I'm in a pretty bad situation

[Ryan]

Ok I don't really like to admit this, because I feel embarrased, but here it goes.

Ok I'm 20. Since leaving school at the end of year 11 in 2002 I haven't had a proper job (I did push trolleys for a brief amount of time). I went on centrelink a couple of years ago, when I was 18 in hopes of finding a job in that time, but I didn't so I got off it (Something to do with the income, because I moved back into my parent's house) and started doing a Literacy and Numeracy course, which I've been doing for a while now.

Everytime I go for a job interview I always try my hardest, but it doesn't seem to work. Has anyone else been in a similar situation like me before? or do you know someone that has?

I just want to know what to do, because being 20 with hardly no qualifications (Except a construction OH & S greencard) and very little work experience, sure doesn't impress employers very much.

[Racecraft]

call centre work.... they will hire almost anyone and it will give you a chance to have a long term employment record

[HOON69]

best of luck but your not the only one in this boat,it depends what your keen to do work wise.

construction is ideal for the greencard or blue card
if you cant find work in ads and the centrelink comps then go to work sites take ya resume tell em your keen,hard working etc and get a start,like my old case worker said

start from the bottom (unpaid or volunteer type work) and work your way up through respect and hard work,he started of as volunteer then become district manager for our area,just keep at it and apply and keep applying and dont give up eventually you'll get a job.

good luck.

[Ryan]

Do they have a establishment here in NSW? if so, can you give me a phone number or a website or something please?

EDIT: Thanks for that Hoon. Once this course finishes in 3 weeks, i'll be applying for alot of jobs, as I don't want to sit around my house all day.

[39ClevoUte]

Good advice. The secret is to do anything and slog away at it, even if volunteer or just helping out for free at a workplace (within reason). Just keep turning up. Eventually something better comes along, but if your not on the journey, you will never get to that first intersection.

[XRchic]

The only way to go for you at the moment would be to ideally stay/move back in with your parents and go and do year 12. There isnt much you can do without that. Apprentices often need year 12 these days.

From there, perhaps consider doing an apprenticeship - there are heaps of areas to do apprenticeships in and some of those trades pay quite well if you invest the time and effort in the early years.

I reckon a year or two at school will help you with a few things. It will help you improve your literacy and writing skills, it will help you get used to learning things, being assessed and dealing with pressure and it will also give you a good knowledge base in a range of things - there are plenty of subjects to choose which are interesting and which may be relevant to you. School is more than just learning about the history of a country or the sciences... there are other important things to learn about life.

Schools can often help you with career choices and help you pick something and get you into it.

You could also consider doing year 11 before doing year 12 as it might give you a good background. You can do both as an adult at quite a few schools around the place, and doing it as an adult can often be a very rewarding experience. You could also work part time while you are doing some schooling, say at a supermarket or a fast food place... as lame as it sounds, it will give you some good customer contact experience and retail experience, as well as working in a team etc etc.. all that stuff that looks good on a CV.

At the end of the day, you have to do what is right for you mate.

Cheers

Jac

[Vdouw]

Hey the best idea is get a trade. If you have a trade you have that edge. It shows that you know what hard work is and are willing to work hard. I am currently a 3rd year apprentice chippy and am working through those apprentice hiring companies. I live in QLD so i am not sure what the deal is with where you live but with have companies like BIGA (the company i work through) and others like All Trades Queensland, East Coast and another one. If you not big on dirty work a sparky is probably the way to go other wise you'll just have to push your self abit. Sadly thats probably the easiest choice and thats hard work. also have you thought about the Armed Forces both part time (reserves) or full time. I am also a reservist and thats highly looked upon in the work force.

[S3SR]

yeah exactly what hoon69 said start from the bottom and work your way up

also try those job sites... www.careerone.com.au umm search google he'll tell you most of them

otherwise since you already have the card why not try an apprentichsip/traineeship in construction or ask someone a builder/carpenter for a job/apprenticeship - pay will be low and crap and hard work ( i did it for 2 weeks and it sucked) but when you know your stuff you will get paid higher

or come to innisfail theyre in short supply of builders/carpenters ask them for a job

[WILDTRAKPX2]

Luckily you are still young, so don't panic yet. But in saying that, you need to extract your digit and get things moving now. You don't want to be sitting here in another 10 years with the same story. Look at a trade, or better still, join the ADF. I know a lot of people who gained invaluable experience and qualifications in the ADF. Good luck.

Edit: Believe in yourself, never give up and have the confidence to throw yourself out there and do what it takes to succeed.

