Job Hunting Related Issues

Job hunting. Let's be honest, no one enjoys or looks forward to job hunting, unless you're like my clever sister in law and get head hunted lots. 


I always said that, once both Bratling's went to school full time, or were approaching doing so, I would go back to work. Mini started in September, and, at the time Littlest started Nursery, so I thought the time had come to start my job hunt. Except Littlest, as we know, had a major health relapse so the job hunt got put on the back burner for a few months.


Now he's better, and we've got him booked in for full time school in January, the Office programme was duly fired up and my CV writing skills were dusted off and rebooted. 



I wasn't overly concerned- I never really had issues getting jobs, and only once got turned down for a vacancy when I was 19, and that was because I was too experienced. That's not me bragging, that was what the manager told me from Argos when I phoned to find out why I had been turned down, and I only rang as I was feeling pretty crap at not getting employed. I started to think, as you do, that if Argos didn't want me, I must be losing my knack. But the manager was lovely and said she thought I'd be wasted in such a boring and monotonous job. 


I've worked in shops since I was 14- I didn't like the idea of paper rounds as, to me the summer rounds are fine, but the idea of getting up at 6am to trudge through the rain and then snow that makes up the majority of British weather didn't appeal. So,I used to work for an hour an night Monday to Friday after school, then 3 hours on Saturdays and Sundays, restocking shelves in my local convenience store, for the Princely sum of £1.10 an hour. Slave labour or what!


I don't particularly enjoy shop work, but it's a means to an end and I never finished college so that was that. I do love the idea of something in the media, hence starting up the blogs years ago, but with so many talented writers, and many media types being a bit anti about bloggers, it isn't happening the way I'd like it to. Being a Mum, I can't be picky or selfish, it needs to be reliable. 


I employed my old style of going in to shops locally- which in itself was hard as they seem to close down weekly in Maidenhead- and asking if they had any vacancies. 


That was the first shocker- at least 3 major stores told me they were getting rid of staff with a view to closing down. The rest were either not hiring or said they don't employ in store anymore, and that their staff come from online applications. 


It seems in the 5 years since I've been employed BB (Before Bratlings), the job market has started to resemble the cheese counter in a supermarket. You take a virtual ticket, and if your number comes up, the company will package you off to where it can, and that doesn't necessarily mean locally. I talked to one Mum who applied for a major supermarket, and after 6 months was offered a position over an hours train ride away. Hardly practical. 


The problem is the large gap in my CV, which, despite it being due to having children, it may as well say "was a lazy layabout sitting on the couch watching kids TV and eating crisps whilst occasionally tending to the every whim of two children".


It feels like with the gap, they wont see that I worked non stop from the age of 14, have good GCSEs, had managerial training and jobs, they'll just see that massive gap and bin me off. 


I have written down that in that time I've edited the sites, and won or been nominated for awards, but then I wonder if they'll then think the TV and crisps thing for 5 years plus epic geekery too? 


Job hunting, what a sucky thing that is. 


I feel like I'm on the Motherhood scrap heap at 30, penalised for having babies and looking after them until they bogged off to school. 


Anyone else had the same experience? What did you do to get a job? Did you give up? Let me know!