Finding employment

20th June 2011 / Posted in: Bourne International Community College (BICC), Development, Education, Finding employment , General, Voluntary work

World of Work Day

The Bourne International Community College in Southbourne is running a day for its year 9 students on 13th July. It's a bit like a mini 'Apprentice' and it's success depends on support from local business people.  If you can support their venture please get in touch with Lorraine Daughtrey at ldaughtrey@wsgfl.org.uk.

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12th May 2011 / Posted in: Finding employment , Unemployment

The Benefit of Choice?

Something I can’t abide is laziness. The squandering of time. Wasting opportunities. Wasting life. So for the second time in a fortnight I’m astride one of my hobby horses - he’s called ‘Choices.’

Over the wedding weekend (the one everyone talked about!) we stayed in a privately run hotel in Crickhowell which is on the edge of Blaenau, the area of highest unemployment in the UK. I was amazed that nearly all the waiting staff and all the cleaning staff were from overseas and learned from the owners that local people don't want lower paid jobs, particularly if they involve hard, physical work in the service sector.

Last Monday, through the Chichester Chamber of Commerce & Industry I had a tour of Tangmere Airfield Nurseries (http://www.tangmere.co.uk/en-GB/Default.aspx - a vast commercial nursery  growing peppers on the outskirts of Chichester.  We chatted about staffing and heard that most of their lower paid staff are from overseas, particularly Poland. Why? Because they have a good work ethic, want to work hard whereas the indigenous population don't want the lower paid jobs, particularly if they involve hard work.

Yesterday I was at Chichester College and heard about the ‘Cook’ Food Festival they are running next week (http://www.chichester.ac.uk/About-Us/Restaurants/Cook-Food-Festival/) to raise awareness about their hospitality courses which are under subscribed. The Principal suspects it's because the courses are associated with working in lower paid roles. 

When I was fourteen I had a Saturday job working for the local vet doing whatever they needed doing, which was a lot of cleaning dog pee off the walls and floors. If I’d given it up because the pay wasn’t great, and cleaning up after dogs wasn’t much fun, my grand mother would have said I had ideas above my station. She’d have been right. Just because I came from a middle class background and went to a reasonable school didn’t alter the fact I had no workplace skills and no relevant experience. What I did have was the desire and need to earn some money. The choice of job was mine - I needed to convince my parents I really wanted to be a vet.

Desire and need aren’t experienced by a sizeable chunk of the unemployed population. They won't work because benefits afford them choices - the choice not work.  These are probably the same people that complain about ‘foreigners steeling our jobs.’  The country is in an appalling mess and the problem is cultural.   Change will be a long, slow process needing persistence and continuity.  It could mean a Government continuing with something put in place by their predecessor .........

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3rd May 2011 / Posted in: Finding employment , Human Resources, Unemployment

Hungry for Work?

Last weekend we avoided having one too many celebrating the Royal Wedding in our local pub and headed off for our own, less formal, celebration - a weekend at the Gliffaes Hotel (www.gliffaeshotel.com) in the Brecon Beacons National Park, my forthcoming birthday being an ideal excuse.  A privately-run haven in stunning countryside, on the banks of the River Usk just outside Crickhowell, it’s my idea of heaven. 

With the sun shining, a heady scent of azaleas in the air and the sounds of the River Usk and bird song around us the World of austerity and unemployment seemed some way off. Well almost. When you work for yourself you never quite switch off so my antennae started twitching as I watched the staff. The hotel is kept spotless by an army (yes - seriously!) of Nepalese housekeeping staff - the wives of Gurkha soldiers in training at the nearby Army School of Infantry in Brecon.  The majority of waiting and kitchen staff were from Poland, Spain, Lithuania and Romania. A lovely, hardworking and friendly group with excellent spoken English.

River Usk

We were only moments away from Blaenau, Gwent, the site of the highest unemployment in the UK. So why weren’t there more local staff?  My suspicion was that they didn’t want to do these lower paid jobs, but before mounting my hobby horse I chatted to Susie Suter, who owns and runs the hotel with her husband James. She confirmed what I thought. She’d love to employ more local staff, but they just don’t want to wait at table or do housekeeping jobs. In many families it goes deeper than the current economic crisis and many young people from the Blaenau area are 3rd or 4th generation unemployed. Every so often Susie makes a move to employ more local staff. If they turn up for the interview, and are suitable, she finds they rarely last more than a week as hard work doesn’t seem to suit them.

So how do young Poles, Spaniards, Lithuanians and Romanians find jobs in Crickhowell? Susie has developed a relationship with a college in London whose hospitality students need to work in hospitality as part of their course.  It’s a win win arrangement for the college, the students, and the hotel.

Years ago hunger drove people to find work. Today hunger is satiated by benefits.  More jobs have been created, but our unemployed workforce isn't hungry or hungry to work, so what next?

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14th September 2010 / Posted in: Finding employment , General, Human Resources, Reduncancy, Voluntary work

Why should we choose you?

How will redundancy affect you?

Most of us enjoy camaraderie in our work place and feel good if our efforts are valued. But what happens when redundancy changes your routine and you find yourself at home all day, possibly alone?  We’ve all grumbled that there’s never had enough time to do the things we wanted to do, but suddenly having time on your hands may not be as motivating as you thought it might be. Redundancy can come as a shock and it can give our self confidence a knock.

What do future employers think of unemployed candidates?

The Institute of Leadership & Management commissioned some research entitled “Bouncing back – attitudes to unemployment” which found that 84% of managers thought a candidate’s employment status was irrelevant as, in the current climate, it isn’t an indicator of ability or performance.  However, candidates that remain unemployed for 6 months or longer will find it more difficult to as 28% of employers are less likely to take on someone they consider to be long-term unemployed.

How can you make yourself employable?

You need to aim to find employment within 6 months and take positive steps to increase your chances of being offered a job. The research identified the three most important things you should be doing, namely:

• studying for a relevant vocational, or academic, qualification
• keeping up-to-date with industry developments
• undertaking voluntary work

Why do voluntary work

You are unlikely to be spending all your working week keeping up to date with industry developments, looking for jobs, writing applications and attending interviews, and the research show that employers like candidates that undertake voluntary work.

Redundancy was the nudge I needed to set up my own company, but I knew that to start with I’d struggle sitting at my desk five days a week.  So, for the first three months I worked as a Volunteer Ranger with the South Downs Joint Committee.  I enjoy walking and cross country running so voluntary work that enabled me to help maintain something I cared about was important to me.   As well as learning a great deal about all sorts of things, I’ve enjoyed great team work and camaraderie, lots of banter, lots of fun and met some really interesting people. Now my business is up and running I still take the occasional day off from my day job to spend a day as a volunteer ranger.

How can I find out about volunteering opportunities?

You’ll find lots of volunteering opportunities on www.volunteering.org.uk and www.do-it.org.uk.

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