Completely screwed

LegacyUser

Hey everyone,

I'm an avid reader of boards and the sound advice that often gets given so I may aswell ask for some myself.

I'm 24. Living at home, just finished a masters. My family have no money, earn under 20,000 a year and that has to stretch out over 4 kids. As a result I can't depend on them for much, apart from food, bills etc. in their home, but they're stretched enough as it is.

I've been looking for part-time and full-time jobs (last count i've applied for 87 jobs spanning the country and across the world) but as I live in an unemployment blackspot, social welfare seems to be the only thing paying. Despite having a masters and a degree employers seem to gloss over my cv as i've not had one phone call or interview. I might add that I have a first class honours masters AND degree and sales experience along with an impressive cv in my area of interest. Despite all this i'm untouchable and no one wants to employ me. I applied for social welfare. They said they can only give me 160 a week,which is like winning the lottery as far as i'm concerned, one snag though! I need the college to fill out a form. No problem there, or so I thought. My college are refusing to sign the form. Apparantly my masters was 7 grand.

Despite having a full fees grant, the government in their wisdom only pay upto 6,200 and still call it full fees for disadvantaged students. (if someone can explain why its called full fees despite not being full fees, i'd appreciate it) anyway, so I owe 480 to the college after scrimping to make up the 300. Bottom line, its not good enough. Despite not having an income and recieivng assistance from the same college througout the year on an emergency basis they won't sign my form. So I can't get social welfare (backdated I might add). I pleaded with them, explaining that my mother recieves disability and my father is a full time carer and my parents income is stretched as it is. And they refused. So I can't claim whats rightfully my entitlments and the college loses out anyway because I don't have any money to pay them without a soucre of funds.

I'm at a complete loss. I'm lost in the system. I'm classed as a disadvantaged student while in college, yet the same college won't clear the way so I can at least have some source of income. It's been 3 months now. Friends around me seem to be signing on with ease and I can't and with no sign of a job on the horizon i'm not going to be allowed graduate either without finding 480e from somewhere. I don't know what to do, where to go or what to say anymore. I completely give up. I'm just posting in the hope that someone on here has some idea about a situation like this.

Thanks for reading. Its much appreciated as I have no one to really have my back on this one.

silverharp

do you or your parents have a credit union account or have you tried going to your bank. On the face of it a short overdraft or other credit could be paid back fairly quickly?

magenta73

hi, now I'm not fully up to date, so maybe you can check it out for yourself but if you or better still, one of your parents contacts FIS, (family income support) and explain your situation I'm sure that they could help, they are a goverment body, also if you go to a citizen advise center they would also help you out, but from what your saying, and again I'm not fully up to date, but, to me, what the collage is doing is illegal, are they discriminating against you because of your circumstances????? I would definatly go further about this. good luck:)

BusterHighman

Have you had a regular income going into and out of a bank account while in college even if you never actually got to spend any of it? If this is the case you should be able to get yourself a student overdraft and after signing on pay it off shortly afterwards. You could always discuss this with a student advisor in one of the branches and if they are suspicious of you no longer being a student you could always suggest that your masters is only a reward on the path to a phd ie that you'll be a student for another year or two.

Even when I was making less than the dole about two years ago I managed to secure a twenty thousand year loan over three years from National Irish Bank which I quickly cancelled when I realized I could never pay it back. So theres disregarding what they did to the country certain bank might actually be able to help you with your situation.

Lovelyjaws

I believe Ulster Bank offer an upfront overdraft of 600 euro to student account holders.The overdraft is interest free for one year.Other banks also offer overdrafts once you have a guarantor.

Best of luck

Lovelyjaws

tbh

boards has your back

I'll give you an unconditional and open-ended loan of 240, if you can find the other 240 you're sorted. PM me if you like.

kmick

I'll lend you the other 240. PM me

puglover

Caughtbetween wrote: »

I've been looking for part-time and full-time jobs (last count i've applied for 87 jobs spanning the country and across the world) but as I live in an unemployment blackspot, social welfare seems to be the only thing paying. Despite having a masters and a degree employers seem to gloss over my cv as i've not had one phone call or interview. I might add that I have a first class honours masters AND degree and sales experience along with an impressive cv in my area of interest. Despite all this i'm untouchable and no one wants to employ me. I applied for social welfare. They said they can only give me 160 a week,which is like winning the lottery as far as i'm concerned, one snag though! I need the college to fill out a form. No problem there, or so I thought. My college are refusing to sign the form. Apparantly my masters was 7 grand.

I can't advise you on the financial situation but I can advise you on your career search. I work in HR and am heavily involved in recruitment, I've shortlisted through thousands of CV's in the past few years so I can tell you exactly what is being looked for.

