Sirengus nam, ar i darb eigoje, danai mintys pradeda suktis apie kiemo aplink. Keletas landafto architekts patarim kaip aplink susiplanuoti patiems. Prie pradedant galvoti apie glynus arba alpinariumus, svarbiausia yra pirmi ingsniai tai funkcinis teritorijos planavimas. Nesuskirsius teritorijos tinkamas zonas, augalai pasodinami dez, kur j visai nereikia, ar iltnamis pastatomas toje vietoje, kur jis Skaityti daugiau. Tel. 370 608 16327 El. p. Infoskraidantikamera. lt Interneto svetain: skraidantikamera. lt Socialiniai tinklai: facebook paskyra Apraymas: Filmuojame 8211 fotografuojame i 70 8211 100 metr aukio naudojant dron. Sukuriame HD raikos nuotraukas ir video siuetus. Silome pasli, sod, mik, medelyn apiros nuotraukas i aukio. Daugiau ms darb pavyzdi rasite interneto Skaityti daugiau. Profesionalios technins, sodo arnos (gera kaina) PVC laistymo arnos: PVC, dviej sluoksni laistymo arna, sutvirtinta tinkleliu i poliesterio silvets ultravioletters spinduliams kokybs sertifikatas spalva alia 58 skersmens, 16 mm, 8211 kaina 0.90 Ltm 34 skersmens, 19 mm. 8211 kaina 1,20 Ltm 1 col. Skersmens, 25 mm, 8211 kaina 2.30 Ltm Profesionalios PVC auktos kokybs Skaityti daugiau. White Collar Unemployed Blog Bem-vindo à página do blog de White Collar Unemployed UK. O site que reúne a crescente comunidade de desempregados do colarinho branco no Reino Unido para compartilhar perguntas, preocupações, frustrações, pensamentos, idéias, conselhos e qualquer outra coisa que possa ajudar a nossa comunidade a voltar ao trabalho. Para encontrar rapidamente artigos e tópicos anteriores do nosso blog, você pode usar o índice de Blog da WCU. Se você tiver alguma coisa que você gostaria de contribuir com o Blog do Bloco Branco de desempregados (WCU), envie um email para nós. Contate-Nos . Por que não dar uma olhada em alguns dos artigos em nossa página de artigos também e, claro, você também pode usar nossa página do fórum WCU. Se você gosta do nosso blog, por que não compartilhá-lo com seus amigos e outras pessoas desempregadas que você conhece e ajudar a divulgar a palavra sobre o nosso site. Basta clicar no botão de compartilhamento abaixo. URGENTE - 2 Bolsas de estudo executivas desempregadas disponíveis no MBA da FT (Mestrado em Administração de Empresas) a partir de 30 de abril de 2014 Todos os anos, a Nottingham Trent University Business School oferece bolsas para alguns gerentes desempregados. Requisitos de entrada são: um grau inicial, um mínimo de três anos de experiência de trabalho (embora a idade média seja de 31), desempregado devido à redução de pessoal e não por qualquer outro motivo e gostaria de avançar sua carreira e voltar a trabalhar. Todos os candidatos anteriores através desta rota encontraram emprego no final do Programa. O programa está voltado para o aprimoramento de carreiras, conhecimento de gestão e capacidades de liderança. Cada MBA também recebe um iPad para manter e os livros de texto do módulo básico. Para mais informações, entre em contato com: Urgente - Graduado desempregado na Escócia Eu sou um repórter com o Scottish Daily Mail e antes do orçamento amanhã (20-3-2013) Eu procuro um graduado desempregado na Escócia para falar sobre como uma redução no emprego O subsídio de procuração ou qualquer outra parte do orçamento pode impactá-los. Meu número é 02036154736 e estou à procura de alguém que terá sua foto tirada e nos falará amanhã sobre o orçamento. Você é pai, esforçando-se para chegar ao fim? Você reivindica benefícios e pensa que o governo não está fazendo o suficiente para ajudar. Você está no trabalho, mas achando que o seu salário não vai longe. Você é jovem e está com dificuldade em subir a carreira? Você pensa que você é The Squeezed Middle Channel 4 News vai realizar um debate em Nottingham, Arnold, no dia 20 de março, para discutir o Orçamento. Estamos à procura de colaboradores que tenham algo a dizer sobre como eles estão lidando nestes tempos econômicos difíceis. Entre em contato com Emma no 07557659827 ou emma. clarkitn. co. uk Oportunidades e benefícios do ensino de inglês como língua estrangeira TEFL Postagem de convidado de Helen Hargreave Como o emprego garantido, 2000 por mês, passagem aérea e som de hospedagem grátis. São apenas alguns dos Vantagens de Ensinar Inglês como Língua Estrangeira (TEFL). A qualificação A TEFL interessada permite que você percorra o mundo enquanto ganha dinheiro, ao mesmo tempo, um excelente escape da rotina atual de: acorde, solicite um emprego e não ouça nenhuma resposta, durma. Na sua nova vida, isso pode mudar para: acorde, realmente aproveite sua jornada matutina para trabalhar, tendo em vista o seu destino novo e exótico, passe o dia ensinando estudantes entusiasmados, explore uma nova cultura com seus novos amigos e passe os fins de semana no de praia. Não é ruim Como funciona o TEFL A TEFL é um curso curto, on-line, que permite estudar em qualquer lugar do mundo, ao seu próprio ritmo. Uma vez qualificado, você pode começar sua aventura TEFL e começar a candidatar-se a empregos em todo o mundo Existem mais de 1 bilhão de estudantes de inglês em todo o mundo, isso significa que há uma demanda muito alta por professores de inglês. Nunca pensei em ensinar. Não há problema, com Sem experiência necessária, um curso TEFL oferece todos os treinamentos para que você entenda sua primeira sala de estar confiante. Em linhas gerais, se você pode falar Inglês, você pode ensinar inglês. Onde posso ir? No mundo inteiro Sem captura. Já pensou em arrumar e começar uma nova vida na Tailândia. Sua chance. Não há fim para lugares onde você pode ir enquanto o mundo Precisa de professores do TEFL Por que o TEFL é bom para o meu CV O TEFL é uma ótima maneira de aumentar o seu CV. Não só lhe proporciona uma experiência de vida incrível, mas também é uma ótima oportunidade para desenvolver muitas habilidades-chave que interessarão futuros empregadores. Aqui estão apenas um casal: habilidades de comunicação você está em um novo país, você não fala o idioma local e eles não falam o seu. Este é o seu momento para brilhar Ao longo de seu contrato de ensino, você aperfeiçoará sua capacidade de se comunicar através da imersão total em inglês para seus alunos. Ao viver no seu destino escolhido, você também descobrirá que você começará a pegar os trechos do idioma local. Se você optar por assumir um contrato de ensino de um ano, você verá como você também impactou diretamente seus alunos. O ensino de recursos humanos no estrangeiro trará todos os tipos de desafios, por exemplo, se você estiver ensinando em uma parte remota do mundo, os suprimentos de ensino podem não estar prontamente disponíveis. Isso proporcionará a você a oportunidade de ser engenhoso e criativo em seus métodos de ensino, provando a futuros empregadores que você é adaptável e rápido para oferecer soluções para situações inesperadas. Quanto posso ganhar Os salários de ensino variam de país para país, empregador para empregador. Então, se você está procurando ganhar muito dinheiro, existem alguns países que possuem salários particularmente altos. Em países como o Japão, a Coréia do Sul e os Emirados Árabes Unidos, os professores da TEFL podem ganhar dinheiro suficiente para viver com facilidade e ter alguns salvos também. Na Coréia do Sul, é possível economizar até 600 por mês. Outros países podem parecer pagar Menos dinheiro, mas se você levar em consideração que o custo de vida em países como a China ou a Tailândia, onde você pode obter um monte de noodles deliciosos por cerca de 30p, logo você verá que seu salário permitirá que você viva muito confortavelmente não é incomum Para receber vantagens, tais como: alojamento gratuito, comida gratuita, passagem aérea de volta ou cuidados de saúde também 5 dicas para usar uma agência e aterrar o trabalho perfeito James Caan publicou recentemente algumas dicas úteis sobre como se tornar a si mesmo como candidato no Mercado de trabalho atual muito difícil. Bem-vindo ao seu novo trabalho Blog de convidados por Elle Jenkins, Life Coach Directory, 15 de agosto de 2012 Nenhum salário, nenhum bônus, nenhuma conta de despesas e sem horas extras. Seu novo emprego está em busca de um novo emprego. Então, você foi feito redundante, deixe-se ter uma reestruturação da empresa - o que você vai fazer Enquanto se choca na auto-piedade na sala de estar com as cortinas fechadas parece uma idéia fantástica, eu sugiro uma greve alternativa enquanto os ferros estão quentes. Você tem raiva, talvez até o ódio em relação a seus antigos empregadores - Como se atrevem a fazer isso comigo O que eu sempre fiz com eles Realmente não era eu quem fez isso na festa de Natal Use esta energia fresca e canalize-a para encontrar um emprego. Levante-se como faria normalmente pelo trabalho. Defina seu despertador, tome seu café da manhã, tome banho e pareça inteligente. Sente-se em uma mesa e comece avaliando seu CV. Pense como um empregador - você contrataria você Certifique-se de que seu CV é informativo, bem estruturado e tripla verificação de erros de ortografia. Não há nada pior do que ler sobre o trabalho anterior de alguém no telemóvel. Nunca deve ter mais de duas páginas e deve ser uma conta concisa do seu histórico de trabalho anterior. Que tipo de trabalho você está procurando Você vai se candidatar exatamente ao mesmo papel que antes ou você sente vontade de tentar uma vocação completamente nova Perder seu emprego é bastante difícil, mas enfrentar a tarefa de uma nova carreira completamente pode ser assustador. Há um ótimo artigo sobre mudança de carreira aqui: lifecoach-directory. org. ukarticlescareer. html Você pode achar que você tem que ter um salário mais baixo com uma mudança na carreira, mas não seja adiado por isso. Contanto que você possa dar ao luxo de chegar ao fim e ainda ter algum tipo de vida social, você pode ser oferecido treinamento ou educação adicional subsidiada pela empresa, que é inestimável para você. Em seguida, não tenha medo de derrubar a porta. Acionar aplicativos para todas as empresas dentro de um raio de 25 milhas de você é chato e monótono e isso será exibido em seus e-mails. Se você quer trabalhar para uma determinada empresa ou quer saber se alguém está recrutando, vá e pergunte. É fácil para as empresas ignorar e-mails, mas se você se apresentar pessoalmente, é muito mais difícil afastá-lo. Certifique-se de ter cópias do seu CV em você e sempre usar um terno. Isso mostra que você significa negócios Se você se candidatar a empregos on-line, mantenha um diário e anote o nome da empresa, o cargo, o endereço de e-mail e, se possível, o nome do contato. Desta forma, em um período de semanas você pode acompanhar a sua aplicação, o que mostrará vontade e vigilância. Haverá momentos em que os recrutadores não voltarão para você ou talvez você não tenha uma entrevista, mas não se desanime. Os tempos são difíceis, mas você vai chegar lá. Se você está tendo problemas para se manter motivado ou sentir que precisa de alguma orientação e direção, um treinador de vida é uma ótima avenida para tentar. Para obter mais informações, vá para lifecoach-directory. org. uk Fed até não receber qualquer comentário para seus aplicativos de trabalho Steve Wood, White Collar desempregados, 03082012 Talvez seja um sinal dos tempos, mas parece bastante normal hoje em dia para os recrutadores não Até mesmo responder às aplicações de trabalho em muitos casos. Isso pode ser muito frustrante e sem comentários, como você pode identificar se você está fazendo algo errado e, se assim for, corrigi-lo, encontrei este artigo interessante hoje, o que lhe dá algumas boas dicas para a busca de emprego de maneira moderna e usando ferramentas de redes sociais para ajudá-lo. Espero que você ache isso útil. New Channel 4 Series lança Expert-Run Hotel amp Busca pessoas desempregadas a serem envolvidas. Este novo e novo projeto do Channel 4 visa melhorar o trabalho da Grã-Bretanha, dando a alguns desempregados a oportunidade de ganhar experiência em trabalhar com especialistas de alto perfil em um novo hotel. Buscamos envolver pessoas desempregadas de todas as idades e origens no programa. Os desempregados selecionados terão a oportunidade de obter experiência profissional em um hotel. Eles terão a oportunidade de serem orientados e treinados na indústria hoteleira por especialistas de alto nível. Um dos chefes mais conhecidos do Reino Unido vai dirigir a cozinha, um especialista em serviço de atendimento superior e respeitado, dirigirá a frente da casa e os quartos. Da recepção para o hotel spa de abastecimento de comida para o bar, haverá papéis em todos os aspectos do hotel. O objetivo do programa é dar uma seleção de pessoas as habilidades para encontrar posições permanentes ou entrar em esquemas de treinamento uma vez que a série terminou. Ao longo da série, o hotel também arrecadará dinheiro para instituições de caridade e esquemas em todo o país que ajudem especificamente as pessoas a obter treinamento e emprego. É um projeto de angariação de fundos que vai ajudar a Grã-Bretanha a voltar ao trabalho Se você está desempregado e gostaria de participar do programa, por favor envie um e-mail para o hoteloptomen ou telefone 0203 227 5939. Um pedido de ajuda de toda a água, eu recebi uma ligação hoje (31-5-12) de um jornalista francês que trabalha para a Capital, uma publicação econômica líder na França (Circulação em torno de 300 000 cópias, capital. fr) que precisa de ajuda para Uma história que ele escreve sobre austeridade no Reino Unido. Ele está investigando o destino dos desempregados de gola branca e gostaria de conversar com uma ou duas WCUs que poderiam contar sua história e concordariam com uma foto. Se você pode ajudar, entre em contato com Eric WATTEZ no Capital: Endereço de e-mail: ewattezprismamedia orand e. wattezgmail Número de telefone: celular 33132452729office. 33173054897 Procurando por ajuda Norte da fronteira Im um jornalista com base na Escócia e estou esperando que você possa me ajudar com uma característica Estou trabalhando em ou, se você não pode ajudar, me coloque em alguém que possa. Estou trabalhando em uma característica sobre o desemprego e estou olhando para entrevistar uma família com dois ou mais membros atualmente desempregados. Quero que reflita o quão difícil a recessão atingiu e como é difícil conseguir um emprego nestes tempos econômicos difíceis. Idealmente, eu amo uma família trabalhadora que nunca antes teve experiência de redundância que já foi atingida. À medida que vendemos principalmente na Escócia, uma família do norte da fronteira seria perfeita. Estou ansioso para ouvir de qualquer comunidade WCU que possa estar interessada ou possa ajudar. Infact está à procura de licenciados desempregados Londres 29 de março de 2012 O Infact está à procura de graduados desempregados para um projeto fotográfico e multimídia. O projeto é sobre jovens diplomados que estão desempregados ou precisam assumir empregos que se enquadram abaixo de sua variedade de habilidades e especialização. O projeto destina-se a jovens licenciados desempregados de todas as etnias e jovens graduados subempregados serão considerados. Precisamos conhecer os candidatos pessoalmente para levar um conjunto de três a cinco fotos. Os candidatos também precisarão trazer uma cópia do seu CV. Após o lançamento, os candidatos escolhidos viajarão em uma cidade européia por dois dias para participar da fase final do projeto fotográfico multimídia. Todas as despesas serão pagas e serão pagas uma taxa fixa de 500,00 por seu tempo. Prazo: 3 de abril de 2012 Entre em contato com: infact. ukgmail ou 07727070739 Você pode ajudar com meu documentário de rádio Blog de convidados - Sam Cook, 5 de março de 2012 Eu sou um aluno, atualmente no meu terceiro ano de estudo. Eu estou produzindo um documentário de rádio sobre o sistema de benefícios na Inglaterra e me pergunto se você poderia fazer parte disso. Eu estou concentrado em workfare e gostaria de alguns estudos de caso que estão em benefícios ou que procuram ativamente trabalho sem eles, como Entrevistas de estudo de caso para a peça. Parece que, uma vez que uma pessoa atinge uma determinada idade, é isso para o emprego. O recente episódio panorâmico intitulado Sobre a colina aos 50 é algo que se destaca por mim. Você estaria disposto a ajudar Se você tiver outras perguntas, não hesite em perguntar, Dicas de Estratégia de Mercado de Trabalho Escondido Steve Wood, Colarinho Branco Desempregado, 05012012 quotAlgo como apenas 5 de 1000 aplicações de emprego online já chegaram à mesa de gerentes de contratação Eu ouvi isso declarado muitas vezes ao longo dos anos, mas encontrei um artigo de blog hoje que me lembrou sobre isso. Eles também estão oferecendo um webinar gratuito que você pode se inscrever para lhe contar mais sobre isso, então pensei que valia a pena compartilhar os detalhes aqui para você caso você quisesse dar uma olhada. Há um vídeo introdutório na página de registro que lhe informa um pouco mais sobre isso antes de se registrar. Seminário web gratuito: Como encontrar trabalhos ocultos em qualquer economia. Tudo o que você precisa fazer é se inscrever, escolher um horário (as sessões são limitadas e a inscrição é limitada a 100 - então, apresse-se) e seja capaz de se sentar no seu computador por cerca de uma hora. Isso é Steve Wood, White Collar Desempregado, 24102011 A London Press Agency está buscando participantes para uma característica de interesse humano nos jornais nacionais do Reino Unido. Você é um trabalhador de colarinho branco que se destacou em seu campo, mas graças à recessão que sua vida mudou radicalmente. Eles estão procurando pessoas que derrubaram radicalmente sua casa: de uma mansão a uma cama, por exemplo. Ou você passou de ser um executivo ganhando seis figuras para um trabalhador no salário mínimo - talvez você tenha trocado seu colarinho branco por um azul. Talvez você já estivesse sem casa agora ou vivendo em acomodação temporária. Por outro lado, você pode ter inovado o seu caminho Sem problemas e tem uma história incrivelmente inspiradora que mudará a forma como as pessoas vêem a recessão. Se a sua vida se transformou de forma extrema desde que a recessão global se estabeleceu e você gostaria de contar ao país sua história, então entre em contato. Evento conjunto com o Westminster Social Policy Forum: Westminster Forum Projects está ampliando seu foco em novas áreas através da introdução de um novo fórum, direcionado ao Emprego. O Fórum de Emprego de Westminster tem como objetivo fornecer o principal ambiente para os formuladores de políticas no Parlamento, Whitehall e agências governamentais para se envolverem com os principais interessados. Estes incluem representantes de empresas e seus assessores, sindicatos e grupos representativos de funcionários, profissionais jurídicos, setor de voluntariado e academia. Segunda-feira, 12 de setembro de 2011 Convidados de Honra: Oliver Heald, MP, Membro, Comitê de Seleção de Trabalho e Pensões e um representante sénior, Departamento de Trabalho e Pensões. Dolberts Diary update Steve Wood, White Collar Desempregado, 10072011 Dolbert me enviou uma atualização para o seu Diário hoje. Parece que as coisas estão melhorando um pouco para ele, uma nota encorajadora para todos nós. Leia Dolberts Diary. URGENTE - Procurado pelo programa de TV Steve Wood, White Collar Desempregado, 05072011 A ITV está atualmente fazendo um programa seguindo três pessoas enquanto tentam encontrar um emprego na recessão. Como parte do programa, eles estarão levando-os a conhecer especialistas em negócios e carreiras para obter conselhos sobre como melhorar suas perspectivas de emprego. Uma das pessoas que procuram é um homem ou mulher de mais de 50 anos que está fora do trabalho há algum tempo e está tentando encontrar trabalho. Se você encaixa a conta e gostaria de entrar em contato, entre em contato com vicki. keoghitv ASAP Para desempregados com mais de 50 anos, empregos especialmente escassos Steve Wood, White Collar Desempregados, 2662011 Eu encontrei um relatório de notícias da CBS sobre esse tema recentemente e parece que o problema é Muito similar nos EUA também. Eu assisti o vídeo de CBS (abaixo) e parece-me ser exatamente a mesma situação exatamente lá que temos aqui no Reino Unido. O seu centro de carreira ProNet para profissionais desempregados em Charlotte reportava 350 pessoas por semana, quase todas no vídeo têm pelo menos um diploma, algumas têm MBAs e ainda não conseguem emprego, na verdade parece trabalhar contra elas em muitos Casos. Você pode ver o vídeo, esses caras estão trabalhando duro, a tempo inteiro para tentar encontrar um trabalho, eles não estão sentados perdendo seu tempo. Eu acho que isso também é bastante típico para a maioria da nossa comunidade de WCU aqui no Reino Unido, eles querem e precisam trabalhar e eles estão tentando se livrar da situação. Muito diferente da imagem pintada por Channel 4s quotFairy Jobmotherquot series O que nós temos assim no Reino Unido. Uma boa pergunta para pedir seu MP talvez. Dê uma olhada no vídeo abaixo, tenho certeza de que muitos de vocês podem se relacionar com ele e terão experiência semelhante. Já disse isso antes e tenho certeza de que digo isso muitas vezes, a comunidade WCU aqui no Reino Unido são as que têm experiência e habilidades para criar negócios e empregos - por que nosso governo não está investindo neles. Wood, White Collar Unemployed, 1242011 Eu pensei que o Panorama (BBC1, segunda-feira, 4 de abril de 2010) fez um bom trabalho para destacar a difícil situação do crescente número de desempregados de longa duração infelizes de mais de 50 anos no Reino Unido e as dificuldades que enfrentam. Infelizmente, até agora, esses fatos raramente fazem as manchetes e nunca parecem ser objeto de iniciativas governamentais de retorno ao trabalho. Os dados do Office of National Statistics (ONS) revelam que, para os mais de 50 anos, as chances de encontrar outro emprego são menores do que em qualquer outro grupo etário. Andy Harrop, diretor de políticas da caridade Age UK, disse no programa que mais de 50 anos fora do trabalho por mais de cerca de 3 meses vai achar muito difícil voltar ao trabalho novamente. Eu concordo de todo o coração com Lord Digby Jones em seu conselho de trabalho para os mais de 50 anos apresentados no programa. Ele é um dos poucos que parece ter uma compreensão da situação e do que é necessário. Ele também destacou outro ponto muito importante - se o governo não faz algo sobre esta situação agora, em breve será muito tarde para esse crescente exército de pessoas. Um dos principais pontos que surgiram do programa é que essas pessoas precisam aceitar que, com certeza, terão que se re-treinar para um campo de trabalho diferente se quiserem voltar ao trabalho. Em muitos casos, isso significa voltar para o quadrado e começar tudo de novo. Um dos principais obstáculos para isso é o financiamento. A maioria das pessoas desempregadas não tem os fundos para apoiá-los para um treinamento que pode ser bastante caro e não há financiamento do governo disponível para isso, por isso é uma situação de captura 22. Lembro-me de ler um relatório no ano passado que a maioria das pessoas geralmente só tem economias suficientes para durar por cerca de um mês, então, como é que se pode pagar as contas e ter algo para pagar por qualquer outra coisa. Se você não tem emprego, também será difícil obter um empréstimo para qualquer coisa. O ministro do Emprego, Chris Grayling, disse durante a entrevista que o setor privado lideraria a recuperação no mercado de trabalho para trabalhadores de todas as idades. A evidência é que a economia está crescendo e as pessoas vão investir e criarão empregos. Para mim, isso parece bastante importante para pensar que o setor privado pode criar empregos suficientes para os desempregados no Reino Unido. Com todos os cortes do setor público, novos graduados e alunos que abandonam a escola sozinhos, aumentando constantemente as já enormes categorias de desempregados, não podem acompanhar a demanda. Uma pesquisa recente de conselhos locais indica que mais de 50 anos farão quase 60 dos planejados 400 mil redundâncias no setor público até agora e 2015. Esse é outro 240,000 almas infelizes. Quantos empregos para as pessoas nesse grupo etário serão criados nesse horário Uma das pessoas apresentadas no programa Panorama mencionou que seu pequeno pote de aposentadoria e seus salários a tempo parcial de wifes significam que eles não se qualificam para nenhum apoio estatal. Não ser registrado para o subsídio de candidatos a emprego, o que é bastante típico desse grupo de pessoas, significa que eles não são registrados nos números do desemprego. Por conseguinte, desconhece-se quase quantas dessas pessoas existem assim no Reino Unido, de modo que os números reais de desemprego são de fato muito superiores aos relatados. Os últimos números do ONS mostraram que o número de pessoas que reivindicaram o subsídio de procuração de emprego caiu 10.200 em fevereiro para 1,45 milhões, mas não há indicação nas estatísticas de quantos chegaram ao final do seu direito (o que aconteceu comigo após 6 meses - mesmo depois de pagar no sistema por 38 anos). Certamente, isso não significa que todos tenham encontrado empregos. Há um número cada vez maior de pessoas lá fora, que vivem do que resta de suas economias (se elas ainda não estiverem), pacotes de redundância ou pensões agora, então este é outro desastre à espera de acontecer. Na maioria dos casos, foram economias acumuladas ao longo de muitos anos que pretendiam apoiá-las durante a aposentadoria. Se tudo correr agora, isso significa ainda mais pessoas que dependerão do estado para apoiá-las em alguns anos. Os fundos para pensões e benefícios para o envelhecimento da população já são um grande problema, então isso só vai tornar esta situação ainda pior. Obrigado a Panorama por ajudar a aumentar a conscientização sobre esta situação, mas esta é apenas a ponta do iceberg e claramente é preciso fazer muito para evitar que ocorra outro desastre futuro. Panorama - Over-50 esmagado por redundância Steve Wood, White Collar Unemployed, 1432011 Aqueles de vocês que estiveram seguindo o blog White Collar Unemployed por algum tempo lembrarão que um tópico das minhas preocupações que mencionei em várias ocasiões é o número crescente de Mais de 50 anos em desempregados de longa duração. Esse número vem aumentando constantemente por mais de uma década e temo que a situação só piore. Ouvi no café da manhã da BBC hoje que Panorama esta noite é tudo sobre este tópico. É muito atrasado ter mais visibilidade, pois é outro daqueles atropelar bombas de tempo. Há tantas pessoas lá no Reino Unido que passaram por isso (eu incluído) e muitos mais que ainda estão nesta situação que precisam de ajuda, mas ninguém está ouvindo. Veja este trailer tão emocionante para o time quotOlder trabalhador esmagado por uma caçada de um ano para o trabalho no site da BBC Panaorama. Certifique-se de assistir a BBC Panorama esta noite às 20:20 na BBC1 e certifique-se de dar-lhes os seus comentários. Como sempre, estou muito disposto a adicionar seus emails na nossa página de letras quotReaders. Oficina de tutoria gratuita de um dia, Steve Wood, White Collar Unemployed, 1432011 A Academia de Prata é uma parceria entre as Câmaras de Comércio da Universidade de Surrey e do Sudeste da Inglaterra e seu objetivo é ajudar os desempregados com mais de 50 anos a começar seus próprios negócios. Eles atualmente estão trabalhando com um grupo de 100 pessoas na área de Surrey e Hampshire e estão procurando fornecer-lhes uma equipe de mentores de negócios para ajudá-los a começar e desenvolver seus próprios negócios. 