ChatterBank4 mins ago
How do I get experience if you need experience to start?
Due to me getting in a rut and then getting married,having a child etc.and husband working nightshift, I have done c**p jobs for the last 20 years or so, working in factories/supermarket/warehouse jobs. Mainly shiftwork and weekend work. (you get the picture!) Last year I decided to study for the ECDL to update and widen my skills and have so far passed most of it. I am now 50, well presented,reasonably educated,well spoken (good on telephone) and know my way around a PC. I currently work in retail, so have good customer service skills, but retail is not for me. I have always made a success out of every job I've ever had, however menial.
All the office jobs that I see in the newspaper seem to want candidates with experience of at least 1 year. I tried a couple of job agencies today to see what they had to say and nearly ended up in tears afterwards as they didn't seem very helpful at all. One woman almost sneered at me and told me I was wasting my time, told me I'd never get an office job through an agency. Surely I have some qualities/skills to offer? I'm not afraid of training/hard work or starting from the bottom rung. I would be interested to know if anybody else on here has ever been in a similar position. How do you get experience if you can't get a job in that sector in the first place?
I now feel completly demoralised and bewildered. Am I just not persistent/tough enough? I am seriously thinking of not bothering to do the last 2 ECDL modules. I thought it might help me get a better job, but maybe I am kidding myself.
Sorry to be so pathetic, but I feel so down at the moment.Thanks for reading this.
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Answers
No best answer has yet been selected by kazza55. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.
For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.try to get a work placement, do some phoning or write letters and just ask - unfortuately you are not unique in what you do and there are lots of people who do the same thing - but have experience - and they will get chosen first unfortunately.
keep going with your studies - give up and you may be seen as a quitter
don't lose hope - it just takes time