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The job hunting support thread

I am feeling pretty low about this whole job hunting malarkey, and I am not sure whether that's because it is worse than I was expecting, or simply that I haven't yet recovered from all the stress and anxiety from which I was suffering and which caused me to hand in my notice at my last job!

Put simply, I have a strong CV, which has been professionally pawed over and changed to make it so, and I am getting lots of interviews for jobs, but, as others in the thread are finding, I am having the problem of being overqualified, or too specific in my experience, or, when the job looks perfect for me, there is always someone who "more closely matches" or something similar.

It's really hard and I don't know how long I can carry on. It's a relatively small field, in terms of employers, and word is getting out that I am out there and applying, which may be a good thing, or may be an awful thing, as people start questioning why no-one is offering me a job!

My original plan was to sit back, take stock, and only apply for jobs which I thought would suit me but, instead, I have been panicking and applying for all kinds of things even if I know they won't have me, because I know I can do the job, and there may be someone out there prepared to give me a shot!

It's really difficult to get myself into a positive mindset to go for interviews when I feel like no-one wants me.

I sobbed at the jobcentre on Friday when I was signing on. And I spend a lot of my days (and nights) crying at the moment.

I realise there is nothing you guys can do to help me, but I need to do something to sort myself out!
 
Hang on in there Guinevere - I was in a very similar situation this time last year and had no idea what I was going to do next and I was feeling very low. But then I found a job by accident that I didn't even know I wanted but absolutely love doing now. Don't give up!
 
Orang Utan said:
Hang on in there Guinevere - I was in a very similar situation this time last year and had no idea what I was going to do next and I was feeling very low. But then I found a job by accident that I didn't even know I wanted but absolutely love doing now. Don't give up!
Click to expand...
Thanks.

I wish I could feel more positive, and I do know, intellectually, that something will turn up but, emotionally (or whatever it is), I am convinced that nothing will, and every interview I go to knocks me back further.

I have to keep reminding myself of how miserable and unhappy and ill I was at my last workplace, and why I absolutely had to leave, because, right now, I find myself regretting the fact that I am not there anymore!
 
Chin up Guineveretoo, the fact that you are getting interviews is very positive. I went for a long time not even getting those. Every step in the right direction is a good step.
 
I'm sort of job hunting.

I'm in work at the moment, earning fairly decent money in a comfortable job and I like the people I work with. I'm just about to finish a masters in Information and Library Management though, so starting to look for jobs in that area. There's barely anything in Bristol at the moment, so I'm considering applying for my first professional position. The downside is that it's only a 0.5 FTE role, so I'd only be earning about £12k a year and would need to top it up with work elsewhere.

Can't decide whether to chuck in my £25k a year job in an area I'm not interested in, for a break in the profession I'm training for, but working for peanuts.

Hmmm.

Actually I do know, but I'm scared.
 
weltweit said:
Chin up Guineveretoo, the fact that you are getting interviews is very positive. I went for a long time not even getting those. Every step in the right direction is a good step.
Click to expand...
Thanks.

It doesn't feel positive, to get interviews but no offers!

My CV is very strong, and the interviews I am getting are for jobs for which I am perfectly fitted, albeit most of them at a junior level to the one I was doing before. That's the "overqualified" bit. I got feedback from one interview which said that there was nothing they could suggest that I need to improve - I was simply applying for the wrong job etc. etc. I then applied for another job at the same place, which was senior to that one, and they rejected me because there was another candidate who was better suited.

This seems to be the pattern, and it is exhausting me, emotionally and physically. I need to be positive to fill in an application form, and I need to psyche myself up a lot for the interview, even if it is for a job which I am not convinced about. That takes a lot. When I then get the rejection, it totally knocks me for six. I missed one interview because it was the day after another one, and I couldn't stop crying for several days after the rejection phone call.

I have an interview this Thursday, and I can't even find the energy to prepare for it, because I am feeling so low. The last interview took a lot out of me in preparation as well as the interview itself. I haven't yet stopped crying.
 
The getting interviews is a v good sign, though. gsv found it exhausting when he had a lot, and disheartening when he wasn't landing something (and wondering whether people were soon going to start questioning why he didn't have a job yet) but the fact there was so much did mean he hit the mark before too long. It sounds like maybe you ought to focus only on the suitable ones and not put your energy into things you don't want, especially as you are generally getting interviews.

I had very little to apply for, but I could at least hold on to the fact that I was getting interviews and some people don't even get that far.
 
strung out said:
I'm sort of job hunting.

I'm in work at the moment, earning fairly decent money in a comfortable job and I like the people I work with. I'm just about to finish a masters in Information and Library Management though, so starting to look for jobs in that area. There's barely anything in Bristol at the moment, so I'm considering applying for my first professional position. The downside is that it's only a 0.5 FTE role, so I'd only be earning about £12k a year and would need to top it up with work elsewhere.

