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Over 50 and on the scrapheap


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I am not sure if this is the right place or if anyone could give any advice but I thought I would give it a try.

 

both myself and my husband are in our 50's and pretty much unemployed,broke, depressed and demoralised.

 

We used to have a restaurant which we put out heart sole and savings into and basically after a 2 year slog it just did not make enough money to cover the huge outgoings and in the end due to the effects it was having on our health we had to just walk away.

 

We then registered with our local authority and started to produce baked items from home which we sell at farmers markets and we have been doing that for about the last 18 months but its just getting harder and harder as the more like traders that are being allowed onto the markets and it has got to the point where we are working all week and barely taking enough to cover our rent let alone anything else.

 

We decided that we had to get proper jobs. I have over thirty years of catering experience and there are always catering jobs advertised and I have applied for just about everyone of them over the last month and I knew it would be challenging because I am over 50 but my god its proving impossible! I must have applied in excess of 30 jobs and not one has given me a response, not even to say thank you but no.

 

The same for my husband. He has applied for jobs and again no response whatsoever.

 

It has really started to affect us. We both have a history of depression and we both feel very low and useless. We just dont know what else to do.

 

We have no money, I cant pay my bills. The money we do earn and the tax credits we get just about covers our rent, council tax and food but everything else is in arrears,

 

We still have a dependant child at home and a non dependant child who does pay housekeeping but he doesnt earn much so we cant expect him to give us more than what he does.

 

We dont claim housing benefit or anything as I dont want it to affect our son.

 

We just want to work but feel we are being overlooked because of our age.

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entitled.to website

 

 

in the same boat too but manage to survive ..

please don't hit Quote...just type we know what we said earlier..

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How good is your CV's? If you are applying but not getting anywhere is your CV the issue. You are either aiming too high or too low, or the person who is reading the CV can't see what they want or need within the document easily.

It is easier to enter a rich man than for a camel to pass a needle

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Have you ever thought about some sort of higher education?

 

If you do not already have a degree there is student finance available for full time students. There are courses out there that do not need formal qualifications, for example Liverpool university do a degree in psychology . There is also finance available.able if you have a degree but want to do one in science , technology, engineering or maths (STEM) subjects.

 

It is not an option for everyone I realise that . It can do wonders for self esteem as well- trust me on that one.

 

As for the debt, have a read around about repayments and thresholds if you are interested.

 

As I said, not for everyone and access is not equally distributed around the country.

 

The entitled to website is, as dx said very good

Any opinion I give is from personal experience .

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factory catering often has temp work going for people with food hygeine certificates. Try hitting the blue collar recruiters instead of the silver service?

Never assume anyone on the internet is who they say they are. Only rely on advice from insured professionals you have paid for!

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Thank you for your replies.

 

DX, I have filled in all my details on entitled to but there seems to be an issue with the last page, its not doing anything.

ssparks My CV is quite basic and the last 7 years I have worked for myself. Maybe that puts them off.

Fletch - Yes I have toyed with the idea of further education but the thought of trying to learn now terrifies me and how would we pay the bills?

Emmzzi, it is cooking jobs that I have applied for along with domestic posts. I have hygiene cert plus tons of experience but doesnt seem good enough

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I was reviewing CV'S this morning. Out of 24 CV's, 6 of them did not get read beyond the first page. As a manager my time is important so I won't waste my time reading something where the writer haven't made the effort. There is a lot of good free information on how to write a CV on line, use it.

It is easier to enter a rich man than for a camel to pass a needle

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Hi

As for paying the bills there is student finance which does include cover for dependants as well. You would likely still qualify for HB and CT benefit. This is of course more readily available for HE as opposed to FE.

 

I am over 50 and in year 3 of a 4 year course. Not saying it is easy though.

 

As for CV writing it is a subjective art , ask 100 people who deal in CVs and you will get 100 different answers . Current thinking seems to be, generic CVs are no good, Taylor each one to the job you are chasing.

Any opinion I give is from personal experience .

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my O.H. out of work 3 years, CV sent to well over 160+ adverts as per system, no replies, also re adverts the system will not allow you to submit again months later, job centre do not know what they do these days originally offered her £1,48 per week but she had to sign on twice a week bus fare £2,50 a journey, - nonsense is it not.. she has paid national insurance for over 20 years but only offered that amount,

:mad2::-x:jaw::sad:
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We just want to work but feel we are being overlooked because of our age.

