Jobs.

Tom27 · Dec 2, 2012

Is it just me, or are jobs seeming to be harder and harder to get?

I'm a fully qualified & experienced chef yet I'm struggling to get 1 interview every 3 months never mind actually getting the job from a company.
I'm applying for around 8 jobs per week to only hear back from 1 every 3 months.
(Applying for a range of jobs including Kitchen assistants, chefs, pot washing, production operatives, warehouse, shop assistants & delivery driving)

Am I the only person struggling to find ANY jobs available at the moment?
Comments..

Ardbeg · Dec 2, 2012

In my experience, the pub trade is always desperate for chefs.
A couple will often take on a pub an fail to realise its the chef and his ability to create quality food that brings people back.
Leaseholders of brewer estate houses or pub group estate houses are likely candidates. You'll need to be able to cook the usual fare and also some specials at a budget they can afford.
The other main factors are honesty and trustworthiness.

Tom27 · Dec 2, 2012

This is true.

I did have an opportunity to manage a pub at one point and I have absolutely no experience of pulling pints or dealing with paperwork.
Nor do I have any certificates (Which were offered to be paid for)
However I had to deny this due to such lack of experience, I wouldn't have felt comfortable running such a sucessful pub knowing that I didn't have the mindset for it at that point in time.

However; I'm currently trying to set up my own Cafe/Restaurant.
I've got all my business plans done, now i'm just trying to get funding towards starting it up which is likely to be harder to acheive than to write on paper ;/

---------- Post Merged at 08:25 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 06:16 AM ----------

---
I've got plans for a restaurant in my hometown area (Middlesbrough).
And have just been speaking with an old friend on facebook who just happens to have a slightl bit of cash pushed aside from his businesses.

The good news from him was: He is willing to invest £5,000 towards the startup of my restaurant (Which will cover the full cost) for a small investment cut of my earnings.

It seems like things will be looking up from this point on.
It's just weird how I posted on LOMCN a couple of hours before I spoke with my friend ;/

Ardbeg · Dec 2, 2012

There's a hell of a gap between looking for a chef position and starting your own outlet. Great aspirations I must say but hold the bus...
Managing a pub and being the chef for the pub are two totally different beasts. Running your own pub or restaurant is another level entirely.

If you have a financial backer then fantastic but the trade you're looking to get into is a money pit. I work in the industry supplying such businesses and have seen countless go to the wall over the years due to lack of funds, even those that had backing.

Let's assume its a restaurant with a bar area. If you want draught, you'll need to talk to a local supplier or brewer to do a site survery for the placing of cooler units, kegs, gas and, often forgotten, an area for delivery and storage of the kegs and cases.
These firms, especially the brewers, will offer the bar equipment and set up for free but require you to sell their products and maybe not what you would prefer.
Starting stock costs is also often overlooked.
Gone are the days of loads of credit. Suppliers will want paying on delivery and a startup cost for a restaurant and a small winelist could be approaching £2000.

Strange place to talk about all this lol but I am in the trade.

NightScare · Dec 2, 2012

I wouldnt advise setting up any catering or Pub trade business atm

12 years ago my Mum had 5 pubs, a Brand new Honda S2000 and 2 houses.

Now she has **** all and over 30k worth of debts.

its really not a business to get into, although they were all mainly wet trade led pubs....

On top - My missus has like 4 years management experience in child-care and has been out of work for 3months now......cant even claim JSA or anything eitherr.

Prai · Dec 2, 2012

Tbh, I don't get when people say there are no jobs.

applied for 2 jobs got them both but turned em down as my employer boosted my contract.

if your good at what you do and are persistent then you'll be snatched up.

MythRohan · Dec 2, 2012

Prai said:
Tbh, I don't get when people say there are no jobs.

applied for 2 jobs got them both but turned em down as my employer boosted my contract.

if your good at what you do and are persistent then you'll be snatched up.

i would of said this 5 years ago...

in this day and age its not what you know pal...

Its who you know.

My uncle prime example , as he was in army as chef for 15 years came out and has applied for 60 jobs in one month and had 2 replies back.

If you are lucky to slip in a dead end job then gd on ya but the high paid jobs are not in view :P but aye its hard to find work in uk.

gratz on replies tho :P

Far · Dec 2, 2012

Prai said:
Tbh, I don't get when people say there are no jobs.

applied for 2 jobs got them both but turned em down as my employer boosted my contract.

if your good at what you do and are persistent then you'll be snatched up.

