Job seekers being ignored

I know it is of no consolation, but I have found exactly the same think at 75! (And I don't spell out how old I am with a CV going back before 90's)

Same thing, bl**dy autocorrect!

Yes when I worked in an office years ago we always sent out a standard letter saying we would keep them on file for the future.

I feel so sorry for your son and everyone looking for a job. I suppose it depends where you live ie near a major town and what sort of job you are looking for. Perhaps he could do some charity work to boost his CV, or try applying for different kinds of jobs and have lower expectations and work his way up. I wish him Good Luck 🤞

Its hard for young people these days ....some people pay for hundred plus jobs and no response

It's normal to not hear anything, even after interviews you may not hear anything. Employers don't always have the time to respond, especially if they are inundated with applications.

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Sounds like my GS.

He left grammar school last year after doing his A levels. He didn’t want to go to university, which the school wants everyone to do. He didn’t have any clear idea what he wanted to do though.

He applied for over 40 apprenticeships or jobs, and heard nothing. They were for various roles, nothing specific.

Some of the office type ones, (not wanting to sound like a doting granny) he could have done standing on his head, just filing, answering the phone, general dogsbody. Zilch.

He is bright, presentable, used to communicating with others, polite, no trouble.

About 4 months after leaving, through a family connection, he did a trial at an electrical firm and is now an apprentice electrician with them.

He seems very settled there, enjoys the camaraderie with the other chaps and has earned enough to buy himself a little car.

Uni isn’t for everyone, but future employers need to look at their recruiting process.

lucasbrr reported.

This has been going on since at least the 1980s. DH was offered a job then and the salary and conditions stage had been reached. then everything went dead. The job was a senior engineering position.

I do not buy the It's normal to not hear anything, even after interviews you may not hear anything. Employers don't always have the time to respond, especially if they are inundated with applications. argument.

if you have a computer, then to have a standard letter that says 'Thanks but, no thanks', especially now it will probably be an email, requires neither time nor effort.

Our residents association advertised the caretakers job. We were inundated with literally hundreds of applications. There was no way we could reply to everyone. However, when we shortlisted people and asked them to interview the majority didn't reply. Finally a few agreed to be interviewed and we found a person. It transpired that people on unemployment benefits have to apply to as many jobs as possible. Obviously, people were just cynically sending in CVs to demonstrate to their case worker that they were trying.
That poor young man has been affected by this. Glad he's sorted now.

If it is possible I think it is a good idea to go to the company and present your CV personally. A smart appearance and a smile can go a long way. Of course I realise it usually isn't possible.
Or apply for a job with odd hours (say late afternoon/early evenings/weekends). Fewer people apply for these. Then, with a foot in the door, you can ask to change when better shifts are offered.

It’s fairly standard for public/third sector job adverts to have a closing date for applications, and say that if applicants haven’t heard within three weeks of the closing date, they were unsuccessful.

Three weeks allows time to compile A and B shortlists, invite the A list for interview, and, if not enough accept, ask one or more from the B list.

In my experience, all interviewed candidates are told whether they were successful or not. You can almost always tell whether you’re first choice, or whether the first choice(s) turned the job down, and you’re next on the list, by how long it takes to hear.

My 19yr old GD is also struggling has applied for hundreds of jobs, she doesn't have good exam results which doesn't help but shes really trying hard and is getting so down. The job centre are totally no help what so ever what they get paid for I've clue as they offer no help at all. It upsets me as ok shes not got the exams but she so wants to work and earn her way.

M0nica

This has been going on since at least the 1980s. DH was offered a job then and the salary and conditions stage had been reached. then everything went dead. The job was a senior engineering position.

I do not buy the It's normal to not hear anything, even after interviews you may not hear anything. Employers don't always have the time to respond, especially if they are inundated with applications. argument.

if you have a computer, then to have a standard letter that says 'Thanks but, no thanks', especially now it will probably be an email, requires neither time nor effort.

My thoughts exactly, takes no time to type a name and address on a standard mail merge document. I guess it'll get even harder for them, now that schools have finished there'll be thousands more looking

sil is responsible for vetting applications for a very large prestigious engineering company. Applicants need to stand out by showing a broad range of activities including skills with people, groups and work experience. as well as application to studies

I do wonder how much the potential for cheap labour in the near future is affecting job applications

It works both ways, I was able to offer a neighbour’s daughter some work, 10-3.30 for a one off four days over the Xmas holidays.
We were paying £100 a day.
The girl in question was at home from university, she was 28 and had no money apparently!
She never got back to me, I saw the mother today and mentioned it, she shrugged and said well I did tell her and gave her your number!

