Would you take anything?

[Saslou]

I have now been unemployed 3 weeks. This is the 2nd tme i've been made redundant in the last 3 years and the current UK economy is not looking very good so i am not overly hopeful at present.

Something i've noticed over the last few weeks is people telling me i should take anything as an income is better than nothing (well there is welfare so that isn't necessarily true). I try to understand this mentality but come slightly short of fully comprehending it as i was always taught to start at the bottom and work yourself up to the top and this mentality have followed me through my working life. I've worked in banking, retail sector and for a charity/social enterprise so the idea of taking a cleaner job (no prob with the role, my mother is a cleaner) makes me think twice and also potential employers in the future may look at my CV and make a decision which could go either way. I want to go up, not down.

Would you take anything to ensure the bills were paid?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Turtledove]

...I see...my apologies for being very cautious and hostile in the thread I made. I assume if you are living on your own by yourself without your family to help you out or you have little ones that needs food, I believe you would have no choice. However, if you are still living dependently on your family, try to look for the job that's the best for you that will give you good experience that you know you can do.

I have been hearing comments from people from the UK on another site I'm on about the economy being rather...what's the word...difficult to the point of like a "revolt." I am surprised not to see this happening yet in the States where they go up to Washington and rant and rave with cops around since I don't believe the government can throw out any great ideas to help.

 

[SilkRoad]

Sorry you're going through that

I assume you're registered with the Jobcentre and to get benefits and all that malarkey?

I haven't been out of work since I've been in the UK but there were some tense moments a couple of years ago when I was temping only a few hours a week and that sort of thing. (When my hours were very low, I still couldn't get unemployment benefit but I did get housing benefit. THough I could have survived without it for a while, it helped me out. I was totally stoked too when I found out I didn't have to pay tax on it, which I think with unemployment benefit I would have had to!) It all worked out in the end but it is still really tough out there.

I'm not sure what the response to your question is. I think a lot of depends on the details of your situation (which you may not want to go into in that much detail!), ie. how much savings you have, how far the benefits will take you, etc. I mean, if things are a bit desperate you may just have to take whatever. If you have more leeway you may want to hold out for longer. Even do some volunteer work in an area that interests you or something like that?

I think my general approach in such a situation would be to initially (perhaps when I have more savings, etc behind me) look for jobs I'm really interested in...then spread the net a bit wider as I got a bit more desperate!

I really hope it works out soon for you.

 

[Saslou]

...I see...my apologies for being very cautious and hostile in the thread I made. I assume if you are living on your own by yourself without your family to help you out or you have little ones that needs food, I believe you would have no choice. However, if you are still living dependently on your family, try to look for the job that's the best for you that will give you good experience that you know you can do.

I have been hearing comments from people from the UK on another site I'm on about the economy being rather...what's the word...difficult to the point of like a "revolt." I am surprised not to see this happening yet in the States where they go up to Washington and rant and rave with cops around since I don't believe the government can throw out any great ideas to help.

I have 2 children. The UK i fear is going to go back into another recession if things do not pick up quickly. The job market is getting more competitive and unfortunately employers are able to pick and choose. I know Pepsi Co were offering 50 positions recently and over 2000 people applied (oh, how i would of hated to of been working in the HR department when the applications came flooding in)

Sorry you're going through that

I assume you're registered with the Jobcentre and to get benefits and all that malarkey?

I haven't been out of work since I've been in the UK but there were some tense moments a couple of years ago when I was temping only a few hours a week and that sort of thing. (When my hours were very low, I still couldn't get unemployment benefit but I did get housing benefit. THough I could have survived without it for a while, it helped me out. I was totally stoked too when I found out I didn't have to pay tax on it, which I think with unemployment benefit I would have had to!) It all worked out in the end but it is still really tough out there.

I'm not sure what the response to your question is. I think a lot of depends on the details of your situation (which you may not want to go into in that much detail!), ie. how much savings you have, how far the benefits will take you, etc. I mean, if things are a bit desperate you may just have to take whatever. If you have more leeway you may want to hold out for longer. Even do some volunteer work in an area that interests you or something like that?

I think my general approach in such a situation would be to initially (perhaps when I have more savings, etc behind me) look for jobs I'm really interested in...then spread the net a bit wider as I got a bit more desperate!

I really hope it works out soon for you.

Yeah, i registered with the job centre but 3 weeks in and my claim has not been processed yet (lol). The job centre got rid of the temp staff in April and with the influx of claimants (and horrific targets) they are overworked so things are taking longer than normal. With my last job we worked closely with the job centre so when i had my appointment with them was able to go a little more indepth than your average Joe.

I'm not worried about the finances and i have a stash of cash. I think it's also good in the fact i am able to cut back on frivilous items and go back to basics.

I'm not desperate at the moment but i was posing the question to others to see if when unemployed would you take anything. I think you may be correct in the sense of holding out for a while until things become severe.

Oh, and things will work out for me/us .. I'm 80% sure of how i'm/we're going to move forward.

 

[Such Irony]

Yeah, i registered with the job centre but 3 weeks in and my claim has not been processed yet (lol). The job centre got rid of the temp staff in April and with the influx of claimants (and horrific targets) they are overworked so things are taking longer than normal. With my last job we worked closely with the job centre so when i had my appointment with them was able to go a little more indepth than your average Joe.

I'm not worried about the finances and i have a stash of cash. I think it's also good in the fact i am able to cut back on frivilous items and go back to basics.

I'm not desperate at the moment but i was posing the question to others to see if when unemployed would you take anything. I think you may be correct in the sense of holding out for a while until things become severe.

Oh, and things will work out for me/us .. I'm 80% sure of how i'm/we're going to move forward.

I'm sure things will eventually work out. It sounds like you got a good head on your shoulders. I wouldn't take just any job yet but I wouldn't be too picky either.

I wouldn't take just any old job unless you were truly desperate for money and it sounds like you are not at that stage. If you are desperate to the point of worrying about paying rent or putting food on the table, then its time to take the first thing you can find. You can always quit when you find something better.

 

[Randomnity]

Would you take anything to ensure the bills were paid?

Maybe not anything (there are some jobs I just don't think I could do), but sure most minimum wage-type jobs, once my savings got too low for comfort. But that's coming from the perspective of a grad student (who last worked for a min wage service job about 5 years ago, but still not making much more than that!), so maybe that changes over time.