Anyone here unemployed and at a loss as to what to do?

JohnButler

Hi guys,

Firstly as a newbie can i just say that boards.ie is a wonderful place to come for useful tips and suggestions! I only wish i knew about it sooner!!

I am Carpenter, unemployed the last 6 months and struggling to find any sort of work, anywhere!:mad: Its most frustrating when you want to get on but cant!!

What im wondering is, what is everyone in the same boat doing? Im at a loss as to what to do...no companies seem to be hiring, recruitment agencies are a curse and a nuisance(im sure there not all like that, but the ones ive dealt with are) with their phantom jobs. If you were to emigrate where would you go? Jobs seem to be scarce everywhere...

So what is everyone doing about their respective situations?

Sorry too, if any threads have been started like this before!!

Cheers,

JB

lady_j

Understand how you feel, its like Im sending CVs into a black hole. However if you are thinking of leaving I'm fairly sure carpentry is on the skilled visa list for australia could be worth a look.

Ellechim

If I were a carpenter I would post a notice in all my local shops and supermarkets - people always want things done........

Ellechim

Also, try doing some voluntary work for a charity - they are always looking for help........

toodelies

Hi John,

I am also a newbie here too and I am in the same boat as you. I was made redundany 3 months ago and desperately need a new job. For various factors immigration is not an option for me so I have been doing my utmost to get another job here.

Two friends of mine are in Canada at the moment and say that the economy there is ok so it may be worth checking out?

anyway best of luck to you, hope it works out well!

Nolanger

Go to a private college and ask them can you teach evening classes in carpentry?

ntlbell

have you applied to local chippers?

cleaning work?

security guard?

shop assistant?

mc donalds?

there is plenty of work out there if your willing to do it.

obviously not in your trade but will pay the bills to you find something more suitable...it's not a time for being proud.

barro123

ntlbell wrote: »

there is plenty of work out there if your willing to do it.

That, to be honest, is a load of bollix.

lb163

NTLBELL, your talking a lot of C***. I am 56 year old with good electrical qualifications and I have been looking for work since last July, have done all the putting notices in places, knocking on doors etc but no work what world are you living in?

mikemac

Nolanger wrote: »

Go to a private college and ask them can you teach evening classes in carpentry?

Good call!
www.nightcourses.com

Check that for colleges and VEC's in your area and see if they have a position.
And if they don't run a course then you could start your course, you'll make some good money from it.

Of course you're going to have to design the course content but it's worth looking into.

Xiney

I do feel discouraged, a lot of the time.

I haven't been unemployed this time around for very long. December doesn't particularly count in my book because not too many jobs were being advertised for obvious reasons.

If I haven't found anything in my skillset by the end of the month I'll get a stopgap job in a shop or something. I'm not too proud for a minimum wage job, I did it for 5 months over the summer in Sligo. It's just depressing - I was always the top of my class, got a degree from a top school in a practical field, always worked really hard and was very good at every job I've ever had. And yet it seems to count for very little.


I have an interview tomorrow though, so hopefully that goes well.

petethebrick

Ellechim wrote: »

Also, try doing some voluntary work for a charity - they are always looking for help........

As admirable as voluntary work may be I don't think that it'll help the OP pay his bills/rent and the like!

ntlbell

lb163 wrote: »

NTLBELL, your talking a lot of C***. I am 56 year old with good electrical qualifications and I have been looking for work since last July, have done all the putting notices in places, knocking on doors etc but no work what world are you living in?

Your looking for eclectrical work that isn't there I assume?

my advice to stop looking for work in the given trade and take up something else be it cleaning floors washing cars in a garage whatever it's money and it will tide you over untill something comes up

just moaning that there's no work isn't going to help anyone

ntlbell

barro123 wrote: »

ntlbell wrote: »

there is plenty of work out there if your willing to do it.

That, to be honest, is a load of bollix.

Oh?

I past two signs this morning in shop windows looking for staff.

I see bar and lounge staff signs all over dublin.

there is work out there if your willing to work.

lb163

Yor still talking C***. I have tried to some of these jobs you talk about when the look at my CV they just say no point in giving you a job because first offer you get in your related field you will be off and we we have to recruite again

ntlbell

lb163 wrote: »

Yor still talking C***. I have tried to some of these jobs you talk about when the look at my CV they just say no point in giving you a job because first offer you get in your related field you will be off and we we have to recruite again

Really? I know a good friend of mine an accountant just started working as a bar man on apprentice wages with no previous.....

maybe your not trying hard enough?

maybe make adjustments to you CV to show skills that you leaned in your trade that can be applied to these new roles...

lb163

What electrical skils do you apply to pulling pints?. At 56 year old you have less of a chance of getting jobs like these. What age is you accountant buddy?

mad m

If it pays the mortage and puts food on the table who cares what job it is.

lb163

I agree madm

ntlbell

lb163 wrote: »

What electrical skils do you apply to pulling pints?. At 56 year old you have less of a chance of getting jobs like these. What age is you accountant buddy?

