in the last couple of months i have had 4-5 interviews and so far not got a job, The feedback i get is always good, is there anything else i can do, or is it a case of sticking with it and eventually someone will say yes.

Just getting a little ****ed off, nice having time to ride, but having no money isn’t!

Count yourself lucky, I’m not even finding anything to apply for… 🙁

Just keep at is the best advice, to be honest. Stick with being yourself as there is no point being someone else at interview and then having to live with that persona for the rest of your career with that company.

However, be prepared for a long wait after being offered a job until you start as I am now approaching a month from job offer and the pre-employment checks have still not been completed 🙁

Could try wearing a short skirt and low top?

What type of job are you looking for. Only advice I can give is keep trying and prepare for each interview – do background reading

Make sure you don’t convey your being fed up in the interviews. Try to work out quickly if they want you to give the standard answers (“sometimes I work too hard) or if being yourself would actually make you stand out from the crowd.

well done on getting those interviews – it can be a hard slog to get to that point.

I did get some advice somewhere that even though you weren’t the first to be chosen, you may have made a favourable impression, favourable enough to be invited in to see them. You don’t say whether any of these were 2nd interviews, but if you ask for feedback in an open way, what harm is there in following up in a month or three – the new person may not have turned up or disliked it after the first week leaving them with the thought of going through the recruitment process all over again.

If you have already shown interest in the company both before during and after the interview process, IF things don’t work out they might contact you again and who knows there may be a job. Keep the irons in the fire and all that.

I was hoping the job market would pick up after xmas, but it hasn’t really,

have you tried using social media to bypass the recruitment agencies, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12194581, I am starting to get into LinkedIn as well,

it’s the old clique, “it’s not what you know, but who you know”, a lot of companies will create a role and want to fill it tomorrow,

anyway, apply for jobs in the morning, ride in the afternoon,

Best way to get a job is to get some skills that are in demand.

I know this sounds a bit chicken and egg, but it does need to be. Find out what people want and study/practice it.

Bazzer

at the end of the interview when they ask you if you have any questions, make sure you ask some. Assume that they are going to offer you the job so ask questions about their environment to see if you want the job, and to work out what preperations you need before starting.

Difficult to answer unless they’re giving you feedback. The old advice of you have to sell yourself and show how you fit in with the specifics of the role still applies though.

Farming.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00xgqx1#synopsis
Farming Today broadcast on Saturday 15 Jan; over the next 5 – 10 years a large proportion of farmers will be retiring and therefore an oportunity for more people to get into farming. People will always need food.

Do a search on here for interviews. Loads of people have raised this before, so you might find something useful. Life TurnerGuy says, make sure you ask pertinent questions either throughout or at least at the end (or both). Both parties need to know what they’re getting into, and IMO the only way to qualify that is for both to ask questions.

Not saying you’re not doing this already – just re-iterating the importance.

I wouldn’t entertain taking someone on if they didn’t ask questions. Gives the impression they want the job for the sake of having a job. Might be different for those stacking shelves et al, but not in more “esteemed” roles.

I’m having similar problems. I’ve had 3 interviews so far in a slightly different career than my current one. The feedback I keep getting is the same, that I have come 2nd twice and that I am a very strong candidate but just lack the ‘on the job’ experience but they can see I would be very good at the job!

Its getting over that lack of on the job exeprience that is proving problematic, even though I have spent time shadowing people who currently do the job in my own time…

i no the situation is shit, but can you not take a shitty job until something you want to take up comes along just to tied you over.

i went to a temp agency to get me out the house and working and earning a bit of cash. did it for 3 months contract and the company then hired me for my actual skill not the shitty job i was doing?=?

Nick_Christy trying the temp work route and nothing, seems dead after Christmas. Will do a bit of ringing round agencies later to see if things are picking up.

I’ve been out of work 15 months. Applied for about 1000 vacancies in that time and had 9 interviews (2 being phone interviews). So far no luck. VERY frustrating but what can you do. What I have found baffling is that my last 2 positions I got offered a job at first interview I went to. I think it reflects a market that has a lot more applicants and they are likley to find either a better fit or as good as who is local/closer to place of work. With job losses in the public sector this year I can onlysee it being even harder.

