trapped in a rut

stilllooking

To me, signing up to college now would be the more drastic option, whereas working, preferably in a career I like, would be the path to options (not least paying for college when the time comes if I can't get a grant, or saving some money to offset the loss of income that would come from needing to go back to part time to accommodate college)

Bigus

Try a larger Hotel for bar work and tell them you'll gladly do the crappy all night / night porter assistant shifts and weekends to get your foot in the door.
Time is on your side !

be dogmatic and keep trying , that's what makes some people successful , try anything and keep trying , you're actually on the right track and have already made the hard choices , just be patient for those choices to pay off.

stilllooking

Already tried The Lee, Clayton, Metropole and the Imperial. The Imperial called me for an interview but nothing came of it. The Lee sent an automated response saying they'll keep my cv on file for 12 months in case anything comes up. Clayton has been advertising since for the same job I applied for so I think it's safe to assume they discounted me. When applying to those places I said I'd be happy to work as a waiter or floor staff and work my way up. Maybe come August or something I'll reapply everywhere again and pick up some work that students going back to college will make available.

billyduk

stilllooking wrote: »

Already tried The Lee, Clayton, Metropole and the Imperial. The Imperial called me for an interview but nothing came of it. The Lee sent an automated response saying they'll keep my cv on file for 12 months in case anything comes up. Clayton has been advertising since for the same job I applied for so I think it's safe to assume they discounted me. When applying to those places I said I'd be happy to work as a waiter or floor staff and work my way up. Maybe come August or something I'll reapply everywhere again and pick up some work that students going back to college will make available.

Have you a car?

stilllooking

Not yet, it might happen later when I have enough money for a car, to tax and insure it, to run it etc etc. For now I'm planning on just renting near where I can get work and saving up for one. Perhaps the money I save by moving farther out from the city will offset the expense of a car.

billyduk

stilllooking wrote: »

Not yet, it might happen later when I have enough money for a car, to tax and insure it, to run it etc etc. For now I'm planning on just renting near where I can get work and saving up for one. Perhaps the money I save by moving farther out from the city will offset the expense of a car.

I was saying it as there are a few jobs in the burbs and in the satellite towns around the city (Fota, Douglas, Ballincollig/Ovens, Carrigaline). They may not suit without a car.

You seem highly motivated towards a career in bars which will stand to you. The friends I have who are still in the business were all highly motivated and became absolute craftsmen (mixology/cocktails) and managers. They're on decent money now, but be prepared to be paid min-wage early on.

I'll reach out to a few friends who work in bars across the city to see if they know of any inside tracks or ways to get your foot in the door.

stilllooking

Given that I'm yet to take out a lease on a place, a bar in the suburbs could suit me and I could just rent near it, I'm not tied to the city centre forever, I've been focusing there because I figure the bars there are busier, I can visit more of them in a day passing out CVs etc and it's where I am staying currently. If a place somewhere slightly out of the centre was hiring I would apply and if successful, would not have an issue renting closer to there, it might even work out better cost wise than city centre living.

bilbot79

stilllooking wrote: »

Hi. I'm having some issues in relation to transitioning 'careers'. To give some background, I'm 23, 2 years ago I dropped out of college after failing my second year repeat. My work experience so far is supervising kids summer camps 4 years in a row (only a couple weeks at a time), 2 seasons of kitchen work (kp and then commis chef) and a few odd jobs here and there (retail for a few months in college at weekends, deli counter for a few weeks earlier this year, few relief kitchen bits and pieces) Basically my cv is patchy at best. I recently came to the conclusion that I need to get out of the small rural village I grew up in, there's no future here for me in terms of jobs or even social life, everyone I grew up with has moved away or has plans to. I also really hate kitchen work (the deli job which was my most recent full time role was offered to me in lieu of the retail position I had applied for, and I took only out of desperation) so I made the decision to move. I chose Cork because I know people there so there would be some hope of a social life, as a city there would be better job prospects, and rents wouldn't be as crazy as Dublin. I also decided that I would try to do bar work as it seemed like a job I'd enjoy. I did find some difficulty in getting hired without experience but eventually one place offered me weekend work (8-9 hours a week between 2 nights) and another place offered me a few hours some weeks (usually about 4-6 hours) This was about 6 weeks ago. Unfortunately my problem now is I can't get any more work despite losing the zero experience tag and having 2 bar managers as references to say I'm not a plonker and do actually work hard I've not been getting any interviews, the few interviews I got when first searching yielded nothing. At the moment I'm stuck spending the week in my family home and getting the bus to cork and staying with relatives, the little hours I do get barely pay my bus and few quid to my cousins for keeping me, the €20-€40 a week left over quickly disappears. So bottom line I'm not earning any money, 70% of the time I'm still mooching off my parents living in their house eating their food etc, I don't seem to have hope of any better prospects and I'm still as lonely and as isolated as I would be if I hadn't gotten anything in Cork. It's only a matter of time before what was meant to be a few weeks staying with my cousins while I saved up rent and deposit for my own place will be every weekend for 2 months running, with nothing to show for it, still without full time work, and there's only so much rejections I can take before I just break down. My fear is having to give up and resign myself to soul destroying kitchen work again, as that's the only real experience I have, or having to stay living at home for yet another year. I've even been unsuccessful in finding another retail role, in the hope that I could do that by day and at least have the money to move out of home while looking for full time bar work. What's killing me is I have friends who took up bar work right out of school with no experience and it was seemingly no hindrance to them, and even though I have limited experience the fact that it's not 6 months or 2 years is a barrier. I know when I first started looking I was advised to do a few days for free in a local bar to practice, which I did, but I can't do that for 2 years. I really don't know what to do or even what I can do, tbh I don't even know what responses I expect from this thread, but something has got to give, and soon, I can't keep living like this, but I can't see a viable alternative either. I feel like I've screwed my entire life up by my early 20s and it just seems hopeless.

Lie through your teeth

It's not a joke. Do you want to sort it or not?

billyduk

bilbot79 wrote: »

Lie through your teeth

It's not a joke. Do you want to sort it or not?

This is probably how most get started in bar work to be honest... "Experience? Oh ya! Been pulling pints for years!"

billyduk

stilllooking wrote: »

Given that I'm yet to take out a lease on a place, a bar in the suburbs could suit me and I could just rent near it, I'm not tied to the city centre forever, I've been focusing there because I figure the bars there are busier, I can visit more of them in a day passing out CVs etc and it's where I am staying currently. If a place somewhere slightly out of the centre was hiring I would apply and if successful, would not have an issue renting closer to there, it might even work out better cost wise than city centre living.

Well the East Village in Douglas are looking for staff. Might be worth a trip to Douglas as it has its own nightlife with a few late bars.

stilllooking

Lying might have worked if I hadn't already put out a load of CVs with my real experience on it. I'll check out that place in Douglas.