Life is on hold until I can find a job in events which will train and pay me
I am a 31-year-old graduate who left university last year. I am hoping to go into events management, hotels, and have an interest in writing. Since April I have been doing travel-type roles.
I have been lucky to secure events work as bar staff and a job on Saturdays, but feel I have got into a rut.
I am frustrated and tired of constantly sending off CVs and attending agencies that advertise work, but don’t deliver. I don’t want to be on benefits but am struggling to find a job where I can be trained and paid.
Advertised vacancies always seem to ask for experience, but don’t offer the opportunity to get that experience. I have lots to give and am willing to learn. I have to pay rent and cover living costs while working and training.
I feel like my life is on hold until I get a permanent role with more hours. I feel that I have done lots of legwork to get my career started, but need to know what to do next.
Jeremy says
Over and over again, my first thought when responding to readers’ letters is to encourage them to concentrate not so much on what they are looking for, but on trying to put themselves into the shoes and the mindset of potential employers: how are they feeling; what are they looking for; what might make them inclined to reject one application in favour of another?
As you will know, the industry you want to work in is quite fragmented and quite competitive. There are lots of young people interested in joining it – and often prepared to work, at least initially, for pretty meagre returns.
I don’t doubt your ability and your potential, but from an employer’s perspective, all they see is someone who wants to be both paid and trained. I know that’s not unreasonable, and some of the bigger players do, indeed, operate such schemes, but most of those taken on will be 10 years younger than you.
Looked at this way, very pragmatically, I believe you’ll increase your chances of finding what you’re looking for only when potential employers can see some immediate benefit to them: not after many months of (paid-for) training, but right away.
And since you don’t have that all-important relevant experience, you’ll need to find an equivalent proposition that makes you an unusually attractive candidate.
You say you left university last year, but you don’t say whether your subject, or your degree, have any direct bearing on the sort of role you’re looking for.
I would hope that they did – and in practical, rather than academic, terms. Then, as an aside, you say you have “an interest in writing”. If you have evidence of writing ability, then certainly parade it, not least in the way you position yourself in your applications. Think of yourself as a product, and then write a compelling advertisement for yourself.
Almost every company or enterprise can use people who are capable of writing clear and persuasive English.
They may never hire anyone specifically for such a purpose, but it can be an invaluable bonus ability – and, what’s more, it can be put to good use from day one. So don’t just claim such an ability: display it.
You say you have lots to give an employer and I’m sure you have. Now just give that assertion some concrete supporting evidence.
Readers say
• Don’t just send in your CV – it will sit gathering dust on someone’s desk or be put in the bin. Instead, contact companies by phone and say you are doing a research project into the events management industry and you just need 15 minutes to gather the necessary info.
Once in, say that you want to know how to get a job in the sector and who better to ask than an expert in the field. If nothing else, they may admire your initiative – and remember you when a vacancy does come up. fairshares
• You only have one life: please try to enjoy it however difficult you find your circumstances. PAN1
• I would suggest you start managing some events – hire a bar, print some flyers and sell some tickets. Boom! You’ve just managed your first event. spareme
• I work in catering and am always looking for event managers. Unfortunately the work is very seasonal, which necessitates freelance managers.
But on every event I keep an eye out for people who might have management potential. Are you being pegged as such? If not, what can you do to get yourself noticed that way and get more responsibility? What I look for is proactiveness and mental togetherness, the ability to see what’s going on in a room, and to organise one’s own section, however small that is. Are you showing those things – mainly by doing them? ewell79
I am from a poor family in Pakistan and want to earn extra money online
I am a 26-year-old man from Pakistan and have a master’s in computer science. I would like advice on how I can earn money online as I belong to a poor family who can’t afford to help me with my aim to study further.
As well as help with finding online earning channels, I would also like to know if anyone has any ideas about how I could study abroad in the field of computer science – at the least possible cost.
Jeremy says
I very much hope that the Guardian’s wide and ever-helpful readership will be able to offer you more practical advice than I can.
However, I would suggest that you try to turn your knowledge of Pakistan and its language(s) to your advantage.
Combined with your degree in computer science, you could be exactly what a very few organisations are looking for.
And the internet, with which you’re more than comfortable, offers you much the most efficient way of tracking them down.
Readers say
• Some academic journals pay for expert reviews of papers submitted to them. As a master’s graduate in computer science, you could look into joining the reviewer panel for those journals working in this subject area.
Many do not pay their reviewers, and the ones that do won’t pay a great deal. But reviewing papers could be combined with other freelance work.
This could also help you make useful contacts in case you do pursue a return to academia. Carr1eW
• You’ll rack up the money a lot quicker by working, even if not in IT. Charlie56
• Why not get a job? If you are good, your employer would pay for further training and you would have money in your pocket every month for online course fees. A former employer paid half my fees and on successful completion of the approved course, MBA,MSc, then paid the rest. FalkirkBairn
• Freelance sites, such as eLance, offer the ability to take on clients across a diverse range of industries. Smyffy
• There are quite a few freelance sites online that can at least provide you with some practical experience, though I am not sure if it’s possible to make a living full time, purely from freelancing. Try freelance.com and utest.com. paulieb1
• Yes, and then, with no training or aptitude, and some pirated software, you can undercut all the freelancers in the UK looking for work. bobbysixty
Do you need advice on a work issue? For Jeremy’s and readers’ help, send a brief email to dear.jeremy@theguardian.com. Please note that he is unable to answer questions of a legal nature or reply personally.
