Is it everyone or am I just unlucky
My name is Michael and I am going to be listing various things in bullet points after which I need some help.
•
I have two degrees from university
•
a wealth of experience
•
odd bits of part-time work that have not paid well
•
applied for a 3 jobs at Morrisons and was told I was not successful
•
Gave up applying for menial jobs so applied for something more challenging that would require my degree but still got no jobs
•
got an interview for a job and would have got the job but at the last minute another position became vacant so the scrapped my position as they needed the other one more importantly
•
signed up to the job centre
•
Am 25 years old and living at home
•
the job centre put me, a 25 year old with a MA degree on a course full on 17-18 year olds in which we would learn 'key skills' to help you find work. When I spoke to the leader of the course, after completing a 10 page SIMPLE English and maths test (which some failed to get right??), she told me I had a degree and wondered why I was on this course with such high qualifications
•
applied for voluntary work at Banardos only to be given a 5 page application form, after which I didn't get the job
•
went with the principal of its who you know not what you know. Found and job and strangely my referee knew the employers personally (family related) but I still didn't get the job. My referee and employer have fallen out of me not getting it!
•
went to apply for the graduate fast scheme with the civil service but found the maths and English tests too hard for me and failed it
•
applied for the general civil service but failed the competency questions
•
sent of 20 applications this year, 5 of them got acknowledged
•
asked my friends who work in places if there is anything going but 1 said they wouldn't want you to work with them, and the others seemed to have forgotten I asked. I chased them up to which they replied, there is no jobs going.
•
have people always telling me that something will come up. It never has
•
My dad who has a very high up job and is one of the best CV writers/interviewers around has been writing all my CV's to make then sellable but its not worked.
•
I spent £250 traveling to a job interview that wasn't successful and I didn't get the money back
•
I am poor, broke, 25 and living at home with my parents
Can someone tell me what is going on? Am I just unlucky? Am I meant to find work?
Help!
Scroll to see replies
I'm almost 24 and still living at home if its any consolation I think living at home until your late 20s or early 30s is very common in the UK now, especially in London (though I don't know where you're living) as the cost of living (especially housing) is very high.
It's also more common than not for employers not to acknowledge receipt of your application as they can get hundreds of people applying to a single vacancy in just the first few hours after it's been posted.
It's definitely the quality of the applications more than the quantity but 20 applications is not many jobs to apply for in three months.
They do really need to change things at the job centre, I feel that they aim their services at people with the fewest qualifications, least experience and that are looking for the lowest skills jobs. That means they are not going to be able to help a lot of people, especially at the moment where people with decades worth of experience are also looking for jobs and it's not the case that they just need to improve their literacy, IT and numeracy skills.
Have you been getting many interviews for the roles you have been applying for? If so, how did they go?
How about asking your dad if there is any jobs at the company he works at?
Maybe try going to networking events for business people and ask them if they have jobs (but not so bluntly). They may be impressed that you took the initiative to go and look for jobs instead of just applying for ones on the internet.
My name is Michael and I am going to be listing various things in bullet points after which I need some help.
•
I have two degrees from university
•
a wealth of experience
•
odd bits of part-time work that have not paid well
•
applied for a 3 jobs at Morrisons and was told I was not successful
•
Gave up applying for menial jobs so applied for something more challenging that would require my degree but still got no jobs
•
got an interview for a job and would have got the job but at the last minute another position became vacant so the scrapped my position as they needed the other one more importantly
•
signed up to the job centre
•
Am 25 years old and living at home
•
the job centre put me, a 25 year old with a MA degree on a course full on 17-18 year olds in which we would learn 'key skills' to help you find work. When I spoke to the leader of the course, after completing a 10 page SIMPLE English and maths test (which some failed to get right??), she told me I had a degree and wondered why I was on this course with such high qualifications
•
applied for voluntary work at Banardos only to be given a 5 page application form, after which I didn't get the job
•
went with the principal of its who you know not what you know. Found and job and strangely my referee knew the employers personally (family related) but I still didn't get the job. My referee and employer have fallen out of me not getting it!
