fed up

well, although i'm unemployed right now. when i first graduared 3 years ago it took me almost no time to get a job. i was extreemly lucky - a person i knew knew a person that worked at this ad agency and had mentioned they needed designers. so i showed up with my portfolio - and got the job.
all the close chances i've gotten at work lately has been the result of being aggressive. don't bother waithing for a place to post an ad. find them - convince them they need you before they realize they need someone.

Also, it's been said a million times but it's so true: the majority of jobs come from connections. What are your friends from Uni doing these days? Do they have jobs? Ring them up and ask around; don't feel self-conscious about it, it's what everyone does. It's the easiest way to find opportunities and employers are more than willing to take references from their current employees.

diamond, the most depressing thing is is that most of my uni friends are in a similar rut. Either they are unemployed looking for work, flipping burgers or not arsed about finding a job cos mummy and daddy pay for everything. but i will have another snoop amongst my backlog of e-mails to see if there's anyone i can ring up for a chat >:-)

but dyson makes a good point because so far, i haven't really given this option a chance. I might take the time this morning to e-mail some companies and tell them the score.

i agree with dyson, you really do have to put yourself 'out there' and go looking rather than waiting for the ads.
i dont know what you graduated with or studied, but almost everyone finds themselves in the same boat ( unless they are extremely lucky ). you need to get mobile and be 'seen' so employers know you exist, and dont be shy!
use whoever you know to make contacts, buy the paper every day ( or pinch it from the local cafe when someone else has finished with it ) and look at the relevant pages to your field. find the businesses that exist within your reach and go there.
all the jobs i have ever had, have resulted from my eventual determined 'door-knocking'.
by the way, offering ( asking ) to do work experience if they arent employing right now is another way to get in the door. who else will they turn to when The Job comes up?
good luck!

Also, get yr typing speed up to scratch (over 50 wpm at least) and register with temping agencies, then you can get a more decent wage doing crappy admin (like me!) while you attempt to get work experience/a proper job. This will also enable you to move away from home, which is so classic it's untrue.

hey chris it took me 7 months to get an office job, i guess i was lucky. you in hitchen still?
how far afield are you looking? there seem to be only a few ways into things as far as i can see, although i have no idea bout it anyway: a) do wot was said upthread. b) work out exactly want you want to do and sell yr self for free...the sort of things i want to do for example bssically require me to work for free or as an intern. the only thing that employers like better than experience is the prospect of free labour. this is my only selli9ng point - that i am willing to do this. work out how exactly to finance this later. however, make sure what you want to intern as is going to directly benefit you later. c) just try and try to get a permanent lame office job/or carry on temping, to build up yr experience...it is easier to get a job once you have one. the problem with this (which is what i have finally managed to do) is that you get stuck in it and stay there for the rest of your life. hmmmmmmmm no comment
fuck it, i dont know. but depending on exactly what you want to do, sometimes being so exploited it hurts is totally necessary - eg postproduction - you need to do minimum of year as a runner on 60 pound a week, in london, as far as i can tell.

ambrose, ed said you had new job, cool! im going to try and make it down tonite, i have a lot on at the minute, but should be down later on

thanks people, feeling a bit more confident now i've read that (and caught 40 winks).

ambrose - yeh, I'm still in Letchworth/hitchin. Might go sell my wares downtown since I here there's a job at the bank there. Got to arrange an interview with another temp agency too. Oh, it's Charlie, not Chris btw but I wouldn't expect you to remember that :-)

When I first graduated from college, I spent a summer working at a sandwhich shop. Then I spent 2 years working in a temporary position for local government (in real estate assessments). I hated that job. Then my bf graduated so we moved to a new city. I thought for sure that it would be easy to find a new job but I ended up temping and spending more than a few months unemployed. My days became built around a stupid routine I came up with to keep myself from feeling completely unproductive. It involved lots of exercising, house cleaning, and a little TV when I was good. And I began to think, 'How could I ever have a job? I wouldn't have time!' Meanwhile, my bf was paying for the rent and utilities and I kept slipping into this horrible feeling of uselessness.
I went to interviews constantly. It was part of my routine. And getting rejection cards (not even letters most of the time) was part of it too.
Then I got a job as a realtor assistant. Turned out the job I hated in assessments was my shoe-in. I still have that job a little over a year later, but now I just work for one realtor instead of two. I'm salaried with benefits. Some people would say that's a lame job, but like I said, I'm SALARIED with benies. I don't make that much money, but at least I don't have to be doubly punished for being sick any more.

I think a lot of people straight out of school struggle for a while. Chin up, latin pup!

Dog Latin-you have no idea how much I sympathize (or maybe you do). Are you trying to work in London? What do you want to do?