Sorry to be negative. Just keep plugging away.

clicky

Will do a bit of ringing round agencies later tomorrow to see if things are picking up

that’s all you can do, so do it tomorrow

good luck, it’s a vile situation to be in

Asking for feedback is practically waste of time if you are hoping to find some information that help you to understand why they rejected you.

You have to bear in mind if they tell you the truth you might go ballistic simply because you think you have the right to the job, so the feedbacks they give are usually standard bureaucratic message that’s all. Even if you can do the job well they might not hire you because of the so called missing rapport between you and the interviewers. Hiring someone to work is not rational nor a science put it this way.

Get the rapport right you get the job otherwise look elsewhere.

As someone who now interviews and employs people I’ll give you what I always look for.

First up is your CV. I’m obviously looking for someone who has experience relating to the job. A list of qualifications, previous experience, what you did, and a general insight into who you are.

In the interview I’m trying to guage your personality. I’ve had some great looking CV’s in the past but come the interview someone may be sitting thinking “my experience/qualifications will get this no bother”. Very much not so. If someone seems too laid back, overly confident it makes me suspicious. It seems like being lazy.
Be enthusiastic but not overly so. Try not to be nervous (hard I know) but at the same time I tend to overlook that, unless someone is so nervous they make a right mess of it – They may be like that under pressure when we have a deadline to hit and that wouldn’t be good.
Research the company, have a good look at their website. It shoes you are genuinely interested in the job.
At the end of the interview and you are asked if you have any questions always have some prepared. Things like – “where do you see the company going in 5 or 10 years” etc.
Be friendly, but not overly. You don’t want to look creepy or desperate.
It’s tough I know but keep at it.

I know not all interviewers think like I do but I always look to see what the candidate is like, their attitude and personality etc.

Keep your chin up. I’ve been there a few times and it’s tough – even more so now.

One other thing. Even if you don’t get the job follow it up with an email asking in a positive way why? i.e. ask if there is anything you could work on. I had a email like this and ended up taking the guy on. Reason being that there was someone better at the time but later on I needed someone for a slightly different role but I remembered this guy and asked him back for another interview.

Keep it up. You make your own luck in life…

In addition to Zedsdead …

I used to interview people for some low bureaucratic jobs, lower than mine .. lol, (training provided not rocket science) all I look for are:

Honesty
Integrity
Hard work
Some common sense

You can have tonnes of work experience, either related or non-related, or zero I will still give the person a chance if I think they are honest but that’s just me. 🙂

p/s: been through so many rejections and interviews, me, so I finally wise up later on in my “career”.

God, it’s so hard at the moment. Not a sniff in 18 months. Currently
working for expenses only at a friend’s accountancy practice just to get something on my cv.

This thread has cheered me up a little bit (In a twisted sort of way). I’ve now been unemployed for 15 months. Getting 1 or 2 interviews (and 2nd or 3rd interviews) a months but no offers. On Monday this week I had a 2nd interview and found out today that it was a close run decision and I was their 2nd choice (As if that is any consellation! – Lets hope the 1st choice turns down the role 😉 )
Anyway, it’s nice to know that there are others in the same boat, as sometimes it feels like it is just me, who can’t get a job.

Formerly being a recruitment consultant, the first thing i would do is avoid using one where ever you can.

Companies just aint prepared to pay 15-30% of your starting salary so will choose the non agency person generally.

You will get an interview if you go direct as they have nothing to lose and you wont cost them anything.

Get a big sheet of paper, get on the web, find every company that suits you and dont stop till you ahve spoken to the manager / director of them all. Even if they dont need anyone, tell them you would like to start by saving them money and sending in your CV for file. Instant brownie points and a warm contact to call back monthly.

sorry to hijack this thread, need some advice, agency related,

if I apply for a job through an agency and find it advertised directly by the employer at a later stage, how do I go about withdrawing my agency application to prevent any problems,

amt27 – that’s your honesty and integrity not in place then. Not all agencies are the conmen we expect.

