Unemployed - What Should I Do?

[Arch]

There may well be volunteering oportunities about, you just need to find them. I work at an Environment Centre attached to an urban nature reserve, and I think there is always room for volunteers - mostly people who want to work outdoors on the reserve - all sorts of jobs like bramble bashing, litter picking, hedgelaying, scything in the meadow etc. But there are indoor volunteers too, who help with admin jobs, book keeping, or the education side of the centre. It may only be one day a week, but it's a start and a routine. Some of our vols have learning difficulties, or are long term unemployed, or just work part time and have a day to spare, but there is a fairly regular throughput of youngsters who volunteer, become volunteer rangers, supervising others, and then get jobs and move on.

Charity shops too - I get the impression they are always keen to have a competent person on hand, especially if it's one who can cope with some of the more oddball or elderly volunteers they may have. If you've got the patience to talk an old lady through using a till and credit card machine, it'll be experience in supervising staff.

Anyway, good luck with it all.

 

[porteous]

Keep at it and don't let it get you down. Self doubt is your biggest threat. My daughter has a Phd in Vet. Med. and simply can't get a post doctoral job because there are none there, so she is working as a lab tech while she looks for something better. You seem to be doing all the right things. If you can, network like crazy!
Good Luck

 

[Norm]

IMO, keep at it. 2 years ago, I was working for a construction company and the market bombed. I spent 3 months listening to agencies telling me that there's very few jobs out there before I thought to myself "Sod it, I don't care that there are very few, I only want one of them!"

A change of attitude brought renewed vigour and a job offer within another month.

If sending in a CV when there's no job advertised, I'll phone first to get the names of key individuals, and send the CV directly to the MD when applying for board-level positions, or to the HR Director. I include a covering letter which I've written specifically for that company, saying what I know of the company, why I want to work there etc. It means that I only sent 5 or 6 letters every day but I got a response on every one, and got an meeting out of a couple. I'd also only do that for a day or two a week, I'd take the opportunity for the other days to have some fun.

Being unemployed can be pants, JSA is a crap "salary" and the "work" that you have to put in can be as hard as any that I've done, but it pays off.

 

[skudupnorth]

Not an enviable position to be in, not really one to give much advice other than stick at it. Alternatively, change direction completely, take up VSO work or load up your bike and take the opportunity to cycle to china or somewhere, working as you go. Might seem like a huge decision but, speaking as someone older and wishing they had done it 20 years ago, it's far easier to do when you are younger and have less ties/responsibilities and makes for something more interesting to put on your cv that'll make it stand out when you return.

Good luck!

Chris

+ 1 on the big ride ! It's harder to go and play when you have a family and all the trimmings

 

[Adasta]

[QUOTE 1332388"]
Why not do a PG diploma/cert in teaching/social work?

Those should open plenty of doors for you.


[/quote]

That's more time and money I don't have, really...

 

[brockers]

• October 2010 - Now in London. I get some work as a film extra. The pay is good but the job is dreadful with unsociable hours: Wake up at 04.00; Home at 20.30; Bed at 22.00 for, at times, 6 days a week.

Hugo, Frostbite, or Dartmoor?

 

[Adasta]

[/list]
Hugo, Frostbite, or Dartmoor?

Hugo.

 

[brockers]

Hugo.

Yep. I was there too (Longcross and Shepperton. Purple suit, grey hat and coat. Short, skinny, blonde bloke). That's actually one of the better extra jobs I've done ! Another suggestion might be to get your SIA badge and and do security work. It doesn't have to be retail/ nightwatchman stuff. Events companies need registered security people for sports events, festivals and music gigs.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Train as an English teacher?
Look for graduate management trainee type placements, say retail?
Retrain as a Food Scientist, we're desperate short of 'em in the industry!



Good luck!

 

[Brandane]

[QUOTE 1332381"]
Have you got a driving license?

If so then look at doing your HGV, cost you roughly £700 for your class II then the same if you wanted to do your class I. Ask the job centre for a training grant that you can pay back over time.

