How did you get your job and how???

[Angelina]

I've been applying for jobs online now for nearly four months and so far I've had 4 rejections and no other replies out of the 100's of jobs I've applied for. It's a knock for somebody who's quite extrovert but for me being so socially anxious, the rejection is making my anxiety worse.
I recently did some research on how to find a job and the only way apparently is to start networking by introducing myself on social media sites and such like Facebook and LinkedIn and strike up friendships with these people.For someone with SA the thought of doing this fills me with dread. For a start most of my Facebook friends I don't really know because they sent me friends requests to look like they have loads of friends. The ones I do know would pass me on the street and just ignore me like I don't exsist.
According to posts about networking, nearly all of them got jobs through a friend of a friend of a friend and hardly any got a job from just applying to online job vacancies. What hope have I got if I don't have the confidence to do this? Just applying for online jobs makes me ill!
I came across my ideal job yesterday which was landscape gardening for a large family home which would suit me down to a T! Minimum contact with humans and doing something I love which is gardening and getting my hands dirty. They want somebody who has experience but the only experience I've got is doing my own garden
I would absolutely love this job but my chances are minimal given my age and my sex even though I'm fit at 49 and very strong and love to be outside in all weather in my garden. I have experience in retail,factories, caring, bar work and beauty but I don't want to do these things as it's just too stressful with too many people around and I'll end up miserable and constantly anxious.
As anybody found a job by just applying online or have you got one by knowing people?

[subterfuge]

I'm unemployed at the moment, but in the past it's either been a stroke of luck where I was hired on the spot (like after phoning up a job advert in the paper by an absolutely CRAZY Egyptian lady), or it's been through recruitment agencies.
The agencies tend to send my anxiety through the roof (Maybe something to do with them always seeming to be full of attractive, young, over-confident girls who make me feel like such a loser!) but since they really want to get you a job as they get a nice little cut of your wages, I guess it makes sense that they keep pushing for you.
Some are obviously better than others, too.

[laracroft]

Hiya. I got my private caring /PA job from joining one of those god awful caring agencies, when I didnt know what else to do. I only lasted 4 months but I got enough contacts to start working for myself cleaning, which I am good at. I also am a PA for a disabled man who has become my best friend. Once you do a good job, word soon gets around. I chose cleaning, but it could easily have been gadening, and sometimes I do gardening for my old lady clients, and decorating as well, which I also like. I have been doing this for 7 years.
Try gumtree for gardening jobs. If you are good, you will soon have a round of your own.

[Tom Morello]

I was unemployed for 2 years and had a lot of the issues you're having, but to help my cause I volunteered for various places during that time to gain some experience and show my qualities. Eventually I found the courage to go and approach a recruitment agency to do some temporary work, and they luckily found me something that I was interested in quite quickly. (admin work for the NHS) A few months later I became a permanent worker at the same place, and in about a year since then I've had two promotions. I'm now doing data management for cancer drug trials. (not as great as it sounds)

It's tough, I never really got anywhere with online applications either, I only got interviews for the generally low paid NHS admin jobs, even then I got told I didn't have enough confidence/experience. I didn't really know anyone so agencies were pretty much the only option I had left. I don't know if there are agencies which are tailored towards garden work but I imagine there is if you do some searching. If you do approach agencies then the only way to go is to physically go to their offices and ask them about positions. I know that's a really scary thing for a person with SA hence why it took me 2 years to manage it, but if there is any way you can do manage that then I would recommend it.

Good luck, I hope you get something soon!

[sillypenguin]

Basically all of mine have been through recruitment agencies although my current job was made permanent after 4 months. Although due to getting no contractual sick pay at mo it doesnt seem worth it for a perm job :/ I reckon anyone has a better chance by applying for jobs through agencies. The longest I've been unemployed for is about 4 months as I always seemed to get some temp job or another, whether they'll be any good is a different question altogether

[sjsuk]

The worst thing to do it find a job with minimal contact. That only serves to keep your SA on top and winning.
Anyway.....I'd like to say I found a job by applying online. I had applied for about 15 in a very short space of time of seriously looking, and only applied for those I was actually qualified for, and with the hours I could commit too 100%. I eventually had 3 rejection letters out of those 15, and 1 interview offer. The rest I never heard a thing.
Anyway, I went to the interview, and was offered the job there and then.
As long as you meet the criteria, keep applying. There are so many people going for the same job as you, don't ever take it personally that you didn't get selected. Regardless of who applies, the people hiring already know what type of person they will invite along.

