Every single day in the media there is news of more redundancies - even the BBC have put a job loss tracker on their website - but have you ever taken a minute to think who is actually helping these people find a job. And when I mean helping them get back to work, I don’t mean assistance in filling in a form at the local Job Centre!
What I mean is proper and honest advice from professionals that can actually help and advise these people that have lost their jobs - people that can actually add some real value to helping the unemployed find work.
This post came about from an article of Fistful of Talent that I read earlier today concerning the trend in the USA for people to charge circa $2000 to write CV’s for executives looking for work. This particular post started my cogs going and I then started to think about the UK, and how people are actually going to find work again.
So what are the ways that people can get help in writing a CV, interview skills, using the internet job boards as well as many more areas of job hunting? Where do they go and what chances of success should they expect?
So who is helping the unemployed find a job?
Schools/Colleges career advisors
Suffice to say that, in my opinion, the majority of these people are just way off the mark. I have seen the advice they have given out to a good number of people and quite frankly, it is mostly common sense and a waste of time. They are usually too far detached from the real world and the harsh realities of the working world. There will of course be some very good advisors out there who care passionately about their students finding work, and if you have been exposed to them then you are very lucky.
Chances of them helping you with finding your first job – Nil – zero. (But they can recommend a nice university course that will put you £15k in debt though!)
Job Centres
Yes you will be able to claim your benefits, and you might even get some help in filling out the necessary 5000 page benefits claimant book to get it. But have they got the skills, the time or even the inclination to help you find a job? The answer is unfortunately too simple – No! The reason is that they are just too busy, they are completely swamped with other people in the same situation, and to be honest it must be a pretty depressing place to work for the people actually working behind the desks!
Chances of them helping you with your CV for example, or giving you good interview advice? Nil to zero.
Recruitment Agencies
They are also swamped with candidates and are probably also suffering from vacancy deficit issues because of the recession. Unless you, as a job seeker, have specific industry skills or know there is work in your field, I would go as far as to say, don’t even waste your time with going to recruitment agencies at the moment (you can explore this concept further here).
Especially if you are a generic graduate or school leaver, as you will have few differentiators to make you stand out from the 100’s of CV’s on their desk.
If you are one of the ‘lucky ones’ and get an interview, you have got to hope are lucky enough to be dealing with a ‘proper’ consultant (and yes they are still out there), who will help and coach you through the interview, giving you as much help as they can, otherwise your chances of success are slim.
Even temping work, might be a problem, but if you want to send your CV in to them, don’t expect anything other than an automated reply (if you are lucky) as they are just too busy to reply to everyone.
Chances of them giving you advice and helping you find a new job? Zero – slim.
Job Boards
The likes of Monster and Jobsite with their large £multi-million TV add campaigns will have you believe that they are your saviour. However the reality is a little different. Putting your CV (bearing in mind you still haven’t had any professional advice on this yet) online on one or more of the job boards will give your skills some exposure, and they will attract some attention, but that will be all. You might be lucky to get the attention of some recruiters that might be looking for your skillset, and interviews will hopefully follow.
They have all the tools they tell you need on their website, and include things like CV templates and interview tips, so they are trying to help you as best they can. But they are obviously limited because it is, after all, just a website.
They are also being swamped because they are seeing record numbers of people register on their websites looking for work.
Chances of them giving you help, advice and new opportunities – slim. Chances of them helping you get a job - better.
Career Coaches / Life Coaches
There are many good coaches out there with years of experience in coaching people back to work. There are also many ‘chancers’ out there who are doing it purely to make some money quickly, to the detriment of the individual job seekers.
The problem is that the good coaches are not cheap, and can be an expensive way of helping you find a job. They should though, be able to give you correct CV and career advice, and help you identify job opportunities you may not have thought of previously.
The problem is with these coaches, is numbers – they will be limited with how many people they will be able to work with at any one time. But think for a moment - would you pay someone to find you work?
Chances of them advising you and helping you find a job – good (but at a cost!)
Networking – Self Service
Many people turn (quite rightfully) to networking to find their next job and use the knowledge of other people – referrals – to help find a job.LinkedIn has become a very popular business networking site, and with many free guides out there how to use it effectively, it is a good way. You can also use the social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, and they will help you. But again it is a self service approach – and help is sought from your peers and contacts. But it is focused and it does work and you will have a good chance of finding a job through networking.
The Internet – Self Service
I would suggest that this will be the way that many people will use to help themselves find a job. They may find all manner of job help sites, CV writing websites, interview guides etc. Some will be free but many will be paid for, but when the alternatives are limited, this option is certainly better than many of the above.
The trouble is the volume of information out there as well as the quality of the content. Unless you are a skilled internet searcher, it is likely that your chances of success will be random.
There may well be some other methods I have missed (and please tell me if I have), but what is really worrying, is that for all their talk and hype over the unemployed, the Government are simply not helping. There isn’t currently any system / process / people / organisations in place that can give proper help and guidance to the majority of the unemployed population.
I have to say that this isn’t just down to the recession as there were the same issues before it took hold. The difference now is the volumes of people needing help, has mushroomed exponentially.
As always in life, you get out of it what you put in. There will be those job seekers that will have the skill and knowledge (and contacts) to get a job very quickly. The vast majority will be needing some help, and it is those that need to be targeted.
Is there really an answer? Well I am not sure there is but there is one thing that can be done to help everyone......tell the media to start telling some positive stories, and rebuilding the confidence of the job seekers and the employers. Yes it is bad out there, but is it really THAT bad?
