There is no excuse to be unemployed

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Gone are the days when whole counties were employed by the manufacturing sector (cotton mills, train building, car industry etc), as things are outsourced and/or imported, the number of jobs is going DOWN with the population going UP, or does the OP transcend logic?

Reply 41

Drewski

OP, if there's no excuse to be unemployed, why were you so concerned earlier about potentially being banned from Job Centres?

Reply 42

Martyn*

If you've already worked at McDonalds once you cannot usually be employed with them again. I worked at McDonalds when I was 21, and the last time I took a interview with them they told me that they couldn't employ me because I had been an ex-employee. I didn't get the job, not because of that, because I was male, and they were looking for females.

Reply 43

Smophy

I do not agree with what that man said. I hate it when people blame foreigners.

I am unemployed though and I assure you it really is not that easy to find a job. The issue at the moment is that there has obviously been a lot of people who have lost their jobs and places are lowering the amount of staff they hire, if not completely stopping any recruitment. With experienced people being out of work it leaves very slim chance for those who lack such experience getting a job.

On average every week I send out 50 CV's. Some weeks it is admittedly less but it is pointless for me to send my cv to the same place every week. I apply for almost every job I see advertised despite the fact that the vast majority say experience essential. The only jobs I do not apply for are those requiring some kind of qualification or license, which tbh I think is reasonable. With this in mind the most jobs I have managed to find to apply for in one week, in the past 6 months, is 7. That is pitiful. All of these jobs asked for experience and not one got back to me. I have a great CV too and have become so accustomed to filling in application forms that I am now a pro so it isn't my application that fails.

It is not easy to get a job. It is sadly down to a lot of luck at the moment tbh. Friends who are involved in recruitment at their work have told me that when they advertise a job they do actually just throw half of the applications away without reviewing them as there are simply too many to get through. This is after they have closed the vacancy advert early too.

Not all people on JSA are wasters who sit in front of Jeremy Kyle etc all day. I for example volunteer. I can not stand being jobless, not just for the money but the sheer boredom and the overwhelming feeling of worthlessness. I try desperately to get a job everyday and I work my ass of for free so don't anyone dare tell me that I need "a good kick up the backside to get a job."!

Reply 44

Left Hand Drive

Original post by moonkatt

Precisely, "what my mummy and daddy pay in taxes shouldnt benefit the plebs."

It would seem a girl keep visiting her in the night :rofl:

Reply 45

rockrunride

...

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 46

username564415

Does mummy and daddy have a lot of money?

Were you spoilt? I think yes.... Theres a metal pole over there, go shove it as far up your rear end as possible

Reply 47

MagicNMedicine

Original post by Lassilsa

On the news there was a man saying, 'the foreigners work for peanuts'. But they can only for minimum wage ffs, which the last time I checked was hardly peanuts.

These British people need a good kick up the backside to get a job.

I like the fact that this argument begins with "on the news there was a man saying..."

Well I once heard a man saying on the news that the foreigners are all over here claiming benefits.

If the foreigners who are harder working and willing to work for peanuts, are stuck on benefits, what hope is there for any of us to get a job? There must be no jobs?

Or is it that there's no jobs because the foreigners are doing them?

Reply 48

Martyn*

Original post by A Mysterious Lord

+ rep for that.

Reply 49

CameraGirl

Original post by MagicNMedicine

i was more arguing over the OPs snobbish and narrow-minded views of the unemployed population of britain :P

Reply 50

Smophy

Original post by Irrelevance

Anybody can get a job in McDonalds or as a toilet cleaner for anywhere. The trouble lies in getting a job in the same field as your degree if you aren't somebody who has graduated from a "decent" university in accordance with league tables.

All cleaning jobs I have seen ask specifically for experience. It is a friging joke but honestly they do. And yes, it isn't hard to meet the requirements for a job at McDonalds and be an ideal candidate but how many jobs are going at McDonalds?! I guarantee there are a hell of a lot more people unemployed!

Reply 51

Martyn*

Original post by Smophy

Indeed. And with cleaning jobs the employer must know that you'd be able to travel to wrok at 6 in the morning. If you haven't got access to a car then it looks like you're not going to get the job anyway. Another thing is that you are likely only to get one cleaning job since they operate more or less on the same hours, usually from 6 in the morning. A number of cleaning jobs do start when the shops close but I think the majority of cleaning jobs do start early morning, and the hours are not that great. 2 hours over seven days equals 14 hours, and that would mean no tax credits. I couldn't even afford my rent on that wage.

Reply 52

username533239

Original post by Lassilsa

Wow how single minded you are.

Reply 53

Smophy

Original post by Martyn*

Very true Sir! I could not of put it better myself.

It seems some people (i.e the person I was quoting) open their mouth before actually thinking about what they are saying.