[Memory]

I got my job from submitting an application form and attending an interview. There was a problem with the person they originally appointed so they offered the job to me - apparently it was really close between us. Before that I'd only had a temp job for about a month but done a lot of relevant volunteering. It's really tough to get any job so you just have to keep at it and eventually you'll get success.

If you haven't already, I'd apply for the landscape gardening job as nothing ventured, nothing gained an' all and personal experience does still count as experience. Also, have you considered volunteering? Charities like Age UK would probably have opportunities for gardening and would help with getting more experience.

[Stotch]

Try tailoring each CV to the job you apply for (along with a cover letter). This will be time consuming but the more you apply the better the odds.

Also consider going through the directory and phoning companies directly... ask for the HR department and charm them.

[Hood]

Since the mid 2000s I've gotten my jobs through looking on line, through Indeed mostly, I've found that the best. The most recent job I've had (driving a car recovery wagon for a breakers yard) was through a friend I made when I was agency multidrop van driving. Delivery work dried up, he got his old job back at the yard and he told me they needed a driver.

A year on, I had an interview last week with a large delivery firm, (which I also found online) and I got the job there and then I start tomorrow at 7 sharp. I find first days at a new job really scary - all those new people I have to meet

But a big plus is my money worries are all but over now, well, apart from the fact my previous employer is 2 weeks late with my pay

[Angelina]

I didn't get the gardening job jinny after spending over two hours making sure my cv and cover letter were perfect, I pressed apply and it said the vacancy was no longer available and had been taken down, sorry for any inconvenience! Grrrrr I've got 7 Cv's all tailored to jobs I know I have experience in. Beauty therapy, massage therapy, nail technology,retail, cleaning, bar work, fitness and nutrition. I have just got a cleaning job but it's not enough hours so I need another one. The guy at the interview was so relaxed and funny, I forgot I was in an interview and I was dreading it! Just go to show how we worry for nothing.I have an interview for an off license in my town tomorrow but it just doesn't float my boat but I'm giving a big two fingers up to my SA and going for it. Thanks for all the replies. Really interesting to read the replies. Thank you for all your helpful comments. You guys are ace!

[Angelina]

Thanks jinny, can I ask what you do and why you've decided to quit your job? I'm 49 and I feel like I'm only just starting out in life,it's took me this long to get some courage and confidence to believe in myself.

[Angelina]

Hi
Congratulations on your new job and hope everything works out for you. First days are terrifying aren't they,I literally shake but my meds help keep it under control Lol

[Angelina]

Well done you for sticking at it. I could never see myself in management and having to boss people around, I'd be terrible. We should be proud of ourselves because we have to work twice as hard in a work place just to cope

[challangerchris]

I got into laboratory work simply from right time right place. Complete luck of the draw.

I am currently trying to move away from laboratory work but my lack of experience in every other environment is proving to be difficult.

My laboratory is in the middle of a 'call-centre' style setup - loads if young attractive females with plenty confidence........somehow I have managed to avoid all the parties and weekends out but don't know how many more times I can get away with it (I use my weekend Dad duties as an excuse).

Sometimes I wish I could work from home but then I would see even less people haha.

Life is a proper test and like my GCSE grades I have failed miserably. I still believe I have many better qualities than others - it's just a shame these qualities don't have a place in modern Britain.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[diplodocus]

Hi Angelina,
sorry to hear about yours struggles. Thought I'd just recount my experience of on line job hunting. I started back in October of last year and have only just got a new job in Mid April. So that's 6 1/2 months. I applied for hundreds of jobs in that time and got hundreds of rejections or simply no reply at all. What worked for me was getting my CV redone by a professional CV rewriter. I went from getting no replies to getting interview offers. Compared to my CV now my old CV was really quite poor. A good looking CV is really important as it's the first thing an employer sees. It really worked in my experience. In the end I went to 4 interviews before I got the position I accepted now. Not pleasant with SA.