Believe once acquired you will never ever be out of work. The average age of a HGV driver in this country is 55 and there is a massive driver shortage at the moment and has been for the last 5-6 years and will only get worse. At the height of the recession at the end of 2008 I was working 5/6 days per week and it's great to have something to fall back on should you wish to change careers.


[/quote]

Hmmmm; without wanting to throw cold water over that idea, I am an HGV driver and even with 6 years class 1 experience it is hard to find "decent" work. A lot of transport companies have gone to the wall over the last couple of years throwing drivers into the jobs market. Any good jobs that come up are never advertised; they don't need to be. Only the dross gets advertised, i.e. low pay and/or running illegal.

Again, without experience it can be doubly hard to find work. A lot of jobs have gone to the Poles and other eastern europeans too.

Maybe it is a geographical thing and the situation could be much more positive in other parts of the country. I can only speak for the west of Scotland area.

Good luck in your quest to find a job. Sometimes I am quite glad that I am not young and trying to find a career for myself. We thought it was difficult 30 years ago; I think we had it easy compared to what is happening now!

Have you tried the Police, if you meet the criteria? That's what I ended up doing for 19 years, and can't say I enjoyed it (and it's probably much worse now. I've been out of it for 10 years). But if press reports are anything to go by, they have stopped recruiting too.

 

[pepecat]

I think persistence is the key... it took me six months to find a job after i was made redundant in Sept 2008. It sucked, so you have my sympathies, Adasta.

I too found the job centre worse than useless in helping me with a job. I think it was the old 'over qualified and not prepared to do ANY job' thing'. Some may say that's the wrong attitude, but for financial reasons I couldn't accept a minumum wage job, and after working for an insurance company for 9 years, didn't really want to do shelf stacking (though i did check out the supermarket websites and prob would have done it if nothing else was around). I had a sort of mental list of websites that i would check regularly for posts (local universities/ police force civilian jobs / NHS clerical jobs / national trust / MOD / govt jobs, etc) and applied for whatever i thought i could do.
Jobs.ac.uk is the site for academic and related posts (basically jobs within universities) and always worth a look, or individual university websites as well. You've got a big choice in London and they are usually the posts that'll offer research opportunities or similar. I also found a couple of the job websites (the likes of monster etc) to be ok - they send alerts via email of jobs that might suit you. Most are not suitable, but the odd one or two were good and I applied for them.
Sounds like you're doing pretty much all you can at the moment - good luck!

 

[delport]

Is volunteer work nowadays completely unpaid?

It used to be that you could expect your bus fare or train fare, now i'm finding you have to pay to be a volunteer.

I'm a volunteer teacher and have to pay my own travel, each place i volunteer for expect work to be totally free with no money at all involved.
I am volunteering for my own reasons, but i didn't feel it would be too much to ask for a 6-50 train fare, but i was refused.

To the orignal poster you have used your time well as far as i can see.

 

[delport]

Is volunteer work nowadays completely unpaid?

It used to be that you could expect your bus fare or train fare, now i'm finding you have to pay to be a volunteer.

I'm a volunteer teacher and have to pay my own travel, each place i volunteer for expect work to be totally free with no money at all involved.
I am volunteering for my own reasons, but i didn't feel it would be too much to ask for a 6-50 train fare, but i was refused.

To the original poster you have used your time well as far as i can see.

 

[delport]

Is volunteer work nowadays completely unpaid?

It used to be that you could expect your bus fare or train fare, now i'm finding you have to pay to be a volunteer.

I'm a volunteer teacher and have to pay my own travel, each place i volunteer for expect work to be totally free with no money at all involved.
I am volunteering for my own reasons, but i didn't feel it would be too much to ask for a 6-50 train fare, but i was refused.

To the orignal poster you have used your time well as far as i can see.

 

[darkstar]

Well this is quite a chilling and depressing look to the position I'll inevitably find myself in, 3 months from now....

I've not even applied to any jobs yet, might do an MA to postpone the situation!

Sorry I can't offer advice, not been through it yet.