A new beginning

Well it has taken a while as I have got settled into my new role but tonight I have finally created a new blog. If you are interested in my thoughts and ideas, or just what how my life is going then I would love to see you there.

http://trialsntrivialisations.blogspot.com/

I hope that this blog is truly at an end and that my unemployment troubles are over. If you stumble across it some time in the future please do not hesitate to contact me if you so desire. I know how hard it can be and am happy to chat/share insight.

Alternatively enjoy my journey through 6 months of rejections, bearacrucy and learning.

To work

Well tomorrow is my first day in my new job. It also signals the end of this blog. I will start a new one shortly but the title and purpose of the blog no longer fits with my life.

I hope that those who have read have enjoyed doing so and maybe even gained something from this experience. Also should someone stumble across it in the time to come I will be happy to discuss any posts or views and offer any advice if wanted.

Otherwise thanks for sharing the experience with me. Now I must embark on an entirely new one.

Anthony

Annoying to the last

No-one can be sure what the affect of the new government will be on the job centre and its approach and overall performance. I for one cannot possibly see how it can be worse.

I have blogged many times about the failings of the Job Centre, my run in with the staff there and the uselessness of their job search facility. Well now I can add another service to my list of abysmal showings. When you go back to work you are given a number to call, presumably to end your benefit in a simple and easy way. I put aside half an hour for this, expecting it to be long enough.

I called the number to find it engaged, repeating this process many times over a period of around 20 minutes. At one point I did actually get through only to confuse some poor girl in Winchester's Environmental department, a short and embarrassing conversation revealed I had misdialled by a digit.

After about 20 attempts finally the phone was answered by an automated robot..telling me the Job Centre was closed and urging me to call back during its opening times of 9am-5pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Now correct me if I am wrong, it is FRIDAY. So why is the centre giving me such a retarded message. I have decided given I have spare time before my meeting with my employer later, that I will go down to the job centre, even though it is not my appointed time and see if they can succeed where their hopeless phone service fails.

I cannot wait to be rid of anything to do with the Job Centre and hope that the new coalition seriously reforms it to actually be of some use.

What I learned : Hints and Tips

The job of finding employment is an arduous one and certainly far from easy while we continue to be suffering in a recession. Over the course of the last 6 or so months I have got some things right, made many mistakes, but ultimately followed a path which has gained me work in my chosen sector. I like to think then that these hints and tips may be able to do the same for others in my situation. Without further ado:

3 Important Tips

1. Set a maximum of 2 Criteria- At the start of searching you will be probably have fairly narrow criteria. You will have a job you wish to do, an industry you wish to work in, location, pay, benefits, prospects. Soon it becomes clear this is unrealistic. Rank the criteria in order of importance and work out what is the most important thing to you. Some things may be forced up on you. I.E - location, if your tied to a rental contract, but by picking a wide, but targeted approach you have a better chance of finding the right job.
2. Experience is Key - A sad truth but in all but the graduate programs(and even some of them) experience is the key to success, not academic qualification. If you have experience then you stand a much better chance. If you don't do whatever it takes to get it. Temping is the best option, but also will not hire non experienced workers, work trials, working for free is always an option but the best I believe is to volunteer.
3. Volunteer - Probably the most important factor that has helped me find work has been my volunteering with the Solent Credit Union. I had not even thought of volunteering till a friend suggested it, don't assume that the right role is not there for you. Again, repeat step 1 and search for the best place for you. I looked for marketing and ended up with the S.C.U. I knew nothing about them at the time, but now am passionate about their success. It does not necessarily matter if you know the charity, there are hundreds of worthy courses out there in need of skilled workers, and unlike paid work, they are often not as picky. If this is something which interests you check out the do-it website.

And some hints

1. Identify your key sites - Most of job searching is conducted online now and there are literally thousands of sites to choose from. Do not expect to find the ideal sites for you straight away but rule out ones that do not hit the right buttons and keep searching. If you are not finding the jobs you need, try new sites and eventually build up a portfolio. For any budding marketers out there I advise the following:

Graduate Jobs South
Only Marketing Jobs
Daily Echo (Fish4jobs)
Jobsite
totaljobs
CV-Library - A brilliant discovery in the last few months
Gumtree
Marketing Job Boards
Reed.co.uk

2. Identify who will receive your application - Covering letters can make a real difference but they are time consuming and it is a good idea to keep templates for various jobs which can be adjusted. With many jobs though, the recipient is an agent representing the company. In my experience they do not read covering letters and I had a higher success rate when I stopped sending them with the C.V. Instead applying was a simple three click process in many cases and made applying for all sorts of jobs much easier.
3. Proof read any communications - Whether true or not it has been suggested that C.V's and applications are often thrown in the bin for grammar or spelling mistakes. This would seem a bit extreme but careless errors will not make you a stand out candidate for the job.
4. Be Confident and relaxed - An interview tip here. My best interviews were relaxed affairs, including the one where I got the job. Try and be relaxed and confident and honest. If you cannot answer a question state so, don't get hung up on the fact. The few rigid interviews I had were much harder and ultimately left me disliking the company anyway. Adhere to the criteria set for you but don't panic or worry. There are plenty more jobs in the...job sea? For more on interview techniques see this older post
5. Consider which benefits you are eligible for - The benefits process can be downright depressing and frustrating but don't rule it out because of pride. In particular look at Council tax and Housing benefit. Put up with the Job Centre for as long as you can. In the 6 months I was there they only did one thing to help me, and that was because I had reached the 6 month mark.
7. Consider anything which will enhance your employability - Keep an open mind and take any opportunity you can get your hands on. Think outside the box as well, if you have the money to do so learning to drive is one of the things which makes you more employable and gives you a greater reach for jobs.
8. Post your C.V on every job site you come across - Okay you do not have to religiously use the job site but if your C.V is there employers/agents can find you. I had a little success down this avenue but as always anything which makes the job easier has to be worthwhile.
9. Be cordial with agents but don't expect a lasting relationship - If your C.V begins to look impressive you will begin to receive calls from job agencies. Be polite and willing to discuss any role although also be ready to turn down opportunities. Agents will often come with jobs they are desperate to fill even if they are clearly not what you are interested in.
10. Beware the scams - Beware Scams and jobs which mislead as to what they actually involve. If possible try to avoid even applying for them. Asking for you to be self employed should flash a warning light as should salary being based entirely on OTE. (On Target Earnings) For more on marketing specific ones see here or here

Well there we go. A gigantic post which has shown some of the main things I have learned and wish to pass on. Happy hunting!

What to do with a spare week?

Well job is all confirmed and I start on Monday 24th. I am looking forward to finally taking my first steps in paid work and eagerly await the challenge.

This has left me with a spare week and I admit to being at a little bit of a loss as to what to do with it. A certain part of me wants to spend the week doing very little, playing Dragon Age, relaxing and socialising. Another part thinks that I should be more productive and make the most of the free time for good rather than pure procrastination.

At the moment neither side is winning. Having agreed upon a compromise of some relaxation, some chores/work. So far today I have done the food shopping, looked up article ideas for Fubra and matched my socks. (No longer will I wear odd socks...not until I do the washing again at any rate!) I have also played some dragon Age and watched the latest American Dad.

I plan to write two more articles for Fubra, (thus meaning I can be paid) Undertake some Research for my job, have a driving lesson and tie up loose ends including benefits. I have more training Wednesday night and a meeting on Friday but other than that and the above, my week is entirely free. I also intend to write several more blog posts, including what I have learned and advise for others in my situation.

Any ideas or advice? What should I do with my last week till I begin full time employment?

One Step Closer

Well after the third attempt I finally managed to get an answer out of learning links who have offered the position to someone else. I am not surprised as the job description including a lot of design elements, something I have little experience with. In the last two days I have been offered (and turned down) two other interviews and it seems highly likely I will take the job with Super Fun Days Out. It has been nice to have a few days where job searching has not been at the top of my priority list and also to realise that I have reached a point now where even just sitting back relaxing, I am receiving invitations to interview for jobs. It has led me to analyse why.

I noticed a sudden change about 2 weeks ago. What was special then? Very little, I made one little alteration to my C.V (to include the social networking training) and a few more jobs appeared. Oh and we entered May. This suggested that either in May everyone suddenly becomes job happy and desperate to help graduates, or that my volunteering role had hit the 3 month mark. 3 months of experience suddenly made me interesting, whereas 2 months, 30 days left me reeling in obscurity. It is an odd system when this is the case. I did not become a better marketer on the 30th April, nor did I level up. It was an entirely unremarkable day on my calender. I can sort of understand why 3 months experience becomes attractive but it has to lead to criticism of the process, after all the potential and skills of an individual does not change on that single day, even if in the eyes of the employer, they are suddenly eminently more attractive and ready to enter the world of the professionally employed.

Hopefully this can only mean good things, and if the 3 month contract on offer ends at that point, that I won't be left floundering and lost for long.