•
went to apply for the graduate fast scheme with the civil service but found the maths and English tests too hard for me and failed it
•
applied for the general civil service but failed the competency questions
•
sent of 20 applications this year, 5 of them got acknowledged
•
asked my friends who work in places if there is anything going but 1 said they wouldn't want you to work with them, and the others seemed to have forgotten I asked. I chased them up to which they replied, there is no jobs going.
•
have people always telling me that something will come up. It never has
•
My dad who has a very high up job and is one of the best CV writers/interviewers around has been writing all my CV's to make then sellable but its not worked.
•
I spent £250 traveling to a job interview that wasn't successful and I didn't get the money back
•
I am poor, broke, 25 and living at home with my parents
Can someone tell me what is going on? Am I just unlucky? Am I meant to find work?
Help!
Two degrees from university? Perhaps you're overqualified for the jobs you're applying to.
the reason I find that I am unlucky is that I am getting interviews. Its just that there is always someone there who beats me.
With the last Job I was one of two people to be interviewed but I was piped to the post.
For another one I was one of only three people who made it.
I am making it to interview but the trouble is I am not the most chatty or good looking of people. Well, I am good looking haha, but I feel that my communication skills let me down.
Having said that, in the last two jobs they were good and I appeared to have spoken like I knew the employers for years.
Maybe the trick is to keep applying and hope that I can beat the others.
I am wondering though what the others have that I do not. In the work I do I have done very well - very very well, but I cannot show these skills to employers until they employ me.
Is there also a way of showing an employer how good you are without doing work experience. I can tell them loads of times that I am good but I feel they need to see it. If they employed me they would see how good I can be but I don't get to that stage.
Oh well, I will keep applying. By the way, I live in London and did my degrees in Music. Don't laugh - the field I chose is one in which there is a shortage of people. There is a dedicated website called Musicjobsuk which has all the music jobs on there and there are about 20 a day!
Yes its a long shot applying to do music and I should be applying to work in other fields - I applied three times for Morrisons...look what happened.
All the people I see in these shops are lively bubbly people who smile and joke and dance on the table at the office party! I am the quiet one who believes that I am there to work and work is what I will do.
I can be very bubbly and am very funny (so my friends say) but my current situation is making me depressed and its rubbing off on the interviews!
If your dad writes all the CV's for you, it might look for the employers that the CV is not written by you but by someone else, so this shows that you cannot make your own CV and they just reject you straightforwardly.
applied for a 3 jobs at Morrisons and was told I was not successful
Common situation these positions are easier to get if you have family or friends working at the store otherwise they are difficult to get. Even then you have 2 problems:
1. They view you as over qualified
2. They can hire a highschool dropout much cheaper than you who would get the full min wage.
Gave up applying for menial jobs so applied for something more challenging that would require my degree but still got no jobs
I am going to be harsh as this was a extremely stupid decision on your part. You should be applying for both as you never know you may get lucky with a job (I had an interview at subway recently for example).
got an interview for a job and would have got the job but at the last minute another position became vacant so the scrapped my position as they needed the other one more importantly
tough luck. It can happen.
Signed up to the job centre
And you did not do this sooner because? The entire point of JSA is to help keep you afloat while job hunting. As soon as you are unemployed you should sign on.
Am 25 years old and living at home
24 and in the same boat. There are quite a lot of us. 3/4 years of independence at university only to hit unemployment and result in boomeranging home.
the job centre put me, a 25 year old with a MA degree on a course full on 17-18 year olds in which we would learn 'key skills' to help you find work. When I spoke to the leader of the course, after completing a 10 page SIMPLE English and maths test (which some failed to get right??), she told me I had a degree and wondered why I was on this course with such high qualifications
I am quite impressed. My job centre advisor wont even give me the needed referral to a food hygiene course which would at least boost my chances at finding work in catering.
