[Rio_]

Apologies for making yet another post about jobs, but it's beginning to feel like I'm completely unemployable. Earlier this year I hoped I'd be able to get some work experience relevant to my engineering degree I'm working towards, and sent off emails to various companies asking if I could help out with CAD work...got some nice rejection emails, but nothing more. So eventually I gave up on that, and started thinking about working in administration...volunteered as an admin assistant to give me some experience, then sent off CVs to various jobs advertised online...heard nothing back except for the odd automated email thanking me for applying. Then I moved into the flat I'll be living in in term time, and as well as continuing to apply for admin jobs online I also went round shops looking for work...a lot of them wouldn't even take my CV because I can't work after the start of the semester, but the ones who did and said they'd be in touch...again, I've heard nothing.

I've given up searching for work this summer because there's not much time left, and am going to volunteer for the rest of the holiday instead, but what if this keeps on happening? The only thing I'm good at is studying, and for the jobs I'm applying for nobody really cares. You can't learn work experience!

My sister's 16-year-old friend is working as a sales assistant in a well-known fashion chain, as her first job. I have two months' experience as a cashier in a supermarket (God knows how I managed to get that), and a month's experience volunteering as an admin assistant...I know it's not much, but I thought it'd be worth at least an interview! Just makes me feel completely worthless...what's wrong with me?

[splitimage]

There's nothing wrong with you - job hunting is one of the most demoralizing experiences known to mankind.

Couple of thoughts - when applying to on-line jobs, they get 100's if not 1000's of applications so if there's any contact info given try reaching someone in person - it might just get your resume pulled for an interview.

Have you had a few people look at and critique your resume. This can be very helpful.

It's not that unusual for students to not have a lot of work experience or work experience in their field - so you're not alone.

When school starts up, I'd encourage you to get active in clubs. You can gain a lot of practical transferable skills, but helping organizing events and eventually taking on leadership roles like president or treasurer, it also shows teamwork. I'm not making up how valuable this can be. I literally got my first real job post uni based on my extracurricular activities on my resume.

Don't leave looking for related work experience until your next break. I'm sure your school will have some kind of careers centre, that can help you with resume writing, internships, or finding volunteer placements. Contact firms you'd like to work for and contact them early, asking about internship opportunities over your break.

And if you can - keep up the volunteering during the school year, it is a way to get skills nad make contacts with people who can act as references or maybe provide job leads down the road.

There are also lots of good books about job search strategies - check them out at your local library.

I'm just 4 months into a new job after 15 months of unemployement. It took me 6 months of looking full time to find a job, and I have over 13 years of work experience in a variety of fields. You just have to really persevere.

good luck.

--splitimage

[RozG]

((((((Rio))))))

nothing is wrong with you.

please don't take this the wrong way but you know the job hunting market in the UK is ruthless atm....and perhaps the only thing "wrong" is your lack of confidence shows?

i know it sounds ridiculous but try standing in front of the mirror for 5 mins each day and telling yourself you ARE worth it, you DO matter and you CAN get there ok?

and btw..volunteering classes as work experience...i started out working in a hostel (night shelter) as a volunteer and next i knew i was a case worker. then i volunteered as a credit union volunteer and that resulted in a job working finance for the city council.

employers in the UK put a LOT of stock in voluntary work Rio, so DON'T give up ok.

sorry i can't be of more help

[nowheretorun]

keep trying Rio, its difficult starting out.. the skills you have so far are very usable and marketable but that does depend on the market... keep gaining skills to give yourself better favor in the future and i'll keep hoping that the right thing comes along... you have great ambition and i know you wont miss the opportunity...

aside from work related things, you're very likable to read and i think you'd do great in public contact situations!

[Rio_]

Thanks, splitimage.

That's an idea - a lot of them give contact names and phone numbers, and sometimes addresses, although they look like they're for the recruitment agencies instead of the actual companies looking for work.

Both my parents have looked at my CV, as well as one of dad's friends (also an engineer), and they were quite encouraging, but I went to the careers service last year and the most positive thing they had to say about it was "well, you've got the bare bones there..."

I guess that's true. I don't think any of my friends on my course have relevant experience - most of them are either working in shops or cafes.