Job Offer

Last week I went for an interview with a young company based in Southampton. The company in question advertises fun days out. (from zorbing to paintball to clay pigeon shooting and white water rafting) It is a small organisation run by dedicated shareholders and they are looking for someone to come in and manage the roll out of a range of new services to their existing customers. The role is an internship, initially running for 3 months with the potential for a full time longer role to be put in place after that period.

I was impressed with my interviewer (The C.E.O) and the company and although the role involves more sales and telephone usage than I would like it was certainly an interesting one. However, not wanting to hedge my bet on securing a longer term job I asked to see the business plan and projections which would give me an idea of the liklihood of securing a long term role. That for me is after all key. I do not want to end up back unemployed in 3 months time.

This morning the C.E.O rang me..at 8:40, after some confusing questions he offered me the job and suggested we could pen to paper at the early part of next week. I thanked him for the offer but felt it was only fair to notify him I was waiting to hear back from other companies about other roles both of whom should get back to me by the end of this week. He agreed albeit relunctantly to put a deadline of Saturday to accept the offer.

So now I have 4 days after which I will hopefully be employed. It is possible that he may choose to pull out and offer the role to someone else, which would be very disappointing. But I simply felt I had to keep my options open. The other roles potentially on the table are not set contracts and therefore provide stability. If I take the job I would need to find somewhere to live in Southampton until the end of August but most rental contracts run for a year. Potentially then, I could be tied to Southampton for another 10 months after the role finishes, something not to be entered into lightly. On the other hand given my increased success in gaining interviews recently, I would hope to be unemployed for a much shorter period. I also have to consider then, what the role could do for my C.V and the role offered will not verse me in new software or provide me with any major new skills, where the others involve training.

I am expecting that I will take the job, having failed to secure a role with Learning links, but whatever the outcome, at the end of this week I will have a decision to make, and then hopefully, the search will finally be at an end.

You couldn't make it up!

On Wednesday I recieved a phone call while I was with the Credit Union. It was a company I applied for a while ago, offering me an interview on Thursday. The same day that I was due to be interviewed by no limits. This meant I needed to be in Portsmouth at 3 after the 11:30 interview in Southampton. It also threw off my usual preparation as I could not focus on just one organisation. After an evening of training I finally got down to planning my day around 10pm.

The day started badly. Stomach Ache and slight naseua are never the best thing to wake up to. However, by the time I set off for New Limits things had cleared up a bit and I felt a bit better. I arrived at No Limits with around 5 minutes to spare.

After a brief fight with the door I made my way in. I was met by a young woman who informed me the other interview had overrun and offered me a seat. I took the opportunity to quiz her about the organisation and we chatted amiably for 10 minutes or so.

After about 15 minutes the managers emerged from the interview room, took my name and then apologised as they did not realise they were meant to be interviewing me, apparently there had been some mix up and rather than interviewing for one specific role they had people for three different roles. Confusing!

I accepted this of course, was directed to the interview room, offered a drink and waited a bit longer. I talked with one of the interviewers about working with the Credit Union, my origins while I waited for the other to get the job description and begin the interview. At 11:55 my interview began, with the standard question about the company and role. It was followed by a mention of Lizzie, although the name rang a bell with me, the fact I had not heard it, sent the alarm bells ringing with my interviewer who embarrasedly informed me I was possibly in the wrong place. All initial interviews were conducted by Lizzie in the adjacent building owned by a different charity, apparently the two are not in any way directly linked but one is funding the other to employ people. After some frantic phone calls I was sent in the right direction only to be informed there was no longer any time for me to be interviewed and that I would be informed of a new date and time at some point in the future. I took it upon myself this morning to ring and organise myself though, just in case.

As I left I was bemused at the whole situation. It was amazing it was able to happen at all.
1. I failed to understand the interview was not with the organisation. I took a phonecall and wrote things down but got confused.
2. No Limits did not know who they were meant to be interviewing and thus were ready to interview me.
3. One of the interviewer asked "You're Anthony right?" He had met me the day before, but normally when a interviewer says this, it means they are confirming you are the right person.
4. Lizzie made no attempt to contact me or work out where I was, for an interview, where if I failed to attend I lost my benefits.
5. Each party was unaware of the others confusion.

This left me 3 hours till my next interview with a company in Portsmouth. I found my way with no difficulty ending up with about an hour to wander round the historic dockyard before finding my way to the company offices, 100 yards away. The interview was my first in a while and I was a little rusty to start with. The company started by asking, not telling, me about what I knew of the company. I had done some research but it had been minor due to the short notice and other interview. Another question involved breaking the rules of interviewing as I was asked to give my opinion of both their website and brand. The Marketing manager who would hire me, was himself unhappy with it, and I was lucky that I threw caution to the wind and criticised it, albeit tentatively. I feel the interview went reasonably well but that my lack of experience in design may let me down to a candidate with a similar background.

So ends the week and already I have something for every day next week, including 2 interviews. Busy times, hopefully leading to full time employment. I will cover funding in a different post.

A Massive Week

I have lost the will to blog recently. Its been down to a number of things but today I want to update you on what for me, is the biggest week since I finished University.
Short of today, which I get to take off with the added joys of a stomach bug, my calender is full. My fingers will remain crossed for the entire week, but if just one thing goes to plan, I have cause to be happy.

Tomorrow I return to the Job Centre, to phase 2, New Deal. I don't expect much but it will be interesting nonetheless to see what is suggested, what I am offered and whether 3 weeks after my dispute, I find myself in another. I will welcome any offer of training which gives me something useful and spurn any suggestion that is no more than a time wasting exercise. Fingers crossed we can have a good discussion and come to a good agreement.

Wednesday and I have a meeting at SVS (Student Voluntary Service) to use funder finder. Along with Phil, I will search for someone who might be interested in funding the S.C.U to support me. If successful I at least have a chance of sticking around in the role, if we cannot find anything, then my path is clear, and any major involvement with the Union will end in June, along with my stay in Southampton. I also then have a training course in the evening, which will provide me with further useful skills.

Thursday signals an interview with No Limits for a role only available to the unemployed. I hold the qualifications and skills they need and even experience in the voluntary sector. I just hope I can convince them I am worthy of a chance.

So fingers crossed. This week is pivotal to my future. I only hope my long search is finally at an end.

Importance of clear communication

Communicating clearly is an important skill. It regularly turns up on job specifications and being able to both verbal and written communication can be immensely powerful ways of expression. I have always prided myself on having strong communication skills, particularly written. Yesterday I wrote a post however, which was not clear, and gave the wrong message. I feel it necessary to clarify the meaning behind the post since the responses did not match the intent.

Yesterdays post was mostly written from the recruiters perspective based on my experience of them. I realise rereading it that this was not clear. My questions as to why an over qualified person would go for a low paying, low skilled job were not my questions, but the questions that a perspective employer might ask and the thoughts that might be running through their mind. It was not personal belief written directly from my opinion and I was not belittling such jobs, nor was I stating I was too good for them. I was instead suggesting that recruiters for such roles might look at my C.V and background and question my motivations and the likelihood that 1. I wanted the job and 2. that I would stick around. As I said this is from my direct experience in applying for such jobs.

In other news I am not going to be applying for the school job since it is term time only and does not start until June. The amount it pays would also not be enough to cover any potential rent. Given I may not even be in Southampton in July it seems counter productive.

The Admin Question

Further to yesterday's discussion with the job centre I have just applied for a 16 hours a week clerical position in a school. I have applied because it is 16 hours and pays. I could still do the volunteering role and earn nearly enough to live off. But I dont think I will get the job.

This was something the advisor said was putting up barriers. I call it being realistic. Because short of lying at the interview (and even then it would be barely believable) I am going to harpoon my own candiacy.

The question an employer asks when you go for jobs in which you are over qualified is of course why. You can state that its good experience, you just want to be working or even that you want to work in a school, but that wont be the end of it and they will press you. The employer wants someone loyal. They dont want to fill a job only to need to fill it again in a few months and you represent a risk.

The duties are after all basic. There is no benefit to having someone with business experience doing the filing, inputting data and supporting the admin staff. They know you wont be around for long. You know it, they know it. Ambition in these roles is not necessarily a virtue when what the employer wants is someone steady and reliable. So here comes the million dollar question.

Say, six months down the line you are offered a marketing position in another firm would you take it?

You're trapped. They know it's what you are ultimately after and where your ambition lies. Even if you say no, its obvious you'd want the position and would resent having to turn it down. Its a no win situation. One pulled on me twice so far in admin interviews. If you say yes it shows you represent a risk, that you will leave sooner rather than later down the line. The amusing thing about this is the more impressed with you they are, the more they are likely to worry about losing you.

This is from experience btw. Advice on how to bypass this issue is welcome. I admit its something I struggle to get my head around.

End of the line?

I am expecting this post is going to split views and could lead to outrage on both sides of the fence. Before I explain I would like to state that although I welcome any input, in this my mind is made up and I can be a stubborn git. I believe I have been treated unfairly and intend to fight the perceived injustice as hard as I can.

