The job hunting support thread

[sovereignb]

i am fairly sure that they have not taken new people on going straight to working from home before (the interview was a few weeks before coronavirus started, they made provisional offer but then put the whole thing on hold when the lockdown started.) don't remember the concept of working from home even being mentioned as an occasional thing.

unprecedented times and all that sort of cobblers.

while i don't want to go in to detail, it's going to involve learning a whole raft of new software and so on, and i'm not entirely convinced it's going to work doing it all remotely.

any updates?

Im feeling increasingly depressed about the "gap" my CV and not seeing jobs I feel I can apply for. I applied for Argos delivery yesterday, which may work out. But I feel stagnant when it comes to career jobs.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

any updates?

did discuss with them, and asked if it was possible to defer. it wasn't. i said no.

part of the plan with this job (while it would just about have been commutable) was to move house - or at least set the wheels in motion - during notice period of current job. which added the risk of being in the middle of moving / not having internet connection for a few days at the wrong time.

there were a few other uneasy-making things about it, and really all that could be said for it is it had a halfway decent pension scheme attached and was a more attractive proposition than scratching around for little bits of casual work.

i'm not convinced i've made the right decision.

bugger

Im feeling increasingly depressed about the "gap" my CV and not seeing jobs I feel I can apply for. I applied for Argos delivery yesterday, which may work out. But I feel stagnant when it comes to career jobs.

 

[nadia]

Company messing me around, got a short extension subject to company getting contract. Company got contract but now nobody will give me a straight answer regarding me, I have been put on furlough and have no idea whether I am ever going back.. job market is dreadful

 

[sovereignb]

Plenty of free courses here at www.futurelearn.com. Gonna try and do a few to keep CV as updated as possible

 

[muscovyduck]

i'm not convinced i've made the right decision.

I reckon you would have felt like that either way mate

 

[muscovyduck]

I have two jobs. I've been on furlough from one which has made me realise how much I don't want to be there. I've been going from strength to strength in the other job (my main one) and could increase my hours there permanently and quit the other job when they want me back from furlough. The only thing that's holding me back is that it seems like a risk to quit a job at the moment? With so many people getting laid off? The job I'm good at is a career but the job I want to quit is a dead-end one that I clung to for stability.

 

[weltweit]

I have two jobs. I've been on furlough from one which has made me realise how much I don't want to be there. I've been going from strength to strength in the other job (my main one) and could increase my hours there permanently and quit the other job when they want me back from furlough. The only thing that's holding me back is that it seems like a risk to quit a job at the moment? With so many people getting laid off? The job I'm good at is a career but the job I want to quit is a dead-end one that I clung to for stability.

muscovyduck good for you on the 2 jobs! My brother is the same at the moment. One of his furloughed him though which isn't altogether a bad thing.

 

[MickiQ]

I have two jobs. I've been on furlough from one which has made me realise how much I don't want to be there. I've been going from strength to strength in the other job (my main one) and could increase my hours there permanently and quit the other job when they want me back from furlough. The only thing that's holding me back is that it seems like a risk to quit a job at the moment? With so many people getting laid off? The job I'm good at is a career but the job I want to quit is a dead-end one that I clung to for stability.

Are you getting paid for the furloughed one as well?

 

[Badgers]

Just been sent a couple of jobs from the UC lot.

Furniture Warehouse Operative (next town over)
Previous experience preferred
Role entails moving and loading furniture
£9ish per hour

Furniture Sales Assistant (same place)
Previous experience preferred
Must be well presented
Role entails selling furniture
£10ish per hour

I am going to apply for both despite not having 'previous experience' and see how it goes

 

[RubyToogood]

I have two jobs. I've been on furlough from one which has made me realise how much I don't want to be there. I've been going from strength to strength in the other job (my main one) and could increase my hours there permanently and quit the other job when they want me back from furlough. The only thing that's holding me back is that it seems like a risk to quit a job at the moment? With so many people getting laid off? The job I'm good at is a career but the job I want to quit is a dead-end one that I clung to for stability.