Yes the Job Centre is not your friend and you should never be fooled into thinking it is. They have targets. They need to get so many people on courses or work programmes that it does not matter if it is horribly unsuitable as long as they reach target. I also recommend you get everything in writing as they have targets to reduce claimant numbers but there are a very small amount of jobs around for people so they will try to trip you up to sanction you.
applied for voluntary work at Banardos only to be given a 5 page application form, after which I didn't get the job
Yes some voluntary work does require application forms and there is a chance that you wont get the position at the end of it.
went with the principal of its who you know not what you know. Found and job and strangely my referee knew the employers personally (family related) but I still didn't get the job. My referee and employer have fallen out of me not getting it!
Yes connections help. However, use them if you have them but do not just hope that it will come up golden and stop all other job applications
went to apply for the graduate fast scheme with the civil service but found the maths and English tests too hard for me and failed it
applied for the general civil service but failed the competency questions
Grad schemes are not the norm for graduates. They are extremely competitive and very long processes which only a tiny amount of graduates get.
You need to apply for a range of grad schemes and even then getting a place is extremely difficult
sent of 20 applications this year, 5 of them got acknowledged
It is ****ing April... What the hell is wrong with you? 20? Is that ****ing it?
Since November I have done around 200-500 applications (it is quite hard to keep track considering the range of job websites I use with direct CV applications)
asked my friends who work in places if there is anything going but 1 said they wouldn't want you to work with them, and the others seemed to have forgotten I asked. I chased them up to which they replied, there is no jobs going.
Have you failed to notice the economic crisis you have graduated into?
There are very few jobs going anywhere with some businesses closing down, others are cost cutting, while the public sector is under going major cuts.
have people always telling me that something will come up. It never has
You know what might help? Try applying for some ****ing jobs.
My dad who has a very high up job and is one of the best CV writers/interviewers around has been writing all my CV's to make then sellable but its not worked.
Perhaps get the CV checked elsewhere or how about writing your own CVs?
I spent £250 traveling to a job interview that wasn't successful and I didn't get the money back
You can reclaim travel costs for interviews from the job centre if you did not well tough...
I am poor, broke, 25 and living at home with my parents
And I have no ****ing sympathy at this point. Try applying for some ****ing jobs before crying on an internet forum expecting the world just to hand you a job.
Can someone tell me what is going on? Am I just unlucky? Am I meant to find work?
Help!
sigh
[*]sent of 20 applications this year, 5 of them got acknowledged
It’s really, really tough out there. I empathise fully. People have left university and it’s been a real shock that those graduate level jobs have virtually disappeared.
At the same time, you actually seem remarkably complacent and slow to grasp what you need to do about it.
To have only sent 20 applications this year is not enough. A lot of unemployed grads are sending off up to 10 a day. For anything, anywhere, in any part of the country. I probably sent around 400 applications before finding paid work, and have continued doing so, which means the interviews and assessment centres are rolling in months after I found a stopgap contact.
You need a much, much more concerted effort. Relying on your dad, friends, and referees to sort it out for you isn’t the way to get out the quagmire.
Open up the opportunities to you but you say you did music....WHY??
1. They view you as over qualified
2. They can hire a highschool dropout much cheaper than you who would get the full min wage.
I am going to be harsh as this was a extremely stupid decision on your part. You should be applying for both as you never know you may get lucky with a job (I had an interview at subway recently for example).
tough luck. It can happen.
And you did not do this sooner because? The entire point of JSA is to help keep you afloat while job hunting. As soon as you are unemployed you should sign on.
24 and in the same boat. There are quite a lot of us. 3/4 years of independence at university only to hit unemployment and result in boomeranging home.
I am quite impressed. My job centre advisor wont even give me the needed referral to a food hygiene course which would at least boost my chances at finding work in catering.
Yes the Job Centre is not your friend and you should never be fooled into thinking it is. They have targets. They need to get so many people on courses or work programmes that it does not matter if it is horribly unsuitable as long as they reach target. I also recommend you get everything in writing as they have targets to reduce claimant numbers but there are a very small amount of jobs around for people so they will try to trip you up to sanction you.
What's the reason that they don't refer you to that course? Oh yes they are professionals at sanctioning people. Once I got a warning that came at 9 because I was supposed to come at 8.30 even though they only open at 9..
