I recently left a role at a TOC because I presumed I was going on to bigger & better things. Shouldn't of done that, as it all fell through. But instead of sitting at home moping away on benefits, I started applying for everything I could. I'm very luck at having over 5 years experience in Customer Service roles, but that didn't really mean anything to most company's I applied for.
But I kept at it, applying for everything I could, some even out of my range, but I remembered it never hurts to try! A month after leaving a job, my local Argos start advertising for Xmas Temps. I gave it a try, flew through their assessment day & manager interview, and was given the position of someone who was leaving, rather than a December start. Ok, not the greatest job in the world, and I really didn't miss retail from all those years back, but a job is a job so I took it!
Fast forward a month and a bit later, I've been applying for jobs all over still, and finally along came Southern with a contract to start on Dec 5th, and a role I want to do! Handed my notice in at Argos a week ago and finished yesterday. A nice couple of weeks off before I start working my arse off again!
The "moral" of this story is that I never gave up. Ok, I may have the experience over many applicants, but at the interviews I attended during my period of unemployment, some people just didn't have a clue. They'd turn up in jeans/trainers, un-prepared & late, or not at all! People had no idea about the basics! And I can't accept that they "didn't know", as it's common sense to turn up looking your best!
A lot of people (especially the school leavers) don't want to try hard enough. They'd prefer to get their benefits, sit around playing games all day & in the pub all evening, instead of doing a minimum wage job that will, in the long run, gain them some much needed experience.
But this isn't just their fault. Schools offer very little careers advice now days, and the job centre is the most useless waste of resources we have in this country! Instead of giving people money to sit around doing nothing, people should have incentives for getting up & going to interviews. Instead of job centre staff helping people to apply for jobs, they should be teaching them the skills to do it themselves!
Unemployment is not high because there aren't jobs available, it's because there is a problem (described above) that no-one wants to take responsibility for...