AnnO'Neemus
Is so vanilla
* fingers crossed * Good luck!
The job hunting support thread
- Thread starter Cloo
- Start date
Quoting my own message to show how much of a numpty I actually am.
I saw a job that sounds great for me, deadline was midnight tonight. Just clicked on it and the ad has a note that was added to say “due to high volume of applications the deadline was changed to Friday.
Aaaaagh!! I really need to apply for jobs when I see them asap!!
Looby
Well-Known Member
I’m getting so irritated with the slow recruitment process for my new employer (I hope). I’ve been tracking it all on the recruitment portal.
Interviewed on 16/02 and offered the same day.
Did all ID, DBS, occupational health etc All the references came back with some delay from my personal reference but they cleared that on the 10th then realised they needed another employment reference so it covered the period needed.
That was done and completed by the 16th but I still haven’t had my formal offer so can’t hand my notice in.
I chased twice last week and I guess I’ll chase again tomorrow if still no news. I’d really like to be able to tell my manager this week I’m leaving as it’s been over a month since I told them I’d applied. They’re being patient but they do need to know if I’m going.
Interviewed on 16/02 and offered the same day.
Did all ID, DBS, occupational health etc All the references came back with some delay from my personal reference but they cleared that on the 10th then realised they needed another employment reference so it covered the period needed.
That was done and completed by the 16th but I still haven’t had my formal offer so can’t hand my notice in.
I chased twice last week and I guess I’ll chase again tomorrow if still no news. I’d really like to be able to tell my manager this week I’m leaving as it’s been over a month since I told them I’d applied. They’re being patient but they do need to know if I’m going.
newme
Giant in Pastyland now
It took 4 months for my current role from applying to starting, 3 interviews, (a panel, team lead, head of department), PRISM test, credit checks, everything but a security clearance, employer references, two other major references, head of the department left the week he was supposed to be approving everything. By the time they sorted that all that mess out I had been in another thankfully temp role for 2 months of 3, then made them wait for 2 weeks since I was on a sole project and wasn't about to leave them with it 90% completed as the specialist since no one would be able to follow what I was doing except one guy who I was doing this for (as he had no time..) and he would need to upskill as he used outdated tech and it was self contained when complete. Job hunting is horrendous. I hope to never have to do it again and sit where I am forever and then coast on being great at this particular level without going any further.
ruffneck23
front left
It's coming up to 7 months without a job now, been for loads of interviews but no joy, I'm starting to wonder if my age is finally holding me back (I'm 52).
I had a 20 year career in IT and now it seems to have gone up in smoke. I'm at a loss and starting to get really worried, I'm getting depressed and that isn't helping the job search.
/feeling sorry for oneself.
I had a 20 year career in IT and now it seems to have gone up in smoke. I'm at a loss and starting to get really worried, I'm getting depressed and that isn't helping the job search.
/feeling sorry for oneself.
newme
Giant in Pastyland now
I had 8 months last year, many interviews, weird rejections that made no sense, finally got temp work not really even in my industry then 2 months later I was on more than double the pay of the year before. Whole 8 months I saw people saying my area was crying out for people, I had experience and qualifications and was being rejected for roles barely over living wage. Its a crapshoot at times and I never expected to get this role at all when I applied, was just knocking out everything on linkedin, glassdoor, indeed, etc etc. They then snapped me up and I'm nearly 40. I'm probably the youngest one at the company!
Looby
Well-Known Member
Yeah it’s a bastard, I hate applying for jobs.
I’ve always stuck with companies and stayed in my civil service role for 10 years but people do tend to move around more in my industry so I’m adjusting to that.
About an hour after my post above I actually got my confirmation email so handed my notice in. Obviously shitting myself now!
ruffneck23
front left
Unfortunately not, im more kinda infrastructure support, with some azure and a little bit of dev ops.
Thanks though.
ruffneck23
front left
I posted this on the bandwidth thread but really should go here.
newme
Giant in Pastyland now
Yeh I did 5 years in local council, moving seems to be the best way up for sure. I'm happy enough with where I am now tho finally so don't want to move lol, took redundancy to leave the council and they were underpaying me and overloading me.
Congrats! Hard part is achieved
Ah shame, we have an Snr automation engineer position in devops but thats postman, Jenkins, AWS and Terraform whatever all those are lol.
savoloysam
Pigman's pigman's ha ha charade you are..
I posted this on the bandwidth thread but really should go here.
But they still advertise the job even though you are more than qualified for it.
seeformiles
Lost in the wood
Feel your pain - I’m a bit older and spent a long time trying to get work after a nervous breakdown and a redundancy. The work I got was intermittent and seasonal - doing stuff like exam invigilation for several different colleges. My current job is 20 hours per week for a small company but my boss is a shady bastard who pays OK but prefers more mature staff. I think this is because he gets many years experience for free, as an age group we are less likely to go on the lash on a week night than 20-somethings plus most 20-somethings will want more hours to make it worthwhile. On the downside, he also takes advantage of the natural fear of someone 50+ to be regarded as on the scrap heap and has just fucked me over for a (much deserved) pay rise. I’m lucky enough that my circumstances are such that I can live on my wages but it has made me aware of how much maturity and life experience increasingly count as a positive in the current climate - even if you have to prepare for a pay cut in the process. The best of luck to you - the uncertainty is depressing but hopefully it’ll get better for both of us.
Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
I understand it's a thing within IT - I know a couple of people who have ended up moving out of IT altogether after redundancy in their 50's, and others who have only been able to get short contracts / consultancy rather than a regular job.
may be worth talking to national careers service - back when i left school, the 'careers service' was something for recent school leavers, but it's for all ages now - one place i worked that was closing down, they had people from NCS in giving advice. (i was only there on a temp basis while i was looking for something else so didn't take a lot of notice.)
it's just possible that you're not doing interviews in a way that's considered 'right' these days - styles do change, and i've found an increasing number of interviews go on the 'competency based' as in 'give an example of a time you did this' rather than 'what would you do if...?' - it can be done well, i've had some job interviews that felt more like having a rabbit down the pub about work you've done in the past, i've had others that have been very rigidly phrased and narrow questions, asked by someone who doesn't really understand the job, and is just ticking off buzzwords on a list someone's given them.
or it could be discrimination / assumptions (i've had similar with some employers / interviewers since turning 40-ish) - especially if it's the sort of place where the people doing the recruiting this year were last year's graduate trainees who think they know everything.
can you get on any courses or professional development or anything to prove to them that you're keeping up to date?
in theory, public sector is better at avoiding discrimination than private sector, and more of a tendency to do everything on a fairly accountable scoring system rather than just going for the candidate/s the interviewer likes, or who they think fits the existing gender / age / race 'cultural fit' (although it can of course be abused a bit.)
muscovyduck
Good IT skills and food hygiene competent
How long do you all spend on the initial applications? Just curious really.
ETA: I'm currently job hunting which is why I've hopped on the thread
ETA: I'm currently job hunting which is why I've hopped on the thread
newme
Giant in Pastyland now
Tried contract work? Different industry but I had 300-500 a day mentioned with less experience
Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
dunno really
depends on circumstances.
with some jobs, how you answer the questions on the (usually electronic now) application form is what they use to decide who to select for next stage / interview, so you need to put some time in to getting it right. some places still do the traditional application - interview - offer - references process rather than faffing about with multiple assessments and second interviews and so on.
some times there's a word / character limit for each answer.
where it is that sort of thing, i find it easier to construct it in a word document then copy-paste it in to the little box when i'm happy with it (also means i can save the word document so i can recycle chunks of it easily.)
with some they want a shortish letter and CV, again this can partly be recycled, although it's often worth slight adjustments to the CV for each job (not that i'm suggesting giving 'alternative facts', just that you might want to put more emphasis on some bits of a particular past job, or a temporary job that might not be worth mentioning in some circumstances but might be a good selling point in others.)
savoloysam
Pigman's pigman's ha ha charade you are..
I don’t spend a lot on an individual application unless I believe I have an extremely good chance of being successful. Reason being, as per equations post, is that it’s so soul destroying to put so much in and get rejected so I only apply mostly for jobs that pretty much accept a cv for the initial application.
Helen Back
:-)
Help! My OH needs somewhere in London to do a zoom job interview on his laptop, a room to rent for an hour or so is all that's needed.
Does anyone know of anywhere that would do that?
He will need it next Tuesday the 4th and his interview is at 12.30 that day.
Unfortunately his London digs are completely unsuitable so it has to be elsewhere.
Does anyone know of anywhere that would do that?
He will need it next Tuesday the 4th and his interview is at 12.30 that day.
Unfortunately his London digs are completely unsuitable so it has to be elsewhere.
ruffneck23
front left
I have had the odd day here or there but nothing long term on the contract front, I've done a few in the past.
moose
like some cat from Japan
Peerspace rents rooms by the hour, starting at about £40 in London. We've used a boardroom type thing in the past for a client meeting. There's also Liquidspace but theirs tend to be co-working spaces so he might be next to a loony.
MickiQ
In My Defence I was left Unsupervised
Go contracting, I got made redundant in 2015 at the age of 57 (also IT) and didn't expect to get another job so I went contracting. I'm still doing that at 65. If you have Azure skills then AWS will be piss easy for you.
The Empire of Evil will let you have a free account for 12 months to teach yourself anyway.
Helen Back
:-)
Ouch! £40 is lot more than we were hoping for, to be honest.
Helen Back
:-)
AnnO'Neemus
Is so vanilla
Are you registered with any recruitment agencies? I wouldn't normally recommend them, but they have a financial incentive to get you a job, because they get commission.
But yes, ageism is a very real thing. I've been asked in an interview 'All the rest of the team are young, how would you feel about working in a team with young people?' Spoiler alert: I didn't get the job.
Have you done any courses while you've been unemployed, learned any new skills, done any refresher/advanced courses? There is prejudice, whereby some employers/recruiters think older candidates/employees can't learn new skills - 'you can't teach an old dog new tricks' - so if you can put something on your CV to that effect, that you've been using the time to upskill, it might help.
AnnO'Neemus
Is so vanilla
Ah, maybe that's just people who click through with the apply button, but it doesn't necessarily mean they've actually submitted an application?
Must admit, it's sometimes put me off applying if I see a vacancy has had 200+ applications, I figure they will have had enough to shortlist and interview half a dozen out of that lot.
AnnO'Neemus
Is so vanilla
It's always easier to get a job if you already have one. Now that you're in stable employment, start looking for something better paid. While unemployed, you were in a 'beggars can't be choosers' situation when offered a low paying job, as it's better than nothing. And if you're part-time, you can easily schedule interviews for your days off, you won't have to take any holidays or invent dentist/doctor appointments.
savoloysam
Pigman's pigman's ha ha charade you are..
Stop sending me bollocks telling me to "sell myself" I'm not a sex worker. Stop sending stupid emails telling me that you are very interested and believe that I am a "promising candidate" so please complete this bullshit test 
You haz job, I am available for job. Let's talk and say hello or goodbye. Stop this pretentious bullshit
You haz job, I am available for job. Let's talk and say hello or goodbye. Stop this pretentious bullshit
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