The other thing that really helped was to work on my cover letter. I found a cover letter template on Reed and using that format redid my cover letter. I can't be a hundred percent sure it worked but I definitely got more responses after changing it.

So maybe you could try a CV/Cover letter revamp or just get someone professional to look over and let you know what they think? But don't give up yet, as from experience I know that it can feel hopeless but from reading your first post I'd employ you as a gardener with no hestitation. Everything you put in your post you could put in cover letter with a little editing. It explains a lot of the answers that an employer will want answered about stuff like your experience, enthusiasm and age. You covered a lot of bases there so it would be wise to use it to your advantage. Anyway good luck with the job hunt.

[Angelina]

I did revamp my cv's and I got my cover letter of a website with examples of exceptional cover letters that got jobs and now I've got two jobs in the space of a week. I clean an office early evening which is brill cause I'm the only one there and I don't have to worry about social interaction and also I've been training to work in an off license but it's daunting. The men are srilankan and I'm struggling to understand what they're saying! I was so nervous I was shaking but serving people is not too bad, it's the in between bit and trying to speak to somebody who doesn't speak very good English. The shop is super super busy most of the time and it was scary learning all the different things like the lottery, people paying bills, scratch cards, dealing with drunk people who come in and people who want several different things at once all requiring using different scanners and procedures. I haven't started yet because they have to make sure i can hack it. I don't know if I can

[Angelina]

Doing your job is one of the worst jobs I can think of for someone with SA! Not from working with kids but your co-workers. I understand where your coming and I can empathise about the anxiety you feel about your work colleagues. Most of them talk to you like your 2 years old especially teachers and I also understand about structure, if there is none, it makes for a really long day. I absolutely hate it when I don't know what I'll be doing for the day, that would be a nightmare job for me. Kids are a bonus for you. Where I live there's always classroom assistant jobs opening, I'm sure something will come up for you

[Angelina]

Working from home not all it's cracked up to be and you feel really isolated and your motivation slides because your in a safe place so you end up giving yourself extra long breaks and doing other jobs around the house lol. And I really do think it makes your SA worse. I tried to sell online at home but I can't make enough money to pay all the bills so I've had no choice but to get a job, two in fact and now I have two jobs and a tax return to file which is daunting in itself.

[GoldFish]

Originally Posted by Angelina

Working from home not all it's cracked up to be and you feel really isolated and your motivation slides because your in a safe place so you end up giving yourself extra long breaks and doing other jobs around the house lol. And I really do think it makes your SA worse. I tried to sell online at home but I can't make enough money to pay all the bills so I've had no choice but to get a job, two in fact and now I have two jobs and a tax return to file which is daunting in itself.

Yeh I agree however I've found that most department related jobs require good banter and conversational skills, high self confidence working with people...

People who like to play office politics and people who are very difficult/complicated extroverts to be around...it totally takes away from the actual work itself, because most of the day is exhausted by working around all the other people..

I think a job at home or working alone or with 1-2 people is way more suited to me as a personality..I would much rather do work then be exhausted by intimidating people and non-stop roller-coaster emotions and their egos all the time...

I just like putting my head down and working..

Don't get me wrong if it's a nice, easy going group of people, that's different..

[Angelina]

One of my jobs is cleaning offices 5-7pm and when I get there nearly everybody as gone so I'm mostly on my own but the people who work there will actually come up and check if ur ok if they're working late which is really nice and people from an office downstairs which I don't clean have actually come upstairs to say hello which I'm surprised about. Are they being nosy or just friendly? Anyway I never thought I could even handle a job or cope with people I don't know until now but even doing a job like just cleaning boosts your confidence a little. Small steps