 

It isn't easy finding employment when one hits a certain age. I struggled for a few years after being made redundant and had to suffer one of the DWP work programmes. Eventually succeeded in getting a job. It wasn't something I had trained for and totally unrelated to previous employment. The hours are not ideal, but when I started, the shifts suited personal circumstances at the time.

 

Perhaps a change of direction might suit both of you. Running a restaurant and then a market stall has given you skills that could be transfered to other sectors. Customer services is the first one that springs to mind, I'm sure there are others.

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certain age = when I left the Army @ 28 I was told no qualified on many occasion and I should not have joined the Army @ 16 (Boy Service) but get a regular job. found a job by knocking on door in 3 foot of snow the last one I tried before giving up, then at 44 no body wanted to know after 49 applications = 1 interview 2 letter = sorry the rest heard nothing

:mad2::-x:jaw::sad:
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Hi everyone,

Again, thank you for taking the time to reply and I have taken all your comments onboard.

I am more than happy to change direction and give something else a go, its just trying to find someone who will give me a chance. My other half couldnt even get a job working for Asda!

We are loosing the will. Dont know how all you long term unemployed deal with it

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We are loosing the will. Dont know how all you long term unemployed deal with it

 

Fortunately, I am not one of the unemployed. But when I was, I hit lucky and found an agency that provided me with an assortment of temporary placements. The pay was crap (NMW), one placement was unpleasant hours (rotating late/early shifts), and most of the work was dull & boring. It got me off the "scrap heap", put a bit of money in my pocket, and one temp placement ended up being permanent.

 

It isn't easy, and thirty applications is not really that many. Some of the victims of the current Work Programme have to do that in a single week.

PLEASE HELP US TO KEEP THIS SITE RUNNING

EVERY POUND DONATED WILL HELP US TO KEEP HELPING OTHERS

 

 

No... you can't eat my brain just yet. I need it a little while longer.

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where I live there are dozens of catering vacancies in care homes. The wages areMW, the hours terrible but you would hold all of the cards. I agree that your CV may need someone to look at it and bring out all of the good points about being self-employed, decision makeing, customer care, financial nous etc.. I applied for a part time job recently and found trouble with finding a referee as I had been self-employed for the last 8 years and nearly all of my old work colleagues are now deceased!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ask at the Job Centre for some help with c.v.'s and application forms, they can get someone to help you Work Choice or Work Programme perhaps. If you are sending to many jobs without getting interviews you have to change the way you are applying. Go to CAB or Job Centre for a benefits check and make sure you're getting everything you are entitled to. You are not on the scrapheap, you have lots to offer but need support.

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Ask at the Job Centre for some help with c.v.'s and application forms, they can get someone to help you Work Choice or Work Programme perhaps.

 

The Job Centre may be able to signpost the OP to an organisation that might be able to help with CVs and application forms. But the last thing the OP needs is to be referred to the Work Programme. One only has to read a few of the posts on the long running Ingeus thread for a taster of what to expect, and it certainly isn't help to find work.

PLEASE HELP US TO KEEP THIS SITE RUNNING

EVERY POUND DONATED WILL HELP US TO KEEP HELPING OTHERS

 

 

No... you can't eat my brain just yet. I need it a little while longer.

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I am not sure if this is the right place or if anyone could give any advice but I thought I would give it a try.

 

Basically, both myself and my husband are in our 50's and pretty much unemployed,broke, depressed and demoralised.

 

We used to have a restaurant which we put out heart sole and savings into and basically after a 2 year slog it just did not make enough money to cover the huge outgoings and in the end due to the effects it was having on our health we had to just walk away.

 

We then registered with our local authority and started to produce baked items from home which we sell at farmers markets and we have been doing that for about the last 18 months but its just getting harder and harder as the more like traders that are being allowed onto the markets and it has got to the point where we are working all week and barely taking enough to cover our rent let alone anything else.

 

We decided that we had to get proper jobs. I have over thirty years of catering experience and there are always catering jobs advertised and I have applied for just about everyone of them over the last month and I knew it would be challenging because I am over 50 but my god its proving impossible! I must have applied in excess of 30 jobs and not one has given me a response, not even to say thank you but no.

 

The same for my husband. He has applied for jobs and again no response whatsoever.

 

It has really started to affect us. We both have a history of depression and we both feel very low and useless. We just dont know what else to do.