When I went for a treatment I was surprised to find that the beautician worked single handedly. She told me that she was so sick of trying to employ staff that she'd given up. Nobody would would work on a Monday after a big weekend or had to take days off 'for their mental health '. She was forever having to deal with clients who'd been let down by them.

Sometimes it is just a case of who you know. Many jobs are filled by personal recommendation. A big local Company was well-known for never having to advertise as so-and-so's son/daughter/niece/ nephew/friend was given preference.
Also, I believe hands-on jobs are not so popular. Hairdressing/Waitressing.
There also seems to be a dearth of summer jobs for students.

Tell your grandson to phone and request feedback if he has been interviewed. It is common practice with companies now to do this apparently so then he can get an idea as to what areas he might need to improve on. Also, I would advise he practices with someone before interview. Some youngsters now are often not confident in talking face to face or on the phone although i was always terrible at interviews. Depending on what he is interested in, Reed employment have lots of good tips online about CVS and interviews.

Aveline

Our residents association advertised the caretakers job. We were inundated with literally hundreds of applications. There was no way we could reply to everyone. However, when we shortlisted people and asked them to interview the majority didn't reply. Finally a few agreed to be interviewed and we found a person. It transpired that people on unemployment benefits have to apply to as many jobs as possible. Obviously, people were just cynically sending in CVs to demonstrate to their case worker that they were trying.
That poor young man has been affected by this. Glad he's sorted now.

Not necessarily 'cynically': just because one is on unemployment benefit does not mean one is a shirker. Many do want well paying jobs to support a family.

No not shirkers. Just needing to prove to their case worker that they are applying for jobs. Some of the people applying would never in a million years be interested or appropriate for our wee job.

The state of our employment services, which should actually help young people, is truly shocking and has been for some years. I am old enough to remember the Manpower Services Commission which was set up to assist those seeking employment. I used to work for them; the Jobcentres came under their auspices. We were trained extensively to help jobseekers by understanding their needs, their knowledge and their skills. There were government run Skillcentres to train for manual trades such as plumbing, carpentry etc. There were Youth Training Schemes for young people, specialist help for veterans of our Armed Forces, graduates and the disabled. These initiatives frequently led to employment as we kept track of the requirements of local employers and had good relationships with them. WHAT HAPPENED?! Now we don’t even have proper Careers Services or Job Clubs etc anymore, let alone training.. All governments have been perfectly aware of skill shortages but they have made no decent attempt to upskill the population, preferring to bring in cheap labour from overseas to fill the gaps and business has colluded in this. And look at how that’s turned out! We need properly trained advisors in Jobcentres who have links to and knowledge of the local labour market, rather than ‘Work Coaches’ who offer no real ‘coaching’ and whose primary function appears to be the enforcement of benefit regulations. I worked in this area for most of my working life and am sorry to see its founding principles so degraded. I truly sympathise with all those looking for work and in particular for our young people, like your son, who are willing and able but have been so badly served by successive short sighted governments. I only hope that the rhetoric that this new Labour government is expounding lives up to its fine promises!

Aveline

Our residents association advertised the caretakers job. We were inundated with literally hundreds of applications. There was no way we could reply to everyone. However, when we shortlisted people and asked them to interview the majority didn't reply. Finally a few agreed to be interviewed and we found a person. It transpired that people on unemployment benefits have to apply to as many jobs as possible. Obviously, people were just cynically sending in CVs to demonstrate to their case worker that they were trying.
That poor young man has been affected by this. Glad he's sorted now.

Yes, this is what happens. We once advertised an admin job specifying that the candidates had to be computer literate. We had dozens of applicants but it was clear that few had used computers, or studied IT at school. We shortlisted four and only two turned up. Part of the interview was me giving them a simple test: a file saved on the computer to edit, with a paper letter showing the edits. One of the candidates did not even know how the computer turned on, let alone how to open a program, find a file, edit, and print. He'd obviously lied on his CV.
He was honest with us and it turned out that he'd been told that he had to apply for a certain number of jobs per week or he would lose his benefit. He came from the north east of England and admitted that he wouldn't have moved to London even if he had got a job down here. We paid his full train fare both ways and cursed his benefits office.