I have been claiming JSA now for nearly 6 months since finishing my masters degree in Marketing Management. In that time I have been unsuccessful in my attempts to find a marketing job and to help improve my employment prospects I have taken on two different roles. Firstly I am working in a voluntary role with a local not for profit organisation and my experience and approach has led to my appointment as Marketing manager within the organisation. Secondly I am working as a freelance writer for Fubra Limited who own a wide variety of sites. I have at various intervals broadened my job search to include other fields, further distances and lower wages all in the hope of kick starting my career in marketing.

My job searchers agreement states I should look at roles in marketing assistant, marketing executive and admin areas. It is this third, admin area which has led to the dispute. I have always looked for roles with the approach of asking what they can do for me. If a role will add to my skill set or build upon existing skills then I have applied. Today I was told that this approach was not flexible enough and I should be looking at all admin jobs regardless of what they involve or their job prospects. I can see little reason for this, other than its inclusion of the third item on my job seekers agreement list. The advisor I spoke with basically suggested that my main goal should be to come off JSA and therefore look at any role I can do. My argument centred around where you draw the line. If I do a job which largely involves making tea and coffee in an office (thus admin) what difference is there to my future if I instead chose to stack shelves or work construction. Neither would help me, both would get me off of JSA. We could not reach an agreement and she suspended my job seekers allowance.

My issue is this: I am currently getting the experience I need to kick start my career and going into any admin job regardless of duties would merely be taking a step backwards. I am unwilling to do this. It cost £6,200 to get my Masters and I won't throw that away just to satisfy the job centre. I am however, willing to consider any role which will benefit me in improving future prospects. What is more is I have not broken the terms of my job seekers agreement. The agreement states:

"Take at last 4-5 steps a week to look for work. Apply for a min of 4 advertised vacancies a week, if none available make 4 speculative approaches to employers. Keep a written record of jobsearch and bring to each review. Use internet www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk, phone adviser; 0845 6060 234, use Job points. Has been informed of work trails. Read ES40 for more info. "

I am not some employment dodger eager to live off benefits. I have been applying to at least 4 jobs each week, sometimes up to 10 and thereby fulfilling the criteria set out for me. I believe I should have the right to choose which jobs to apply for and am justified in turning down low skilled/menial admin jobs I would have been able to do straight out of school. I invested in education and I think it is unreasonable to be asked to ignore it.

At the time of suspension I was asked to write the issue as I saw it and my argument as it were. I was given pen and a piece of paper. I was given no further means to contact this "higher authority" which I believe to be unreasonable. I also think it is unfair to be made to write your argument there and then when you are still under the emotional stress brought about by the fact you have just had benefits suspended. I was very angry and although I did not convey this in my writing, I certainly did not structure my argument or include all the relevant points as well as I could have given the time.

I can see things from their point of view. The advisor pointed out, rightly, that I been unsuccessful in my marketing applications and therefore have to be more flexible. This I was willing to accept and I stated a desire and willing to apply for any job which helped me walk (even baby steps) along the marketing path. What I took issue with is that the job centre would sooner see me working at McDonald's than being supported to help begin my marketing career. I believe this to be out and out wrong and if it does indeed come across as the case I intend to make a noise about it as I feel strongly it is the wrong approach. I was egged in to getting a degree and vocational skills in the form of a masters by the government, if they then want me to just to pretend it doesn't exist that simply isn't fair.

I expect that my review will lead to me being taken off JSA and thus having all support withdrawn. Its a measly £24 anyway. Nonetheless I will continue to argue my point with anyone who will listen and fight for a change in the way graduates/professionals are treated. It has been suggested to me that I write to my local MP about this, something I intend to do. I have no idea whether this will actually help or result in anything but what I simply refuse to do is lie down and take it.

Shifting Focus

It can be a hard thing to do. We all get set in our ways and to begin to change things can be a real challenge. I had noticed that in the last month, despite the fact I am now arguably more employable, I had been getting less success with my applications, less responses and less interviews. This didn't make sense, until I realised something important.

My approach was wrong. I was keen to state how although I was inexperienced I was willing to learn. My C.V catalogued my positions of authority at university and how they demonstrated useful business skills. My covering letter explained how a group project had given me harsh deadlines to produce a large project.

All of which are irrelevant now. I have been working in a marketing management role for 2 months +. I have produced articles for deadlines on a website, I have been to meetings, written a strategy, liased, networked and carried out day to day marketing duties. Stating that I learned all these useful skills at University is actually hampering my progress. What I should say is I have demonstrated all these things, practiced and used the skills I have learned. I am not prepared for working in business, I am working in business. I cannot imagine the strange impression I have been given employers. "This candidate manages all marketing for a small organisation, yet all he wants to talk about is how his university societies taught him to deal with regular meetings and how a group project gave him team experience." Something does not add up.

I may have only been in the role for a few months, but my experiences in it trump the academic, I just wish I could have been quicker on the up take. My C.V is now dramatically reduced and my covering letter template for ever changed. If there is any general lesson to learn from this it is that as situations change you have to really consider every little aspect which you are showing employers. Does it reflect you now, or you of the past and what can you do to represent yourself better.

So, what will you teach me?

After 6 months of unemployment the Job Centre pledges to place you in a job or provide meaningful training which will further your career prospects. With this day soon approaching I will soon be subject to this pledge. For many, I imagine, this will make the big difference and help them find work.

Me, I am dreading it.

It has all the hallmarks of another fight with the Job Centre as they either try to place me, or train me in something utterly irrelevant and pointless. For the most part the pledge is for simple untrained workers, so till training, construction work or telesales training may be the approach taken. I will not pretend I know everything but its going to be interesting to see what basic training is suggested to me and I am offered. I have already learnt in my Masters all about marketing, admin, negotiation, presentation, report writing and computer usage. I know how to do data entry and have had experience answering telephones. Just what will they try and teach me..its going to be interesting to see.

It got me thinking. In an ideal world, what skills would I be given. What keeps appearing on job applications? Being able to code in HTML has come up a few times, QuarkX - a program used in sales, or perhaps best of all Adobe Creative Suite, which has appeared many times as desirable.

If I was provided training in any of those it could make a big difference to the success of my job applications. I just cannot help but worry that in reality I will given a skill I will never use again, but there is nothing wrong in hoping.

A little lost

Another day drifts slowly past which has been utterly uneventful on the job side of things. It has now been a week since my last succesful communication with a company. I have applied for many jobs, some of which are quite realistic but have heard nothing.

It has me confused. My C.V now includes experience, my covering letter draws upon it, but my success rate has dropped. Perhaps I am now going for more jobs believing I have skills and experience but in reality this is not how the companies see it. Or maybe some big internet wormhole has been eating my emails.

I am used to rejections, the odd agency phone call and interviewing only ultimately to be disappointed. Nothing is unusual. It makes little sense, and I am not sure what can be done to rectify it. Maybe companies are becoming increasingly tired of writing rejections so now just ignore unsuccesful applications, or maybe I have been wrong about the jobs I thought looked realistic. Its hard to know for sure, but at least in my approach I will keep plugging away and spend a little more time on my jobs.

Money well spent....

A few weeks back, maybe longer, I reviewed a number of job sites. At the time I ranked job centre plus at 3/5, a really useful resource for job hunting.

Since then it has never stopped falling in value. As I eluded to then, it is soon to be replaced by the direct gov simple search. Since then as if to make the transition seem a good thing the job centre search has been erratic and useless.

In the past month I am yet to find a single position using it. The frustrating thing though is I have to conduct several different searches to actually work this out. It is just a broken waste of space. Some examples of its failings.

- A search asking for jobs no further than 40 miles outside Southampton, offers jobs in glasgow, east riding of yorkshire and northampton
- A keyword search of marketing returns english lecturer, kitchen fitter and cleaner
- I am yet to find a way to actually turn up marketing executive roles without use of the keyword

Since I am being forced into visiting the job centre weekly anyway I am very tempted to give up and let the job centre "find" jobs for me in itermittent weeks. Not that their own internal search function seems to be any better.

What is most distressing in all this is that Job Centre Plus is planning to replace the above with direct gov job search. A search for marketing will warrant the following choices of which you can pick 3:

e-marketing
farm sales and marketing
marketing and public relations
marketing for non profit organisations
marketing manager
selling
telesales

It would be fair to assume that this is because these are the jobs that are available, after all there are more marketing jobs in sectors other than charities and farms. Wrong. Selecting marketing and pr, marketing for non profit, and marketing manager will return 90% sales and account manager jobs, with not a single job in any of the 3 selected options. It does not even state none of the above were found, these are apparently relevant jobs.

*Sigh*

The site may be bright, its future certainly isn't.

An update on the positive

Although I am yet to find a full time paying job, 2010 has not actually been a bad year for me. The end of 2009 was just one failed job application after another. I spent way too long wasting time and watching as the days went past.

