My Experience and Advice (Personal Experiences of Unemployment)

Member Name: bhayanid

Product:	Personal Experiences of Unemployment
Date:	15/05/09 (60 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Keep Your Head Up And Keep Applying

Disadvantages: Depression

Unemployment is something that everyone dreads but unfortunately it has happened to most of us at some point in life, sometimes through our own fault and other times through the faults of others.

So having graduated last year I knew that getting a job was not going to be particularly easy. I had not secured a grad job, but I figured that there was still jobs out there would be interested in an ambitious graduate like myself. I soon came to the harsh reality of life and the current situation started to sink in that there are no jobs available. I had emailed maybe a hundred different firms, mainly accountant ones due to being an ACCA student, and also signed up to everyone job agency I could find. I wasn't even able to get an interview, which was probabaly the most depressing aspect of it all.

It seems to me that the only area there are any jobs in was Telesales and these were the only offers I got. Having worked in a call center a few years back for just a short period of time, I know that call centres are very bad places to work. Not only is the pay an absolute disgrace you get abuse from the other end of the phone. This is not a suprise though as if someone cold called my house I would put the phone down on them as well. I was prepared for this, but I figured that I would get slightly more satisfaction from being unemployed and put more effort into looking for jobs.

I finished uni at the end of June and was on a sort of honeymoon period for the first couple of months, with the olympics on and only once the olympics finished I realized that I needed a job. That is when the feeling of depression started to kick in. I had uni friends who were prospering in their jobs and earning high amounts of money and I was stuck on Jobseekers, which I will move onto in a moment. It is this feeling of depression that was keeping me going and applying for jobs, but there were times when I thought whats the point, and really don't know what I would have done.

Now I've mentioned the job center again and I will mention them again, cause I could go on for pages about what I think about the service that is provided. Why is it that I was made to feel like a criminal, and the enemployed are treated like scum as soon as they walk into that building? I was very polite to all the employees there and they were very rude back, but this is a normal thing as they are rude to everyone, as maybe there are some of them that feel higher up due to them having jobs. I take back what I said before, when I said depression is the worst part. The job center is definitely the worst part of being unemployed. The £47 a week they were providing at the time was better than nothing and defnitely kept me going, but I live at home with my parents. I remember recently watching a clip on the bbc site about a young girl who is living away from home and how she breaks down the £47 on what she spends each week. It is a very sad story and she is one of many out there who desperately want a job, but due to their luck they just can't secure one.

My advice to anyone out there is to just keep their head up and keep going, cause really there is nothing else you can do. Once you stop then you've given up and the harsh reality is that no one is going to offer you a job. I was lucky that my friend knew someone who needed an account and I was able to get an interview and secure the job, and I am very grateful to my friend who gave me this opportunity.

Eventually if theres any justice in this world an opportunity will pop up and even if it isnt fully what you want to do you need to grab it with both hands, at least until something better comes along. Keep yourself busy, by going to the gym as a healthy body means a healthy mind and at least you will better than you are improving your fitness rather than lying about at home doing nothing. If you are not getting any interviews, then maybe start doing another qualification to help yourself in the future or finds ways to improve your CV. Really it could be something small that is stopping you from securing employment and in the words of Alpacino all the inches add up and can make the difference between winning and losing....between living and dying.

Summary: There Are Opporunities Out There They Just Need To Be Found