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| The job market: our readers respond | The job market: our readers respond |
| (4 months later) | |
| As unemployment starts to rise again, we asked for your experiences of job searching. Here are some of the stories we received: | As unemployment starts to rise again, we asked for your experiences of job searching. Here are some of the stories we received: |
| Claire: Now I've had an accident, no one wants to know | Claire: Now I've had an accident, no one wants to know |
| You look at my CV, my education, my skills and experience and you think "perfect". Then you scan down and see that I'm disabled and even though you'll interview me, you'll spend the entire time trying to surreptitiously find out how able I am: am I sure I can only work a couple of days a week? How many days off sick did I actually take last year? What are my limitations? Regretably, there will be another candidate who's not quite as good, as skilled, as experienced, but you'll feel you can count on them; they must be more dependable and capable. | You look at my CV, my education, my skills and experience and you think "perfect". Then you scan down and see that I'm disabled and even though you'll interview me, you'll spend the entire time trying to surreptitiously find out how able I am: am I sure I can only work a couple of days a week? How many days off sick did I actually take last year? What are my limitations? Regretably, there will be another candidate who's not quite as good, as skilled, as experienced, but you'll feel you can count on them; they must be more dependable and capable. |
| I chose to work in public service because I wanted to make a difference to people's lives; I believed everybody had a talent that could be useful for our society regardless of their background. Then I had an accident and became disabled. The public service I worked for deemed me unfit for work and incapable of carrying out my job despite the fact I already worked flexible, part-time hours, mainly office-based where my mobility problems weren't really an issue. | I chose to work in public service because I wanted to make a difference to people's lives; I believed everybody had a talent that could be useful for our society regardless of their background. Then I had an accident and became disabled. The public service I worked for deemed me unfit for work and incapable of carrying out my job despite the fact I already worked flexible, part-time hours, mainly office-based where my mobility problems weren't really an issue. |
| Although an employment tribunal disagreed with my employer, most employers cannot see past my disability and they have enough choices in today's job market that they can forego making reasonable adjustments for me. This job market has no space for me; nowhere can I meaningfully make a contribution and earn a crust, despite people looking at my CV, my education, my skills and experience and thinking "perfect". | Although an employment tribunal disagreed with my employer, most employers cannot see past my disability and they have enough choices in today's job market that they can forego making reasonable adjustments for me. This job market has no space for me; nowhere can I meaningfully make a contribution and earn a crust, despite people looking at my CV, my education, my skills and experience and thinking "perfect". |
| Popweazel: Aged 36, I feel my time has passed | Popweazel: Aged 36, I feel my time has passed |
| I used to work in the media as a online writer. But, having been made redundant in 2005, I took time out, did work experience, various job interviews and it all came to nothing. All the time I was signing on, I went through a New Deal programme where you get signed off from official government statistics (makes them look good) to try to find my own placement in PR. I didn't get anything from it. So I signed on again … (I could write a book on this). | I used to work in the media as a online writer. But, having been made redundant in 2005, I took time out, did work experience, various job interviews and it all came to nothing. All the time I was signing on, I went through a New Deal programme where you get signed off from official government statistics (makes them look good) to try to find my own placement in PR. I didn't get anything from it. So I signed on again … (I could write a book on this). |
| And now in 2013 at the age of 36, as I try to finish a Open University degree, I feel my time has passed. Well, mentally, I am saying that to myself whenever I think of applying for yet another "Sorry but on this occasion …" job. I've just started trying to gain confidence by writing for various websites for my CV, but if folk with a degree and a CV can't get a foot in the door, where does that leave me? | And now in 2013 at the age of 36, as I try to finish a Open University degree, I feel my time has passed. Well, mentally, I am saying that to myself whenever I think of applying for yet another "Sorry but on this occasion …" job. I've just started trying to gain confidence by writing for various websites for my CV, but if folk with a degree and a CV can't get a foot in the door, where does that leave me? |
| LeaderoftheFree: Agencies only care about ticking enough boxes | LeaderoftheFree: Agencies only care about ticking enough boxes |
| I've been unemployed now since last December and during the last six months I've applied for roughly 300 jobs. The shock of walking out of the office knowing I no longer had a job was like falling into a cold river on a hot day and not something I will forget. Hopefully, the experience will make me a better person but I still feel angry and disappointed. | I've been unemployed now since last December and during the last six months I've applied for roughly 300 jobs. The shock of walking out of the office knowing I no longer had a job was like falling into a cold river on a hot day and not something I will forget. Hopefully, the experience will make me a better person but I still feel angry and disappointed. |