3 gerações desempregadas Steve Wood, White Collar Desempregado, 1432011 Eu recebi uma chamada da BBC South esta manhã, perguntando se eu poderia ajudá-los a localizar uma família que atualmente tem 3 gerações desempregadas (ou seja, um jovem, um ou ambos os pais e um avô) Para um documentário, eles estão filmando. Eles querem descobrir o que o governo está fazendo para ajudar famílias como essa, entender como a família se sente sobre sua situação e se a veicirem mudando no futuro próximo Se você ajustar os critérios acima ou conhecer alguém que faz, entre em contato com Daniel. henrybbc. co. uk ou jane. goddardbbc. co. uk. Interessado em assumir uma opção de Franchise One para aqueles que procuram emprego é, naturalmente, uma oportunidade de franquia. Se isso é algo que você possa estar interessado, você pode descobrir mais no programa anual de franquias que está em breve em Londres. Mais detalhes abaixo sobre como obter entrada gratuita. Nós só queríamos divulgar você por um e-mail rápido para que você soubesse que há apenas alguns dias para encomendar seus ingressos gratuitos para The Franchise Show. Está sendo realizada na ExCeL em Londres na sexta-feira, sábado, semana passada e certamente será um evento fantástico para qualquer pessoa interessada em franchising com mais de 100 franquias presentes e mais de 50 seminários de especialistas da indústria. Para encomendar seus ingressos, basta clicar no link abaixo: vejo você no show The Franchise Show Team Steve Wood, White Collar Unemployed, 29012011 Seguindo nossa menção no artigo da seção Guardian Work hoje, fui contactado pela Nigel na Taxmole oferecendo 3 Oportunidades de franquia gratuitas para os membros da WCU. Fora do trabalho Junte-se ao clube de trabalho Steve Wood, White Collar Unemployed, 29012011 Se você já não viu, há um excelente artigo na seção Guardian Work hoje por Andrew Bence intitulado quotOut of work Junte-se ao job club quot. Parece que nada mudou desde a minha última visita ao Jobcentre, há mais de um ano, enquanto eu criei meu próprio negócio, pois não consegui um emprego. Por minha experiência, minha equipe local do Jobcentre geralmente não sabia sobre nenhuma ajuda que estava disponível para o White Collar Desempregado, muitas vezes eu lhes falei sobre os esquemas governamentais sobre os quais eles deveriam me contar (esse é um dos meus motivos para iniciar o site da WCU ). Como Andrew menciona em seu artigo, parece que a criação de quotjob pelo governo foi descartada, o novo subsídio empresarial foi lançado para incentivar as pessoas a criar nossos próprios pequenos negócios. Percebi recentemente que parece haver uma tendência de mudança O nome dos esquemas governamentais anteriores e seu lançamento novamente. Por exemplo, quotJob Clubsquot agora parece ser chamado quotWork Clubs quot e quotSelf Employment Creditquot agora é tornar-se o quotNew Enterprise Allowance quot. Eu me pergunto se isso é apenas os spin doctors tentam dar a impressão de que o governo está fazendo algo para resolver os problemas. Em princípio, a idéia de ajudar as pessoas a começarem os negócios e, portanto, criar empregos é o caminho a seguir, no entanto, você não pode fazer muito com um subsídio de 1000 durante as primeiras semanas de iniciar um negócio e um empréstimo 1000 para o capital inicial. O esquema também promete a assistência de um mentor, mas eu me pergunto quantos o governo tem de chamar para ajudar, particularmente com o desaparecimento de organismos como o Business Link. Na minha área local, há muitos conselheiros do Business Link que procuram empregos e estão lutando. Os clubes de trabalho são uma ótima idéia e algo em que eu sempre fui um grande crente. Eles juntam pessoas desempregadas, permitindo que eles se apoiem e se ajudem e encorajem e aumentem a confiança dos povos em tempos difíceis. Como afirma no site do GB Job Club. 30 por cento daqueles que perdem seus empregos encontram outro através de amigos, familiares ou redes sociais. Apenas 10% das pessoas encontram emprego através do Jobcentre Plus. Quem você sabe ainda conta. Os clubes de trabalho ajudarão a melhorar as redes sociais dos indivíduos e dar-lhes a motivação e o apoio necessários durante os momentos difíceis. Oferecendo alguns mentores e ajuda básica com a escrita de CV, técnicas de entrevistas, etc., é realmente útil, mas eu pessoalmente sinto que também poderia ser uma oportunidade para desenvolvê-las Para ajudar as pessoas a chegar ao próximo passo e torná-las ainda mais bem-sucedidas. Clubes como esses poderiam ser encorajados como um meio de reunir grupos de pessoas experientes e experientes como uma rede. Essas pessoas, talvez com alguma ajuda adicional (e financiamento) de empreendedores e empresas, possam identificar as oportunidades de negócios e, em seguida, ajudar a construir equipes adequadas para aproveitar essas e criar novas empresas, desenvolver as habilidades necessárias na área etc. Imagine o quão útil seria Seja se possamos construir um banco de dados de habilidades de todos os desempregados de colarinho branco no Reino Unido. Os empresários, a indústria e o Governo, poderiam identificar oportunidades e, em seguida, chamar as equipes que precisam nessa área para fazer isso ou ajudar a reeducar as pessoas com as habilidades necessárias. Muitos anos depois eu aprendi uma regra importante no negócio, e se o que você está fazendo não está funcionando, pare de fazer isso e faça algo diferente. Talvez seja hora de alguém lembrar os JobCentres e o Governo deste. A criação de emprego é o que é necessário se quisermos sair desta bagunça. O governo não vai resolver isso, temos que fazê-lo nós mesmos. WCU queria para o documentário Panorama Steve Wood, White Collar Desempregado, 24012011 (Last updated 25-1-2011 12:10) Você está com mais de 50 e está prestes a ser redundante. Você é 50 algo e foi despedido e ainda tem filhos para Suporte Você está preparado para conversar com uma equipe de assuntos atuais sobre sua experiência de perder seu emprego. Se assim for, você pode entrar em contato com o pesquisador do programa, Jacqui Lloyd no 0161 832 2007 ou enviar um e-mail para jacqui. lloydninelivesmedia. co. uk. (Por favor, mencione o site White Collar Desempregado para que eles saibam o que ele se relaciona). Dicas de entrevista de emprego para o artigo com blog de convidados com deficiência auditiva da equipe em Hearing Direct - novembro de 2010 A perda de audição e, especialmente, a perda auditiva relacionada à idade é mais comum do que você pensa. O Royal National Institute for Suraf People (RNID) estimou que 9 milhões de residentes no Reino Unido sofrem de algum tipo de deficiência auditiva. If you are an active job seeker and you suffer from hearing loss, the prospect of attending an interview may seem challenging. Not only do you have to demonstrate that you have what is takes to secure the job, you also have to overcome your hearing impairment during the job interview. What is age related hearing loss Age related hearing loss, or presbycusis as its known in the medical profession, is a common condition which affects people over the age of 40 years old. Hearing loss affects all age groups, but age related hearing loss is especially damaging because the hearing loss tends to take place gradually, thereby making it harder to notice. When typical age-related hearing loss occurs, its harder to hear higher frequencies, particularly in background noise situations. How to overcome your hearing loss during an interview A hiring process may include two types of job interviews. As a candidate you might be faced with both or just one. The two types of job interviews are, face to face and telephone based job interview. Here is a selection of tips for the hard of hearing job seeker during each of the two types of interviews. Telephone Job Interview Tips For The Hearing Impaired: 1. Start by taking a mock interview - if you havent attended a telephone job interview for some time, start by taking a mock interview. It will help you determine if a telephone interview is realistic for you. 2. Set the perfect environment - if you suffer from mild to moderate hearing loss, a quiet environment might be all that it takes for you to hear the interviewer. Set the telephone interview when you are in a quiet room and on a type of telephone which you are more comfortable with. 3. Amplify the telephone speaker sound - modern technology offers aids which can fit on the back of the telephones headset and amplify the sound of the speaker. If you are suffering from moderate hearing loss and beyond, you will find these very helpful. There is also a wide range of amplified desk and cell phones for the hard of hearing which you might wish to consider if your hearing loss affects your day to day use of the phone. 4. Ask for a written interview instead - unlike a face to face job interview, the goal of the telephone interview is to assess basic compatibility for the job. Because employers will often make reasonable adjustments to meet your needs, you can consider asking for a written interview instead. Face to Face Job Interview Tips For The Hearing Impaired: 6. Set the right environment - during the interview, you will find it very useful to watch the lips of the interviewer so you are able to read words. It will help if the room is well lit and if you position yourself opposite the interviewer. 7. Deal with missing words - everyone tends to miss words during a conversation and filling in words based on the overall conversation topic often works. Hearing disability is very common and if you find it difficult to hear during the interview, you should disclose your condition. 8. Increase your self confidence levels - attending a job interview when you are suffering from hearing loss, may reduce your self confidence. This might put at risk your ability to put forward your best qualities during the interview. You can use two strategies to A. Your verbal content only provides some of the feedback the interviewer is getting from you so pay attention to body language. Basically, you would look to boast assertiveness, as opposed to reduced self confidence. Practicing in front of the mirror is the best method to prepare. B. By far the best method to increase your self confidence before the interview is to do your homework before hand. You should prepare your notes, taking extra case to note down your achievements and how your experience will help the employer. About the writer - article by the team at hearing aids vendor hearing direct. If you suspect you might be suffering from hearing loss, and you wish to find out more, read our guide to hearing. The Career Dilemma the perfect role in the wrong location When the jobs market is tough we naturally begin to widen the scope of our job search. Picture the scenario: you have been looking for a role for several months and the perfect opportunity arises. It is an ideal fit with your career plan, will give you excellent experience to take forward into your next role and the salary is competitive. Unfortunately there is a catch: you live with your family in rural Yorkshire and the job is in London. For those with families and commitments, relocation can put an impossible strain on their domestic arrangements. Similarly, long distance commuting, even if it is viable, saps valuable energy and detracts from your quality of life. The last thing that any of us want is to find the dream job and then under-perform because we are worn out by traveling. So do you turn down the ideal opportunity in favour of a plod along job close to home There are valid reasons why you might. For some of us responsibilities for children, parents or other family members or other commitments are more important than our careers at certain times. There is an alternative which works extremely well for many professionals, namely Monday to Friday renting. These people rent a room for the working week and enjoy a home-from-home where they can relax, cook and keep a few possessions. They can get ahead with their careers and return to their homes at the weekends. With no lengthy commutes to worry about these weekday lodgers can concentrate on work, enjoy some leisure time and arrive home on a Friday night with energy to enjoy the weekend. Could weekday renting be the solution to your next career dilemma The above article was provided by mondaytofridays weekday rental service who offer people a home-from-home for the working week. If you need a place to stay for the working week or you would like to rent a room out from Monday to Friday to earn some extra cash, they have a specialist service to help you. Simply not enough jobs out there to get the jobless back to work Steve Wood, White Collar Unemployed, 23102010 The last statistics from the Government show that there was a quarterly increase in total employment. This was once again mainly driven by part-time workers, which increased by 143,000 on the quarter to reach 7.96 million, the highest figure since comparable records began in 1992. There are 1.14 million employees and self-employed people working part-time because they could not find a full-time job. With the Government announcements this week potentially adding another 500,000 from the public sector to the ranks of the UK unemployed. I really wonder where this is going to go. The numbers keep rising but there is no way that enough new jobs can be created to keep up with the demand. Recent reports in the press suggest that there are currently more than one in five people chasing every job in Britain. The number of unemployed people fell by 20,000 over the last quarter to reach 2.45 million however, the number of job vacancies for the three months to September 2010 was 459,000, down 30,000 over the quarter. A recent analysis by the IPPR think tank has cast doubt over the effectiveness of the coalitions flagship employment scheme by warning quotthere simply arent enough jobs out therequot to get the jobless back to work. The IPPR study reports that the number of people unemployed for a year or more has doubled to 797,000 in the last two years, while the number of job vacancies has fallen creating a quotjobs deficitquot which is likely to persist. These new people being made redundant will presumably be from blue collar right through to white collar and very senior level in some cases. Creating jobs is, I would assume, somewhat easier for blue collar roles but what about more senior positions. The number of unemployed senior managers and executives must be quite considerable by now. Creating more jobs at these levels for such people means we need to create many more businesses or else these people will need to re-skill and move back to lower level jobs again which seems a great waste. An unemployed friend of mine recently applied for a director position with a UK company. In the past, from my experience, I would expect to see perhaps 2 or 3 applications for positions at this level however, he told me that there were nearer 200. Clearly an indication of the high numbers of unemployed people at this level. It would be interesting to know exactly just how many there are in the UK, this currently does not appear to be recorded in Government statistics. We already know that it is almost impossible to get any funding to help with retraining so that you can change to another field of work. The axing of quotTrain to Gainquot, although for individuals it was no help in any case, will make it even more difficult to retrain people. This is really does need to be addressed by Government but I fear perhaps it is already too late. Ask Louisa Steve Wood, White Collar Unemployed, 22102010 I came across this today and thought it might be of some interest to our community. The Telegraphs Jobs Editor Louisa Peacock has launched an agony-aunt style column offering advice to job seekers trying to navigate the labour market post-recession. Send your questions to asklouisatelegraph. co. uk NOMIS UK labour market statistics Steve Wood, White Collar Unemployed, 892010 I came across a useful web site the other day that I wanted to share with you. Nomis is a service provided by the Office for National Statistics(ONS), to give you free access to the most detailed and up-to-date UK labour market statistics from official sources. National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count, are available on the NOMIS website. You can enter your postcode and get the latest statistics for your area. Government to scrap retirement age Steve Wood, White Collar Unemployed, 882010 Following on from the recent Government proposal to increase the pension age from 65 to 66, there has been a lot in the press recently about the latest proposal to scrap the retirement age entirely from 2011. Currently, staff can ask to stay on past 65 but employers are not compelled to abide by the request. There seems to be a lot of different opinions as to whether this is a good idea or not. The Governments reason for the proposal is apparently that many people are not saving enough for retirement and risk not having the income they would hope for if they retire at the quottraditionalquot age of 65. By working for one year past the existing state retirement age, currently 60 for women and 65 for men, people can increase their retirement income by between 3 and 10. The government says it wants to tackle age discrimination, but this move will also alleviate the burden on the state. Anti-ageism campaigners seem to be very happy with the idea whereas industry and employers seem to be very against it. The more cynical among us might think that the move may be more about cutting back on pension costs for an ageing population than rights for the elderly. CBI deputy director general John Cridland commented. Scrapping the default retirement age will leave a vacuum and raise a large number of complex legal and employment questions, which the Government has not yet addressed. There would be uncertainty among employers and staff who would not know where they stood, he added. Ronnie Fox, of Fox Lawyers, said: One unintended consequence is bound to be a major increase in disputes about whether a particular employee is indeed capable of carrying on working. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: It cannot be right that workers lose their protection against arbitrary dismissal overnight because of their age. Results of an online Daily Mail poll on the issue seems to suggest that the idea is quite popular. Clearly there needs to be some common sense applied but if a person can still do the job, is healthy and willing then why not let them carry on rather than forcing them to retire. As pointed out previously in an earlier blog article quotWork until you drop if you can quot, the numbers of our older population are growing, unemployment is still growing, the number of over 50s long term unemployed is growing, pensions are not really adequate to live on and these people will need to keep on working in order to survive. By 2034, 23 per cent of the population is projected to be aged 65. If they are still working, they will continue to be paying taxes and National Insurance rather than being dependent on the state so this will surely take some of the strain off the already struggling pension and benefits system as well as contributing to the UK economy. We live in world of change these days, if we dont adapt, we will not survive. We have to manage the changes and move on Middle class unemployed failed by job centres, Government admits Steve Wood, White Collar Unemployed, 1772010 I recently came across this article entitled Middle class unemployed failed by job centres, Government admits that appeared on the Telegraph on-line back in February 2010. I missed it at that time but I thought it quite interesting and still very topical. With the expenses scandal, the election and massive debt issues taking centre stage more recently, this topic has been forgotten so I think it worthwhile trying to raise awareness again. The article stated that the Labour Government had admitted that Job Centre staff had been unprepared for the hundreds of thousands of middle class workers who have lost their jobs in the recession. quotA report published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) found that centres were under-staffed, while new recruits lacked experience because they had not had enough training to deal with the unemployed. It disclosed that job centre staff did not know enough to deal appropriately with middle class professionals who were newly out of work. It found they lacked confidence in knowing who to offer services to. Those of you who have been through the process will, I am almost certain, agree that this is very true, I wonder to some extent if it is somewhat of an understatement in fact. This report also went on to state: quotThe staff also felt that white collar workers who came to them did not need a great deal of advice, according to the report, Job seekers Regime and Flexible New Deal. A common view was that professional customers rarely needed help because they were highly motivated and already knew how to look for a job. I could agree that many white collar unemployed probably have better skills and experience than some others that frequent the job centres but they still need help, it is just a different kind of help. The report already mentioned that the Job Centre staff didnt know how to handle this group of people so how can they make the assumption that they dont need any help Theresa May, the shadow Work and Pensions secretary at the time, said: Clearly many professionals who have fallen victim to Gordon Browns recession have been deserted by Labour. Ministers are clueless about how to deal with the white collar workers coming through the doors of job centres and staff havent been equipped with the skills to deal with their needs. Unless Ministers act now to help white collar workers we run the very real risk that thousands of professionals will become another forgotten statistic in this recession. Well, here we are, 5 months later with a new Government and the situation is no better. Clearly, the Conservative part of our Governement are aware of the problem but I have not seen or heard any mention of how they are going to resolve it. With the countrys major cut backs in expenditure, I fear Theresa Mays statement will continue to be true. With no action, our White Collar Unemployed community will become an ever growing forgotten statistic. I am still a great believer that investment in these people could be creating jobs and helping this country to recover. With the axing of Business Link and regional bodies like SEEDA there is going to be even less help for people to start up businesses. Even if LEPs are set up to take over some of the work of their predecessors, it is going to take some time to get them funded, set up and working. It could be too late for many. We at least deserve some comment reassurance on this topic from Government dont you think More unemployment figures. Steve Wood, White Collar Unemployed, 1472010 Well, another quarter has passed and yet another set of unemployment figures were released today by the Office of National Statistics (ONS). Each time I look at them I find them a little confusing as the totals never seem to add up so it leaves you wondering just how realistic they are and, to some extent, whether this is deliberate. From a spin point of view, I sure there will be great emphasis on the fact that the total unemployed has dropped slightly this quarter but you really need to look deeper. The quarterly increase in total employment was mainly driven by part-time employees, which increased by 117,000 on the quarter to reach 6.63 million, and self-employment, which rose by 59,000. The average weekly hours worked is falling with the average for all workers now being 31.5 hours. There is still a clear indication