Tampilkan postingan dengan label employment. Tampilkan semua postingan
Tampilkan postingan dengan label employment. Tampilkan semua postingan

Rabu, 31 Agustus 2011

Vacancies for a failed dictator...


Apparently I missed all the excitement and this bastard is now apparently without a country to run, so I thought that I'd like to lend a hand with some handy suggestions as to what Gaddafi could be doing now he has some free time on his hands :
  • Cameron is looking to take a tough line on rioters and looters, so Gaddafi would be perfect as the new head of the Met. Who has more experience of putting down rioters than Gaddafi? Might be a tough call though as I understand Assad is also being considered.

  • How about Leader of the Opposition? After all he's used to attacking the British government and the rumours are that Miliband is on the way out.

  • There is currently a vacancy for a Community Advisor in the Pitcairn Islands. After running Libya, looking after a population of 53 should be a doddle for Gaddafi and they never did find Fletcher Christian...

  • Suffolk County Council are recruiting a new chief executive. The pay's not quite as good as for the last incumbent, but his management style should fit right in. 

  • Al Queda apparently have a vacancy for a new second in command although this would be a step down in seniority and I gather the accommodation is a bit more basic than Gaddafi is used to.

  • Perhaps Gaddafi could be helpful at the National Institute for Clinical Excellence - after all his considerable medical expertise seems to have worked well for Al Megrahi...

I'm sure there are a few more helpful suggestions out there, so how about adding a few of your own and I'll see if I can forward them on to him...

Vacancies for a failed dictator...


Apparently I missed all the excitement and this bastard is now apparently without a country to run, so I thought that I'd like to lend a hand with some handy suggestions as to what Gaddafi could be doing now he has some free time on his hands :
  • Cameron is looking to take a tough line on rioters and looters, so Gaddafi would be perfect as the new head of the Met. Who has more experience of putting down rioters than Gaddafi? Might be a tough call though as I understand Assad is also being considered.

  • How about Leader of the Opposition? After all he's used to attacking the British government and the rumours are that Miliband is on the way out.

  • There is currently a vacancy for a Community Advisor in the Pitcairn Islands. After running Libya, looking after a population of 53 should be a doddle for Gaddafi and they never did find Fletcher Christian...

  • Suffolk County Council are recruiting a new chief executive. The pay's not quite as good as for the last incumbent, but his management style should fit right in. 

  • Al Queda apparently have a vacancy for a new second in command although this would be a step down in seniority and I gather the accommodation is a bit more basic than Gaddafi is used to.

  • Perhaps Gaddafi could be helpful at the National Institute for Clinical Excellence - after all his considerable medical expertise seems to have worked well for Al Megrahi...

I'm sure there are a few more helpful suggestions out there, so how about adding a few of your own and I'll see if I can forward them on to him...

Rabu, 10 Agustus 2011

Migrant workers


If you go down to the fields today, you're sure of a big surprise....not!

I heard on the news the other night that people in the agricutural East of England are up in arms because of the numbers of migrant workers that have come to this country to work. Nothing new there you mght have thought, except that the complaints are not being levelled against the workers themselves, but against their employers.

And not because of accusations of slave wages either Oh, no. The complaint is that employment agencies that place these workers are being tipped the wink that employers PREFER to hire migrants because these want to work and are prepared to get properly stuck in for their wages.

The simple fact is that Brits in general don't want to do manual work. Their work ethic is crap because they consider the work beneath them and because they can get just as much off the state for doing bugger all. And if they are forced to take this work, then they spend all their time moaning and skiving.

It's time this country got it's work ethic back. It's time that we did an honest days work for an honest days pay. I am a professional man, but there have been occasions when I did whatever was necessary to bring in a few quid. No honest work was ever beneath me.

My wife was a single parent. She has performed the most menial and disgusting tasks to put food in her child's belly. Her mother was on occasions appalled at some of the jobs she did, but as she said to her "It's honest money".

Government and Unions are as much to blame. Workers rights have swung ridiculously too far towards the workers and successive governments have continually expanded the welfare state to the point where it is so easy to just stick your hand out. Work has almost become something that mugs do.

So if you object to migrants taking work off Brits, then remember - you only have yourselves to blame...

Migrant workers


If you go down to the fields today, you're sure of a big surprise....not!

I heard on the news the other night that people in the agricutural East of England are up in arms because of the numbers of migrant workers that have come to this country to work. Nothing new there you mght have thought, except that the complaints are not being levelled against the workers themselves, but against their employers.

