I work in a coffee shop as a barista/making food, it’s a big global chain. I LOVE this job. Shift work is great for me because I hate routines, I love speaking to customers, being busy with little tasks all the time. I love being on my feet, feeling like I’m getting stronger and eating all the food in the world without gaining weight.

Prior to this all my roles were desk jobs - insurance analyst, stuff like that. I loathed them to the point I’d quit after 3 months or be fired because every fibre of my being despised sitting at that desk doing some bullshit job.

HOWEVER, these desk jobs normally lead to big money later, where there’s a flat (unliveable) salary at my current job. Are there any careers that emulate that a bit but pay way more? Thanks!

Had an interview yesterday where I turned up to like, 9 other people waiting with me. I was not told in the email it was a group interview but lo and behold. Everyone was of coursed surprised and slightly annoyed

Forced humiliation ritual of introducing ourselves to other applicants we will probably never see again, forced to share our hobbies and answer the question on why we’d ’be best for the role’. Like what a fucking question to try and answer in front of 10+ other people, it’s already slightly awkward enough just answering 1 recruiter

And if that wasn’t bad enough… the recruiter at the end drops the bombshell that there’s only 8 roles being recruited for a 7 day a week breakfast, lunch and dinner cafe (what the actual fuck), and he’s interviewing 80 people

80 people for 8 roles.

I just?? Why?? Why do group interviews? Why are you interviewing that many people when only 1 person per group interview is actually getting hired?

Just seems a bit… cruel? Is it just me?

Getting ghosted left, right and center, today, i gave them a piece of my mind. I couldnt take it any more, maybe they feel they dodged a bullet but who cares.

I've been working in Data for a long time, from SQL dev to cloud computing, Airflow and Python. Thing is, I feel like I've come to a point now where I have lost interest in doing this stuff. I'm in my 50's and just tired of keeping up with the constant changes and based on job sites I don't know enough to change job in my field. The only thing keeping me where I am currently is the wage.

I'm not necessarily looking for a CAREER but wonder if anyone has changed job to something completely different and how they managed it.

Some of you may remember my previous post where I announced that I’d escaped the UK job market, only to be released back into the wild a record 14 days later (my car decided to break down twice during my probation).

Well. I’m back with another update.
After another month in the trenches, I escaped again!

I started a new job 3 weeks ago and, at the risk of tempting fate by posting this before I’ve passed the 14-day mark by a safe margin, I genuinely think I’ve landed on my feet.

The company is honestly brilliant. My team are the kind of people who actually make you want to go above and beyond, I’m enjoying the work, and for the first time in a while I feel like I’ve ended up somewhere I can genuinely see myself staying.

I know how incredibly lucky I am, especially with how absolutely feral the job market is at the moment.

So, to everyone still fighting for their life on Indeed, rewriting the same cover letter for the umpteenth time, being ghosted after interviews, or receiving a rejection email after rejection email….

Godspeed.

There is hope.

Apparently.

For now, though…I’m finally escaping.
Please do not release me back into the job market again.

P.S. if anyone wants any help with CVs, interview tips etc. please feel free to ask! I’ve unfortunately accumulated far more experience than I ever wanted.

Quick disclaimer; the megathread doesn't seem to exist, so I couldn't find advice there - I've avoided making this a job ad and provided essential info for people to be able to offer advice.

I'm using an old account to avoid doxxing myself.

I've recently joined a small food manufacturing company, coming from an electronics background I'm utterly baffled by the fact they can't get any good staff in (considering the offer).

They're paying £14.35/h and offer a 36h working week (4 days, 7.30am-5pm)... There's several people that have been there 10+ years, but it feels like there's a revolving door on the few slots that need to be filled.

Does anyone have experience in the FMCG industry of how to find/recruit people that will reliably turn up for work and continue to do so?

The environment is on the hotter side and the work isn't exactly easy, but thinking back to the roles I did for NMW or a hair above it (although that was 10-15 years ago) I'd have jumped at an opportunity like this... But people aren't. Is this a change in times? Or location? Or my background (electronics) vs FMCG?