that there is a continuation in people not being able to find keep full time employment so they have to take part time employment instead. Also, it would seem reasonable to assume the continuation of the trend where more partners of those losing their jobs are taking on part time roles in order to try and make up the shortfall in houshold incomes. I am also sure that many people, like myself, came to the end of JSA and went self employed and decided to try and start their own businesses as they could not find other work which might explain the rising numbers in this area. If you look into the ONS data in a bit more detail, you can see the longer term data which shows that long term unemployment is on the increase still . A further look at the trend I have mentioned in previous articles regarding the over 50s sector of the workforce shows again another increase in the numbers, continuing the trend. With all the cut backs in funding and the resulting job losses from this, which will add to the unemployed numbers, I think the future still looks bleak for quite some time. Work until you drop if you can Steve Wood, White Collar Unemployed, 2762010 You will have heard in the news this week about the Government bringing forward plans for raising the retirement age to 66. I can understand that everyone is living longer and the need for people to work for longer and pay taxes to feed the funds but I wonder if this has been fully thought through and if the Government have once again underestimated just how big a problem this is going to be. I suspect this is yet another problem that they are very well aware of and have inherited from their predecessors. If you are regular reader of my blog, you will remember on a number of occasions that I have expressed my concern about the growing number of over 50s who are long term unemployed. If these people cant get into jobs now, what chance do they stand of getting into a job when they are 66 or even older as the retirement age gradually increases. Another issue will also be if they are capable of continuing to work at that age (e. g. in manual labour jobs). What are the chances that they would be able to re-train and change jobs at that age Official figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show that the population of the UK is ageing. Over the last 25 years the percentage of the population aged 65 and over increased from 15 per cent in 1984 to 16 per cent in 2009, an increase of 1.7 million people. Over the same period, the percentage of the population aged under 16 decreased from 21 per cent to 19 per cent. This trend is projected to continue. By 2034, 23 per cent of the population is projected to be aged 65 and over compared to 18 per cent aged under 16. What incentive is there for employers to keep on ageing staff. Whatever the official line is, ageism is rife, many people over 50 have experienced this and I really cant see it getting better. The numbers of our older population are growing, unemployment is still growing, the number of over 50s long term unemployed is growing, pensions are not really adequate to live on and these people will need to keep on working to survive. I feel another major problem is on its way. This needs addressing now Whats your big idea Steve Wood, White Collar Unemployed, 2762010 The Big Idea event in Portsmouth is intended to stimulate ideas from local people, from whatever background, to see if any can be turned into money-spinners and help generate local jobs. It takes place from 10am to 4pm on Wednesday 30th June at the Buckland Community Centre in Malins Road, Portsmouth with workshops and guided tours of the Technopole. See here for more details about The Big Idea event . Doleberts return Dolebert, White Collar Unemployed 27-6-2010 In the last few weeks my good friend Steve has been dropping less and less subtle hints for a return of Doleberts Diary. The idea for the diary came from conversations with Steve I remember telling him that Id started a personal diary as therapy and to have a record of my experience to look back on. A few days later Steve suggested I publish extracts onto White Collar Unemployed as it could help others who were in the same situation as me. The diary turned out to be pretty popular and did appear to help others but when I finished it I figured it had served its purpose and hopefully helped others with similar problems. As my lot started to improve I would talk to Steve about what Id learned from the experience and how I was using it to turn myself around. This is when Steve started to talk about the return of Dolebert and how these things Id learned could also help as much if not more than the original diary. So, thanks to Steve, Doleberts back. I havent planned what to write or how often but I hope you do find it helpful in some way and of course we would love to hear from you. No funding for training for the unemployed Steve Wood, White Collar Unemployed, 2062010 I recently received an email from one of our community who has been out of work for 17 months telling me about his difficulties he was having in finding funding to allow him to gain some further professional qualifications to help him get back to work in the IT sector. He had been asking about financial help with course fees at his local job centre, the Educational Grant Advisory Service and the Flexible New Deal provider (Standguide Ltd). but they had all told him that no help is available. I ran into exactly the same situation myself trying to find funding for training, or retraining to work in a different field of work in my case. There are some very basic training courses on offer from the Government but nothing it seems for anything more useful, certainly not for professional qualifications like Microsoft Certifications. In the South East, there are a number of local colleges offering free training for job seekers and I recently came a cross a 12 page free newspaper called quotUp to speedquot which presented a lot of details about these courses which was published by the Learning and Skills Council . Unfortunately, I cannot find a web site for quotUp to speedquot . Another web site I found that may be of interest is the Skills Funding Agency . The free training offered generally doesnt seem to include more sophisticated topics like Microsoft Certifications. There are many training companies out there who can offer these courses but they are quite expensive (typically a few thousand pounds per course) which usually means if you are unemployed you cant afford to fund it. I personally signed up for one such course a while ago and got ripped off (see my recent blog article ) so take care if you choose to go down this route. After a bit of research, my solution was to go with self study. Most of the Microsoft books are available from Amazon for around 25 each. For example, for the Microsoft Desktop Support Technician (MCDST) certification. I believe you need to pass both the 70-271 and 70-272 exams. Microsoft have a Training Kit (book) for each of these which are very comprehensive. You can work through the books at your own speed and once you are ready, you can apply to take the exam. There are local testing centres across the country where you can sit the exam, details are on the Microsoft web site. Some other useful links: UK forcing employers to re-advertise all jobs occupied by temporary visitors Steve Wood, White Collar Unemployed, 2062010 If you have been following our Readers Letters page you will have seen a recent addition asking quotis there a good argument for the UK forcing employers to re-advertise all jobs occupied by temporary visitors from the likes of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa (ANZAS) on their jollies once unemployment goes over a certain level quot I actually have a South African friend who was teaching over here in the UK for a while and whose job had to be advertised again as he was told that it had to be offered to UK citizen first before they could consider renewing his contract. It appears therefore that there is already some legislation in the UK that covers this, at least in the teaching profession. I wonder if it extends to other professions Entrepreneurs: powering job creation in the UK Steve Wood, White Collar Unemployed, 1062010 I came across a special report written by Ernst amp Youngs ITEM Club in May (2010) which adds weight to my argument about the benefits of investing in those with experience so that they can start businesses. The report states in the executive summary: quotThe UKs economic recovery will be spearheaded by entrepreneurs. With employment in the public sector set to shrink as the government seeks to restore its finances, the jobs created by entrepreneurs will be vital to reducing unemployment. In the economic upturn between 2005 and 2008, the 6 of established companies who were fastest growing created 1.3 million jobs, more than half of the new jobs created in established businesses. It is not unusual for such companies to be able to triple their workforces over a three year period. quot read the full report Another recent report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) raises concerns that Government spending cuts will push UK unemployment up from its current 2.5million to almost 3million. The report also states that deficit reduction would also stall recovery in the jobs market, and that there was little prospect of real wage growth until at least 2015, and public sector workers faced pay cuts. On the BBC News today, it was reported that the CIPD had also revised their estimates of public sector job cuts to around 700,000 which is much higher than they originally forecast. An employment expert said cuts in public spending made the outlook quotbleakquot for individuals and communities already suffering the greatest hardship. More indications that it is going to get worse before it gets better - and it could last a long while. GB Job Clubs Steve Wood, White Collar Unemployed, 2952010 I have made some interesting contacts this week. I received another email the other day from Chris Neal telling me about GB Jobs Clubs. Chris runs three voluntary Job Clubs in Edenbridge, Oxted and Richmond and with colleagues, has set up GB Job Clubs a charity to resource and train others to run job clubs. There are now 28 clubs in their network and more in development. He also runs the Jericho Programme a finance and mentoring project to help people set up their own ventures. Their web site includes a Job Club Directory - if you would like to add details of other job clubs to the directory there is link on that page to do so. On their quotAboutquot page, they mention some interesting statistics. quot30 per cent of those who lose their jobs find another one through friends, family or social networks. Only 10 per cent of people find employment through Jobcentre Plus. Who you know still counts. Job Clubs will help enhance individuals social networks and give them much needed motivation and support during difficult times. quot Readers of my blog will know that I am a great beliver in job clubs and what they can do. Why not go along and join one near you or if there isnt one in your area, why not start one - you know where to go for help and advice on how to do so now. I have added a link to GB Job Clubs on our WCU Useful Links page so you can find it easily in future. Keep up the good work Chris and I wish you and your colleagues every success with GB Job Clubs Tell your story in a film Steve Wood, White Collar Unemployed, 2952010 I had a really interesting telephone call with the director of quotBig Shoulderquot yesterday and I wanted to share the following information with our community as I think it could be of great interest. I am sure there are many of you that have lots of experiences to share that would be of great help to others in similar situations and of course it would also help raise awareness of the issues we are still facing and reassure you that you are not alone out there. Big Shoulder is a social enterprise and was set up by two ex BBC documentary makers in the Summer of 2009. They are setting up a community website where people can share their experiences of life events and emotions through the medium of film. People can both listen to other peoples problems and learn from their solutions and insights. They in turn can share their own situation with other users, by uploading their own films or joining discussion forums on the topics on the website . They have recently won an UnLtd grant to make films with unemployed people to put up on the website and they are looking for people who would like to share their experiences with others and may look to the website for support . This grant means that they will be able to film people for the site and they are looking for people especially now from the white collar sector . to make the website as useful as possible to the broadest audience. Trust, respect and understanding are key to the success of the films and the website. They would like to be able to talk to as many as people as possible about their project, so that people who want to be filmed do so from a position of confidence and knowledge that they are sharing something unique about themselves that may be of help to others in a similar situation. The filming would compromise of a straightforward, relaxed interview based on your experiences in a small studio setting. An interview would last no more than half an hour and would be cut down to a length of approximately 5 minutes. Take a look at their web site at bigshoulder and you can see some example film snippets. Also have a think of what experiences or advice you could share that would help others or alternatively what it is that you would like other to help you with. For more details, please contact Nicola Gibson (Director)at nicolabigshoulder. co. uk I have also added a link to their site from our WCU useful links page so that you can find it easily in future when you need it. On-line training courses Steve Wood, White Collar Unemployed, 2352010 Some time ago, I decided to learn some new skills so that I could move into a new field of work. I signed up with a distance learning company in the UK for what can only be described as a quotrip offquot course. The course comprised of 3 weeks (about 1.5 hours a day) of extremely poor on-line video material which sounded like it had been recorded in someones bedroom - there was even a car sounding its horn outside on one of them. The videos were, I subsequently discovered, basically this companys version of the Microsoft training videos (I found an extract of Microsofts course material on-line which was identical). They told me there was no printed course material provided to go with their companys videos (Microsoft do provide this with their version). The training company did send me a mighty tome of a Microsoft Certification course book to read and self study for the following 3 weeks and then I was expected to sit the Microsoft Certification exam. I was not allowed to proceed to the next stage until I had passed the first exam and they would not provide any further material for the following parts either. The cost of the Microsoft self study books is around 25 to 30. Reading the pre-requisites for the Microsoft book, it enlightened me that the certification course was aimed at professionals who had been working full time in the industry for at least 2 years This was not even mentioned before I signed up for the course and in fact it had been explicitly stated that no previous experience or knowledge was necessary for the course. After some further investigation on my part, I discovered to make things worse that Microsoft were discontinuing the qualification a few months later which would be around the time that this training company were expecting me to have completed the course. I am not afraid of hard work or studying, but I thought the quality of the material was extremely amateurish and the timescales that the training company were imposing were totally unrealistic. The fact that the qualification would be superceded by the time I finished concerned me so I asked them if it was possible to change to do the new replacement Microsoft course (which is what Microsoft suggested would be my best option at that time when I asked them). They told me they did not support the new course so it was not possible. I asked for my money back (more than 2000) but they declined. To cut a long story short, I gave up and wrote it off and have been very wary of on-line training courses since. I have spent a lot less money since then on my own books and have learnt a lot by self study since that time. Be warned. Make sure you do you a lot of background research before you sign up with any of these training companies. quotCarelessquot spending by Labour Steve Wood, White Collar Unemployed, 2352010 The deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, launched a fierce attack on the BBCs Andrew Marr show today on what he said was quotcarelessquot spending by Labour in its final months, saying they made quotextraordinary commitments. which they knew they could not honourquot. I think the promised special support for our White Collar Unemployed workers was one of those commitments. At long last, someone in authority realises the situation we have been in - I wonder what they can do to improve it Sink or swim Steve Wood, White Collar Unemployed, 2352010 I have to apologise for my lack of recent articles on this blog and other additions on the WCU web site. As past visitors to this site will know, since I had had no luck in finding a job in more than 6 months of job hunting and I could no longer claim any JSA, I decided to start my own business a few months ago. Like many others of our community in the same predicament, I had reached the point of quotsink or swimquot. It seemed to me to be far more constructive to spend my time trying to find customers and my own work so that I could generate some income rather than trawling through job sites and filling in more and more applications, that I almost certainly new would be yet another waste of time, and result in me getting more and more disillusioned and despondent. After having worked for most of my career for large multinational companies and always having that quotsafety netquot of job security (if there is such a thing these days) and a regular monthly salary. starting your own business is quite scary. Any help and advice you can get to help you get going and grow your business is therefore most welcome. I have found the support offered by Business Link and other local development agencies in my area to be extremely useful. In my particular area (Hampshire), my local Business Link have, over the last few months, put on a lot of extremely useful seminars and events with top class presenters that have been absolutely brilliant. Two major events. quotMeet Greet amp Prosper quot presented by Roy Sheppard and quotMarketing Magic quot with Christian Wenczka of Succinct Solutions were amazingly successful. Since I have been attending these numerous events in my area, I have met a lot of people, all who face similar issues and who are searching for answers. One important thing I have learnt is that if you try and go it alone, you are more likely to fail. Working together with other local business people who face the same sort of problems, you can help each other to succeed. For example, I have already built up a network of friends with businesses that offer complimentary services to my own which means that together we can offer our clients a much broader range of services. Being able to recommend other businesses who you know and trust to your clients is a definite advantage as these days, how do you know who you can trust or if they are reliable. The best you can get is quotword-of-mouthquot recommendation. Now we have our new government and this massive national debt to reduce, I fear that it is almost certain that a lot of this really useful help and assistance for small businesses and start-ups is going to disappear. I read recently in an article that BBC political correspondent Carole Walker said savings at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills would mean quotsignificant cutsquot to regional development agencies in the south of England. In a BBC summary of the Lib-LabCon policies, I noticed a statement under the business section that indicates there are plans for quotcreation of Local Enterprise Partnerships to replace Regional Development Agencies quot. I am also aware already of a fairly major re-organisation of my local Business Link which I understand will already reduce the number of local events being held in the future. I have not seen any details so far about how our new coalition government plans to tackle the issues of unemployment but with predictions of job cuts on TV this morning of up to 700,000 in the public sector as part of the first attempts to cut the national debt, it seems clear it is going to get worse before it gets better. One glimmer of hope perhaps is a statement under the quotJobs and Welfarequot section of the government policy summary where it mentions the introduction of a quotWork for Yourselfquot scheme, to help start-up businesses with loans and advice from mentors. As I have mentioned before on this blog, investment in older, very experienced unemployed people could be a great help in developing new businesses and creating new jobs. The announcements this coming week from our new government regarding the first steps to cutting our countrys debts and the start of our road to recovery may give us more detail and hopefully encouragement. Are the over 50s becoming the new lost generation Steve Wood, White Collar Unemployed, April 2010 Well here we go again. Another set of ONS unemployment data was released on the 21st April and it again shows that things are not getting any better. They report that the numbers claiming JSA are down again by a further 32,900 and that this is the 4th drop in 5 months. However, again we see that the number of unemployed has actually increased by another 43,000 and the number of people unemployed for more than twelve months increased by 89,000 over the quarter to reach 726,000. