jobs

[dawn411]

I am 21 years old and am having trouble finding a job I dont have any experience because I never had a job before and all the jobs today require experience in something wheather it is the job or in college please some one help me and maybe give me some advice as of what to do.

[chazza]

Join an agency?

[Kaz081992]

How about volunteering to do a few weeks of unpaid work experience with one of the companies you are interested in joining, then they get to see what you can do and may be willing to offer you a permanent paid position at the end of it and if they dont offer a permanent position, at least you now have some experience in the field you're interested in.

[Kim A]

Look at the things you can do, then try and translate them into relevant experience for the job you want to apply for. For example, a parent returning to work after having kids could say 'driving, planning (activities), supervision, management (house - could translate to office experience very easily), project managment (keeping a builder or workman in order during a job). I'm not saying you should lie, but it's not difficult to talk yourself up. If you did a paper round or something as a Saturday job, use those experiences - did you have to plan your own route, or take responsibility for something like shelf stacking? You can say you have had experience in planning and self-supervisoing your own workload. Have you ever baby-sat? - you could say you are a responsible, reliable person with caring experience. Were you in a position of responsibility at school, like a prefect, or a monitor? - you can translate that into supervisory or management experience. Good luck - I do hope you can find something interesting to do soon!

[daftpixie]

All of the above advice is very good, and if you go on www.doctorjob.com it has some very good advice on how to put together a good curriculm vitae. If you join an agency, they will ask for your cv, and when you register will talk to you about your skills, and like Kim A says, think about how you can translate your life skills and experience into skills an employer would be looking for. Also, I know that volunteering doesnt sound amazing as obviously you dont get paid, but if your not working now, its the perfect time to do it, and the experience you will get from that will help in developing your cv, plus, prospective employers will be really impressed that you put effort in working for free.

Good luck, and keep positive, I have recently struggled to find work and kept getting rejected, its disheartning I know, but if you keep trying and apply for everything, and join a couple of agencies that will look for you too, something will turn up I promise! x

[eyeshade]

Kaz has given a good reply, we take on volunteers and if you put it on your CV, it works well with future employers, good advice! If you have the time, do it, it will also make you feel better within yourself, and remember, what goes around, comes around!

[joko]

as kaz has said, work experience is the only way i am afraid - and fortunately the dole are quite good at allowing you to do this and still giving you your benefits as they see it as a proactive approach to job seeking and will improve your chances of finding full employment (as long as its short term)- they may even help with travel expenses etc.

i would also look into some of the courses available at your local adult ed centre - the more general stuff you have like business studies, IT etc the better and you may find a future career.