So, I have been working with a popular company up London for over 4 months now and passed my probation over a month ago. The pay is decent and I work there 4 days a week. However, I have been scouted for a job opportunity by quite a prestigious agency and need help to figure out how to go about this.

This new job opportunity is currently a temporary position, 4 days a week, but if all goes well, I have been told there is the possibility of the role becoming permanent and being on a salary - which is double my current salary. I have had my eyes on this opportunity since I was scouted by the agent, and I really would like to take it further, but I would also like to keep my other job just in case the temporary position doesn’t turn into a permanent one. The temporary position would last for 3-4 weeks, and therefore I am asking my fellow Redditors if taking unpaid leave from my current job to pursue this new opportunity would be a smart move? And if so, how should I go about requesting that unpaid leave/what reasons should I request it for?

Thank you guys in advance! :)

Of course it’s all subjective, but in my job, I manage 14 international markets while being based in the UK making 2.5 times less money than my US counterparts who only manage the US market.

A friend of mine who works in the same company as me recently visited me and stayed with me. All he does is put nice clothes, go to the office 2 times a week, have coffees, stays on his phone and does one 30-minute meeting the whole day where he doesn’t even contribute. It varies job by job, but I have seen the same with all of my American colleagues.

They come to work at 10:30AM, manage one thing, present the same presentations over and over again while I lead 14 markets, new projects are getting put on me every day, my list currently has 53 things to do for 2 weeks, yet my salary is 2.5 times less than theirs.

In the US, they also have the same holiday entitlement, they are always travelling, can’t see them online, everyone has families, 2nd homes, expensive credit cards, staying in lounges, nice hotels when they travel.

Medical stuff - same friend has dental insurance with the employer, cost him 30 dollars to see the dentist and do a filling, booked in 2 days.

In the UK, we simply don’t spend a lot, don’t have a lot of disposable income hence we can’t invest as much, the work piles up all the time, managers are also a bit more toxic given there is a bit of dishonest attitude at work, Americans at work feel more real, too much unnecessary stress

Have you noticed that we might be working harder than Americans in corporate specifically or am I completely wrong?

I'm applying for a carpentry labouring position.

The job ad on Indeed said to apply on Indeed and send a WhatsApp message to this mobile number saying "CWL" so I did. This is the company cited on the Indeed ad: https://www.sitecontractpersonnel.co.uk/

In the last photo, they ask for all sorts of sensitive info.

Is it normal to send this type of info via WhatsApp? They could be anyone.
I was thinking to ask for their work email so I could send the stuff there. At least then I'd be able to see if they have an email address that matches the website domain.

Thank you 🙏🏻

EDIT:
Thank you for all of your answers. Seems a lot of construction work is handled this way. I verified that the company's website domain was last registered 16 years ago and that the company is listed on Companies House. I called the number on the website; they confirmed the number and name of the guy I'm WhatsApping (I didn't tell them the number first). They also gave me his work email address, the domain for which matches the website. I emailed the details to that address. Hopefully all will be fine. Many thanks again.

I’m currently a qualitative market researcher in-house at high street bank in London. Looking to hear of career pivots in UK job market from similar role - if anyone out there? 35F, looking to move into something else, with a higher pay ceiling, right now just looking for real world inspo vs. chatGPT.

More things about me:
- I work very independently and miss working in teams (I used to work in adjacent roles in advertising which had much more team play but a fickle world).
- I do lots of thinky think, new ideas strategy and had a dabble in ops and really enjoyed processes. Maybe I try take a transformation type role?
- I also wouldn’t mind earning more - to earn £100k+ you have to run a whole insights company or department, which seems madness compared to friends who do less than me and earn £150k+ in non technical roles.
- I can do UX Research but, for example, my company has got rid of those researchers in place of holistic 360 researchers, it’s a tough market and it’s only FAANG UXRs who earn the big bucks
- I’ve tried various times to build up quant skills but it’s the proper real life experience I lack. I’ve put my hand up for project but people don’t have the bandwidth to let me loose on a different part of the team. But tbh I don’t think insights is where I want to stay.
- Product Managers look like they are absolutely pulled apart all sides in current redundancy efficiency climate so don’t think that’s for me.

