Letter: Lottery win easier than finding a job
Tuesday 20th April 2010, 10:00AM BST.
Letter: I have been out of work since the end of last year.
It’s demoralising to go into the JobCentre every two weeks and to try and manage each week as well as keep up the flow of applications and keep motivated.
As a mature guy I am finding it especially hard when all my life I have been hard working and industrious.
I am finding even though I have all the technology to assist me most employers do not have the courtesy to e-mail/contact applicants to just say whether one has been successful or not.
Other areas where employers fall down from my experience is not describing the job properly. I have wasted both time and money travelling to interviews only to be told, “sorry to have wasted your time, but . . .”
And I also get the feeling that other factors come into their decision making. When you get the “I have other people to see” or “What age are you?”, they don’t bother writing down notes.
I put 100 per cent of effort into looking for work, from dressing the part, to following up my applications and for what? Maybe I will win the lottery one day and get an employer to give me a chance.
Yes, fat chance. I will probably have more luck with Camelot first, hey?
Kenneth Poole
Shrewsbury
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You have not made it clear in your letter what type of employment you are seeking. ‘Your’ industry may be going through some changes right now. I would start looking at your transferable skills, perhaps identifying job roles you in the past normally would not consider. I would also be looking, especially if you have now not worked for a while looking at voluntary work. This will give you something to do, create something meaningful on your CV and may increase the number of job leads. Remember in a recession it is the small employers that who grow, the big boys always try to shed staff. I agree it can be quite disheartening when you do not get a reply but turn it around. When you send your CV, give it a week and RING them. Do not rely on modern email; the old-fashioned targeted telephone call works wonders. It is also worth looking at growth industries such as care, catering and education. Good Luck in you job search.
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I believe they are not allowed to ask your age in 2010??.
To be honest you cant expect a reply from employers on most if not all job applications it states if you have not heard by such & such a date you have not been chosen .
I do think however many look for work in the field they know for far to long, and should set their sites lower whether they like it or not . It is far easier to get a job when you are in a job no matter how low paid than when you have been out of work for a considerable time.
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All I can say Kenneth is that I agree with everything you say.
I also, unfortunately, am rubbish at competency questions interviews and not having worked for 3 years does not make them any easier.
Hopefully, something will turn up for you soon.
Myself, I am doing an OU course for the next 3 months and then hope to start my own business :)
Hilary
PS Wonder if I can find a £1 to buy a lottery ticket lol!!
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True employers should’nt ask your age these days, i too have been unemployed for a long time, i’m nearly 50 some employers once they see that they sometimes send a reply back, thanking you for applying and then some comment, like good luck in the future NO i want a job with you thats why i applied.
Just wait till you job search for 30hrs a week in a government scheme, when theres only jobs at NMW available, which is a laugh these days with the cost of living going up each and every week.
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Hilary are you realy saying you could not find eney employment in 3 years??.I find this very haed to believe.
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have you signed with an agency? traipsing around blind is not a good idea the agency
should ring you periodicaly i-e daily if
something turns up take it and then progress from there try not to refuse or you will blow your chances good luck
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My husband found a job easily – -but then he was prepared to get up at 5am every morning to take the early train to Birmingham, then travel by bus to Yardley and work from 8am to 6pm on his feet at a machine in a factory making bin bags. Then get the bus back to New Street and arrive back home at 8.15 every night – 6 days a week – -for minimum wage. In the four months since he took the job he has never once complained. Some nights he is so exhausted he can hardly walk – -in fact he fell asleep on the train and ended up in Shrewsbury one night. I am very proud of him and his belief that one day a better job will come but for now any work is better than no work. We manage on what we get with no money from the government. If we can do it surely anyone can do it?
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Well done to kerrys husband. 20 years ago i found myself out of work ..I took a job as a milk man 3-30am start finished 2-3pm in the afternoon and did it for 12 months and hated every minute of it . Their was always loads of jobs going at the dairy but people wouldnt take them because of pay and hours sadly they would rather take benefits.I am also all for people going back to college etc to better themselves however what i even found there were people in their 40′s who had been in and out of college all their lives and had never held down a proper job for more than a year.
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