me to seed every piece of work to a native speaker to check.

I wonder what other career path a can look into

I am completely deflated

Please don’t be deflated. I think you might just need to lower your sights in order to get that first step in an industry. Take a lower salary, apply for in-person jobs rather than remote ones. Once you’re in, work hard and work your way up. We all have things that make it harder to get that first break.

Alternatively, I don’t know what languages you speak, but are there are charities/ policy/ public sector jobs where your multiple languages will be to your advantage? I’m thinking charities that also work in your home country as well as the UK or charities who work with refugees, asylum seekers etc?

@helpmehelpus I've sent you comments on your cv. There is a way forward, and it's nothing to do with race or accents or anything other than your cv needs a proper rewrite and you need to be more realistic regarding opportunities.

Thank you
I have contacted professional CvlV writing agency.

*CV

You have similar qualifications to me, but I am guessing you are about ten years younger than me.

Firstly I'd say your salary expectations are too high for an entry role in the kinds of fields you are talking about. I'm only earning slightly above that as a sector 'lead' and many of my peers would consider £30k that as a good wage (outside London, not private sector).

Apart from academics, what practical work experience and skills do you have? Internships, Student placements, volunteering, committee work, summer schemes etc. I worked consistently through my degrees to build practical experience in the field, as a degree alone is not enough you need to demonstrate what practical skills you can bring, rather than academic knowledge. By the time I graduated I had a range of experience in charities and civil service placements under my belt.

Think about volunteering in a trustee role with a related charity, for example.

For you I'd say look at charity and third sector jobs, entry level job titles might be 'project assistant' , 'policy assistant', 'development worker' or perhaps 'project officer'. But for Officer level posts I'd expect a few years experience from candidates. If I was the recruiting manager.

A foreign name wouldn't put me off in the slightest, but a poor standard of English would. Unconscious bias might be at play here but I think its more likely to be inexperience.

@Invisimamma thanks for your post.
Can you guess my age? Give a number!

Well, unfortunately I couldn't combine full time study with work for medical reasons. The study alone was deemed impossible by the doctors in the 1st place. But I was determined to prove them wrong.

I'm guessing early 20s?

I'm sorry to hear about your health, When I look at applicants I always look for more beyond the academic qualifications and look for valuable work experience and skills. Without evidence of some kind of voluntary or paid work placements or other practical experience you wouldn't get a look in amongst other graduates. Academics in itself isn't enough and my guess is that candidates with other experiences will be beating you to it.

Yeah, it's probably this.

OP, I'm foreign, obviously brown, but I write and speak English to a good standard - not perfect, and have had no trouble. Although it's not my first language (it's my third , in fact). And my accent is obviously foreign.

in your case , your lack of success is likely more to do with your skillset. Unlike certain other countries a degree in the UK doesn't guarantee a good job. You're quite proud of your MA - rightly so, given the circumstances in which you've achieved it.

Unfortunately there are thousands of others with the same qualifications, chasing the same jobs, and with better experience than you. 4 years on, you're not a graduate anymore.

I've mentored and even worked with a lot of graduates who got a graduate job despite their English not being the best, they had something to offer. If you look at the threads on here many other people struggle to get grad jobs with minimal work experience.

I wouldn't say that there's no bias , In a sense that a graduate with perfect English might have more success than you. But having sifted through lots of CVs, so many 'native' speakers can't even write properly in their own language, and so many others, like me, are much better. I don't see this as a massive issue

Hi OP, please don’t despair.
can I suggest you have a look at chatgpt? Drop a job description in and ask it to optimise your cv for it. Or ask it for template answers
be v wary of professional cv writers. Some are good, some less so.
I'm sure the advice you’ve got from @flarp is v good. Also are you active in linkedin? Loads of advice on there about your profile. Follow organisations that interest you.

I don't think getting another degree is the answer. You already have two and they've not really helped you so far. Do you really want to do social work? It's not the sort of work to go into just because there are vacancies.

What sort of customer service work are you doing at the moment? Sometimes in those types of roles it's good to look for sideways moves as they give you a broad base of knowledge/skills. I've done this in the past and found it gets you noticed. You become well known and when they need someone with knowledge of A, B and C for a project it's you they'll come to.

I think you should persevere looking for the job you really want but in the meantime make the most of the job you have now.

Recruiters can spot Chat GPT a mile off.

keep an eye on Careers Portal Careers - Jobs
they're an arms length body so slightly civil service-esque but with their own approach.
CS and other public sector roles will be a blind recruitment process, so your name won't hold you back, and indeed have diversity targets to fulfill.

you might struggle to walk in on to a £30k role, but once you are in opportunities open up.

@ClevererThanMost but CHATGPT can give ideas on structure/ what to include but of course must be edited to make it personal and original.

@thesandwich
Thanks for suggesting ChatGPT but can they be detected by applicant tracking systems (ATS) or plagiarism softwares?

Sorry not read full thread, but I've a friend who works for the Red Cross who has a similar degree to you, may be worth a look?

@helpmehelpus i always suggest using CHATGPT for ideas, structures and then make it your own, not use the finished article. Having something as a starting point helps massively.

Hello all,
Surprise surprise
I have got 2 job interviews since changing the name on my CV to an English John smith kind of name

I am planning to tell them at the interview that it is my preferred name since it will be a completely different name on my documents
🤦🏾‍♀️🙄

😮😮😮 good luck op

That’s great that you got them (although awful if it IS due to the name change).

I hope one of these is the right one and you get some good news v soon :)