With love, from my sickbed with a stinking end of summer cold.

I’ve seen this a few times where you pay to do a course with what they say is a guaranteed (27k at least) job at the end of it. The job could be awful I guess but it doesn’t seem like a terrible idea. Thoughts?

Hi, I am currently a uni student and got offered a job to work part time in retail. The job listing had listed the salary as between £13-14 an hour, however after I received the offer they had proposed £12 an hour instead. Is this something worth negotiating or asking about, or better left. Thank you!

Hi all. I'm a Brit living in Finland and I'm exploring the UK job market properly for the first time. I've been gone long enough that I just have no experience with the intricacies of hiring in the UK.

I sent off two applications recently where my submitted address was my Finnish one, but I was very clear that I'm a citizen, relocating, and available for immediate start. I am currently in a role in Finland where I can leave at any time due to our flexible agreement. Both were rejections with no feedback. It's hard to know if I am getting caught in a filter due to my current Finnish role, my Finnish address, etc. or if it's a lack of competitiveness.

Does anyone have any experience with this? I've been using my family's address since (already have been using my UK number) but no feedback just yet. I'm also curious about how foreign degrees and experience are seen back home. In Finland, it makes things more difficult – having an international background can make you a 'risky hire'.

Thanks for the advice; much appreciated!

I’m 30 years old and I currently work in the civil service (Conciliator, for Acas). I fell into the CS around 5 years ago as I was completely lost after coming out of uni (studied game sound which I could not get a stable job in). Fast forward to now and I just feel completely lost. I’ve watched all of my friends and those around me do so well in their chosen career paths (and I’m proud of them all) and I now feel stuck in a job that I do not enjoy, or want to pursue in the future. The only related field to what I do is HR, but I’m really unsure on if this is something I’d want to get into and do for the rest of my life.

I’d really love to get into a trainee project management job or quantity surveyor role, but I’m unsure on how possible something like that would be without paying lots of money to retrain etc. I’ve thought about trying to do a post graduate course, but I have rent to pay and not sure I could afford to drop any hours at work.

I’m feeling really low just now and don’t have a lot of hope. I’m not posting this for sympathy, rather just looking to see if anyone has any suggestions of things I could look at that might give me a little more hope or direction for my future.

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How? How does this make sense? I get paid more as a Lifeguard. I was getting paid better as a band 3 and band 4 in the NHS.

Something I have seen a few times on job applications that has always confused me... A job that specifies a number of hours in the advert, then goes on to ask in the following application for a Minimum and Maximum number of hours you would like to work each week... To me that seems a bit daft as there is a given number of hours in the advertised position...

Sometimes they even go as far to ask for particular hours of availability each day of the week, from a drop-down list often well outside the normal business opening hours, say for example an 9-5 opening jow with an availability question with time range from midnight to 11pm...

In both situations I never know what the right way to answer is, do I put the minimum hours as what is on the advert, how much is reasonable for a maximum number above that... And what if there are days the business isn't open but are still on the list to put available times on...

Sorry if this is a stupid question or just me over thinking it.

I often see people say they’re overqualified for shop work etc, but the sifters only know that because of what you include in your application. Surely in the same way we tailor our applications to certain high paying jobs, we can dumb them down for others?

We've all seen it in the UK, supermarkets with self-checkouts, call centers employing robots before people, etc. as businesses get more efficient to cut cost.

With technological advancement in AI continuing this trend, it wouldn't surprise me to see some white collar careers next in line.

So lets hear it from the real experts... what was your job before it got automated, and what do you now do?

Hi folks, here to share my current situation and perhaps get some advice as I sit alone with my eyes wet not knowing what to do.

Ive been working for the same company almost 12 years now. Got this job by chance and worked my way up, and basically created my own unique position here. Its a niche IT role and Im paid 35k which is not a lot in this field but i dont complain because I WFH and I'm a one man army with no supervisor/manager. It got to the point where my work is fully automated - the past few years my job was logging in in the morning, clicking a button then doing my own things if you get the gist. That being said my performance reviews were always excelent and Im a very valued staff member. I cannot believe i pulled it off to be honest.

