Need help looking for work :(

[Preggie_Sam]

Ok..this actully is not for me....but my best mate has been out of job for nearly 5 months...she is so bright - and wants office work in a call center or something - she's had to sign on which has embarssed her - and the longer ur out of a job the less motivated you become!! Shes tried everything..looking on the net, posting CV's....newspapers...please does any1 have an idea of where we can look for a good job for her??

[pingping]

has she signed on with temping agencies? i know they are not great, but even having semi-regular work through them gives your friend something to put on her cv.

how about volunteering at a charity shop? this would provide customer service experience, dealing with suppliers, handling money etc.

pub work, tesco's etc while it doesn't have to be long term, can provide transferrable skills which employers appreciate and looks better on a cv rather than a long period of unemployment.

i would always advise on cv's to leave off a period of unemployment, and replace any gaps with 'travelling'.

[ChuffingHell]

Dependent on where she lives and is therefore looking for a job, she might want to try some of the following:

www.reed.co.uk
www.officerecruit.co.uk
www.totaljobs.co.uk
www.secsinthecity.co.uk

Also, as pingping suggests, agencies are a good starting point - short term contracts may even lead to permanent opportunities themselves. However, I do disagree with putting the whole thing down as travelling - you may get caught out if people you end up working with ask you where you went! There's also nothing wrong with saying you were out of work for a while - most people have been there at some point.

However, voluntary work is a good idea in the mean time - it'll keep her occupied and stop her going stir crazy at home and give her the flexibility she will need to go to interviews, as well as giving her something else for the CV and finally the feeling of doing something good. She might also meet some new contacts which may present permanent job opportunties themselves. Perhaps try googling that or keeping an eye on the local papers for articles about projects.

With regard to call centre work, large organisations often get job centres involved with recruitment there so definately keep an eye on their website - www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk.

It might also be worthwhile looking up the larger employers in the local area - ring (don't email - it'll probably get overlooked) the HR dept and ask how they go about recruiting. Alternatively, look on their websites and see of they list their vacancies there.

Having been in a very similar situation myself, for about 3 months (although I couldn't bring myself to sign on which is perhaps a little stupid as I do pay taxes after all) all I can say is perserve. She will look back at this and not laugh exactly but remember it as a distant memory.