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that I have mentioned my concerns on several occasions about the over 50s sectors and long term unemployment. These numbers continue to grow as you can see in the graph below. The latest figures show a further increase of 21,000 in the over 50s who have been unemployed for more than a year, taking the total to 143,000 in this quarter, up 16.9 per cent on the previous quarter and 34.2 per cent on the year. The total of over 50s unemployed is currently 396,000. In a report in the Mail online this week. Yvette Cooper, Labours Work and Pensions Secretary, was reported as saying: quotThese figures show just how vital it is to keep up support for jobs and the economy this year until the recovery is secure. quot So just who exactly is getting this support. From my experience, and the reports on our letters page and blog will support this, it seems it is not the white collar unemployed or the over 50s. In an article on Telegraph online this week. they mentioned that Theresa May, shadow work and pensions secretary, said: The huge surge in long term unemployment shows how Labours policies to tackle unemployment just arent working. Labour have left our welfare system largely unreformed for the past 13 years, the tragedy is now that it cannot offer enough support, for all those desperate for a job. A Conservative government will ensure that no one is left behind. Those at risk of long term unemployment will get personalized support faster and for longer through our Work Programme to ensure they dont fall victim to the revolving door of welfare dependency. Bold words and promises but I seem to remember hearing very similar statements from our current Labour government not so long ago and who have, as pointed out above, failed to deliver. How do we know the Conservatives would not do the same to us again. The words above state quotthose at risk of long term unemploymentquot, what about those that are already in this situation. On many occasions you will have heard our Government saying that they need to support the 18 to 24 year olds to make sure they do not become another forgotten generation. A statement I wholeheartedly agree with but what about the older members of our community. All these groups of people need help, we cannot help one at the cost of the other which seems to be the case currently as there is not enough funding. Most of our older white collar unemployed community are the people with many years of experience and skills who have the knowledge needed to train up the younger people so why are we not making use of this. I remember reading many times over the last few years that there are not enough young people obtaining the skills needed for the future so this means that there will be a need for the older skilled people to keep working longer. However, if we are increasingly losing many of these skilled people from the ranks of the employed now, it would seem this is yet another big problem that will impact us in the future. Many unemployed WCUs are living off their savings, money they have worked hard for and saved for their retirement. If they are having to spend this money now, what are they going to do when they retire. Another disaster waiting to happen. It seems to me the general Government strategy is to find ways to delay the problem rather than find a solution. They come up with some grand ideas, make statements that they are going to do this, that and the other, then when they try to implement it, or eventually get around to analyse it properly, they realise they have totally underestimated the situation and cannot afford to fund it so they conveniently forget about it and hope it goes away. With the state of our economy and the large Government debts, it must be almost certain that funds will be cut so I guess that any help for the unemployed will not go unaffected. Presumably this will also knock on before long to funding for bodies like Business Link, Enterprise First, Innovation and Growth and other similar organisations who have been a very important source of help for small businesses and start-ups in local areas and elsewhere across the UK. Are we spiralling out of control I wonder White Collar Unemployed quotReaders Lettersquot Steve Wood, White Collar Unemployed, 942010 From time to time, I receive emails from members of our White Collar Unemployed community telling me about their experiences and frustrations as a result of becoming unemployed. Many of them have expressed a wish to share these experiences with our community in case it might help others so I have just added a new White Collar Unemployed quotReaders Lettersquot page just for this purpose. It would be great if more of you could contribute share your experiences and stories. Maybe you have been through a similar situation and can give some advice on how to resolve it. Perhaps you have some ideas that you need help with - there are a lot of us out there with many years of experience in many different fields of work, we can help each other. quotBuilding bridges to work: new approaches to tackling long-term worklessnessquot Steve Wood, White Collar Unemployed, 542010 A new document outlining the Governments plans to tackle long-term unemployment, or quotworklessnessquot as they now seem to be calling it, was realeased in March. It is a 57 page document and I havent had time to read it yet but will in due course. There is a foreword by Yvette Cooper MP, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which makes a few bold statements to get things started including: quotEveryone should have the opportunity to work and to thrive in their job. But we need to go further. Radical reform of welfare and employment support is even more important as we come out of recession to tackle the legacy of the past, and to prevent long term worklessness in future. Building Bridges sets out how we will press ahead with the major reforms that are already underway, but also how we will go further with new rights and more responsibilities to get more people back to work. quot I reserve my comments until I have read it. The document is available in PDF format for download at dwp. gov. ukdocsbuilding-bridges-to-work. pdf Interviewee wanted by Reuters Television Im a London-based producer for Reuters Television, an international news agency supplying broadcast news to most major TV channels worldwide. I am putting together a feature on issues surrounding the upcoming general election and am keen to find someone who has lost their job in the recession and is having difficulty in finding a new one. We would like to interview someone who fits this description as part of our UK Election coverage and features on the issues that matter to the voter. Many thanks in advance Unemployment down again Steve Wood, White Collar Unemployed, March 2010 Another month and another set of unemployment figures released with headlines once again pronouncing a fall in unemployment for the third month in a row. Again, you need to look at the data in more detail. The number of unemployed people fell by 33,000 over the quarter and the number of people claiming Jobseekers Allowance (the claimant count) decreased by 32,300 between January and February 2010. There dont appear to be any figures showing how many of those people came off the JSA list because they were no longer eligible for JSA or if it was because they actually found a job or if they were forced down the route of going self employed as there was no other option. More figures show that the number of people in full-time employment fell by 54,000 on the quarter to reach 21.16 million but the number of people in part-time employment was unchanged (at 7.70 million). Where did these 54000 people go. All retired maybe. There were 1.04 million employees and self-employed people working part-time because they could not find a fulltime job, up 20,000 on the quarter but the figures above say that part-time employment was unchanged. The number of inactive people of working age increased by 149,000 over the quarter to reach a record high of 8.16 million. This could explain some of the differences - it could mean that a lot of people have given up claiming JSA and given up looking for jobs. The trend for the number of people unemployed for more than 12 months continued to increased by 61,000 over the quarter to reach 687,000, the highest figure since the three months to August 1997 and among the over-50s, joblessness rose by 14,000 to 398,000. Work and Pensions Secretary Yvette Cooper was quoted in the media as saying: quotThe fall in unemployment for the third month in a row is very welcome, but we should remain cautious. quotWere not out of the woods yet and we are still determined to do more to support jobs and help the unemployed this year. quotHowever, now is not the time to cut back on support for jobs. We know things will be difficult for some time, and unemployment in the 80s and 90s rose for years after the recessions finished. quotThat is why we plan to increase help to get people back into jobs this year, not cut it back, so we can support the jobs of the future. quot Bold words once again but is this just more spin or perhaps our Government are at last waking up to the reality of the situation. I think Steve Webb, Liberal Democrat Work and Pensions spokesman, made some good points when he commented. quot the number of economically inactive people who have just given up, that is a real concern. quot quotThe priority for an incoming government is to create new jobs, worthwhile jobs, not training the unemployed for jobs that dont exist. quot Providing training (if you can get it) gives the impression that the Government are doing something but it just delays the effects and does not fix the problem. A closing comment how about providing some additional statistics that show how many people actually got into new jobs as well so we can see a clearer picture of the situation Wanted - Portsmouth based, unemployed executives Are you an unemployed executive who lives in the heart of Portsmouth Hampshire based training company, Open Door Training will be delivering their renowned two day executive support workshop that has now got a tremendous reputation across the South East of England for delivering results. For the first time they are able to deliver this training in Portsmouth. The two day workshop will help with: Transferrable skills from one employment sector to another Increase your networking opportunities to gain the jobs that are never advertised Production of a CV that will get you noticed There are only a limited number of places available for this course unfortunately so you will need to be quick to sign up. More details are on our Opportunities page . Organisations, clubs, self help groups etc. in the North East From time to time I receive some very interesting emails and questions from members of our community across the UK. I recently received the following one which I would like to share with you. I strongly suspect I am not alone in this situation however I would like to take a few lines to explain and perhaps draw on the experience of others who may be in a similar situation. I am 56 and last March I was made redundant by a company who had been hard hit by the recession. I had held several senior management posts (up to Director level) with previous employers. Due to my own arrogance pride stupidity (choose the appropriate one) I did not sign on immediately as I thought that (a) I would not be entitled to any benefits (having followed Mr. Browns advice and been prudent and saved) and (b) that the local Jobcentre would probably not be much help. When eventually I did visit the Jobcentre I was told that I could not claim jobseekers allowance because (a) I had too much in savings and (b) even if I hadnt because I delayed my signing on for some 9 months my stamp was now in arrears and was not entitled. It is now approaching 12 months out of work and despite applying for some 400 roles I am either told that (a) you have too much experience for this role (i. e. you are too old) or that quotother candidates have a closer match to our requirementsquot, either may well be true but that doesnt make it any easier to bear. Not only have I applied for jobs within my experience (technical engineering sales) but I have also tried for jobs that typically would be advertised in the jobcentre or the local papers again without success. To date I have found government agencies e. g. the Jobcentre to be a complete waste of time. Once they find out you are not claiming, or entitled to claim benefits they are not the slightest bit interested as you as finding you a job would not impact on the jobless figures and as such they would presumably receive no recognition from their paymasters. It would be interesting to find out how many of us invisible unemployed there are. In the main they probably consist of people like me who have worked hard for the majority of their lives, held responsible positions, have savings, paid our taxes and have never relied on the state for any handouts. What a mistake that has turned out to be. In my own small town in the North East I know of people who do not work and have no intention of doing so. They know all the wrinkles and how to get money for doing nothing either by claiming they are ill or, for the younger ones breeding children with no visible means of supporting them. Having finished my rant my question is this. Are there any organisations, clubs, self help groups etc. in the North East where people like me can go or just get together to see what we can do to get work The sender wanted to remain anonymous but if you have any responses, I can forward them on to him or maybe share them via this blog. Many thanks for the contribution. I fear that this is quite a typical situation for many of our community in the UK, particularly to the over 50s. I can certainly relate to it myself from my recent experiences. UK unemployment - the problems are far from over The latest National Statistics Office (NSO) unemployment figures released today, for the quarter ending December 2009, show a fall of 3,000 to 2.46 million. However, the number of people in full-time employment also fell by 37,000 and those in part-time employment increased by 25,000. This means here are now around 1.04 million employees and self-employed people working part-time because they could not find a full-time job. The number of people unemployed for more than 12 months increased again by 37,000 over the quarter to reach 663,000, the highest figure since the three months to September 1997. The number of people claiming Jobseekers Allowance hit a 12-year high increasing by 23,500 between December 2009 and January 2010, reversing the trend seen over the preceding two months. Economists had expected the claimant count to fall by 10,000 in January as the UK economy struggled out of recession, after falling in November and December. The BBC TV news reported today also that there are many people in the UK who have taken pay hours reductions in order to prevent redundancies. The TUC has warned that the UK jobs market looks quotdeceptively healthyquot because of an increase in the number of people having to settle for part-time work. More redundancies are expected this week. 1600 jobs in the steelworking industry on Teeside are expected to be announced this week and the British arm of Readers Digest filed for administration today and put 117 jobs at risk. With so many people having reduced household incomes, this must at some point have some impact on the high street spending and the UK economy so I think there are still problems ahead - I dont think we are really out of the recession yet. We need to be creating more full time jobs if we are to fix the problems. Who wants to be an Entrepreneur I first mentioned this topic in my blog at the beginning of December but following on from that, I was very pleased to be asked to do a talk at their PIPEline course dinner to recount my experience of redundancy, unemployment and starting up a business. PIPEline is a unique 5-day course for ideas-stage entrepreneurs . The Portsmouth Centre for Enterprise and Business Link . are running the course over two weekends in January and culminating in a final pitching event (a bit like Dragons Den apparently), in February. It is targeted at anyone who has a degree and who is currently unemployed, who has been made redundant or is in danger of redundancy, who aims to use unemployment as an opportunity to start their own business. The aim of the course is to: Develop and focus your entrepreneurial ideas Discover if an entrepreneurial venture is right for you Network with other ideas-stage entrepreneurs Meet and hear from entrepreneurs who have already done it Pitch to providers of incubation, start-up finance and business mentoring The delegates I met seemed to be very enthusiastic and motivated with lots of great ideas for new businesses. I wish them all good luck and hope very much that this is just the first of many PIPEline courses. Job Prospector - 50 discount At the beginning of December I mentioned in this blog the quotJob Prospectorquot software from CodePro. Job Prospector is an easy to use computer program that handles the potentially large amounts of information that people can generate when job searching. The new release has even more features to help people manage their job hunting activities. This month (January), they have released a new version and to celebrate, they are offering the first 50 customers a 50 discount so you might be able to get Job Prospector for just 12.50 (plus VAT). Even at the full price, it is still a very useful tool. Good news, unemployment on the fall at last - or is it The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported this week (20th January) that unemployment figures have dropped by 7000 in November, a good sign one might think but if you look a bit deeper, it might not be as good as it looks. The number of people claiming Jobseekers Allowance in December 2009 fell by 15,200. This is the second consecutive monthly fall in the claimant count and the largest monthly fall since April 2007. In my last blog article, I mentioned that there had been a big increase in people taking part time jobs because they could not find full time employment. Growth in the number of part-time jobs may prevent the total jobless figures rising but it does not mean the situation is improving. The data shows 1.03 million employees and self-employed people are working part-time because they could not find a full-time job . This is the highest figure since records for this series began in 1992 and it is up 46,000 on the quarter. The figures are apparently being driven by women finding part-time jobs while many men are losing full-time ones. It is unlikely that growth in part time jobs can go on indefinitely. Figures show that in the last quarter, full-time employment fell by 113,000 to 21.2 million, while part-time employment only increased by 99,000 to 7.7 million. Apparently, there was also an increase in the number of people in the labour force who are neither working nor looking for work, resulting in the inactivity total rising above 8 million. The rise was largely driven by an increase of 81,000 in the number of students not looking for work. The latest figures again showed that the number of people unemployed for more than 12 months increased by 29,000 over the quarter to reach 631,000 (an increase of another 11,000 from the TUC figures mentioned in my last blog article). Other ONS data shows that the proportion of working-age households in the UK in which no-one was in work increased to 16.9 per cent (the equivalent of 3.3 million households) in the 12 months to Q2 2009. Presumably households where the main wage earner has lost their full time job and instead they, or their partner perhaps, have had to take a part-time job instead, means a lower income for those households than they were getting previously. Research by Bright Grey (see article quotRedundant Brits will struggle to survivequot ) found that nearly 40 per cent of Britons could not survive for more than one month if faced with redundancy. This must mean that these unfortunate people will have to cut back dramatically on their spending so it will in time have some impact on the economy which is not going to help recovery from recession. One of the indicators of the end of a recession is that unemployment figures stop rising. If the data above is correct, then it would seem that we still have a way to go before many people in this country see any improvement. Is unemployment really improving in the UK There have been a number of what could be considered as quotencouragingquot headlines about UK unemployment in the media over the last few weeks. Unemployment on the International Labour Organisation (ILO) measure rose by 21,000 in the three months to October but still remained below the 2.5 million mark at 2.491 million. However, unemployment figures showed a slight reduction in November. There are a number of reports that seem to agree that unemployment may not be as high as expected in 2010 with the latest predictions that it will peak at 2.8 million. Statistics show that 55 of new claimants are leaving the Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) register within three months and 73 within six months which is apparently only fractionally lower than in normal times. Sounds like things are improving doesnt it, but I keep wondering if this is just another convenient interpretation of the statistics. There has been a big increase in the number of new start-up businesses in the UK and lots of people are taking part time jobs because they cant find full time employment. Economists say a big shift to part-time jobs or cuts in hours has helped prevent unemployment rising as far or as fast as in previous recessions. For example, a surge in the number of women taking part-time jobs has helped employment in Britain to jump by its biggest amount since spring last year apparently. All the above gets people off the Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) register and gives the impression that the unemployed figures are reducing but it doesnt change the fact that there are still a lot of people out there struggling to survive. Declaring yourself as self employed means that you are taken off the JSA (64.30) and put onto Self Employed credit (50) for 16 weeks (800 in total tax free) and then you are on your own without further entitlement to other benefits you may have been getting. 16 weeks is not long to get a business up and running and making a profit. Usually it means taking out business loans (more debt) to fund the start-up phase so those who go down this route can often be worse off than they were before for a time at least. The only consolation is that they feel they are doing something positive to help themselves get out of their predicament. I believe this is becoming a common feeling these days as many become more and more frustrated and disillusioned that they are not getting anywhere with job hunting. A TUC report released just before Christmas indicates that long-term unemployment has doubled. Those claiming JSA for more than 12 months rose to 201,015 in November 2009, up from 103,930 in December 2008. The total number of people out of work for more than a year increased by 49,000 in the latest quarter (to October) to 620,000. The number of 16 to 24-year-olds out of work was 952,000 in the three months to October, a quarterly rise of 6,000. Clearly, this situation isnt improving. In a previous blog article. I also pointed out another worrying trend that the number of people over 50 not being able to get back into jobs has steadily been getting worse over the last decade. Gordon Brown said again this morning on the Andrew Marr show on BBC1 TV that the UK unemployment figures are lower in the UK than in other countries. So what. How does this help an unemployed person with the bailiffs or debt collectors banging on their door. They need jobs. Short term unemployment may be on the mend hopefully but I fear that long term unemployment and employment for the young 16 to 24-year olds is not going to improve for some considerable time, if ever for some. Happy New year For many of us, 2009 was an absolute disaster of a year, our quotAnnus horribilis quot, and one that we might well want to forget and put behind us. Our WCU community has grown and we are getting more visitors each month which I hope will continue. Hopefully you have found our web site of interest and of some help. I want to continue to grow our community and raise awareness of the White Collar Unemployed situation in the UK and I will continue to develop the web site in 2010. I would very much appreciate your help along the way so please help to spread the word, bookmark us (e. g. delicious, stumbleupon etc), forward a link to your friends, colleagues, local or national media, your local government, MP or anyone you think might be interested. Follow us on Twitter - WCUUK . If you want to contribute something to our blog, or come across an interesting article or some helpful information that you want to share, just drop me an email. Hopefully, 2010 is going to be the turning point and a better year so I wish you all good luck for a happy and prosperous year ahead. If you like our blog, why not share it with others by way of social bookmarking, just click the button above. Doleberts diary updates Dolebert has just sent me his latest updates for his diary so I have added them to the site today. This last year has been a massive roller coaster ride for Dolebert, as you will know if you have been following his diary page, but at long last, maybe things are turning around for him. Inspiration for us all so get yourself a coffee and start reading from 9th October 2009 upwards. Twitter yourself a job TwitterJobSearch is a product of WorkDigital Ltd and is powered by twitter using the Twitter API. With nearly 400,000 fresh jobs listed currently, it is one of the Worlds Largest Job Boards apparently now carrying more jobs than Totaljobs and Jobsite put together. They boast that you can apply for roles through TwitterJobSearch before they are advertised on any job board. Worth a try I think Job Prospector program does the work for jobseekers Steve Wood, White Collar Unemployed. 5122009 (from article from Western Morning News, Sept 2009) A software developer has launched a product aimed at job seekers, inspired by his own experience during a period of unemployment. Lionel Potters Job Prospector is a desk top program which enables users to organise their job search activities. The software enables people looking for work to catalogue job vacancies, applications, replies and contact names and numbers into a working database. Job Prospector is not a job search program - it is the first personal employment information management system to be available for individuals to download to their own PC and use to get an advantage. It aims to simplify a process which can become confused when dealing with numerous recruitment agency staff, tailoring CVs to be job-specific and keeping track of the latest opportunities. Job Prospector also generates an activity report which can be printed by clients as proof of job searches while they are unemployed. The software is being sold via the companys website, codepro. co. uk. and the firm is also in discussions with JobCentre Plus, the Connexions Service, A4e and the Shaw Trust to provide the 20 Job Prospector for their job-ready clients. The company also has its sights on attracting corporate clients who might offer the software as part of their redundancy packages. CodePro is also providing free quothow toquot guides from its website to help users make the most of the software. Who wants to be an Entrepreneur 15 free places are available on a unique 5-day course for ideas-stage entrepreneurs early in 2010. The course, run by The Portsmouth Centre for Enterprise and Business Link . will run over two weekends in January and culminate in a final pitching event in February. Applications are invited from candidates considering self employment as a career route. Develop and focus your entrepreneurial ideas Discover if an entrepreneurial venture is right for you Network with other ideas-stage entrepreneurs Meet and hear from entrepreneurs who have already done it Pitch to providers of incubation, start-up finance and business mentoring See our opportunities page for more detailsWANT TO START THE NEW YEAR WITH A FRESH START Have you and members of your family been unemployed for a long time Fed up of living on Benefits Stuck in Rut Want to change your familys life for the better Channel 4 is looking for families to take part in a new series where an employment amp motivational expert will help you to turn your lives around For Free You could be starting the New Year with a new job and outlook for the future If you and your family are interested in taking part or know someone who is, then please contact Becky Maynard ASAP by calling 0207 534 2007 or emailing becky. maynardstudiolambert All calls will be kept strictly confidential. 