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In the past
three weeks I have had three interviews for two jobs, but remain unemployed
(or retired, as may others see it). These interviews have been very pleasant
and civilized, I have had proper responses to my job applications and
generous messages with the unfortunate tidings that I haven’t quite got
what they want. While this is all far better than most
younger people get as responses to their job applications and
interviews, it remains a depressing and dispiriting experience. I can hardly
complain at my excellent strike rate, and indeed in one interview I took too
informed a position with the interviewers quizzing me as to whether I thought
they were following the best practice in embedding their maths provision
within apprenticeship frameworks! Message to self – must dumb
down…. Applying for jobs remains a difficult and deeply frustrating
process, and as stressful now as it ever was. My sympathies
go out to everyone out there who desperately needs a job and is getting
treated as if they don’t matter. Modern practice of responding to
unsuccessful applications with silence is dreadful and I can only assume
those who advocate these processes somehow got jobs without having to go
through the usual application processes. Online job application forms are a
nightmare; hugely time consuming and frustrating; none of them seem to be
compatible so you always have to start from scratch. They also require a
level of detail that is impossible. When did I start my first teaching job in
1975? The format required being dd/mm/yyyy. And as for qualifications gained the 1960s…. The problem
for most younger people is that employers want
people who are already doing and excelling at the job they wish to fill.
There seems to be little concept of progression, of taking people from a
lower level and supporting them to a higher one. Job and person descriptions
are drawn very restrictively, making it hard for talented individuals with
slightly different backgrounds to the norm to really show their potential. I
feel this strongly as I have in general rarely been qualified for the jobs I
have gone on to do well. I recall being asked by Geoff when being interviewed
for The Sound Company if I had a
qualification in sound engineering. I never even knew that was possible! IOE
(or to be more exact NRDC) employed me as an expert in adult basic skills
despite only having teaching experience at junior school level and having
made some multimedia programme on numeracy. So all I can
say to job seekers is hang on in there, and if you persist I am sure you will
get there in the end. And to employers, just relax your preconceptions of who
you need. Listen and keep an open mind and be prepared to take a gamble from
time to time. People are far harder to pigeonhole than seems to be currently
assumed. |
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Blog #31 |
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If
you would like to comment on any of these Blog pieces please email me on: bjc@briancreese.co.uk