Unemployed for three months

Hi student room, I used to be a student who studied biomedical science in Newcastle University which I had graduated with 2:1 last year. Back in uni, I used to be strong anxious and i could barely get into socializing. Therefore, i didn't actively looking for jobs and decided to focus on my study. Last year when I graduated, I have only worked as a care assistant for couple of months but had to leave the job because the shift patterns were all over the place. That was my first job. I had a couple of volunteer experience too but that was it.

Since then, I have been looking for jobs anywhere such as retail, reception, care assistant, restaurant, hotel for part time but so far they have all rejected me. I have been looking for jobs for 3 months. I don't understand why all low end jobs has rejected me. I am in desperate for needing a job as I am getting old now (25). I don't know how can I show employers that I have a strong willing to take any jobs. I have attended a few interview in Tesco, Aldi, hotel but all failed for some reason. I don't know what the reason behind it. is it because they think I may quit the job soon, or is it too weird for a 25 year old who have no job experience? I am getting so panic now. I am planning to go back to grad school for career change some point next year so I really wanted to earn some money and use the mean time to get some job experience. I don't know what should I do now. Should I get some more volunteer experiences in places like British Heart Foundation or I should just keep applying?

I have attached a CV that I wrote.

(edited 8 months ago)

Reply 1

Little Tail Chaser

19

I am sorry to hear about your position, it must be very frustrating to not get a positive response after you've worked so hard.

You mention that you consider yourself to be anxious; do you think this is possibly coming across at interview? Your CV must be good enough if you've been getting to the interview stage, so perhaps your interview performance is what you need to focus on. Have you asked for feedback following your rejection? Not all places will give it, and if they do it might sting a little, but if they're honest then you can target the areas that you need to improve. If you're anxious during interviews, consider what you're doing to prepare for them (you might feel more relaxed if you feel like you have an answer rehearsed for anything they might throw at you). Consider your body language; make an effort to present yourself as confident even if that's not how you feel.

Your local council/citizens advice bureau might have resources/workshops that you can attend to help give you skills for job searching. Additionally, if finances are starting to be a worry, perhaps consider if you are eligible to receive universal credit while you are searching, as they will also have programs to assist with this.

Either way, I would say it is reasonably common to have not had a job while at university, so I wouldn't worry too much about that. It might be worth contacting the university for any industry connections they may have in fields more closely related to your degree. Remember that even if you dont see a job advertised, there is nothing stopping you from 'cold-approaching' and sending your CV to places anyway.

I understand that getting a paid job is the priority, but in the meantime volunteering at places that give you transferable skills is a great idea. Obviously something like working in a charity shop is directly applicable to other retail work, but you can go further and write about aspects like the role being customer-facing, cash handling, stock management, working as part of a team, time management etc etc on your CV

Best of luck with your search. I hope something comes through for you soon.

(edited 8 months ago)

Reply 2

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post by uglyhermit123

Hi student room, I used to be a student who studied biomedical science in Newcastle University which I had graduated with 2:1 last year. Back in uni, I used to be strong anxious and i could barely get into socializing. Therefore, i didn't actively looking for jobs and decided to focus on my study. Last year when I graduated, I have only worked as a care assistant for couple of months but had to leave the job because the shift patterns were all over the place. That was my first job. I had a couple of volunteer experience too but that was it.

Since then, I have been looking for jobs anywhere such as retail, reception, care assistant, restaurant, hotel for part time but so far they have all rejected me. I have been looking for jobs for 3 months. I don't understand why all low end jobs has rejected me. I am in desperate for needing a job as I am getting old now (25). I don't know how can I show employers that I have a strong willing to take any jobs. I have attended a few interview in Tesco, Aldi, hotel but all failed for some reason. I don't know what the reason behind it. is it because they think I may quit the job soon, or is it too weird for a 25 year old who have no job experience? I am getting so panic now. I am planning to go back to grad school for career change some point next year so I really wanted to earn some money and use the mean time to get some job experience. I don't know what should I do now. Should I get some more volunteer experiences in places like British Heart Foundation or I should just keep applying?

I have been looking for jobs anywhere such as retail, reception, care assistant, restaurant, hotel for part time but so far they have all rejected me. I have been looking for jobs for 3 months. I don't understand why all low end jobs has rejected me.
In all likelihood (since I can never know for sure without asking them), I would say they think you're overqualified. It's very common for people with degrees to get rejected for "low end jobs" (kind of a crass way of putting it).