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by XRchic

The only way to go for you at the moment would be to ideally stay/move back in with your parents and go and do year 12. There isnt much you can do without that. Apprentices often need year 12 these days.

From there, perhaps consider doing an apprenticeship - there are heaps of areas to do apprenticeships in and some of those trades pay quite well if you invest the time and effort in the early years.

I reckon a year or two at school will help you with a few things. It will help you improve your literacy and writing skills, it will help you get used to learning things, being assessed and dealing with pressure and it will also give you a good knowledge base in a range of things - there are plenty of subjects to choose which are interesting and which may be relevant to you. School is more than just learning about the history of a country or the sciences... there are other important things to learn about life.

Schools can often help you with career choices and help you pick something and get you into it.

You could also consider doing year 11 before doing year 12 as it might give you a good background. You can do both as an adult at quite a few schools around the place, and doing it as an adult can often be a very rewarding experience. You could also work part time while you are doing some schooling, say at a supermarket or a fast food place... as lame as it sounds, it will give you some good customer contact experience and retail experience, as well as working in a team etc etc.. all that stuff that looks good on a CV.

At the end of the day, you have to do what is right for you mate.

Cheers

Jac

I was offered a apprenticeship, as a car mechanic for Subaru, last year, but they knocked me back, because they didn't think I would be able to handle the Tafe side of things.

One thing I do lack is self confidence, I am afraid to speak my mind and to talk to people I don't know. That's why I have a fear of communication over telephones.

Over time it has improved and I'm finding myself more and more confident with each interview I go to.

Also thanks for all your advice so far and thanks to the people who are going to give me advice, because I don't really feel like thanking people after every post. lol

[Vdouw]

Hey remember though if you join the adf come army and become a combat engineer. Thats what i am in the reserves and its mad fun. Explosives, guns, big machinery, tools (both the officers (joking ... if there are any officers reading this) and the hand ones) plus the teamwork thing is sweet. oh if your worried about basic training. definatly go reserves. its easier now than when i went through 2 yrs ago but its still not easy. Just contact your local barracks.

oh and i never did well in school ... i h8ed it. if my parents didn't make me go i would not have. but i found it easy as when i started working and just sluging it out. it wasn't the best but i had to do it. and when u look back on it later u'll prob think the same thing

[Fairlane]

You could try constuction.

Other options though might be to do a little time at TAFE and have a shot at a basic government job, like centrelink (with a cert 3). If you like tafe maybe you could do an 18 month diploma (harder though- But easy to get into than an apprenticeship or trade) and then the sky is almost the limit and it opens up options like the Fire Brigade, Police and work in private firms.

Another option, which ive even contemplated as a fall back is have a shot a State Transit Authoirty driving a bus, you dont even need a MR permit just a drivers licence
http://www.sta.nsw.gov.au/jobs/operators.php

[Polyal]

Mate my brother is in the EXACT same situation (his turning 21), but he left school in yr10 I think, and did a bricklaying apprentenceship. But his boss went bust and didn't find him another compnay to work with (which I thought was illegal but anyway).

Now he has just done a pre-apprentencship course in spray painting and panel beating with RACV. He is most definately NOT an academic, although if he wanted to I am sure he could, and now he is top of his class and has TWO places wanting him to work with them.

So it can work out.

It all depends on what you want, trades are hard work, but can ring in good $$$. Same with going back to school and uni, its not pretty, but its what you get at the end that counts.

Thats what I keep on telling myself anyway.

Good luck mate, and dont be afraid, just be positive and give whatever you do 100% because its easy to become complacient.

[TURBOTAXI]

Come and run my shop.

[stiddy]

Ryan, im only 21, and was in exactly the same position you are...

Being 20-21, no real work experience and not alot to show for it started getting to me so I went through employment agencies, 3 of them actually, they found work for me, and paid me reasonably well($29/hr), I then landed a full time storeperson/admin job through the agency.
That was all good and well, then I started thinking well I dont really want to be a storeperson for the rest of my life, its not really a career, while im working i'll continue to look into tafe courses and traineeships/apprenticeships... just in the local paper and online.

I am now starting a telecommunications traineeship on the 1st of july..
Mate all I can say is go through the agencies for now, they will find you work and pay the bills.. and go from there, while your working for the agency look for more 'proper' jobs or courses. It worked for me..