2010 and I joined the Solent Credit Union. I discovered an organisation with massive potential and a few people keen to drive growth, but mostly floundering as a large fish in a small pond. My work there has included delivering a marketing strategy which I was amused to hear many members of the board have not actually read. Nonetheless the Marketing team has and we have set some realisable goals and deadlines which will take the organisation forward. Perhaps the most important of these is the decision that we need a premises, something we are now taking steps to doing with a meeting scheduled on Friday with the manager of the East Street Centre. I have enjoyed my various tasks and challenges with the SCU and can now see the potential should the chance arise to pursue marketing in the not for profit sector. There has been tentative talk of putting together a funding proposal which would allow me to stay in the role with the SCU.

February also gave me the chance to interview with an awesome organisation called Fubra. I felt I had put myself across well and had a very real chance of scoring the marketing executive role. In reality it was the same old story, with an experienced candidate beating me to the post. Fubra did however make me a trial job offer, the chance to become a copy writer for their portfolio of sites. This has mostly involved writing short news/blog articles on the relevant sites with each earning me £5. The trial involved writing four blogs and I completed it earlier this week. Given it takes me under half an hour usually it's not a bad little bonus. Not to mention I can now add the skill of copy writing to my C.V and provide examples of my work.

March and I have finally got round to learning to drive. I have only had one lesson and it has proved a daunting experience, although fun. Hopefully, I will not take too long to pick up the basics and thus lessen the dent in my savings.

The future holds more driving lessons, the continuation of implementing my strategy at the SCU and now I am officially a writer for Fubra I could if I chose to write a larger article for a bigger pay out. Short of the lack of a job, the future actually looks pretty bright!

Making the effort

One of the most time consuming part of job hunting is regularly updating your profiles on the bazillion sites you have chose to upload them on. The fact is as a job hunter you may as well put yourself out there in as many places as you possibly can. There are numerous job sites, some even seem to have the exact same jobs.

It has been suggested that it is good practice to update profiles/C.V's every few days as it puts you to the top of employers listings in a search. I tried this at first but for one thing just slightly editing my C.V to generate hits did not seem to work and for another I felt there were better uses of my time.

In the last few days though, I have been given good reason to update my C.V. It has taken me around an hour and a half jumping around the various sites and updating and uploading my C.V. The sites suggest that the purpose of this is to get employers to find you. As of yet I have never actually been directly contacted by an agency, employer or job I actually want. I have had to find the jobs. Nonetheless since I have nothing to lose, when I do have reason to update it still seems worth taking the time and making the effort. After all, all I need is one break, if it comes direct from an employer then the choice certainly becomes justified.

The amazing thing is that because there are so many sites I find new ones every now and then to upload and use. Hopefully one will prove to be the diamond in the rough and have not only good jobs but employers looking for people like me

Getting off the fence

I am both lucky and cursed in that I have already chosen a career direction. In one sense it is good to have a target and in another it's bad to be so limited.

For many people deciding on which career path they wish take can be the hardest part of the job seeking process. At each stage of our lives we are forced to make (fairly) uninformed decisions about what we want to do next.

Yesterday I applied for a job entirely in P.R. It was a departure for me and my knowledge of what was involved and what was required was not as strong as when I apply for marketing jobs. I therefore decided to use My Job Search which has an extensive database of job descriptions and roles.

Within each is a list of the skills and interests required as well as an interview with someone in that job which helps to provide further insight into what the role involves and helps build a better picture of just what the job is about. It was particularly useful in aiding me in writing my covering letter as I drew upon the skills I knew the company would be interested in.

Particularly if you are one of those people who are still sitting on the fence, unsure exactly about what to do then I strongly advise you to take a look at it. Also if you are applying for a position you know little about it is worth reading the relevant job page before submitting an application. Below is a screenshot, which gives a good idea of just how many job descriptions are available:




Once you have decided which role best suits you, you can then use the search function to search for those jobs and the site will search 514 different job databases for you. The site has a simple search function whereby you can input a job and location. As with most job sites you will have to pick out the sales jobs claiming to be marketing and sift through a lot of irrelevant positions. A salary checker is also available which can allow you to hone your search and thus provide a higher level of positions which are likely to be of interest to you.

So if your are still sitting on the fence, My Job Search can be an excellent resource for you. It is in particular this database of career descriptions which makes it stand out from the other job search sites.

The Job Centre- There to help?

I am becoming increasingly frustrated with the Job Centre and in particular their insistence that after 13 weeks of job searching in alternate weeks to signing on I have to sit with an advisor, look at jobs I could find myself and then leave.

You may remember I had requested that these end given their utter pointlessness. At the time the guy was very understanding and said after three weeks he would ask his superior.

The answer was of course no.

What is more the jobs he keeps showing me never actually involve even the smallest element of marketing, instead being mostly admin based. As I explained applying for a permanent admin job is just not realistic. But on Tuesday my advisor wanted to give it another go. This gave me a chance to really vent my frustration at the whole job centre process.

We have now been in an economic downturn for nearly 2 years and yet the job centre has made no attempt to adopt its practices to graduates/unemployed professionals and even experienced managers. They all get the same experience as someone with 3 kids, no education and 20 years of life. I think we really have gone to far down the equal opportunity and fairness path. Because when it comes to the job centre, we are not all equal and should therefore be treated differently. I regularly bring a list of between 6-10 jobs I have applied for. I search every few days and am also volunteering and copywriting. Being bought in to the job centre every other week to look at jobs I am not going to apply for is basically laughable.

The way that the job centre works they would sooner see me working in a low paying admin job I could have done straight out of school, rather than volunteering, gaining experience and trying to realise my potential. These things in fact gain me no extra credit, if anything they are viewed as a distraction.
If necessary i will have the same argument with the advisors each week and win. If they think that I spent £6k to study a Marketing Masters just to spend my life in a basic admin job they are sadly, sadly mistaken. If they ever actually decide they have an interest in helping me I will welcome it. Until then I will attend each Monday meeting, ready for another fight.

Post Mortem

You have left the room leaving your smiling interviewer behind. The exit is approaching as you manage to put one foot in front of another. Your mind is focused, focused on carrying out an immediate post mortem.

At least you do when things have gone badly. Yesterday was a blip really. A blip of confidence, a blip on practiced interview technique, a blip on exiting an interview with your head held high.

Finding the place was easier than expected. I did in fact arrive just under an hour early. Fortunately there was a cafe nearby which I could wait at. I had a cappucino and read newspapers. Waiting, waiting...

I have found the longer you have to wait for something the more nerves get to poke their head in and scream at you. Travelling does not count as waiting so much as when you are sitting in a nearby place which serves no other purpose to you than to be a place to pass time. Also this is probably a personal thing but the cappucino really didnt help. It made me mouth dryer, leaving a lingering unpleasant feeling.*

Heading to reception I was then sent upstairs, where I had to wait again. I read the book I had with me, except I didn't actually read if you know what I mean.

Ushered into the tiniest office I have ever been in I was then cross-examined by the C.E.O and my potential future boss. I was thrown immediately on to the back foot when I saw that on the desk lay the doomed covering letter, the covering letter written to convince GJS I was needy. (See Crossed Wires)

I stammered, stuttered, repeated myself. I tried too hard. The room was hot despite a fan. It was an unpleasant experience and when I left I felt as if I had escaped.

The immediate feeling afterwards was one of lethargy. I tore to pieces my answers, looked for things I had got right(which were few and far between), and thought about what I should have said. But I did so with little convinction. It took several hours after the actual event for me to recover, it was quite unusual, as was in fact, going to pieces in the interview.

The post mortem revealed a mess, one of my worst performances so far but as for the reasons it found none. The questions were no harder than others I have undertaken, the atmosphere less harsh than many, the interviewers kind and supportive. The frustrating thing is that the company are committed to providing feedback on candidates who failed to get the role. In my case the feedback is mostly wasted. Its the equivalent of carrying out analysis purely on an anomaly and its frustrating that such a good opportunity has been wasted.

Crossed Wires

I think a misunderstanding has just cost me potentially 5 different roles. You may remember a week or so ago that I posted about the never ending internships, my hope that as they were designed for people just like me I would get one and the desire to hear back.

I heard back. The rejections began to start arriving. One company provided feedback and thus started the cascade. After exchanging emails several times with GJS I recieved detailed feedback on my covering letter and then it dawned on me and suddenly it made sense why I was being rejected and why another department in the same company had picked up my C.V and offered me an interview. It was down to the purpose of the covering letter. The following was the description on the GJS site:

If you are interested in finding out more about this exciting opportunity please register with the GJS website, or simply log in and attach your CV with along with a covering letter explaining how you think you will benefit from this experience.

I clearly read too much into this. Misread the intention and tailored my covering letter to convince someone at GJS I needed this internship and would struggle without it.

In actuality I was not meant to do this. I was meant to write your standard covering letter explaining why you are good for the company and the role. This meant I had intentionally undersold myself, played down what I had done up to now and painted myself as an individual in desperate need of some experience.