Well pulling pints isn't a very technical skill and be learned in about 45 minutes.

If you have been working for yourself as an electrican

you probably handled your staff....dealt with wages.

your working on projects so you should have excellent time management skills etc

You gain tons of experience in all sorts of rolls that can be applied to any job.

highlight these in your CV

you can do a bar mans course in town realtivley cheap if you're an electrician all through the boom I'll assume you have made enough to put a sum away that could afford a 200euro course

Go to obair ask them to sit down with you and go over your CV with you to see where you can make it suit more jobs...

use thine head..

grahamo

ntlbell wrote: »

have you applied to local chippers?

cleaning work?

security guard?

shop assistant?

mc donalds?

there is plenty of work out there if your willing to do it.

obviously not in your trade but will pay the bills to you find something more suitable...it's not a time for being proud.

I don't know what to say to this post......Is it not bad enough being out of work without having to put up with patronising comments?

helimachoptor

lb163 wrote: »

Yor still talking C***. I have tried to some of these jobs you talk about when the look at my CV they just say no point in giving you a job because first offer you get in your related field you will be off and we we have to recruite again

I would have to agree, a few people I know have had this experience in applying for jobs outside of their chosen profession.

One in a trainee solicitor that was let go, applied for a bar/shop/cleaning job and was told no as they'd be out the door as soon as they got a job they wanted.

ntlbell

grahamo wrote: »

I don't know what to say to this post......Is it not bad enough being out of work without having to put up with patronising comments?

Tough love my friend tough love..

Gone West

grahamo wrote: »

I don't know what to say to this post......Is it not bad enough being out of work without having to put up with patronising comments?

If you have no job, working in McDonalds is a promotion.
You're only as good as your last paycheck.

ntlbell

helimachoptor wrote: »

I would have to agree, a few people I know have had this experience in applying for jobs outside of their chosen profession.

One in a trainee solicitor that was let go, applied for a bar/shop/cleaning job and was told no as they'd be out the door as soon as they got a job they wanted.

I was doing a contract in Ford not so long ago there was 4 guys from poland washing the cars...

3 were Vets.....

pipsqueak

Go out and clean some windows !! mc donalds, ! cleaning gutters! anything! ger up off yer lazy holes and stop complaining, some people just want everything handed to them on a plate!! boo hoo, Im sick to death of these whingers!:mad:

cue

Hey JB,
Have you thought about theatre and film carpentry? It would not take a qualified carpenter too long to adjust to the slightly different methods. Good luck.

RayM

In the UK, in the 80s, the Tory MP Norman Tebbit told the unemployed to "get on your bike, and look for work" (or words to that effect). He was a horrible old bastard, actually.

With the likelihood that a lot of retail outlets are going to go bust or downsize this year, thus releasing hoards of experienced and able shop assistants into the labour market, it's probably going to get more and more difficult to find a job in your local Spar or Centra.

mjth2004

Feel for ye boys out of work – could be there too once my contract is up in March! So best of luck with finding another job, things look light out there on the ground!

Just one question, mate of mine works payroll for one of the bigger construction companies in Ireland & the money guys on site were being paid over the past 10 years was criminal! Serious salaries for bog-standard work, did ye not squirrel any money aside knowing that this property boom was going to end & you might have to diverge/re-skill down another avenue? Or at least have enough money put aside to keep you a float for at least a year?

Either way boys – best of luck with the job search!

taibhse

ntl bell and pipsqueak, I really hope you lose your jobs in 2009, it might take away some of your smugness. People are losing their jobs everyday, by the thousands, through no fault of their own and finding another one is becoming harder and harder. Major companies are shutting up shop, others are moving out of the country, so the jobs you now have mightn't be so cushy this year. But by then will you take your own advice and start mopping floors. People don't need your self satisfied clap trap.

BostonB

Very easy to make glib comments, but reality is a little more complex. The problem is not with people not wanting to do any job. But that some employers are not interested in certain types of people for certain jobs. Thats the reality. Not everyone is suited to every job, and employers will see this straight away. They aren't going to just pick anyone unless they've no choice.

Obviously if you can't get work in your chosen area, you have to keep broadening your scope, and do anything. But its not easy. I don't agree with making your CV, as generic as possible. Its looks like woeful and looks like complete spin. Turns the employer off completely.

