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Job hunting after a long time out of work

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
As the title says really, does anyone have advice for my particular problem? I haven't worked since December 2005 due to depression and the fact I was being a bum which I'm quite embarrassed about.
I've now got myself sorted out and i've been grabbing application forms. Any advice for the application forms and/or interviews to either not make it look like such a big deal or to try put a positive spin (if thats possible)

Im desperate to get back to work, I've had enough of doing nothing.

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    ive been the same since july/august. i landed a very good job last week, without using a cv. i was just very lucky to find it, and showed enthusiasm and desire to get going, (and natural talent).

    i would recommend making sure you keep up the searching everyday, cos i found if i missed a day, it sometimes turned into a week and it was hard to get back into it. i was only putting real effort into getting a job for about 6weeks prior, and it eventually got me there. the half arsed attempt that i did for over 6 months got me no-where, and i may as well have done nothing cos i just got more depressed and pissed off at myself.

    also, getting rejected can knock you back, and having no feedback can leave you in limbo (which is worse). but just keep at it. seriously, just dont let it get you down again. thats all i can offer at the moment though.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I guess it depends what you're looking to do??

    Unless you're looking to earn serious money or work for a massive company a lot of jobs can be secured by just being enthusiastic or knowing the right person, so holes in your CV can be easily covered up.

    Your new workmates will probably ask you what you did before though, it's a standard question I ask every newb at my work.

    I suppose the easiest way is to get back to something, as it's always easier to find work once you're in work, and as long as you've got a reference for where you are then you can always "creatively" cover up missing bits of CV by saying you were travelling or something....
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'm looking to just do anything to be honest. Im hoping to go back to college so something part time that fits around that is ideal, I'll take up your advice and just keep grabbing application forms and seeing how it goes.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Have you thought of doing some voluntary work on something in the mean time. If you can show a perspective employer your willing to take on some voluntary work to get going, they may not be so concerned about the gaps in your CV.

    The past is then, the future is now.... so to speak :D
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Thats something I have thought about with the connexions advisors i've been working with. I have also recently just completed a 10 day course with connexions called jumpstart so I've been mentioning when possible as it involved team building and voluntary work. If after sending out the applications/ CV's and interviews I've not got very far I'll look at taking up voluntary work :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I fully understand what you're going through, cos I've been through exactly the same thing.
    Whenever I wrote to people with a CV, I always put a covering letter with it saying that I had gaps in my CV due to ill-health (which depression is don't forget), that I'm now better and ready to work.
    Calvin wrote: »
    Have you thought of doing some voluntary work on something in the mean time. If you can show a perspective employer your willing to take on some voluntary work to get going, they may not be so concerned about the gaps in your CV.

    The past is then, the future is now.... so to speak :D

    I did some voluntary work and it really helped my CV; I was also then able to write that I had tried to gain some relevant experience whislt unemployed... Just made me look more reliable and enthusiastic about working really.

    It can be pretty depressing jobhunting... it's very competitve and at times I was in complet dispear that I would never find something because I'd been ill for a while and had no work experience and had completly lost all confidence in myself because of being unemployed and depressed for so long. BUT I did get a job!
    Also, don't nessasserally go for full-time jobs... I was interviewed for a 4 hour per week job and I said I would be willing to do the 4 hours but ideally I would like more hours and would want to work up from there... I was offered the 4 hours, took it, and within two weeks was up to 16. So maybe even start small, cos it's better than nothing and can give you valuable experience and can lead to bigger and better things.

    Most of all, just don't give up! :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Thanks for the support, I've handed in my first 3 applications and I've got copies of them so I know how to answer most of the daft questions most companies use.
    I'll definately look at volunteering if I don't get very far with my current plan :)

    I've got a CV and covering letter as well now so I think im well prepared now.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Is it wrong to be snobby about jobs? My mums getting fed up of my lack of jobs, and so 'helps' me in finding the worst jobs she can for me. I mean, if she's going to bother, why doesn't she find something relevent. I specifically said I dont want to work in retail, especially not the co op (having worked there before).