1.1 million job opportunities in the UK Those of you that have been following my blog will remember me mentioning, on more than one occasion, my belief that if the Government were to invest in some of the white collar unemployed, they would create new businesses and hence more jobs. A recent study confirms that new businesses and entrepreneurs are the key factor in adding new jobs. If just 10 of aspiring entrepreneurs actually set up businesses, there would be an extra 1.1 million job opportunities in the UK, it has been estimated. Enterprise UK . a national organisation that promotes entrepreneurialism, believes that an extra 647,000 businesses would be created as a result. The findings are based on research which found that more than six million people in the UK have dreams of starting a business . Far from deterring peoples entrepreneurial aspirations, the recession has actually encouraged budding business owners in Britain . according to the Enterprise UK report. The number of people expressing a desire to start their own venture has gone up by 12 in the past year. Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said: entrepreneurs are key to driving economic prosperity. Their contribution to the UK and global economy cannot be overestimated. So what are you waiting for Are you a budding Entrepreneur with an idea I had some exciting news from Portsmouth University the other day that I would like to share with our community. PIPEline (Portsmouth Integrated Programme for Enterprise) is a new intensive short programme of support for ideas-stage entrepreneurs in the Hampshire region. It has been put together by Richard Sant, Director of the Universitys quotCentre for Enterprise quot (see earlier blog article Who Wants to be an Entrepreneur ) The programme will be a collaboration between the University of Portsmouth and Business Link and will aim to bring together ideas-stage entrepreneurs from many different ages and backgrounds: new graduates, creative entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs, science and technology start-ups . to create a rich interdisciplinary mix in which the peer learning and networking opportunity is as important as the taught component. Targeted at the entrepreneurial unemployed (this includes recent graduates and those made redundant through the financial crisis), PIPEline will help to ensure a supply of new growth-businesses to support the regions economic strategy and provide a self-employed route out of unemployment for those participating. The course will be free (although delegates may have to pay for overnight accommodation), and will run from January to February next year (2010). Some more useful sources of information I try to periodically have a trawl around the web to find new sources of useful information that could be of interest to our community. I recently came across these. If you come across any other useful info you would like to share with us, please let me know . Useful contact details for start-ups and small businesses Business Link (England) Searching for work is not just about looking for jobs. You also need to look at yourself in the right way and think about how you can do things differently. UK unemployment slows but is the situation improving Once again, the ONS released another set of unemployment figures on the 11th November, no real surprises were included, unemployment still increasing, but not as fast which is good. The number of unemployed people this quarter increased by another 30,000 to reach 2.46 million. In the three months to September 2009, 205,000 people had become redundant, down 63,000 from the previous quarter. The worst industry for redundancies is still the Finance and business services (55,000). These are the smallest quarterly increases in unemployment since March-May 2008 so hopefully this is a good indication that things are starting to get better and that perhaps we are reaching a turning point in the recession. There was a small increase of 6,000 in the number of people in employment, the first quarterly increase since May-July 2008. A sad reflection I guess of just how little effect the campaign to get people back to work in the UK is having. Whilst the number of people unemployed for up to six months fell by 99,000 this quarter is encouraging, the number of people unemployed for more than 12 months increased by 71,000 over the quarter to reach 618,000, the highest figure since the three months to November 1997. It is quite worrying to see the trend of longer term unemployed still worsening. Unemployment for 18 to 24 year olds was 746,000 in the three months to September 2009, up another 24,000 from the three months to June 2009. This is the highest figure since records for this series began in 1992. Another trend I noticed in the figures that seems to have gone unnoticed is that the re-employment rates for people aged over 50 has been declining steadily from the starting data in 1997. The last 5 years figures for the over 50s are shown in the graph below. So much for age discrimination laws The number of job vacancies in the three months to October 2009 was 428,000, the lowest figure since records for this series began in 2001. This equates to just 1.6 vacancies per 100 employee jobs It was interesting to see that there are apparently some 997,000 employees and self-employed people now working part-time because they did not find a full-time job, this is up 30,000 on the previous quarter. Self Employed - the next step All seems to have gone quite quiet in the press and on TV recently with regard to unemployment, in fact I have not heard any mention of White Collar Unemployed at all for some considerable time. I guess we will have to wait until the next set of unemployment figures come out before the problem raises its head again and we get any further publicity. At the 6 month JCP interview they suggest that you could consider becoming self employed as a means of getting back into work. This is of course an option but the more cynical might argue that this is just a way for the government to get the numbers claiming JSA down so that the statistics look better and it pushes the problem onto someone else, you. I have noticed recently though that, albeit in my small circle of WCUs, there seems to be the start of what could be a new trend perhaps. After much despair, frustration and desperation, it seems that a number of WCU people, myself included, have got fed up waiting for any help to come, or the hope of finding a job and have decided to go it alone and set up their own business. For some this is an even scarier situation than the one they are currently in. What business do I choose. How do I fund it, particularly when I already have large debts. How do I find out how to do it. There is help out there, and a lot of it is for free. Business Link, Enterprise First and HMRC all offer workshops, one-to-one discussions and seminars on starting up a business. I personally have found it much more motivating and satisfying to spend my time every week trying to find clients and try to bring in some work than wasting my time searching the internet and papers etc for potential jobs and then spending ages filling in applications, knowing from my experience over the last few months of unemployment that I am very unlikely to have any success at all with them. As already mentioned in an earlier blog article, many of these jobs may not even exist anyway I learnt many years ago that you cannot just sit back and wait for things to come to you, if you want something, you have to go out and get it yourself. You have to make it happen. When you are sitting at home on your own trying to figure out what to do next because job hunting clearly isnt working, it is sometimes quite difficult to come up with ideas. I personally have been quite lucky in as much as I got to know some other people who were in a similar situation. The main thing to remember is that you are not alone, there are lots of others just like you who are in similar difficulties. Having someone to talk to, bounce ideas off of, ask questions and develop ideas with is a major help and boosts confidence significantly. I feel that this is where job clubs fit in perfectly. They can give unemployed people of all different backgrounds the chance to meet up with others in the same situation. If you put a bunch of people with all different skills and backgrounds together in a room, they start to talk and from discussion will come help and ideas and maybe some of these will grow into businesses which in turn could lead to new jobs. The problem I have found is that there arent that many job clubs. I have spoken to people who sing the praises of job clubs and in a few areas there are a few of these already and they are working well. If you read my article quotStill no response from my Labour MP quot you will have seen that the Conservatives are promoting a useful document about quotHow to set up and run a job club quot and their campaign to Get Britain Working includes job clubs across the country. This is a great start but it needs funding, somewhere to meet, organisation to arrange help, tuition, speakers etc. This is where local authorities need to help. Once you have a job club in place, it needs co-ordinated assistance in promoting it, it needs JCP to refer people to them etc, etc if it is going to be a success. They also need to be nationwide, not just in a few isolated places dotted across the UK. As my earlier article mentioned, there have been job clubs set up in 3 MP constituencies so far. I know there are a few others in the Buckinghamshire area but we have a long way to go yet. Why not ask your local authority and MP what they are doing about it in your area Dont give up, try something different By guest blogger - Akin Smith 7th November 2009 thealoeshop. co. uk . I left my job as a manager in a multinational IT Services company in late 2007 to look after my mum who was diagnosed with dementia. I have been caring for her ever since. However, almost immediately I left my job, I tried to set myself up as a home-based IT service provider, but never had any business. About the middle of this year, very frustrated and extremely financially challenged (an understatement, believe me), I began to look sideways at other possible opportunities. In my experience, people DO NOT think laterally when in very challenging situations like unemployment, when that may be the very thing they need to do. We instinctively go for the familiar and mainstream, banging our heads against the proverbial unyielding brick wall. I was introduced to Forever Living Products and the possibility of building my own Independent Distributorship at about the same time. Initially very sceptical, I almost declined the opportunity. However, what I did was to research the company, the products, the business model, and the rest as they say is history. I joined in early September this year, and have had more business and generally, quotmore happeningquot in the last 8 weeks than in over 2 years of trying to launch my IT business and thats not because I am a salesman. The business model incorporates fantastic support and mentorship which anyone coming from unemployment will appreciate. As they say in FLP, quotYoure in business for yourself, but NOT by yourselfquot. Ive found this to be very true. So heres my advice: people need to think laterally. Setting up something as simple as a distributorship gets you working, earning, growing and developing. If a new distributor feels committed to a particular career, say accountancy for instance, nothing stops them from scaling down their business activities when they find the right job. In the mean time, they wouldve taken the bite of poverty out of their lives. And, an innovative person who had the initiative to start a business during a period of unemployment would be more attractive to a potential employer, and be in a better negotiating position, than one who spent all their time re-doing CVs and attending courses. Opportunities abound, and the individual only needs to be discerning to separate the scams from the genuine. If you find a company that makes a truly great product, and will market it exclusively via independent distributors, then you may be on to a winner. I am currently looking to grow my business by building a team of highly motivated people who want to take control of their lives rather than wait to be rescued. If you know people who fit this description, I would really appreciate being put in contact with them. I appreciate that confidence may not be at the peak when one has been unemployed for a while. However, if there is a desire to turn things around . then we can work together. However, this is what I feel strongly about: quot Just because you are unemployed, does not mean you have run out of options. Its time to be creative. Its time to try something different. At the very least, explore the opportunities out there. Dont allow rejection to get to you turn yourself into an entrepreneur - anyone can all you need to begin with is desire quot Still no response from my Labour MP. Followers of my blog might remember that back in July (2009) I wrote to my local MP John Denham (quotI asked my MP quot) asking him to comment on my blog article quotWhere is the help we were promised quot. After a few days, I received an email from his office asking for my address details, but since then, I have had no further response from him on this issue. Some weeks after, I thought I would try emailing the Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Theresa May MP, to see if she had anything to share with our community as I had read about some job clubs being started up in her constituency. I was just beginning to think that I was not going to get a reply again when I received a very nice letter from her office. The letter acknowledged that job clubs could be very helpful to job seekers to help them network together and offer support to each other during the job seeking process. It confirmed that the local JobCentre Plus in her constituency had set up some job clubs but that this was not happening as a matter of course in other areas. A useful document about quotHow to set up and run a job club quot was also included along with a link to the Conservative web site. On further investigation of the web site, I came across a page entitled quotGet Britain Working quot. Get Britain Working 8220Our campaign to Get Britain Working includes job clubs across the country and a new location-based search engine to help people find jobs. Since January Conservative candidates, MPs and councillors have been setting up job clubs across the country to help local people who have lost their jobs in the recession. It has become very clear to those running job clubs that people searching for jobs really need a means of finding out about jobs local to them in a quick and simple way.8221 As mentioned in the extract above, they have been working with a software company to produce a new quotjob search enginequot which apparently is intended to help you to find a job if you are looking for work or to post a job if you are an employer looking for new staff. They want to raise awareness of Zubeds free job search engine so that its 100,000 current jobs can really help get Britain working so I thought it would be useful to mention it here on my blog. Click on the button below to go to the search engine. Also on the quotGet Britain Working quot web site are some links about some job clubs that have been set up by MPs in three constituencies in the UK. Read about the Job Clubs set up by Tony Baldry in Banbury. Maggie Throup in Solihull and Chris Skidmore in Kingswood. Unfortunately only one of the blog articles includes any contact details for the job club so I guess for the others you will need to contact the MP for details. There is also a document that you can download telling you how to set up a Job Club in your area. Why not contact your local Conservative MP and ask if they have any plans to do likewise in your area If you know of any new job clubs, let me know and I will add them to our Job Club page. WCU now on Twitter You can now follow us on Twitter - check us out at WCUUK We want to try and grow our community in the UK so give us your help, tell any unemployed white collar workers that you know about us please. Why not tell you job centre too. Live interview with Steve Wood on BBC News I was very fortunate a few weeks ago to be invited for a live interview on the BBC News channel to discuss my experience of unemployment. I finally managed to get hold of a copy of the interview so I have now added it to our site. Watch the interview quotExecutive Networkingquot Today I received an email from another member of our community about another useful find. He wanted to share the details of quotExecutive Networking - A programme centre for Executives, Managers, Professionals and Graduates. quot The scheme is operated by Brighton based quotEmployer Engagementquot who say they are Education and training brokers. Employer Engagement (EE) is apparently a subcontractor of the Career Development Group (CDG). CDG is a registered charity, contracted by JobCentre Plus to provide a range of training and development opportunities to support individuals into sustainable employment. The quotEmployer Engagementquot web site states that they can help with job search, career advice and networking by way of the following: Guest speakers from HR departments and recruitment agencies Peer to peer advice and guidance on job search strategies Practice interviews Psychometric tests and career re-directional advice Tips and techniques for job applications at executive level An advice manual full of job search tactics and strategies They state that their forum is apparently designed to create a weekly focal point to help motivate you to complete the level of job search needed in a competitive environment. It is suitable for graduates and those with management and professional experience who would benefit from peer to peer support. They offer a choice of the following two venues: Brighton . 9:30 - 17:00 every Thursday at CDG Refuge House 49-50 North Street, Brighton, BN1 1RH Guildford . 9:30 - 17:00 every Wednesday at CDG Stamford House, Wood Bridge Road Guilford, Surrey, GU1 4PU Take a look at their web site for details of how to register for this programme and details of what this programme involves. So what to do now Well, my 6 month JobCentrePlus (JCP) interview came and went. Ive applied for more than 220 jobs and only managed to get 1 interview. My Job Seekers allowance has now stopped even though I have been paying into the system for nearly 38 years (they only consider the last 2 years payments for their calculations). The only quotspecialistquot White Collar Unemployed help I finally received after 6 months from the JCP was no help at all. From my experience so far in the ranks of the unemployed, and things I have learnt along the way, being over 50 and out of work for more than 6 months is only going to make things even harder. With unemployment figures still rising, competition for fewer available jobs is obviously becoming even greater so what is one to do Clearly things are not working for me so do I just carry on as I have been, applying for job after job and getting nowhere. No way In parallel with job hunting over the last few months, I have been developing other skills but I have found that even with re-training so that I could move into another field of work, it has been no help at all. Even though I have had quite a lot of experience in this alternative field of work over the last 10 years, albeit not as a full time occupation, the industry here in the UK wont give me any opportunities to prove myself as they want people with multiple skills and typically around 2 years of recent industry experience. It seems the only person that is going to help me get out of this mess is myself. As well as developing my skills, I have also been developing the infrastructure for my own business - my quotPlan Bquot you could say. So as my Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) stopped, I had nothing to lose but to register myself as self employed and start looking for work. I joined the local Chamber of Commerce and started going to networking events and I also joined a local Chapter of BNI. Well, so far so good. In my first few weeks of working for myself, things are picking up and work is starting to come in. There is a long way to go but at least I am earning more than the 65 per week JSA I was getting. One of the best things about it is that I can make much better use of the time I previously spent looking for and applying for jobs and going to the JCP. Much better use of my time and it is for my own benefit. The same old story I watched Andrew Marr interview David Cameron on BBC TV this morning. Amongst the usual spin and dodging answering difficult direct questions (which seems to be the norm these days on this difficult subject for Labour and Conservatives alike), one statement Mr Cameron made during the course of the interview seemed to hit the nail right on the head as far as White Collar Unemployed are concerned. He said that the current Government system pays rewards for getting a person into, and for keeping them in a job but that the reward is so low, it means the help goes to the easy cases. This I think is very much the case. I understand that the current scheme pays 150 to the quotspecialistquot when a White Collar Unemployed person is referred from JobCentrePlus and then they receive a further 1000 when they successfully place that person in a job. If you read my earlier blog article where, after referral to a specialist, I was subsequently offered roles as a cleaner or stacking shelves (i. e. not white collar jobs), it seems to make a lot of sense now. The BBC News web site very quickly published an article following the Andrew Marr show interview this morning which included some references to articles in todays Sunday papers. One statement from the Sunday Telegraph that I thought was of interest was: Under the Get Britain Working scheme, Mr Cameron said he would give the long-term unemployed quotthe personalised support they need to get back to workquot. Most people who have been unemployed for more than six months, including the disabled and single mothers, would have their benefits cut if they refused to join privatised training schemes. The idea is for private training firms to be employed to prepare the unemployed for work. Isnt that exactly the same as the current Government plan. The only difference would seem to be that the Tories want to do it sooner. Whatever happens, it is inevitable that in order to fund it, more jobs will have to be sacrificed. The TUC apparently have estimated it could mean another 700,000 job losses, another source mentioned during the interview this morning estimates the unemployment figure could rise to as many as 5 million Microsoft to help generate 500,000 jobs One of our White Collar Unemployed community contacted me this week to tell me about some news he had seen and wanted to share. Apparently, Microsoft have recently announced that as part of their ambitious 45m campaign to get 500,000 people into work by 2012 to boost the digital economy, it is preparing its MSEmploy service. On the Microsoft quotBritain Worksquot web site they state that in the modern workplace, 77 percent of all jobs require the ability to use some form of computer. Through Britain Works, you can take advantage of free and low-cost resources that will get you the skills to be workforce ready . From a quick look at their web site, they appear to cater for a range of needs from free online learning for individuals new to Computing, opportunities to expand on your current computing skills, help for students to enhance their skills and obtain more experience, right through to help for entrepreneurs to give small businesses the boost they need to become successful. It is nice at long last to see a large successful business making a commitment and investment in the UK to generate jobs and help our recovery. So how about some of you other large companies out there. Is this really the help being offered If you have been following my blog, you will know that I was recently referred by Job Centre Plus (JCP) to a specialist recruitment agency after 6 months of unemployment and that I went along for an interview there a couple of weeks ago. Well, I can report that I have had two phone calls from the agency since then about jobs. The first was as a cleaner and the second was for someone to supervise clearing and re-stocking shelves in a supermarket. The opportunity for work of some kind is of course welcome but I fail to see just how this is designated as quotspecialistquot help for White Collar unemployed. Is this seriously what the government is offering as their specialist help I have in actual fact already applied for similar jobs in the last few months in times of real desperation and still failed to get an interview. I have heard, and read, of similar situations on a number of occasions where the recruiter would take a look at the CV, see that the person is totally over qualified for the role and reject it on the grounds that the person would only stay in the job until something better came along. From the other perspective, if I was coming from a senior executive role into such a role, it is highly likely that I would be taking a major cut in income in such a situation (I know of examples that have meant anything from a 50 to 80 reduction). In order to maintain