It may surprise you to know this is not what most companies are after. I wrote for the wrong target audience and for the totally wrong purpose and although I have learned of my mistake and can ensure I do not make it in future, I cannot help but feel for the outstanding applications it's just a case of waiting for the rejections to roll in.

Waiting..

As I have alluded to before, most of job hunting is waiting. Waiting for the right opportunities to appear, waiting to hear initially, waiting to hear after interview. Right now most of my time is taken up by waiting. I have about 6 job applications out in the field and 1 interview next week.

That was strange. I was called by a representative from a company I had applied to via graduate jobs south internships. They were not ringing to tell me I was succesful in applying for the internship. Nope, they wished to offer me the chance to interview for another internship which involved extremely similar duties just in a different part of the office. I was also informed that I had been unsuccesful in applying for the other internship and that GJS would be in touch with me soon. That was on Monday, maybe I am missing something. Not that it matters I know now and have another opportunity to prepare for.

I am also waiting for another article idea to be approved in my part time copywriting capacity, the company usually get back to me pretty quickly and its been over 24 hours. What is more is I have to only suggest blog posts until I complete trial so am intentionally only submitting one at a go.

I guess last week was so busy that in comparison this week seems like I am just watching the tumbleweed roll past. In other news I finally get to meet my Marketing team tonight for the SCU. Fingers crossed it all goes well. As for the day, guess I'll just spend it waiting.....

Who are you?

I have been writing this blog for many months now and have amassed quite a number of posts on various issues all within the same general job seeking area.

At various times people have posted to discuss comments, either here or on facebook where these entries are published as notes.

And I am curious. Who are you reader and why do you read? One of the issues with online writing is you are not sure who your readers are and this is something that greatly interests me.

So I ask you, put a short comment on this with your name and why you read. Let my curiosity be satisfied.

Advice from a veteran (of many lost battles)

As I strolled out of the interview on Friday, a smile on my face, I realised something. I am becoming a veteran of interviews, all be it for jobs I have failed to get. Analysing my answers and the process of the interview I realised how much I had come on since my first interview early last summer. The mistakes I had made and avoided repeating, the better answers, the preperation experience and the different interview approaches. There are many guides out there on the internet about what not to do and what to do. Below are 10 things I have learned. More will follow each Monday. Aren't you lucky?

As I said, and the title insinuates, I am still unemployed. Some of this advice, goes against what is commonly suggested and other bits support it. You may therefore take the advice with a pinch of salt. Its the equivalent of taking military advice from the French. Ha, see what I did there? Anyway, in no particular order:

1. Relax - One of the hardest things to do in an interview is relax. Sit back, take your time and be attentive. If you cannot answer a question do not panic. If you stay relaxed you present a visage of being calm under pressure. The best feedback I have had from interviews has come from when I have just sat back and been open, honest and treated the interview as more of a conversation than an interrogation.

2. Don't be afraid to ask questions as you go - This is seen as a big no-no in most guides but I have found it works well. So long as they are short and relevant to the point that the interviewer is making they are generally recieved well. It shows that are you being attentive and are genuinely interested. This beats five minutes of silence any day.

3. Avoid negativity - Everything must be shown to have an upside. Don't let your pessimism take over. If the journey was long it gave you more time to prepare. If you don't like admin, say you prefer other tasks. Negativity presents you as a negative person and negative people are not who you want normally.

4. The Journey- Plan, plan, plan! You can usually trust trains, and if they are really late then you cannot be expected to plan for that and won't be penalised. Buses on the other hand it is often better to make sure you can get a later bus and still make it if necessary. Also it does not matter if your journey was total hell, do not tell the interviewer, you can allude to issues just dont spend long on them. The interviewers reason for inviting you was not to hear about your journey.. unless your applying for a quality tester on public transport of course.

5. The Job description - Bring it with you. You do not need to memorise it but be aware of its contents. It is a massive error if you accidentally state you don't like something which is part of the job. If your aware of what is involved you can tailor your answers to the opportunity.

6. Don't prepare answers - Learn about the company, decide on strengths and weaknesses but do not pre prepare regurgiated answers. Its easy to do in a phone interview but questions in face to face rarely come as you expect them and unless you are a brilliant performer you will just look silly.

7. Seem interested - you want to work for the company. Listen with real intent when they explain about the company. Be willing to engage with any points they make and do not be afraid to get on to an off topic discussion. If it is something you can talk about with authority and it interests the interviewer it will only enhance your chances.

8. HONESTY - Don't lie, don't exaggerate and don't bullshit. It just is not worth it. Take yourself out of the truth and you have left your comfort zone. You may contradict yourself or suggest something out of character. Remember you have probably written a covering letter and they have your C.V. This gives them an idea of what to expect. If you overplay the significance of things you may find yourself lost. Even if you manage to get past this stage, there is the reference and then employment. Don't wreck your long term chances.

9. If your mind goes blank - Admit it. Apologise. Interviewers know that the process can be intimidating and will usually give you time to recompose yourself. Its best if you can avoid it altogether but trying to speak with a blank mind only results in disaster.

10. Be careful blowing your own trumpet - Again this goes against the traditional suggestions. It is usually suggested that you should focus on your own achievements and what you did and not what others did. This is true but taking too much credit for group work only results in you looking like a poor team player. It says to the interviewer that you like to take credit for other people's work. Clearly not a good thing! You do want to give an impression of your skills, competences and generally how awesome you are, but modesty is always respected.

Feel free to disagree but these are 10 of the things I have learned and will continue to practice at all future interviews. As I said more next week

Rinse and Repeat

Tomorrow signals another interview. A surprise interview at that for a position where I was lacking several skills and of course experience. Given the ability recently of organisations to find me and not wanting to make a bad impression I won't write their name, instead just saying they are a major U.K I.T distributor. The biggest company I have interviewed for yet. They even have had in the past a graduate program. This, I admit has me a little worried. I have been turned down by tiny companies for a lack of experience, it seems unlikely that a major one would want to take a risk. I also suspect the competition will be high. All in all tomorrow is likely to be a wasted trip. Its the opposite effect of having your hopes high, when they are low you go in knowing you have nothing to lose. It is harder however, to motivate yourself to prepare properly as in your mind you have already failed to get the job. I just hope to be given a fair chance. I once went to a company in Basingstoke for all of a 20 minute interview. It was clear the guy was not impressed and I was in and out after just a few mundane questions. This admittedly was when I was a little bit less experienced with interviews, but still the thought hangs, I don't want to have spent £15+ just to make up numbers for a firm who have no intention of employing me.

As for the preperation process it is a case of rinse and repeat. Printing off maps, planning the journey, researching the company. It's a tedious necessity which is also time consuming.

The never ending internships

A couple of weeks ago I admit I was actually excited when the first of the internships appeared. Designed specifically for out of work graduates and therefore a place where experience is less likely to be a differentiator they were perfect for me. I was told to submit a covering letter and a C.V which I did.

Two weeks later and I have now applied for six different marketing internships all in different guises. Some have attached research, administration, design and P.R. Some are three months long, some are twelve. Some involve working in Southampton, others are as far north as Hook. The thing they all have in common. They are produced by GJS based in the same office in Southampton Solent University.

Can anyone spot a potential issue yet?

Writing a covering letter is time consuming. Most jobs require covering letters to accompany C.Vs so if you have any sense you have templates. After all if you are after jobs in the same industry what you want to say is likely to be very similar. One of the particulars for the internship is what you think it will do for you. Regardless of which internship I end up on, I hope it will do the same thing. The result is I have now attached six virtually identical covering letters and the office that receive them are probably sick of me. The thing is I don't see what else I could have done. An intelligent approach would have been to have one letter explaining why any internship would benefit you and what skills you hope to gain.

I still have not heard from any of the positions yet but if more keep appearing which will provide me with useful skills and carry the coveted "marketing" in the title I will keep applying until the GJS have a small pile of my applications. Yes I prefer some over others but any of them would make a massive difference to me and my chances of forging a career in marketing and therefore I will keep applying.

May the internships never end. Although it would be nice to hear from one or all of them soon.

Peer Reviews don't work at University

A slight departure today to a topic which is more relevant to current students. I am in a sense using this post as a warm up for my (potentially) paid writing and it is an issue I have seen effect friends recently.

A peer review by nature suggests bias. Your peer is likely to have an opinion and they gain/lose nothing by their decision. Peer reviews in the form of recommendations are common on linkedin. I can recommend so and so as he did an excellent job with me. I always think this loses some of its strength if the same person then reviews him back. Yes, he may have done a good job, but in giving him a dazzling review you are increasing the liklihood you will get one back.

At University the idea that any piece of work, that even 1% of it is marked by peer review is prepostorous. I can only assume that it is meant to be a demonstration of maturity, impartiality and supposedly a chance for you have to have your say. In reality it is simply nothing of the sort. It turns academic work into a popularity contest and I am flabbergasted that any lecturer still views it as a good idea.