 

We have no money, I cant pay my bills. The money we do earn and the tax credits we get just about covers our rent, council tax and food but everything else is in arrears,

 

We still have a dependant child at home and a non dependant child who does pay housekeeping but he doesnt earn much so we cant expect him to give us more than what he does.

 

We dont claim housing benefit or anything as I dont want it to affect our son.

 

We just want to work but feel we are being overlooked because of our age.

 

With your experience and desire, I find it incredible that someone hasn't snapped your hand off. There is a massive shortage of skilled people in the catering industry, especially in baking and traditional fayre.

 

I can promise you, that with your experience you are far from on the scrapheap, and this trade is dying out for people like you. ( I am a chef ).

 

Keep going, and I promise you that you will find something that suits you because there is such a shortage of skilled people in this profession.

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Your tales of woe seems to indicate that you fail at anything you turn your hand to.

 

You are both experienced in catering & yet you can't find jobs !

 

Your problem isn't your age, it's your mentallity.

 

Have you ever heard the phrase "if you can't say something nice.. don't say anything at all"

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Your tales of woe seems to indicate that you fail at anything you turn your hand to.

 

You are both experienced in catering & yet you can't find jobs !

 

Your problem isn't your age, it's your mentallity.

 

In retrospect, do you not feel that this statement was a little harsh. Rather than criticise, how about offering some tips!

 

When I did my CV, I did generic ones for some jobs but where a particular skill was needed, I could then tailor it to the employers needs. Transferable skills is the key (IMO). When I was going to send a CV to a prospective employer, I read up as much as I could on them, added bits to my CV to show I had studied the company and showed how the skills I had could be use in their company.

Customer facing roles is a good one. Having sold goods at markets, the OP must have good communication skills so why not a job in customer service? This could be at a call centre or in store.

 

One other thing. Never put your age on a CV. Always use the Date of Birth instead,

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Some people say do not put anything that could show your age on a CV so DOB would then be out. However, people overabout 47 will have done O levels and CSEs which kinda give the game away.

 

As for the WP , I'm sorry but to say if you really want a job you will get one is not true. There will be good areas and advisors and bad areas and advisors.

 

It is a bit pot luck

Any opinion I give is from personal experience .

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  • 2 weeks later...
Ask at the Job Centre for some help with c.v.'s and application forms, they can get someone to help you Work Choice or Work Programme perhaps. If you are sending to many jobs without getting interviews you have to change the way you are applying. Go to CAB or Job Centre for a benefits check and make sure you're getting everything you are entitled to. You are not on the scrapheap, you have lots to offer but need support.

 

The job centre can refer claimants to help with job search skills but they do not do that for people without a claim.

 

my O.H. out of work 3 years, CV sent to well over 160+ adverts as per system, no replies, also re adverts the system will not allow you to submit again months later, job centre do not know what they do these days originally offered her

 

You are only required to attend the JC once per benefit cycle (fortnight). You are entitled to claim travel costs if the JC staff ask you attend on a different day other than your designated signing day.

 

Well I don't work for the Work Programme, but similar, if people really want to work the WP can help them. It isn't just Ingeus that does WP.

 

People do not get a choice of work programme provider. However, they are all as bad as each other IMHO. They 'cream' the people who look likely to turn them a profit and 'park' the others. I have yet to meet anyone who has actually been helped by the WP, but I am always happy to be provided with new evidence.

 

Your tales of woe seems to indicate that you fail at anything you turn your hand to.

 

You are both experienced in catering & yet you can't find jobs !

 

Your problem isn't your age, it's your mentallity.

 

You clearly have no idea what you are talking about.

 

In retrospect, do you not feel that this statement was a little harsh. Rather than criticise, how about offering some tips!

 

When I did my CV, I did generic ones for some jobs but where a particular skill was needed, I could then tailor it to the employers needs.

 

 

Transferable skills is the key (IMO).

When I was going to send a CV to a prospective employer,

I read up as much as I could on them

, added bits to my CV to show I had studied the company and showed how the skills I had could be use in their company.

 

Customer facing roles is a good one. Having sold goods at markets, the OP must have good communication skills so why not a job in customer service? This could be at a call centre or in store.

 

One other thing. Never put your age on a CV. Always use the Date of Birth instead,

 

NEVER put your age OR date of birth on your CV!!

The law about age discrimination has now changed and employers are no longer entitled to know your age.

Google the Equality Act 2010 - age is a protected characteristic.

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