Thursday 6 September 2012

Rejection email from Boots....

SIGH. :[

"What are you going to do with your degree then?"

..... "frame it!"

One in a million.: The Job Centre 05/09/12

One in a million.: The Job Centre 05/09/12: So, this week was my fourth visit to the job centre - as always, I was nervous/eager for advice from someone..anyone! I arrived in plenty of...

The Job Centre 05/09/12

So, this week was my fourth visit to the job centre - as always, I was nervous/eager for advice from someone..anyone! I arrived in plenty of time, as always because you know five minutes late and it can affect your benefits.... they don't care about your personal circumstances... Anyways, so I arrive just after twenty to three - my appointment wasn't until three. The G4S guard (who may I point out have more security in the centre than the job centre have staff) WHY? So anyways, the guard was like, "you're far too early, it's only gone twenty to two...it's really busy upstairs.. go wait on those seats"... so off I stomp to the seats, annoyed that you are 'threatened' if you're late, and told off if you're too early. I can't be one of those people that shows up at exactly the time you're suppose to, I've always been told that promptness is a good quality to have! Also, when did it become a security guards job to assist people... they are there to make sure 'no one plays up' or whatever.

FINALLY, I am told I can go upstairs, so off I pop! Sitting waiting for my adviser... it's 3.05pm.. my appointment was at 3... can I start playing up? They're late! They've gone back on their job seekers agreement!! I don't obviously, but it means I have ammo for if there should be an occasion where I am late.. I'll throw that back at them. Sitting there, waiting for my appointment, I start shuffling papers remembering the questions I wanted to ask my adviser  - hoping she would be nice. Luckily she was, she was pretty young and understood how hard certain situations are.. including the expectation that you will work up to 90 minutes away. I said that I would consider it, if I could afford to, but if it came down to my wages were only paying for the travel - I just couldn't do it. She understood - phew.

We had a good chat about what I was looking for, we both had a giggle at the elf job application and we managed to find some pretty decent work experience. She really had a good read through what I had been doing but still made me think that I could probably not take the diary entries that seriously, hmm. She noted how detailed they were and was convinced I wouldn't be with the job centre long.. so I guess that's a sign. We found a really good work experience scheme - it's at a publishers in Hull, think I'll have to interview for it, so fingers crossed.

Felt like nothing positive has happened within my job search for quite some time, however, this week, although no job offers, had feedback about the volunteer positions and found some work experience (expenses paid) so, things are happening. No longer in no mans land, things are moving. Found some good jobs too - some require certain experience that my adviser found so we were disappointed about that, but applying for a couple of administration positions, not exactly what I want but it's a job, a wage and experience.

How's your job search going? Leave me a comment, tell me about it!
Any tips? Leave a comment!

As usual, you can tweet me too! @DebStevo90 :)

I look forward to hearing from you,
Deborah! :D

Monday 3 September 2012

One in a million.: Ways to improve your CV without having to travel t...

One in a million.: Ways to improve your CV without having to travel t...: I recently read an article on grads which angered me somewhat; it suggested that one of the ways to improve your CV was to travel the world...

Ways to improve your CV without having to travel the world, spending money you don't have!


I recently read an article on grads which angered me somewhat; it suggested that one of the ways to improve your CV was to travel the world. Now, don’t get me wrong, it is a great way to improve your CV and your life but it’s an expenditure which could be avoided. You will still get a decent job whether you backpacked round Australia or not, unless you worked whilst you backpacked, you’ve just travelled. I’ve travelled too, to London to buy a Heat magazine.

Furthermore, this article also suggested that one ‘study abroad’ – an unachievable situation if you attend a university which doesn’t offer the chance to go to America for a term, or to wander the streets of Paris… It would be nice if there were, but most courses simply don’t.

Anyhow;

Actually look at your CV.

Spend time looking at your CV – ask yourself “does this need to be here?” “Could I expand on this?” I found that I hadn’t spent enough time discussing how certain jobs have improved certain skills I have, I just discussed my role. In fact, I removed the bullet points with the different roles I did, and wrote about the skills which I had gained through the role. Furthermore, your CV needs to be visually attractive – and by this I mean, you need to maximise the space you use. From other blogs and CV pages I’ve read, it is said that a CV should be no longer than two pages long, anything longer and you’ve lost your audience. Keep everything concise, appropriate and clean. And by clean, I mean don’t over complicate what you’re actually trying to say.

Example 1; “My duties included taking food orders, washing pots and delivering food to customer’s tables. Furthermore, I gained experience with handling cash and using a till to handle customer’s final bills.” This was the original statement; it is messy and doesn’t explain much about what I’ve gained.


Example 2; “My role as a waitress allowed me to interact with the public, take orders and deliver food to customer’s tables. Furthermore, this role also allowed me to gain experience using a till, and the importance of having excellent customer service skills” This is the new statement, I believe that the statement is more concise, explains the different duties I had and explained the experience gained and learned whilst working as a waitress.

Volunteer.

It sounds cliché, it really does but volunteering really does help! Although if you work you don’t have the time to give to volunteer – but maybe whilst you search for work, you can give up an afternoon a week to get involved with a charity. Every little helps after all. You’ll be learning some new skills, networking and helping others in the process. I used the country wide website www.do-it.org.uk the website is so useful, and you can search for the area which you’d liked to volunteer in. I just searched for opportunities near me. I would recommend applying for a few positions as there is no guarantee you’ll get the position and some places only require your assistance one morning or afternoon a week, so you have time to commit to other projects. Don’t be put off but positions which you think may not give you experience that you want – you don’t know what you’re going to gain until you’re there. Many times when you’re working for charities they offer you free training, such as first aid – which is such a useful skill. Volunteer you way into work! 

When I think of more ways... this will be updated!
Enjoy.
Comments are welcome, as are tweets! @DebStevo90

"this ain't a game of cat and mouse"

Deborah :)x