payment of my financial commitments, debts, mortgage, bills etc, I would have no choice but to keep looking for a higher paid job and move as soon as I could find something. The other issue is of course, assuming that I was successful, I could also be taking a job from a blue collar worker or young unemployed person who is far better suited and likely to stay in the job. Obviously there are many such people on the unemployment register who probably have much better experience so competition would be high anyway. Seems to be a case of quotrobbing Peter to pay Paulquot, not one of creating more jobs. So is this seriously our Governments solution to help White Collar Unemployed Possible opportunities. I received some interesting details of some opportunities this week that might be of interest to some of our community. quot Life changing income opportunity - full training, all areasquot Subsidised PRINCE2 TRAINING for candidates who are unemployed or facing redundancy Jobs of the future The Government has just released a new 24 page report (September 2009) entitled quotJobs of the Futurequot. In the introduction, it explains: quotJobs of the Future outlines where, as a result of expected growth and emerging global trends, new jobs could be created in the UK economy of the future. It identifies how the UKs labour market is set to change, the potential employment opportunities that key sectors of our economy could generate and Government action to equip our workforce to win their fair share of these jobs, including the National Skills Strategy and the Higher Education Framework. quot quotThis is not about setting targets for jobs in particular industries or markets. It is about identifying where opportunities are expected to be and what the Government can do to help British-based businesses thrive and deliver sustainable economic growth and jobs across our country in the years ahead. quot The report seems to be based on a lot of research and other reports from various bodies and contains many references to these. The document quotes quite a number of facts and figures and mentions a number of government investments intended to create jobs and enhance the skills of our workforce. As we have heard in the media recently, there was discrepancy between the real number of people claiming JSA and the number reported by government figures so I am always cautious when seeing such published data. I thought it would be interesting therefore to take a quick look at just how realistic some of these statements were. Taking an example, in the introduction of the report, it states: quot. over the last six months, on average over 300,000 JSA claimants have come off the claimant count each month. quot So this would suggest that 1.8 million claimants have stopped claiming JSA over the last 6 months. However, if you look at the statistics released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) in August, it states quotThe claimant count in July 2009 was 1.58 million, up 24,900 on the previous month and up 709,000 on a year earlier. quot (Ref: statistics. gov. ukpdfdirlmsuk0809.pdf ) If the statements made in the report are correct and the NSO data show that claimant count is still increasing, then if there are 300,000 coming off JSA each month, it surely means that there are more than 300,000 new claimants for JSA each month doesnt it. That was not how the point came across in the report Anyway, moving on to the areas where the Government proposes to create new jobs. There are a number of key areas that the government are targeting, I have included a brief summary below along with the number of jobs that they expect to create. The Low Carbon Economy Investment announced in Budget 2009 for 1.4 Billion. Potential for creating 400,000 new green jobs by around 2015. Focus on getting the scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs with the new skills needed (carbon auditing, carbon trading, energy efficiency). Advanced Manufacturing Advanced manufacturing budget of 150m targeted investment in areas of aerospace, pharmaceuticals, electronics and precision instruments. 45m - Rolls Royce - 4 new facilities sustaining 800 jobs. 12m - Display technology - creating 1500 jobs by 2014. 0.5m - Microelectronics design sector - helping 250 companies create 100 jobs and impact 200 firms linked to this business area. Life Sciences Pharmaceuticals, medical biotechnology and medical technology. To help maintain amp bolster the supply of high calibre skilled employees for these industries. Digital Economy amp Creative Industries Information amp Communication Technology (ICT), Broadcasting and Creative Industries Expected to recover in 2010 and continue to grow Digital Britain - more than 80 actions amp recommendations Business amp Professional Services ICT, legal, finance, accounting, marketing, advertising amp real estate services EU Services Directive - will generate 81,000 jobs in the UK The Care Sector Childcare services - skills development Care for the elderly - future 25 increase of population over 80 in the next decade will lead to an additional 1.1m jobs in this sector by 2025. The Retail Sector Expected to remain an important source of employment. Many new employees required to replace those retiring in future Tourism, Hospitality amp Leisure Sectors Leisure time spending forecast to double over the next decade creating up to 200,000 jobs. Better routes to employment Plans to help up to 100,000 long term unemployed young people to access jobs in key sectors such as hospitality, leisure, tourism amp retail industries. It is good to see that there is a defined strategy and specific details of areas that could be improved with investment which could create new jobs. Clearly there will be no instant fixes and although some of the number of jobs that could be created are quite large, they will take several years to materialise. With our unemployed already at 2.4 million and still expected to rise, for many this is not going to help. With the continued poor state of our economy and rising UK government debt, I wonder also when the promised investments will actually be made available. Spreading them across the next few years into the next decade is probably not going to help very much as we need a lot of it now. My meeting with the recruitment specialist Well, I went along for my interview with the recruitment specialist yesterday. Apart from getting stuck in traffic on the motorway because of an accident and then not being able to find anywhere to park, I found their office quite easily. Fortunately I had already discovered before my journey that the building number the JCP had given me was wrong otherwise I would have been on the wrong side of the road (in the Job Centre as it happens). In actual fact, I was a little surprised that I didnt get any written confirmation of the appointment, all I got was the time and the address from the JCP by phone. I think it would have been beneficial if they had at least told me what I was expected to take with me to the interview. I did take a copy of my CV with me but I discovered that I needed to provide two forms of picture ID (e. g. driving licence and passport) and two reference contact details for the agency application form that I had to fill in when I arrived so I have to go back with this at some time in the future (another 36 mile round trip and 6 to park) as I have to present the original documents to them. I would suggest that the JCP need to improve their system to resolve this. My interview was with a very pleasant young lady who spent more than an hour with me going through my career history, understanding my background, experience, situation, aspirations, plans and hopes for the future etc. She also made some suggestions on what I should do to improve my CV. For the first time in my 6 months of unemployment, I felt that someone was actually interested in my predicament and really trying to help me. I have had many interviews and quotchatsquot with many different recruitment agencies over the phone in the last few months (who, in almost all cases, I have never heard from again) but it seems to make a big difference having a face to face meeting with them so this is something useful that I have learnt. During my interview, I mentioned the feedback I had had two weeks ago from the JCP that quotthe agency had refused any more submissionsquot . I was assured that this was definitely not the case and that this recruitment agency would never do this so I can only wonder if perhaps there is some kind of quota imposed by the JCP offices on how many people they can refer at a time which is presumably governed by budget restrictions. Well, the outcome currently is that it seems there are not many opportunities out there still for me at present. In fact we only managed to identify one possible part time role currently on their books but unfortunately, that had been put on hold for the time being. Now I am signed up with them, the agency is looking for more opportunities for me. My only fear now is that I wonder how much help the recruitment specialists can give for the limited budget, of what I understand is 150 per person, the government is paying them to help me One the whole, a very worthwhile trip, I guess only time will tell what happens next. But why did I have to wait 6 months for this Has anyone else had similar help offered by JCP Why not share your experience with our community. Email WCU or take it to the forum . Referred to an agency for help after 6 months In my last blog article, I related my experience with JobCentrePlus trying to refer me to a local agency for help. Well, as promised, they did re-submit my request and they called me the next working day, to let me know that they had been successful in getting me an interview with the agency. I have an appointment at the agencys office, which is about 18 miles away from my home, next week, the day before I have to sign on again. I have no idea what they will offer or what information I need to take along with me as I have not been contacted by the agency, all I was told was the date, time and the agency name and address so I guess I will just have to wait and see what happens. Ill let you know how it goes. At last, some help. or maybe not Today, I was re-reading an article on the BBC website entitled Jobcentres failing unemployed in which it reported that the Radio 4 programme, quotFace the Factsquot began an investigation after Ruth Owen, the chief operating officer for Jobcentre Plus, appeared on Radio 4s quotYou and Yoursquot in June 2009. The interviewer suggested that Jobcentre Plus (JCP) has been failing to hit its targets for getting people back to work. Ruth Owen was adamant it was an efficient and comprehensive service for all types of unemployed people - including the new influx of white collar professionals entering the jobs market and that there were promises it was a professional and personal service for all. The article went on to describe the experience of an unemployed female white collar professional who said she felt like she was on a timed treadmill and the jobcentre was doing nothing more than collecting her signature. Figures the BBC obtained from a Jobcentre Plus managers update for May show it is indeed achieving its targets on processing benefits, but not on getting people back to work. Two weeks ago when I signed on, I saw a new advisor who actually made some useful suggestions that I could try to help my job searching. He also asked me if it would be OK for him to forward my details to an agency that specialised in helping white collar unemployed. At last some real help I thought, and I of course agreed and was told they would forward my details and the agency would be in touch shortly. On my visit to JCP this week, I saw another new advisor and I mentioned that I had not heard anything yet from this agency. She asked her colleague that I had seen previously, who subsequently asked his supervisor and then came back to me and told me that they had submitted the request but the agency had refused any more submissions The advisor asked me if I would like them to try and submit it again so I agreed and will have to wait and see what happens next. My six month review is due on my next JCP visit in two weeks time and yesterday I received a letter from JCP telling me my Jobseekers allowance (JSA) based on my National Insurance (NI) contributions will stop. Even though I have been paying into the system for the last 38 years, they only seem to take into account the last 2 years contributions. Based on my experience at JCP so far, it has taken them six months to offer me any assistance, I wonder perhaps if I will have to wait another six months before I hear any more. In any case, I fear it is too late. The main reason I signed on in the first place was just to get my NI contributions paid, the monthly JSA payment ( 65) of course has been of some assistance but it only covers a small fraction of my monthly outgoings so losing it is not going to make too much difference to me. Look on the bright side, if I am no longer signing on, the Government can say that they have reduced the number of JSA claimants I have applied for more than 200 jobs in the last six months and only managed to get one interview so far. I have been thinking for some time that I could be making much better use of the time I spend searching and applying for jobs and attending the Jobcentre and have been looking at ways of helping myself. If I cant find a job, then it looks like I will have to create my own. I wonder how many others are in the same situation quotFortune Favours the Bravequot Unemployment figures rise and the numbers of the young unemployed make headline news. But there is a vast amount of available middle and senior management talent who have been made redundant, have had to close their business or are hanging on in a job they dont like or for a firm that is struggling. These people are ripe for picking and could make a huge difference to an organisation. The problem is that most organisations are not hiring and have themselves probably let people go. These companies know they have skills gaps which they need to fill but are not confident enough about the future to make the move. But it is those companies who make that first move who have the most to gain. Wait until you are really sure that business is good and the future is rosy and you will suddenly find that you are competing with thousands of other companies for the skilled talent that you need. Probability states that if you do this you are likely to have missed the best people and that you will end up having to pick people from an average pool of talent. Top people can make a huge difference to the long-term success of a business. Will you wait until the green shoots really are green shoots and potentially lose out to a bolder rival or will you take the long-term view and seek out those people who can help drive your company forward A final thoughtemploying someone is of course expensive but not employing the skills you need could, in the long-term, prove to be far more costly to your business. Final, final thought you could always hire on an interim basis then make the decision to retain or let go at the end of the period. UK unemployment figures continue to rise The latest UK unemployment figures were released on the 12th August and they of course show that they are still continuing to rise. There were many articles in the press and on line about it this week so I expect many of you will have already read all the facts and figures. For those who havent, some extracts from a number of different sources are summarised below. Unemployment has soared to 2.43 million in the three months to June, an increase of 220,000, and up 750,000 on the year, official figures have shown. The unemployment rate was 7.8. up 0.7 percentage points from the previous three months, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revealed. Reference The figures continue to show a discrepancy between the number of people claiming benefits and the number of people unemployed . which has prompted an official government inquiry. announced yesterday. It is believed as many as 750,000 recently unemployed people may not be claiming Job Seekers Allowance. The number of 18 to 24 year-olds out of work reached 722,000 in the three months to June 2009, up 46,000 from the three months to March 2009. Reference The figures did show some positive trends . with a slowdown in the number of redundancies -- down by 9,000 quarter-on-quarter to 277,000 in the three months to June. Reference Howard Archer, an economist with IHS Global Insight, said in a statement. quotUnemployment still seems likely to rise above 3 million in 2010 and could yet reach 3.2 million. quot Reference Official British statistics show nearly one million under-25s - or one-in-six - are out of work . Reference I remember hearing somewhere recently that one of the best indicators of a recession being over is when the number of unemployed stops increasing. From the above data, it would appear that although there might be a bit of a slow down in numbers but I have also heard that it could be that the redundancies might just occur a little later than originally expected. With the econimists predicting we could reach more than 3 Million unemployed in 2010, it would seem that we are still a long way off a recovery. We seem to get statistics quite often these days showing how many 18 to 24 year olds are unemployed but it would also be interesting to see other figures such as how many White Collar Unemployed there are. We see reports in the press that their numbers are growing but I cant find any actual figures. Out of interest, I have added a quick survey page to collect some data (totally anonymously) on this so I would much appreciate if you could spend just a couple of minutes to fill it in please. You can view the results at any time. I really worry about our young unemployed. What sort of damage is not being able to get their first job and having very few prospects in the short term of finding any unemployment going to do to them. It certainly isnt going to instill any confidence in them or motivate them. What a way to start their working life. If we cant find any work for nearly a million young unemployed now, how are we going to cope with steadily increasing numbers year on year in the future. I read somewhere that there are around 600,000 school and university leavers this year (2009) in the UK looking for work. I am assuming that this 600,000 is included in the quotnear one millionquot under 25 unemployed reported above. The planned Government scheme (Future Jobs Fund ) is intended to create 150,000 jobs which are to be offered to those who have been unemployed for a year . In one years time there are presumably going to be yet another 600,000 or so added to the numbers. The scheme is clearly not going to work Ive mentioned it previously but I will do so again (and again Im sure). There are a lot of very experienced unemployed White Collar Workers out there who have lots of knowledge and skills available. If the government invested in these people, they might be able to start up new businesses and hence create more jobs. We should find ways of bringing these people together and combine their skills and expertise. At the very least, they could encourage and train others (including some of our young unemployed), provide mentoring and consultancy to businesses and start-ups and much more Im sure. Some will surely be able to create businesses themselves given the right backing and support. Give them some funding to do this and it could be a great starting point to helping UK recovery Jobcentre Plus - Not Working This coming Sunday (at 9pm) BBC Radio 4s John Waite asks whether the tough targets imposed on Personal Advisors mean they dont have time to help jobseekers look for work, only administer benefits. This is despite assurances from the Jobcentre Plus that there are jobs out there - it boasts that an average of 10,000 new vacancies are advertised in its offices every day. more details From my experience so far with my visits to my Jobcentre Plus (JCP) and from discussions I have had with others, I think this is probably very true. I saw Lord Mandelson on BBC Breakfast this morning where he stated that they wanted each job seeker to be able to spend 40 minutes with their advisor. Although I have also recently seen a number of reports that suggested that JCP had taken on many more staff to help tackle the workload, I somehow think this will be difficult to achieve. I think my average JCP discussions with my advisor over the last 6 months would generally be around 10 minutes. I would however point out that on my last visit, I did spend much longer than 10 minutes with my advisor. If you read my earlier blog article Job club experiences. one of the web sites mentioned was careerplan4.me. I registered on their site as instructed and then took the printed form along with me and gave it to my advisor. As expected, the advisor had not seen it before so there was some discussion with the supervisor, followed by some time for them to check out that it was a legitimate scheme and then they came back to me, explained what they had done, filled in a form which I signed and that was it. Yesterday, I received an email from careerplan4me with my login details. I havent had time to investigate the tools yet but will do so in due course. If anyone has already tried them out, please let us know how you got on. (forum) quotHelp for mature job seekersquot I picked up a free newspaper during my visit to the supermarket this week. It was entitled quotTheres more to life - Hampshire (Summer 2009)quot and it is quotthe free newspaper for the over fifties from Age Concern in Hampshirequot. Browsing through it I came across an article entitled quotHelp for mature seekersquot. It talked about a new web site called 2old. co. uk that had been launched on the 9th March 2009 to quothelp correct the imbalance that exists between the younger and mature job seekerquot. It went on to say that mature job seekers have many obvious benefits to offer over younger ones and that they could be willing to work for less than the quotgoing ratequot. It was felt that this might be an attractive option particularly for start-ups and small businesses. The founder of the web site is to be commended for doing something positive to help the more mature unemployed in the UK who desperately need some assistance but the article did start me thinking about a few things. Our laws in the UK prohibit discrimination by employers on grounds of age when recruiting so I wonder if the name 2old. co. uk breaches any laws. Although most employers will not admit it, from many discussions I have had with unemployed people over the age of 50 in recent months, they all felt that from their experience, Ageism is rife in the UK job market . Would the name of the web site therefore put potential employers off even looking there. I guess one benefit for them could be that they might be able to save themselves some of the cost of recruitment (estimated to be an average of 4333 in the article). I wonder how one defines the quotgoing ratequot for a job. Does this mean the going rate for a mature employee or does it mean paying below the going rate of a new graduate for the experienced person. I know of very experienced, mature senior staff who have not even been able to get interviews for jobs offering less than 50 of the salaries they have been earning previously. How much below the going rate do we have to go. I wonder if this is something employers will really consider. I wish this new web site every success and I would welcome any feedback from anyone who gives it a try. It will be interesting to see if it works. Do you have any comments. Have you tried it. Why not discuss it on our forum . Truth or rumour 65 of jobs are unadvertised - I have read and also heard this mentioned on a number of occasions. I also have experienced this first hand. 80 of jobs advertised on job web sites dont exist - This statement has come up in several conversations I have had over the last few months. Also on more than one occasion I was told that this information had allegedly originated from former recruitment agents. Who wants to be an entrepreneur Yesterday I attended a very interesting workshop at the University of Portsmouth Business School entitled quot Who wants to be an Entrepreneur quot. This was the second collaborative event provided jointly by Job Centre Plus, Portsmouth City Council and the University of Portsmouth and I have to say, I think it was another great success and a great follow up to their first workshop that was targeted at unemployed executives and senior managers who wanted to know more about working in the Sales Sector. The aim of this particular workshop was to support local unemployed and experienced middle managers and executives who want to use their expertise by setting up as their own boss. The event was very well attended and the lecture theatre was almost full. The workshop kicked off with a presentation from Peter Czapp of The WOW Company which is an accountancy company who specialise in working with small businesses and helping them grow. Peter presented a wealth of very useful information, hints and tips on how to go about setting up your own business and highlighting many of the pitfalls of the process. The second session was a workshop presented by Caroline Strevens and Joe Sekhon from the Portsmouth University School of Law and covered an overview of Risk management and how to protect your business ideas, IP etc. They also