Will my husband get a job??

[WishItWasDifferent25]

DH has been made redundant at 55, from an admin job he has done for 21 years and which he thought he would see out until retirement. Stat redundancy so no real buffer for long. He hasn’t applied for jobs in 21 years, except internal things he never got. He’s started applying for things but blanket rejections from everything. I suspect retail etc looks at his age etc and thinks he’s over qualified / won’t stick around if he gets something better. He got rejected from being a postie when I would have thought they would welcome a strong active man.

He has little confidence in himself and comes across as anxious and awkward until he’s comfortable. I’m trying not to kick a puppy but I really need him to get a job. Any job. Min wage would tick us over. But he just can’t seem to get out the blocks. Help me help him!

Delivery companies are usually crying out for staff at this time of year. Can he drive?

Well firstly his age shouldn’t be on his CV or application at all. His education also doesn’t need dates on it for this reason. If he’s done admin for so long I’d suggest mostly sticking with that route… retail is people facing so 55 and awkward isn’t a great selling point. Although above poster has a good point about delivery companies - could also do Deliveroo/ Uber Eats for extra money for now.

My husband starts his new job next week after unemployment and he had to really spend 5 days a week working with recruiters and applying like it was a full time job. After all that for 2 months he only got one interview and one offer.

The local authority doesn't tend to worry about people being older. We have some older guys in benefits and housing.

Definitely de age the cv and don’t include his age. He just have to keep trying and keep positive; work on his confidence and mental health. Magnesium chelated from Solgar es great for anxiety. Also practicing mindfulness. There are some good meditation in you tube from the mindful movement

The good thing about it being Christmas is the uptick in seasonal staff which even if a temporary role will add to his CV. I’d look at supermarkets in the first instance.

Has he tried signing up with temp agencies for office admin work. Admittedly it’s a few decades ago now, but that’s what I always did for admin work in uni vacations and just after graduating. Much quicker and easier than job hunting.

He might then find somewhere that will take him in permanently long term that way too

He could sign up with NHS professionals which is an agency for the NHS or apply for NHS admin jobs on Trac jobs. If there are any jobs going near you experience would be valued. He could also apply again for being a postie, did he fail the online testing or get through to interview?

Well firstly remove every single thing that will give away his age from his CV, like O levels etc, no need to include education at his age unless its a specific degree needed for his job, then remove the dates from all but his most recent role, and ditch a few of his earlier roles if that will age him.

Then sign up with every single job agency you can find, and do some temp roles, my DH has got every one of his last four jobs through temping, then being kept on.

Tell him to target Council and NHS roles. There will be specific websites he can apply from.

He needs to learn how to answer questions in an interview using STAR method as well.

Once he's in, these roles should see him to Retirement plus pensions are better.

Get him to sign up as a temp with a recruitment agency, they offer a variety of admin work which can very often lead to permanent positions and they couldn't care less about his age. A decent agency will also help polish his CV.

Civil service are employing loads of people at the moment if you’re anywhere near their offices (of which there are many).

Probation and courts, benefits, land registry, etc. They’re entry level jobs too so no experience needed for many of them. Oh, and they’re happy to take people in their fifties.

I was made redundant at 54 and got a new job quickly within 6 weeks so it is possible. Best not to look idle so as suggested by someone else join a temp agency or a contracting agency that does his kind of admin. He can get a little money by applying for job seekers allowance. It’s not means tested and will be paid up to 6 months. It helps a little! If he can get a temp job then he’ll be able to start applying but show he’s got right out there! Or could go into business for himself! Dog walker, gardener etc

Such brilliant suggestions! Thank you all. Temp agencies a great shout. As is de ageing!!

Public sector don’t worry about age. Three key websites:
Jobs go Public https://www.jobsgopublic.com
NHS jobs https://www.jobs.nhs.uk/candidate/search
Civil Service Jobs https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/index.cgi

Ask the JobCentre about coaching in preparing CV and applying for jobs.

I heard that the railways were recruiting people to meet those with disabilities from trains and help get them to taxis etc if that's of interest to him. They are apparently stepping up the service.

Also when dd was looking for work last year she signed on and they kept mentioning they were short of job advisors at the job centre.

If he's getting instant rejections, that means his CV isn't passing the AI filters (called ATS) used by nearly all employers in recruitment.

He needs to AI-ify his CV. Look up vidoes on how to do this e.g. on YouTube. Search for something like 'how to write a CV that gets past ATS'. When you click 'apply' on a company website it usually takes you to the ATS website (e.g. Workday) - you can check the URL and you should be able to work out the ATS from that. Then you can use ChatGPT or your LLM of choice to edit your CV so that it passes that ATS for that particular job description. It's mostly about having the wording in the job description matched in your CV and making sure you provide evidence of your skills and experience.

Also, the job market is truly dire at the moment, so while that sucks, he should take some solace that it's not just him!

Find A Job website

How is a temp agency a great shout? Surely thats obvious?

Wiltshire Farm Foods use delivery drivers to take food to elderly people and ten the customer gets to know a named driver for their locality so might suit your anxious husband as just a little interaction with someone quite elderly on the rounds. Good luckOP

Just because I’ve been a civil servant for 25 years and so things like agencies just aren’t on my radar.