What happens when you just can’t get a job anywhere? Some people find it hard to believe such things are possible but this situation is a sad fact of life for many.
There are various reasons why you are having problems. For example you may:
- Have been sacked from a previous job (or even have a criminal record)
- Be presenting yourself badly (CV, application forms or interview)
- Have little or no experience (e.g. a school-leaver)
- Not have (relevant) qualifications
- Be skilled in a job which is no longer in demand
- Not be ‘getting out there’ enough
- Live in a part of the country which has high unemployment
- Be applying for the wrong type of jobs
We’re going to look at all of these in detail in subsequent blogs so don’t worry: every problem has its solution – really! Finding a job is a bit like falling in love – there’s something out there for all of us: some people just have to look extra hard. You clearly just haven’t found your ideal place of employment yet but, be assured, there’s an employer wishing they had someone like you.
Today we’re going to look at the basic situation of being out of work.
The important issues to deal with are:
- Not giving up
- Not getting desperate
- Not running out of cash
The worst thing you can do is to give up. That is guaranteed to lose. No matter how many knocks you’ve had, no matter how many doors have been shut in your face, you need to pick yourself up and move on. The chances are that, if you’ve taken the trouble to visit this website and read this blog, then you are the kind of person who doesn’t quit easily. So – let’s go for it!
Desperation is also an insidious killer. It can force us into making bad decisions which appear to be the only answer. In fact, all desperation will do is generate new problems that will set up a despair spiral. You have to break the vicious circle and take charge of your panic. If you can conquer this, you will be a stronger person for it.
Cash is always going to be a problem but if you can’t find work, there are always possibilities. Unfortunately the Benefits System is geared towards crushing any initiative out of people. It’s the ‘why should I bother to do part-time work if all that’s going to happen is that they deduct my earnings from my benefits?’ attitude. This misses the point. Despite what we may feel about ‘only going to work for the money’, work is also about interacting with others, developing and honing our skills and nurturing our self-esteem. None of this can be achieved by sitting watching television all day long or by wandering around aimlessly.
The first step towards breaking this cycle (or avoiding it in the first place) is to see getting a job as a job in itself. You are now (unofficially) self-employed and your client (you) is a merciless task master who won’t tolerate you being late for work in the morning or slacking at any time. This means setting the alarm clock, getting up, applying all your effort during the working day (a minimum of 35 hours a week, every week) and keeping going until you succeed.
Read our next blog for more help dealing with the other issues mentioned above.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I have been looking for a job now for nearly 3 years. I am studying for a degree and will graduate in 2012. My biggest problem is that I only have 3 months experience in a solicitors office. I have written to over 80 solicitors to offer my time as a volunteer for 12 months to gain the relevant experience, but they are not interested even in me volunteering. It is these bone idle employers who are not willing to train and help volunteers gain the relevant experience they need to get into paid employment. What is it? Are they just scared that the volunteer will be able to do the job much better than them so will be in fear of losing their job? So they should be.
My own recent experience of solicitors was abysmal.
I was involved in a contractual wrangle with another company (nothing to do with this site) and I found that the two different solicitors I tried knew less than I did. They were all set to lose my case so, in the end I took it back off them, handled it myself and won. Not before I’d been parted from thousands of pounds, though. Mmm.
You raise good questions, Jacqui. I wish you luck.
Jacqui, I can’t help but respond to what I consider to be a very naiive attitude to the realities of the work place. Great though it is that you are studying for a degree, you seem to have a rather over inflated opinion of yourself.
Firstly, just because an employer does not want to take on a volunteer does not make them “bone idle” in fact, it probably means they do not have the time available to spend babysitting a student. Just because you think you are up to the job doesn’t mean you are and having to watch over a volunteer/student placement to make sure they are doing things properly and not damaging your reputation – something small businesses like solicitor firms take very seriously will actually cost the time and therefore money.
Secondly: “scared that the volunteer will be able to do the job much better than them” – grow up. That’s a very childish and unprofessional atttiude to have if you’re looking for a job and clearly shows why you’ve have little interest so far.
At any stage of your career – any level, there is always more to learn and always somebody better qualified and more experienced than you to learn from.
Fighting talk. Not sure what line of business you’re in, RIchard, but I know what you mean about staff needing to hit the ground running. It sounds like you’ve had some bad experiences – care to elucidate?
Richard, perhaps you ought to consider your attitude,
“staff needing to be able to hit the ground running” is completley unrealistic, considering that experience begets experience and nothing else begets experience, someone somewhere HAS to TAKE A CHANCE on the inexperienced or you end up with generations of useless unemployed people. you are limiting yourself to only CONSIDERING those who have had work in an identical job with a very short gap between jobs. A degree is worthless in terms of getting a job since a degree is never counted as experience but merely a measure of adequacy. considering the number of firms demanding experience for – let’s be honest – simple jobs which a trained monkey could do if it didn’t fling it’s phoeses everywhere during breaks. Demanding experience is more of a way of excluding members of certain classes from the workplace (by extension the total workforce) who didn’t get a job within X months of entering the workforce. you need “experience” to flip burgers, you need “experience” to operate a cash machine, you need “experience” to wipe tables. Any and all bitterness towards “employers” who don’t employ is entirely the result of every grey-haired, flat-arsed manager like you who patronizes every applicant that doesn’t know everything about one department in one company.
You make some good points, Alex, but why is it the responsibility of employers to train workers? Shouldn’t that be down to the government? Employers are already squeezed every which way.
Truth is, the times are grim for everyone. Comments?