Unemployed, no prospects :(
======= Date Modified 19 May 2011 20:28:39 =======
======= Date Modified 19 May 2011 20:20:28 =======
Quote From rigel34:
Yeah, my boyfriend is also lucky to have a job after having been rejected numerous times - I wouldn't fancy his chances of finding another job if we relocated together. Plus if we moved away from my parents the childcare costs would be horrendous.
If you claim JSA you're allowed to work for a few hours per week, but they take all of the money away from you and you only get to keep £5. Obviously you wouldn't earn anything from voluntary work. Since it costs £7 train fare to get into town from where I live, I'd be out of pocket if I worked a couple of afternoons per week, paid or voluntary - and when you're on the poverty line a tenner can make the difference between being fed or going hungry. You can claim expenses for interviews if you can prove you have one, but not for transport costs to a paid or voluntary job.
Yeah, my boyfriend is also lucky to have a job after having been rejected numerous times - I wouldn't fancy his chances of finding another job if we relocated together. Plus if we moved away from my parents the childcare costs would be horrendous.
If you claim JSA you're allowed to work for a few hours per week, but they take all of the money away from you and you only get to keep £5. Obviously you wouldn't earn anything from voluntary work. Since it costs £7 train fare to get into town from where I live, I'd be out of pocket if I worked a couple of afternoons per week, paid or voluntary - and when you're on the poverty line a tenner can make the difference between being fed or going hungry. You can claim expenses for interviews if you can prove you have one, but not for transport costs to a paid or voluntary job.
I thought you could work up to 12 hours a week unpaid. I did voluntary myself back at the Uni. where I did my PhD, helping my supervisor do a book chapter on my work.
That actually helped me reset my references in a few employers eyes and (as well as hide the PhD), credit that for getting back into work.
I'm not doing what I'm qualified to do, however, I'm simply greatful to be working. I had some very dark moments during that year on the dole and it's that kind of low feeling that makes you glad to be doing anything you can get. As I said (I don't mean to sound hard and my own way I'm trying to help), you don't have an automatic right to a dream job (the job choses you has often been said to me) and my acceptance of this was a big help in changing tack. This point was hammered into me in my local, very loud and clear (people could not believe someone with my qualifications could not get a job).
Go to your boyfriend now and tell him you want a cuddle and chat. That will make you feel a lot better and is at least a starting point. Look at what he did and how he finally got his foot through the door. What was that special something that caught the employer's eye and got him the job.
From what you say (reading between lines), you're boyfriend has a PhD too (and also struggled), am I right? He'll understand better than anyone and he's right there for you now.
======= Date Modified 20 May 2011 08:22:17 =======
Quote From rigel34:
No, my boyfriend doesn't have a PhD. He has a Masters, and in the current job market he's lucky to have a well paid job which is related to his qualifications, rather than having to take a call centre job or something. He doesn't understand why my situation is so soul destroying because he got lucky with his job.
It seems wrong that I should have to hide my PhD to get a job; something I've worked so hard for should be an asset to be proud of, something that benefits me, not something to hide. If it's such a disadvantage that I have to hide it, what was the point of doing it at all?
I'm not saying that I'm entitled to my dream job just because I have qualifications, but surely it's reasonable to expect some sort of professional job which makes use of my abilities and justifies my huge student debt, rather than spending my life stacking tins of beans? Everyone I went to university with for my masters has managed to get a professional job with a salary well above minimum wage, so why should I be the exception just because I did a PhD? Does a PhD somehow make me less worthy of the sort of professional job that bachelors or masters graduates are able to get? Is it unreasonable to expect to be on a par with my peers (who actually have less qualifications, and who received a salary while I made huge financial sacrifices to do the PhD)?
I don't see why it's unreasonable to expect something more than a minimum wage job when I've worked hard and made sacrifices to achieve a PhD. My friend is making sacrifices so she can train as a nurse and provide a decent life for her child - is she wrong to feel upset if she graduates and ends up being a waitress, thus wasting all her sacrifices and hard work?
No, my boyfriend doesn't have a PhD. He has a Masters, and in the current job market he's lucky to have a well paid job which is related to his qualifications, rather than having to take a call centre job or something. He doesn't understand why my situation is so soul destroying because he got lucky with his job.
It seems wrong that I should have to hide my PhD to get a job; something I've worked so hard for should be an asset to be proud of, something that benefits me, not something to hide. If it's such a disadvantage that I have to hide it, what was the point of doing it at all?
I'm not saying that I'm entitled to my dream job just because I have qualifications, but surely it's reasonable to expect some sort of professional job which makes use of my abilities and justifies my huge student debt, rather than spending my life stacking tins of beans? Everyone I went to university with for my masters has managed to get a professional job with a salary well above minimum wage, so why should I be the exception just because I did a PhD? Does a PhD somehow make me less worthy of the sort of professional job that bachelors or masters graduates are able to get? Is it unreasonable to expect to be on a par with my peers (who actually have less qualifications, and who received a salary while I made huge financial sacrifices to do the PhD)?
I don't see why it's unreasonable to expect something more than a minimum wage job when I've worked hard and made sacrifices to achieve a PhD. My friend is making sacrifices so she can train as a nurse and provide a decent life for her child - is she wrong to feel upset if she graduates and ends up being a waitress, thus wasting all her sacrifices and hard work?
Having been in your (almost exact) situation, I know precisely how you feel. Employers take one look at your qualifications and think you're going to move on as soon as something better comes along. I look back with regret at what I had before, but accept that's gone now and I have to find another way forward. Family illness has not helped matters.
However, I'll put it a different way. Even if you're stacking shelves its a job. And no matter what you're doing, it's easier to find work when your in work. It shows an employer you're prepared to get your hands dirty doing even the most menial job.
Your first step is (even if it is shelf stacking) to get back into employment then build from there.
Careerwise, it does seem at the moment the PhD has become a dead end for me. However, I have no regrets doing it as for me, it's something I had to do. I'd have probably been better off now had I not done it, however, I'd then be sitting here thinking "What if?"