And not because of accusations of slave wages either Oh, no. The complaint is that employment agencies that place these workers are being tipped the wink that employers PREFER to hire migrants because these want to work and are prepared to get properly stuck in for their wages.

The simple fact is that Brits in general don't want to do manual work. Their work ethic is crap because they consider the work beneath them and because they can get just as much off the state for doing bugger all. And if they are forced to take this work, then they spend all their time moaning and skiving.

It's time this country got it's work ethic back. It's time that we did an honest days work for an honest days pay. I am a professional man, but there have been occasions when I did whatever was necessary to bring in a few quid. No honest work was ever beneath me.

My wife was a single parent. She has performed the most menial and disgusting tasks to put food in her child's belly. Her mother was on occasions appalled at some of the jobs she did, but as she said to her "It's honest money".

Government and Unions are as much to blame. Workers rights have swung ridiculously too far towards the workers and successive governments have continually expanded the welfare state to the point where it is so easy to just stick your hand out. Work has almost become something that mugs do.

So if you object to migrants taking work off Brits, then remember - you only have yourselves to blame...

Jumat, 05 Agustus 2011

Sharon Shoesmith


Take a good look at the smirk on the face above. Does it make you feel as sick as me?

I've posted on this subject before (see here), but I am incandescent with rage about the decision that the Government and Haringey Council have been refused leave to appeal against the recent decision that Sharon Shoesmith was unfairly dismissed. Seldom have I ever come across a person more correctly given the boot!

Having presided over the debacle that was the torture and murder of Baby P (Peter Connell) and drawn a princely 6 figure salary whilst doing it, she has the barefaced gall to say that her dismissal was not justified.

Supreme Court judges booted out an appeal by Education Secretary Michael Gove and her former council employers against a ruling that she was unfairly sacked. They never even heard the case.

This decision is appalling - the timing being made worse by the news that it coincides with the impending release of Jason Owen, one of the bastards that tortured and murdered the poor child. If ever there was a justification for the return of the death penalty, I think we have it here in this horrific murder.

Nobody disputes she should have been sacked, but it wasn't done to the book. As a result Shoesmith could now pocket up to £1million in damages and £1.5million in pension rights because of the technicalities in the way she was fired.

Let's hope that the judge sees justice, not just the law, needs to be carried out. Award her a quid and let her pay her own costs...

Sharon Shoesmith


Take a good look at the smirk on the face above. Does it make you feel as sick as me?

I've posted on this subject before (see here), but I am incandescent with rage about the decision that the Government and Haringey Council have been refused leave to appeal against the recent decision that Sharon Shoesmith was unfairly dismissed. Seldom have I ever come across a person more correctly given the boot!

Having presided over the debacle that was the torture and murder of Baby P (Peter Connell) and drawn a princely 6 figure salary whilst doing it, she has the barefaced gall to say that her dismissal was not justified.

Supreme Court judges booted out an appeal by Education Secretary Michael Gove and her former council employers against a ruling that she was unfairly sacked. They never even heard the case.

This decision is appalling - the timing being made worse by the news that it coincides with the impending release of Jason Owen, one of the bastards that tortured and murdered the poor child. If ever there was a justification for the return of the death penalty, I think we have it here in this horrific murder.

Nobody disputes she should have been sacked, but it wasn't done to the book. As a result Shoesmith could now pocket up to £1million in damages and £1.5million in pension rights because of the technicalities in the way she was fired.

Let's hope that the judge sees justice, not just the law, needs to be carried out. Award her a quid and let her pay her own costs...

Selasa, 28 Juni 2011

Rotten Boroughs - Stoke City Council


Jeanette McGarry earned £123,000-a-year as director of housing environmental and neighbourhood services (HENS) at Stoke-on-Trent City Council.
 
Shortly after assuming her position in June 2009, however, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She asked to work part-time while she completed her treatment, but the council refused and instead put her on "gardening leave".
 
Then, to compound matters, on the day she returned home following surgery she received a dismissal letter. The council's chief executive, John van de Laarschot, also issued a statement questioning her performance and conduct as HENS director.
 
She claimed that this statement was libellous and pursued a claim for libel and unfair dismissal. Sexism was also mentioned.
 
Last month it was claimed that Ms McGarry had reached a settlement with the Council for an 'undisclosed amount' believed to be in the region of £800,000.
 