After all there will always be people who vote highly for their friends, regardless of what there friends have actually done. Therefore the more friends you have the better you will do. People with grudges against each other are likely to mark harshly and even the person trying to be the fairest and most impartial will struggle when marking their boyfriend/girlfriend/best friend. There will also be bargaining, questioning,

"what did you give me?"
"if you give me an 8 I will give you an 8"


I remember all this from school when nothing was at stake. At university when the outcome of your degree and possibly your livelihood is in focus, to expect everyone to mark fairly is quite simply naive.

As someone who never strode the lines of popularity, any chance for peer review was something I dreaded. I knew I wasnt being marked on my actual performance on a task, but on a hundred other factors which were utterly unrelated. Even if someone tries to be impartial they arent going to be cruel to their friends and they certainly won't fail them.

Ultimately if noone votes fairly and the actual content of the work becomes irrelevant then all peer reviewing actually is, is an exercise in futility.

Changing the mind set.

One of the hardest things I have found to this week is change my mindset. In a sense being unemployed you get used to a ridiculous amount of flexibility. You can try to regulate what you do by routine but ultimately you can do what you like, when you like so long as you keep searching for jobs. After several months it seems hard to revert to anything else.

Its like the summer break. You have months of nothing and then have to gear yourself back up for the start of term, only when your unemployed this is amplified.

I now have things I could be doing. I could if I wished to wake up early and get straight to work, either on drafting blog posts or continuing the marketing strategy. I now have two areas I can focus a lot of time on but motivating myself to do so is a challenge. Its not that I struggle for self motivation, its just that I have become complacent and used to having more free time than it is healthy to have. Another issue is that I am stopping myself from actively pursuing hobbies when I know I could, and possibly should be working. But instead of working I am just killing time by checking random websites, watching iplayer and generally doing very little.

I think I need to accept its the start of term and that from next week I have to stop from just going through the motions and really begin the actual work.

Another visit to the job centre

I am really beginning to familiarise myself with the place.
Yesterday I was given a choice, arrive 20 minutes before appointment and kill time, or arrive 2 minutes late. I picked the latter, pancakes is just not something you can easily pass on. In reality the bus was 10 minutes late meaning when I dashed into the job centre I was pushing the 15 minute mark.

I rushed upstairs, handed over my form and waited... for 45 minutes. Whether it is something the job centre does intentionally I do not know but I was seriously unimpressed. I have been late once in 15 weeks and yet this made me susceptible to being stuck at the back.

Whilst passing the time I took to watching others. I understand that life can be hard for some people who are unemployed and that are used to a different culture and upbringing, but that still does not excuse them from having a little respect.
Two guys waiting for their appointment were talking loudly about fighting, they both wore hats and were obviously after the gangster look. At four different points, their phones rang, ringtones on full volume. At another they fell around on the floor laughing. They were a general annoyance to all around them, and also the job centre staff trying to get through appointments. Yet no staff said anything to them.

If it was up to me I would kick them out. Tell them to come back when they are willing to treat the Job Centre with a little respect. And yet here I was being forced to wait 45 minutes because I had been late.

When I finally got to the desk to be seen it was embarrasing. The guy handed me the sign on sheet virtually straight away. Since I had questions I asked if he had read my job record sheet to which he stated not yet. He then answered all the questions with the help of the forms by his side, including a leaflet on volunteering. It seems that you can volunteer for as many hours of volunteering as you like... wait for it...so long as the number of hours you do doesnt effect your entitlement to benefit.

Possibly the most pointless sentence I have seen in a long time. It gets better, "for more information contact job centre plus. You can also ask about a leaflet on volunteering"

Wonderful advice there for the volunteering leaflet from Job Centre Plus
* SIGH *
Not their finest week in my eyes.

The Elusive Right Opportunity

One of the key challenges as an unemployed graduate is finding the right opportunity for you. I view it as unlike most job searches, where you merely look for something your vaguely interested and think you can do. Instead you are looking for something which supports your existing background and which may lead to a succesful career. I have said before how I am now involved in the SCU although my strategy developing as come to a halt as I have not heard anything since sending a draft to my contact there. As well as rejecting me Fubra have offered me the chance to be one of their freelance copy writers. Evidently impressed with my writing style and ability to research they think I would be an excellent addition to their freelance team. I am of course interested, good experience, money and another addition to my growing C.V are too many positives to turn down. One thing potentially stands in my way.

The Job Centre

I have not yet taken my new volunteering role or this offer to them for consideration. Their rules and guidelines state you cannot do more than 16 hours of part time work a week. Similar rules exist for volunteering positions. I am expecting a battle to convince them that whilst juggling a volunteering job and a copywriting job I am still actively searching for jobs.
But then the jobs they put in front of me on a regular basis clearly are not the right career step. This comes back to my earlier post on the job centre quandary. In my opinion, those of us who are unemployed graduates are different from other first time job seekers. I want something which is the right chance for me to show my skills, not a sideways step that merely delays me breaking into my chosen career. The SCU and copywriting positions are excellent experience for someone in my position. They should help me find that elusive right opportunity. The average admin job put in front of me each week, simply wont. I just hope tomorrow the job centre have the foresight and understanding not to limit either potentially career advancing chance.

One hell of a challenge

You may have noticed a drop in the number of blog posts recently. This is because an opportunity has finally come through. On Monday this week I was confirmed as a volunteer in Marketing for the Solent Credit Union, a co-operative organisation for savings and loans mostly used by people the banks rejected, it is a sort of cross between a charity and a business.

My official title is "Marketing Officer", my actual job is somewhat vaguer. I have a Marketing "team" of four individuals, two of which I am yet to actually meet. How they work and what they actually do also seems to a mystery to me. All my interractions have been with the vice president of the organisation, a super pensioner, who seems to be vice president, marketer, leading a take over, volunteer co-ordinator, general helper and full time employee. Like me he is a volunteer, but it seems to me at least he is "The Solent Credit Union." That is not to say I am suggesting the many other volunteers do not do anything, Phil just seems to have an impressive remit.

Phil believes the SCU need a marketing officer as their current marketing is a mess. From what I have seen so far this is not far from the truth. The promotion, website and customer interractions all need improvement if the Credit Union is to actually maintain consistent growth and continue to be a force for good in the community.

On Wednesday I got to travel with Phil to the offices of the Coastal Credit Union in Bournemouth, an organisation not unlike our own, but fields ahead in terms of members, promotions, quality and growth. We met with two paid staff members to discuss marketing ideas. The CCU has done fantastically but this has been in no small part down to luck. One of the members believed so strongly in the cause that he remortgaged his house to buy the CCU a premises from which to work from. This and the fact they have 5 paid staff including a CEO can help explain why they are so far ahead of us in all terms. The meeting for me was challenging, I wanted to appear confident but not brash and overconfident, whilst at the same time I did not want to appear like I did not know what I was doing in front of people with decades more experience than me. I am currently writing a preliminary marketing plan/strategy for the organisation but realistically have no idea how good or useful it is. Something I will have to discover when I distribute it on completion. The fact is though the CCU have resources we don't and that is at the root of the problem.

We need skilled volunteers. We need young enthusiastic people who understand web design, marketing, graphics designing, promotion and lobbying. Until we have the resources its hard to really improve. I found out for instance our website has been created in microsoft publisher. We had information to add in to the news section but the person responsible couldnt get it to work.

This is ultimately frustrating. Without belittling the actions and achievements of the current volunteers, we need new blood, with new ideas and that for now is going to be my priority.

Should anyone be interested in volunteering or the areas above. Feel free to contact me for a chat and then I can direct you to the relevant person. The SCU has enormous potential, I just need help realising it.

In other news just got a rejection notice from Fubra. Apparently although they were impressed with my written and research skills, as well as with this blog, other candidates had more relevant skills.

*sigh*

The search goes on.

The Job Centre Quandary

A day late, as yesterday proved to be quite busy. More on that tomorrow as I try to catch up.

On Monday I had to attend the job centre for what will become a fixture in the in between weeks which I sign on. I was not entirely sure of the point of it when I went so was not exactly sure what to expect. If you are on JSA for more than 13 weeks I am afraid it is now compulsory, a new iniative from the government.

I arrived on time and unlike when signing on was immediately ushered to a desk to talk with an advisor. He preceeded to look at jobs for me using the job centre database, incidentally something I can do myself from home. Flagging up several admin jobs we got to discussing what I was really after. This resulted in the quandry.

I am after a marketing job. I have a marketing masters which I paid a lot to get. I am currently volunteering in marketing. Its fairly clear the average admin job isnt for me. Clear to myself, clear to him and clear to the employer.

Let us say I go to an interview for an admin position. A common first question is why do you want the job. Experience, I will answer. When pressed it will soon become clear I view the job as a good way of gaining short term experience and that I have no intention of sticking around for any length of time. I could lie but its not in my nature to do so and so when I put this to the advisor he saw the problem.

