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Suzanne Chiles:
>I feel for your plight. But do remember that those of us who are unemployed
>must send out resumes each week in order to receive our benefits. And when
>there are no job listings to respond to, we don't have much choice other
>than to send out letters to companies. Sorry. Though I do tailor mine
>specifically to each company I write to.
Oh god, I remember this! I got an Official Letter from the DSS to Officially
Inform me that if I hadn't found work after six months I would have to
attend an interview and bring proof that I had applied for at least two jobs
each week I had been claiming "jobseeker's allowance". The Official Letter
officially notified me that no, average rate of applications didn't count:
it had to be a minimum of two jobs per week. Of course, some weeks this was
no problem: lots of interesting and applicable positions to apply for. Some
weeks... well, I did once apply to be a "Trainee Tea Taster" at Tetley's.
At the end of six months I got called in for the Interview. I produced my
folder full of rejection letters (it was well over two inches thick at that
point) and thumped it down on the desk. My interviewer eyed it thoughtfully
but did not check that it was actually full of evidence and not bulked out
with junk mail (which it wasn't: that was an imaginative solution to the
problem that has since occurred to me). Instead she told me I would have to
stop going to the graduate's job club and stop doing voluntary work for
Oxfam for two days in order to go to a jobseeker's workshop that would show
me how to write an application letter and wash my face for an interview, or
some such. By dint of fast talking I put it off for six weeks, and when the
next Official Invitation to attend the jobseeker's workshop or lose benefit
arrived, I was happily able to write back to say that I wouldn't be
attending and I was no longer be eligible to claim "jobseeker's allowance"
anyway, because I had a job starting that week, so ha ha on you. Well, no, I
didn't explicitly write the last five words.
It was nearly eight years ago, but it was no fun at all. Wish you luck
finding a job soon.
barry kieffer wrote:
>Big deal you say? Well, many years later I was in the position to hire a
senior level technical writer, and I cannot tell you how many times people
looked surprised when I asked about something on their resume. If you don't
know the content of your resume cold - or worse - gasp - someone wrote (or
rewrote) it for you...
Does the phrase "does not meet minimum qualifications" strike a bell?<
Well... I would normally agree with you wholeheartedly, but I just heard
from a co-worker about an agency worker who edited her CV before sending it
out. She wasn't asked, she wasn't told, she didn't even get a copy of the
new truncated version of her CV, and when her interviewer asked her "What's
this five-year gap in your employment history?" she says she must have
looked completely gobsmacked. (Her possible loss, our definite gain - the
agency didn't edit her CV for interview with *this* company, and *we* got
her instead.)
Jane Carnall
The writers all stand around a cauldron chanting and occasionally tossing in
a small DSS clerk. Unless stated otherwise, these opinions are mine, and
mine alone. Apologies for the long additional sig: it is added automatically
and outwith my control.
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