I agree with this. I got made redundant from my job, however after just 2 weeks of persistent applications i found myself in a much better higher paid job.

I can imagine this not being the case for a lot of people, however if you say you're applying for only 8 a day - for a chef job - its not really that many.

I can walk down 1 street and go past 10 restaurants and bars which use chefs. Don't apply to just ones on a job site. Walk in to everywhere, sign up to recruitment agencies, get your cv seen online, shared on facebook. if you're a chef i can't imagine you having too much difficulty finding at minimum a part time job to start with.

JealY · Dec 2, 2012

2 jobs a day isn't really looking very hard though is it.

Prai · Dec 2, 2012

Try this...

Walk into an establishment, explain your situation, ask them for a quick interview and that your willing todo a weeks free work trial to showcase your skills and see where that takes you.

if someone came to me with that offer I'd snatch their hand off.

NightScare · Dec 2, 2012

Prai said:
Tbh, I don't get when people say there are no jobs.

applied for 2 jobs got them both but turned em down as my employer boosted my contract.

if your good at what you do and are persistent then you'll be snatched up.

I wasted 4 years studying accountancy, and am now halfway to becoming CIMA qualified (need to get a job to become fully...), applied for around 200 + accountancy jobs, got like 4 replys.

I now work in a call center at Vodafone, and have completely given up on any sort of job over minimum wage.

What u say may be true for 30-50 year old professionals with like 5-10 years experience, but starting out at 22, with no experience no-one even bothers to read your CV.

Prai · Dec 2, 2012

Make you cv stand out, it's not completely about qualifications, explain your personal skills, what you can bring and achieve for whatever company it is.

Also, don't do generic CV's, edit every CV to match the job role, don't lie or out false information, just think of what the company is looking for and match the similarities.

Shabalabalong · Dec 2, 2012

Well, Middlesbrough has some of the highest levels of unemployment within the UK. Perhaps look elsewhere for a job, such as York which has very low unemployment, so may be easier to get a job.

Tai · Dec 2, 2012

Farphit said:
I agree with this. I got made redundant from my job, however after just 2 weeks of persistent applications i found myself in a much better higher paid job.

I can imagine this not being the case for a lot of people, however if you say you're applying for only 8 a day - for a chef job - its not really that many.

I can walk down 1 street and go past 10 restaurants and bars which use chefs. Don't apply to just ones on a job site. Walk in to everywhere, sign up to recruitment agencies, get your cv seen online, shared on facebook. if you're a chef i can't imagine you having too much difficulty finding at minimum a part time job to start with.

I did all of that, over and over, and it got me nowhere. I was unemployed for 2 and a half years, sent hundreds of applications, had a dozen interviews. It depends what sector you're trying to get into but it's ****ing difficult. The job I have now I actually interviewed for the previous year as well..

Prai said:
Try this...

Walk into an establishment, explain your situation, ask them for a quick interview and that your willing todo a weeks free work trial to showcase your skills and see where that takes you.

if someone came to me with that offer I'd snatch their hand off.

I tried that too, and they pretty much laughed at me. Good times.

NightScare said:
I wasted 4 years studying accountancy, and am now halfway to becoming CIMA qualified (need to get a job to become fully...), applied for around 200 + accountancy jobs, got like 4 replys.

I now work in a call center at Vodafone, and have completely given up on any sort of job over minimum wage.

What u say may be true for 30-50 year old professionals with like 5-10 years experience, but starting out at 22, with no experience no-one even bothers to read your CV.

Agreed..

NightScare · Dec 2, 2012

Prai said:
Make you cv stand out, it's not completely about qualifications, explain your personal skills, what you can bring and achieve for whatever company it is.

Also, don't do generic CV's, edit every CV to match the job role, don't lie or out false information, just think of what the company is looking for and match the similarities.

Oh come on mate, everyone puts the same bullshit on there CV.

No-one pays attention to anything but experience/references

i also did what Prai suggested with accountancy offered free trials the lot...once i even applied for a "trainee" job at £2.50 a month, didnt even get an interview... and im all ready half qualified.

