Unemployment

[Lilly]

No wonder there are so many people unemployed in Caithness (personally Wick)

My friend, due to getting paid off at the end of January has had to "Sign on" Since then she has handed in numerous application forms and also handed in her CV to places. She has only ever received one reply from a company comfirming they received her application. Others jobs which she applied for didnt even have the decency to tell her the jobs had been filled and 1 local who said they would arrange an interview for her the following week never got back to her!

They wonder why there is so many un-employed, I no I would get fed up applying for numerous jobs and they cant even be bothered to let you know your application has been received! No wonder her self-esteem has hit rock bottom!!

I no there aren't enough jobs going for everyone but a little acknowledgement wouldn't go a miss.. She has been to college/uni and got qualifications she can't get a job for which she is trained so is therefore willing to accept anything meantime. But even anything seems impossible at the moment.

Is it now a case of who you know in this community and not what you know?

[chaz]

No wonder there are so many people unemployed in Caithness (personally Wick)

My friend, due to getting paid off at the end of January has had to "Sign on" Since then she has handed in numerous application forms and also handed in her CV to places. She has only ever received one reply from a company comfirming they received her application. Others jobs which she applied for didnt even have the decency to tell her the jobs had been filled and 1 local who said they would arrange an interview for her the following week never got back to her!

They wonder why there is so many un-employed, I no I would get fed up applying for numerous jobs and they cant even be bothered to let you know your application has been received! No wonder her self-esteem has hit rock bottom!!

I no there aren't enough jobs going for everyone but a little acknowledgement wouldn't go a miss.. She has been to college/uni and got qualifications she can't get a job for which she is trained so is therefore willing to accept anything meantime. But even anything seems impossible at the moment.

Is it now a case of who you know in this community and not what you know?

My son is having the same problem, and yes i think it is who you know

[Lilly]

Not everyone enjoys doing nothing through the week, she is nearly ripping her hair out!! she did enjoy being a lady of leisure for the 1st week but it does become a bore.

[Kevin Milkins]

It is disheartning when you go to the trouble of applying for a job and you get no reply at all.It takes no time at all to email phone or write a short letter to thank you for expressing an interest in a position. It is nothing short of rude .

[KCI]

In the past, when I have been looking for a job, I have found the same problem here - it is who you know, not what you know.

It can be very difficult to find a job here, and I sympathise with anyone in this situation.

At one point, I was unemployed for a few months, and it was hell!

[Lilly]

There just doesnt seem to be enough interest in helping people get back to work up here.. I just think as soon as you are "Signing on" your are shuvved into a category and become nothing more than a statistic

[Whitewater]

Lilly, your friend will have to keep trying. It is very disappointing and disheartning when you apply for work and get no response, every prospective employer should at least acknowledge your application.

Has your friend tried the employment section on the forum?

[Lilly]

Yes, she checks daily not only on this forum but newpapers and other job forums.

[gemma89]

Having exactly the same problem!!
Nothing worst than when the employers don't seem interested in getting back to you. Especially when your told you will be gettng an interview!

[Fluff]

I can assure you it is not just a problem up there. not long after i moved down my temp job was ended. i was then unemployed for 9 months! the ONLY reason i got my job was because the then manager gave me a chance.
being unemployed is so horrible, esp when you actually want to work!

[theone]

No wonder there are so many people unemployed in Caithness (personally Wick)

She has been to college/uni and got qualifications she can't get a job for which she is trained so is therefore willing to accept anything meantime. But even anything seems impossible at the moment.

Maybe a bit off topic but what did she study at uni?

5 people in my year at Thurso went to Napier to study "Marketing". 5 People in one year from a town the size of Thurso!

I was belittled at the time for getting an apprenticeship and learning a trade.
Amazingly the biggest feeling of rejection at the time was from my guidance teacher who thought by not going to uni I was "wasted".

There is a BIG problem in british society where trades and apprenticeships are seen as jobs for the ignorant, poor or unachievers. Those who go to uni are seen as successful regardless of their ability, achievements or real skills.

I really do sympathise with anyone who is unemployed, but university credentials mean nothing if there isn't a market for them.

[KILTIECAULDBUM]

I remember a few years back I was desperate to get a job after being paid off. I bought the Courier one Wednesday & there was a job advertised that I thought I was well qualified to do. At last I thought, the breakthrough I had been waiting for, it really got my hopes up. Although it was in Wick, & meant a bit of travelling I didn't mind it was a job. It said to apply in writing, but I thought I would show a bit of initiative & phoned first, this was the Wednesday afternoon. I was told just to send in my CV. Again, trying to show that I was very keen I worked on updating my CV to suit the job on the Wednesday night/Thursday morning, printed it off & drove through to Wick on the Thursday afternoon to hand deliver it. I even got "suited up" hoping that I might even get interviewed there & then, but I didn't they just took my CV from me & said they would be in touch with everyone.
On the Friday I bought the Groat. In the jobs section there was a note from this well known Wick Company, thanking all applicants who applied, but the vacancy had been filled??
I contacted the newspaper & asked them when the cut off was to put a "job filled" article in the vacancies section of the Journal & was told early Wednesday afternoon at the very latest. This means that when I made the first phone call to the Company on the Wednesday afternoon, the job was already taken & yet they still encouraged me to apply & send in my CV & even still accepted it from me on the Thursday afternoon? No wonder I didn't get an interview. It is not a nice place to be being unemployed, never mind these such Companies giving you false hopes...!!!!!
Going by the remarks on this post, things up here haven't got any better.
I wish your friend the very best of luck in finding employment.

