The job hunting support thread

[sorearm]

why on earth do they insist on having a nearly 6 page interview sheet for a friggin' spoons bar job? The guy doing the interview seemed a bit meh about it, he skipped some bits saying 'that's totally patronising (!)' ... I mean really corporate BS interview questions ... for a bleedin' bar job!!!

Did it anyway, gave some good answers, examples of 'how you deal with conflict', 'what would you do if a customer complains about their food being cold' etc etc.

Find out in a day or two/end of week - only taking on 1 person at the pub (!) so probably got some stiff competition eh.

 

[Cloo]

Not sure whether you want 'good luck' or not for that, Sorearm!

Writing a reply to a job my former Masters course manager sent on to me. There's only a short description, so I've not much to go on, and it sounds like TBH, there'll be a lot of transatlantic travel involved, so it's probably not one I can do (especially not if gsv gets the job he has a 3rd round interview for on Weds, which will also require travel), but I suppose it's worth applying at least in terms of making a contact, and doesn't look like I can find out the scale of the travel until I apply.

The last outstanding application I have out closes today, so if I haven't heard by Wednesday, I'll definitely be calling the agents for follow-up. I'd really hope to get to interview for it, if only to get something else to interview for before Xmas and try out the new stuff I've picked up.

Saw my advisor at the local employment charity and we practised some interview roleplay - he said I'd improved massively since last time (I think I was just in a bit of a state for no good reason last time I saw him). I think in large part it was because I basically cupped my hands together on my lap to stop me moving them around so bloody much!

 

[Puddy_Tat]

latest here - I have an interview in a week and a bit for one of the 'my profession' jobs I applied for (snag is it's Bristol-ish and they want me there at 0930 - - I might do an overnight stay rather than risk not getting there on time in case the trains see a snowflake or two)

 

[Cloo]

Good luck. Still no word on any interviews for me; it will suck a bit if I don't get anything more before Xmas.

I've got a bit of a correspondence going with the head of an interesting non-fiction publishers, who mostly works out of Cambridge - have basically tried to get him to see me by saying I'll come up to him there (seeing as he's swamped when in London) and he's said he'll try to find a space, which could just be a way of giving me a brush off, but if he does offer, I'm going to have to make it one way or another.

Trying to think of relatively polite ways to tell my job centre advisor that, no, I'd rather not click on the 'allow the DWP to access all my shiz' box for Universal Jobmatch, as I've just heard too many concerns about it. Many do seem a bit worst-case scenario, but if nothing else, I certainly don't trust DWP to keep private information safe. They just do not have a good track record for data security. Plus, I'd still have to fill in my book for jobs I've applied for anyway, seeing as UJ barely carries any publishing roles.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

Good luck.

thanks.

mixed feelings about it - it's an 18 month fixed term contract, so it would mean letting out my flat (not keen) and renting somewhere down there (even less keen) and would be even further away from ageing mum-tat.

Still no word on any interviews for me; it will suck a bit if I don't get anything more before Xmas.

Trying to think of relatively polite ways to tell my job centre advisor that, no, I'd rather not click on the 'allow the DWP to access all my shiz' box for Universal Jobmatch, as I've just heard too many concerns about it. Many do seem a bit worst-case scenario, but if nothing else, I certainly don't trust DWP to keep private information safe. They just do not have a good track record for data security. Plus, I'd still have to fill in my book for jobs I've applied for anyway, seeing as UJ barely carries any publishing roles.

There was something on channel 4 news this evening about fake jobs being posted on there (and not checked by DWP) as identity theft data harvesting.



Also, stuff on this thread suggests that using UJ is not mandatory, no matter what the people in the job centre try to tell you.

 

[Cloo]

Oh, it's definitely not mandatory - I got a log-in, but luckily the site was too fucked up when I looked at it to even get to the box-ticking stage, and then I read all the stuff about it, so I'm not keen to now. They were trying to 'go through it' with me today at the centre, but again, the computers/site was borked, so luckily I didn't have to face off with them there, because they were intending to get me to tick the box.

 

[Orang Utan]

I had to ask about Universal Jobmatch cos I saw some leaflets. I wouldn't have known about otherwise. I haven't used it yet and probably won't. It looks like just another way to 'catch' people out, rather than help people find work

 

[Cloo]

I think the most concerning thing for many people (not me, they'll stop paying my JSA out before it's been long enough for them to 'get' me with anything, and i take no other benefits) is that it seems to be a sanction generator - for example, if your advisor sends you a job and you don't want to go for it, there's a drop down 'why did you refuse this job' box. BING! Automatic sanction for turning something done, no human interaction required - therefore no discussion, no acceptable excuses and so on.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

I think it's really kinda shit (I'm not on the dole, so the mandatory bit doesn't bother me, but as a search function, it seems to be more shit than the old job centre search and that was fairly shit to start with...

