Why is it so hard for me to find a job? I've been looking sice the start of summer and still havent found anything! I know I've not had a job before for this reason as noone seems to want people without exerience. How are you meant to get experience when you can't get a job? Grr.....

Sorry I'm just very annoyed at employers!

Well, what are your strengths? Have you had any experiences, for example baby sitting (which shows you're responsible?), playing an instrument (patience, intelligence?), playing in an orchestra/ensemble (co-operation, teamwork?), experience of doing things around the house - any talents? Just because you haven't been "employed" before doesn't mean you don't have any skills, have a think about what your strengths are, then tell the people where you want to work these strengths or write them on your form/CV.

This isn't really my place since I'm not going through this but,

could you lie?

Just a thought.

Erm... lying on a cv? You have to sign a declaration to say that everything you have said is true to the best of your knowledge; and if you are found out, you will be dismissed. That won't look so good to future employers.

you stand more chance if you give an impression that youre keen to get a particlar job. have you a specific kind of work in mind? be ready to re-write your cv as many times as it takes to bend (not lie) whatever experience or aims you have.

look at the job advertisement, see what theyre looking for, word your cv to show that youre the guy theyre looking for. maximise your strengths to fit the job ad.
but don't overdo it at the interview. just be enthusiastic not overwhelming. if youre going for an hourly paid factory job they won't want you to be an upcoming
high-initiative, goal driven brain surgeon. if youre going for the kind of job that demands that then be it, sure.

otherwise just give the impression of being reliable and easy to manage. if they ask why you want their job don't just say 'the money!' sure, say it causally but as a side effect of working at the place!

and there's probably a few other people here who can elaborate.

if you're after a job in the music biz evern an assistant in a music shop be prepared for much disappointment and persistence.

WeeJen

I'm sorry you're having trouble finding work. I know how frustrating it is.

What sort of job are you applying for? And what sort of reasons are would-be employers giving for saying no thanks to you? Knowing this will help tailor advice to suit you.

But one thing I'd say regardless of what sort of job it is: NEVER EVER EVER lie when you apply for a job, whether it's by a CV or a company's application form. You will get found out, you will be in horrible trouble, and the stress of not knowing how soon this will happen will be awful.

Good luck with your job hunt.

Katyjay

*Jane puts on HR hat*

Do you get interviews and not the job? In which case the CV could be OK and you need to get skills in interview techniques. If this is the case then ask for feedback after your interviews to find out why you didn't get the job. Then you know what to work on.

If you don't get interviews then it is the CV.

Tailor your covering letter to specifically reflect what the job advert asks for.....if you don't have the relevant experience try to think of something similar you have done that demonstrates the skills they are looking for. Look for bullet points in the advert (this is what they are looking for at first trawl) and highlight them....then reflect this back in your letter. If you can't match at least 3 out of 5 bullet points, then think what skills / experience you are lacking and go get them somewhere doing voluntary work or the like (eg student organisations).

At this point you are aiming to get on the short list, and you need to reflect the "Person Spec" which you should have a copy of. Again if the stuff you want to do asks for skills you don't have (and think creatively about stuff you have done at school, clubs, hobbies etc), then go get them by doing voluntary work for a while.

DON'T LIE, but you can talk up the experience you have to sound good. If you lie, then you will be dismissed, and you will get bad references etc etc its not worth it in the long run.

And above all think positive. Hey it's their loss if they don't employ you isn't it

Good Luck

Weejen,

As someone who gets to wade through lots of CVs and loathes it (it's a ghastly way to sift through people, but best we've got most of the time), here's my list of things I like to see
- BRIEF CVs - I don't have time to wade through a 10 pager. Two or three should be plenty, and the first page should be personal details and a bullet point skillset/educational qualifications summary (tailored to the role on offer)
- Simple, clear presentation. Use tables to line things up but set their borders to be invisible for example. Don't use too many fonts or heading styles.
- CVs that have been proof-read. With packages such as Word there is no excuse for spelling mistakes. It doesn't look good if someone can't even be bothered to use the tools bundled with their word processor; if yours doesn't have a spell checker, get someone else to read it!

Best of luck in the hunt!

Just thinking that it may not just be them. Have you just left school?
If so I am surprised no help was given by the school's career people or are they no good at your school?
It isn't a good time for employment. Unemployment is increasing so you have to make that extra effort when all the traditional 'school leaver' jobs have now gone. The economy isn't exactly recessing but it isn't good because everyone's maxed out their credit.