    So she tgets me an application for the co op and nowhere else and insists I take the job. Wish she'd either let me do it meself (I've been doing a few odd bits this week so haven't had time to job hunt) or at least not get that... I think she's doing it to humiliate me really. She won't work, even though there's no reason why she shouldn't.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I don't think it's snobby to look for a job which you feel you will enjoy and do well at.

    About the coop thing, just fill out the application badly and hand it in, at least your mum thinks you have tried :thumb:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    ShyBoy wrote: »
    I specifically said I dont want to work in retail, especially not the co op (having worked there before).

    I don't blame you for not wanting to work in the Co-op. I doubt they would give you a job there anyway. I'm sure the Co-op only recruit from a 'special' pool of candidates.

    With emphasis is on the word 'special' :D
  • **helen****helen** Deactivated Posts: 9,235 Supreme Poster
    Calvin wrote: »
    I don't blame you for not wanting to work in the Co-op. I doubt they would give you a job there anyway. I'm sure the Co-op only recruit from a 'special' pool of candidates.

    With emphasis is on the word 'special' :D

    :sour: I know you're only messing, but that's actually offensive.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Right just got off the phone from someone at pets at home got my first interview :o


    I best not tell about the time the family released a bunch of baby gerbils into a local forest because we were moving and had no where else to take them....
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    For the record, I used to work in the co-op for 6 months :p and it was one of the most unprofessional and non-abusive-derogatory environments I'd ever been in. And as such, I didn't want to work in it again, and preferably avoid all similar retail where the bottom rung (me) are treated as slaves with threats of dismissal if we refuse to do overtime whenever the managers want a day off, which they still claim their sick pay for.

    My individual co op had one of the managers arrested after he'd worked there for 6 years for embezzling funds continuously, just indicative of the work ethic. 'Do it or I'll bollock you'. I remember handling chemicals without any gloves and my skin going crumbly and rubbing off, was just told to hurry up.

    Remember having second / third degree burns (not from the chemicals lol, from an accident at home :p) and missing two shifts but not being given sick pay and having to make up my hours (with a nice bandage over my hand, which had to have it's dressing changed at work with the first aid kit because the managers were concerned it would put customers off the food).

    Remember not being allowed my lunch time because I hadn't finished the work they'd given me because someone else was absent (so I had to do two people's work). I even remember them refusing to allow me to leave when the shop shut if I hadn't finished everything.

    I realise now that most of their threats were empty but they sure don't feel like that when they're shouting at you for not working fast enough (and I wasn't lazy, I was too scared of getting a bollocking to hang about).

    After working in an office for 2 weeks as a bit of work experience, I outpaced many of the permenent staff (because of my office skills) and got commended for it by them, there was an atmosphere that we were all part of a team and though the hierachial structure was there, we were all on a level footing. I was rewarded for doing well, hell people even made me cups of teas :p. They were all lovely to me (reminds me of thesite towers, lol) and it was just a proper job where people got on and did their job properly, rather than it being a rat race...

    ...which is why I so really do not want to work in the co op again...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Well thats fair enough, I had a nightmare of a time in a waiting job once. You won't find me applying for a similar job again unless I got really desperate. Have you explained the issue to your mum?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Just been offered a job the only problem is....well its a bar and waiting job. I don't know if I should accept it or not, I know I should take anything im offered but on the other hand I hated being a waiter the last time I did it.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Depends if it is really going to make you unhappy. If you really don't like the job then don't do it. However I would think of it as a means to an end. At least try a few days. You might find you like it. Nobody is saying your going to be there in 10 years, but use this job as a stop gap until you find another job you want.

    It might be a good way of getting you back into the work environment, think of it as a first step on the road to where you want to be.

    Good luck

    :thumb:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Cheers I've taken your advice and accepted the job, I start on Monday at 5pm. Thanks for your help everyone :thumb:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Nice one :thumb:

    Just take each day as it comes and keep looking for the job you want. In the mean time you can be earning money and building your confidence in the workplace after such a long break.