Also rather than look blindly for "jobs" find out where there is demand. Then get the skills to do that. Most people don't do proper research when job hunting.

lb163

Very good comment bostonb, as i said I have tried all these ideas and had no look.

diverdriver

From the sound of it some you people have never been out of work or don't realise how much things have changed. The truth is that when jobs are hard to get employers will reject people 'overqualified' for the job. As Ib163 said

I have tried to some of these jobs you talk about when the look at my CV they just say no point in giving you a job because first offer you get in your related field you will be off and we we have to recruit again

Been there, done that. Back before the boom. I was out of work for seven months because of that. Couldn't get a bad job. I went to agencies and they said: 'We have nothing related to your experience'. I told them any job would do me. Even when I did get a job, the HR guy warned me that he was taking a chance on me because he knew what it was like. But to be fair they are mostly right because as soon as a good job comes up you will leave.

One other thing, being well qualified even during the boom never got you a job unless you were in the right place at the right time. I got a job in a medical device company once. Another company rejected me. They never said why. I knew exactly though. Wrong sex, wrong age. Of the group I started with most were qualified in other fields. There were even several university graduates working the line. So much for the good times.

It's also true that men over a certain age will not get certain jobs. Waiters, shop assistants etc. Service jobs. It ain't gonna happen. They don't want older men in those jobs. That's not discrimination of course, because you can't discriminate against white men apparently. Naturally older women have their problems with employers.

Some of you need a reality check. The way things are going some you will very soon. A lot of people who grew up during the good times are about to find out what their parents went through.

ntlbell

BostonB wrote: »

Very easy to make glib comments, but reality is a little more complex. The problem is not with people not wanting to do any job. But that some employers are not interested in certain types of people for certain jobs. Thats the reality. Not everyone is suited to every job, and employers will see this straight away. They aren't going to just pick anyone unless they've no choice.

Obviously if you can't get work in your chosen area, you have to keep broadening your scope, and do anything. But its not easy. I don't agree with making your CV, as generic as possible. Its looks like woeful and looks like complete spin. Turns the employer off completely.

Also rather than look blindly for "jobs" find out where there is demand. Then get the skills to do that. Most people don't do proper research when job hunting.

I never said make it generic

but too highlight skills that the employer would see as useful....

there's a big difference...

lb163

I did a number of interviews before christmas and I have found out that the jobs have been filled by younger people with less experience.

BostonB

Constuction has hit the wall. I know 3 or 4 sparks who can't find any work. A couple are now stay at home dads. One has been doing alsorts of work for about a year, painting, decortating, refurbishing kitchens, patios, even plumbing. But even that is drying up as so many are trying to get in on that. People aren't going ahead with as much home improvements either. So he's going back to college. Not always an option I realise.

pipsqueak

taibhse wrote: »

ntl bell and pipsqueak, I really hope you lose your jobs in 2009, it might take away some of your smugness. People are losing their jobs everyday, by the thousands, through no fault of their own and finding another one is becoming harder and harder. Major companies are shutting up shop, others are moving out of the country, so the jobs you now have mightn't be so cushy this year. But by then will you take your own advice and start mopping floors. People don't need your self satisfied clap trap.

yup just proved my point.. I want i want i want! Talk about throwing your toys from the pram!! sheesh!!

ntlbell

taibhse wrote: »

ntl bell and pipsqueak, I really hope you lose your jobs in 2009, it might take away some of your smugness. People are losing their jobs everyday, by the thousands, through no fault of their own and finding another one is becoming harder and harder. Major companies are shutting up shop, others are moving out of the country, so the jobs you now have mightn't be so cushy this year. But by then will you take your own advice and start mopping floors. People don't need your self satisfied clap trap.

I'm not smug at all I'm trying to bring some reality to the situation, there is very good chance I will lose my job in 2009 thanks for your concern.

No one is blaming him for losing his job but blindly putting down suggestions is not going to help.

I started two years ago preparing myself for a down turn and started learning different skills and doing courses doing part time and volunteer work in different fields so should i lose my job which is looking more and more likely by the day I will have a few more options open to me and I'll be able to add stuff to my CV and references etc that I wouldn't have had I not started preparing myself earlier on

will it guarantee me a job? no but you can;t just keep whining there's no work you have to get off your arse be 25 or 60

but I've done mundane jobs before I'll do them again people who are not afraid of hard graft very rarely have trouble finding it in my experience...

Larianne

Have you tried places like B&Q which tend to hire more experienced people in the area of builiding and electrical. (You could maybe on the sly advertise your skills to customers while working there?!)

Dudess

lb163 wrote: »

Yor still talking C***. I have tried to some of these jobs you talk about when the look at my CV they just say no point in giving you a job because first offer you get in your related field you will be off and we we have to recruite again

I know what you mean. Employers are gonna know who the people simply looking for "stopgap" work are. At the same time though, that's no reason to NOT apply. Tailor your CV as best you can. And also, see what Fas courses are on offer at the moment.

lb163

I did try B & Q they said I was over qualified!!

BostonB

ntlbell wrote: »

I never said make it generic

but too highlight skills that the employer would see as useful....

there's a big difference...

ntlbell wrote: »

....working for yourself...

you probably handled your staff....dealt with wages.

excellent time management skills etc...