McGarry is no stranger to controversy. Before joining Stoke City Council, she worked as chief executive of East Staffordshire Borough Council. She left that position in acrimonious circumstances too, leaving "by mutual consent" in December 2008 after being suspended for alleged misconduct. Reportedly, East Staffordshire paid her £121,333 when she left -- equivalent to 10 months' basic pay for loss of office -- and a further three months' wages in lieu of notice.
 
Nice work if you can get it...
 
(You can read more about this case by clicking here, here and here)

Rotten Boroughs - Stoke City Council


Jeanette McGarry earned £123,000-a-year as director of housing environmental and neighbourhood services (HENS) at Stoke-on-Trent City Council.
 
Shortly after assuming her position in June 2009, however, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She asked to work part-time while she completed her treatment, but the council refused and instead put her on "gardening leave".
 
Then, to compound matters, on the day she returned home following surgery she received a dismissal letter. The council's chief executive, John van de Laarschot, also issued a statement questioning her performance and conduct as HENS director.
 
She claimed that this statement was libellous and pursued a claim for libel and unfair dismissal. Sexism was also mentioned.
 
Last month it was claimed that Ms McGarry had reached a settlement with the Council for an 'undisclosed amount' believed to be in the region of £800,000.
 
McGarry is no stranger to controversy. Before joining Stoke City Council, she worked as chief executive of East Staffordshire Borough Council. She left that position in acrimonious circumstances too, leaving "by mutual consent" in December 2008 after being suspended for alleged misconduct. Reportedly, East Staffordshire paid her £121,333 when she left -- equivalent to 10 months' basic pay for loss of office -- and a further three months' wages in lieu of notice.
 
Nice work if you can get it...
 
(You can read more about this case by clicking here, here and here)

Sabtu, 05 Maret 2011

Politically correct


With a name like PC Air you might be tempted to think that this is a wind up...

The Thai airline has decided that it will employ ladyboys as flight attendants. They are, after all, quite common in Thailand and after advertising for staff, the airline was swamped with applicants by transvestites and transexuals.

The airline said that the qualifications for the ladyboy flight attendants were the same as for female flight attendants, with the additional provisos that they be like women in how they walk and talk, and have a feminine voice and the right attitude. The Thai Department of Civil Aviation says it has no problem with the policy and the airline says it may well hire some more from the 'third gender'.

I don't know about you, but I find this a little queer...

Politically correct


With a name like PC Air you might be tempted to think that this is a wind up...

The Thai airline has decided that it will employ ladyboys as flight attendants. They are, after all, quite common in Thailand and after advertising for staff, the airline was swamped with applicants by transvestites and transexuals.

The airline said that the qualifications for the ladyboy flight attendants were the same as for female flight attendants, with the additional provisos that they be like women in how they walk and talk, and have a feminine voice and the right attitude. The Thai Department of Civil Aviation says it has no problem with the policy and the airline says it may well hire some more from the 'third gender'.

I don't know about you, but I find this a little queer...

Senin, 07 Februari 2011

Rotten boroughs : Norwich City Council

The UCATT construction union is pursuing employment tribunal cases for unfair dismissal, failure to transfer and failure to inform and consult on behalf of it's 125 members who worked on social housing maintenance contracts in Norwich.

Connaught went bust in September 2010. The company's £125m five-year deal with Norwich – which covered waste and recycling, street cleaning and council house repairs – was only announced in December but sparked controversy at the time. Morrison, the previous holder, won an injunction against the council awarding the contract after claiming Connaught had agreed to do the work at an "abnormally low" price. Morrison eventually settled out of court.

The Norwich contract employed 500 people but 200 jobs were set to be saved by the council and KPMG, the administrators, moving the waste collection and cleaning services from Connaught Partnerships to Connaught Environmental, which is not in administration. An interesting manoeuvre!

Last September, Councillor Steve Morphew, leader of Norwich council, said he would be "moving urgently to let emergency and temporary" social housing contracts. Morgan Sindall, which is paying £28m for all but 13 of Connaught's social housing contracts, will deliver emergency repairs in the meantime.

Now this transfer is complete, it is alledged that the company and council took advantage of the situation to dump staff and re-employ some of them on reduced terms. If this true, then it is scandalous and the union has a fair case.
 
It will be interesting to see what happens in court and what precedents will be set.

