Hold out for the perfect role or do something else in the meantime?

yeahimhere

I left a pretty good job last Sept because I wanted to persue a different field and to do so, did a full time FETAC course. During that time I went through my savings and now broke waiting for my JSB to come through while I'm looking for work.

I'm getting a little itchy for a job at the moment because it's driving me mad feeling "unproductive" as I've always worked. I honestly want a job in the area my new course dealt with - but I don't feel confident it gave me enough skills to apply for roles in that field (originally I planned to go further into a degree course but that's not possible financially now).

I'm doing some freelance work to fill my day and improve my skills but in the meantime I was looking at jobs in the area I previously worked in and have two interviews already. My boyf has been great and is supporting me, but he thinks if I take just any job, it was kind of pointless taking the risk last Sept trying to persue something else and I should wait. If I take another job, I might loose the skills I've just gained.

So my question is, should I take any job just to have money coming in and continue doing freelance work until I feel capible enough to go further in this field? Or, hold out and even find a very junior position in the area I'm passionate about?

the_barfly1

Jobs are so hard to come by at the moment that i reckon you should just take what you can get until something better for yourself, working in a different field wont invalidate what you've done on your course and it'll also help you save a few bob for the degree, which would be a damn lot harder to do on JSB.
As long as know your goals and keep them in sight everything in between is just a means to that end, best of luck.

munstergirl

One of the last jobs i applied for was toll collector, now do you really think anyones ambition in life is to be a toll collector. no offence to toll collectors.
I didn't even get an interview + had all the skills they were looking for.

Welcome to unemployment 2010, just apply for the jobs you want + the jobs you can do, it sucks, but i would be quite happy to get a job in tesco,
Apply for jobs, chances are you won't even get a reply, ask your friends do they know of anything.

The only jobs i would not apply for is to be charity collector on street.

cailineile13

yeahimhere,
I could've written that post myself 2 years ago...!
Left a well paid job to go and do something I'd always wanted to do, did the course, and have a basic working idea of how to do things, but can't find any jobs anywhere! Finished the course this time last year, and have been on the dole since.

I gave myself 6mths to get work in that line, figuring it'd be tough, but god it's waaay worse than I'd thought. I'm now applying for every job I can see, and rarely hear anything back, not even a thanks but no thanks letter!

On the rare occasions I've got to an interview for this line of work (4 of them in a year!) it's become clear to the interviewer that while I have the basic, *basic* skills, it's a bit like throwing a normal car driver into the likes of truck/bus driving. I know *in theory* how to do it, but practical application is very different. Like you, I've been trying to do freelance, but not making any money, other than to cover equipment rental. I'd love to ring around companies and ask them could I come in for work exp., but I can't afford the daily travel for that

If you're located near any companies who specialise in what you trained in, would it be viable for you to try something like that? I'm currently looking for all kinds of work the last 4 mths, and still getting nowhere....:rolleyes:

If you get an offer of full time paid work, then I'd say take the job, and save evenings/weekends/days off for working on your other stuff! It means that you'll be able to save for the day when you can afford to go freelance!

Best of luck either way, hope it works out for you:)

yeahimhere

Thanks for your replies and it definitly helped having others opinions! I'm going to keep on applying for roles I have experience in and hope something pans out from the interviews I've gotten so far - if I'm offered a job I'll take it.

I supose in theory, what my other half was saying is true in an ideal world, one which sadly we don't live in! I'll keep on doing some work for friends etc in the meantime to keep my knowledge up and learn some more and hopefully something will come from it in the end. Even if it just turns out to be a hobby it won't be the worst thing as I enjoy it.

gandalf

Go for whatever is out there. If you get a job that at least can pay the bills you can then concentrate on looking for what you want without the worry of not have funds coming in.

When I hit the workforce back in the early 90's it was the same as now. I was a qualified programmer and I ended up getting a job as a Warehouse Manager (the only reason I got that job was because of family contacts). I eventually got working in IT although not doing what I thought I'd do.