terminally unemployed

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Just wondering if there's a point at which, when you've been chronically unemployed for such a long time, that you're basically never going to get a decent job and should basically resign yourself to never getting one?

In short, I've never had a full-time job and had a couple of sporadic part-time jobs several years ago, and my time since leaving school has been spent in college, volunteering and university. I have two masters' degrees, one undergraduate and one postgraduate, but these were a major struggle and now, a few months shy of turning 30, that's all I have to my name.

The thing is, even though they *say* that studying and volunteering looks great on the CV and "shows initiative", blah blah blah, I probably don't stand a chance against the millions of other graduates going for the same jobs that *do* have extensive work experience to their name. I'm on welfare due to "limited capacity to work", so I'm fortunate in that I'm not on the poverty line or anything, and prior to this I was supported entirely by my parents, but would like the chance to actually earn my own living for once. I'm also attending "employment support" sessions which so far have basically consisted of handing over a CV and being told to "keep looking" for work (what I'm already doing pretty much constantly) and this is a situation I can see just going on and on indefinitely...

Apart from volunteering or, say, going for another degree, not sure how much more I can do to prove I've got that all-important "initiative", oh and "enthusiasm" and "passion" and "excellent interpersonal skills" that employers are always seeking

Greetings, I'm 59, recently diagnosed, terminally unemployed and living in England. My experiences have left me with a strong belief in the power of negative thinking.

I am pretty much in the same boat as you, left university but without a degree, except i've only been technically unemployed for a year not taking into account the work experience I had to do to satisfy the jobcentre so I can get benefits. I have only about 12 weeks legitimate work experience under my belt which they say is the most impressive, but I also am getting rejected by a million companies, it might not be me at all, it might be just they're picky and have the resources to waste rejecting 100,000 people and picking one out them all, its pretty much the same as the lottery.

If you have family/contacts who have vacancies in their workplace, you are infinitely more likely to get a job through them than through agencies, handing CV's in, phoning employers etc.

Once I reach your age I suppose I will also be terminally unemployed.

gee dee, what are your degrees in?

If you haven't landed employment within 2 years of graduation it's a safe bet that your personal brand has rendered your degree obsolete. You can hit the reset button with another degree, ideally in something employable, but getting a job in the campus recruitment pipeline is all about attitude and motivational fit (it helps to be energetic and at least a little bit outgoing, even if it is painful and utterly fake). Would I be safe to assume that you weren't especially outgoing or energetic in campus recruiting process? We've all had a lifetime of failures, but it just takes one success to break the chain, so keep trying.
In general, the ideal situation to get your first professional job without any connections is that you have a masterfully crafted CV, with a 3.8 or above GPA in an in-demand technical field, at a well-regarded school (ie. John Hopkins or BYU, not Harvard or Stanford), having interned twice in top-flight (ie. F50) companies. You should have no adverse credit history, never been arrested or been to trial (regardless of judgment), and you should have a non-complicated address history (ie. haven't moved more than 3 times in the past 5 years). During your class semesters (not the ones you took off for internships), you have served as an officer of at least 2 student organizations, participated in 2 community service events that relate to your major (ie. low income taxpayer clinic, for accounting majors), have at least 5 people who strongly recommend you, 2 of whom are professors and 1 is a professional in your field, the other two can be anyone as long as you don't share a same last name. Most importantly, you should have a STAR-structured technical or people leadership story for each of your experiences (even the ones that don't fit onto your 1-page resume). If you complete another degree, and do all of this, and you still can't find a job, then you can give up.

it's not as hard as cathargo makes it out to be. a degree in an in-demand field helps. and two or three professional references (school or work). here's the site to check if a certain set of skills is expected to be needed in the US:
http://www.bls.gov/ooh/

It is safe to say that if 2-3 degrees haven't helped your prospects, another one is unlikely to fix anything.

1. Why have you been assessed as having a low capacity for work?

2. What are you interested in doing for work? Does whatever got you assessed as low capacity for work interfere with it?

3. Have you called your thesis adviser? He/she knows you well and likely has suggestions (or maybe even job leads) for you. Profs are always looking for (or have colleagues always looking for) good lab techs, graders, etc.

4. Have you called your university's careers office(s)? They'll help alumni and you can't be the first person in history to have an illness (assuming illness got you the low capacity for employment label) for two years who subsequently requires help getting into the workforce.

Good luck!

****

Also, you don't need perfect grades and F400 internships and an Ivy/Oxbrige degree to get a job. The majority of adults don't have university degrees, most goals with degrees didn't graduate from uber-prestigious schools and land jobs. It just takes ages. For pretty much everybody.