I've spent years doing this - having two jobs to compensate for one or both of them being a bit uncertain. What do the prospects look like for the one you'd rather be doing? All other things being equal, it sounds like a no brainer. If they want you to increase your hours, you'd think they're fairly optimistic.

ION, I got approached by a recruiter on LinkedIn about a job which I then applied for and got turned down without an interview . I am sure they must get paid by the applicant. Never mind, I have a job and I generally like it.

 

[weltweit]

..
ION, I got approached by a recruiter on LinkedIn about a job which I then applied for and got turned down without an interview . I am sure they must get paid by the applicant.
..

They deffo only get paid when they place someone, but if they put forward 5 people and one gets the job, they get paid. They don't so much care if you specifically get the job, just that one of their candidates gets it.

 

[MickiQ]

Just been sent a couple of jobs from the UC lot.

Furniture Warehouse Operative (next town over)
Previous experience preferred
Role entails moving and loading furniture
£9ish per hour

Furniture Sales Assistant (same place)
Previous experience preferred
Must be well presented
Role entails selling furniture
£10ish per hour

I am going to apply for both despite not having 'previous experience' and see how it goes

How much experience does it take to move stuff about? When my son was unemployed, he was sent on a couple of these free labour schemes in return for his pittance.
One of them was moving furniture in a charity shop and training was minimal.
Good Luck (assuming you want it)

 

[Puddy_Tat]

I reckon you would have felt like that either way mate

probably, yes.

blargh.

I have two jobs. I've been on furlough from one which has made me realise how much I don't want to be there. I've been going from strength to strength in the other job (my main one) and could increase my hours there permanently and quit the other job when they want me back from furlough. The only thing that's holding me back is that it seems like a risk to quit a job at the moment? With so many people getting laid off? The job I'm good at is a career but the job I want to quit is a dead-end one that I clung to for stability.

dunno. if you're on furlough from one job, do you need to do anything just quite yet? if you can keep your options open for now, that's what i'd suggest. it's not clear what the next year or so holds as far as jobs is concerned...

also may be worth reading the small print on the furlough scheme - are there any implications if you resign while furloughed?

I am going to apply for both despite not having 'previous experience' and see how it goes

have fun. if the dole people send you for something, it's usually best to go along with it even if you know you're wasting everyone's time rather than argue. there's a certain art in being unenthusiastic enough to not get the job but not blatantly taking the piss (which can get you sanctioned) although i got it a bit wrong once when i was on the dole and ended up in the job...

How much experience does it take to move stuff about?

dunno really - everything seems to want 'recent experience' of doing whatever the heck it is.

 

[RubyToogood]

I think the less experience and qualifications it takes to do a job, the more likely it is that they'll be asked for. Because so many people apply for those jobs that they have to get the numbers down somehow.

 

[muscovyduck]

Are you getting paid for the furloughed one as well?

I've spent years doing this - having two jobs to compensate for one or both of them being a bit uncertain. What do the prospects look like for the one you'd rather be doing? All other things being equal, it sounds like a no brainer. If they want you to increase your hours, you'd think they're fairly optimistic.

dunno. if you're on furlough from one job, do you need to do anything just quite yet? if you can keep your options open for now, that's what i'd suggest. it's not clear what the next year or so holds as far as jobs is concerned...

also may be worth reading the small print on the furlough scheme - are there any implications if you resign while furloughed?

I'm getting paid the 80% rate for the furlough one. One of these 'ethical' workplaces but workers rights there have been slowly getting eroded there over the last while. I can see that this has continued while I've been on furlough. The working conditions are very unlikely to be safe when I'm expected back. That's sort of why I suddenly feel like I have a deadline - I'm not just risking a drain on my time and energy, I'm risking a lot more. If it wasn't for this I'd just slowly cut my hours. Although that is still an option if I decide not to quit the job outright.