    Hope it goes well.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    red88 wrote: »
    Cheers I've taken your advice and accepted the job, I start on Monday at 5pm. Thanks for your help everyone :thumb:

    Good decision... they say it's easier to find a job when you've got one.

    You might enjoy waiting now anyway... If you've not worked for ages and been depressed, maybe the depression affected your ability to be able to enjoy working?
    Anyway, I hope it's not bad. And well done.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Lu_C wrote: »
    Good decision... they say it's easier to find a job when you've got one.

    You might enjoy waiting now anyway... If you've not worked for ages and been depressed, maybe the depression affected your ability to be able to enjoy working?
    Anyway, I hope it's not bad. And well done.

    Good call, I've just got back from my first shift (ended up being a 5 hour shift behind the bar :o) and it was great. Obviously I was bit slow and made the odd error but it went well enough.
    So yeah If I can find work that quickly after being out for so long everyone has hope :thumb:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Thats good, it will get even easier once you start learning the ropes. In your free time keep looking for jobs that interest you, then make your move and apply. In the mean time your getting experience, gaining confidence and earning money working in the bar.

    :thumb:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    TBH i'll se how it goes over the next few weeks and probably just stay there. It's ideal for me especially as I want to go back to college.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    red88 wrote: »
    TBH i'll se how it goes over the next few weeks and probably just stay there. It's ideal for me especially as I want to go back to college.

    :yippe: Glad it's going well so far. Hopefully you'll stay enjoying it until you decide to move onto something different, like college.

    Yeah there's definatly hope for everyone.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    red88 wrote: »
    I best not tell about the time the family released a bunch of baby gerbils into a local forest because we were moving and had no where else to take them....

    I fucking hate people like you.

    Errrr...rspca?! Rescue shelter? Might as well have killed them all as to let them loose.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    :lol: Chill out

    Im sure they are happy in the forest, better than being stuck in some cage.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Calvin wrote: »
    :lol: Chill out

    Im sure they are happy in the forest, better than being stuck in some cage.

    if happier means dead, then you're right

    What a completely ignorant thing for people to say. Im actually shocked at how little people know these days
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Well tbf my friend who had mice when they had loads of babies just chopped their heads of with scissors. Not to be cruel, but she didn't want them. Her dad did it who is a member of the RSPCA, so goes to show really.

    Baby gerbils / mice are so tiny that not many shelters will take them because there's such a ready supply of them anyway.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Well if people dont like the possibility of their pet having babies, or would be unable to cope if it happened by accident, they shouldnt be getting a pet in the first place.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Calm down I was only 10/11 at the time and I can't remember why it happened but for some daft reason my parents decided on a quick move and after trying to get rid of them somewhere else (like the rspca etc) it was their last option, naively thinking it was better to let them free into a wooded area than sit their culling them or just dumping them somewhere else in a box.
    Don't give me some rubbish about pet responsibility etc we've had a variety of pets over the years and it was very much a one of due to the circumstances which they still feel bad about. We had sold on many previous litters before as well.
    The whole move is still something I am unhappy about because it was done a real hurry for no reason at all, but never mind.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    red88 wrote: »
    Calm down I was only 10/11 at the time and I can't remember why it happened but for some daft reason my parents decided on a quick move and after trying to get rid of them somewhere else (like the rspca etc) it was their last option, naively thinking it was better to let them free into a wooded area than sit their culling them or just dumping them somewhere else in a box.
    Don't give me some rubbish about pet responsibility etc we've had a variety of pets over the years and it was very much a one of due to the circumstances which they still feel bad about. We had sold on many previous litters before as well.
    The whole move is still something I am unhappy about because it was done a real hurry for no reason at all, but never mind.

    If your a responsible pet owner you wouldnt breed pets to sell :thumb:

    So in your words, dont give me that rubbish!

    Anyway, end of rant. This isnt the place for it
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