Reply 54

cttp_ngaf

Original post by Keckers

The 'excuse' for being unemployed is often that they are worse off (after travelling to the job etc) working than if they were benefits.

While I don't agree with the welfare state I have absolutely no qualms with people who are financially better off on the dole than not working; it's about self preservation.

Indeed, it's a really tricky situation. Anyone here is easily entitled to about £200 JSA per month, and around £250 housing benefit.
If I had the choice to get that for nothing, OR to get the same amount by working 75 hours in a minimum wage job, guess which I'm going to choose?

Especially since most minimum wage jobs (or others) really do no good for the world, other people or yourself. I really don't see it as somehow noble to do a **** job for **** money and basically waste your life.

Think of it like this, if you were in a job and your boss offered you your same monthly wage but for fewer hours, you'd jump at the chance. Then he offers the same wage for even fewer hours, until he's paying you for doing zero hours per month. Would you accept that? That money is coming from "the public" and their spending on your employer's company. It's really no different to getting benefits.

In the end, if someone offers me money, indeed encourages me to accept money, for doing **** all, I honestly have to accept it.

That said, there is work there if you are looking for it and it is a viable option. As much as I hate to use anecdotal evidence in my experience there is almost always a vacancy at a fast food restaurant that needs to be filled. The turnover of employees at places like McDonalds is incredibly high.

Original post by Irrelevance

Sure, there probably ARE really ****ty jobs around. The trouble is that students/graduates still have the false belief that they are somehow special and entitled to a "good" job, while actually a huge, huge number of people their age have the same qualifications and actually they're all even again and all at the same level and none stand out.

Reply 55

SpicyStrawberry

It's a difficult situation we're in right now where there are too many people unemployed and not enough vacancies.

However, it annoys me when people blame foreigners for taking our jobs. Surely if they have got the job that means they are the best candidate for that job? You often find the people who complain about foreigners "taking all our jobs" don't actually bother applying for anything anyway or are too stuck up to apply for anything they think is below them. You have to be in it to win it.

It's difficult at the moment, there are also too many graduates and not enough graduate jobs, all you can do is apply and hope for the best, you can't just fall into a job nowadays. Hopefully it will improve soon.

Reply 56

Spikeooa

Does no one recognise the need for a major overhaul of employment in general in this country? If people who are fresh out of uni are sitting in the dole queue, **** micky mouse degree or not, what chance does your average Joe from a council estate have? There is too much emphesis on higher education. There is a lack of skills and industry. Only so many people can be managers, professionals, chief executives, prime ministers. What about everyone else? Its all well and good promoting education but what good will that do? What would we do if 100% of kids went on to university and got a degree?

There just isn't enough jobs. People say work in McDonalds, but really? A 40 year old man in McDonalds? Sure he could have made different choices in life, got an education, started a business, worked his way up in a company... but another 40 year old guy with no qualifications would take his place. What should he have done? Got an education, started a business, worked his way up through a company? And what about the bloke that replaces him? There is an endless supply of unskilled workers, and we have no interest in not having an unskilled work force at hand. Our society caters for two different people. Successful people who form the middle classes who become professionals and business owners, and people who do not work and claim benefits. There is no gap for unskilled people to fill. Theres just no place for this massive population of unemployed people we have. There are no middle of the road jobs. Even labouring jobs and traditional unskilled jobs are minimum wage. The minimum wage is abused and is pretty much the standard wage, and you simply cannot live and prosper earning the minimum wage... you bust a gut at the most unsociable and unreasonable hours, just to exist.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 57

The_Internet

Original post by Martyn*

I didn't get the job, not because of that, because I was male, and they were looking for females.

Surely thats illegal, and can be contested? Oh, and I want to be paid in subway sandwiches. Yum

Reply 58

Martyn*

Original post by de_monies

Surely thats illegal, and can be contested? Oh, and I want to be paid in subway sandwiches. Yum

It's only illegal if in the interests of equal opportunities (i.e, that anyone and everyone is guaranteed an interview) that they specify that it would suit a female rather than a male.

Reply 59

ish90an

Original post by CameraGirl

is it even possible for you to be further up your own rear end?!
so you're saying that if you'd just created £30000+ debt doing a decent degree, you'd be satisfied cleaning toilets because selfish idiotic snobs like you think yourself so high and mighty and everyone else the scum of the earth?

You are not so special that a job cleaning toilets is beneath you. It was your decision to get into debt, it was your lazy ass that didn't try getting experience and looking for a job before graduating and it was your stupidity that meant you came out with a degree not worth the paper it is printed on. Quite frankly, I have a lot more respect for a janitor who works at minimum wage and actually earns his living than some graduate who leeches off the state because (s)he's too good for a working class job.