I graduated three years ago and lucked into a job video editing at a Very Well Known Boutiquey Ad Agency That Is Now Going To The Wall. I was the only one of my friends with a "real" job, but it was FROM HELL, and all of my non-work life went to shit as a result. So I quit, and I've just temped/freelanced ever since. WAIT for the right job, be a bit aggressive, original, don't don't give up. It really is the same for a lot of people. There are some decent temp agencies out there that will have more interesting appointments for better money (I'm working for one now), also ones for film/tv/creative like 42nd Street and Switched On. You HAVE to hassle people and deal with a lot of arseholes. There are websites, too. Feel free to email me off-list if you want. And good luck!

Oh, and re:your home situation. Yours sounds a tricky one, but living with a parent/parents is a nightmare for most people-moving into your own place is urgent and key!

Try to find someone you can room with cheaply until you can find your own place. Maybe somewhere has a spare bed? Spare floor space?

your situation is/was also similar to mine doglatin. after graduating and due to not having managed to make any decent contacts i spent 6 months on the dole with a couple of brief temp jobs before i managed to somehow get a job doing exactly what i (thought i) wanted. i found this company just by doing a search for web design companies in London area on yahoo - went to the company's site and (perhaps this was the key factor) they were actually recruiting. so i'd made a website with my CV and examples of work on and sent it to them. 2 days later i had an interview and got the job. at first it was great but to be honest it blew up in my face very quickly thanks to what turned out to be the boss from beyond the realm of Hades itself - still i did survive there for 18 months before finally being let go in Summer 2001 as the nu-meeja industry died on its arse somewhat. ironically i'd only just moved into my first flat and was enjoying the independence for all of 3 weeks before getting the axe. so i went back on dole for a bit and tried to figure out what to do next. ended up temping for a bit again then freelancing in design which i am still doing 18 months later while trying to get a new, decent, and more importantly SECURE job so i can move out again, plan travelling trips etc. - in a way i'm back to square one 4 years later but things are a lot better

anyway my advice is similar as what others have posted - look up companies you like the style/look/location etc. of, make sure your CV is the proverbial shit and just contact them. try and build up a list of desirable employers and attack attack attack. i still havent quite managed this myself yet but its on the agenda somewhere (i just have to wrap up this heavy bout of pottering around first ;)

Group hug!

O!

Yes, group hug indeed! I am in a similar situation, but am not even looking at the moment and cannot type about it. Don't give up! Hugs!!

If it makes you feel any better, dog latin, this summer I have to start from scratch, doing all this in a new city/country I don't know, and one with an even crappier economy and job market than London! But that's my burden, I suppose...

it scares me that so many people seem to be out of work - i spose its par for the course when you're posting on ILX all day though

i was just thinking about this, and it seems like the whoole thing just boils down to two things: what you find interesting and what you do for a living. If you want the two to coincide even slightly then youre in trouble. mind you its hard enough to get a job that is purely for a living, with no discernable interest from your part, these days. but this is theory that i find useful in sorting out my head about what i want to do.

Wow! thanks to everyone on this thread, you don't realise how much it's helped me recuperate my woes! Just spent the afternoon whoring my CV around town to every business imaginable and I was surprised by how many people were actually interested in me. Maybe not the kinds of jobs I want to do for the rest of my life but enough to keep the bailiffs at bay and my father dociled with rent cheques.

Nordicskillz, yeh I'm mostly looking in the London area at the moment, partly because it's not too far away and my girlfriend is studying there at the moment but also because that seems to be the place where most jobs I want are based. I want to write for a living, preferably in a creative field. I graduated in English Lang and Ling and I reckon my writing is good despite how it may appear when I write on ILx (I get VERY sloppy when online and tend to just bash things straight out without thinking whether it flows and disregarding the fact people might not understand my gibberings).

Anyway, thanks again to everyone and I'll return the group hug! :-)

Try looking at the public sector as a stop-gap, wages ain't great, but you're less likely to be treated as a dogs-body (in my experience!).

Thread revival!

Hello everyone, just thought I'd give you all an update!

Well, things are looking up just a little. I signed on with a different agency and they got me a temp job doing admin in a small publishing house who produce industry catalogues and magazines. It was only going to be for a week but I mentioned what I wanted to do so they're thinking of giving me an editorial position. Because it would only be a part-time post, I'll be doing some sales work (eek!) at the company for the rest of the time. Well, as you've guessed I've been warned off sales, but I think that the editorial stuff is just what I need to get experience and I guess it can't hurt to do a little sales work *slides down slowly*. I'm still working at Wine Rack for a bit till I know where I am and I'm applying for a job doing music reviews for the local paper too as well as for an internship at the Observer :-)

so it's looking up. I'm tired and shagged out after working 11 and a half hours today (not including breaks) but at least I'm working eh?

Thanks again to everyone for their encouragement.

Nice to know you're feeling better, dog latin!

congratulations

you are now an overachiever!

Hurrah for Dog Latin! :-)

great update, dog latin! Well done.