Can't decide whether to chuck in my £25k a year job in an area I'm not interested in, for a break in the profession I'm training for, but working for peanuts.

Hmmm.

Actually I do know, but I'm scared.
Click to expand...

Perhaps I am missing something, but can't you apply to go part time in your current job, as well as taking on the other one?
 
Cloo said:
The getting interviews is a v good sign, though. gsv found it exhausting when he had a lot, and disheartening when he wasn't landing something (and wondering whether people were soon going to start questioning why he didn't have a job yet) but the fact there was so much did mean he hit the mark before too long. It sounds like maybe you ought to focus only on the suitable ones and not put your energy into things you don't want, especially as you are generally getting interviews.

I had very little to apply for, but I could at least hold on to the fact that I was getting interviews and some people don't even get that far.
Click to expand...
Is it a good sign though? All it shows is that my cv is good, which I already knew.

I am getting interviews for every union job for which I apply, but none of the non-union roles.

I certainly do need to focus on the suitable ones (i.e. at the right level in the union world), but these feel like they are few and far between, and I keep panicking about not getting a job before the money runs out, because I don't know when the next suitable one will come up.

Also, the jobcentre folks tell me that I have agreed to apply for a certain number of jobs a week, although I don't remember making that agreement. It was probably in the small print somewhere. It seems that, even if I have to spend a lot of the week preparing for the interview because there is a presentation or whatever, I still have to apply for several other jobs.

No wonder I am not getting a reply to any of the applications I make through agencies and linkedin etc. - they get so many sodding cvs, that they probably don't even realise which ones are serious.
 
Guineveretoo said:
I am feeling pretty low about this whole job hunting malarkey, and I am not sure whether that's because it is worse than I was expecting, or simply that I haven't yet recovered from all the stress and anxiety from which I was suffering and which caused me to hand in my notice at my last job!

Put simply, I have a strong CV, which has been professionally pawed over and changed to make it so, and I am getting lots of interviews for jobs, but, as others in the thread are finding, I am having the problem of being overqualified, or too specific in my experience, or, when the job looks perfect for me, there is always someone who "more closely matches" or something similar.

It's really hard and I don't know how long I can carry on. It's a relatively small field, in terms of employers, and word is getting out that I am out there and applying, which may be a good thing, or may be an awful thing, as people start questioning why no-one is offering me a job!

My original plan was to sit back, take stock, and only apply for jobs which I thought would suit me but, instead, I have been panicking and applying for all kinds of things even if I know they won't have me, because I know I can do the job, and there may be someone out there prepared to give me a shot!

It's really difficult to get myself into a positive mindset to go for interviews when I feel like no-one wants me.

I sobbed at the jobcentre on Friday when I was signing on. And I spend a lot of my days (and nights) crying at the moment.

I realise there is nothing you guys can do to help me, but I need to do something to sort myself out!
Click to expand...

Aye.

It fucking sucks.

Y'know everytime I get an interview it can cost me almost £100 in childcare, transport and other bits n bobs. They really are a mixed blessing!

Waiting, with no cause for optimism, on another 4 applications at the moment. A real mixed bag both in terms of role and salary. I've lost any sort of idea as to what level to pitch myself at now.

Oh well.
 
weepiper said:
chilango are you a single parent? You'd get tax credits to help with some of the childcare costs up to a salary of £30k.
Click to expand...

No, I'm not. Can't get tax credits either.

Partner has a decent salary thank goodness, means we're surviving money wise on just the one income. It's tight and there's nowt spare but we're warm, well-fed and able to pay the bills.

I'm luckier than most in that respect.
 
Guineveretoo said:
It doesn't feel positive, to get interviews but no offers!
Click to expand...

:(

I kinda know the feeling - I am getting a fairly good success rate on getting interviews but not much beyond that.

I wonder if I'm just not that good at interviews, or at least not that good at coming across with the right BS.

Starting to wonder whether it's worth seeing if national careers service can offer advice on this...

in news from here, a fairly good interview today, but think the hours / location aren't going to work from where i live now. :facepalm:

that leaves the one offer which (I think i've mentioned earlier) means moving, but I can't get anything from them that I could give to a potential landlord until after I start - and that's assuming their HR function then get their act together. More :facepalm:
 
I know that i am dreadful at interviews.

Before I left my last job, I actually paid a lot of my own money to an executive coach person to do interview skills training. It was a huge amount of money, but I figured that it would be worth it if I had got the job.
 
I'm currently reading an NLP book (freebie) to help with my interviewing skillz. Brainwash the fuckers into hiring you :mad:

thinking of having my CV properly reviewed and stuff. My mates missus does that sprt of stuff, is it worth it? I mean, I'm getting loads of people ring me up and telling me that they're sending my CV off, so it must be ok ish...


feeling everyone's pain, it is bloody frustrating.
 
Dunno.