 

[Cloo]

Well, certainly at the moment, it lacks swathes of career fields. I'm going to a publishing-specific job club , and the lady who runs that is very against it, one reason being that she says it carries about half a dozen publishing jobs for the whole country. I'd imagine there's many other fields it doesn't carry, either.

 

[toggle]

Dear E

We are pleased to inform that you have been shortlisted for interview for the position of Project Leader (Archival Research and Outreach).

and that will be the second professional job i applied to and i haven't found out about the first yet. even if i don't get the job i know i can write a half decent cv and covering letter and the fact i don't have a continuous work history cause of parenting responsibilities isn't necessarily going to be a complete block on getting a good job

 

[Threshers_Flail]

Can anyone offer any advice for CV writing? I've only ever worked part-time whilst in college and uni and have never applied for a proper grown up professional job before.

Or if you can point me in the direction of a website that gives advice?

I've got a job at the mo (call centre ) but I'm hoping to get something far better.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

and that will be the second professional job i applied to and i haven't found out about the first yet. even if i don't get the job i know i can write a half decent cv and covering letter and the fact i don't have a continuous work history cause of parenting responsibilities isn't necessarily going to be a complete block on getting a good job

hope the interview goes well

Can anyone offer any advice for CV writing? I've only ever worked part-time whilst in college and uni and have never applied for a proper grown up professional job before.

Or if you can point me in the direction of a website that gives advice?

I've got a job at the mo (call centre ) but I'm hoping to get something far better.

Oh heck, there's probably too much advice out there. The grauniad website has one that's not bad, Kent University website has quite a bit that came up near the surface with Google.

There are so many different opinions on what is 'right' that you're bound to be wrong in the eyes of some potential employers / agencies.

And if you are searching on the web, make damn sure it's UK based advice you're following - 'the done thing' will vary by country.

Broadly, general advice is no more than 2 pages, neat and not too wackily creative, and check and re-check it for typos and so on. Generally not a bad idea to tailor it to different jobs to emphasise the sort of stuff they are looking for. With limited 'relevant experience' it's as much about selling the skills you have as the specific experience.

Best of luck.

 

[toggle]

Can anyone offer any advice for CV writing? I've only ever worked part-time whilst in college and uni and have never applied for a proper grown up professional job before.

Or if you can point me in the direction of a website that gives advice?

I've got a job at the mo (call centre ) but I'm hoping to get something far better.

this is what i was told:

make the spelling and layout perfect.
first thing you put is a list of your key skills that match the job requirements. emphasize transferable skills. eg, a variety of temping jobs shows your flexability and adaptability
don't include references unless you are asked for them
tailor this so you only include hobbies and stuff like that if they are relavent. i told a yarn manufacturer i was a knitter. i didn't tell a scientific institute.
never tell anyone what you can't do. focus on what you can

 

[Cloo]

What has worked quite well for me is an 'achievement based' CV, which, I realised when I finally worked out how to do it, is not as high-falutin' as it sounds. It just describes what you do/have done in a certain way. eg,'In this role I have:.... ' Maybe in your case that could be 'made X calls a day', met targets, made so many sales or whatever it is. Stops it just being a list of 'responsibilities', which sounds very passive.

I've applied for a few things in the last week (two which I only found on the day applications were closing), but none seem very likely. I'm a bit bummed that nothing seems to have come of the 4 things I sent off for two weeks ago - I thought I'd probably get to interview on two of them, but my hit rate seems to be dropping. It would be nice to get an interview or an invitation to one before Xmas, otherwise it seems that the momentum has gone a bit. And dammit, now I've worked out a large part of what I've been doing wrong in interviews, I want to try out the solution!

On the upside, got a nice email from the head of a non-fiction house who's up for meeting to me so we can talk about the world of non-fiction publishing. He has no jobs in the offing, but it would be great to get some advice from someone, and also generally try to make a contact like that.

The other upside is that gsv's finally been offered a new job, after looking to move, on and off, for three years. And it's a good payrise initially, going on to their full salary after 6 months (which is a massive increase on his current salary), so there's much less to worry about in terms of how long it takes me to get something.

 

[weltweit]

If you had a big gap in your CV during which you had been jobhunting not very successfully, would you put something in there to the effect of "jobhunting with certain conditions.... "

 

[Threshers_Flail]

Cheers for the advice. I like the sound of the achievement based CV cloo, might give mine a re-jig. My CV is 3 pages which need's slimming down big time, I'm repeating myself a lot and being far too descriptive.

My job history is mostly bar's and retail whilst I was in uni, plus my current job. The skills I gained aren't all that relevant to the jobs I'm currently applying for. I'd like to include more of the voluntary and extracurricular stuff I did whilst at uni, how best would it be to incorporate this?

