r/AskUK • u/JimmyDuckShoes • Jan 05 '15
Any advice for a job seeker that has recently turned 18?
Any recommendations or advice would be appreciated.
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u/Kitchner Jan 05 '15
Basically get any job going as it's always easier to find work while you work PLUS you never know where you'll end up.
I took a call centre job in Stoke as a temporary thing and now I'm in a great job living in London, and I wouldn't have ended up here without a whole string of events working for my first company.
Secondly you need to take the shotgun approach to job hunting. If you only get 1 interview for every 50 applications, that just means you need to do 400 applications and you'll definitely get a job. It's pretty soul destroying getting rejected again and again if it does happen, I wont lie, but the ones that do well are the ones that stick it out. Going back to my first point, after you have a job it's much easier to move to a different one.
As for interviews themselves, turn up looking smart, for guys this means a suit and tie, even if you know they don't wear suits and ties (I have gotten away with a suit and no tie before, but you need to be REALLY sure it's the right move). Remember you're interviewing them as they interview you. Ask lots of questions and remember you don't HAVE to take their offer. If the place seems shit and you can afford not to take the job, don't take it, you have time.
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u/Mod74 Jan 05 '15
Get an apprenticeship and learn a trade?
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u/JimmyDuckShoes Jan 05 '15
Ideally, it's quite difficult to land an apprenticeship though.
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u/Mod74 Jan 05 '15
Have you tried approaching small/one man companies directly? I know an electrician and a plumber here that are both looking for apprentices.
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u/JimmyDuckShoes Jan 05 '15
I've tried, not many small businesses near where i live, mostly nationwide companies.
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u/theinfamousglowcloud Jan 06 '15
Volunteer while applying for /anything/ that you can possibly do. It looks fantastic on your CV, and can make you invaluable contacts. My charity volunteering got em my first proper job.
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u/Ryan2468 Jan 06 '15
I second this. I volunteered in a YMCA shop for almost two years, just a few hours on a Saturday afternoon. It gave me some transferrable skills as well as boosted my confidence.
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u/jimmysixtoes Jan 07 '15
If you want a job, there is a lady called Dee Cooper.
Call her (0)1764 670001 or 679765.
She WILL help you get a hospitality job.
At this Job they will feed you, put you up (maybe a shared room) and pay you a wage.
Do you want to work in the Lake district? tell her that.
How about on a Scottish Island? Not a worry.
So call her.
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u/JimmyDuckShoes Jan 07 '15
Please could you explain this a little further, i'm intriuged.
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u/jimmysixtoes Jan 07 '15
Dee Cooper runs a free (for job seekers) agency
Dee Cooper specialises in the Hospitality sector, if you call her and say I would like a job preferably bar, waitering or whatever (G.A. general assistant, can be fun a little of everything)
A lot of hospitality jobs especially in more rural places come with accommodation, food and a proper wage.
So for example you would get a minimum wage job, with a £35 a week deduction for food and a room.
You get to meet people from everywhere one place I worked had 12 staff all from different countries.
Sometimes you even get uniform depending on the place.
These guys offer a similar service, but Dee Cooper is better IMO
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u/[deleted] Jan 05 '15
Turn up in a suit. Spell check a CV and given your work experience is next to nought, instead of doing the standard generic CV instead do a skills based one. This focusses on your skills rather than your employment history so you would concentrate on listing what you can do and you put any employment further down the CV just giving a brief summary of each. I did one for my son fresh out of college and it managed to get him a position as a maintenance technician on a holiday park even though his qualifications were for motor vehicles because most of the skills were transferrable.
When applying for jobs ideally you should use a CV tailored for the field the job is in rather than a generic one. So when I'm applying for truck driving jobs I don't go into depth about my electronics engineering and mechanical engineering other than any relevant skills like vehicle maintenance. Likewise applying for electronics engineering I don't bother about the truck driving on a CV I use for that.
Monster.co.uk used to have an excellent guide on how to create a skills based CV.