You're entitled your opinion, but I disagree, tis all.

TBH a one page CV thats as clear and concise as a bell, would be far more attractive than a waffling, patronising generic stuff that everyone has on their CV. Most people talk up their CV to the point you're not sure what they actually did. Completely self defeating.

BostonB

I reckon your best chance of work is via people who know you, and are happy to give you a job painting their house, or whatever. So get networking via your mates, family etc. After you've done that, try the press, then the agency hell. Most people do this in reverse.

Larianne

lb163 wrote: »

I did try B & Q they said I was over qualified!!

And it says they look for experts to demonstrate appliances etc.

Just keep applying and change your CV to suit the role you're going for.

I was out of work for 8 weeks and had 3 different CVs typed up for 3 different areas I have experience in.

I'd lie in interviews as well saying you've decided on a different career path or whatever will sound good to suit the role. You never know where a new job will take you.

pipsqueak

Here,s a idea to someone who says its impossible to find work out there:
Get a bike and a ladder 3 bungee straps to strap the ladder to the bike, get a bucket a and window cleaning set (5euro).
Go around to every shop, business, housing estate in your locality and nicley offer to clean their windows for a tenner. YES A TENNER!(obviously bit more for a big business), say you ask 50 people and ten say yes thats 10x10 = 100 euro for a days work, do that 5 days a week and you could probably take home 500 euro a week.

I know its different from what you used to do but isnt it doing SOMETHING??

ntlbell

BostonB wrote: »

You're entitled your opinion, but I disagree, tis all.

TBH a one page CV thats as clear and concise as a bell, would be far more attractive than a waffling, patronising generic stuff that everyone has on their CV. Most people talk up their CV to the point you're not sure what they actually did. Completely self defeating.

Yup people who manage staff working for themselves tend to not highlght skills they may have they tend to focus all on the trade

I'm not saying to add "good time management" to the CV but add something to the CV to show/prove these skills that might otherwise be overlooked or you might think of saying in an interview

tailoring your CV to a particular job is always beneficial to you and highlighting these skills when you have no relevant experience is

this is not about agreeing with me or disagreeing it is standard good practice

JohnButler

Hi guys,

thanks for all the comments, some very helpful, others not so much.

My main reason for starting this thread is just to find out what people are doing about not being able to find work.

The thing is, certain posters say to get of yer arse and go and look for work, its there if ya want it, well thats exactly what ive been doing. Im applying for everything and i am certainly not too proud to do any sort of work, especially when there are bills to be paid. Ive applied for bar work, which i cant get. Same too for shops, cafes, restaraunts. Ive even dickied up my CV to make it look like i have experience in these things, which i dont but desperate times.
Around my area and beyond people used to come to me to get odd jobs done. That has all but dried up for now. Ive handed out fliers, stuck up signs, anything to try and drum up a bit of work. I dont overcharge and never have, its just that alot of people dont want this things done anymore cause it will cost them money. Alot of my mates in the trade are having the same problem.

I know there are people in my situation all over the country and indeed probably in a worse situation.
I just hope it doesnt happen to people posting about work being there if ya want it because i dont think they realise how much things have changed.

Keep the comments coming guys,

cheers JB

lb163

I agree with your comments John all we can do is keep trying, best of luck

the GALL

Im doing a course for the next 2 years it pays a little over the dole which is a little under minimum wage. I hav'nt a pot to piss'in but when I finish it ill be a bit more qualified than the next guy. For anyone who's sittin at home scratchin their nads go down to fas/vtos centre and apply for a course it'll give you something to do It doesnt pay very much but it may lead onto something else.
I cant emphasise(sp)to much the need to do a course there's guys there with me from the age of 22 to 63 (im 37)
Dont let the cabin fever set in, there's only one thing worse than havin no money and that's havin no money and been bored
Best of luck lads

diverdriver

Pipsqueak, man you are so out of touch. Become a window cleaner. :pac:ha ha ha:rolleyes:You do realise most areas already have their local cleaner already and he'll come looking for you. Most businesses the same. Next you'll be advising people to set up a shoe shine business or play the harmonica on street corners. Get real!

ntlbell

diverdriver wrote: »

Pipsqueak, man you are so out of touch. Become a window cleaner. :pac:ha ha ha:rolleyes:You do realise most areas already have their local cleaner already and he'll come looking for you. Most businesses the same. Next you'll be advising people to set up a shoe shine business or play the harmonica on street corners. Get real!

I can give you a list of areas that don't have a current cleaner in dublin as long as my arm if you want them..

The shoe shiners in the air port always seem to be very hard at work?

This is why people have trouble getting work, they have no imagination...

someone's not knocking on my door begging to be to do some overpriced work so I'm not moving...

good stuff..