WHat are you looking for?

I'm sure that weejen will be able to give more detail when she comes back; but I thought I recalled something that she was saying about being at university so I looked it up. Here it is, might save everyone some time until she comes back .

I had ths problem a few weeks back! And I posted on here. I've got a job now, and it's ok, but it's given me experience in almost every part time job sort of field! I tried big firms, which didn't work, and then started looking in more local places, which is where I found a job. They were desperate and didn't care how much experience I had!

Do some voluntary work in the areas your lacking and say you learn fast and have good people skills.

And don't rely on the spell checker, you need to check on the meaning too. We recently had a CV from someone claiming to be a contentious employee....we think she meant conscientious, but couldn't risk it

If they make mistakes like this on their applicationletter what might they put on letters to your clients???

hmmm not a good idea...but some people have said that certain employers prejudice against those who are at a certain age or because of marital status (ie if you're married and in late 20s) you might be going on maternity within a few years of getting the job...

Hmmm *Jane puts on employment law hat*

In the UK it is illegal to discriminate on the grounds of sex, and will be on the grounds of age from Oct 2006. So if they are found to be doing this get them to an Employment tribunal pretty smartish (ie within 3 months!) Citizens; Advice Bureaux will advise.

*YAP puts on cynic's hat, cunningly disguised as a fedora*

I wonder, though, how easy would this be to prove? I'd have thought that there's always another reason they could pull out for giving someone else the job.

I agree though, it's not on.

Still, my Economics teacher knows a lot about this sort of stuff as its happened to her, she says theyll discriminate and then give a different reason...so in her cv at one point i think she put she wasnt married when she was...something like that anyway...

Actually, random plus of a doctorate - one can hide one's marital status. Then, I presume, they could not ask whether one was married as it has nothing to do with the job.

(Anyhow, I've never had a job so I'll hide now )

Ditto YAP so <goes off to hide with YAP>

Suits you!!!

The reasoning and evidence for selection has to be well documented and produced in court. I know we are particularly careful, but we have to be. Smaller organisations may be less scrupulous and yes, may well get away with it.

Our head of languages said that when they were picking a new french teacher candidate, they didn't even look at CVs just looked at male people with french looking names. They only have 2 males in the dept and no native french people. The others didn't even get a chance!

yes but its difficult to prove at the interview / hiring stage because an employer primarily wants someone who fits - can do the job, is manageable, is suited to the culture and who's willing to do the job. it's difficult for anyone to prove any kind of discrimination if the employer simply says 'i like this person better. i feel more comfortable with them working for / with me. employers have every right to do that otherwise the interview is a waste of time.

qualifications are only part of it (as you'll know, scuse me emphasising this for those with bits of paper who still don't succeed in an app.

maybe easier if youre turned down for a generic post like shop assistant and you could do the job. or the dhss sends you round to someone.
many shop assistants i encounter are pretty incompetent so maybe they pulled the law!

there really aren't many companies who make their discrimination obvious enough to be taken to court anyway, and if they are, they've got enough money to afford a cracking legal defense. these laws are (to the cynics among us anyway ) primarily politically correct movements which look good on paper but are notoriously difficult to put into application. let's face it - if an employer decides to employ a middle-class, white, "family man" on their board of directors, then that's who'll get the job, even if the other 20 applicants are women.

Just to give you a little tip preparing for the interview, many firms now use competency based interview so you have the opportunity to provide examples from the experience you've had - not necessarily in a working environment.

For example one of the competencies they may be trying to test is problem solving - what they are looking for in the answer is specific examples from your own experience.

So start writing down a book of examples as you can never remember when you are put on the spot, so as something good happens write it down. set it out like this

Situation - what the situation/problem was at the beginning
Task - what you felt the solution to the problem was
Action - what you did (keep this specific to you, they don't want to know about your next door neighbour helping you, they want to know your imput)
Result - what the ultimate result was.

Word it in the same sort of way, it makes it easier for them to sift through later.

Example -

Situation - you were struggling with a debussy duet, getting the timing to meet with the other person.

Task - identify exactly which section was wrong, and what was wrong with it, eg, you were unable to get a timing section correct that had quavers against triplets going in between each member of the duet.

Action - I (always use I never we) double checked the notes, spent time working on getting the 2 against 3 independently then arranged a time to get together with my duet partner so we could work it through slowly together.