| For two months I applied for things I thought I could do but didn't get much interest. Most of the recruiters I talked to said things would pick up but they haven't Signing on was a surprise; the jobcentre really doesn't help people like me who are middle management and reasonably well educated, so I was left on my own, having to go in every two weeks to discuss my job search with someone who clearly wasn't interested. I expected to be provided with lists of jobs that I should apply for, and help with CVs and letters and interview techniques but there was nothing. | For two months I applied for things I thought I could do but didn't get much interest. Most of the recruiters I talked to said things would pick up but they haven't Signing on was a surprise; the jobcentre really doesn't help people like me who are middle management and reasonably well educated, so I was left on my own, having to go in every two weeks to discuss my job search with someone who clearly wasn't interested. I expected to be provided with lists of jobs that I should apply for, and help with CVs and letters and interview techniques but there was nothing. |
| My main concern is the commoditisation of the workforce. The government has left recruiting to agencies that only care about ticking enough boxes to justify putting your CV forward. I have been passed over for countless jobs I felt suitable for, by salespeople acting as recruiters waiting for their commission. The agencies offer little or no feedback, which doesn't help me improve my chances. I think that there should be some regulation that at least helps the person searching, that agencies should have to meet and interview the candidate, that they should offer CV reviews for free, and techniques for improvement. Surely that would also help them get candidates in jobs? | My main concern is the commoditisation of the workforce. The government has left recruiting to agencies that only care about ticking enough boxes to justify putting your CV forward. I have been passed over for countless jobs I felt suitable for, by salespeople acting as recruiters waiting for their commission. The agencies offer little or no feedback, which doesn't help me improve my chances. I think that there should be some regulation that at least helps the person searching, that agencies should have to meet and interview the candidate, that they should offer CV reviews for free, and techniques for improvement. Surely that would also help them get candidates in jobs? |
| MasterNath: Transferable skills are a myth | MasterNath: Transferable skills are a myth |
| I remember sitting in a school hall watching a recent graduate jump around while explaining how great university was. She kept repeating that university gives one "transferable skills". I wanted to be a teacher, so off to university I went. Unfortunately, the fee rises and other changes in education meant that during my final year I was put off the idea of teaching. However, at that point I had been a freelance writer for three years, and I had two years working with young people in a variety of settings as a student ambassador. I thought I was going to be fine. | I remember sitting in a school hall watching a recent graduate jump around while explaining how great university was. She kept repeating that university gives one "transferable skills". I wanted to be a teacher, so off to university I went. Unfortunately, the fee rises and other changes in education meant that during my final year I was put off the idea of teaching. However, at that point I had been a freelance writer for three years, and I had two years working with young people in a variety of settings as a student ambassador. I thought I was going to be fine. |
| Although I have had a few interviews, I have been rejected from jobs for bizarre reasons. I was rejected from one job as head of an education centre because I didn't have enough sales experience. Another job I made it down to the last 11, out of 500 applications. Even though I "didn't do anything wrong" and "did really well", I didn't get the job because I needed "more interview experience". I have also had meetings with recruiters who didn't understand why I work with young people and write about fashion (it's because, shock horror, I'm good at both). My story is repeated up and down the country by other graduates who also have good degrees from good universities. Transferable skills are a myth. Employers and recruiters only seem to employ those who have experience in exactly the same role they are applying for. Then there are job adverts which claim to be suitable for recent graduates, but have essential requirements that exclude recent graduates (ie six months plus full-time experience). Employers and recruiters need to embrace new graduates with skills rather than experience. We're enthusiastic, hard-working, and (most importantly) poor. | Although I have had a few interviews, I have been rejected from jobs for bizarre reasons. I was rejected from one job as head of an education centre because I didn't have enough sales experience. Another job I made it down to the last 11, out of 500 applications. Even though I "didn't do anything wrong" and "did really well", I didn't get the job because I needed "more interview experience". I have also had meetings with recruiters who didn't understand why I work with young people and write about fashion (it's because, shock horror, I'm good at both). My story is repeated up and down the country by other graduates who also have good degrees from good universities. Transferable skills are a myth. Employers and recruiters only seem to employ those who have experience in exactly the same role they are applying for. Then there are job adverts which claim to be suitable for recent graduates, but have essential requirements that exclude recent graduates (ie six months plus full-time experience). Employers and recruiters need to embrace new graduates with skills rather than experience. We're enthusiastic, hard-working, and (most importantly) poor. |
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