Damn, I need another job!

[Night Train]

I have been teaching two days a week and doing carpentry work the rest of the week but the work has dried up and the teaching is about to end.

Now I need to job hunt again. I hate job hunting and the agencies are not coming up with much either.

Any suggestions?

What are your job hunting tactics, loves and hates?

 

[Dayvo]

I worked very casually as a hod-carrier in the mid/late 80s until a regular job with a bricky turned up; you could just go round from site to site asking, assuming that is the kind of carpentry work you do.
There is always a huge demand for qualified and WELL-PAID jobs here in Scandinavia, but there should be something in Manchester.
Good luck.

 

[fossyant]

Hit many of the agencies - complete pain and most up their ass, but with your skills you should get something....your furniture is art....

If you can teach as well, that's a big plus - schools/universities start recruiting now.

 

[Night Train]

Cheers Dayvo, I'm the wrong kind of carpenter really, I can teach site work as I make furniture and follow a curriculum but I don't have the NVQ for it.

I am currently chasing a few sheltered scheme manager posts working with the elderly, a couple of project officer posts working with homeless young people and trying to get a local school to send me an application form for a learning mentor before the end date.

I've been working on the last carpentry job on my books today and there is only another day or so left of it in the next week or two.
I might get a haircut and send some photos off to advertising and modelling agencies, nothing to loose.

 

[Night Train]

I used to find one particular agency really good and it mostly made my housing career. Then I found out it wasn't the agency but the person. She left and things got run of the mill from there onwards. Fortunately she then became one of my best friends.

I can only teach trade skills in college for a little longer and then that will be it as I don't have my Cert Ed yet and the colleges are looking for it as a minimum. It will be agency cover rather then proper teaching jobs.

Hmmm, idea! Next move, get my cv to a teaching agency!

 

[spandex]

I stop take time out and think about it................................ Then a friend of mine will tell me that there is a doing just what I was looking for! Every time its worked out that way and just in time for the cash.



Ive been from 16 years old

Chef 10 years
landscape gardner 6 months (not fun)
cycle messenger 4 years
working with bikes 1 year and the best job

 

[Night Train]

This has been the first full year where I haven't been choosing the next job from a range offered. It suddenly feels like no one likes me or my face doesn't fit anymore.

I'm job hunting from Birmingham to Preston, Liverpool to Leeds and anywhere along the motorway network.

I've even worked in London, commuting down Sunday nights and back up on Friday staying at my folks each time. They now live with me so no use for London.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Commiserations.
I've been through 3 redundancies now and each time I start to wonder where the next pay-check will come from.
The agencies that apparently "Specialise" in the Food Industry have been spectacularly crap (with one exception... and that was due to a personal contact). What's has kept me going is having a wide network of people that I've kept in contact with over the years and who I can call up to make enquiries so to speak. It's a random process with little guarantee of success, but it has come-up trumps on each occasion... so far. My advice is get on the phone and have a causal chat with every contact you have asking if they know of any stuff going on. I never ask direct, always ask if "they know" anything/body etc.
The other thing is be prepared to be flexible... but you've already demonstrated that.

My B-Plan was to retrain, teaching in fact, I went aways down the path to starting a PGSE, but my current job came along instead. So, make a B-[lan that involves further training or betterment whilst stacking shelves...
Good luck!

 

[MarkF]

Am I missing something here?

You are a skilled man, you can make furniture, you are experienced enough to teach others, why on earth don't you work for yourself?

I need a wooden floor put down, I need panelling up the walls, I need a cabinet installed, I am cack handed Today my first joiner turned up to view and quote after two others failed to honour their appointments. I am sure their is work and freedom out there for you.

 

[Milo]

Get into boats they always need doing.
Worked for a boat chippy for a couple of years.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Get into boats they always need doing.
Worked for a boat chippy for a couple of years.

Top Idea!
One of my daydreams is to go and do a traditional boat-building course, there's one in Devon and one in Yarmouth/Lowestoft way.

 

[Van Nick]

I have been teaching two days a week and doing carpentry work the rest of the week but the work has dried up and the teaching is about to end.

Now I need to job hunt again. I hate job hunting and the agencies are not coming up with much either.

Any suggestions?

What are your job hunting tactics, loves and hates?

It's such a shame if you can't make a living out of selling that furniture, because it's obviously something that you love doing. Why not buy yourself a book on HTML and improve your website to display your furniture to its full potential. You might even get to like web design and there's plenty of work in that field.

 

[Night Train]

Am I missing something here?

You are a skilled man, you can make furniture, you are experienced enough to teach others, why on earth don't you work for yourself?

I need a wooden floor put down, I need panelling up the walls, I need a cabinet installed, I am cack handed Today my first joiner turned up to view and quote after two others failed to honour their appointments. I am sure their is work and freedom out there for you.

I have a limited company but I am a crafts man not a business man. My furniture is generally too expensive unless I go to exhibitions and wow the rich and famous. I can't afford the time to make lots of exhibition pieces. My work shop is also the front room of my house and though it is well equiped I can only use it when the neighbours are out at work. However, I can do the day to day traditional carpenters jobs that are usually too small for most established companies and that does satisfy my need to make.

If you have work and need it doing I can give you a decent quote. Perhaps I should get some more cards and leaflets made and get them circulated locally.

 

[Night Train]

Get into boats they always need doing.
Worked for a boat chippy for a couple of years.

I'd love to work on boats and be able to throw away the spirit level.
I need a contact.

 

[Night Train]

It's such a shame if you can't make a living out of selling that furniture, because it's obviously something that you love doing. Why not buy yourself a book on HTML and improve your website to display your furniture to its full potential. You might even get to like web design and there's plenty of work in that field.

I have a web design book here and I am trying to understand it. Not got very far but I am hopeful.