What am I doing wrong?

Eden

Hi all!
I'm going back to work after starting my family and for some reason, I'm not getting offers I thought I would. My CV is excellent, and recruitment companies have complimented me on it. In interviews, I try hard to come across as natural and enthusiastic, and I've practised my interview technique, and <i>I think</i> it's good.
Interviews seem to go amazingly well, and then I don't get the call back at the promised time, not even an email to say the position has been filled.
A girl I worked with at my past company got a horrible reference from a manager, because of personal differences. This was very unfair as she was a dedicated employee, not to mention unprofessional on the employers part. I'm very anxious in case the same thing happens to me, although it shouldn't as I was always on good terms with my fellow staff and superiors.
I'm also worried that my referee didn't know the full capacities of my job. I did everything a manager did in my last job, and I had no real "supervisor" on-site. This is worrying now, because the referee was never there to see the work I did! And the new floor manager isn't someone I could ask for a reference, as he wasn't there when I was.
Has anyone any advice? I don't know what I'm doing wrong at all, and I'm worried sick... all these good jobs are passing me by!

BigCon

Ok, first of all don't panic!
There could be any number of reasons why it's not happening.

Assuming that you have a great CV and the interviews go well then either then chances are there are other people more qualified or your are getting a crap reference.

Why don't you ask your previous employer to send a reference to you - then you'll know exactly what they are saying. My guess is that they are not screwing you, unless you had a falling out with them when they left.

Other possibilities:
Are you suitably qualified for the jobs? You may have been doing the work of a manager, but if you didn't have the title of manager or qualifications (if required) then it's hard to convince potential employers that you are capable.

You said you have started your family - do you tell this to potential employers at the interview? Maybe they think that this will interfere with your work?

It's not as easy to get a job now as it was three years ago.

My advice for what it's worth is to keep trying. You'll get there in the end.

Good luck...

RicardoSmith

Its very hard out there at the moment. Theres also a lot of companies and agencies who are dicking around with people.

For example the last interview I did the spec/req was huge and I was worried I didn't cover enough of them. Two agencies sent 4 people each and in the end the company hired someone they already knew (not from an agency) and the feedback I got was that I was too techinical and too experienced even though I didn't even know everything on the Spec. On reflection the spec was bull**** and basically the job was aswell since they were always going to hire the person they knew since it would save them a bundle.

Thats just one example. I've been contracting for the last year or so and been watching the jobs sites and newspapers more than usual. One thing that is very noticable is the large number of jobs that are readvertised over and over again. I've seen some that are advertised for over 12 months. In that time they would has trained someone 3 times over to do the job so the only conclusion is that the job doesn't actually exist and the advert is for some other reason.

Another trend is the same being job advertised about 4 times with different agencies. So you will see these 4 adverts and think "Hey it looks like things are picking up!", but it is actually the same job. In fact if you remove all these duplicates you will see that theres only about 25% of jobs advertised that are actually genuine. So you can take those radio ads from certain recruitment sites "We have 1400 jobs available" with more then a pinch of salt.

Don't worry about replies for jobs since only about 1 in 10 actually bother responding. Even some with whom you do interviews with won't respond.

At the end of the day you theres a large element of luck about finding a job, or indeed all things in life. You can't do anything about the luck side of it so don't stress it. Do something else to take your mind of it and the right job will turn up eventually.

boo-boo

if you're concerned about what a previous employer is saying on the phone you can always get a friend to ring them pretending to be a prospective employer. In any event I'd always try to get a written reference , as the ex-manager could move jobs & it'd be a case of "Joe Soap ? never heard of them".

Theres a lot of pig-ignorant people out there who don't bother sending out pfo letters - my advice is forget about them. If they can't do the basic things right what must it be like to work for them ?
As Ricardo says, theres a lot of fluff jobs being advertised that don't exist, but having said that there are SOME jobs so keep plugging away & you'll get something sorted.

Best of luck.

RicardoSmith

As boo-boo said. If some one can't be bothered when trying to entice people to work for them, you can read between the lines about what it would be like to work for them.

Actors/performers often say they do hundreds of auditions before getting a job and being turned down becomes par for the course. Being turned turned down is as much part of being an actor as is working. After a while it gets to be like water of a ducks back etc. All it means is that you have to keep trying for as long as it takes. But don't get consumed by it. Do a course in something else like photography or painting while you're looking. It looks a lot better on your CV than "Looking for work". It will also keep your sanity intact.

KdjaCL

No employer can give bad references or damage the employees chances of getting a job in any way.

The Worst Reference you give is this.


"To whom it concerns

Joe Bloggs worked here from 1992 to 1993"


You cant actually say anything bad about anyone which is weird i have to give references and most people i have are muppets and i cant say that. So i revert to the above.


kdjac

LoLth

Employers are not as willing to give glowing references anymore either. Ever since a company (I forget which) in england won a claim where htey hired a person based on the reference from a previous employer. Turns out the employee was a muppet. The old employer was forced to refund all wages paid to the muppet up to the date of the court case.

Now, unfortunately, most large companies only give references from their Human Resource department (who know nothing about you unless you work in HR) and basically say, "yes he worked here".

not good.

RicardoSmith

I've never had a reference check ever. Some places ask for a bunch of them and then never check then. Its just a waste of time if you ask me.

Enygma

Ya you're right KdjaC they have to give at least the dates you worked there. They can't say anything bad about you.

Kinda makes the whole thing a little redundant.

I worked for a company recently that did a complete background check on me. I didn't actually give any references (I always say they're available on request) and they never asked me for any.
I walked into a shop where I used to work and by chance I met the owner, he said to me that he got this big form to fill out about me from some company asking things like "Is he trustworthy? Was he allowed handle money? Allowed into restricted areas? etc"
I'd put the shop down as work experience.

This I don't really mind, but they'd given me the job a month previous to that so were they going to fire me if they got a bad reference?

I think they should tell you who they're going to ring so you can at least people know that they're going to get a phone call from such and such a company.

I just think it's bad form when they do things like that completely behind your back.

Scorpionstar

Well, I have a similar problem like you. My CV is perfect as well but I cannot find work either after being out of work since January of this year.

I thought maybe it had to do with being of German origin or so.

Anyway to check if my previous employers references were o.k. I asked a friend of mine to act as a potential employer.

Which meant I typed up a reference query to my previous employers:ninja: (acting as my new job being a child minders job only) and with my friends permission of using her address. We both agreed on a cover story in case one of the previous employers would ring her up :cool: and then send it off.

a while later my friend rang me up to tell me that the references had arrived - and they were o.k.

How did I get to know this method? Well, back in Wales a couple of people used it to make sure to get the right references of their employers.

So, to speak I wasn't born with the knowledge, someonelse was so 'kind' and shown me.

I know this must sound horrible to some and it sounds almost like a betrayal in a way but what would be more of one when your previous employer decided to give you a bad reference even after a good service history only because he didn't like the way you looked?

Of, course you could kindly ask your previous employer what he actually put into your reference but then you have to either take his word for granted or the potential employer isn't interested for whatever reasons.

I found that some employers cannot even read a CV proper and so don't despair and carry on looking for a job - you are not alone out there because someone out there will one sunny day find you are just the right workforce for them!