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job/apprenticeship help please

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1

1234

Tenderfoot
Dec 9, 2009
95
0
england
thought this would be a good place to ask for help because of the type of stuff i would like to do

just a bit about me
Im 19, have no formal qualifications, left school at 15 and worked as a labourer for a family friend until i was about 16-17( cash in hand type stuff so no record if you were to look) haven't had a proper job since and just be laying about for 3 years
never claimed any benefits or anything so been living of mum and dad (they pay for food, gas electric etc, although i never take money from them)
i have applied for numerous apprenticeships, jobs, training but nothing has ever come through so i must be doing something wrong,
volunteered last year at a animal sanctuary for a fortnight, which was good
the above isn't going to look good on a cv or letter/email and even worse if im asked to explain it
I've thought about going travelling for some time, but my savings aren’t going to get me far (3.5k which i saved while labouring) and would only be running away from something
another problem is lack of communication skills so find it hard to ask, talk about things without turning into a jittering mess,

its not looking good is it

well now to what im trying to achieve, i would like to get an apprenticeship/training/job in the outdoors, its something that just feels right because i like being outside and enjoy hands on stuff, also around 95% of the time im either in one of the local country parks, local forest or cycling/walking through the country
what im looking for is something horticultural, arboriculture, agriculture, environmental/wildlife conservation etc


i know i should contact the local council and councils nearby first because they should know what going on in their area, but im not sure what to write
would someone in the know be able to help me with a basic guideline/letter format, do i go into detail or just asked for info :confused: not really sure tbh
would really appreciate the help



thank you
 
Sometimes on council websites you will find job openings. Also local paper is good for that.

I would also look at foresty websites and any other goverment nature organisation website you can get your hands on.

Finding a job, is a job itself. You goto grill it 9 to 5 for a few weeks before you get the right result.

Hope this helps.
 
Are there any volunteering posts with the types of work near you? e.g. local wildlife trust.foretry commission?

These type of things get you on the ladder.
You'll get to know those you want to work for and they'll get to know you as real person.
 
Have you thought about going back to study, I did at 34 and it was the best move I ever made :) This place http://www.barony.ac.uk is just down the road from me, I did some work with the wildlife hospital part there and had a really good time (even the bit where I was shovelling badger poo) I know you may not want to move to Scotland, but it's more of an example of what is out there.
Happy hunting and luck for the future :)
 
Forget the council, they aren't generally employing ANYONE at the moment. Volunteering is probably your best first option.
 
Hi,

I am in recruitment and it is a very tough market place, even apprenticeships and trainee roles are hard to get becuase so many people are looking for work right now. It doesn't look like it is going to get easier any time soon either but that doesn't mean the right roles aren't out there for people, sometimes they just take a while to find the right match so don't let the time it's going to take to find the right thing get you down, chase your dream.

As for the gap you have spoken about, My advice would be to immerse yourself in voluntary work with the forestry commission or any other charities you have that are suitable and local, you may find these are vital refernces and show you have a genuine interest in certain fields to prospective employers. I would also suggest you contact the local job centre, while you may not want to take benefits they are able to put you in touch with training courses and often cover the costs of courses as well. Also if you are genuinely searching for work I see no valid reason why people shouldn't claim job seekers allowance, this should be used on things for job searching, suitable clothes, bus/train fares, safety equipment or even help your mum and dad out, mortgages, gas, food etc aren't free and they have stopped getting child benefit etc. I am not saying give it all to them but a contribution wouldn't hurt.

Another option would be to do free work to make sure you want to do the jobs you think you want to do. Contact local farms, tree surgeons etc and offer them free labour so you can see what the actual job is, it isn't easy, you will get knocked back (possibly a lot) but you only need one of these routes to work out for you. I am sure quite a few will say no because of insurance premiums etc but would welcome the chance to pass on their skills to someone willing to put in some hard work.

As for a covering letter it should cover who you are, your skill level, experience, what you have done and what you want to do and why. The why is probably going to be an important part for you to focus on due to your situation. I would suggest you hand deliver these (if possible) to people you would want to work for or do volunteering for so you can express your genuine interest in these fields. There is nothing like a meeting with an enthusiastic person looking for work to make people want to help them.

If you need anything else or more detail about anything then pm me.

stephen
 
I don't know where you are, but you are probably not far from a college that does outdoors-related course so you can pick up some relevant qualifications. For example, my local ag. coll. (Hartpury) does short courses in stuff like how to handle a chainsaw . Build up a few of these and you will look much more employable.
 
I was in a very similar situation to you 5-6 years ago Came out of school and was kinda forced into an engineering apprenticeship ... of course It didn't last and I moved 100 miles up the road so I gave up on that in the final year (still go two years worth of qualifications though). I then spend 3 years looking for apprenticeships in vehicle maintenance with ZERO success .. not even letter's replied to. I was too old (as I think you are propably best to check with then though) for connexions and they didn't want to know

So I decided to get myself to college and do the training myself which I have recently finished ... kept sending out hopeful letters while I was doing the training with similar success ... now I'm jobless.

The only advice I can give you is to get youself to a college ... your lack of qualifications might help you out there because the government is throwing money at getting people like you trained up (I didnt get a penny because I already had a trade) you might also qualify for ALG (adult learning grant).

