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"Work Seeker" - My New Blog...

edited January 2013 in Writing
Still "Work-In-Progress" at this very moment, I've started a new Blog aimed at helping folks to get through the traumas associated with job loss, and finding their way back into gainful employment.

I actually started writing the 'bones' of it over a year ago - but little did I know that I'd be refreshing it and following my own 'advice' so damned soon!!! Yup - I got "the chop" from the family firm that I was working for; started back at the job on the first working day of 2013, did a morning's work, got a text from the boss asking for a "Meeting" that afternoon - and I just muttered "Here we go..." and started off back to the office... (I'd had that feeling deep in my bones that something was going wrong with the main contract a couple of months ago - and now, it looked as though my 'prophecy' was going to be fulfilled...)

...And so it came to pass - very much a case of "Happy New Year! There's your P45 - don't slam the door on your way out, ta!"... Nice guy, eh? :-(

You'll have to read the Blog's intro to get the gist of what happened next, but it wasn't violent; it could so easily have been, though, given the way I was grinding my teeth into sharp points!

Anyway - I rise above it now, and I'm getting stuck into the routine of blatting-out telephone calls, e-mails & CVs by the dozen, as well as generating enquiries by the conventional media & website routes; all grist to the mill for me from past experience (although the signing-on procedure for Jobseeker's Benefit is different from the last time I tackled it, 5yrs ago, so I'll be updating that as I go through the processes).

So, if anyone out there has lost their job (or lives in imminent fear of it), take a peek and perhaps either learn from my experiences, or maybe find some reassurances that life doesn't end with losing that job; it's just a temporary "losing of way", that's all, and totally beatable!

I've got several "chapters" to edit and post, but I'm aiming to post one or two per day, so - just like the job-search itself - patience will be a virtue!

Please feel free to browse and comment if you wish to, and by all means chuck in any anecdotes of advice or personal experiences on here - if you'd like, I'll add them into my own ramblings to expand the knowledge for all readers...

http://themotleypot.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/work-seekers-unite.html

Comments

  • Good luck with it all, BLZ.
  • Not a great start to the year, but maybe a start of something better? You'll only know when you're looking back!
    Best of luck, BLZ.
  • Oh, I'm sorry to hear about your job, BLZ, but what a resourceful chap!

    Good luck!
  • edited January 2013
    "Part Two" added now...

    Blimey - I'd forgotten just how much I'd already written in the ol' 'pooter! A wee bit of prodding with a sharp stick and a bit of axe-work, and it'll all go in...
  • Good Luck BLZ.
  • Aaaargh! Flippin' Blogspot's blocked me out tonight!!

    No worries - sort it tomorrow, as I've got a whopping hedache from web-trawling...
  • Why are you blocked out of your own blog?
  • Are you sure that's happened BLZ, and not that you've just typed something in wrong?
  • Hope you are successful soon Carol - very often something good comes out of redundancy and you'll move on to pastures new that are better than ever
  • Betsie, you mean BLZ... :)
  • The following comment seems not to have been posted on your blog so I'm repeating it here:

    You're reacting in a constructive way to what's happened. I've been in the same sort of situation and I can sympathise. Thank goodness I'm out of the jobs market altogether now.

    Are some companies really waking up to the value of older applicants? It would be encouraging to think so but I wonder.

    There seems to be a general belief that ageism in the workplace starts at 50. Not at all: it does begin in your 40s and anti-ageism legislation brought in about 6 years ago makes little difference. Employers are still allowed to request dates of birth on application forms, which lacks all logic.

    Apparently, when the relevant act was introduced, the legislators believed complaints would be mainly about retirement. They were surprised to find that most were about employment opportunities, which shows they weren't completely clued up.

    From my own experience, I know that age discrimination first shows itself when you find that interviews become scarcer even in times of high employment, whereas you previously didn't have much trouble getting them. When you do get them, they all take the same form: when you enter the room, the interviewer immediately informs you that this is "just an informal chat" (of which there was no mention in the invitation). You're there for 20 minutes - never a good sign.

    This happened to me 5 or 6 times before I realised what was going on. What they really mean when they begin in that way is "I can see that you're a good candidate so I feel guilty about rejecting you because of your age. I also don't want you to realise that that's what I'm doing so I'm giving you 20 minutes of my time. I don't care that it wastes yours. I'm not going to consider you, so don't take this seriously."

