The user meltedretina posted this comment about his job hunt, and the discrimination faced by the unemployed.
“Sorry, wall of text.
I have had it with employers with this mentality. It seems like every job I apply for “Unemployed Need Not Apply” is written in some kind of invisable ink that I or others like me cannot see.
I have worked since I was 16, left school with 10 GCSE’s. Went into an electrician apprenticeship. After two years I decided that this career was not for me. I left the apprenticeship and went straight into working in pubs to earn a living. Nearly 10 years later I’m unemployed for the first time in my life. But I kept my chin up because after all, all I knew what to do was work. I kept applying for jobs in the IT field, even though I don’t have a qualification, I know several programming languages (php, python, c++), how computers are built, how they are fixed, and experience with multiple Microsoft, Apple and GNU/Linux operating systems since 1995, I’m only 26 but I know how shit works.
I’ve built numerous programming examples, all linked to in my CV, along with a glowing work history, and I say glowing because all former employers knew how hard I worked (my till always had the most money made at the end of the shift). I check to see has anyone visited my webpages, but no-one has looked to see what I can build.
I don’t just apply for IT jobs, I apply for anything I think I am capable of. Farm hand, bin man, you name it, anything. I do this because all I know is how to work. It’s now 7 months since I lost my job, and I have not had a single interview. I try different CV techniques, different social techniques, but to no avail. Nothing I have tried has worked. 7 months and not a single fucking interview.
I applied for a certain firm, along with two friends, one employed and one not. My employed friend was called up for an interview with in 2 days. We unemployed were told “thanks, but no thanks” in the same time. That’s when it really sunk home. All people really see is the date you last worked or if you are currently are employed. Anyone who is not currently employed is deemed “useless”. The TV is full of tripe about how the Job Seekers is a holiday, and you are only on it because you want to be. I have had to move in with my parents and can barely afford a kitkat. Yet on TV and newspapers there a people who can get nearly £200 a week. I get about £72 quid, and just barely exist.
I tried the self employed scheme the dole is touting as well. What a fucking farce. I have a business plan ready and set, but can’t get the funding because I’m on the dole. Catch Twenty-Fucking-Two. No one will lend you money because there is no way you can pay it back. If I trade, I will break the law (can’t even get insurance), If I don’t trade, the dole thinks I’m just wasting their time and trying to cheat the system.
Now I start my day like this. I get up, check the lastest rejection letters and e-mails (last week I was rejected from a call center job because I didn’t have a degree), check for jobs available that I have’nt already applied for, and then nothing. Hours and hours of nothing. I start to loathe myself for being conscious, only wanting to be awake when there is something to do.
So to all who won’t give someone a shot because they are on Job Seekers, FUCK YOU! I do not hope you die or have ill health, I hope you have to live the existance I have had the last 7 months, and see how you cope.”