Technicall by agreeing to their terms and conditions (if you went in and signed/returned online)then they will argue that they introduced you so if they employ you they are entitled the fee, its more likely that if this argument erupts then the employer will just tear up both CV’s, if you just emailed your CV then you havent signed anything then contact the rec con and say you want to de register. Its likely that if they are aq two bit agency that they wont follow it up, but its also equally likely that they could be C%$ts about it.

Firstly id contact the employer direct first, explain your situation and tell them what you intend doing. You may get your CV to them before the Rec con

Seriously at this time think folk before you use a rec con (some big co’s do all rec through a specific company with agreed fees) as its a cost that you can go halfs with the employer on while discussing salary. Seriously it works ” i saved you xxx thousand pounds, how about we split the difference”

Rec cons charge anything from 15 – 30% plus (of starting salary), generally increasing to 30% over say 40K, 15% for 10 – 22K salaries etc

I apologise in advance if this comes across as insensitive as i realise there are plenty of people out there who are out of work just now but can anyone give me advice on progressing my career?

End goal i would like to progress into an Electrical/Electronics Engineers position. For the last 3 years i have been working as an Electronics Technician in the oil industry and have just completed my degree a BSc (ENG) Electronic and Electrical Engineering evening classes. However i seem to be getting no were with job applications and agencies are only contacting me about other technician positions.

What can i do to help my CV stand out against other people who have experience of similar positions?

Would it be worth my while saving up and taking courses in the likes of solid works or AutoCAD?

Should i set my target lower and try and work into an engineering roll in say 3-5 years? If so what kind of positions should i be looking at to help build my skills base for an engineering position?

I am getting concerned that not progressing in the near future will show a lack of ambition or talent.

thanks bland, useful info,

rusty mac – have you tried Gradcracker?
I wouldn’t waste money on a CAD course, there are ways and means of getting hold of those packages and just following the tutorials provided,

Rusty Mac, sometimes you just have to sit with it. I had 3 careers before i go where i wanted to be and doing something slightly related to my degree (geology), however this has been thraught. I got my job that i wanted after taking a ten grand pay cut, then 18 months later got made redundant. I fell lucky and started contracting which meant i got the same money for 6 months work and i got loads of varied experience quickly. This lead to a permanent job and now my boss has left and i have taken on his role.

I think sometimes you need luck, but other wise you just need to move around jobs every 18mths to 2 yrs till you see an opening.

Hope that helps.

Oh and DL Autocad and play with it, you will never master it till you use it daily but at least you can put it on your CV

I would ignore bland’s advice unless perhaps you are looking for a sales role.

If an employer invites a recruitment agent in to “help” with the process he’s already mentally accepted the fees. Two candidates would need to be marginal to justify going with the “wrong” one to save 15% of salary. If the recruitment agent can’t convince the employer of their value in bringing good candidates, sifting the wheat from the chaff and managing the whole process (in a time where every advertised post will be oversubscribed) then they don’t deserver their fee anyway.

By all means contact senior people speculatively, but don’t pester them (unless you are looking for some sort of telesales role) as there is nothing pisses us off more than people like recruitment agents, who we have no actual relationship with, calling every quarter to see how things are going.

Likewise if you get to a salary negotiation and start telling me you’ve saved me £XXXX by not using an agent then see above about the “preselection” I expect agents to do, saving me time and therefore money. I’d strongly suggest that a “smart arsed” negotiation isn’t the way to start a relationship with someone who is about to offer you a job.

As to the OP, if you get a question at interview which suggests they are thinking about your lack of hands on experience, then acknowledge it – and possibly even turn it round to something like – “I realise I’ve not had as much practical experience of XYZ as you might hope for, but its something I really want to do, and I believe I can learn fast. If you gave me the chance I’d be prepared to work for free for a month to show you what I can learn and how quickly I can get up to speed.” If its doesn’t work out after a month – you have that real experience you can sell elsewhere.

In general I’d rather employ someone who was working than someone who’s been out of work for months. However, there were times in our “turbulent history” when we recruited but couldn’t be sure the company/post would still be there in 6-12 months time – my moral backbone made me (and the other directors) more likely to take on someone who was out of work (and therefore wasn’t sacrificing anything to work for us), along with an honest discussion to that effect. Not sure if its possible to target / hunt for companies which might be in that boat – even on a “temporary contract” basis? Again all about building experience and credibility.