Result - We won the duet part in a festival

Really silly example but you get my drift!

Start a file with loads of examples that you could use. You probably won't be able to take it into the interview, but you're more likely to remember it if you've written it down.

The other thing is to reiterate what Janexxx said, always call for feedback, it identifies whether you are doing things wrong - I always call, and have only once been refused, I found out later from a friend that the guy was intimidated by me, which didn't surprise me he was useless as an interviewer

Hi guys sorry about my wee rant earlier and I've just realised I wasn't very specific. But basically, I am a student so I'm looking for parttime work anything really, shopwork, waitressing, ect... thanks for the advise I'll see if I can twist my C.V slightly to include some of these things!

Having interviewed for the best part of 10 years now the best advise I can give is:

a) Be presentable.If your going for a customer facing job dress smartly i.e. suit tie or smart dress if your a lady (nothing skimpy or tight fitting though). If your going for a shop floor job smart casual will do again nothing tight fitting or skimpy though.

Read your CV. May seem obvious but youll be amazed at how many people dont know the content of their CV's. Be able to justify and produce evidence of all the enteries in there.

c) Read the job advert several times and think about what they ar looking for and why. This will help you put answers in their context.

d) Think about your answers, use simple language i.e. phrase any question in the style and type of language they use to ask it. Dont try to blind them with knowledge unless they ask for it.

e) Be honest. Interviewers are not silly most of them can spot someone who is lying straight away, body language, eye contact and voice inflection will give you away.

f) Be yourself.

g) Try and find a friend, family friend or parent who has done interviews to give you a mock interview.

h) Interviewers are only HUMAN they base decision on the evidence they are given. They are normally as nervous as the person being interviewed dont forget it is their duty to find the right person for the job; you need to prove that it is you!

If your not getting to the interview stage your CV is wrong. Unfortunatly I dont know what sector you are looking at but in general :

a) CV's now need to be achievement based i.e. "I successfully", "I achieved" etc.

Be able to provide evidence for what you put in there.

c) Dont resrict it to work activies. I asume you can play an instrument this provides tons of scope... "I sucessfully passed grade 5 ......."

d) If you have been police checked its worth putting down.

e) If you work with youth groups or are involved in things like the Duke's awards put it down.

f) Have you had any responsibility for money...

Employeers dont always look for experiance, potential is all important now! Keep trying and good luck I do know how hard it is but you will get there eventually.

Whoops sorry about my long reply before, given the nature of the work you will probably need to focus on:

a) Timekeeping :- Think of something that show you will not be late, will not have over long breaks etc.

Commitment :- Think of something that show you will not give upeasily

c) Honesty :- Something that shows you can be trusted.

d) Team Work :- Something which show you are able to work in a team.

Most of the above can I am sure be proved through your music to some extent.

And other things ...
Customer care....can you keep your temper when face with awkward / difficult people (as Digby said earlier, and BTW this is brilliant advice for interview prep, think of a situation when you have had a difficult person to deal with and how you kept your cool). Can you say "Have a nice day" like you really mean it

Handling cash - Have you ever done this? School tuck shop? Whatever, you need to be able to prove honesty and accuracy

Attendance - no employer wants someone who is always off sick. Convince them that you will attend regularly and not take time off.

If its a shop can you cross-sell. They buy a dress you sell them a bag or a wrap or something to go with it...this is a BIG THING in retail. "if you like that, you might also be interested in one of these...."

If you're just looking for work during the summer, have you registered for temporary work with local recruitment agencies? I know they're not brilliant (I'm sure it's a condition of their employment that they have HUGE hair, and be able to phone you at 9am to ask if you're available for work that day), but it's one way of building experience, and showing flexibility. Added to which, for all their faults, agencies will re-jig your CV, and let you do typing tests and everything. (It always amuses me how you could have been PA to the CEO of a blue-chip global corporation, yet you still have to prove your typing speed!).

As for the type of person they want to recruit, this applies in most companies just as much for internal vacancies as for external recruitment. Several years ago I applied for a promotion but didn't get it; looking at those who were promoted I suspect it was because I was too white and middle-class, but I can't prove anything. Life moves on, and I'm over it now (just!), but it's their loss and in retrospect it was for the best.

And NEVER lie on your CV. Talk it up, but don't fib - you'll only get caught out in the end.