Hi all, I’m hoping for some helpful pointers… I have been unable to work for a very long time due to ill health - both physical and mental. The last job I had was in 2008 which was very enjoyable but the work environment was a bit toxic. I’ve been in receipt of ESA since then. I don’t know if it’s the boredom or the pressures of being “long-term sick”, but I’m keen to get back to work, even though I’m still not 100%. The thing is, I have very limited work experience - I worked in the Civil Service as an admin assistant before a brief stint working on the IT Department for the Police. Both times I’ve lost my job due to the amount of sick leave I had to take. I’m having trouble finding suitable jobs and on the rare occasion I have seen one and subsequently apply, I feel employers aren’t willing to give me the opportunity which then brings me down even more.
I had registered on Indeed at the beginning of this year, but immediately started getting spam. I’m just wondering if anyone can recommend another site or have any other suggestions of how I can get back to work and get off this benefit?
A few friends of mine have had luck with finding positions via Linkedin. I get the occasional message asking if I would be interested in a job from recruiters. But usually I think they just think “this guy works in a scientific field. Perhaps he’d be interested in this random unrelated job tangentially related to science…”
I don’t know if it’s still a thing. But after I finished Uni I worked in a variety of places via temp agencies like Reed etc. Some of the people I was working with then ended up getting employed full time by the people they had been placed with. I had no real interest in staying in any of the positions, I had plans towards further education and research. I just needed the jobs to pay for travel to go to interviews etc while I was searching…
I had some success with Reed after uni (we’re talking over a decade ago now though) and had a temp job for around a year with them. Also something to consider might be going around your local area (if you’re able to) and seeing if there’s any jobs advertised in the windows.
Thanks for all your responses, it’s certainly been helpful I’ve noted what everyone has suggested. I think I’ll carry on looking around and giving Reed/Indeed another try. I’ll also be looking at Tesco for their seasonal jobs next week, but with my limited capability, I may be more suited to an office job of some sort. I would have loved to get into IT work, but I think my CompTIA certifications are probably a little out of date now - and I never passed the MCSA!
Not sure if this applies but a lot of social media companies have random job advertisements on their profiles, scrolling a bit on Facebook in your local area will get you somewhere.
Also - check with your local college/council about doing a ‘skills bootcamp’ course of some sort. They’re literally designed for people who have been long term out of work, they’re free, take roughly 12 weeks and they should also give you some coaching on things like Interview prep and job applications.