The college should also have someone there to help you find employment ... how good they are depends (our's only ever gave you the easy choices, Army and council ) but it's better then nothing.

If there is time volunteer ... your tutor's should know people in the trade who will be more then happy for a free helper .... It's the one thing I regret not doing while I had the chance.

Although my story might make you feel worse .. I am now a qualified mechanic ... and that increases my chances of finding a job in the trade 100fold .. eventually someone to going to be after a mechanic with little/no experience which they can pay peanut's ... which for now I would be ecstatic with. Once I've got the experience under my belt the world is my oyster.

Hope it help's

Most important thing ... chin up and keep trying ... as soon as you start giving up you start missing opportunities.
 
Yep, go to college.

But you will probably need to be claiming some sort of benefit to get a free course.

Do you have a CV? Everyone needs them. PM me if you need help with yours. Im pretty handy at CVs.

ive enrolled at my local college this year. I hope to get qualified to go to UNI (Finnaly got enough confidence to go...its taken me some years)
 
Some good info above. Also do a search for "Future Jobs Fund" The govt had an initiative to get 16 to 25yr olds back in work. I have 6 working for me (Manchester parks). I don't know if it's still viable because the new govt seems to be cutting everything except MP's pay... Good luck !
 
You made the first step in trying to get yourself involved. Your age or lack of skills / qualifications aren't really an issue as such, as you are certainly young enough to do something about it. You're showing a level of keenness that many people of all ages don't show. More often than not it's not what you know, but who you know that's important. Starting here for advice is good, but you should try to think more locally. As above advice, ask around in person - visit sites, offices etc of organisations. I recently started doing volunteer work with the Forestry Commission, and it's been good so far. Check out local parks etc and see if they take volunteer rangers etc


Good Luck.
 
I'd also vote for the voluntary work plus improving your education approach. Lots of schools run evening education classes for GCSEs in core subjects and that's definitely a good idea. With coaching and hard work a lot of people can get their grade A-C in maths and English and that will help fulfill minimum requirements for lots of jobs.
The job situation (as seen by applications on various websites) seems to be getting slowly better as there are fewer applications per position than there were a year ago.
In the end, don't worry and keep plugging away - you're lucky to have parents supporting you and that's a real plus. You never know where life will lead you and you've got to take your chances when they come -I have a degree, speak 3 languages and have taught English for 5 years - I was working in Debenhams last Christmas though!
 
after I left school i went to plumpton college and did a forestry and arboriculture course. as part of the course you had to do work experience and i got a placement with a local tree surgeon. at the end of the course almost all the guys who hadn't dropped out and had a genuine interest got full time jobs out of it. i wasn't so lucky but actually started working with a college tutor at the weekends (the tutors are shockingly underpaid) and i ended up going self employed as a sub contractor.

a few months later me and my old tutor where helping out another tree surgeon on some big dutch elm control work. i managed to impress him and got a part time job with this new company:) this was pay as you erne rather than through my business.

through this i earned a fair lump of cash but then i got made redundant through lack of work and after that i only worked a couple of days for him subbing (imo this is a good thing as i think he is a bit of an idiot who i could never quite trust he knew what he was doing).
then not long ago he actually offered me a full time job, which i turned down for the above reason and because i am enjoying being self employed:D that felt good but tbh i could do with the money.



so how am i doing?
well im hardly flushed with cash, all my earning have gone on expenses and i haven’t even started giving myself wages yet:( iv just been living off of savings. But hey its erly days yet and being only 19 and still living with my parents i have very few living costs.

i have made another couple of contacts who give me work including my old work experience boss and i sometimes have my own jobs, mostly hedge cutting rather that mucking about in trees:( but i can't be picky.

life has become a bit of a roller coaster, one minute im super busy, the next i have nothing but on the hole things are good:)

so my advice is to go to college but don't get into arboriculture as is a vastly over crowded industry an you will struggle to get a job or just end up will very little work.

get some industry qualification, im qualified to use chainsaws up trees and that has lead to lots of work. The national diploma I also got from college has been near worthless but the knowledge was essential.

Once you get going and you meet new people it will lead to more opportunities, it is just getting going that is the problem.


GOOD LUCK:)

pete
 
Im in a similar situation, good to know Im not alone! Im looking for an outdoors type job, but after dropping out of my first year in uni things have been tough. Ive had to go full time in my previous part time job money is tight, still living with the parents and the job prospects arent fairing well.

Thanks for posting this thread its very useful, I think I will have to get some work ex. through volutary work and try and do some courses to improve my CV.

hang in there :D
 
1234,
I'm not a lot to write home about hope to offer somthing useful.
To start with you're 19....thats where many of us would like to be again. So time IS on your side.
Back in the Modern apprenticeship scheme I knew some 20 year olds who were in the same year as me so that should'nt be counted out yet.

But most of all, look at the response you've drummed up!
Your post on here was very clear and well written. So comunication (written at least) seems to me to be above average.
If you mean you find it hard to communicate verbally (like in interviews etc) then it will take practice/experiance to overcome this (I'm terrible at speaking to folk depending on how much pressure i feel) but for interviews you just have to dig in and show how much you can offer in the skill set you carry (whether learned on the job or formal qualifications) you have to come across motivated/energised but mature enough to take direction and learn the role.
You will get there if you keep the same out look you showed in this post.
Good luck,
Mojo
 
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