Rotten boroughs : Norwich City Council

The UCATT construction union is pursuing employment tribunal cases for unfair dismissal, failure to transfer and failure to inform and consult on behalf of it's 125 members who worked on social housing maintenance contracts in Norwich.

Connaught went bust in September 2010. The company's £125m five-year deal with Norwich – which covered waste and recycling, street cleaning and council house repairs – was only announced in December but sparked controversy at the time. Morrison, the previous holder, won an injunction against the council awarding the contract after claiming Connaught had agreed to do the work at an "abnormally low" price. Morrison eventually settled out of court.

The Norwich contract employed 500 people but 200 jobs were set to be saved by the council and KPMG, the administrators, moving the waste collection and cleaning services from Connaught Partnerships to Connaught Environmental, which is not in administration. An interesting manoeuvre!

Last September, Councillor Steve Morphew, leader of Norwich council, said he would be "moving urgently to let emergency and temporary" social housing contracts. Morgan Sindall, which is paying £28m for all but 13 of Connaught's social housing contracts, will deliver emergency repairs in the meantime.

Now this transfer is complete, it is alledged that the company and council took advantage of the situation to dump staff and re-employ some of them on reduced terms. If this true, then it is scandalous and the union has a fair case.
 
It will be interesting to see what happens in court and what precedents will be set.

Senin, 13 Desember 2010

Death of the T-Shirt Trade


I have mixed views about tourism. It has undoubtedly fucked up the world big time and yet I would be hypocrite if, as a seasoned traveller, I denied but I am not in any way to blame.

On my recent trip around the Pacific, I have seen first-hand the way that tourism can completely ruin some of the most beautiful and exotic locations. But the damage appears to me not just be due to the almost total economic dependence on tourism, but - especiallly in the post credit crunch era - it is due to what happens when the tourists stopped coming.

Eventually it was bound to happen anyway as over commercialism took away the very features that attracted the visitors in the first place. But when you combine that with worldwide austerity, the process is disastrously accelerated.

Bora Bora conjures up the immediate image of the perfect romantic location. Like most of Polynesia, it has become hugely dependent on tourists. When they stop coming, the economic decline is immediate - hotels close, unemployment rises rapidly, shops have no customers.

The double whammy is of course that there are no other local industries to take the place of tourism because all has all been set aside in pursuit of the quick and easy buck.

If these places are to survive then, ironically, they need to return to the very images of life in paradise that they are trying to peddle, otherwise they have no future.

And, if I'm honest, it is largely their own fault...

Death of the T-Shirt Trade


I have mixed views about tourism. It has undoubtedly fucked up the world big time and yet I would be hypocrite if, as a seasoned traveller, I denied but I am not in any way to blame.

On my recent trip around the Pacific, I have seen first-hand the way that tourism can completely ruin some of the most beautiful and exotic locations. But the damage appears to me not just be due to the almost total economic dependence on tourism, but - especiallly in the post credit crunch era - it is due to what happens when the tourists stopped coming.

Eventually it was bound to happen anyway as over commercialism took away the very features that attracted the visitors in the first place. But when you combine that with worldwide austerity, the process is disastrously accelerated.

Bora Bora conjures up the immediate image of the perfect romantic location. Like most of Polynesia, it has become hugely dependent on tourists. When they stop coming, the economic decline is immediate - hotels close, unemployment rises rapidly, shops have no customers.

The double whammy is of course that there are no other local industries to take the place of tourism because all has all been set aside in pursuit of the quick and easy buck.

If these places are to survive then, ironically, they need to return to the very images of life in paradise that they are trying to peddle, otherwise they have no future.

And, if I'm honest, it is largely their own fault...

Jumat, 27 Agustus 2010

The Living Wage

In a pathetic and feeble attempt to make headway in the Labour leadership race, nothing can be more calous, calculated and desperate than the recent attempt to jump on the bandwagon by Labour's own talking horse "Mr Ed" Miliband.

Blatently trying to drum up anti-Tory left-wing  votes, Mr Ed has decided to send out a letter pledging his support for the 'Living Wage' campaign.

So, when you are living on the breadline, here's just a few suggestions as to how you can make your wage packet into something that enables you to make ends meet :
  • Don't go down the pub every night
  • Give up smoking
  • Make eating in the new eating out and learn to cook!
  • Dump your mobile phone contract and get a PAYG phone for incoming calls
  • Cancel your Sky telly subscription
  • Stop buying iTunes for your iPod
  • Buy non-designer label trainers
  • Cut up all your credit cards
  • Cancel that foreign holiday
  • You don't have to have the latest gadget
  • Don't run a car
  • Get some skills training and a better job
Drinking, smoking, telly, mobiles, iPods, designer trainers, holidays in the sun and motors are NOT - despite what Mr Ed would have you believe - part of your inalienable human rights. What should come top of your priority list is putting food on the table, clothes on your back and keeping a roof over your head.

