I wonder if others have a similar story.
I was laid off in Feb 2009.
Since then I have applied for cira 1000 jobs, have had 4 job interviews and to date have not managed to secure a new position.
I have a degree in Electrical Engineering and 15 years post grad experience.

Funnily enough I applied for a job as a part time sales assistant at Maplin Electronics (high street shop) - it would get me out of the house and help ease some boredom - did not even get an interview.

So, clearly they had one look at my CV and though - he is only here for the short term.

So much for the government helping those of us who have lost out jobs to get back into employment.

To get back into employment Mr Brown, there have to be jobs in the 1st place.

Does anyone else have a similar story >

With respect I think you need to avoid making negative assumptions such as "So, clearly they had one look at my CV and though - he is only here for the short term." Maybe the person who got the job had 15 years shop assistant experience and so on. The jobs market is tough at the moment as you/we know and it is important to maintain a positive outlook. I would suggest you take a good look at your CV and experience and consider if maybe some more college/university training would improve your employability because the jobs market is going to be tough for a while longer and now is a good time to train, i.e., while there are not many jobs to choose from. As you know new courses start around the end of September and maybe doing something different but that compliments your existing qualifications and skills would help....maybe a 9 - 12 month course.

Try to stay positive.....it can be hard but things will pick up eventually.

Regards.

I am in exactly the same situation. Except my degree was in electronics engineering.
I am thinking of doing an MSc in Communications Engineering, but I never had any intention of doing further studies. Plus further qualifications do not usually improve job prospects, which is why I am choosing one which contains a placement of some kind.

It's not just he will be here for the short time they have looked at his CV and to them he may be is totaly over qualified for the position advertised. He is in the same boat as 2.4 million people who are also out of work.

Sorry to say just because you have a degree does not mean you are the first to be offered any position which may be going there are also a lot of less qualified people as well looking for work.

Being an employer we fill vacancies according to the selection of the most appropriate and qualified person.

The first most important requirement is that the person will be able to handle the work well and independently.

However we need to consider the fact that our pay and working conditions will retain the individual to work for at least a certain period of time.

It is true if the person is overqualified it is mostly that he or she will leave the job once a better offer is available.

Even with the most efficient job agencies there are still jobs to be filled. It is understandable that the present situation is such that more companies are cutting down on their number of employees.

It may be necessary to convince the potential employer of your commitment to work even if you are over qualified.

Regards
Chris Chew

I am in a similar situation. I was laid off in March, 2009
have a BS and MS in EE and 14 years of industry experience. There are not many companies hiring right now. The most frustrating part is not hearing back from many of these places that advertise having job openings. Anyway, i try to keep fit (1 hour of gym), read books, maintain my veg garden and stay positive (hard to do but is the right way to go about it!)

I was made redundant at the end of January 2009. It was my first job after graduating and i'd only been working for a year and a half so I was very worried about finding another job. It had taken nearly a year after graduating to get that first role due to lack of experence etc.

As i'm single and don't own a house I applied for every engineering job I could find from london to manchester, and even considering the whole country there was noticably less work than when I was looking after Uni.

I was lucky to find a new job in April but not in the same field as I was previously working in. As i'd only been working a year and a half I was happy to try something different but it must be daunting if you have become an expert in your field only to find no work in it.

Anyway good luck, all you can do is keep sending those applications out!

Amanda

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Amanda

'At some point we all must chose between what is right and what is awesome'

I also have the same situation over the last 4 months. Well, as for me i am a graduate of electrical engineering but got laid off after my company experienced the recession hitting them. Sadly enough i have a family to feed to it is really tough on my part.But we all need to think positive when we get into this kind of situations and think of other ways to sustain our living. Hope to hear from you guys as soon as you get new jobs. Cheers.

Regards,
Justin of Canon Powershot Sx20 IS Review Video

Yes they probably thought you were short term or to put it another way, the job profile is beneath you and you're likely to leave at the first opportunity.

What you should show in your CV or application form is that you're capable of rolling up your sleeves and getting your hands dirty. If you take some very temporary part-time jobs (Asda, Sainsbury etc), you can then show them you're not afraid of getting your hands dirty and your engineering background then starts to look attractive.

There are also engineering jobs in the academic community you might like to consider, although they are also suffering from cut backs.

Good luck.

