Rodders Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 wahey - good luck 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentVilla Posted March 10, 2017 Moderator Share Posted March 10, 2017 40 minutes ago, trekka said: I only found out this afternoon via a call from Washington itself that I've got a friggin' interview next week(!!!!). Woooohooooooooooooo!!!! I'm going to celebrate tonight with whisky and then it's prep, prep and more prep. Feeling nervous (but very excited). Thanks guys for talking me into applying - just one big hurdle to go! You're welcome and good luck!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 Anyone got any tips on what to do when you can't seem to get work? I've got a job, but it's too low paid to the point where I have to live back with my parents. I'm with a bunch of agencies, asked friends about vacancies, apply to probably 30 jobs a week online, look for vacancies in shop windows, in papers, through Facebook, etc but I'm having no luck at all. Seem to be stuck in the lacking experience, can't get a job, can't get experience cycle and now age will be playing against me. Running out of ideas at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StefanAVFC Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 14 minutes ago, kurtsimonw said: Anyone got any tips on what to do when you can't seem to get work? I've got a job, but it's too low paid to the point where I have to live back with my parents. I'm with a bunch of agencies, asked friends about vacancies, apply to probably 30 jobs a week online, look for vacancies in shop windows, in papers, through Facebook, etc but I'm having no luck at all. Seem to be stuck in the lacking experience, can't get a job, can't get experience cycle and now age will be playing against me. Running out of ideas at the moment. Have you thought about moving abroad? Language is a huge asset and you can move forward within international corporations fairly quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 15 minutes ago, kurtsimonw said: Anyone got any tips on what to do when you can't seem to get work? I've got a job, but it's too low paid to the point where I have to live back with my parents. I'm with a bunch of agencies, asked friends about vacancies, apply to probably 30 jobs a week online, look for vacancies in shop windows, in papers, through Facebook, etc but I'm having no luck at all. Seem to be stuck in the lacking experience, can't get a job, can't get experience cycle and now age will be playing against me. Running out of ideas at the moment. What sort of industries have you worked in before? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 11 minutes ago, StefanAVFC said: Have you thought about moving abroad? Language is a huge asset and you can move forward within international corporations fairly quickly. Its something I have thought about. But learning a foreign language is incredibly difficult. I've been trying to learn Italian for a number of years but can barely converse in it. I get that living in a couple try is different than learning through other means, but I figure it'd be even harder to get a job abroad to begin with not being able to speak the language! 9 minutes ago, Xela said: What sort of industries have you worked in before? I've done nothing "good" really. Just warehouse, data entry, bookkeeping type stuff. I don't mins minimum wage work, I'm just not getting the hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StefanAVFC Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 33 minutes ago, kurtsimonw said: Its something I have thought about. But learning a foreign language is incredibly difficult. I've been trying to learn Italian for a number of years but can barely converse in it. I get that living in a couple try is different than learning through other means, but I figure it'd be even harder to get a job abroad to begin with not being able to speak the language! I've done nothing "good" really. Just warehouse, data entry, bookkeeping type stuff. I don't mins minimum wage work, I'm just not getting the hours. Service industry. What I work in. All you need is English. I started out answering the phones, now I've progressed upwards. It's a great career and I love living abroad. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 2 hours ago, kurtsimonw said: Anyone got any tips on what to do when you can't seem to get work? I've got a job, but it's too low paid to the point where I have to live back with my parents. I'm with a bunch of agencies, asked friends about vacancies, apply to probably 30 jobs a week online, look for vacancies in shop windows, in papers, through Facebook, etc but I'm having no luck at all. Seem to be stuck in the lacking experience, can't get a job, can't get experience cycle and now age will be playing against me. Running out of ideas at the moment. When I was in your situation, I moved to South Korea and began teaching English. I didn't learn more than basic Korean and never needed to, and it began a career of teaching English as a foreign language that I still do today (albeit back in the UK these days). A major departure obviously, but definitely broke the cycle. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choffer Posted March 15, 2017 VT Supporter Share Posted March 15, 2017 Headhunted (well, approached by a recruiter) twice this year, down to the last two both times. Didn't bag either so I'm stuck where I am for the foreseeable. Now I find out that redundancy is likely and I can't find a single job to apply for that meets my skill set (and extortionate wage demands). *Tightens belt* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trekka Posted March 17, 2017 VT Supporter Share Posted March 17, 2017 (edited) Just got back from the interview. I don't think I sold myself well to put it mildly (for most of the time I was a gibbering nervous wreck!). Aaaand, the waiting game continues. I need a drink! Edited March 17, 2017 by trekka Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choffer Posted March 17, 2017 VT Supporter Share Posted March 17, 2017 48 minutes ago, trekka said: Just got back from the interview. I don't think I sold myself well to put it mildly (for most of the time I was a gibbering nervous wreck!). Aaaand, the waiting game continues. I need a drink! Fingers crossed. Worst case scenario is that you've just got some good interview experience. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trekka Posted March 17, 2017 VT Supporter Share Posted March 17, 2017 Just now, choffer said: Fingers crossed. Worst case scenario is that you've just got some good interview experience. Thanks, that's how I'm taking it. I'm just chuffed to have been given the opportunity to interview anyway as I know it had fierce competition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choffer Posted March 17, 2017 VT Supporter Share Posted March 17, 2017 Aye. That's how I took it in the two I had last month. To get down to final 2 on both occasions when I'd originally thought I was really reaching for the jobs was a boost. Having thought I was being made redundant this week, it now turns out I'm not. Almost disappointed now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post TrentVilla Posted March 17, 2017 Moderator Popular Post Share Posted March 17, 2017 2 hours ago, trekka said: Just got back from the interview. I don't think I sold myself well to put it mildly (for most of the time I was a gibbering nervous wreck!). Aaaand, the waiting game continues. I need a drink! I interview people as part of my job, have done for almost 20 years. I say that because yours was one of the worst interviews I've ever.... Listen, genuinely I have been interviewing people for that length of time and in my opinion a bad interview is the fault of the person or people carrying it out. The purpose of an interview is to assess if the candidate has the desired skills for the role. Not to grill them, make them nervous etc it's not the Apprentice. An interviewer should be skilled enough to put someone at ease while still probing the persons answers and assessing their suitability. I've stopped interviews before, sent someone to get a drink and come back. I've also taken people on after terrible interviews because the pressure environment of an interview wasn't a reflection on the pressure of the role. So don't beat yourself up, if it went badly it's as much about them as you if not more. It also doesn't mean you haven't got the job. So relax and what will be will be, as I always say you regret in life what you don't do not what you do. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trekka Posted March 17, 2017 VT Supporter Share Posted March 17, 2017 Just now, TrentVilla said: I interview people as part of my job, have done for almost 20 years. I say that because yours was one of the worst interviews I've ever.... Listen, genuinely I have been interviewing people for that length of time and in my opinion a bad interview is the fault of the person or people carrying it out. The purpose of an interview is to assess if the candidate has the desired skills for the role. Not to grill them, make them nervous etc it's not the Apprentice. An interviewer should be skilled enough to put someone at ease while still probing the persons answers and assessing their suitability. I've stopped interviews before, sent someone to get a drink and come back. I've also taken people on after terrible interviews because the pressure environment of an interview wasn't a reflection on the pressure of the role. So don't beat yourself up, if it went badly it's as much about them as you if not more. It also doesn't mean you haven't got the job. So relax and what will be will be, as I always say you regret in life what you don't do not what you do. Much appreciated, Sir! They did seem to be genuinely decent people interviewing me by the way and said take all the time I need following a long pause mid-sentence (whilst grabbing the water!). I live in hope. I'll be disappointed in myself of course but do understand that they have other candidates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StefanAVFC Posted March 17, 2017 Share Posted March 17, 2017 I've started interviewing now too and we've had 2 people have not great interviews but we took them because they clearly had the skills, and now they're the best members of our team. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted March 17, 2017 Share Posted March 17, 2017 9 minutes ago, StefanAVFC said: I've started interviewing now too and we've had 2 people have not great interviews but we took them because they clearly had the skills, and now they're the best members of our team. I wish all interviews worked like this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StefanAVFC Posted March 17, 2017 Share Posted March 17, 2017 (edited) Also to add, we employ across 3 languages and one of the two I mentioned, it was like he could barely speak English despite being fluent, and we were very close to not taking him because he needed fluent English. yet here we are, he's comfortably the best member of my team, no language issues. We identified the nerves. Trusted his cv statement of fluency in English. From my own experience with being interviewed so many people get off on the power of being an interviewer and/or lack the awareness to think 'yes this guy didn't interview amazingly but you can clearly tell he was nervous/his cv displays exactly what we're looking for.' Edited March 17, 2017 by StefanAVFC 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaglint Posted March 17, 2017 Share Posted March 17, 2017 1 hour ago, TrentVilla said: So relax and what will be will be, as I always say you regret in life what you don't do not what you do. Off topic but I remember someone on a night out (friends work colleague) saying that to me as justification for cheating on his wife. Pretty sure he did end up regretting it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post trekka Posted March 28, 2017 VT Supporter Popular Post Share Posted March 28, 2017 So, as expected, I failed at the interview stage. I'm taking it as experience. I'm pretty chuffed that I made it that far and not too disheartened . (In some ways, I'm actually quite relieved which might sound odd but I can finally relax about it all). Thanks for your advice and support during the process - it's very much appreciated. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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