And if you carry on as you are doing, then some nice eastern european person will come and take your job off you because they seem to manage quite nicely on less than you get paid. Sadly, people in this country have no idea what real poverty actually is.

You already have a 'living wage' but many of you are just too self centred and greedy to manage it properly...

The Living Wage

In a pathetic and feeble attempt to make headway in the Labour leadership race, nothing can be more calous, calculated and desperate than the recent attempt to jump on the bandwagon by Labour's own talking horse "Mr Ed" Miliband.

Blatently trying to drum up anti-Tory left-wing  votes, Mr Ed has decided to send out a letter pledging his support for the 'Living Wage' campaign.

So, when you are living on the breadline, here's just a few suggestions as to how you can make your wage packet into something that enables you to make ends meet :
  • Don't go down the pub every night
  • Give up smoking
  • Make eating in the new eating out and learn to cook!
  • Dump your mobile phone contract and get a PAYG phone for incoming calls
  • Cancel your Sky telly subscription
  • Stop buying iTunes for your iPod
  • Buy non-designer label trainers
  • Cut up all your credit cards
  • Cancel that foreign holiday
  • You don't have to have the latest gadget
  • Don't run a car
  • Get some skills training and a better job
Drinking, smoking, telly, mobiles, iPods, designer trainers, holidays in the sun and motors are NOT - despite what Mr Ed would have you believe - part of your inalienable human rights. What should come top of your priority list is putting food on the table, clothes on your back and keeping a roof over your head.

And if you carry on as you are doing, then some nice eastern european person will come and take your job off you because they seem to manage quite nicely on less than you get paid. Sadly, people in this country have no idea what real poverty actually is.

You already have a 'living wage' but many of you are just too self centred and greedy to manage it properly...

Rabu, 25 Agustus 2010

The boomerang generation


Won't it be just great to have the kids back home again?

OK. You don't really need to answer that. After all, one of them might be listening in! And you wouldn't want them to feel unwanted now, would you? Never mind how you feel...

Pretty soon, lots of unemployed graduates will be leaving university and moving back into their old rooms. Back to the bosom of the family where they are loved and wanted. Well, loved anyway because what they have forgotten is that while they were away bettering themselves with higher education, Mum and Dad were enjoying some much earned freedom for the first time in years.

And now that's all gone. The parents can no longer run around the house in their underwear in case someone appears from their offsprings bedroom and demands breakfast...

But what really pisses me off is the attitudes of this boomerang generation. Attitudes like 'I don't need to clean my room because Mum will do it.' Like 'Mum will do my washing and ironing, Dad will pay the phone bill, my parents will put food on my plate' Attitudes like 'This is my home and I have a god given right to live here.'

Lots of the younger generation that I know seem to think that it is an unalienable human right that they can afford a house in their home town. We never had that expectation. We saved for years with our prospective spouses to scrimp together a deposit so we could get a mortgage on a crummy little one bed flat and even then we had to move further from town to be able to afford it. I was raised in south London, but I moved out to afford my first home. My wife was raised in Surrey, but her first home was in Reading.

A reality check is needed. You need to stand on your own two feet and assert your independence. You need a job you can do - you can get the one you want later, if ever. You can't afford a house on one income. It's not fair to live off your parents and contribute little or nothing.

Our generation lived with these realities. You selfish little buggers need to do the same...

The boomerang generation


Won't it be just great to have the kids back home again?

OK. You don't really need to answer that. After all, one of them might be listening in! And you wouldn't want them to feel unwanted now, would you? Never mind how you feel...

Pretty soon, lots of unemployed graduates will be leaving university and moving back into their old rooms. Back to the bosom of the family where they are loved and wanted. Well, loved anyway because what they have forgotten is that while they were away bettering themselves with higher education, Mum and Dad were enjoying some much earned freedom for the first time in years.

And now that's all gone. The parents can no longer run around the house in their underwear in case someone appears from their offsprings bedroom and demands breakfast...

