Do you enjoy your job?

[Kai]

Still unemployed. Still Arbeit macht frei attitudes spouting from our politicians. I honestly refuse to work until the exploitive zero-hours contracts are abolished. I am certainly not going to work until I drop whilst not being paid correctly or if not at all. That is essentially slave labour and I'm not doing it.

[danpaul88]

So find a job which doesn't have zero hour contracts then? Plenty of them out there.

 

What do you have strong qualifications / experience in?

[Kai]

If only it was that easy when the majority of the country and its jobs are zero-hours. I live in the countryside of Norfolk and most jobs are zero-hours plus it would take me over an hour to get into the nearest city (Norwich or King's Lynn). Not to mention getting back and the A47 is notorious.

 

I only have strong experience in care work (I used to work for the NHS) and my qualifications are an NVQ LVL 2 in Business and Administration as well as for Health and Social Care. I also got 4 (or 5) B-grade GCSE's from a BTEC in Travel and Tourism.

 

The crappy part is, I cannot even apply for basic jobs because I failed to get a C in either Maths and English due to some cockup at my old school.

 

(Please don't tell me to go to a JC+ because I've had it with their smugness, rude and uncaring attitudes)

Edited May 1, 2015 by Kai

[danpaul88]

You've got some decent qualifications and experience to your name then, it's not as if you're just some Joe Bloggs who dropped out of secondary school and did a bit of shift work in McDonalds. That's certainly in your favour.

 

Whilst I do work in a different industry, I find that the best way to attract interview offers is to keep your LinkedIn profile up to date (recruiters are like moths to a flame when you update your LinkedIn... not all the offers will be suitable but once they get in contact you will often find they do have more suitable things available)

 

Additionally, posting your CV to websites like jobsite.co.uk, monster, etc tends to bring in some decent offers, even if you don't actively search for anything on those sites yourself (although it is worth taking the time to do so, just be aware that the best jobs are often inundated with applicants)

 

 

 

 

A lack of a GCSE in Math or English needn't hold you back, very often employers are more interested in your higher level qualifications anyway... heck, I've never had to show any of my certificates to any employer, not even my university degree.

 

If you are currently listing your grades in individual subjects on your CV consider changing it to something like "5 GCSEs at A-B", which is still technically accurate. A bit of 'PR' work on your CV can go a long way... and I don't mean making things up (always be truthful or it's liable to come back to bite you), but rather phrasing things in a positive way.

 

 

 

 

For the qualifications you have, you could go in several different directions career wise, I don't know if you have any strong feelings about what you want to do for a career but you might find inspiration just casually flicking through job websites with some vague keyword searches, perhaps even a type of job you wouldn't have considered applying for. Stay positive and keep searching, there are (non-zero hour) jobs out there if you're willing to put effort into finding them

 

As a random example, have you considered PA work? Not something everyone enjoys, but worth considering. Or perhaps being an Account Manager role? Also found a permanent role as a Health and Social Care Assessor with multiple locations available. Just a few things I found with a quick 5 minute search based on a couple of keywords from what you posted above.

[Einstein]

An update on my new job. I work at Tiffin Motorhomes in RedBay Alabama. It is a multi-campus factory that manufactures the big motorhomes you see the rich old people using. It employs over 1500 people, about 350 of which are computer users. For all this, there are 3 IT guys.....lol. I've been here 4 and a half weeks now and so far it has been very enjoyable. Not that my old job wasn't at times....just that this one is full time with benefits and such They appear to like me here. If I ask where the (insert any tool or piece of equipment here) is and we don't have one, the boss basically asks me what kind I want him to order... I could definitely get used to that! He's a big fan of getting things done and is willing to spend some money to make it happen. That, and the fact that everyone works as a team without bickering and gossip/slander, makes the job experience here as a whole an enjoyable one.

 

I have learned a valuable lesson by starting work here and I'll share it so maybe someone else can benefit from it: I almost did not apply for this position. It is on the very edge of how far I was willing to drive to work. It is in another state (which slightly complicates my tax stuff). The pay was...good...but actually a little below what the "normal" starting rate is for someone with my qualifications. It all seemed a little too....low end (?) I guess for what I was looking for initially. But I decided to take it anyway because I figured that some money is better than no money. It was almost a move based on my gut. But it worked out great and I learned after I was hired that they raise pay regularly based on job performance! We get evaluated by our superiors and if they like what they see, hello more money! I also found out after I started that they will not only allow me to continue schooling, but will pay for around 95% of it! I am salary but still get over-time x1.5 as well as hourly comp time. All this is very valuable to me.

 

I guess that the point I'm trying to illustrate is that for those of you searching for a job: don't be afraid to take a position a little or even much "lower" than where you expect to end up working, or even where you are qualified to work. You have to climb the ladder. Experience is extremely important and the only way you can gain this is by working a job that doesn't require any or as much experience. I was told after I was hired that the selection process was narrowed to me and another guy that had just finished school. We had extremely similar qualifications....but he had no experience versus my 5+ years in the field. This was the tie breaker. So if a job comes along that is doable for you but might not be exaclty what you are looking for, don't be afraid to at least try it. Worst case scenario, you don't like it and have to resign. Not a huge deal really. But if you never try "lower end" jobs and never get your foot in the door, you greatly decrease your chances of ending up where you might want to be.

 

I'll quit preaching now