[EDDIE]

No wonder there are so many people unemployed in Caithness (personally Wick)

My friend, due to getting paid off at the end of January has had to "Sign on" Since then she has handed in numerous application forms and also handed in her CV to places. She has only ever received one reply from a company comfirming they received her application. Others jobs which she applied for didnt even have the decency to tell her the jobs had been filled and 1 local who said they would arrange an interview for her the following week never got back to her!

They wonder why there is so many un-employed, I no I would get fed up applying for numerous jobs and they cant even be bothered to let you know your application has been received! No wonder her self-esteem has hit rock bottom!!

I no there aren't enough jobs going for everyone but a little acknowledgement wouldn't go a miss.. She has been to college/uni and got qualifications she can't get a job for which she is trained so is therefore willing to accept anything meantime. But even anything seems impossible at the moment.

Is it now a case of who you know in this community and not what you know?

Caithness is the type of place if u get a job u have to had onto it because there is not a lot of jobs going about like in citys i guess thats just the way it is small communitys.
I moved away form caithness when i was 21 because i couldnt get a job im glad because were im now if i ever got payed of its easy enough to get another job.If u take somewere like caithness and if u have a technical job if u ever got payed of its not so easy to get a similar job in these types of jobs dont come vacant very often.
I think u would be suprised at the amount of caithness people that leave caithness every year for that reason

[sweetpea]

Maybe a bit off topic but what did she study at uni?

5 people in my year at Thurso went to Napier to study "Marketing". 5 People in one year from a town the size of Thurso!

I was belittled at the time for getting an apprenticeship and learning a trade.
Amazingly the biggest feeling of rejection at the time was from my guidance teacher who thought by not going to uni I was "wasted".

There is a BIG problem in british society where trades and apprenticeships are seen as jobs for the ignorant, poor or unachievers. Those who go to uni are seen as successful regardless of their ability, achievements or real skills.

I really do sympathise with anyone who is unemployed, but university credentials mean nothing if there isn't a market for them.

Totally agree. I know a few young people who have been out of Uni for a couple of years and nowhere near on the career path they want and are now in jobs having to do vocational qualifications with the employer and their friends who did apprenticeships are earning far more than them. So you have a head start. I also think there is far too much emphasis on degree's and too many people studying things like Media, Marketing and Psychology because they don't really know what they want to do. Employers want people trained to do the job the way they want it done. I think you made a good choice.

[A_Usher]

Interesting, as an employer we have had the opposite in the past, in that we have had very few applicants for positions.

In fact we now have a part time opening, so please feel free to apply, we are are looking for flexible people interested in learning, and will provide opertunities where we can.

Andrew

[northener]

Maybe a bit off topic but what did she study at uni?

5 people in my year at Thurso went to Napier to study "Marketing". 5 People in one year from a town the size of Thurso!

I was belittled at the time for getting an apprenticeship and learning a trade.
Amazingly the biggest feeling of rejection at the time was from my guidance teacher who thought by not going to uni I was "wasted".

There is a BIG problem in british society where trades and apprenticeships are seen as jobs for the ignorant, poor or unachievers. Those who go to uni are seen as successful regardless of their ability, achievements or real skills.

I really do sympathise with anyone who is unemployed, but university credentials mean nothing if there isn't a market for them.

Hit the nail on the head.

There's too much emphasis placed on soft-option courses at 'Uni' as opposed to skills that are really required in the workplace up here.

There is definitely a culture of arrogance and disdain regarding perception of the traditional 'trades'. Teachers and the education system (most of whom had never had any experience outside the world of Academia) were encouraging all and sundry to go to 'Uni' and throw off the workers shackles....ha!

In Caithness, who are the ones with the useful life skills now? The ones who took the more taxing and relevant routes for our area.

Three years of pretending to be a tree or 'Media Studies'/Art/Klingon language will only help you in an area dominated by media industry.

Well, apart from Klingon, you would be understood in Camp's bar after a few drams.....

Rant over.
.

[newpark]

I have had the opposite I have been unemployed sice beginning of March and have applied for every job in the paper and have so far had 2 interviews and am awaiting word on my 3rd application. Ok I havent got a job yet had to turn one down as the hours were no good for me and the other one I didnt get but I am just applying for every job I could do and hoping for the best.

[RicardoR]

Try Ackergill Tower... I went there and asked, filled out a form and was phoned up about an interview about 4 days after .. Try there, they are looking for office or dining assistant staff.

[golach]

I was belittled at the time for getting an apprenticeship and learning a trade.
Amazingly the biggest feeling of rejection at the time was from my guidance teacher who thought by not going to uni I was "wasted".

There is a BIG problem in british society where trades and apprenticeships are seen as jobs for the ignorant, poor or unachievers. Those who go to uni are seen as successful regardless of their ability, achievements or real skills.

I really do sympathise with anyone who is unemployed, but university credentials mean nothing if there isn't a market for them.

Many firms are now crying out for youngsters to take up "Trades" but still Schools Career Advisers are puting a stigma on any thoughts of pupils wanting to go down this road, I have a 16 year old grandaughter who has enough qualifications to go to Uni, but she does not want to do anymore studying, she just wants to get a job!! I hope she succeeds and things are looking good at the moment.
But just to put a point I have come across in the past when I was a CPO in the RNR and was New Entry Trainer, I had to train Officer Candidates as well as the normal ratings, now many of the OC's had all been at or were in Uni, and many I found were smart and as we used to say in the Navy, "They can work out the cubic capacity of a jar of pickled onions, but ask them how to open the same jar"....well!!

[anneoctober]

I heartily agree with the poster who said it's rude not to reply to an application for a position within a company. We get lads phoning, turning up at the garage ( this is how we got our present "prent") or sending in a CV. Written applications/enquiries are always answered. We can only employ one lad at a time, and we are IN FAVOUR of apprenticeships!! OR " getting their hands dirty!" Hands in the pockets are a NO NO!