I'm struggling with agency work. Any advice would be welcomed.

[Evei]

No, it's not at Stocksbridge. I know I should stick with it, especially in the current climate. I hate to sound melodramatic, but the trouble is, it's making me miserable! I'm not sure being miserable is worth minimum wage.

 

I remember doing agency work when a student and it was mind numbing but paid the bills.

 

Try to look at the positive side the longer you stick at the more likely the agency will find out your reliable and hopefully find you better jobs (keep asking!). You are not having to pay for heating the house when you are at work and at least you are earning something so you might not have much left but at least you have a little extra money to treat yourself and it looks better when your applying for other jobs.

 

The most boring one I ever did was in an ice cream packing factory checking the lids were on properly and the most scary in a factory packing birthday cards, at first I thought the women there were going to eat me alive but they turned out to be ok the longer I stuck around and once I got to the third week they were actually quite nice

 

I found it very boring and spent a lot of time counting things or making silly games up in my head to try and prevent myself thinking about how bored I was Just try to keep your mind off the negative stuff and try to think of other things, I find it makes you feel better and the time then goes faster. There's no point getting upset and working yourself up, in the end it's money. Hope something comes along soon.

[Lisa33]

I got made redundant last March and had to sign on for the full duration of the 6 months. I applied for jobs and got interviews but didnt get one. I then applied for a seasonal shop job and got it. I have now finished there about two weeks ago and have just got paid my final wage and am sat worrying where the next pay cheque is going to come from????. I used to be a admin assistant for a steel firm and i have applied for all sorts of work in offices but I suppose they would sooner pay someone who is 17/18 the lower wage than a woman of 34 years old who is experienced and has qualifactions a decent wage.

 

I have applied to two shops for jobs but havent heard anything yet and I am going to sit down tomorrow and just look for anyjob I can do that will bring a wage in, cause its more depressing sitting at home having nothing to do and worrying about how to earn money than been in a job thats a bit boring at least you are earning something. I have done agency work and mind numbing agency work but at least your out of the house feeling like your earning your way in the world and brining a wage in. In these times of recession and people who have lost their jobs need to sometimes accepct the fact that, yes you may need to do mind numbing jobs for a while till something decent comes along. I wish I could have a mind numbing job at the mo just to bring a wage in.

 

Things will get better eventually it might take sometime but you will get there and I have to keep beliving that I will get a job soon and that someone does want to employ me.

[Ms Macbeth]

I used to be a admin assistant for a steel firm and i have applied for all sorts of work in offices but I suppose they would sooner pay someone who is 17/18 the lower wage than a woman of 34 years old who is experienced and has qualifactions a decent wage.

 

Why not apply for a job with the council - they often advertise for admin staff. Try general and school jobs (they aren't all for teachers). You must demonstrate that you can meet all the necessary requirements on the application form - and they take time to fill in - but you never know!

http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/whats-new/job-vacancies

[Dave650]

Why not apply for a job with the council - they often advertise for admin staff. Try general and school jobs (they aren't all for teachers). You must demonstrate that you can meet all the necessary requirements on the application form - and they take time to fill in - but you never know!

http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/whats-new/job-vacancies

Don't they often advertise just to keep withing the law when really they already have someone lined up for the position for the majority of jobs?

[Grandad.Malky]

Don't they often advertise just to keep withing the law when really they already have someone lined up for the position for the majority of jobs?

 

I know I will get shot down in flames for saying this but it seems to me that the council and the NHS are like the mafia when it comes to recruitment.

[xenia]

Get into the security business! I worked in heavy industry for most of my working life. Plagued with bad managers, stupid unions, and badly let down when we were all made redundant.

 

So, I took the plunge into this game. Thought I would hate it, actually, love it. A degree of responsibility, meet some nice people daily. Money not brilliant but OK.

 

Dont work for anyone thats not a BSIA member as there are still some cowboys out there.

 

Cheer up,there is hope.

[Ms Macbeth]

Don't they often advertise just to keep withing the law when really they already have someone lined up for the position for the majority of jobs?

 

Not in my experience, although I've heard the same stories.

 

They employed me back in 2000 - I didn't live in Sheffield at the time, and knew no-one of any importance anywhere in the council - and I was in my 50s. I was part of a new team, some were existing employees but most of us weren't. The selection process I went through certainly didn't favour existing employees. I'd like to believe I got the job on merit.

 

I took part in recruitment panels before I retired (3 people on each panel) for basic level admin posts. Applications that were nearest to the job spec got interviews, and the person who scored highest on the same set questions (adding all three interviewers scores together) got offered the job in every case where I was involved. In the department where I worked, some jobs relied on advanced IT skills - aptitude tests were set for them, and only people with the necessary abilities were taken on.

[Sim0n]

Apply for a job in a call center they're crap with regards to career prospects and they're also mind numbingly boring but if you want something short term and to pay the rent you can't go wrong. There also pretty easy to get on with some of the ones I've applied for I've got an interview a day or so after sending in the CV and started work the following week. Try the one up Woodseats called Voice I've copied the contact number from another post 0114 321 00 00 tell us how you get on.

Edited January 25, 2010 by Sim0n

[thegreenman]

Six years of solid work experience represent transferrable skills and therefore employability, don't despair!

 

I'd agree with Ms Macbeth that the Council's recruitment process is actually really fair. I used to work in education for the Council and witnessed interviews for lots of vacancies. All of them were done by the book and the people who got through to interview were not necessarily the ones with the highest level of qualifications or the most experience, they were the rare applicants who actually bothered to address all of the points of the person specification in their supporting statement. Filling in one of the application forms can take a good 4 hours or something, but doing it properly gives you a really good chance of an interview.

 

If you see a job you'd like but don't think you're quite qualified, apply anyway. If there's a point on the person specification that you don't meet, acknowledge that and emphasise that you're willing to do training on the job. What's more, if you do get a job with the Council, they'll put you through qualifications to bring your CV up to spec. My former manager got put through an NVQ Level 4 in Business Administration.

 

As for how to get started, try Reed Employment. They're the agency that got me an initial temporary contract with the Council. From there, once I'd become familiar with how the organisation worked and decided what I was interested in, I applied for longer-term jobs and eventually got one. Reed are a decent organisation as well; they were never demeaning towards me whilst I was temping with them. If you don't have any luck there, try the following websites:

 

http://www.sheffield.ac.uk

http://www.shu.ac.uk

http://www.vas.org.uk

 

These are for the two universities and a voluntary sector organisation called Voluntary Action Sheffield. They advertise lots of vacancies and not all of them ask for a degree or even A levels. Best of luck to everybody and feel free to PM me if you'd like any jobs advice. I'm not a recruitment person or anything, just someone who once struggled for work.

[thegreenman]

Council temp jobs, see here!

 

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=541840