I wouldn't quit while the free money's rolling in and they have said they are expecting some people to just not come back from furlough at all - it's that type of industry where people turn around and say "fuck this" and walk out mid shift. Things seem to be really volatile in my life at the moment and every day something changes that would impact this decision so I'm holding off until I can't any more.

It's not actually a bad job, and I would miss the cups of tea and the way the light filters through the windows, ya know? But people get trapped here.

At the better job: they might be optimistic enough to increase my hours but do I trust their judgement, or that they even have my best interests at heart? Everything's great while the coronavirus grants are hitting everyone's bank accounts but what happens in 2021? On the flip side: how much of my anxiety is my own and how much of it is other people's I've absorbed over the years?

For now the plan is wait and see. I think I have a few weeks at least.

 

[MickiQ]

I'm getting paid the 80% rate for the furlough one. One of these 'ethical' workplaces but workers rights there have been slowly getting eroded there over the last while. I can see that this has continued while I've been on furlough. The working conditions are very unlikely to be safe when I'm expected back. That's sort of why I suddenly feel like I have a deadline - I'm not just risking a drain on my time and energy, I'm risking a lot more. If it wasn't for this I'd just slowly cut my hours. Although that is still an option if I decide not to quit the job outright.

I wouldn't quit while the free money's rolling in and they have said they are expecting some people to just not come back from furlough at all - it's that type of industry where people turn around and say "fuck this" and walk out mid shift. Things seem to be really volatile in my life at the moment and every day something changes that would impact this decision so I'm holding off until I can't any more.

It's not actually a bad job, and I would miss the cups of tea and the way the light filters through the windows, ya know? But people get trapped here.

At the better job: they might be optimistic enough to increase my hours but do I trust their judgement, or that they even have my best interests at heart? Everything's great while the coronavirus grants are hitting everyone's bank accounts but what happens in 2021? On the flip side: how much of my anxiety is my own and how much of it is other people's I've absorbed over the years?

For now the plan is wait and see. I think I have a few weeks at least.

Firm believer that man should be paid fairly for his labour, even better to be paid and not actually do the labouring bit. You're right, you don't have to decide until they ask about you coming back. As for ethical workplaces, I work for 25 years for one of largest American companies in the world and their byline that "Our People Are Our Greatest Asset" was the biggest bollocks going.

 

[sovereignb]

I've spent years doing this - having two jobs to compensate for one or both of them being a bit uncertain. What do the prospects look like for the one you'd rather be doing? All other things being equal, it sounds like a no brainer. If they want you to increase your hours, you'd think they're fairly optimistic.

ION, I got approached by a recruiter on LinkedIn about a job which I then applied for and got turned down without an interview . I am sure they must get paid by the applicant. Never mind, I have a job and I generally like it.

This kind of shit does my head in

 

[weltweit]

I don't know your experiences but there is some evidence that a lot of jobs are never advertised, rather they are filled by personal recommendations or direct application at the right time. I had this happen in the past, I knew someone had just left a job so I called their manager offering myself as their replacement, I had an immediate interview and an offer which I accepted, it was never advertised so I never had to compete for it.

Networking is a way to tap into this sort of thing.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

hmm

someone has alerted me to a job that's the sort of thing i did for 20 years (until about 10 years ago - i'm now at a bit of a tangent)

snag is it's in brighton

that sort of job doesn't exist in london (the one employer who does that sort of thing pretty much only takes on new graduates)

i've reached the stage where every job is possibly a last chance.

i really do need to be in london (ageing mum-tat)

bugger

 

[Nivag]

hmm

someone has alerted me to a job that's the sort of thing i did for 20 years (until about 10 years ago - i'm now at a bit of a tangent)

snag is it's in brighton

that sort of job doesn't exist in london (the one employer who does that sort of thing pretty much only takes on new graduates)

i've reached the stage where every job is possibly a last chance.

i really do need to be in london (ageing mum-tat)

bugger

Brighton is commuterable from London, assuming there is money to afford the travel cost.
That way you can see if the job is worth moving out of London for.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

Brighton is commuterable from London, assuming there is money to afford the travel cost.

