No, I’m not talking about half-priced sofas or heavily-discounted plasma tellies, but I admit that they aren’t very far from my line of thinking.
It seems that the British public are out in force once again; all of them in search of that mythical creature that’s rumoured to make its presence known at this time of year. I’m referring, of course, to “the bargain”. But how does the desire to subject oneself to an umpireless game of sardines benefit the humble jobseeker?
Let me elucidate.
I’d just like to preface this with the acknowledgement that what I’m going to suggest here is by no means a substitute for conventional jobseeking – the job advert, application form, covering letter, and then send it all off approach. No, that has to be the preferred way of getting employment. However, if you have spent Christmas worrying about not having any work, then this is for you.
So, what should you do?
If you don’t have some up-to-date CV’s, get some done. Make sure that it contains every bit of relevant information – now is not the time to ‘add it later’. If producing a current CV presents a challenge for some reason, then get along to your local JobCentre and ask for a couple of their in-house standard application forms. These are a type of ‘General Purpose’ application form which covers all the usual stuff about contact details, qualifications and previous experience. They’re not pretty but they are adequate and, once you’ve completed one, the Jobcentre people will make multiple copies of it for you.
Secondly, it’s time to speak to your referees. Ask them to write a paragraph about you which describes your work ethic, your honesty and your reliability. One sentence on each will suffice. Get them to sign the letter and include their relationship to you and their contact details (especially their phone numbers). Make some copies of these open letters.
Now, you’re ready.
Take your application form and the testimonials out on the streets with you and go into the busiest shops and see if you can make yourself known to any of the managers. Don’t be offended if they can’t or won’t see you but do try to leave a copy of your CV or application form with someone reliable.
Sooner or later, you will find a shop that does needs your help. Some manager will be desperately trying to cope – perhaps as a result of other staff who haven’t turned up. This is where you step in. Say you’ll be happy just helping out for a few hours with no obligation beyond the end of the day. Be prepared to take on any job with a smile on your face and a ‘can-do’ attitude. Yes, it may not work but it’s got a far better chance of succeeding than sitting at home watching news footage of the January Sales on the idiot’s lantern.
And before you pooh-pooh the idea of turning temporary work into a permanent job, thousands make that transition every year. From a company’s point of view, it’s the devil you know and that’s always preferable to taking on a stranger … so don’t be a stranger.
Hope you find that bargain!
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