 

[Cloo]

Skills based CV? I've used the format for a few jobs that are less directly relevant, doing the same achievement type thing, but under headings of things like 'Communication', 'Project management' etc. You might be able to use 'Customer service', 'Communication' and any heading related to your volunteering experiences as well. You then list your jobs and periods of volunteer work at the end. Example from Open University here, though that does the skills headings with a paragraph after them, rather than bullet lists as I've been doing,

 

[purenarcotic]

Good luck. Still no word on any interviews for me; it will suck a bit if I don't get anything more before Xmas.

I've got a bit of a correspondence going with the head of an interesting non-fiction publishers, who mostly works out of Cambridge - have basically tried to get him to see me by saying I'll come up to him there (seeing as he's swamped when in London) and he's said he'll try to find a space, which could just be a way of giving me a brush off, but if he does offer, I'm going to have to make it one way or another.

Trying to think of relatively polite ways to tell my job centre advisor that, no, I'd rather not click on the 'allow the DWP to access all my shiz' box for Universal Jobmatch, as I've just heard too many concerns about it. Many do seem a bit worst-case scenario, but if nothing else, I certainly don't trust DWP to keep private information safe. They just do not have a good track record for data security. Plus, I'd still have to fill in my book for jobs I've applied for anyway, seeing as UJ barely carries any publishing roles.

Tell your JC advisor that you are not willing to sign up to UJS because of concerns you have with the system. Tell them you are well within your rights to refuse to sign it (as confirmed by PCS union on the 3rd of December) and if they keep pushing you to sign up when you have every right to refuse you're going to make a complaint.

 

[purenarcotic]

@Cloo - http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/department...ws.cfm/id/D34395B0-26B7-4E67-81B32F80CFEBB3E8

 

[Orang Utan]

I've been applying for TA vacancies and came across an agency that charged a ridiculous amount to find you work: £3k! What despicable cunts. Exploiting a tough job market in that way is just morally bankrupt. It should be totally illegal and people who do that need pillorying

 

[Cloo]

Talking of cunts, I've been sharing this everywhere today, as it's so unbe-fucking-lievable. It's Irish rather than Britain, but still what the hell. Basically, they're looking for a bunch of experienced, dedicated publishing professionals to work (including making sure they are always available on weekends and evenings on pain of immediate dismissal) - for no salary! The line they take to entice people to this slavery work is basically that they assume you are a lazy, no-good moron, but they will deign to take on the least shitty people. http://www.dalkeyarchive.com/aboutus/?fa=Employment

Anyway, saw it during our Job Club session on social networking and the like today, which proved pretty useful.

 

[Reno]

I'm freelance and for the last couple of years I've been on two to six weeks contracts. As the recession is finally hitting my industry I went for an interview for a 15 month job. It would be great to ride some of this out on a long contract and be financially secure for a while. I had not done a proper interview in a few years. While my previous work shows that I have more experience than most, I can't believe I came unstuck at the question of what I like most about my job. It's not that I don't enjoy what I do, but if you do something for 20 years it becomes second nature and I'm rubbish with coming up with something inspirational on the spot. I should find out tomorrow or early next week, but I could kick myself. I've actually had insomnia since.

 

[weltweit]

I have my CV all over the net and regularly get calls and emails from agents. Yesterday for the first time I was actually contacted by an employer directly. So that is one HR dept that is doing some work rather than relying on agencies to do it for them. Not a bad job either, i'm going to apply.

 

[Cloo]

Sorry to hear that, Reno - sounds frustrating. Got a 'no' from the last-but-one outstanding role. It's frustrating, as it's a company that seems to be a natural progression for me given my career history, but it's the second time they've not been interested. I think they maybe only want people from academic publishing. Arse. The remaining job out is fairly unlikely.
Been approached by a new agency via the job club thing I do - not heard of them before. Also a fellow client from the Jewish employment charity bumped into a guy who sounds like a publishing headhunting type and passed on his details to me. And coincidentally, the lady from the publishing job club knows him and had been talking to him this week. Sounds like he's worth approaching, although also like you have to properly impress him, which I'm not sure if I can!

 

[weepiper]

I have found a part-time job that a) I could do b) is an appropriate number of hours a week c) would do me good in terms of experience for a CV d) I think I would actually enjoy! omg omg. It's only temporary til June next year but I am going to apply, it's a library assistant job.

 

[Cloo]

Oooh, good luck!

 

[Orang Utan]

Go for it, weeps. It will be fun!

 

[weepiper]

I am! The only experience they want is customer service type stuff that I can do standing on my head after years of working in retail. At the very worst it'll be practice applying/interviewing, eh? Given that I haven't had an actual interview since I was 17

 

[Cloo]

I'm wondering about retail stuff, in terms of if I don't get a job by the time my JSA runs out it would be handy to get some pocket money (I can live off relatively little during the week myself) - I'm wondering if I could do a weekend shift somewhere. Is my best bet just to ask in shops? I'm wondering about the Waterstones up the road, but I'm sure everyone wants to work at bookshops, plus I have no experience - what are my chances? Will they just say 'no', it's going to be obvious I'm after a weekday job and will stop when I get one?