I suppose some people find it highly amusing to get peoples hopes up by sending messages in the name of company directors and HR managers saying they want to speak to me with a view to a potential job.
I was 'lucky' enough to receive 2 such messages. I was a bit dubious at first, but I did some investigating and they seemed genuine. I suspect it may be someone from the company involved as the telephone numbers were right. Well done, whoever you were, I hope you enjoyed your little prank.
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Well, I checked my website stats this morning and was surprised that my hits were quite high, for a Sunday. After some investigating I found at that my story was on the Manchester Evening News website, and it was the most read story! Good stuff.
I'm getting a lot of positive feedback, so I think I have done something right. I just did this to try and get myself noticed and it's gone far bigger than I ever could have imagined. I'm now hoping, and looking forward, to making some difficult decisions regarding interviews! Time will tell. All this attention has to be a good thing, right? Again, thank you for all your support and positive feedback. It really is helping me stay positive. We might not be able to pay the bills, but there is light at the end of the tunnel, and I expect to be back in work very soon. Thank you! Sincerely! I must start by saying a big thank you to the Rochdale Observer and Simon Coyle for doing a story about my exploits. I have a half page story on page 7 and my ugly mug is even smiling at you from the front page!
Hopefully, this will provide some impetus in my quest for that elusive job...watch this space. On a lighter note, I went to sign on today and the lady in the job centre was shocked, surprised and extremely happy for me when I told her I had an interview in November. Apparently, this is an extremely rare occurrence. Well, that's the impression I got from her reaction anyway. That and the fact that she said, "Ooh, that doesn't happen very often." It seems to me that the staff of the job centre get that used to people just coming in and going through the motions, saying they've done this, that and the other to look for work when all they've done is sit at home watching Jeremy Kyle whilst supping on some Special Brew or Tennants Super. Not that there's anything wrong with Jeremy Kyle, I actually think I will miss this daily insight into our nations so called 'underclass'. Anyhow, as I was saying, the job centre staff seem genuinely surprised when there is someone who is actually trying to get a job, and from the reaction I observed today, I don't think it happens that often. I know I've just made a sweeping generalisation and I apologise, but it did help get my point across. I've heard that my website is being used as a teaching tool on a course in Rochdale. If this is true that's great news and I really would like to hear from the people teaching and learning on the course. Your feedback would be invaluable.
Please use my contacts page to contact me, or fill out my guestbook. Thanks. I have been interviewed by a reporter from the Rochdale Observer, who happened across my site, today and a photographer has been round to take some pictures. They say all publicity is good publicity! lol. Let's see if this gets me some more job interviews.
If they gave jobs to people with cheek and gumption I reckon I'd get a good one (job that is). A big ta very much to everyone who is letting me know about jobs being advertised and job sites that I've not yet been on. This is all useful, keep 'em coming please. I've applied for another 10 jobs today. Wonder if I'll get an interview...
11/9/2011 - Well, another 4 jobs applied for today. All of them speculative applications for places recommended by people who've seen my site. Again, many thanks for your recommendations, comments and advice. Please keep them coming. Cheers. 12/9/2011 - Quite a few responses from speculative applications and other applications this morning. Completed an online survey for the BBC because they accepted my application and they are progressing me to the next level. Good stuff! 15/9/2011 - Well, let's see what today brings. I've had lots of positive feedback about my site, I've had an offer to revamp my CV, thanks Cassie! Hopefully I'll get a few responses from all my applications soon. I've progressed to 'the next level' with my application to the BBC, so fingers crossed that will lead to something positive. No doubt I'll get hundreds of interviews on or around the same date and an arduous selection process will commence. Not that I'm complaining, I'd love to be able to pick and choose what interviews to attend!!! Well over a thousand hits since I published my website. Fantastic. If I get just 1 interview from this it will have been worth it!
By the way, I'd just like to verify what I hope people already know...
I'm not expecting this site to get me a job without doing anything. I fully expect to go through the whole selection process as anyone else would. I just hope it will get me noticed a bit more and get me started on the selection process. I haven't had a single interview after over 300 applications. I just wish I knew where I was going wrong! Cool, this site has had 776 hits so far today. Hopefully some of the hits will be off potential employers.
When I was made redundant, I wasn't really that worried. I had transferable skills, I have an excellent work record. How hard could it be to find a job?
Five months down the line - how wrong could I have been? After speaking to DWP on the phone and applying for JSA all seemed fine and dandy. I went for my interview at the job centre and was asked about my qualifications, what sort of work I wanted, and they advised me how to effectively look for work and apply for jobs. They asked for a copy of my CV too. I thought it was a good CV. It showed what I was capable of, what I'd done. You know, the usual CV stuff. Believe it or not, this was the first CV I'd ever had to do and I thought I'd done a good job. I registered on lots of job sites, uploaded my CV and applied for jobs I knew I was more than capable of. No response. At all. I applied and applied. I even applied for jobs washing and moving hire cars. Still nothing. When I was signing on I was asking about courses and they kept saying there's not many courses available at the moment. Luckily I saw a flyer one day at signing on and I registered for a web design course. That's come in handy. Then I had my 3 month review. The job centre person told me they didn't have my CV and they needed it. So I agreed to e-mail it and bring a hard copy with me next time I signed on. I heard nothing else about my CV so assumed all was ok and carried on applying for jobs. I then had a 5 month review. Yet again, I was told my CV had not been seen. I was also told I should be applying for courses such as ECDL and level 3 numeracy and literacy, and basically told I was being lazy in my job search! The next day I took my CV in and was told it was not very good. So, it took 5 months and over 300 job applications for me to be told my CV was rubbish and I wasn't doing everything I could to find a job. Why wasn't I told all this at the start? Do they assume that everyone who claims JSA knows the system and plays it to their advantage? I don't know. Now I am being proactive. I've created this website to get myself known to potential employers. I am registering myself on as many courses as I can. Anyone got any tips as to what else I can do? Like I said, this is all new to me and the job centre aren't being mu |
AuthorHi, as you know my name is Wayne. I have been looking for a job for over 7 months and this is my website to try and get me noticed by potential employers. Hopefully it shows off my initiative and personality far more effectively than a simple CV. Archives
December 2011
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