I would omit your degree (and possibly A Levels) where possible and see if that makes a difference - where possible because some applications require you to fully state what all of your qualifications are. For restaurant work, I think it's going to be significantly easier if you either walk up to the restaurant to ask whether they have any vacancies (not necessarily for the big chain restuarants or large restaurants where they have strict hiring policies, but more so the small family restaurants), as well as networking your way in (this would have been where having good socialising skills would have helped you a lot).
I think the above principles would also work for retail and reception work.

If you are really struggling, you can try your local recruitment agencies for temp work.

I have attended a few interview in Tesco, Aldi, hotel but all failed for some reason. I don't know what the reason behind it. is it because they think I may quit the job soon, or is it too weird for a 25 year old who have no job experience?
If you're applying for jobs and you got through to at least the interview stage, it's usually not your CV that's at fault; it could well be how you perform during the interview.

Being 25 with no job experience can come across "weird", but I think their concern is more to do with the fact that you have either too many gaps or nothing or relevance to them.

I am getting so panic now. I am planning to go back to grad school for career change some point next year so I really wanted to earn some money and use the mean time to get some job experience.
What do you intend to go into? If it's a career that does not require you to have a degree, then I would doubt the degree would help.

If you're specifically looking for more suitable roles, then I think you're better off applying for internships than any type of work. These are rare though, so you would either have to look for them really hard or you have to do a lot of networking.

Should I get some more volunteer experiences in places like British Heart Foundation or I should just keep applying?
I have respect for people who volunteer, but if you're solely doing it for work then I would doubt it would help that much.
Volunteering is great if: you need character references, you intend to work in the charity sector, or you intend to work with the specific charity you later want to be a part of. Otherwise, you would be better off getting something that would give you the necessary skills and experience i.e. internships or apprenticeships.

Original post by uglyhermit123

Hi student room, I used to be a student who studied biomedical science in Newcastle University which I had graduated with 2:1 last year. Back in uni, I used to be strong anxious and i could barely get into socializing. Therefore, i didn't actively looking for jobs and decided to focus on my study. Last year when I graduated, I have only worked as a care assistant for couple of months but had to leave the job because the shift patterns were all over the place. That was my first job. I had a couple of volunteer experience too but that was it.

Since then, I have been looking for jobs anywhere such as retail, reception, care assistant, restaurant, hotel for part time but so far they have all rejected me. I have been looking for jobs for 3 months. I don't understand why all low end jobs has rejected me. I am in desperate for needing a job as I am getting old now (25). I don't know how can I show employers that I have a strong willing to take any jobs. I have attended a few interview in Tesco, Aldi, hotel but all failed for some reason. I don't know what the reason behind it. is it because they think I may quit the job soon, or is it too weird for a 25 year old who have no job experience? I am getting so panic now. I am planning to go back to grad school for career change some point next year so I really wanted to earn some money and use the mean time to get some job experience. I don't know what should I do now. Should I get some more volunteer experiences in places like British Heart Foundation or I should just keep applying?

I have attached a CV that I wrote.

Your CV is confused and not as strong as it could be.

Remove the profile - it's a complete waste of space, no employer takes any notice of this sort of generic waffle (that's not just you, that's everybody!)

Reduce your education to the minimum possible. All employers want to know is are you bright enough for their job. You aren't applying for jobs that require any academic ability other than the basics, and there is no advantage for an employer in recruiting someone with qualifications they won't use.

Under the heading Experience, list your activities by Date, Job title, Organisation Name, Town. Then follow with a series of bullet points that show relevant skills. You have a few elements of that, but that is the persuasive part of your CV, it should be the bulk of the CV. You need to create many more bullet points that begin with a relevant verb Led, Managed, Organised, Helped, Supported, Delivered, Created, Made, Achieved, Sustained, etc.

There are no such thing as generic skills as far as an employer is concerned (except for languages - if they are going to use them, and tech skills). if you want to say you have good interpersonal skills, because the employer wants them, then you need to give evidence in the form of bullet points eg Politely, Confidently, etc.

The Care Assistant element is good, but almost the whole CV needs to be like this. You don't need the 'my role includes' line, it's a waste of space, space you need to use for evidence.

Unemployed for three months

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