provided some useful handouts and details and links of many other useful resources. Next up was Richard Sant, Director of the Universitys Portsmouth Centre for Enterprise . which aims to inspire Portsmouth students to learn and succeed in entrepreneurship through developing enterprise skills and experience. Richard has a wealth of experience in advising fledgling businesses. Richard led an interesting interactive session which helped everyone understand the importance of identifying the right idea to work with and sticking with it, determining if you are the correct person to achieve the goals, to understand the vast range of skills required to build a business, and the importance of teaming up with others to complement your own skills in order to enable your business to succeed. Richard also briefly asked for feedback and ideas from the delegates on how the University could help this process further and assist small business in the area to establish and grow successfully. There were also a number of information stands around the lobby area offering a range of useful information. Some useful links to some of the information I obtained are included below. Thanks must once again go to the core team of Linda Taylor of Portsmouth City Council, Alison Robertson of Portsmouth Jobcentre Plus and Becky Platt of the Portsmouth Business School for organising yet another very successful workshop targeted at helping the White Collar community get back to work and helping grow business and jobs in the area. 6 months unemployed is too long I recently received an email from theitjobboard. co. uk telling me about research that they had carried out on 150 IT professionals and recruitment consultancies which found that recruitment consultants feel that anything upwards of 6 months is too long to be out of the job market. This is supported by similar research done recently by the Institute of Leadership amp Management (ILM) who concluded that workers who are made redundant have a six month window before they are viewed as being long-term unemployed Their study revealed that while losing your job does not initially carry any sort of stigma, after half a year has passed a quarter of employers are less likely to hire someone. Penny de Valk, chief executive of the ILM, suggested quotthe most effective way for job seekers to boost their future employment prospects is to play to their strengths, freshen up their knowledge and skills and keep up to date with developments in their sectorquot. Included in the IT job board email were a number of tips, which although not new, are still very relevant to the IT industry and also many others hence I thought it useful to include them below. Take the time to re-skill Research highlighted that 61 of respondents felt that being made redundant has helped them to develop their IT skills. This can be a significant advantage when deciding what to do next, as your options and choices are likely to be less restricted. With much of your competition already re-skilling, now is the time to identify the skill gaps in your CV. Change career paths 38.7 of respondents also said that being made redundant has helped them make a career change. Use redundancy as a time to really assess where you want your career to go, dont just jump into the next best thing. Stay positive Although redundancy can be upsetting it is important to stay motivated. Despite the many phone and face to face interviews you have each interaction with an employer is their first with you thus it is important not to show the strain redundancy is having on you. Brush up on interview techniques If you were in previous employment for a while then its unlikely that youve practised your interview techniques. Try and brush up on your interview skills by looking online to get practice interview questions or downloading relevant tests that you may be asked to do as part of an interview. Your CV is your passport Make sure your CV is up to scratch before sending it off to recruiters. Hamish Taylor from Shinergise and Partners shared the following advice: Clearly define your transferable skills as they relate to future employers define past experience as being evidence of those skills not simply a history of achievements for former employers Be clear about your redundancy Be very clear about why you were made redundant, what the circumstances were and have a clear means of describing this without bitterness or anxiety to future employers. Dont be negative Even though you have been laid off or made redundant, do not say anything negative about your former employer. A positive and can-do attitude will go a long way in landing the new job. Keeping in touch with old colleagues is a good way to maintain your personal and professional network. Getting online and taking the time to make the most of professionals networking sites like LinkedIn can really give your job hunting a boost. If you are out of work, consider making it more obvious on your network profiles that you are actively seeking a new role. Be Proactive 65 of jobs are unadvertised so take the time to pinpoint the organisation you would like to work for and pick up the phone to find out if they have any opportunities. This approach can really work to your favour if you make the right impression so make sure you know what you want to say beforehand. Take some time research the organisation online, and try to use professionals networking sites to find a contact name so you know you are speaking to the right person. Consider Volunteering If you are approaching the 6 month milestone, it is important to consider how you are going to continue to use your skills whilst you are out of work. Volunteering on a project or temporary basis for charities or not for profit organisations is one way to demonstrate that you continuing to utilise your skills. Job club experiences As I think I have mentioned before, I am a great believer in job clubs and how they can benefit the unemployed. Earlier this week, I received a really interesting email from one of our WCU community who wanted to share his experiences of a local job club along with some of the information that he had gained from this and wanted to share with the rest of us. 1. A while back we had a session on how to identify your transferable skills. You list key achievements youve made in the past and use a cross matrix to identify the skills you employed. I took this and created a spreadsheet (attached) which you can tart-up and put onto the site for people to download. opendownload spreadsheet here 2. We learned about a DWP (Department for Works and Pensions) Initiative, Job Search for Newly Unemployed Professionals . The Job Centres have apparently been trained on this but internal communication appears to be an issue and not all Job Centres are aware of it. The website for this is dwpoutplacement which instructs you to refer to your jobcentre which could bring you back to where you started from. The site points to a company called Via-interim as the provider of the service. I spoke with them and they pointed me to careerplan4.me. You register here and receive an email with instructions which you print off and take to your jobcentre. The result of all this is that you should receive an access code and you then have use of their tools free for a year to help you get back to work . 3. Last week we were visited by someone from an organisation called Next Step. They help people find work, get training, etc. Its only been launched in the SouthEast and East Midlands apparently and I only have the Southeast URL which is nextstepsoutheast. org. uk. If successful it will go national at some point. Our friend has asked to remain anonymous so I will respect his wishes. Many thanks for providing all the above very useful and interesting information and for your hard work generating the spreadsheet. I for one will be using this very shortly. I was amazed at how many topics were included in the list. I think we often forget or take for granted all the things we can actually do or have done in the past that can be classified as transferrable skills. I dont think I would have come up with that many off the top of my head although I think I can say that having looked through them, I have done every one of them over the years. A very useful addition to go with your CV I think you will agree quotThe 6 month offerquot After much searching and purely by luck, I finally managed to find out some information about one of the government help schemes for the unemployed. The 6 month offer package offers assistance to 6 month unemployed Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) customers to improve opportunities for entering work or improving workrelated skills in addition to the support already available through existing programmes for everyone. This will be achieved by a range of new measures which will be provided through Jobcentre Plus advisers. The options are access to Skills support, an Employer Subsidy, Volunteering opportunities and financial and training support to enter and sustain self Employment. Accessing these options will be voluntary . You can download the DWP document that tells you all about The 6 month offer here. Maybe you could print off a copy and take it along to your job centre next time you go and discuss it with your advisor. Town halls pledge to help unemployed In one of my recent quotsearch sessionsquot, I came across this useful press release. In response to new unemployment figures, showing 2.26m people out of work, Cllr Margaret Eaton, Chairman of the Local Government Association said: quot Every single person being made redundant or having difficulty making ends meet should contact their council to make sure that they are getting all the advice, support and benefits theyre eligible for. From retraining and finding a new job to filling in housing benefits forms, town halls are there to help people through difficult times. quotDifferent parts of the country are facing very different levels and types of unemployment. Former industrial areas have been hit by blue collar unemployment, whilst white collar job losses are rising at a much quicker rate in London and the South East. quotA national, one size fits all approach to dealing with the recession isnt going to work. Decisions about the economy need to be made at a local level to make sure that theyre actually going to respond to the problems of local people. The needs of the home counties are poles apart from the action that needs to be taken in more inner city areas. quot Author: Nicholas Mann LGA media release - Wednesday 17 June Contact: LGA Media Office, Tel: 020 7664 3333 I asked my MP Recently, I received a mailshot from my local MP John Denham (Southampton Itchen - Labour) announcing amongst other things that he and other Labour ministers had published quota radical plan for for a stronger, fairer, more prosperous Britain: Building Britains Future. quot and that in it, they had made quota number of important commitments to the British peoplequot. It went on to mention a number of items including the following which relate to jobs: Every young person who has been out of work for a year will have to take a job, training or work experience place. An extra 1.5bn will be invested in 20,000 affordable homes over the next two years - supporting thousands of jobs. It went on to ask the reader to fill in a survey form to tell John Denham and Labour which 3 local or national issues concern them the most. After writing my blog article quotWhere is the help we were promised quot on the 14th July, I thought this to be an ideal issue to share and that I would try and get some official response from the government to my concerns from my local MP. So, I wrote an email to John Denham asking him for his comments on the article so that I could share his response with our community. I was initially encouraged when I received an email back asking for my address which I prompty provided. It is now more than 2 weeks since our communication and sadly still no response. Watch this space. but I suggest you dont hold your breath. Are employment agencies letting us down I was talking to an unemployed senior manager the other day who was telling me about how frustrated he is getting with agencies. As an example, he told me of an agency that made contact with him about a very interesting job opportunity, got his CV, discussed his details with him and then set up a telephone interview with the client. All seemed to go well in the interview and he was told the client would get back to him via the agency shortly. That was a few weeks ago now. He has tried to follow up with the agency a number of times to get some feedback on how it went and if it was likely to progress further. He had a lot of trouble getting hold of the agent, who was not available and did not respond to numerous messages he left. He still hasnt managed to get any feedback The client is apparently a large multinational company who use this particular agency for a lot of their recruitment. One would assume therefore that they would be in touch on a regular basis so if they are both doing their jobs professionally, there should have been some further discussion on this particular case. From my many years of working for large multinational companies, and using agencies for recruitment, I would expect the agency to promptly follow up with the client so that they could update the candidate after the interview. If the client is, or is not, interested in taking it further with the particular candidate, normally they will decide quite quickly and tell the agency who in turn can feed this back. Whatever the decision, out of professionalism and common courtesy, there should be feedback within a day or two, or at the very least, an explanation as to why it might take longer and a schedule for responding. From my past experience working with reputable agencies, this process has always worked well so what is the problem now I feel that this guy is being treated very badly and I fear that this is not an uncommon situation these days as I have had many similar conversations and if you read some previous contributions to our blog and Doleberts Diary you will see more examples. Personally I think it is totally unacceptable behaviour. Being unemployed, having no income and rapidly increasing debts etc is stressful enough, you dont need situations like this on top of it WCU on the radio Many thanks to Adrian Knight and Sally Cronin of Express FM (93.7) in Portsmouth for inviting me along to Adrian Knights Big Drive Home this afternoon and and for giving me the opportunity to talk about our White Collar Unemployed web site and help to raise awareness of our communities plight and frustrations. They made me very welcome and at ease during their very interesting and entertaining show. Why not have a listen online while you are reading this blog. Great show guys, keep up the good work. One of Adrians hobbies seems to be tampering with the language on SATNAVs. mine started taking Japanese on the way home Maybe it was just the heat. o) if you were listening to the show you will know what I am talking about, if not, my appologies for appearing a bit random. Where is the help we were promised I try and do regular searches on the internet to find articles and announcements relating to white collar unemployment but it is quite difficult to find anything these days. Periodically I manage to find a few older items of news that I missed previously but the general trend seems to be that we are becoming a forgotten, or maybe that should be ignored, entity. If you read some of my earlier blog articles. you will have noticed I mentioned that when I was doing my initial research, I came across a number of press articles reporting what the government had stated they were going to do to help us, but I never yet managed to find any real indications that they ever actually implemented anything. Looking back at the articles I discovered previously to reacquaint myself, I found one from The Observer dated Sunday 8 February 2009 entitled quotKey Labour employment plan close to collapse quot which suggested that the government could not afford to fund their proposed plans to help the white collar unemployed. It stated quotThe governments flagship policy to revolutionise welfare by paying private companies to find jobs for the unemployed was in crisis last night as firms said there were too many people out of work - and too few vacancies - to make it viable. quot It went on to mention quotThe Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said it had been called off . but one company manager involved remarked: quotThe most telling thing is that no new date was set. quot Another article entitled Employment scheme risking failure on the 5th March 2009 seems to support this and mentioned quotThe Flexible New Deal (FND), which starts in October, is expected to attract up to three times as many applicants than was originally predictedquot. The report also recommended the appointment of an independent ombudsman to address concerns of the voluntary sector and to ensure that the publics voice was heard throughout the process. On Monday, 9 March 2009, The Independent reported quotJobless executives to get special help. From next month, Professionals who sign on will get one-to-one meetings with a personal adviser, attend group sessions for similar jobless people at new-style quotjob clubsquot, given help to brush up their job-hunting skills and receive advice on changing careers. The Government will pay specialist recruitment agencies to help people seeking executive postsquot. I found some extracts from parliament. uk dated the 10th March that at least gives some indication that the topic was raised by the Hon. Mrs. Theresa May (Maidenhead) (Con) in parliament. She stated quot The reality is that Britain now faces an unemployment crisis. Yet there is still no real action from the Government. Instead, true to form, they have given us only empty promises. In October, the Government announced 50 million of help for people currently facing redundancy. Five months on, how many have received that help None. Why Because the projects will not start until April. In December, the Government announced 79 million of funding. Two months later, they re-announced that help. Only then was it revealed that no new employment programmes would be in place as a result of that money until the end of this year quot quot. Yesterday, the Secretary of State announced in an interview with a newspaper that he was spending 40 million to provide extra support for white-collar workers with one-to-one interviews, which they are supposed to have anyway, and the creation of job clubs, which some job centres, such as the one in Maidenhead, already run. We should pity the poor unemployed white-collar worker who heard that and logged on to the Department for Work and Pensions website to find out more, because there is no more information. Indeed, the announcement is not even on the DWP website. So what sort of commitment is it Is it new money How many job clubs will be created Where will they be, and crucially, when will what has been announced happen Ive searched and searched for further, more recent, articles and announcements on this topic but failed to find anything since. The latest, as you can see, dates back to March 2009. What happened about the recommendation for an independent ombudsman, was one ever appointed. Ive asked many times at my local JobCentrePlus office what help is available for the white collar unemployed and they tell me quotwe have nothing yetquot. I asked if they new about any local job clubs, they didnt. When is something actually going to happen. Have we been forgotten. Maybe the government think if they ignore us we will go away or maybe they think we will get fed up waiting and resolve the problem ourselves perhaps and let them off the hook. It certainly doesnt look like we are going to get much help The longer it goes on, the worse it is going to get and the harder it will be to fix. If you read the article Redundant staff have a six month window. it is clear that we need help early, i. e. immediately after redundancy not after a year of unemployment. The situation also gets worse as you get older. If we ever do get any government help, and especialy if it is only forthcoming after you have been unemployed for over one year, it could already be too late for many of us. Let me know if you find any more recent news on this. Is retraining really an option In these tough times, with jobs being extremely scarce in specialist or niche fields of work, one option open to the unemployed is obviously to retrain. There are many companies offering training courses to help people improve their skills or to change to a different profession. Many of them also advertise that you can make good money in these new trades and that they will help you get a job at the end of the training course. Some suggest that you can fast-track to get these new skills in a few months as well. I still see many adverts in the local press saying that there are shortages of plumbers, electricians and carpenters but with the current state of the housing market, the building industry is suffering and houses are not being built. I recollect some figures I heard a while ago which indicated that the government target was to build around 250000 new homes each year in order to meet the growing needs of the country. Recently I heard that in reality, only around 60000 homes are currently being built per year. If this is this case, it would appear that there is insufficient work to keep existing tradesmen in work so how can there be a need for more, at least in the short term. If it only takes a few months to get through the re-training then there are not going to be any jobs at the end of the course until the market improves significantly and houses start getting built again. If you watch the TV and read the papers, you will also see many adverts to retrain as a driving instructor. Again if you believe what you are told, there must be a lot of people going down this route to a new career with this vision of earning up to around 30000 per year but where are the limits. You cant sustain growth in this area indefinitely and with times being hard, are there really many people that can afford to take driving lessons and to buy, tax and insure and run a car I wonder I was reading an article the other day about the digital marketing agency sector with respect to new graduates and juniors. I am assuming here that junior roles will also include those that are re-training to enable them to move into this field of work. In this article, which incidentally was written by a recruitment consultant, it was suggested that different digital agencies are handling the current difficult situation quite differently. Some are getting rid of all freelancers and keeping only permanent staff, others are doing the opposite. The most worrying comment in the article was that due to the lack of confidence in the market, quotagencies are only looking to hire people that can hit the road running and they dont have time to invest or train juniors or less experienced peoplequot. To me, this is does not give me much confidence that retraining, at least in the short term, is necessarily a good option. Longer term it might be okay but one wonders how does one gain experience in the mean time in order to get accepted into these new areas of work It is a bit of a quotcatch 22quot situation. What is your experience. Have you been through the retraining process. Did you manage to get a job afterwards. Let us know in the forum. Telegraph. co. uk re-launches job site Today sees the re-launch of the Telegraph jobsite. The redesign apparently is intended to assist you in finding a new job and help you in your career search or progression. Additions to the site include the following:- Forums they are bringing social media to the front of the recruitment process, allowing you to interact with other jobseekers and recruiters through their sector specific forums. Personalisation view your jobs search history, jobs that have been viewed by other related jobseekers and welcome back messages. Career tools they have partnered with a number of professional companies to provide you with advice and services to assist your career search or progression. Simplified job search they have looked at how people are searching for jobs and have amended the search and included a refine search unit to assist you in finding the right job. My Career dashboard a dedicated homepage which simplifies the tools they have on offer and highlights the new items in your account. Looks useful Why not check it out and write a review for us to publish on our blog or articles pages so we can share it with our community You can email it to me at WCU by clicking on this link. Another Monday morning Disillusioned amp desperate, White Collar Unemployed, 30062009 Another Monday morning and back to the depressing task of job hunting for yet another week. It seems to get harder and more depressing each day. The same old routine, read the ads and search the web sites, find a few that look promising, send off applications with my CV and wait for a response, which in most cases never happens. All you seem to get these days is a one line statement on the bottom of an automated reply to your application that says something like quotdue to the large number of applications we receive, we cannot reply to applicants hence if you havent heard from us in a few days, your application was not successfulquot. I understand that it might be difficult to reply if there are a lot of applicants but