[Dazza XLT]

I left high school in Yr 11, only because I had an oppourtunity to do a Rural Merchandise Sales Traineeship lined up already. I skipped a maths class, went and saw the boss of the branch off my own bat, and he took me on. Took that up, and now I am the youngest Merchandise Sales Manager in our nationwide company.
It $hits me that the company is no longer as interested in putting trainee's on, as now they cannot find staff to do the jobs for some reason... Mines are taking everyone in, and they are paying a crapload too.
Do a trade. No bugger seems to want to do one these days. Everyone is going to uni (I have nothing against Uni) and once you get thru the apprenticeship, you can make some really good coin too.
Thats my 2c worth. Good luck with it man

Cheers
Darran

[fiery]

Originally Posted by Ryan

One thing I do lack is self confidence, I am afraid to speak my mind and to talk to people I don't know. That's why I have a fear of communication over telephones.

'Confidence' :This is the most important part for you to work on also (besides skills)...
I was totally the same only a year or so ago.. terrified of crowds and hated speaking publicly... (yes, I know there are some that will be kind of shocked to read that)..

The thing that gave me confidence was finding an interest that was actually a passion and running with it.. For me it was the love of the blue oval...
I joined car clubs and started mingling with others that had the same interests..
I now have absolutely no problems speaking to anyone (be it a stranger, several strangers in a large crowd etc)...

Find something to build your confidence and you will find things will change for you..

Good luck in everything and everyday gets you closer to what it is you want..

[pauljh74]

Going for jobs sucks - you could be suited and good enough for a particular job, but because someone else has more experience or simply appears better in an interview, they get the nod. After a few knockbacks you feel pretty ordinary. It makes you feel like you aren't good enough. If you are getting interviews, even 2nd round interviews, you are on the right track and not far off landing a job because you're making the short list. If they aren't impressed by your resume, it goes in the bin and that's as far as you get.

I've got 12 years with one company and was after another job last year. One potential employer even commended me on my resume and cover letter - asking me if I had it done professionally. It still took me 3 months, numerous applications and at least 10 interviews to land a part time storeman job to supplement my existing work.
This is despite completing year 12, doing most of a 2 year associate diploma in business at TAFE over 10 years ago, having a forklift licence (which I needed for the work) and on top of a good work history.
It did wear me down, but now I'm earning enough to consider buying property next year instead of just covering rent and bills.

I found employment agencies didn't offer too much - use them by all means, but you may only end up with on-call work, which could be sporadic and at short notice. Pick a couple of agencies, but keep looking for direct employment as the companies using agency staff can get rid of you at the drop of a hat for no reason - usually if the business goes through a quiet period. You might be lucky enough to get ongoing work via an agency, then after a few months get signed on to their client's company.

One thing you need to do is to walk into the interview believing you can do the job well. If you don't believe it, the interviewer won't either and will look past you.

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by fiery

'Confidence' :This is the most important part for you to work on also (besides skills)...
I was totally the same only a year or so ago.. terrified of crowds and hated speaking publicly... (yes, I know there are some that will be kind of shocked to read that)..

The thing that gave me confidence was finding an interest that was actually a passion and running with it.. For me it was the love of the blue oval...
I joined car clubs and started mingling with others that had the same interests..
I now have absolutely no problems speaking to anyone (be it a stranger, several strangers in a large crowd etc)...

Find something to build your confidence and you will find things will change for you..

Good luck in everything and everyday gets you closer to what it is you want..

Yeah one thing I feel comfortable with, is talking about cars and stuff.

I don't know, I have a hardtime talking about other things, but when the subjects is about cars I can go for hours.

So would you guys suggest I would be better suited to working in say a car parts shop or something in the Automotive industry?

Also I have had so many times when I've gone for 2nd interviews and being so close from getting a job.

The worst thing is though, when I apply and I hear nothing back, but when they call me in for a interview, I atleast know they have some sort of interest in me.

[MITCHAY]

Mate as much as school sucks, I'd say go back and get your Yr 12 and try and get as much certificates as you can. I got my Statement of Attainment, Cert I and II in I.T while I was at school and appart from school fees, it was pretty much free. Schools can usually hook you up with apprenticeships and work experience.

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by MITCHAY

Mate as much as school sucks, I'd say go back and get your Yr 12 and try and get as much certificates as you can. I got my Statement of Attainment, Cert I and II in I.T while I was at school and appart from school fees, it was pretty much free. Schools can usually hook you up with apprenticeships and work experience.

This course I'm currently doing is almost the equivelent to a year 10 certificate. (I'm on Cert 2 atm)

I got my cert 1 last year, so I hope I can get the cert 2, so I have some pieces of paper to show, to some potential future employers.

