Finding Work

The job market in the UK is pretty poor at the moment and in a financial crisis it's the way it's going to be. There's a lot of people unemployed with so few jobs to go around and with cuts being made it means more and more people have to become unemployed. With employers really only asking for people who are experienced it becomes a lot more difficult if you're a graduate or new on the job scene, hence so many under 25s are unemployed. It can actually be a disheartened process, trying to find work, not just because of the lack of replies and those few rejections, but it's coming across jobs where you think, "fantastic! That sounds perfect!" and then there's that catch, "must have had 3 or more years experience in the industry", it's a catch-22, you need experience to get the job, but you need the job to get the experience. Heck, I come across jobs that are advertised as "London" and end up think, "central London? 45mins by train", then it turns out to not really be in London at all, but all the way on the other side, 2+ hours away. Other catches may simply be just, "must speak French". I almost got an interview for a London PR job, they were enthusiastic about my CV but the employer was worried about the commute, I sent them information about it and when they got back to me (a week later), they basically said, "sorry, we found somebody else". Then there's the mindset of, "I'll take what I can get", a job is better than no job and you can still continue to find work and build up your skill set, even do a course if need be. The trouble with that one is: are you necessarily cut out for the jobs you've applied for? Will you enjoy working there? A temporary set up isn't bad if you're not enjoying your work, as it's not forever. But in getting a job, you need to be able to sustain it and feel comfortable enough to successfully do your job.

I managed to find work in a second hand store, I've worked in retail before and I found it quite easy and enjoyed it somewhat, some customers can be awesome and that was one of the perks. But the second hand store was actually a completely different experience, you're not a 'shop assistant' you're a 'salesman' and that's a completely different mindset. It's not, "what can I do for you?" but, "what can I do to make money from this person?" Helping a customer is only good if it helps you. My job was to work as a seller on the shop floor and a buyer around the back.  All of my training was on the job and I don't think I did too badly when it came to buying. Essentially you've got to value an items based on whether you can sell it or not (if you can't, don't buy it), what condition it's in and whether it's safe (so, do electrical tests on electrical items), see what it is brand new and decide what a customer is likely to pay for that item in store. Some items will be considerable a LOT lower than retail, somebody's not going to pay £60 for a Sky Box, even though that would be seemingly a reasonable second hand price compared to brand new.

Some items require a punt because you're taking a risk, for example, if a watch has a brand name, but no sign of model it is and you research what the watch is worth and find out they range from £50 to £300 depending on model, you have to offer the lower end. It was an interesting part of the job, but I can't say I enjoyed all of it, my mindset is very much, "I should be helping customers, not exploiting them", so obviously, being a salesman isn't something I can feel passionate about, even though I was capable of doing it - one of the mistakes I made when I started was, my supervisor was about to sell a PS2 to a customer who was going to buy it just for the controller, instead I turned around and said, "I think we actually have a controller over here", turning a £29.99 sale into a £4.99 sale. My supervisor face-palmed it. I learned from that: a girl was looking to replace her iPod Nano, instead of buying the Nano, I managed to make the iPod Touch more appealing and she walked away happy with the more expensive item. Because a lot of people who go into a second hand store are desperate for money, it doesn't feel right to hand them less money than they'd get selling it elsewhere and at times I felt really uncomfortable.

Unfortunately people desperate for money need somewhere quick to acquire it and second hand stores need to stay in business. I did end up losing the job, well, I was on trial, which was extended from 1 month to 3 months because they liked me and were happy with the effort I put it. In the end they felt there were parts of the job that weren't for me and therefore I wouldn't be suitable to keep the job - they pointed out my positive traits, suggested lines of work where they'd be beneficial. E.g. my ability to analyze things in detail, they didn't need detail, they needed something quick and simple. Interestingly, they employed me knowing my skills were set for a completely different kind of job, but employed me based on my attitude, so it's at least great to know your own strengths and know that you have a positive enough attitude to impress an employer. But it does mean, as of one month ago, I've been back to looking for work and I swear there's even fewer jobs about than before. Personally I would have preferred to stick at it and work towards my own career goals with a temporary job to just support me.

So...what do I do to try and find the right job now? Well, I've got the opportunity to build myself as a writer. The Cambridge Word Fest is this weekend and it'll be nice to show my face and try to get to know some folk and pick up some advice on using my skills to benefit me in employment or finding some kind of success. I know I'll definitely be working on some short stories and articles then submitting them to publications and even try and revive myself as a storyteller, which I haven't paid attention to for almost a year. It's kind of difficult to get out there when you lack the freedom, I live in a village with no buses and one that's in the walking distance of nowhere and I don't drive, nor have the funds to learn or to fund a car. Now that summer is on the way, it'd probably be a good idea to invest in a bike.