There are some brilliant points on here. As an employer the main thoughts that run through my head is 1. Will they fit into my companies way of doing things and the people working for me and 2. What will this person do for my business. It's a shame that I have been interviewing for a while now and can not find the right person The reason for this is that I have,on the face of it,some quality applicants come through my door. great cV,good figures etc but they could not satisfy the two points I made earlier. I mention this is to say to you don't be intimidated by others. Look into the company you are applying for. Understand the culture of how they operate and demonstrate this in your interviews. This will give you a great advantage over others as you have shown the firm you really want the job. As others have mentioned.....STAND OUT
easy...move to glasgow and give me £12k..i have a plan for a sure fire winner of a shop...but need 3 months rent and stock...should take in £2k a day
there should be a job funded by the taxpayer to wander city centres with a cricket bat , clubbing those happy-go-lucky charity yoof volunteers . I said to one Shelter-harasser last week he is more intrusive and annoying than any homeless person i pass .
I would have joined up myself had they let me go in the ranks as for 3 or 4 years its probably a very good life experience.
Have to agree. But there are pitfalls, it changes everything. I wouldn't advise joining the Army, but would advise the RAF. To be honest I would rather have worked on a cruise ship than RFA Sir Tristrum or Galahad both of which I spent time on.
The HM Armed Forces are not for everyone, as I say to my lad (he is 12) you have to be a certain type of person. I would of done the full 22yrs, but my last position in the RAF was at the flying training school in north Yorkshire, so we bought a house in Hull and made a life. We would of lost that life should I of been posted back on to a flying Squadron again. Anyway, Tricksy, you are right, the Ranks and Zobs are two different worlds...hence the RAF, they have a great middle ground called Airman Aircrew, you are a SNCO from the min you leave cranwell. You have all the trappings of the officers, the mess and so on, but you dont have the bullshit. You are in the middle with benefits of both and negatives of neither, plus you actually do see the world! (as long as you go for Transport Aircraft like 216 SQN, 101 SQN or 99 SQN)
Try thinking outside the box - there was a lad in London who paid for a giant billboard advertising himself as 'available for work' , having spent a lot of wasted effort applying for jobs the traditional route. He secured a number of job offers and national publicity! Try linked in, upload your CV to Monster. Make getting a job your full time job, it sounds obvious, but it is all too easy to get distracted by having too much time on your hands, and wasting time playing computer games or football forums! Draw up a plan, trying to be specific, of jobs relative to your experience, target those first. If you're a quick learner, try jobs outside your area of expertise. If money is tight buy a bucket/sponge/car wash liquid and offer to clean cars for friends/neighbours/etc it's cash in hand doesn't cost the earth to set up, it works for our Eastern European Chums! It isn't difficult to do! If you could clean 10-20 cars a week @ £4-£5 each That's an extra £40-£100 a week. Alternatively clean windows or gutters. Similar set up costs = minimal cash outlay. What it also demonstrates to prospective employees is that you are prepared to do anything, think outside the box and not prepared to sit on your arse feeling sorry for yourself. Best of luck Matt - keep your chin up.
To add my bit about the forces, avoid the Army (unless thats your thing), the RAF is a good middle ground. Don't even have to go airman aircrew either really. You get trained to do a job, then the military bit is on the side really, as opposed to the Army which is military first then role really. If you wanted to do a specific thing, see if the RAF have that trade, you'll get good training, good experience, and it'll be easier to get a job out in civvy street. Other main difference in the 3 forces is in the Navy and Army, an order is given and expected to be obeyed instantly with no thought. In the RAF an order is an invitation to discuss someones idea! Other than that, volunteer work sucks, but, experience is king and it can work in your favour.