    I would recommend to any older job candidate, if they hear those words "informal chat", that they challenge the interviewer. You still won't get the job but it might make that person think twice about wasting an applicant's time and hopes in future. Make it difficult for them.

    On a more positive note,B.L.Z., something permanent could come out of temporary work. It does happen - and it's not just for secretaries. Temping, too, is scarcer but, if you do a good temporary job for an employer, they might be more inclined to overlook your age when filling a permanent position. Good luck.
  • Thanks guys & gals!

    Lah-tay - thanks very much for your comments there (maybe the reason you couldn't post on the Blog was the same reason that I couldn't get back in? A temporary block? Back on the ball now, though - a time-wasting password change, again!)...and funny that you should mention Temping, as that falls into the next section as a lead-in to permanent work - done that, too! ;)
    I'm just taking a little longer to get there, due to the amount of encouragement that I'm trying to inject into it, and to widen the eyes of the readers to other possibilities as well as reassuring that job loss needn't be such a disaster; been in the situation so many time now, it's almost a 'habit', sadly...although - as you rightly say - age discrimination is definitely spreading, and particularly amongst the younger generation of business people who think they've nothing to learn and only want "Elders" for cleaning & tea-making... But we'll show 'em, eh? :-D

    Got a lot to do this weekend, but I'll endeavour to add some more ideas...
  • [quote=Lah-tay]When you do get them, they all take the same form:[/quote]

    One thing I noticed too is, when you leave, if they say thank you for your time, you know you won't be going back for a second interview.
  • Contracting is the one area where there are often jobs available- as my OH found...
  • [quote=Carol]Betsie, you mean BLZ... [/quote]

    Sorry guys - yet another of my geriatric moments (they happen much too often these days)
  • You and me both.:)
  • I 'contracted' for a year on night-shift - the only time I've ever lost so much weight, that I resembled a walking skeleton... ;-)

    ...And so, with that little gem, it's "Goodnight from me!" (Back to the text-editing!)
  • Good luck BLZ. The job market is very challenging for older people. The ageism in this country is appalling, even to the extent now that the establishment is grudgingly acknowledging that there might be a problem. They're telling older people that they can't retire but they don't want them to work either. What is a person supposed to do?
  • Work Seeker Part3 now added:

    http://themotleypot.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/work-hunter-part-3.html

    I sincerely hope that no-one finds the content of these Blog posts to "patronising" - I'm simply trying to offer some snippets of experience, and I'd appreciate any constructive input that anyone might be willing to offer (or even experiences that I can add in, for the greater good!)
  • edited January 2013
    ...And just to prove it all works - I GOT ME A JOB, TODAY!!!!!! YEEEE-HARRRR!!! :-D

    Followed my own advice, did all the job-searches (as suggested in the Blog, and obviously from memory), and it resulted in a successful interview today - start new job on Monday!

    I've still got to cover & write the online jobsearch "chapter" on the blog yet (in entirety as I know it, anyway), so that'll be the next (and final) section to the "Work Seeker!" series - I just hope that it might help others in the same predicament as me!

    Take heart, folks - it CAN be done! ;-)
  • What wonderful news - congratulations!
  • Really pleased to hear this good news, BLZ.

    Congratulations.
  • How very wunnerful.

    I mean that most sincerely. Well done.
  • Congratulations, BLZ! I bet part of the reason you got this job is your brilliant attitude,
  • This whole story is amazing - congratulations, BLZ - you're an inspiration.
  • edited January 2013
    AWWW, thank y'all! For me, though, the REAL proof is if someone else follows the same leads and succeeds in regaining work - THAT would please me more than my own success! If anyone wishes to "Share" the Blog link out on any other forums or websites, please feel free to do so - and then we'll see if it REALLY works!

    I'm in the process of compiling a long list of carrers & networking websites as my last entry in this Work Seeker series, then I'll leave it alone for a month or two, to see how this new job settles down, and add the progress report as in a normal diary-type Blog...

    Thanks all for your good wishes and support!
  • Like I said on your "Success!" post, well done BLZ and good luck on Monday.
  • ...And so, to the last "Chapter" entry of the "Work Seeker!" saga - http://themotleypot.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/work-seeker-part-4.html

    There's also a good-sized list of links added that give access to a lot of job & career websites - well worth trawling through, if in need of a change (or maybe inspiration for a story plot, mayhaps? Hmmm....)

    Hope someone can benefit from all the Work Seeker series!
  • Congratulations, B.L.Z.
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