If an employer invites a recruitment agent in to “help” with the process he’s already mentally accepted the fees. Two candidates would need to be marginal to justify going with the “wrong” one to save 15% of salary.

Not even then. If they’re not the right candidate, they’re not the right candidate. And the cost of getting rid of someone can be astronomical.

By all means contact senior people speculatively, but don’t pester them (unless you are looking for some sort of telesales role) as there is nothing pisses us off more than people like recruitment agents, who we have no actual relationship with, calling every quarter to see how things are going.

Agreed. I had a bloke who got it into his head that there had to be a role in our organization for him. I told him honestly that I couldn’t see it, but he persisted on the basis that business needs change and we might need him at some point. It took some direct talking to get him to realize that he was actively harming his chances by calling every couple of weeks.

“If you gave me the chance I’d be prepared to work for free for a month to show you what I can learn and how quickly I can get up to speed.” If it doesn’t work out after a month – you have that real experience you can sell elsewhere.

I’ve had this one put to me before, and I’ve never gone with it. If someone can’t convince me that they’re good enough to hire, then them doing it for free doesn’t help. It simply means they didn’t convince me when they had the opportunity. Depends on the role, of course – in a low-risk position my view might be different.

In general I’d rather employ someone who was working than someone who’s been out of work for months. However, there were times in our “turbulent history” when we recruited but couldn’t be sure the company/post would still be there in 6-12 months time – my moral backbone made me (and the other directors) more likely to take on someone who was out of work (and therefore wasn’t sacrificing anything to work for us), along with an honest discussion to that effect. Not sure if its possible to target / hunt for companies which might be in that boat – even on a “temporary contract” basis? Again all about building experience and credibility.

Again, this rings true to my own experience. It’s not so much the out of work issue if there’s a really good reason for it (company closed etc), more that the person’s not going to have relevant experience and will be getting rusty. What I’ve seen as useful is someone demonstrating their ability to keep up to date and to talk knowledgably about the company/industry/relevant market trends. When I was looking for the next role 2 years ago I was getting nowhere with permanent roles, so ended up doing a couple of interim contracts, and adding to my skills base through doing work centred more around change management. Pretty much as soon as I started working as an interim I picked up interviews for permanent roles.

Good luck to all those out there looking; having been through it myself I know just how grim it is. Unfortunately, now that I’m back in the position of recruiting, it’s just as hard as ever it was to get good candidates.

Someone who’s well-prepared and enthusiastic, unfazed by interview questions, who can talk about the application of their experience rather than just what’s on their CV (I’ve read it, that’s what got you through the door), and is able to articulate why you should want to employ them will stand out from the pack and, eventually, will land a role. Those who expect their CV to land them the role may well be looking for a very long time.

I’ve had this one put to me before, and I’ve never gone with it. If someone can’t convince me that they’re good enough to hire, then them doing it for free doesn’t help. It simply means they didn’t convince me when they had the opportunity. Depends on the role, of course – in a low-risk position my view might be different.

Fair point. I;ve only had an offer along those lines put to me once, and we did take it (but actually paid them for a 1 month trial period) – but they were the best candidate we interviewed – the decision was whether we go back and advertise again as he was still a bit wet behind the ears. Turned out to be great.

bland – can you give me some guidance as to how a recruitment company can charge 30%? In recruitment, I never charged more than 15% and usually it was 8%. Plus I never lied or did anything immoral or unethical. They’re not all the same, don’t tar them all with the same brush.

had any “interesting” experience with a recruitment agency today,
they got me an interview at an employer looking to take someone on for 6 month contract, during the interview they said yes to a second round interview, which was confirmed between the agency and employer later that day,
however the employer and agency cannot agree on terms (payment to the agency), so they will not take it further,

amt – I feel sorry for you – that’s a ridiculous situation. I had similar in an agency I worked for and resigned because of the way they treated people. A guy was about to lose his job he had worked in as a temp for years. Because of the agency, he would have lost his livelihood. The company actually cared and just paid up.