and here are few more myths about the RAF They dont know what a Rat Pack is They dont work Friday afternoons They dont work weekends They dont use tents, only 5* hotels They dont work Wednesday afternoons (it's for sport) They wont fight, unless in a tropical climate They all get en-suite single rooms Every RAF Station has a bowling ally and swimming pool Actually, when I look back, a lot of this is true! ;-)
Identify a few larger local companies who operate in the type of business that you would be interested in working in. Either write to them or contact them through the careers section of their websites and offer yourself to work unpaid to gain work experience with a view to being retained. I believe that some of the local recruitment agencies are using this as a strategy as I have had a couple of calls asking if i would be prepared to take somebody on on this basis. I've got just about enough work for myself though. Alternatively, take a look about going back to college and learning a trade - something like electro-tech or ventilation as there are plently of plumbers, carpenters and carpet fitters out there. A skilled qualification can give you entry level into off-shore work or working at sea. If you are learning you qualify for certain benefits and grants. You come across as young enough to be able to do this. With regard to the army - I know a lad who went in as a squaddie, bright kid who didn't like school and got in trouble as a jack the lad. He's now got a degree and engineering skills that will set him up if he decides to come out of the forces and he's just about to make Sargeant. Good luck.
I think vacancies in the RAF are at a premium, though that might have changed recently not sure. I would have been fine being a squaddie myself but unfortunately if you have half a braincell they try and lump you with the toffs, spent a couple of days with these upper-class **** heads and had to call it a day. Not saying all officers are like that but it definitely helps if you are a plummy twat
Eesh. I once ate a rat pack for a bet. Still find it hard working on a Friday past 1pm... Weekend working...lol Tents? Can honestly say in 23 years I never spent 1 single night under canvas. I had to rough it in a B&B a couple of times though. Yeah...sport *snicker*. Fight? That's the job of the growbags in the aircraft. Yes true, though I spent the first 6 months in a dorm with 11 others. Yes true. Seriously good luck with the job hunting, lots of good advice on here, need to decide what you want to do and what you want from life really.
I found this via my Twitter feed, with somebody asking for work. http://www.gumtree.com/p/jobs/hard-...ng-man-looking-for-new-opportunity/1014752502 Could be worth a try as another way of getting your information out there.
As many people have said fella confidence and don't sell yourself short not to cocky but confident .... I tell all of my nephew's and niece's that the world doesn't end at Hull, and I love the place and nothing will replace it as home but honestly broaden your horizons. maybe not out of the country but else where. The very best of luck Matty and keep your head up.
I'd have gone royal engineers, learn a trade, a bit less combat responsibility, cushty tours to Dubai/Qatar etc... Plus if you're a good shot you have a chance of getting that highly sought after role of scout... If you choose this path, do it fast, it seems opportunities to get out to combat zones and shoot some Taliban scum are dwindling. Also make sure you take up the option of doing 'search' when they ask you
Two of my "got that T shirt". I was a very very good long range shot (low heart rate) and I was attached to different search units 9, 25, 131 Squadrons RE in a nice place not too far away.
Just to add to that, and the point about seasonal work leading to more. As I'm a student at the moment I applied for a casual summer/xmas job about 18 months ago. My cover letter didn't give a single reason why I wanted the job, the whole thing was pitched as why the company should hire me for the position. It mde it stand out from somebody saying "oh I'm wonderful and I've done this that and the other" to have someone saying "this is what you're looking for, it's what I offer, and most of the other applicants won't offer this". In my case for example the seasonal nature meant it fitted around my university, so in the letter I said that unlike other people who would potentially leave when the hours dried up I would be busy with uni, which meant that rather than retraining people 6 months later as they'd left for regular work they would have a worker that could do them for 3 years as a minimum. There were a few other things I picked up on from the advert as well which allowed me to make similar comments. It allows you to show you want the job (otherwise you wouldn't have looked at it in so much detail) without coming across as desperate or as the same as everybody else. EDIT: Just remembered, one of the other things was using the reputations of the companies I'd worked for and twisting the way I revealed things. Rather than saying "I'm a hard worker" as everyone does, I pointed out that I'd had 3 promotions in 18 months for one company, and the other company I worked for (for 4 years) was Aldi who are known for making their staff do a lot of work, so that was evidence of my work ethic. It also meant they'd seen my willingness to develop in a