Does orchestra count as a club? I've been second violin in the university orchestra for a year now - we're off to play concerts in Ireland next week! To be honest, the workload for the course I'm on is so high that I'm not sure how much extra I can do and still be able to cope. There are roles like president and treasurer in the orchestra, though, which I could try applying for in later years when I have more experience there. That's very cool it helped you get your first graduate job! What clubs were you in, if you don't mind my asking?

I was actually looking for CAD jobs from the Easter holidays, but I did leave looking for other work a bit late, you're right. Unfortunately, the exams right before the break makes it difficult to job-hunt and revise at the same time, and I was away on holiday until three days before I moved here, which didn't help. I'm going to be in a similar situation next year - my parents are very keen for me to come on holiday with them again, seeing as it's the last family holiday we'll get before my sister goes on her gap year. So that means there's only going to be about a month and a half in which I can actually work, because the break doesn't start until some time in May and the holiday would start in mid-July, and almost as soon as the holiday ends I'm very keen to go on a German course that's running for three weeks in Germany. So between mid-July and the end of August I wouldn't be able to work at all, and after the end of August there's only about two weeks until the start of third year. The German course is important to be because I've still got a probably crazy ambition to work for either Volkswagen, Audi or Mercedes when I graduate, but the holiday is obviously very important to my parents...I don't really know what to do.

That's a thought - I'd have to see what next year's workload is like, but we usually get one afternoon off a week, sometimes more, so I might be able to fit it in. It would be good to have something on my CV that lasted longer than two months!

That's a good idea, there's a library quite close to both where I live at home and where I live here.

That's great you managed to find a job in the end.

Thanks again!

[Rio_]

((((RozG)))) Thanks.

That's true, mum's been saying the same thing. It's strange, though, because there do seem to be quite a few jobs going...maybe there's also a lot of people looking? You're probably right there, as I'm sure is fairly obvious from my posts I don't have much in the way of confidence.

Thanks! Just so long as I don't have to say it out loud, I think my flatmate might begin to worry about me if I started talking to myself in the mirror each day.

That's great! I wish there was some volunteering that was relevant to engineering or design, but a lot of it is either retail or social work...guess any sort of contact with the public is useful, though.

Thanks again, and you were very helpful.

[Rio_]

Thanks, nowheretorun. That's true, and it doesn't help that as much as I'd like a job the idea of working is also pretty scary to me...all this talk on applications of "target-driven environments" or "exceptional customer service"...what if I can't do that? And I don't really know what sort of market any skills I have would suit, either. Thanks, that's one of the reasons I'm doing the German course I mentioned in my reply to splitimage - partly because I love German, but also because I'm hoping language skills would be an advantage. Thanks, I hope I wouldn't...

Thanks again! If there's any job where public contact is only through writing, that'd be great , but in real life I'm very shy and found working in the supermarket quite stressful.

[thelostone]

in the US there is an organization called habitat for humanity. i don't know if there is a similar organization over there or not, but if so they are always looking for volunteers, and it is closer to the field you are studying for. they build homes for the poor who would otherwise never have the opportunity to own their own home. land and materials are all purchased, and the rest of the process is done by volunteers. the new homeowner is required to put in x amount of "sweat equity" in building the home, and others in the community volunteer to do everything from the actual engineering/architecture to the building itself. i would look into it and see if there is such an organization where you are.

lost

[splitimage]

Rio -

I think the language course is a great idea, having language skills is always a great idea. I'm toying with the idea of learning German myself as the parent company I work for is based in Germany.

As for what I did in University - well I did everything. The standard joke was I majored in extracurricular and minored in English & Philosophy.

I was on the Varsity Fencing Team, a member of the Debating Team (Treasurer then President.) On student Government for 3 years, including one year as VP or external affairs, and involoved in support group for El Salvador that eventually got our university twinned with the University of El Salvador.

I think running for President or treasurer of the orchestra would be a great idea. It would give you valuable skills and help you learn time management. And definitely use your school's career services' offices a lot.

Good luck.

--splitimage

[Rio_]

Thanks, thelostone! There is a Habitat for Humanity in the UK as well, definitely worth bearing in mind for later years. It sounds very good, and they have opportunities for volunteering in the UK as well, which is handy!

[Rio_]

Thanks, splitimage. The course I'm thinking of is through the Goethe Institut - they also do online courses, I think.

Wow, sounds like you were busy! That's very cool you managed to get your university twinned with one in El Salvador.

Thanks! I'd definitely need to learn very good time management skills if I did. Will do!

[livingdeadkitty]

huggies