'Fully flexible' Impossible!!

LillyO

I am so frustrated right now with applying for jobs. I'm 4 months in to my search and have come across quite a few posts that I would be perfect for. I get so excited reading the job description and desired criteria, knowing I would be the ideal candidate for the job. Then yet again, my hopes are dashed when I get to the bottom of the ad and see those dreaded words....'must be fully flexible'. The most recent gem stated I must be available to work the 4 part time shifts Mon-Sun 7am-9pm. It is impossible to organise childcare and transport with demands like that. I'm slowly losing the will to even bother trying to get back to work after having the kids. Is anyone else finding the fully flexible demand impossible to work around??

Greenmachine

LillyO wrote: »

I am so frustrated right now with applying for jobs. I'm 4 months in to my search and have come across quite a few posts that I would be perfect for. I get so excited reading the job description and desired criteria, knowing I would be the ideal candidate for the job. Then yet again, my hopes are dashed when I get to the bottom of the ad and see those dreaded words....'must be fully flexible'. The most recent gem stated I must be available to work the 4 part time shifts Mon-Sun 7am-9pm. It is impossible to organise childcare and transport with demands like that. I'm slowly losing the will to even bother trying to get back to work after having the kids. Is anyone else finding the fully flexible demand impossible to work around??

Don't have kids but I can't can still sympathise with the sentiment. Often when a job sells flexibility as a benefit you should read it as "We need you to come in at a minutes notice". I was fortunate in my last jobs where it just meant I was available for any hours that were on offer. The timing of this job meant it was suitable in my case. Are you specifically looking for full time work or part-time work. If you are open to part time work, you could include job-share as a keyword in your jobsearchs.

Technocentral

Public sector is the last bastion of respect and real flexibility it seems, look out for a job in it.

have2flushtwice

as job hunter myself, I'm astonished of the demands on the main job sites.
one is "must have a level 8 qualification or B.eng etc."
then further down in the job desc, it says must be fluent in basic IT such as word , excel etc!

if you can get to a level 8 and cant use word theres something very wrong - obviously there is as it seems that it has to be stipulated!

ED E

have2flushtwice wrote: »

as job hunter myself, I'm astonished of the demands on the main job sites.
one is "must have a level 8 qualification or B.eng etc."
then further down in the job desc, it says must be fluent in basic IT such as word , excel etc!

if you can get to a level 8 and cant use word theres something very wrong - obviously there is as it seems that it has to be stipulated!

You would be surprised at the number of people who have a Bachelors and no idea how to send an email....

GalwayGrrrrrl

have2flushtwice wrote: »

if you can get to a level 8 and cant use word theres something very wrong - obviously there is as it seems that it has to be stipulated!

I work with someone in their 40s who has a professional degree yet can't use word etc. I'm same age group and am well able to use word/excel/PowerPoint etc so he can't use age as the excuse.

Mrs OBumble

If anything, it's the youngsters who cannot use basic Office software. Goodness only knows what they used to do their college assignments etc, but I'm sure it cannot have been a standard word processor.

40-somethings came thru jobs where you got sent on courses for Excel / Word (or skivved off them if you could).

30 and 20 somethings, I think no so much.

MarkAnthony

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

If anything, it's the youngsters who cannot use basic Office software. Goodness only knows what they used to do their college assignments etc, but I'm sure it cannot have been a standard word processor.

40-somethings came thru jobs where you got sent on courses for Excel / Word (or skivved off them if you could).

30 and 20 somethings, I think no so much.

Us 30 somethings may have fallen through the cracks a bit. The first computers we came across didn't have anything as snazzy as a word processor. When we got to college the problem wasn't the lack of work processors but the luddites teaching us.

Doing a law degree IN my 30s I still came across a lecturer who insisted on hard copies, I imagine ideally typed! :pac:

Nody

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

If anything, it's the youngsters who cannot use basic Office software. Goodness only knows what they used to do their college assignments etc, but I'm sure it cannot have been a standard word processor.

40-somethings came thru jobs where you got sent on courses for Excel / Word (or skivved off them if you could).

30 and 20 somethings, I think no so much.

This oh so much this; ran into a guy fresh out of University with a Finance degree who could not make a basic excel formula to sum up two seperate cells (that's =A1+B1)...

have2flushtwice

and we wonder why the country is so messed up.

pow wow

I run a small company and whenever I'm recruiting I have the flexibility requirement listed - not because I'm going to whimsically change someone's hours whenever the mood takes me but because we're a small operation and there's a need to occasionally cover the absences of other staff, out of hours events etc. Realistically (and it usually comes up at interview) there is a pretty standard rota but we do need staff who can be flexible when the job requires it.

on_my_oe

A friend of mine had a college lecturer teaching Excel to a third level class and the lecturer kept asking my friend how to do various things (formulas etc). She was Finance PA who had gone back to full time education. The lecturers excuse was that he had Office 2003 at home while he was supposed to be teaching 2013...