Nearly two years out of work.... Where do i start?

How Soon Is Now

I try and apply for as much work as i can every week but lately i am starting to just get fed up i dunno where to start at times.

Every site i look at seems to be just jobs above my level or door to door sales.

The jobs i actually know i can do are pushing me aside because i don't have two to three years experience......

Recruitment agency's seem to be of no help all i get is constant spam emails from anyone i sign up to.

In the past i got one or two jobs from joining Noel recruitment or Le Creme but it seems there gone to the dogs over last few years.

I am studying for the Comptia A+ the last while and i am fairly confident in passing the exams but i just want to make sure of myself before i fork out two hundred euro each on them!!

Really long story short i need something my girlfriend is due a baby in December and things wont be getting any easier.

I just get the feeling even though i have plenty of past job experience in different areas and i good level of knowledge all i could have any real chance of getting at the moment would be more basic minimum wage work that i have done a lot of already and hasn't gotten me anywhere in fairness.

Any ideas what are the best places to look at for finding entry level computer maintenance jobs call centers customer support etc type positions ??

Im lost at the moment stressing out over everything ! :pac:

Tom_Cruise

I know its along wait, but maybe think of applying for a third level course for next year, you could be entitled to BTEA/grants.

How Soon Is Now

Tom_Cruise wrote: »

I know its along wait, but maybe think of applying for a third level course for next year, you could be entitled to BTEA/grants.

Its an option i guess.

I just feel the time is getting longer and longer and gotten to stage where i feel im gonna have to just settle back into any auld role just to earn a bit of extra money.

I am finding it very hard to accept it lately that i could go out there and work a full week like a dog for someone who will change my hours every week and treat me whatever way they want and i wont even be earning much more then what i get now.

I have done so much of this in the past its not something i wanna go back into but i am getting the feeling i don't really have a choice right now.....

I know i am better then this though and i really want to be out there working in an environment that will test me and further me i just don't know where to look at this stage. The endless lists of job sites are scary at times because it seems all the jobs are so over skilled these days.

Is there anywhere out there to look into jobs wise that are willing to actually give people a chance without needing crazy amounts of experience ?

Like i said id love to work in computer maintenance i am only entry level but i feel i could advance in it because i have a natural interest in it all my life and i learn and pick things up fairly quick. I guess you could say i dont have the papers to prove it right now but i could do a lot of things in this area and wouldn't be diving in at the deep end.

Id take on any kind of customer support call center area kind of job at this stage..... Maybe even retail in the right area.

pmrozik

Okay, honestly - how many jobs do you apply for per week? What kind of jobs are you applying for?

Your answer will be very important to me. You see, I arrived in Ireland almost two weeks ago and I thought I could find a job here. Unfortunately, it seems that it's really an employers' market out there. I have the same problem that you do, meaning I don't have any commercial experience in my field (programming), but I know I would do just fine.

Have you thought about starting your own company? Where are you based? As an alternative to getting a ninetofive, I'm considering the following:

• My own business
• Freelancing
• Leaving

pmrozik

Here's a very interesting article about how to improve your job prospects.

fleet

FAS will pay for you Comptia A+, Net+, Linux, Cisco etc exams if you complete their online ecollege training (also free).

You could get A+, Net+ and Linux done before Christmas if you hit the library for 3 hours a day.

How Soon Is Now

pmrozik wrote: »

Okay, honestly - how many jobs do you apply for per week? What kind of jobs are you applying for?

Your answer will be very important to me. You see, I arrived in Ireland almost two weeks ago and I thought I could find a job here. Unfortunately, it seems that it's really an employers' market out there. I have the same problem that you do, meaning I don't have any commercial experience in my field (programming), but I know I would do just fine.

Have you thought about starting your own company? Where are you based? As an alternative to getting a ninetofive, I'm considering the following:

• My own business
• Freelancing
• Leaving

fleet wrote: »

FAS will pay for you Comptia A+, Net+, Linux, Cisco etc exams if you complete their online ecollege training (also free).

You could get A+, Net+ and Linux done before Christmas if you hit the library for 3 hours a day.

The jobs i apply for every week really depends on what i find and what is actually worth it!. I mean i applied for a job in pc world today it was only posted today and i know for a fact i could and would love to work in that kinda position so fingers crossed.

I was studying networking before actually..... Hated it nearly turned me off IT altogether ha.

pmrozik

How Soon Is Now wrote: »

The jobs i apply for every week really depends on what i find and what is actually worth it!. I mean i applied for a job in pc world today it was only posted today and i know for a fact i could and would love to work in that kinda position so fingers crossed.

I was studying networking before actually..... Hated it nearly turned me off IT altogether ha.

Maybe you're in a better situation than I am, but for me there's no such thing as it's worth it or it's not worth it. If the jobs pays at least the minimum wage, it's worth it. I also don't want to dish out 200+ EUR on Java Certification, but if I get a job I'll be able to earn the money I need to pay for that certificate - even if that means flipping burgers.

And don't ever say to an employer that you studied networking and hated it. You need networking in IT, the basics at the very least.

How Soon Is Now

I guess where both in some kinda situation put it that way ha.

And as you have put it I've flipped many a burger actually worked in three different burger kings! Haha :-)

I taught networking was interesting at the start but as it went on........ God.

uck51js9zml2yt

Have you thought of a spring board course or one through the many skillnets.

Rhys Essien

OP,Does the job have to be in Dublin??

EMC in Cork I think are recruiting.They have ~3000 employees.I heard people getting work there with little or no experience.
http://ireland.emc.com/careers/index.htm

This list might not suit you but have a look anyway and have a chat with jobs.ie
http://www.jobs.ie/EMC-Computer-Systems/


If you want,also consider Apple in Cork ~5000 employees who I think recruit fairly regularly.
http://www.apple.com/jobs/ie/

All the best.

How Soon Is Now

I guess Dublin would be the easiest right now with my son due in December and all but i would consider it if the situation was right.

Actually just applied for a job with paypal there today in Dundalk.

Mr. Loverman

This is going to remain a problem until you make yourself more desirable to employers.

There are a few ways to do this, but the obvious two are:

a) Get an eduction.
b) Fill your CV with experience.

You can solve both of these very quickly.

a) Sign up for a night course or a distant learning course. This should be a degree. I know some people will disagree with this ("degrees don't prove anything blah blah") but remember the HR drone sees many CVs each day and most of them have some sort of degree written on them.

Employers will be impressed to see you are trying to better yourself by staying part-time in your spare time.

Continue with the certifications too.

I have a degree, masters, post grad and a few professional certificates. These all took a few years to accumulate, of course, but they make my CV stand out from the crowd.

b) This is the easy part. You want to work in IT. Great.

Go to www.freelancer.com and find some small jobs you can do. This may mean you have to learn a little bit of HTML or PHP or CSS, etc., but these will be paid jobs (little money) which you can put on your CV. You will then have a CV which isn't empty or full of unrelated non-IT stuff.

I understand this probably sounds daunting but it's a long term plan which will set you up for your future. With a bit of effort you can have the degree (in progress) and a few small freelancer jobs on your CV within a few months.

Good luck! Don't give up.