O they have agreed to, but have constantly failed to do the paper work and then they accused the college of being the hold up. Since then I have been stuck at their agreement, but complete failure for them to do the paper work.
I think the best one I have had is a warning letter for being 5 minutes late but the desk staff had left me waiting twenty minutes before escorting me through to the advisor waiting area.
I think the best one I have had is a warning letter for being 5 minutes late but the desk staff had left me waiting twenty minutes before escorting me through to the advisor waiting area.
They can get really annoying, they keep telling me that I can't attend one course because it exceeds 16 hours a week so I will lose my JSA.. College told me that JCP made an agreement with that college to carry out those courses and I won't lose my JSA. Logically thinking, to attend those courses you need to be receiving JSA and if I start the course, JCP told me they'll eliminate my JSA, so that means I'm not eligible for the course without JSA. I don't understand why JCP acts like little kids.. What I don't get is why they are so stubborn about me getting into that course.. I had a course before which was in first weeks about 21 hours a week, then 18 hours a week but I still had my JSA all the time..
My name is Michael and I am going to be listing various things in bullet points after which I need some help.
•
I have two degrees from university
•
a wealth of experience
•
odd bits of part-time work that have not paid well
•
applied for a 3 jobs at Morrisons and was told I was not successful
•
Gave up applying for menial jobs so applied for something more challenging that would require my degree but still got no jobs
•
got an interview for a job and would have got the job but at the last minute another position became vacant so the scrapped my position as they needed the other one more importantly
•
signed up to the job centre
•
Am 25 years old and living at home
•
the job centre put me, a 25 year old with a MA degree on a course full on 17-18 year olds in which we would learn 'key skills' to help you find work. When I spoke to the leader of the course, after completing a 10 page SIMPLE English and maths test (which some failed to get right??), she told me I had a degree and wondered why I was on this course with such high qualifications
•
applied for voluntary work at Banardos only to be given a 5 page application form, after which I didn't get the job
•
went with the principal of its who you know not what you know. Found and job and strangely my referee knew the employers personally (family related) but I still didn't get the job. My referee and employer have fallen out of me not getting it!
•
went to apply for the graduate fast scheme with the civil service but found the maths and English tests too hard for me and failed it
•
applied for the general civil service but failed the competency questions
•
sent of 20 applications this year, 5 of them got acknowledged
•
asked my friends who work in places if there is anything going but 1 said they wouldn't want you to work with them, and the others seemed to have forgotten I asked. I chased them up to which they replied, there is no jobs going.
•
have people always telling me that something will come up. It never has
•
My dad who has a very high up job and is one of the best CV writers/interviewers around has been writing all my CV's to make then sellable but its not worked.
•
I spent £250 traveling to a job interview that wasn't successful and I didn't get the money back
•
I am poor, broke, 25 and living at home with my parents
Can someone tell me what is going on? Am I just unlucky? Am I meant to find work?
Help!
become a teacher
I think you'll find that thats pretty competitive too
1. They view you as over qualified
2. They can hire a highschool dropout much cheaper than you who would get the full min wage.
I am going to be harsh as this was a extremely stupid decision on your part. You should be applying for both as you never know you may get lucky with a job (I had an interview at subway recently for example).
tough luck. It can happen.
And you did not do this sooner because? The entire point of JSA is to help keep you afloat while job hunting. As soon as you are unemployed you should sign on.
24 and in the same boat. There are quite a lot of us. 3/4 years of independence at university only to hit unemployment and result in boomeranging home.
I am quite impressed. My job centre advisor wont even give me the needed referral to a food hygiene course which would at least boost my chances at finding work in catering.
Yes the Job Centre is not your friend and you should never be fooled into thinking it is. They have targets. They need to get so many people on courses or work programmes that it does not matter if it is horribly unsuitable as long as they reach target. I also recommend you get everything in writing as they have targets to reduce claimant numbers but there are a very small amount of jobs around for people so they will try to trip you up to sanction you.
Yes some voluntary work does require application forms and there is a chance that you wont get the position at the end of it.