This then allowed me to follow up with an honest question. What was the point of me being there. I could search jobs at home in exactly the same way, by travelling to the job centre I paid an unecessary bus fare and took a huge chunk out of my day.
The advisor was quick to admit that in my case there probably wasn't much point, but that others struggled to find jobs and they had make great breakthroughs. This led to the obvious and instrinsic flaw of the program being exposed.

The job centre has to be seen to treat everyone equally.
Everyone is clearly not equal.

In the case of the guy before me, the advisor had found him jobs he had not considered and sent him on his way, having really aided him in his job search

In my case he had wasted my time, and he knew it. The other frustrating thing is that despite the fact we both knew this we have to continue the charade for a few more weeks. Then if it continues to be pointless he will ask his boss if it can stop.

Until then we will both just have to pretend we are achieving something.

Not enough hours in the day

Well that was some hiatus. It was not helped by a post getting entirely swallowed by the internet demons. So much has happened its hard to know what to blog on exactly. Fridays interview seems the best part I think.

Interview with Fubra - Friday 05/02

The further you have to travel the more that can do wrong. To be honest the day did not get off to the best start when the bus I meant to catch went missing. For more on this see this. This meant that things would be tight at the station. I would have 8 minutes to buy a ticket and get on the train to Woking, assuming of course the bus wasnt held up in traffic. Preparing myself for the worst but unable to get the bus to speed up I was quite agitated. Fortunately traffic was low and we sailed (not literally) into the station with 12 minutes to spare. The station was busier than usual, I soon found out why.

A lorry had hit a railway bridge on the line I needed causing massive delays.

Suddenly I find myself among the many business men trying to reach London. This led to the rather surreal scenario of being crowded on to a two carriage local train heading just two stops. My two change journey had just become three. The rest of the journey was uneventful, but the delays meant that far from reaching Aldershot 40 minutes to the good I arrived with just 10 minutes to find the offices. It was only at this point I gave in and rang the company to inform them I might be late.

A short walk across a field and I was there. A fantastic office set in an old manor house. For reasons unbeknown to me I forgot how to speak on a phone and stuttered my way through asking to be let in. I can not properly express how glad I was that this temporary attack of ridiculous nerves left me and I was led to a Mac where I was told to complete 4 questions, including a mock email, a 150 sales pitch for left over xmas trees and tactics for a failing cinema. It was brilliantly refreshing and the most fun I have had within an actual interview. These tasks were followed by a face to face interview in comfortable swivelly chairs. Something about the experience allowed me to relax and I was able to field all the questions, leaving the building pleased that I had given a good account of myself.

Halfway up the hill I realised something. Something was missing. Turning around I saw my interviewer running up the hill behind me holding my laptop bag.

D'oh!

Red faced I thanked her for returning it to me and headed back to the station. Special mention at this point has to go to the little cafe at the station. I was famished after my travelling and realising I had a few minutes till the next train ordered a sausage baguette. It was one of the best I have ever had. Everything about it was perfect. A good end to a challenging day.

On reaching home I was exhausted. 4+ hours of travelling. I reasoned that I would tire myself out travelling to Aldershot all the time, on the other hand hopefully lorries wont choose to crash into bridges each morning I go to work, 3 hours a day is manageable for a few months at least. Then I can move.

I will hear from Fubra later this week. Fingers crossed and hopes up. Its a great job and I cant see what I could have done better in the tasks or interview.

Tomorrow: The Job Centre Quandry!

Preparing for an Interview

It has been a productive quiet morning. I have spent most of it reading a book on search marketing strategies in preperation for my interview on Friday. SEO is certainly an interesting and unusual aspect of marketing, one where I certainly have a lot to/I can learn.

Another aspect of prep is the travel arrangements. Often these can be fairly simple but occasionally they require a bit more planning. Uusually I like to leave room for error at each stage, unfortunately this is not possible for Friday as I effectively make three changes, one of which is entirely out of my control. Its always useful when planning to figure out how much it will cost to attend the interview. In this case its going to wipe out a weeks worth of job seeker allowance and then some. Travel costs can be frustrating, particularly if things go badly. For one job I went for a few months back I had to travel to Basingstoke for an interview. It only cost £10 return, but the interview lasted just 20 minutes before I was standing back on the platform heading back to Southampton. It was clear I wouldnt get the job, £10 wasted.

But ultimately if you are interested in the job the cost is worth it. The time also. Because should you actually get the job then that cost will be repaid after just your first few hours working for that firm, along with all the other costs to get to interviews you may have paid. Unless you are in serious financial trouble (in which case you can get help from the job centre) its always worth just grinning and bearing it. Of course some companies do pay expenses, I am just yet to find one outside of the big 4 accountancy firms.

Some more (short) reviews

As a job hunter it is very difficult to avoid any resource which may help you get a job. Today I am therefore giving brief reviews of a number of sites I check each time I carry out a job search, just in case they might provide a useful opportunity and I may get lucky. Some are certainly better than others, but should you be on the graduate job trail these reviews may help, though it is important to remember, they are just my views and you may in fact totally disagree.

Hot Recruit - 1/5

Hot Recruit is a job site I was put on to by someone else, I almost wish I had never found it. Quite probably my least favourite job site it has a number of spectacular issues and random oddities.

Pros:

- Simple Job search feature, simple to use at any rate
- Ability to set up email alerts, see applied jobs etc. Most sites have this as well I just felt one pro would have been overly harsh

Cons:

- Home to 90% of the fake marketing - really door to door sales jobs. Finding a real job in amongst the options is a needle in a haystack
- Utterly bemusing search criteria. If you search for Southampton it gives you a number of options including Southampton Common. How many jobs, realistically will there be on Southampton Common. This is more an oddity than a major con, but really, what!?
- Yet to find anything remotely suitable for myself. Given the number of jobs on other sites I have found, this either means the jobs don't use it, or its search just fails.
- On the first page of a marketing search I get offered the chance to apply to be a weight loss coach. If anyone can tell me the progression from those two jobs I would be impressed
- Out of date. I was being offered Christmas jobs in January...enough said

Conclusion

I only check this because its in my job seeker bookmarks. If you want a job in hard door to door sales then this is your site. Then again you can find the jobs on many other sites as well. Similarly it claims to offer a wide range of seasonal jobs, I just never found them.

Only Marketing Jobs - 2/5

This is only useful to anyone searching for marketing jobs. Well, slightly useful. I would have expected Only Marketing Jobs to turn up regular opportunities but this simply has not been the case.

Pros:

- Once a search is completed, you have a chance to narrow down or expand criteria by clicking on side bar links. This allows you to really find only relevant jobs
- Simple and easy applying feature which uses a pre saved C.V to send to organisations
- Colourful..

Cons:

- Does not seem to have many relevant jobs to starting out/graduates. Also it works by finding keywords the job poster has used, so in my job results this morning was a 45-50k salary. As expected, it was not looking for an entry level graduate.
- Spam Email. An irritating feature of many sites is their desire to spam you, not even with jobs, just emails telling you how great they are. I wouldn't mind if they actually were!
- When searching you have to select specific marketing fields, there is no "All" so finding the relevant jobs initially can be a challenge

Conclusion

Its okay if your looking for a marketing job and you can always block its pointless spam. I am yet to find and apply for a job through it, which doesn't say much for a specialist site sadly.

Direct Gov Search 2/5

You may recognise the name of this as it was tagged into the post on the job centre plus site. I was informed this morning it will be replacing it from the 31st March, this to me is not a good thing

Pros:

- Easiest search function of all. You can write what you are looking for and were in a sentence and it will return the relevant jobs
- Nope that's it, for now at least. I imagine if I am still searching in April I will need to be better acquainted with it.

Cons:

- Because of the ease of the search function you do not get the same depth in the search results. You cannot specify how far from Southampton or filter out results you have already seen. That requires an advanced search, which looks a lot like the job centre one..
- Unattractive- really minor that.
- Job return from a search is a real mixed bunch.

Conclusion

It just is not as good as Job Centre Plus. Searching is easier, I get that. But the process and return is worse for the moment at least. Job Centre is also playing up so perhaps they are trying to make the transition easier by making Job Centre worse. "I'd go direct, gov!" now appears to be a command rather than a suggestion.

Volunteering Part 2

A few weeks back I met with the Wheatsheaf trust with a view to aiding them with their marketing, and in doing so gain some valuable "experience" and skills which would make me more employable. That didn't work out unfortunately so I went back to the drawing board as it were and looked for other organisations.

As it turned out another organisation, solent credit union were looking for someone to get involved with the marketing side of things. I got an email late last night asking if I would like to meet a representative for an informal chat this morning.

I did so, feeling the more professional for my long black woolen coat arriving at a local community centre which seemed to be mostly empty apart from a few individuals, evidently running a pick up point for the credit union. Phil, as he introduced himself began to take me through the history of the union and we chatted for around an hour, infringing upon the staff who were preparing a lunchtime meal as I was given an excellent overview of what a credit union does, the state of things, the future and what I could do.