This aint the 1950's anymore, your lucky to have a job shoveling **** as a young person, let alone having a career, i sm quite lucky i have landed on my feet and got a job at Vodafone a lot of my mates work at burger vans or other **** places and are not going anywhere, least i have a chance of progression in a Multi-billion corporation.

Shabalabalong · Dec 2, 2012

The moment you become qualified as an accountant you'll be snatched up.

My brother, a trainee accountant who becomes ACA qualified this summer, has been offered a job when qualified for KPMG. Dno how much it is for you to fund exams yourself or even teach it yourself, but he's currently working with a local firm that's funding his exams.

Tom27 · Dec 2, 2012

It may be a situation in some areas where people are fortunate enough to simply apply for 2 jobs and get interviews or even a job outcome from them.
However In the Middlesbrough area, when you have been out of work for almost 9 months you suddenly realise that you have already sent applications to every single restaurant / cafe / pubs / bistro's in the area.
So thats when your search for jobs slows down dramatically.

Unfortunately for me living in Middlesbrough as stated above, Unemployment is extremely higher than everywhere else across England.
It's not that I don't apply for jobs, its the fact that there isnt any jobs out there to apply for.
2 Per day would be a good day on applying for jobs, however most other days you won't find anything.

York, yes there may be work available however;

-Most companies won't pay travelling expenses
-Live-in accomodation will probbably be more costly than the wages in the North East (Most people get min wage)
-The jobs are mainly Temporary contracts.

Lastly;
I have also gone down the voluntary root working on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway as a chef 2 days per week.
Unfortunately even this never lead to an employable job after 2 years of spending my own money travelling almost 30 miles each way there.

It just seems with this current situation with the economy crash that there isn't anything available anymore.
It seems the only industry left would be porn. LOL.

NightScare · Dec 3, 2012

Shabalabalong said:
The moment you become qualified as an accountant you'll be snatched up.

My brother, a trainee accountant who becomes ACA qualified this summer, has been offered a job when qualified for KPMG. Dno how much it is for you to fund exams yourself or even teach it yourself, but he's currently working with a local firm that's funding his exams.

You cant become qualified without working in a accountancy practice.

I've lost my chance at this anyway, finished my exams around 2 years ago and haven't been in the profession, i dont even bother putting it on my CV anymore.#

I Think it all depends on area, i live in a small town, surrounded by small towns, the town i live in atm the high street has around 6 open shops and around 20 closed shops, its like a ghost town, even big chains such as Marks and spencers/Game /O2/Orange have all shut down.

dsmir3 · Dec 4, 2012

TBH finding a job is not that hard at all, but if your narrow minded about what it is your applying for and what you want from a job. Then your certainly not going to find one are you, the biggest problem with unemployment at the moment isn't the lack of jobs. But it's a lack of people actually willing to do those jobs that are there. In four years I have been made redundant 6 times, either from being on short term contracts or the business is failing in one way or another. In that four years I never signed on and I certainly didn't close my eyes to what jobs are available, at the end of the day any old job will do, as a job is a job and it brings in the money.

If it's not the job you want, then tough. You have to take what is available, however taking what is available and actually being in a job has a better outlook to potential employers for that role you are wanting.

NightScare · Dec 4, 2012

dsmir3 said:
TBH finding a job is not that hard at all, but if your narrow minded about what it is your applying for and what you want from a job. Then your certainly not going to find one are you, the biggest problem with unemployment at the moment isn't the lack of jobs. But it's a lack of people actually willing to do those jobs that are there. In four years I have been made redundant 6 times, either from being on short term contracts or the business is failing in one way or another. In that four years I never signed on and I certainly didn't close my eyes to what jobs are available, at the end of the day any old job will do, as a job is a job and it brings in the money.

If it's not the job you want, then tough. You have to take what is available, however taking what is available and actually being in a job has a better outlook to potential employers for that role you are wanting.

This,

Finding a Job is easy.

Finding a career with prospects is hard.

Jobs.

Golden Oldie

Legend

Golden Oldie

Legend

Golden Oldie

Most Importantest

LOMCN Veteran

tsniffer

LOMCN VIP

Most Importantest

Golden Oldie

Most Importantest

Golden Oldie

HEAD CAPTAIN

Golden Oldie

Golden Oldie

Golden Oldie

Golden Oldie

LOMCN Veteran

Golden Oldie