Yes connections help. However, use them if you have them but do not just hope that it will come up golden and stop all other job applications
Grad schemes are not the norm for graduates. They are extremely competitive and very long processes which only a tiny amount of graduates get.
You need to apply for a range of grad schemes and even then getting a place is extremely difficult
It is ****ing April... What the hell is wrong with you? 20? Is that ****ing it?
Since November I have done around 200-500 applications (it is quite hard to keep track considering the range of job websites I use with direct CV applications)
Have you failed to notice the economic crisis you have graduated into?
There are very few jobs going anywhere with some businesses closing down, others are cost cutting, while the public sector is under going major cuts.
You know what might help? Try applying for some ****ing jobs.
Perhaps get the CV checked elsewhere or how about writing your own CVs?
You can reclaim travel costs for interviews from the job centre if you did not well tough...
And I have no ****ing sympathy at this point. Try applying for some ****ing jobs before crying on an internet forum expecting the world just to hand you a job.
sigh
So insightful! Tell me, how's your job going?
Listen mate it's one thing to give helpful advice, and sometimes a rocket up the jacksie is occasionally appropriate when you know the person and know what you are doing, but bitching at people like gordon ramsay telling them to 'f***ing*' do more over an internet forum is not going to get you, or them, any further in getting a job. No matter how good it makes you feel being the enlightened voice of unemployed reason for that 3 minute lull between applications it really is not helpful to anybody- no matter how long you have been struggling
Sorry to be that guy, I really do wish you all the best with the search, but I feel sometimes things need to be said.
Keep fighting the good fight!
Listen mate it's one thing to give helpful advice, and sometimes a rocket up the jacksie is occasionally appropriate when you know the person and know what you are doing, but bitching at people like gordon ramsay telling them to 'f***ing*' do more over an internet forum is not going to get you, or them, any further in getting a job. No matter how good it makes you feel being the enlightened voice of unemployed reason for that 3 minute lull between applications it really is not helpful to anybody- no matter how long you have been struggling
Sorry to be that guy, I really do wish you all the best with the search, but I feel sometimes things need to be said.
Keep fighting the good fight!
I'm with that guy tbh;
•
OP has stated he has a Music degree in a field which has a lack of employees.
•
OP then proceeded to state there is website for music jobs which lists ~20 jobs a day.
•
OP then tell us he has only applied for ~20 jobs in the past 4 months (despite these 20 jobs a day listings).
Not to be disrespectful but what qualifies your Dad to be one of the best CV writers there is? (However a CV is only meant to get you in the door which by the sounds of it has done.)
To me it looks like you are not much of a confident person and referring back to the points I stated earlier; lazy.
As far as I can tell you don't come across well in interviews (and surely your mate has said he wouldn't want to work with you for a reason? Ask him why?... )and I think if your Dad is ****hot at this stuff you need to talk to him about how to properly conduct yourself in an interview.
What about covering letters? Are you sending out the same generic one? Introduce yourself in the letter and tell them how it is that you have come to apply for the job. Then copy and paste the person specification provided into your covering letter and expand on every point.
Just read the bit where you say that you're getting interviews. That must mean that your CV and covering letters are cutting it in some cases. Time to be honest with yourself - it's you. And you've identified that.
Have you visited recruitment agencies?
Have you had a long hard look at your skill set and identified areas that could be improved? You might find that you'd benefit from an IT course, for example. And if there's a cost and you can't afford it, perhaps have a word with your father and present the course to him as an investment. You'll pay him back at a later date.
To be honest it sounds like you haven't applied for many jobs. Employers want resilience and tenacity. Your despondency because you got rejected from three jobs at Morrison's doesn't demonstrate these traits, and besides, how does having a Master's degree make you a superior shelf-stacker or cashier to someone without these qualifications? The attitudes some graduates have - they may as well just turn up to job interviews in their academic gown and mortar board, just so, y'know, everyone knows that they have a degree.
Politics Student is too aggressive but makes some good points. Take those on board too. They might be hard to swallow but will benefit you and your outlook.
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