It's a harsh truth but your education only has real value in the Academic World and for very few highly skilled jobs which would be far too senior for a graduate anyway. it's best not to put too much weight in it. A degree is generally just a box to tick for most recruiters and they really don't care what your grade was, your masters wouldn't even come in to it in most cases. And tbh in this day and age, the country is full of well educated people so a good education while essential, does not make you stand out.

What we are looking for generally is experience, closely followed by cop -on. Now the latter you can't really get from a CV but most, myself included, would consider being capable of putting together a good, clear CV as an indicator or some level of intelligence, and that might at least get you a telephone call.

Prioritise your layout in order of what the recruiter is looking for.
1. Personal Contact Details
2. Summary (no more than 3-4 lines on where you're experience lies, any special skills and what you are looking to do next.
3. Outline of your work experience. Most recent first, Company, Position held, Years AND Months( we hate seeing just the year) you were in the position and bried outline of responsibilities for each post (use bullet points if you can.
4. Education & Further Training(DOn't go into to much detail, if your are of study was broad use bullets points to outline the main subjects you covered)
5. Hobbies and Interests
6. Referees (Not essential to provide them but indicate that they are available on request)

Always include a cover letter, keep it short and professional. It would be no harm to follow up with an email a week later and a call if no response to the email(don't plague them with phonecalls though).

Best of luck. I normally get paid for this advice but I don feel for new graduates because the employment market is never what they expect. PM me if you want any further advice

funk-you

tbh wrote: »

boards has your back

I'll give you an unconditional and open-ended loan of 240, if you can find the other 240 you're sorted. PM me if you like.

kmick wrote: »

I'll lend you the other 240. PM me

If either of these falls through I'll do the same.

-Funk

DapperGent

I can do 240 also if the others don't work out. Or the four of us can do 120.

PM if needed.

An Bhanríon

Not an expert by any means but what about the following:

Your local TD might be able to help. TDs have been known to pull a string or two you know...

Your local MABS office?

You don't say in your post if you explained the situation to the social welfare office?

mjg

tbh wrote: »

boards has your back

I'll give you an unconditional and open-ended loan of 240, if you can find the other 240 you're sorted. PM me if you like.

kmick wrote: »

I'll lend you the other 240. PM me

funk-you wrote: »

If either of these falls through I'll do the same.

-Funk

DapperGent wrote: »

I can do 240 also if the others don't work out. Or the four of us can do 120.

PM if needed.

Fair play everyone. After posting on the baby P case earlier today these posts re-affirm some faith in human nature for me.

OP, good luck with everything.

Kalashnikov_Kid

Hey mate,

I really dont mean to be negative in saying this, but would you consider a move to the UK?

There are good jobs in the London and South East area (where I am atm). And you do get respect here for being a native English speaker and holding a Masters. I think the tide has already turned over here

username123

Inform the media how the college is behaving. Expose them.

LegacyUser

Could you borrow from a friend or relation and pay it back as soon as you dole (and back payment) come through?

I would also suggest saving as much of your dole as you can as you will need to put a deposit on a place and pay a months rent in advance and live for a month when you do get a job. And you will get a job. It's just a matter of time. I'm out of work as well so I know how hard it is.

_Kaiser_

No advice to offer as such but wanted to say fair play to the lads above for offering to help the OP out - nice to see there's still some decent and generous people out there especially in these tough times.

Hope things work out for you OP

Papad

Kalashnikov_Kid wrote: »

Hey mate,

I really dont mean to be negative in saying this, but would you consider a move to the UK?

There are good jobs in the London and South East area (where I am atm). And you do get respect here for being a native English speaker and holding a Masters. I think the tide has already turned over here

That is a very good suggestion. OP: you should not get stuck in a rut. Head to London and see how it works out. I know it's tough leaving family and friends, but you have a Masters.

And to the posters who offered to help you financially: Thanks.

topdog86

Hi guys,

The OP here.

Firstly can I say a big thank you. I will pm the poster re: their offer and even if doesn't work out it has given me hope and shown that there are genuine, decent people in the world. I thought that was long gone, especially considering my circumstances at the moment, but my faith has been restored.

Also thank you for the advice and the job tips. My immediate aim is to clear the 480 so I can get my backdated social welfare and from there I reckon I will cast my net further afield in my job search.

I just want to say thank you again, whatever comes of this, my hope has been restored and I am glad I shared my problem publicly.

Booswig

Just do not get depressed. The whole world is in a resesion, and most companies are reluctant to employ people in an effort to rotect their cashflow. Just keep on trying. Good luck