[MITCHAY]

Originally Posted by Ryan

This course I'm currently doing is almost the equivelent to a year 10 certificate. (I'm on Cert 2 atm)

I got my cert 1 last year, so I hope I can get the cert 2, so I have some pieces of paper to show, to some potential future employers.

Best of luck in all your endevors mate. At least your actively trying to get somewhere in life where a lot aren't.

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by MITCHAY

Best of luck in all your endevors mate. At least your actively trying to get somewhere in life where a lot aren't.

I was actually reffered to doing this Literacy and Numeracy course by Centrelink back in 2004. Since I moved back in with my parents I couldn't get the dole, but I went back and done the course out of my own free will.

This is the 3rd time I've done it. The first time was because I had to, the last 2 times is because I wanted to.

[BPXR6T]

Originally Posted by Ryan

One thing I do lack is self confidence, I am afraid to speak my mind and to talk to people I don't know. That's why I have a fear of communication over telephones.

Head to tafe and do a bridging course. You won't regret it, even if you fail you'll pick some good skills up. I did bridging to sciences. But it covered most year 12 topics, computers, and for me the most important thing communications. We spent a day a week for 4 weeks preparing ourselves for interviews. We done mock one on one interviews, they helped us prepare a resume, taught us about correct body language, and showed us what employers are looking for.

Yeah, there was a time when I was painfully shy and lacked self confidence too. I remember I was going to drop out of tafe because I found out I had to do a 5 minute presentation in front of 10 people. But after settling in with my classmates I seen everyone was in the exact same boat and had the exact same anxieties. Just like everyone else I awkwardly ploughed through. I'm totally over that problem now, on a weekly basis I deliver presentations to rooms full of people without a second thought.

[BPXR6T]

oh yeah,

and do you still get AusStudy when living at home and going to tafe? Was more money than the dole at the time and the course cost was about $50 if I was on AusStudy...

[DOC]

Interesting post, Ryan i hear you saying lack of self confidence, yes you can do courses, and attend meets etc. And all of this is good, but very people spend time / money on mental development / attitude so as well as the above invest in some books " I can do " / and any seminars of similar nature, these will enhance any courses etc that you do and would be my first port of call, no good doing a course if you still have self doubt.

Try the magic of thinking big as a starter, and from my own collection

As a person thinks so are they
You have the power to choose what you think.

Change your thinking / change your life.

[Black XR6]

There is already a stack of replies in this thread so I wont post much. Without reading the other replies I would say you need to aim to get yourself a career, not just a job.

Now this is easier said than done but you need to look at what you want to do, and start at the bottom there. Hopefully what you want to do can be turned into a career. Dont just lob into the ADF or building industry as if it isnt what you want to do you will get locked into that indusrty and what you want to do will slip away.

Call centre work was mentioned above and if you enjoy computers and know a little about them them this is a real option. Plus, there is a career to be had from it if you work in that direction. PM me if your interested in call centre work as thats where im at now. I was injured doing a building industry job and had to completely change careers. Now im doing something I enjoy and its definately worthwhile. Call centre work will get you over your talking on phones worry and your confidence can grow as well for talking to strangers etc.

Just my 2c worth.

[cedric]

don't take a resume sp? to the job site, get some blue hard yakka shorts and a neat t shirt and some steel capped work boots then rub a bit of dirt and crap on your shorts and boots get an esky with some lunch in it and go to any building site find the boss [not the xr8 ute in the carpark] and tell him you will work for a day for free and if he likes you would you give him a job. the result of this is now up to you . work hard you will have a life career, apprenticship, whatever and make big money and total job security or if you dont want to work [like more and more young people nowdays] you can become a good for nothing stoner playing playstation all day. even if the first job site dosn't employ you keep trying one will. i am a builder by the way and if you came to me with a resume sp? i would probably laugh at you. i know this approch works because i did it 14 years ago and started laboring and after 3 months was offerd an aprenticship

[MO]

try for an adult apprenticeship pay is not the best but as your living at home...and when you get your trade quals....well as there is a definate shortage of tradies...you'll make heaps if your good enough.

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by Ryan

and started doing a Literacy and Numeracy course, which I've been doing for a while now.

Why the course? from what I've read here your spelling, grammar and punctuation is way ahead of some of the dyslexic drongoes I've seen in here.

Dont forget to dress for job you are going for (dont wear a suit for a job as a brickies laborer) and dont appear over enthusiastic.

Hang in there, you'll do it.