Thanks. I'm near Reading now, so it will involve moving.

Ideal is a job in London - aged parent is in SE London, and I could really do with living somewhere a bit closer - she does not need anything like constant care and maintenance, but would be good to be able to nip round for an hour, rather than being 90 minutes / 2 hour journey each way which means it's a fair chunk of a day to go and visit (and having gone that far, I'm expected to stay long enough to make it worth going, if you see what i mean).

Preferred commute is something short and walkable with a decent pub half way home but not sure that's going to happen.

Have looked at trains and doing somewhere round Croydon to Brighton would be shorter / less expensive than my last job which was SW London.

Would be just short of an hour, and involve the massive clusterfuck that is southern / thameslink. And Croydon.

Hmm.

Will apply and see what happens...

ETA - application done. Managed to recycle a lot of the blurb from something from a few years back.

 

[Badgers]

Favour guys...

I am doing some CV updates today and am looking for a Google Docs template I can use for this. Might be me being useless (as per) but I can't seem to find one that does not link me to some CV app/product that wants to charge me or limit me to a fixed layout etc

Could probably do something in Word but am crap using that and only have a Chromebook now.

Cheers

 

[retribution]

I deleted all the info from my CV and replaced with placeholder text. If it's useful, you can find it here.

Let me know if you have any questions

 

[retribution]

Favour guys...

I am doing some CV updates today and am looking for a Google Docs template I can use for this. Might be me being useless (as per) but I can't seem to find one that does not link me to some CV app/product that wants to charge me or limit me to a fixed layout etc

Could probably do something in Word but am crap using that and only have a Chromebook now.

Cheers

See above - as the file is shared on my Google Drive, if you use it you'll want to make a copy before editing otherwise I'll see all your info

 

[Badgers]

I deleted all the info from my CV and replaced with placeholder text. If it's useful, you can find it here.

Let me know if you have any questions

Cheers for that appreciate you taking the time.
Will let you know how I get on with my usual hamfisted fat fingers

 

[Badgers]

if you use it you'll want to make a copy before editing otherwise I'll see all your lies and spelling mistakes

FTFY

 

[Puddy_Tat]

ETA - application done. Managed to recycle a lot of the blurb from something from a few years back.

have first stage interview sort of thing by skype next week

hope i can set new webcam and skype account up before then and not balls it up...

 

[a_chap]

have first stage interview sort of thing by skype next week

hope i can set new webcam and skype account up before then and not balls it up...

Co-incidentally I was doing first-line interviews - via Skype/Teams - a couple of weeks ago. Thirteen candidates in all.

All went well bar one of the applicants who simply couldn't get the tech to work. After ten mins or so we switched to using a mobile phone in speaker mode.

Not a problem at all. She answered questioned coherently, listened, asked questions, gave a good impression. She was one of six people I recommended for second interview.

Don't worry about technical problems. If they occur - and it happens - ride with it. Use it to show them that you can cope with unexpected problems.

Nevertheless, good luck and I hope it's glitch-free.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

I have webcam and skype account (not sure if i need one to join a skype meeting) and have tested both with friend this evening

what's the done thing for skype interviews? are they likely to expect me to wear a tie? or would that be seen as silly? If I was going there for an interview I would do the suit and tie thing, but that might be excessive - especially as it's going to be bloody hot midweek...

 

[Puddy_Tat]

skype thing done (only just made it on time, as 'skype for business' needed a bit of software downloading)

today, not last week - managed to get it postponed, as too much of an emergency at work last week to get even half a day off.

don't think it went wrong, but not expecting to get to second stage - nothing in the job i've not done before, but sounds like the job is more about stuff i've done less of / done too long ago.

bugger.