I'm not suggesting my super-strict guidelines are the minimum requirements to get a job, but that's pretty average for the top picks for most highly sought-after professional entry level jobs, and it's what you're up against in a lot of cases. To use finance students as an example, many students dream about getting into Goldman Sachs or Blackrock or BCG, etc, but in those cases, the example that I gave might be below the cut-off (in other words, you wouldn't even get an interview with all of that).
I'll assume you're not trying to get a job with those companies, so I would use my example as a "safe bet", meaning you really should be able to consistently get interviews with a resume like that. And it's not impossible to build that kind of resume in college, it's just hard.
However, now that I see the OP is a Weegie, you can scale it down a bit. University is not nearly as "required" in the UK as it is in the US. When I was there, I found it beneficial to live on the west side of town, since there's just more opportunity in the west, ie. around Anderston or Charing Cross. Good luck!

Again it's a long story so to keep it short I struggled to get so much as an interview even when applying endlessly for any and all jobs since I was 16 and when I finally did get one it was as a cashier which I nearly got sacked from because I wasn't "smiley" or "chatty" enough (I just quit before they got a chance to) and eventually I got into uni doing a course I genuinely enjoyed and wanted a career in (literature/writing) but that's about the least employment friendly subject there is so that led to sporadic freelance work. My postgraduate course was in librarianship as I decided a while ago that librarianship was at least a far more attainable career than my original idea so mostly aiming for jobs like that now.

Because of my difficulty working in public facing jobs, being written off almost immediately at interviews and basically being so underemployed I doubt I could deal with the average workplace I got classed as having limited ability although I know I would do well in the right type of role. But like I say, even without these difficulties the severe CV deficiencies are enough to be a big disadvantage.

All I can suggest is that I don't know if you are with Neurodiversity, but if you are, consider looking for a cure instead. All those historic figures like Einstein and Gates actually had good social skills.

Unless they figure out how to completely rewire the brain there will be no cure and that's currently out of reach of the top neurologists. I doubt they even fully understand autism itself, let alone find a cure. Improving social skills is always a good thing but it's almost a full-time job in itself...

It's really about getting that first career break when you were prevented from getting it for so long. The earlier you get on the work ladder the easier it seems to be to keep on climbing.

I would recommend looking for a job online and disregard location. You will likely have to move. I think that's pretty common when you have humanities degrees, especially graduate degrees. The company would interview you over the phone and possibly hire you over the phone. You might have to pay to travel for an in person interview, but if you did that, the company would pay your relocation costs if they hired you.

I know all that sounds scary, but I know lots of people who have done it. It could be a wonderful new start.

Well a little back story then I'll tell you what I've learned (and you may or may not like it)... I've had no support and no contact with my parents, and an abysmal experience with the Scottish benefit system and their "psychologists" (you're lucky even to be on those benefits - they declared me "perfectly fine" not long after I got caught with a gun and had suicidal urges, "seems fine to me")...

What I learned the hard way is that when the cards are against you the only way you're gonna get a job is if you lie to people - I mean lie about your experience, lie about your work history, lie about your hobbies, your social life, everything. Then just wing it. Most companies get an immense amount of candidates so they have a lot of people to choose from and they can afford to have ridiculously high standards - so you need to be the golden candidate if you're ever gonna get work.
The worst thing you can show any employer is employment gaps - so work voluntarily for a while, leave that and work voluntarily somewhere else (this way, you make a "buffer" of references). Then you can say anything about what you did before that, because it's less likely they're going to check for references beyond your last two jobs.

It's unfortunate but that's the sad situation of this overpopulated and badly managed country. You want to work and that's great - society should be supporting you, but for whatever reason they're not doing enough. So my advice is that if you want to avoid a life on benefits (which is a horrible way to live), you'll have to tell a few little white lies. With a little creativity and a high intelligence, you can pretty much be anyone you need to be, at any given time.

The only issue is that if you're not prepared to deal with stress, adapt to new situations, or if you think you'd panic upon further questioning, this method isn't for you and you should try my next suggestion...

If you'd prefer, you can also start your own business. To be honest I'd recommend that. I'm currently working on starting my own business, but I also go to college so my time (and money) are limited at the moment. Starting your own business is the #1 thing you can do not only because it works for you - but it's also the best form of rebellion against a system that, let's be honest, has treated us like crap

Dear geedee,
I am 43 and recently suspect I am in the Autistic Spectrum. Since I never thought I was deficient in social matters I just kept trying to find work and it always works out for me. I am unemployed again due to a reduction of workforce. Seems that I am always on the list when it comes to reductions of workforce.

I definitely need to try and learn to relate more and read the social cues in the office.

Keep applying for work. At some point due to the sheer need for a business to fill a position you will get your foot in the door. That is my experience. It's all about timing and the hiring managers running out of time to screen all their candidates to validate if they are "nuero-typical".

The other thing is that there are hiring managers out there who are in the Autism Spectrum and they don't know it either. As a result these insividuals are more likely to appreciate your talents and not identify lack of social cues.

It is really sad that society is like this but do not give up. Keep searching matter what!! ! Never give up!! ! You have so much to contribute to society. Keep seeking and you will find!! !

I'm 53, never had a job and doubt I ever will now; even getting voluntary work is difficult.