Now this may seem strange, but simply I will try and do almost anything to get back to work.
Having had nearly 7 months out of work, I have become frustrated with 99% of employment agencies who just treat you with no respect at all, and I have now made over 700 applications, or speculative letters or phone calls, and only had 5 interviews, with one verbal offer, which frustratingly hasn’t come to fruition.
My career has been 25 years within the Financial Services industry in different roles, including National Account Manager. It seems that agencies and employers do not look at transferable skills, let alone overall experience.
The feedback I have is that, I have a good background and good CV, that I can evidence, but employers want all the boxes ticked
So, has anyone any ideas how I can find a new career/job, or may aware of one that may consider someone that can add something real to the business, even though I may not tick 99.9% of the boxes.
My skills are specifically relationship management/ business development at all levels and whilst I am modest, I am good at it. My perfect job would be selling outdoor equipment to retailers. Even on an agency basis, but I know competition is fierce.
Locations could anywhere, between Birmingham, Bristol and Cardiff and salary is fully negotiable depending on the overall package.
This will be an interesting exercise to see what ideas people have that are different to what I have tried.
Since moving to Wales I've managed to get some temporary work by 'dumbing down' my CV just to stop eating too far into my savings whilst being unemployed.
But I've come to realise that self employment is probably the best way to go in the current market if you're struggling. I'm at the point where I'm trying to raise capital, using my sales skills from previous employment. I would have thought someone with your background could easily make contacts to raise capital to buy equipment direct (possibly from cottage industries in the uk) and sell direct to retailers, rather than aiming for employment from a manufacturer?
I believe that if you've been out of work for over 6 months you qualify for a 'test trading' period where you can trial your business whilst keeping your benefits for a set period of time?
Many years ago I was trying very hard to find a job. I had good skills and experience which folk had been paying good money for, but agencies just didn't want to know because I didn't fit neatly into their boxes: what to me was a strength (wide variety of experience in a number of business areas) was a problem to them. It was very frustrating indeed. Eventually I realised that I just had to believe in myself, work even harder and be my own boss. I'd never ever go back to working for someone else now!
I'd have thought there is some possibility in working for an outdoor equipment distributor in sales, or (possibly "and" if you work freelance) distributing gear yourself.
To distribute stuff yourself, you need to be constantly on the road visiting retailers; it will take a long time to get people on side. I'd say concentrate on the indies. Also, you will need someone with a good phone manner who is always at home base to take orders etc, plus some capital to buy stock, and some method of fulfilling orders.
On the fulfilling orders front, I know of at least one distributor who uses a warehousing company to store stock and fulfill orders, which sounds like a good idea to me while you are getting started.
In terms of where the opportunities lie, I'd say in the new interesting products from smaller manufacturers, including the cottage folk. Look for stuff that is genuinely innovative where there is no UK distributor. If you are prepared to go through the customs and tax hassle, consider importing from outside the EU -- I know for ourselves I'd far rather someone else deal with all of that!
I'd recommend not risking a lot of money at the outset. Find a way to start small and see if it works; if it does, grow a bit. Don't risk what you cannot afford to lose!
Hope that gives you some ideas, and the very best of luck!
Well don,t know what capital you have but why not consider the franchise market?My Brother recently set up a cash converters type franchise and although he works hard he gets good returns.Lots of opportunities there.Im a firm believer in not working hard to produce money for other people but for yourself.i havn,t worked for anyone since the last century!!
Jobhunter...first of all...been there, done that...it isnt nice and too often it is easy to see darkness in the tunnel.
I was made redundant three years ago, set up my own business and went back to university. It took me two years to retrain into a completely different profession, but I finished the course on a Friday and started my new job on the Monday. Its been hard...expensive...frustrating...
There is no simple answer..just keep plugging at it.
I have a sympathy with employers - I know of one job for a school caretaker which attracted over 200 applications - and another job (professional) that attracted 700 applications. Try sorting that lot out...without reverting to a simple box ticking process.
Very sorry to hear of your circumstances. It sucks to be out of work. Can you elaborate on your experience with employment agencies? The problem is that agencies control pretty much all the good jobs, in my experience. Yes, they are total users with no interest in anything other the next commission cheque but if you want a whore, you have to deal with the pimp.
My experience with agencies has been similar - next to useless and a complete waste of space.
Get yourself on as many websites/job boards as possible (but use a disposable email address as you will get spam), identify some target companies, get togged up, print your CV out and visit their offices - ask for Head of Sales - better still phone them first, get the name, then stroll in and ask for that person by name. Keep knocking, keep going back...
Dont phone (your call is forgotten as soon as the phone goes back down), dont email (delete..gone).
Its like selling electricity or double glazing - eventually you will be seen. Then it is up to you - you have 45 seconds to make an impression.
Be prepared to wait...and wait...jobs are like No10 buses. Nothing for ages then three arrive all at once.
Set up job searches on as many boards as possible (I am on 10 maybe), keep the search parameters broad (OK, you gets lots of things you wont apply for - better that than miss the one you will).
