Advice please! What more can I do?

Is your CV any good? By this I mean have you had it checked for errors, layout issues, gaps in your employment which made need further explanation?

Are you tailoring it to each vacancy you apply for? What is the quality of your covering letter like?

It is a really tough market out there in parts so do keep plugging away and try not to get disheartened. Easier said than done, I appreciate.

I'm happy to give you a hand if you want to email your CV over to me.

cricket_bride @ yahoo . com

I would register with as many recruitment agencies as you can - go in and register rather then on line, it is in there best interest to find you a job and they will help you with interview advice tell what to do differently next time etc.. and most companies use recruitment agencies rather then dealing with the public direct... Good Luck xx

If you're not already, register on LinkedIn. It's a brilliant tool for networking/ job hunting.

I concur... I get loads of recruitment enquiries through this

Thanks for replying CB,
I have gaps in my CV due to various reasons, the main one being that I was signed off for a year with severe depression but I don't really want to admit that to a potential employer because it's in my past and doesn't effect me now. I've no idea how to address this without lying, so I don't tend to unless asked directly. I've in the past just said that I've been actively seeking employment and more recently I took an employment break to address my physical health issues, but all-in-all it still doesn't look great. Especially since I quit my last job after 5 weeks because of an abusive manager, and don't know how to explain this to potential employers without sounding negative about the company. It's a cr*p situation!
I don't have a lot of experience to put on my CV so it is fairly generic. I tend to concentrate on the covering letter, tailoring that to the job description by using positive examples from previous employers to show my suitability, and by researching the company/position beforehand to show I'm not just applying blind because it's any old job.

"The company was not right for my career path. There was no structured support and development and fortunately, I was able to recgonise this quickly and seek other opportunities."

During my illness I was concentrating on getting myself well and addressing my issues. I didn't approach the job market at all.

I spell check before sending every job email, though I'm sure some slip through occasionally. Oops!

That's a great way of describing why I split from my previous employer. Thank you!

I didn't mean in terms of jobs, I mean things like volunteering/helping parents/caring/making cards for a mate's wedding, that kind of thing. Did you go off anywhere to sort yourself out? Anything you can spin as a valuable experience?

Is there any way you could get some professional advice on your CV? I'm not sure if Job Centres offer this. When I was made redundant in December last year, our company offered outplacement support & advice to all of us. They were absolutely brilliant in helping me to make my CV professional. I thought it was fine originally but by the time I'd finished after their advice, it was a completely different document.

I'd absolutely second the advice to tailor your CV to the job you're applying for. If you don't have a great deal of experience, perhaps think about creating a skills based CV rather than a traditional employmement chronology one (and by this I mean setting your CV out in sections with various skills headings, such as "Communication", "time-management" etc. and then under each heading you can explain how you have these skills and how you've demonstrated them). This type of CV doesn't work for everyone but our outplacement advisors said that it can often be more beneficial for people who have the skills but not necessarily the experience, students for example.

I had a gap of 6 months in my CV but have not been asked about it. I did drop into my last interview that I'd consciously taken some time out to spend with my son and to decide what I wanted to do in my career from here on. I don't think it should necessarily be a problem for you.

Good luck in your job hunting x

Apart from all the fantastic advice so far, my ten penneth worth would be "confidence".

Never let a knock back bring you down. It sounds very silly, but look at yourself in the mirror, tell yourself that you are brilliant at what you do and that if people don't choose you, it's them that have missed out not you!

If it's meant to be, it'll be. If you're looking in the right places the perfect job will find you!

You've already done so much, far more pro-active than many people at the moment so keep on fighting...

My offer still stands, FMJ.

They offer this service at my local library for free - they have a careers advisor who can help you with applications and interview techniques too. Also a lot of companies don't bother with newspaper advertising anymore they just put signs in their windows so worth having a good scan around town too. You'd be suprised how many people get jobs just by going in and asking.. I used to be in retail management and I've set many people on this way because their timing happened to be just right i.e., I was just about to put a sign in the window or ring the Job Centre! Good luck hunting!

Thanks everyone, will definitely follow-up your suggestions!

I'll send it over shortly. Thank you!
Feel free to be harsh.

Have you tried volunteering? It can really boost your skills and give you lots of things to talk about at interview. I volunteered and as a result got employed by the charity I was volunteering at and feel it is going to be a great springboard for getting another job when my contract ends. I had 2.5 years of long term illness before the volunteering and subsequent job....

Hi I work in a Careers Dept at a University, I am a trained cv consultant for students and graduates. If you would like me to send you some guidance notes on what makes a good cv I can or if you are willing to actually send me your cv I can make some suggestions/changes for you using track changes so that you can accept them or reject them.

Snap! Me too! Also very happy to help as it's hard to offer advice without seeing what you currently have. I would also agree with trying to get some voluntary work or do some other activities which will give you current experience / references and give your more confidence and this will give you more things to talk about to a potential employer.

Last but not least, asking for feedback on applications is really essential, it has been great that you are doing this and I really hope someone does give you some honest feedback eventually (a recruitment consultant definitely would). Sometimes gaining feedback is all about how you word the request. If someone asked me for feedback but the way it was requested sounded like they would only argue against any point I made I would be hesitant to bother. Also, most employers would not provide feedback in writing and you may have better chance getting some by making a phone call. Asking in a way such as 'Thank you for taking the time to consider my application. This role was of great interest to me and I would appreciate any honest feedback as to why I was unsuccessful in being invited for an interview. This would really help me when making future applications'. That way they know your reasons behind wanting feedback. You may have been doing this already though.

Good luck and please do get in touch should you want any further help.

Good luck hunting. I know it can be daunting, but you seem to be doing such a good job so far, don't let it knock you back.

My only little extras to add are:

Would you consider looking a little further outside of your current search area?

Would you look into a training option so that you will have a qualification for searching for a job in future?

What interests you that you could go and get a course in?

Interior design? Hair/Makeup? Or more manual labour things like plumbing, bricklaying etc?

I work in HR for a large transport company.

We acknowledge EVERY CV we get, however we only offer feedback if the candidate has been unsuccessful at interview stage.

You've been given some great advice.