how does this help me understand why I am not getting any interviews so that I can do something about fixing it. I have tried to call some of the agencies to try and talk to someone and get some real feedback but pretty much all of my attempts have been fruitless. Emailing them produced similar results. Well, the phone rang at 08:30 this morning, it was an agency. A young guy at the other end of the phone told me he was following up on my application from last week and asked me if I was still looking for a job. Then he went on to ask a few questions which, if he had read my CV that I sent him, he would have known that he already had the information he needed. So, do agencies even read your CV when you send it. From articles I have read online and in the press over the last few months, it seems that the agency process is to request a copy of your CV, typically in MS Word format without any clever formatting or pictures included, so that they can read it into their database. This enables them to run searches on certain keywords in your CV to see if it matches up with what they are looking for. So this enables them to pull out potential candidates from their database using a few specific keywords but what happens next. I would have expected that they would then go on to read the CV that they had identified in their search and get more information from that and do a more detailed match with the job specifications. From the example I mentioned above, it would seem that not all agencies do this so how can I put my faith in an agency to know that they are really trying to find me a job or that I am getting screened realistically based on my experience and skills that are in my CV but are not covered by the keywords they are using for their search. I think it would be very useful if we knew exactly how the agencies process work, maybe then we could tailor our CVs to work more effectively. WCU editor Many thanks once again to quotDisillusioned amp desperatequot for your article. Does anyone in our community know how the agency process works Maybe an agency would care to comment and give us some useful feedback Why not discuss this on our forum. Dont forget, you can send us your articles for inclusion on the WCU site anytime. Dont be shy, share it with our community Now theres an offer Fancy a Free holiday . Yes thats right, your eyes do not deceive you. I found this headline on telegraph. co. uk today, quotWanted: Unemployed Briton to go on free holiday and call it workquot . Apparently, lastminute are looking for an unemployed person to trot off around the world for them for a 60 night period covering 32000 miles, 8 major cities and 3 continents. All the costs will be covered but no actual salary will be paid to the individual. If you are interested, you need to apply by the 15th July 2009. To enter you must send a photo of yourself having quota seriously good timequot on holiday, along with a review of no more than 200 words describing your experience. read more Choices 09 I have just finished reading a pull out advertising feature that was included last Thursday in The News, Portsmouth which is all about their Choices 09 exhibition (details on our Events page ) on Tuesday 30th June at the Cascades shopping centre in Portsmouth. Choices 09 is a free event which is being run by The News in association with Portsmouth Local Strategic Parnership, JobCentrePlus and Portsmouth City Council. It is targeted at everyone from 16 to 60 and covers a broad range of topics including advice on careers, benefits, further education or a new direction in your working life. The pull out feature contained a number of interesting articles, interviews and other information along with a lot of useful contact details (some of these from Portsmouth City Council, are already on our useful links page. I will add more shortly). I also noticed an advertisement for quotJob Cafe quot, a website that has been created to provide career advice for everyone in the Portsmouth area. This is jointly sponsored by Portsmouth City Council. Learning Skills Council. Connexions and Education Business Partnership. Their aim is to provide the latest information on training, careers and jobs in Portsmouth in the fastest growing industry sectors. It seems that Portsmouth is really getting things moving on helping the unemployed in the area. This is really great news and a good start, keep it up This is a FREE event so why not pop along and see what they have to help you Spread the word The aim of the White Collar Unemployed web site is to to bring together the White Collar unemployed community in the UK to share questions, concerns, frustrations, thoughts, ideas and anything else that might help our community to get back to work. We also aim to try and keep you up to date on topical issues and point you in the right direction for advice, information etc that we come across that could be of help to you. The more members we have, the more skills and knowledge and experience we have between us which will enable us to help each other better. Also, it will help us gain more visibility in the UK and enable us perhaps to attract more support in getting us back to work. We therefore need your help to spread the word so that we can increase our numbers and promote White Collar Unemployed please. If you know someone who is an unemployed white collar worker, please forward them a link to our site. I have generated some posters that you can download and print off. Tell your friends and others you know who are in the same situation as you. For example, people you meet at the job centre, at networking events etc. Maybe you can give a poster (or a few even) to the job centre clerk when you sign on next time for them to pass on Future Jobs Fund In my blog article entitled quotMore gloom ahead as things get worsequot on the 17th June, I mentioned the quotFuture Jobs Fundquot. I expect like me, most of you wondered what this was so I found out a little more about it. The Future Jobs Fund is a fund of around 1 billion to support the creation of jobs for long term unemployed young people and others who face significant disadvantage in the labour market. The Fund was announced in Budget 2009 and is to be spent over the next two years. It is a challenge fund which invites organisations to submit bids for funding. The fund is run by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in partnership with the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG). The Fund aims to create 150,000 jobs aimed primarily at 18-24 year olds who have been out of work for a year. This will support the guarantee that from 2010 everyone in this age group who has been looking for work for a year will get an offer of a job or training lasting at least 6 months. The aim is to specifically target 50,000 jobs in unemployment hotspots and anticipate that around 10,000 of the 150,000 jobs created will be green jobs. An article I found on Bloomberg on the 17th June 2009 suggests quotalmost one in five people age 16 to 24 are unemployed, and Gordon Brown said last week the Labour government will focus on creating jobs. quot The Guardian also ran an article which stated quotthe increasing unemployment figures add to growing concern that many of the 600,000 young people who leave school, college or university this summer will not find a jobquot It would seem that government plans again fall very short of addressing the problem for 18 to 24 year olds. The Future Jobs Fund, like most of the plans I am aware of so far, seem to only offer support to people who have been unemployed for more than 1 year. This is far too late All our government plans seem to be reactive, they need to be more proactive. They are still only plans, what about some real action and results. It would be really good to see details of how many actual jobs are created each week and how many of them were filled by unemployed people. Perhaps then, we might start to get some confidence that our government is really doing something to help. If you read my recent blog article about the quotSales Workshopquot (11th June 2009), you will have seen that there was mention of a new help scheme (e. g. CV writing skills, interview techniques etc) for white collar workers recently finding themselves unemployed (i. e. in the last 3 months). This is a step in the right direction but what about all those that have been out of work for longer than this. What is the cost of paying benefits to a middle aged, very experienced white collar worker with a family who has lost everything including maybe even his or her home. One wonders perhaps if the government invested in the older, more experienced white collar workers, perhaps they could create more businesses which in turn might create new jobs for some of the 18 to 24 year olds. One also wonders what is happening to the further 2.1bn of the 3.1bn quot to invest in peoples futures and create more opportunities to help them get back to workquot that Minister for Employment and Welfare Reform Tony McNulty mentioned If you know, share it with our community in our WCU forum . Is it all just spin I read an article on Guardian. co. uk today, where in response to the latest unemployment figures released today, business secretary Lord Mandelson said he welcomed the news that the rate of rising unemployment was slowing. quotIts an encouraging signal but there is at the same time too much unemployment and any difficulty people have in finding jobs requires the government to continue taking the action that we are in delivering real help in the job search and training for people who are affected, quot he said. Once again, I hear the government spokesman saying they are taking action, but where is it. How do we find out about it. I asked again at my JobCentrePlus office last week when I signed on, what help they could offer me and I got the same reply, quotwe dont have anything yet, but we will let you know when we doquot . How is this helping create jobs, get people back to work or pay our bills. Taking Lord Mandelsons words quotcontinue taking the action that we arequot from his statement above, I would be tempted to interpret this as the government still dont have a clue of the reality of it all or what to do to fix it. Maybe if they were all made redundant, then perhaps they would understand better and this country might be better off as well More gloom ahead as things get worse The UK National Statistics Office released the latest unemployment figures this morning and, as expected, they show that unemployment is up and the more worrying fact, that the number of jobs available is down. The figures show the largest quarterly fall in the number of people in employment since comparable records began in 1971. For the three months to April 2009 it was down 271,000 over the quarter and down 399,000 over the year taking the unemployment rate to 7.2. The number of unemployed people increased by 232,000 over the quarter and by 605,000 over the year, to reach 2.26 million. Read the full report on the National Statistics Office web site UK unemployment figures (17th June 2009) Clearly, we are not moving in the right direction, where are new jobs being created. How is the government going to address this. We have heard many anouncements in the press that the government is going to address the problem and pledges to invest funds to help achieve this, but I still dont see any signs of real action. I came across an article the other day on the Human Resource Management (HRM) web site which included the following: Minister for Employment and Welfare Reform Tony McNulty said: quotWe understand that people are finding times tough, but we will not give up on them. Thats why in last months Budget we set aside a further 3.1bn to invest in peoples futures and create more opportunities to help them get back to work. quotThis includes the 1bn Future Jobs Fund which is aimed at preventing young people and other disadvantaged groups from ending up trapped in long-term unemployment. quotFrom tomorrow the Fund is open for business and we are calling on local authorities, social enterprises and the wider third sector to bid for money to create real, meaningful, jobs to help kick start careers. quot The above article was dated the 12th May 2009, so where is this help. Are the white collar unemployed classified under quotother disadvantaged groupsquot or have we been forgotten. We would appreciate your comments, why not tell us what you think on our WCU forum or maybe you would prefer to send me an article for our blog . Sales workshop Yesterday, I attended a workshop targeted at unemployed executives and senior managers who wanted to know more about working in the Sales Sector. It was jointly sponsored by JobcentrePlus, Portsmouth City Council and the University of Portsmouth and was held at the University of Portsmouths Business School. The main workshop session was presented by consultant Professor Neil Rackham, quotthe professor of professional sellingquot as his tag line on his web site describes him (neilrackham ). His main message was that the idea of a salesperson as a talking brochure is no longer valid and that the need now is for a quotconsultative salespersonquot approach. He also presented a lot of other very useful and interesting material during the course of the workshop. The main workshop was followed by a number of other useful short presentations. The first was from Key Recruitment. who presented a few good tips for job searching, CV advice etc and answered a number of questions from the delegates. Next was a short presentation from JobCentrePlus who related some of the history about how expertise in the JobCentrePlus organisation for support of white collar workers had been run down a few years ago but now they are trying to build it up again. Some information about a new help scheme (e. g. CV writing skills, interview techniques etc) for white collar workers recently finding themselves unemployed (i. e. in the last 3 months) was presented. The delegates attending seemed to welcome this as a step in the right direction but raised their concerns about the lack of support for people who had been in this position for more than 3 months. (From the attendees I spoke to during the afternoon, this appeared to be the majority). This was followed by a presentation from Portsmouth City Council who outlined some of the work being done currently to help people get back into work. One such scheme currently being piloted in the Portsmouth and Southampton area is called Fast Forward. I tracked down their website so you can take a look at fastforwardsupport . The penultimate presentation was from GOALS UK. They offer programmes quotto build independence, self-esteem, inner strength, personal responsibility, self-motivation and purposefulness - ultimately, to help people to get the life or job that they want. quot goalsuk. org . Finally a young lady from the Portsmouth University Business School wound things up with a few closing words and thanks to all etc. The event was very well attended and personally, I thought it was very useful and overall felt it was a great success. From my point of view, I found that networking with other people who are in the same situation with similar concerns was very useful. It is very reassuring and helpful to know that you are not the only person in this situation and it enables you to build common bonds and help each other (and preserve your sanity). A major concern that I and many other unemployed people I have spoken to over the last few months, seem to share is the apparent lack of help available to our community at present. At long last it seems that something is starting to happen but I fear the assistance will take some time before it has any effect. This is already too late for some. One major issue appears to be that although there may be some work going on in the background, there is a lack of communication of what help is available. Hopefully, indications are that Portsmouth is starting to doing something about it, it would be good to see something similar from Southampton however I checked with the Southampton JobCentrePlus office today and they informed me that they do not have anything like this is place yet. I would like to point out that these comments are intended as constructive feedback of the perception of real unemployed people. A lesson I learnt many years ago in business is quotgive the customer what heshe wants, not what you think heshe wantsquot, today this is called quotVoice of Customer (VoC). You need to have good communications with the customer (i. e. in this case us, the unemployed) and ask questions in order to enable this. From my experience of unemployment so far, Im not sure this is happening. One of the objectives of the White Collar Unemployed Web site is to aid communication, raise awareness and be a portal for help for our community. If anyone has any details of future events, assistance, help or advice etc they would like to share, please send it to stevewhitecollarunemployed. co. uk and I will add it to the web site. Why not send us your feedback about what you thought of the workshop You can email me or if you prefer, take it to the forum to discuss. Maybe there is such a thing as a free lunch I just came across an interesting advertisement in the Portsmouth News advertising a free workshop and a free lunch. It is targetted at out of work executives and senior managers who would like to find out more about working in the sales sector. Take a look at the details on our new Events page. I will endeavour to add more events like this as I come across them. If you know of any that you would like to share with our community, please let me know . Doleberts Diary Hopefully by now, many of you will have noticed our latest addition to the site called Doleberts Diary. the diary extracts of Dolebert, an ex-Company Director who is having a really tough time. Dolebert obviously wanted to remain anonymous but felt that he wanted to share his experiences as there must be others out there going through similar quotchallengesquot. He wanted to pass on any tips (e. g. like the Consumer Action Group), he has come across in his journey so far and reassure others that you are not alone If you have any questions for Dolebert or something to share or just some words of encouragment maybe, why not take it to our forum. Disillusioned amp desperate, White Collar Unemployed. 05062009 There was an interview on the television today with the former head of the London Probation service who has recently resigned after failings in the system allowed an offender out of prison who subsequently went on to brutally murder two foreign students in London recently. He suggested in the interview that the London probation system is totally overloaded and mentioned that probation officers were currently responsible for about 100 people each This seems a clear indication that the service is under resourced. This got me thinking. From my recent experiences of the unemployment system, it has taken the Department of Work and Pensions and my local Jobcentreplus, 14 weeks so far to decide if they are going to pay me any Job Seekers Allowance or not. A lot of the delay apparently was due to quota backlogquot resulting from lack of staff. I am also aware of similar problems at my local divorce court, again they have quota big backlogquot. The situation was worsened by an office move as well so this means several weeks of delays already and times to schedule new appointments add even more weeks to this. I have already been waiting for 7 months to resolve this, with no income at all for the last 14 weeks and still all my bills to pay, and now I still have to wait another 6 weeks for the next appointment. The core problem seems to be that government offices are totally overwhelmed due to lack of staff. This seems ironic with all the unemployed in this country at the moment. I guess it comes down to the fact that the government has cut back their budgets so they cant afford the staff they really need. Unfortunately, it is the poor public who suffer again because of it What is this country coming to. How long can this go on Recently, I have come across a few interesting articles on the politics. co. uk web site and I just noticed that they have now included a jobs channel. where you can search for jobs and sign up for their jobs bulletin. Currently there are quite a few unpaidvoluntary vacancies listed and today I see that they added a paid position. Some of you may have already heard of Jill Konrath, author of a book called quot Selling to big companies quot. Well, a friend of mine who raves over that book, excitedly forwarded me an email the other day to tell me of a wonderful new book from the same author. The book is called quotGet back to work fasterquot and describes a new approach to helping you find a new job. I think the following extract from Chapter 1 of the book sums it up really well. quotJob hunting is a constant source of loss. Youre always coming up short. Your future is totally out of your control. Its enough to make you go crazy. Take Control of Your Life Again. If youve had enough of this miserable scenario, perhaps youre ready to try a new approach to help you get back to work faster. This proactive strategy puts you back in the drivers seat on the road to find a perfect position for someone with your skills and talents. quot Im still reading it at the moment but I wanted to share this find with our community and let you all know that Jill Konrath is currently giving the e-book version of her book away for FREE so no time to waste, get downloading now. Go to the Get Back To Work Faster website and download the Get back to work faster guide (you can click on the picture above to go directly to the download page - but remember to have a look at the rest of the site as well). When you have read it, tell us what you think, write a review for our blog perhaps and discuss it on our forum I just saw a report on BBC Breakfast this morning about the growing problem of on-line job scams. As the number of unemployed grows and job hunters get more desperate and more vulnerable, there are a growing number falling foul of such scams. Top 10 job scam threats 2009 warning signs (courtesy of e-victims. org ) 1. Work at home offers 2. Use HotmailYahoo email accounts 3. Ask for money up front 4. Jobs forwarding moneygoods 6. Use 07xx phone number 7. Ask for your bank details. 8. No company details 9. Get a job without an interview 10. If it sounds too good, or too easy to be true The good news is that the UK police are already working with a number of the larger job search sites to identify these scams. SAFER, (Safe Advice for Employment and Recruitment), is the fraud forum set up by the recruitment industry in conjunction with the metropolitan police. You need to be aware yourself and try not to leave yourself open to these people. Below are a few good simple tips I have come across recently, Im sure there are more and if anyone has any suggestions, why not take it to the White Collar Unemployed (WCU) forum to discuss further. On-line CVs can provide identity thieves most of the background info they need for a person. Dont publish or provide your bank details, social security number, date of birth, marital status, number of children, and even your full address. Take this information out of your CV. Generally, there is no need for any employer to have such information at this stage of the proceedings. Also, these days, with the anti-discrimination laws, there is still no need to provide a lot of this information anyway since it should not be used to make any decision to appoint someone into a particular job (e. g. your age). If you get a positive response to your job application and you have established that they are a legitimate company (e. g. via Companies House), you can then provide more details if required. Most importantly, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Never send money up front. While putting this web site together, I had a dig back through some recent press articles to find a few relevent ones that I remember seeing in order to provide a bit of background information on some of the things our wonderful government is supposedly doing, to help all the unfortunate white collar workers who find themselves out of work. Seems to me that they felt obliged to make some gesture of intent but they dont really know what to do. I remember reading that the government admitted that the Jobcentreplus system was only really intended to handle blue collar workers and that they were struggling to help white collar ones. Their solution I recollect was to involve recruitment agencies to handle this sector as they were supposed to be the experts at this. Personally, from my experience so far, Im not sure this is really working. In fact, I find this a constant source of frustration In my case, it appears that the major obstacle is actually getting past the recruitment agencies. I have had less than 0.8 success rate for getting an interview from all the applications I have made so far, and that was with a company that advertised directly What has happened to all this promised assistance from the Government. I found a few mentions in the press a few months ago of what they said they were going to do but I failed so far to find any indication that they have implemented anything. Maybe you know differently. What is your experience of the system. Do you have any advice to share. Maybe you can update our community on our forum if you do or else why not write an article for our blog and send it to me Contact us .
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