Don't know what to do

Thank god for the internet and anonymity because I need to get this off my chest without embarrassing myself in front of someone.

I am 25 years old. I job hunt every single day and have been for the last year. I must have filled in well over 500 applications and I have not got a single interview. I don't even get a phone call. I've worked as a labourer when I left school but didn't enjoy it so I got a job in Tesco, didn't enjoy it so left and joined the Army, didn't enjoy it so quit after my contract and went to college to get some qualifications for uni. Then I went to uni but dropped out after failing my first year twice.

Money is not even the problem really. I get more than enough money on benefits that I can live just fine and happily but I don't want this lifestyle. Why won't a single employer give me a job? It's so depressing I just wonder why I bother. I've wasted probably around 1000+ hours applying for jobs, browsing the internet for something which I can do.

I want a career but I don't know what I would enjoy or what I want to do. I have applied for every type of job under the sun and I have to keep inventing reasons why I want a career in such and such field. I hate employers so much they're so selfish and don't give a seconds thought to the people who don't have degrees and are not god’s gift to the job market.

It's making me really bitter and angry to the point where I just want to phone up every company that exists and unleash a full verbal assault. I don't know what to do I am SO angry and depressed right now.

I see myself being one of those people who only ever works in a chip shop or something because employers don't take risks. I just want to rewind my miserable ****ing life.

I wake up every morning, look for work, play some games, watch some TV, look for work, eat dinner, watch some TV and go to bed... This is what my life has consisted of for the last year.

I don't have mummy and daddy to babysit me, I have to fend for myself in every way so luckily the benefits I receive allows me to live comfortably but like I said I don't want this lifestyle.

I want an employer to give me a ****ing chance. The thing I don't get is they advertise jobs where training is provided and the only prerequisite is that you are willing and motivated. I want to work for a company where they reward you for hard work, career progression ect.

Sorry for the rant and if you think I'm posting this for sympathy then I'm not, it's the internet, you don't know me and I don't know you so this isn't about sympathy it's just about pure frustration of being rejected more than Justin Bieber.

Am I really going to have to create a 100% fake CV? Order fake certificates online? Create fake references and fake work experience just to get my ****ing foot in the ****ing door? Is that what it takes in this day and age for a young person to get an opportunity?

I would happily work for £12k a year, as long as the company was a company which would develop me and create a career plan ect.

Wow rant over. Glad to get that off my chest.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 1

xoxAngel_Kxox

The only thing that I will say to you is this:

Benefits are a safety net and a last resort, not a lifestyle choice. If you quiz thousands of people about their jobs, there will be many who say that they don't enjoy their job - but the answer is to apply for something that you would prefer whilst still working, not to quit and rely on benefits in the meantime.

Of course all of us would like an amazing career. I am a freelance writer, and absolutely love some of the projects that I'm involved in. But, at the same time, some of them bore me to tears - but I do them because I need the money. Quitting to go on benefits has never crossed my mind.

You have job experience, maybe get some voluntary experience, and apply for everything - even if you don't think you'll like it.

Reply 2

boredandbored

Original post by xoxAngel_Kxox

Benefits are a safety net and a last resort, not a lifestyle choice.

Quitting to go on benefits has never crossed my mind.

Are you kidding me right now? You think I am on benefits out of choice? I just told you I don't want this lifestyle. Seriously don't bother replying to posts if you don't even have the decency to read the OP properly.

Reply 3

moutonfou

I really sympathise with your position. I have a degree, good qualifications, experience and a fairly consistent CV and struggled so much to get a job. Even though the jobs I was going for were at a graduate level I still felt the same anger towards employers - every one wanted somebody who could already do the job, nobody was willing to take a chance on somebody. I think it's the same whether you're looking for an entry level job or a graduate job, bettering yourself is so hard.

What support is the job centre providing? After you've been searching for a certain amount of time with no success they usually have special schemes you can join where they help you to find something. I know somebody who was offered a job via one of these schemes that came with the chance to study an NVQ, she was ultimately so successful she was promoted and is now on the career ladder so to speak. If your advisor is watching you apply for all these jobs and offering no advice on what you could do better or what extra help there might be available in terms of employability then they aren't doing their job properly. You should tell them what you have told us and make it clear you don't want to be on benefits any more than they don't want you to be.

You also have to bear in mind from your past experiences that you have potential quitting issues. Other people who don't understand will judge this but it can be an actual psychological issue and I suffered with it for a long time. It took me so much psychological effort to stick at my first proper job for the three month target which I initially set myself. I looked at job sites and considered quitting every day. You need to prepare for the fact that when you do finally get a job your old quitting ways may lead you to quit and undo all your hard work and you need to have strategies in place to deal with that when it happens. Start by googling quitting and finding out a bit about why people get the compulsive urge to quit. Then maybe look for some volunteering work and try to stick at it - if you can't then ask yourself whether you are going to be able to stick at a job.

Good luck and don't let anybody else judge you harshly but do try to be harsh on yourself - if you really want to step up and be determined to find a job and stick at it you will have to force yourself to keep going even when you want to give up.

Reply 4

xoxAngel_Kxox

Original post by boredandbored

You said you had several jobs and left because you "didn't like them".

Reply 5

boredandbored

Original post by xoxAngel_Kxox

You said you had several jobs and left because you "didn't like them".

Yes but I always managed to get another job right away without needing to go on benefits. When I left the Army I thought I would get a job right away just like before. Oh how wrong I was.

Reply 6

Sigma44

How long did you work on each of the jobs that you eventually quit? If they're too short, it might be better to leave them out of your CV as no employer likes a quitter.