unemployed/or employed

[Tricky Dicky]

As I posted on here at the time, I was made redundant at the end of Jan after 20 years of working in the City. Was a shock for a few days, but I think it was a good thing - it has made me do loads of things I would not have done otherwise. I've not really started looking for another job yet but will do any day now.

 

[junior]

Have any of you out of work thought about joining the Armed forces? Any of you with half decent qualifications could join up as a Commissioned Officer and there are some interesting trades for those without much on paper too.
Im quite lucky that in this current climate my job is 100% safe and dont have to worry about being made redundent.
You can do just 3 years if you so wish,by which time hopefully everything will have turned the corner and you will be a much attractive potential employee to a lot of sectors.

 

[Commander]

Without wishing to sound like Frank, the one thing that does me head in more than anything is that while estate agents may have been temporarily neutered, recruitment consultants have gone the opposite way.

Well most of the Recruitment Consultants I know (and I am one) have been made redundant because there aren't enough jobs around for them to make any money. Recruitment is just as affected as other industries in a reccession, if anything more so. The only reason I haven't been made redundant is because I only recruit Social Workers, which happens to be a booming sector at the moment.

Sorry to say it but it's quite true about recruitment consultants however, from their point of view business isn't great either. These people work on commission and thus don't have the time to sort through all the CVs they receive. You also have to factor in that they have to deal with Human Resources teams who are so often utterly clueless. The HR department picks up a few buzz words from what ever industry they are looking for and then tend to ignore an individuals background. I get ignored because of my experience (too much for many) and the fact that I am a contractor. I only contract as it's better than not working at all however you can seriously messed about because an agent will tell you anything to get you working. I packed in my last two contracts because both agents were complete idiots. They were extreme but in fairness there's usually two sides.
.

Exactly. If I get 200 CV's for one job, what am I supposed to do? Read everyone thoroughly? That would take all day, and I wouldn't have time to find any other jobs so would get sacked for not hitting targets etc. if it's hard for you to find a job, then it's hard for us to find you a job.

 

[Rougvie]

Came back from Dubai in November, got an offer to go to Saudi in May, but was really keen on trying to find something here over the summer. That looks HIGHLY unlikely, even a few hours a week in a bar for something to do, but even that seems impossible.

It will only get worse.

 

[itszamora]

Have any of you out of work thought about joining the Armed forces? Any of you with half decent qualifications could join up as a Commissioned Officer and there are some interesting trades for those without much on paper too.
Im quite lucky that in this current climate my job is 100% safe and dont have to worry about being made redundent.
You can do just 3 years if you so wish,by which time hopefully everything will have turned the corner and you will be a much attractive potential employee to a lot of sectors.

I have been considering this a bit, I'm very interested in military history and the like and the sound of going around the world in general sounds like fun. Having said that, my fitness needs SERIOUS work before I can consider it!

 

[Simster]

IT contractor. 'Resting' since end of November.

All the Artists Formerly Known As Blue Chip Clients In The Financial Sector have turned to total shit.

Just lovely

That's my story too. Contract finished 10 days ago.

 

[bhaexpress]

Have any of you out of work thought about joining the Armed forces? Any of you with half decent qualifications could join up as a Commissioned Officer and there are some interesting trades for those without much on paper too.
Im quite lucky that in this current climate my job is 100% safe and dont have to worry about being made redundent.
You can do just 3 years if you so wish,by which time hopefully everything will have turned the corner and you will be a much attractive potential employee to a lot of sectors.

A lot of us are way too old.

 

[bhaexpress]

Exactly. If I get 200 CV's for one job, what am I supposed to do? Read everyone thoroughly? That would take all day, and I wouldn't have time to find any other jobs so would get sacked for not hitting targets etc. if it's hard for you to find a job, then it's hard for us to find you a job.

Contrary to what some of the less intelligent people think I don't slag of all recruitment consultants and yes, there is their side as well. There are cowboys it's true but there again isn't that true of any profession ? I know that IT has it's fair share of time wasters and chancers anyway.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

Journeyman IT Contractor who finished a job last week. Actually the worst company I have ever worked for and that's saying a lot. For various reasons I think I could be out of work for a while not the least for the fact (as published this week) that there are over 35,000 non EEC workers employed here in the IT profession. Obviously a situation not unique to IT.

Hmm, I've always been a permie, but I think contracting might offer some advantages to me at the mo, if I can get something of course.

 

[Commander]

Contrary to what some of the less intelligent people think I don't slag of all recruitment consultants and yes, there is their side as well. There are cowboys it's true but there again isn't that true of any profession ? I know that IT has it's fair share of time wasters and chancers anyway.