The upshot is they would like me to come in and turn around their self confessed "bad marketing." I would be part of a team but effectively act as a consultant, as someone from outside looking at the organisation. There is a budget to spend and the ambition to expand the customer base and therefore the overall amount of money the organisation makes.* Its basically a marketers dream. Though as someone inexperienced in the actual processes of marketing I am approaching with enthusiasm but also trepidation.

I am now meeting with Phil again next Wednesday where I will sign the many many forms necessary to begin volunteering. The step after that being to meet the board and the marketing team and then begin volunteering.

Clearly I would prefer a paying position but whilst I continue to search this seems like an excellent opportunity. A little break and a possible ladder.

This means my next week is now quite busy. Job centre- Tuesday, charity meeting - Wednesday The dreaded dentist - Thursday and Interview with Fubra - Friday.

Certainly a nice change from the norm.**


* The way credit unions work, they dont exactly make money, they keep other peoples, but the principle is basically the same.
** With the exception of the dentist of course

Job site review: Job Centre Plus

Job Centre Plus - 4/5

Job Centre plus is an extension of the Job centre, a place I have to attend every two weeks. When I first went there and talked to a representative he bought up the website and stated somewhat nervously, "But you probably won't find the sort of jobs you are looking for there."

This has proved to be untrue. In fact job centre has provided me with a number of opportunties and if you are looking for immediate work and have not used it I cannot recommend it enough.

Pros:

- Wide range of jobs available. One of the traditional beliefs is that the job centre only carries menial, low paying, lowest common denominator positions. Although it does indeed have simply poorly paid hourly jobs you can also find ones with wages that far exceed my expectations for some years to come.
- To assemble its jobs it draws from a wide range of sources such as other agencies, job sites and local employer partnerships. Sometimes this requires you to leave the site to actually read about jobs or apply but it provides a good base from which to do this
- Because it is linked with the job centre you can search at the job centre on an interractive console whilst waiting to sign on. Its a small but neat thing. Also you can search and call positions whilst in the job centre, but this is something I personally don't use. I have the means to search at home.
- 5 part job interface which allows you to search keywords, postcodes and gives you a number of options at each point. This means you can look at positions they are only relevant to you...in theory.

Cons:

- The job centre has the strangest con of all the sites. If you produce a job search it will only show you 100 matches, even if 542 were found. Depending on how you decide to order the job search will determine which jobs you can see. I may be at fault in that I cannot see how to get the other 400 odd jobs but it should be simple
- I question the reliability of the job search criteria. Last week when I went to the job centre I was handed two potential jobs by the job centre employee. Both suited by needs but neither had appeared on my job search. I also had to intiially fiddle around with criteria to actually find the marketing jobs
- When I first used it I simply wrote "Marketing" in the keyword box and put my postcode. This skips several stages, which are necessary if you want to find all the jobs. If you put a keyword be sure to put which fields you want to work in as well
- At each stage you are allowed 5 options, across the whole page. Although this includes "All" it can be infuriating, for instance I am interested in marketing research and business commerce, however I am less interested in animal/fish/land or construction mangers. However, to fit all the things I need into the search I either have to select all, or miss out on several useful fields.

Conclusion

Job Centre Plus is an excellent resource for finding jobs. Tying in with your twice weekly visits to the job centre it provides a plethora of jobs from many different fields and areas. On any given job search I expect to find at least one relevant job from here, which puts it way out ahead of most of the other sites I will be reviewing.

First of the job site reviews: Graduate Jobs South

One of things I have discovered whilst job searching is some sites are certainly better suited to my needs than others. Over the next few days I will review the various jobsites I use for a number of factors such as : likelihood I will find a relevant job, amount of spam, relevance of positions, the job search function and other less important factors such as appearance and tone. I have certainly developed favourites over the last few months, but some jobsites are more useful than others even if they fail for many other factors. Today, the first site, a site which as a graduate based in the south it makes sense to sign up to.

Graduate Jobs South: Overall Rating 3/5

Pros:

- Two of the main pros of graduate jobs south are in the title. "Graduate Jobs and South" as a graduate living in Southampton this site seemed like the most likely to find me a job and the perfect place.
- Simple interface and the ability to set up job alerts
- Lots of other information such as interview prep techniques is also available though I have not made much use of it. One guide on interviews is much like the next
- Job Search feature reasonably detailed and useful
- Once you have set up a job search you can simply look

Cons:

- Not regularly updated. That is to say relevant jobs are few and far between
- "Graduate Jobs" used loosely. A number of the positions are looking for second movers, experienced employees. This is not however how they sell it at job fairs/through careers
- The jobs I applied for via it rejected me based on a lack of experience. This not a con in itself but if you are up against experienced individual who are over 25 it may not exactly be a "graduate" job. But then outside of graduate programs its hard to find jobs just for recent inexperienced graduates
- Erratic recommendations. I am not sure what among my choices makes me suitable to be an inter-faith counsellor but when you get a ream of unsuitable jobs it can be quite frustrating.

Conclusion:

A good site and one of the sites I regularly use. Occasionally throws up a gem but often only has jobs which are posted on numerous other sites and therefore not only targeted at Grads.
-

Don't get your hopes up

Its a strange old phrase that one. Everyone uses it, I did so only this morning. It is also in my mind totally obsolete. When you really want something or are looking forward to something it is natural to get your hopes up, its basically unavoidable.

This phrase often goes hand in hand with "expect rejection/the worst" and then it wont be as disappointing. Won't it? I have admittedly found that if I have done badly in an interview then I am not that disappointed when I get rejected, but its difficult to fool yourself. If you think you have done well, telling yourself you did badly simply is not going to work. I am unfortunately often wrong, this is where the problem lies because rejection does hurt a lot more when you do not expect it.

I expect too much, that is certainly true. With each new opportunity I suddenly see the potential, jumping all the stages in between as if they are mere formalities. Last week I applied to a graduate program, I offered all the skills they wanted and even the ones under the desired column. I wrote an application and was even practicing pyschometric tests in preparation for the next stage.

On Sunday they sent me a rejection, no explanation.
I was crestfallen, with other jobs it was experience that proved the let down, but on a level playing field I did not even reach stage 2? Where do I go from there?

I later rationalised that as my application was late they had already filled the position, or maybe there was something they did not like. Ultimately it did not matter, the only thing to do was to pick myself up and as my Dad put "keep on trucking."

Because what it comes down to is this. You can get your hopes up, you can be massively disappointed but all you can do is get yourself back up and out there and carry on. Sometimes there is a lesson to be learned and sometimes you just leave an experience in the past but in the end you just have to keep on going, applying for jobs and hope that eventually someone hands you a chance.

It is Monday now and my hopes are back up. I have applied to a company called Fubra, they are a young internet company, seemingly with a vibrant, friendly community of workers. They even have an X-Box 360 in the break room. I have had a good saunter around their site and I would love to work for them. The position is as an online marketing assistant, an ideal job title. No mention of a need for experience and once again I fulfil all the criteria.

Now I just have to wait and if my hopes are fulfilled that would be awesome, if not I will just have to "keep on trucking."

Pet Hates of the Job search

By now I consider myself experienced in searching for jobs. I have spent countless hours and know basically what I am looking for.
Whilst job searching there is something which infuriates me beyond anything else and that is door to door sales jobs pretending to be anything else.

Taglines such as :

Kick-start your career in marketing today
Make 2010 your year
No training necessary
Change to a new successful career


Its utter bullshit. What these jobs actually entail is hard door to door sales. Nothing else, no office work and in most cases no actually salary just OTE. A lot of them even require you to be self employed. How the hell do they get away with this. No element of marketing actually features. The fact these jobs exist annoys me. The fact they are allowed to spread their lies on major job boards and job sites is beyond repproach.

THEY LIE. OUTRIGHT.

Why, why are they not cracked down on. There is such a thing as false advertising, surely they must be culpable. But I have even come across them on official government sites. They are everywhere. Now I know where to look I am not fooled, but I bet other poor graduates are.

What is particularly frustrating is although I am well aware of their con I cannot filter them from job searches because of their various lies. They are also everywhere which means searching through pages of the same crap.

Silence

It has been an odd week all and all. Last week I was full of optimism and had found a number of good jobs to apply for. This week I am watching the tumbleweed roll past.
Middle of the week and still have not heard anything from any job I applied for. Its strange, normally you get an automated rejection, or something suggesting when you are likely to hear next about the job. Nothing is in my experience fairly unusual.

Its not like there are many new jobs appearing either. Nothing in the right area at any rate. So tomorrow I shall look for a new take on the Thursday job search.

London. Arguably it is commutable. A long commute with journeying needed at both ends but doable. Tomorrow I search London for jobs, I throw out applications and if I manage to get a job it just means I need to move in 5 months.

If that heralds nothing, just have to hope I can scrape through in the graduate programs. At least I am against similar competitors in those.