But what really pisses me off is the attitudes of this boomerang generation. Attitudes like 'I don't need to clean my room because Mum will do it.' Like 'Mum will do my washing and ironing, Dad will pay the phone bill, my parents will put food on my plate' Attitudes like 'This is my home and I have a god given right to live here.'

Lots of the younger generation that I know seem to think that it is an unalienable human right that they can afford a house in their home town. We never had that expectation. We saved for years with our prospective spouses to scrimp together a deposit so we could get a mortgage on a crummy little one bed flat and even then we had to move further from town to be able to afford it. I was raised in south London, but I moved out to afford my first home. My wife was raised in Surrey, but her first home was in Reading.

A reality check is needed. You need to stand on your own two feet and assert your independence. You need a job you can do - you can get the one you want later, if ever. You can't afford a house on one income. It's not fair to live off your parents and contribute little or nothing.

Our generation lived with these realities. You selfish little buggers need to do the same...

Senin, 16 Agustus 2010

Graduate recruitment

So you got your nice shiney new degree and now you have to figure out what the hell to do with it?

Well, here is some practical advise from someone who has seen his kids go through it - and believe me, it ain't easy...

From my recent post, you will have hopefully realized that you have been conned. You were persuaded to stay on at school and go through university to keep you off the dole queue and make Labour's unemployment figures look better than they actually were.

But that is not to say you didn't do the right thing, although maybe it was not the right thing for you. Graduates tend to get jobs with other people or go on to professional qualifications. Entrepreneurs are frequently those who chose a different road. Different horses, different courses.

Here's the hard bit : your degree won't get you a job. What it will do is to establish that you have certain level of education and that you can apply yourself. It will open doors otherwise closed to you. It is not proof of intelligence. You can be thick as two short planks in the practicality stakes and still be a brilliant academic. If this is you, think about going into teaching.

And here's another heart warming statistic - In the 1980's 80% of the graduate output of this country became Chartered Accountants. What a waste of talent, but it does show that getting a job after universty wasn't any easier then either - and they didn't have JobServe!

Which brings me nicely on to my next point : If you are going into the big bad comercial world, then get yourself a computer. Use it to compose a well written and well presented cv. If you are sending it out in hard copy, print it on coloured paper - it will get you noticed.

More importantly, get onto job sites and apply for everything you can do, not just what you want to do. You need a job. You can get a career later. If you are not applying for 20 jobs a day, then you are not trying hard enough.

Don't spend all day on the computer scanning job sites. Get a routine. When you have done all you can for today, put it down until tomorrow.

And check your Facebook profile and information about yourself - your prospective boss will. If you look a prat on there, you won't get the interview.

And finally, don't give up. Winners never quit and quitters never win.

Good luck. You'll need it...

Graduate recruitment

So you got your nice shiney new degree and now you have to figure out what the hell to do with it?

Well, here is some practical advise from someone who has seen his kids go through it - and believe me, it ain't easy...

From my recent post, you will have hopefully realized that you have been conned. You were persuaded to stay on at school and go through university to keep you off the dole queue and make Labour's unemployment figures look better than they actually were.

But that is not to say you didn't do the right thing, although maybe it was not the right thing for you. Graduates tend to get jobs with other people or go on to professional qualifications. Entrepreneurs are frequently those who chose a different road. Different horses, different courses.

Here's the hard bit : your degree won't get you a job. What it will do is to establish that you have certain level of education and that you can apply yourself. It will open doors otherwise closed to you. It is not proof of intelligence. You can be thick as two short planks in the practicality stakes and still be a brilliant academic. If this is you, think about going into teaching.

And here's another heart warming statistic - In the 1980's 80% of the graduate output of this country became Chartered Accountants. What a waste of talent, but it does show that getting a job after universty wasn't any easier then either - and they didn't have JobServe!

Which brings me nicely on to my next point : If you are going into the big bad comercial world, then get yourself a computer. Use it to compose a well written and well presented cv. If you are sending it out in hard copy, print it on coloured paper - it will get you noticed.

More importantly, get onto job sites and apply for everything you can do, not just what you want to do. You need a job. You can get a career later. If you are not applying for 20 jobs a day, then you are not trying hard enough.

Don't spend all day on the computer scanning job sites. Get a routine. When you have done all you can for today, put it down until tomorrow.

And check your Facebook profile and information about yourself - your prospective boss will. If you look a prat on there, you won't get the interview.

And finally, don't give up. Winners never quit and quitters never win.

Good luck. You'll need it...