You're unfortunate because you're in an industry that boomed massively a few years ago, meaning a load of new IT agencies (or even Consultants working out of their bedrooms) sprung up and made a load of money very quickly, which breeds cowboys. IT Recruitment has an awful reputation and there are a hell of a lot of cowboys in it, but there must be some good ones as well. I'd never do it because of the reputation it has, and because now days it is too bloody hard.

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

Recruitment Consultants - I am one.

Exactly. If I get 200 CV's for one job, what am I supposed to do? Read everyone thoroughly? That would take all day.

I can see your point. But you must use some criteria to select some and not others. So for the benefit of those on here trying to get noticed by an agent even before they can get to impress a client, what tips can you share?

How can we get noticed out of the 200 CVs you will receive?

What should we be doing to get your attention?

Your perspective would be more than useful.

 

[Simster]

For the first time ever, I've been very selective of the recruitment agents I'm dealing with - mostly through referrals. I'm beginning to see how the better ones operate. No scattergun approach - they talk about my CV in detail before submitting me for roles and absolutely grill me over various things. I can see why - in cases where they're only allowed to submit 2 or 3 CVs for any given role, they want to submit the people most likely to fill the position.

I can certainly respect that and now trust the 6 agents I have in place - because I've met them all in person over the past week. My CV is submitted for 6 different roles so I'm kind of hoping for an interview soon! I don't see what else I can do except the obvious things - spruce up my CV having taken on board the feedback from agents, meet the agents in person, brush up on the skills I haven't used for a while in anticiaption of an interview, and above all stay positive...

 

[Tricky Dicky]

For the first time ever, I've been very selective of the recruitment agents I'm dealing with - mostly through referrals. I'm beginning to see how the better ones operate. No scattergun approach - they talk about my CV in detail before submitting me for roles and absolutely grill me over various things. I can see why - in cases where they're only allowed to submit 2 or 3 CVs for any given role, they want to submit the people most likely to fill the position.

I can certainly respect that and now trust the 6 agents I have in place - because I've met them all in person over the past week. My CV is submitted for 6 different roles so I'm kind of hoping for an interview soon! I don't see what else I can do except the obvious things - spruce up my CV having taken on board the feedback from agents, meet the agents in person, brush up on the skills I haven't used for a while in anticiaption of an interview, and above all stay positive...

Pretty much what I'm doing. I'm writing s/w at least 6 hours a day at home - refreshing some stuff I've not done for a while, trying some stuff I've not done before. It's actually quite interesting.

Have so far been selective about agents, but if nothing bites, I will broaden these a bit. I have a list of about 20 or so agents from the preferred suppliers list from my last company (with actual agents names, not just the recruitment company address).

Must say, having worked solidly for 26 years, it's acutally very nice having some time off (while the money lasts), but I may not be saying that for much longer !! It does make you think about life though.

 

[Dandyman]

Employed as an HR Manager and will probably need to make people redundant over the next 12 months.

That said the Olympics and on-going regeneration work in London (particularly around London Bridge, Elephant & Castle and some other areas) do provide some opportunities and I would encourage Sussex based people to consider work up here even if on a short-term basis.

 

[Bevendean Hillbilly]

Employed as a Marketer for Pharma, We have a recruitment freeze at the moment because our masters in the US are retreating to their domestic market more and more so are trying to slash costs on the international side.

Bad times ahead.

 

[strings]

Unemployed in 2 weeks time with no pay off, because I was only ever on contract.

I have a BA(Hons) degree and Masters degree. Yet I can't get any work. If I get an interview for crappy admin work I cannot get a job because I am "over qualified and will leave as soon as something better comes along" (I have had this reply FOUR times following job interviews now!). If I go for any decent work, I get an interview but always get passed over for candidates with "more relevant experience".

Feck.

As suggested by Junior earlier in this thread, I am in the process of trying to get in the RAF as a commissioned offcer, but the process is very long-winded. I still need work in the meantime to pay the rent.

 

[plymouth nige]

Been out of work for neally a month now - I'm trying to relocate back up to Sussex - but it's looking more and more like I'm stuck down here - What annoys me most is the fact that because I have a Naval Pension I can't get any dole money.
Anyone know of any Warehouse jobs going!!??

 

[ben andrews' girlfriend]

Still a student.

Have a job lined up in october though

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Been out of work for neally a month now - I'm trying to relocate back up to Sussex - but it's looking more and more like I'm stuck down here - What annoys me most is the fact that because I have a Naval Pension I can't get any dole money.
Anyone know of any Warehouse jobs going!!??

I think Gardner Books in Eastbourne take on seasonal staff in Sept/Oct for the Xmas rush and if you stick it out until early Jan they might take you on full time.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

working part time and making hours up on single rate overtime. problem is now the overtime is being cut back , only 8 hours this week and looks like I've only got 3 and a half hours extra next week.