The last few interviews I've had it's been quite clear afterwards that there was nothing I could've done "better" on the day to get the job. But that the other candidates fitted the role more neatly. (Or in one or two cases that the decision had already been made pre-interview and that they were just going through the motions with me as cheap, local, filler on the day :mad:).

Fuck all I can do if the job openings simply aren't there.

I'm happy enough to change career at this point, but how the hell would I do that?
 
Another rejection in the email today (though at least they bothered to tell me. Most don't).

Trying to switch careers, even starting at the bottom, is getting nowhere.

*sighs*
 
xes said:
I'm currently reading an NLP book (freebie) to help with my interviewing skillz. Brainwash the fuckers into hiring you :mad:

thinking of having my CV properly reviewed and stuff. My mates missus does that sprt of stuff, is it worth it? I mean, I'm getting loads of people ring me up and telling me that they're sending my CV off, so it must be ok ish...


feeling everyone's pain, it is bloody frustrating.
Click to expand...
I think it is worth getting your cv reviewed. As I keep saying, I know mine is good, since it was mostly written by other people (!), but I sent it to one of these places which do a free review, and they actually made some points which I thought were useful!

Brainwashing them into hiring me sounds like a good idea! I don't think I can do that, though - I just go to pieces in interviews.
 
Sat trying to fill in an application for a job before my daughter wakes up from her afternoon nap...its an exciting sounding job, could be ideal...but the application form is in Comic Sans! :D That has just cheered me up no end!
 
chilango said:
Another rejection in the email today (though at least they bothered to tell me. Most don't).

Trying to switch careers, even starting at the bottom, is getting nowhere.

*sighs*
Click to expand...
I so relate to this! But, as you say, at least you got a rejection. I find it so disheartening to go to some trouble to put together an appropriate cv and a specifically targeted cover letter, just to have it ignored, seemingly. I did one yesterday, and I will be very surprised if I hear from them. Not least because, when I logged in to do it, it showed that I had previously applied for a similar role, and hadn't heard from that, either!

I have got to keep doing it, though, just in case, and also to keep the jobcentre folks off my back.

Unfortunately, I missed the deadline for one job which I think would have been perfect, and I will never know whether that might have been the one! Of course, there have been many other occasions when I have seen a job which appeared perfect, and applied within the deadline, and still not been interviewed!
 
chilango said:
Sat trying to fill in an application for a job before my daughter wakes up from her afternoon nap...its an exciting sounding job, could be ideal...but the application form is in Comic Sans! :D That has just cheered me up no end!
Click to expand...

I think you should find an even worse font (or at least one that comes close) and complete it in green text...

:p
 
Puddy_Tat said:
I think you should find an even worse font (or at least one that comes close) and complete it in green text...

:p
Click to expand...

There've been times in the past when I've completely re-formatted the application form so that it looks better. Doubt that went down well!

This Comic Sans one at least works, too many are full of broken tables and formatting errors that take longer to work around than the actual filling in.
 
Guineveretoo said:
I think it is worth getting your cv reviewed. As I keep saying, I know mine is good, since it was mostly written by other people (!), but I sent it to one of these places which do a free review, and they actually made some points which I thought were useful!

Brainwashing them into hiring me sounds like a good idea! I don't think I can do that, though - I just go to pieces in interviews.
Click to expand...
You don't have to brainwash them, just try and mirror them a little. People like people, who are like themselves. Use simular words to them, speak in a simular tone and pattern. This (apparently, not put it to the test yet, interview is on the 9th) will make them like you, and give you the edge. Ask questions which make them picture you already working there, something like "How would you see my average day panning out, starting from the moment I walk through those doors over there"
And wear something purple, that's a listening colour is that.
 
xes said:
You don't have to brainwash them, just try and mirror them a little. People like people, who are like themselves. Use simular words to them, speak in a simular tone and pattern. This (apparently, not put it to the test yet, interview is on the 9th) will make them like you, and give you the edge. Ask questions which make them picture you already working there, something like "How would you see my average day panning out, starting from the moment I walk through those doors over there"
And wear something purple, that's a listening colour is that.
Click to expand...
I have got an interview tomorrow.

They (whoever "they" are!) do say that the first few seconds of any interview are critical, as people judge you on how you look, move and speak. I certainly believe that people appoint in their own image - it's one of the equality issues that I have raised with many employers over the years! But I can see how the purple could help! I don't know if I have anything smart enough in purple, though.

I can see how mirroring them would work, and I like the point about the questions. I think, the last interview that I did, I asked those kind of questions, because I was really keen on the job, so I was asking things which probably assumed I was going to get it! Although, having said that, I don't think the interview went terribly well, because I was quite hesitant, and couldn't answer some of the basic questions very well, despite loads of homework!
 
I'd like to get an interview where little things like this, that are under my control, make the difference.

I'm sick of interviews where, frankly, it dosn't matter what I say,
 
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