There is the basis for a really interesting article here for the E&T magazine: contrast the comments above with comments from recruiters who are struggling to find skilled staff. And also ask those same recruiters to comment on the CVs of the jobseekers above (obviously with identities protected).

Maybe engineers on the market today do have the 'wrong' skills. Or maybe advertising of vacancies is not reaching the right people. Or maybe there are (as many have suggested) major problems in recruitment selection processes. Whatever the causes, it would be a hugely valuable service to the UK engineering industry if the IET could help get to the bottom of this disconnect, and I guess exposing it in the magazine is probably the best place to start?

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Andy Millar CEng MIET MCMI

http://www.linkedin.com/in/millarandy

A gold medal for this suggestion. But is the IET willing to launch such a project to unravel these mysteries?

The employer-employee "matchmaking" process seems a bit inefficient to me too.
People often say "diversify" when the current line of work is unsuccessful. Easier said than done, but for some people, there are other opportunities, if we just take time to look around. If some of our existing skills can be used then that is easier than starting from scratch. Mathematical skills, analysis, cost analysis, PC/IT skills, teamwork, communication skills etc?

I'm actually an IT guy by "trade". I have been "laid off" for quite a while too, (more than 6 months) I've had to sell myself in just about ANY type of work, as he said "to get out of the house". Not even if you were making a LIVING at it. But lately, I've renewed IT efforts. I truly want an IT position, so now that I'm "hungry" I find I am developing "Fangs" I feel fairly sure that I can land SOMEthing soon. Jobs are scarce. And you have to convince the employer you'd be his best MATCH. ie his best Choice to get the JOB DONE. I'm TRYING really hard to stay positive and be MORE driven/positive than ever. (Means I pray more than usual!)

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Steve Richards
on HubPages stvrich

Hmmm, just thinking. When I was in a similar situation I reckoned that 1 in 10 applications resulted in an Interview and out of them, 1 in 10 was a job offer.

Your hit rate at the moment is 1 in 250 to get an interview.

I would think that your CV and covering letters might need a bit of work from that.

Talk to the jobcentre - it is their job to help you and its free advice. Also send your CV to agencies and ring them - ask them if you can do anything to improve your CV.

If you arn't getting interviews then you need to do somethiong to get noticed better. Once at interview your odds are improved, there your personality counts more than your skills.

Article in today's Telegraph: How to get a job in tough times

Charlie

Are all the unemployment mentioned above in UK only?

I think British citizen engineers registered as CEng(UK) can apply for Eur Ing. After getting Eur Ing, they can apply for jobs in all Europian Ecconomic Community countries.

In addition to Eur Ing, if fluent in either French or German, there are still better chances of employment in EEC countries.

Our IET was known as IEE around ten years ago. The information given by me is quoted from a leading article of IEE news around ten years ago.

I do not know whether the situation has changed since then.

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Best wishes & regards
N P NAIR, MSc (Engg), C Eng, FIE(I), MIEE,Sr MIEEE.

A thousand job applications? Has the scatter-gun approach ever found a worthwhile job?

I'm out of the conventional career path now* (following redundancy in my early 50s) but when I was in a 'proper job' I found a careful selection from the job adverts followed by a very targeted application did much better.

OK, the world's changed these days unless you're a senior banker, but I would have thought the same basic principles apply.

Good luck.
Joan

PS. In the past I found the book "What Color Is Your Parachute" quite helpful.

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JoanW

I think that British engineers can have good offers for employment if they try middle east .The good thing is salary is tax free and other benefits as well .Please see the website www.gulfjobsbank.com it is very good they will make interview as there is a huge construction boom at the moment and lot of money involve .I hope my engineering community can easily accommodate in this sphere .
Just b positive
All is well

Iqbal

IET Connect - the IET Benevolent Fund - can help IET members who have been out of work for more than 4 months (and have less than £16K in savings) through its outplacement scheme. The 4 month programme includes individual coaching sessions with a consultant and covers topics as: . Evaluating job options . Developing a CV which will generate interviews . Researching the job market . Developing a personal marketing plan . Simulated interview training with feedback using CCTV . Progress review meeting. . Identifying transferable skills, strengths and experiences The scheme is outsourced through Chiumento. For more information contact the IET Connect helpline on 0854 685 0685 or by email ietconnect@theiet.org