Get yourself on as many websites/job boards as possible (but use a disposable email address as you will get spam), identify some target companies, get togged up, print your CV out and visit their offices - ask for Head of Sales - better still phone them first, get the name, then stroll in and ask for that person by name. Keep knocking, keep going back...
Dont phone (your call is forgotten as soon as the phone goes back down), dont email (delete..gone).
So do you phone or not?
In a company of any size, this approach won't work. Senior managers are inundated with cold callers and screen themselves from this sort of approach. I have never seen anyone without an appointment nor have I known a colleague do so, so this idea that you can breeze in, having got someone's name and get to impress them in an impromptu meeting is rubbish, no matter what you might have seen on The Apprentice.
Times are extremely tough. No organisation of any size is going to hire into anything other than an existing vacancy. A company is not going to hire you just because you rock up and look keen. This is why I have asked about why the OP has discounted employment agencies. Like it or not, this is the channel by which most organisations recruit and, paradoxically, is where GOF's approach may well work. Get a face to face meeting with a named consultant (salesman). This will flesh out your CV and leave more of an impression.
Also, if the OP is not currently "ticking all the boxes", to use that ghastly phrase, why not? What else do you need in terms of qualifications or training to close the gap?
Nooo...you phone the reception and get the name only...so when you bowl in some days later, instead of asking for a function (Can I speak to the Sales Manager please...receptionist replies....who?) you can ask for Jake...and Jake will be called from reception...and Jake will eventually see me. It might take months...but he will, he just doesnt know it yet.
And Jake...it does work...it is VERY hard work, but it does work.
I spent nearly 15 years in selling, including cold calling like this, selling everything from electricity to potatoes and myself.
Sure, I could spend days getting nowhere - but, on average, I got a confirmed appointment to call back every day. True, I very very rarely got a sit down here and now, but by a Friday my diary was full of confirmed appointments for the next week.
I still disagree about agencies - from a user point of view. I know of one agency - no names no pack drill - who are often the only agency "advertising" vacancies on job boards. Either they are very good at getting business (because other agencies arent getting in) or they were advertising non-existant jobs.I was registered with them for 10 years maybe...and even when I rang my consultant morning about a particular vacancy advertised that morning, the position had been filled. Funny that....
Make your own mind up. They are still at it.
The real problem the OP has is risk. Before the crash, an employer might have looked at a skill set and taken a risk view as to transferability. These days (a) there are loads of very good candidates (b) employers are risk adverse - Gawd knows, things are risky enough without taking on more and (c) employers just dont need to take on the risk.
My experience is most jobs arent advertised or put to agencies - candidates are selected from a known group with a tap on the shoulder. As a system it works - once you break in. Breaking in is really hard.
As for gap filling - the problem I had was that every job had a slightly different requirment so each gap was different which made filling it impossible.
It wasnt till I jumped industries that I was able to gap fill meaningfully - it took 2 years.
In this time I cold called till I got some temporary work in my new industry, then got a bit more...and a bit more..then took a call from someone I had not worked for at all to tell me they had a permenant vacancy coming up, no guarantees, but they had heard of me from somewhere else. The network produced 100 candidates with no advertisment.
I still disagree about agencies - from a user point of view. I know of one agency - no names no pack drill - who are often the only agency "advertising" vacancies on job boards. Either they are very good at getting business (because other agencies arent getting in) or they were advertising non-existant jobs.I was registered with them for 10 years maybe...and even when I rang my consultant morning about a particular vacancy advertised that morning, the position had been filled. Funny that....
Make your own mind up. They are still at it.
Well, your experience differs from mine. Yes, agencies are peopled by unscrupulous gits but that is just the way it is. I've had a number of jobs over the years, all from agencies. Yes, they do advertise non-existent posts and they often post the same vacancy more than once but that doesn't mean that they don't handle real jobs.
I've fielded speculative applications over the years but they have never come to anything. The application by necessity is very vague because the candidate is not, of course, applying for a specific position. I've seen people boast of making x hundred of such applications with almost no success and, frankly, I'm not surprised. It's a scatter-gun approach and it's hugely inefficient, not to say dispiriting.
My experience is most jobs arent advertised or put to agencies - candidates are selected from a known group with a tap on the shoulder. As a system it works - once you break in. Breaking in is really hard.
Ah, the old "It's not what you know but who you know" theory. I've often wondered how this works in practice, outside of rarefied circles of senior professionals. How do you know that you are "tapping the shoulder" of someone who is actually looking for work? How do you know they haven't moved away from the area?
The system to "break into" is the system that actually deals with employers and jobs, namely the agencies. I make a point of staying in touch with named consultants. They all talk to each other and move around from agency to agency. Get a reputation for delivering for an employee and you will get known as a good candidate.
Anyway, each to his own. If your method works for you, GOF, fine but I suspect you are in a minority.
The who you know works..cos you know...the candidate (from recommendation), they are looking and available (cos the recommender knows)
Therein lies the strength and weakness. As a candidate/employer there is a lot of time and effort saved (cos you only get tapped by serious people). The weakness is, until you develop a name you wont get tapped.