job, and they'd seen that having only worked for 2 companies I wasn't going to be jumping ship all the time, all without me having to say it. I also played on my family life being important, it was why I moved to Scotland, and it was why I was having a career change, so despite being single and pretty young it should a desire for stability (preferable to a 19 year old piss head). Oh, I don't know how much difference it makes, but the other thing I try to do is avoid asking about the money for it until I've been offered the job. If the advert doesn't say what the pay is I just assume minimum wage (which of you're unemployed is better than you're on) and then anything better is a bonus. The only time I asked before being given the job was when I first moved to Scotland. I was going from a full-time management position to a part-time staff contract, I'd said I didn't mind starting at the bottom again, but I did need to make sure that I was going to be able to afford to live on the money so we were working out how many hours I needed to do to make sure it was agreeable to both sides. The guys that have been involved in recruitment will have a better idea, but I feel as though asking would just make it too obvious you were there for the money. I know that's daft because pretty much everybody works for the money, but I just don't think highlighting at that stage it is a good move. Like I say, I don't know if that's fair, but I know I've only ever had one interview where I haven't ended up getting the job, and that was my first interview whilst I was still at school and I wouldn't agree to working Saturday afternoons because of football. (I never see the point of having a job to get the money to do what I want to do if having the job stops me being able to do it, needing to pay bills is a different matter, but I didn't have that worry back then) For development into more, I'd target quite small companies that are looking to grow because they don't want to bring in inexperienced people to be in charge of experienced staff. I did the first Xmas season for us which was virtually nothing for me as a new starter, so really I started last summer. By the end of the summer I'd been made one of the senior staff, and just from working well for them I was offered regular time in the warehouse. Then at the start of this month I started as the warehouse manager despite still being at uni and only having 2 days a week I can work (and it's only 1 day when I've been to Hull for the weekend games). Once it hits the summer I'll be full-time in the role until September (one of the other staff is making up the hours work wise for me til then), and once I've finished my degree next year it means I've got a guaranteed job whilst I look for an accounting position. Adding to that. The advantage with studying at the moment is, providing you're doing a course that qualifies for student funding you have a guaranteed level of income for a number of years (I notice OP was getting stressed about the money for paying bills and stuff), and depending on your earlier results at school it's easier to get accepted on a course doing something than it is to find a job. The reason I'm studying now is that I wanted a career change and finding a job in the market was proving ridiculous (9 months and not a single interview as every where could hold out for people with relevent experience or for graduates with related degrees). By going on a degree course I got myself 4 years (Scottish system takes an extra year) with guaranteed student loans etc coming in to pay all my bills. It allows me to get the extra skills whilst constantly looking for suitable work, either as a means to my eventual career, or as a safety net for when I finish my degree (or if I like it and it pays enough to do instead). It gave me a lot of freedom to do as I pleased. 1st Year I didn't bother working as I wanted a year off, then 2nd year I applied for the job I talked about above because it met my needs entirely in terms of giving me some work without me having to give anything up (I don't actually need the money, I could comfortably live off the student money for another year or so if I wanted). I know there's the stigma of student debt, but it's all bollocks, it's not a debt because it doesn't function as a debt. You're basically agreeing that if after your course you earn a lot of money then you'll pay some extra tax, and if you were on £25k you'd be paying £30 a month extra from take home pay of well over £1k, you're not going to notice it. (note, my course is to become an accountant, this isn't some casual student who couldn't care less attitude, it's me having looked at the actual numbers and decided it's basically irrelevent). I know I live in Scotland so my fees are paid rather than added to the loan, but that doesn't bias my views. Being in Scotland also means that I have to pay back when I'm earning £15k rather than £21k (plus inflationary increases on both), and I said when the protests about the changes down there were happening that I'd rather have it on your new terms than either the Scottish terms or the old English terms.
I have only one qualification. City and Guilds in Computerised Accounting level 2. In other words Sage Accounts. It is possibly the best quick course that you can do. With no experience you need to do the basic levels first but I'm thick and I passed. Best money I have ever spent.