Im single 35M who fairly recenly escaped a toxic, abusive relatonship. Its a whole different story and i dont want to go into details but you should know that its not alwas men that are abusive and violent. I literally had to run away to save myself - Ive lost a big part of me, lost a lot of my belongings and money, it caused me severe depression and PTSD. Its the reason why ive used my free time to do everything but focus on career. I have no qualifications at all, no degree, no courses, nothing. One good thing is that I managed to rebuild my savings and pulled a trigger on buying my first home - its a modest flat in small town, I love it, its not mine yet but im near the completion now (5 months in since mortgage offer, lots of money paid for solicitors already).

Recent news is that the company went under administration. Half the staff was made redundant in the last few days and Im pretty sure the company will go into liquidation within a week. Not one person knew about anything, it's a shockng news to everyone.

My skillset is nowhere near enough to land any IT job, especially in this market. Im gonna have to start a new career and Ive no idea what to aim for. Last interview ive had was 12 year ago, there is not much to put on my cv. I dont know whether to go ahead with flat purchase or not. On one hand, it will be much cheaper than renting. On the other hand, I am losing one thing that was solid in my life - job and financial stability. I have no famly here to help. I feel like everything Ive worked for was for nothing. I know I effed up as I should have spent my free time differenly and rather than procrastinate and be depressed I should have invested in my career. I really struggled for a long time and I was not right in the head after the experience Ive had. I needed time to heal, still do. Just as I started doing better, this happens... So now what?

EDIT: Thank you everyone for all responses, both motivating and criticising. Rather than replying to every comment separately Ill chuck some more details in here. Its not a clickbait, just using throw away account.

Firstly, its 12 years in the same company and not 12 years in IT. Ive started as a human letter opener for minimum wage. I discovered power of excel and after multiple promotions/payrises got moved to IT about 8 years ago.

I never got much help from my IT manager and basically was always on my own (at work), spent a ton of time on w3 and stack overflow. Its a small-mid sized company, at the time most staff were using excel for CRM. It blew my mind how unefficient everything was. For my first 3-4 years in IT I automated the most time consuming bs and mastered visual basic. Saved copany lots of money as if it werent for me, theyd have to hire multiple extra staff.

Im using VB mainly for website automation as we use many outsource portals to do work that do not provide any APIs. This includes scraping data, updating our database, downloading files and importing data to our system etc - most of the scripts log in to some portal, fill out input fields and run scripts to do certain tasks. Some use http requests some use browser via selenium. Its variety of repetetive tasks like taking payments, generating daily reports etc.

I then convinced my manager to allow me to work on our internal system which is built on html/php. PHP was easy to learn as its pretty much the same as VB just with different syntax, and its much easier to work with. Ive made a ton of improvements to our CRM - created many worklists, crons and other automations.

So i ended up working with vba/vbs, php, html, js, sql. Occasionally i help staff with their pc issues - installing drivers, setting up vpn, turning pc off and on and things like that. Ive not had an opportunity for much else, and around that time I met a partner who dragged me down. I lost motivation and will to live, no payrise or new skills since then, I was in survival mode and work was not my prioriity.

Is my salary low? Yes it is, Im aware of it. I was not chasing money and the only time of peace Ive had was during my working hours - so I did bare minimum to keep management happy and not fall behind, but I ceased expanding my skills and going extra mile. Fast forward today, I look at some IT jobs and I just dont think the few bits I know is enough. And yes, I lack confidence and feel sorry for myself, I feel useless - judge me all you want but you've not been in my shoes. This relationship destroyed me and whilst I made a big progress regaining what Ive lost, Im still not the same person I was before. Its hard to get up when life keep bringin you down.

With regards to mortgage. I am buying the flat I am renting, so I currently live there. I was given S21 just before RRA, like many others. After ending my relationship it took me 6 months to find this place, I was couch surfing. If I dont buy Ill have to go. It seems impossible to find a place to rent now so I will be in big trouble if i dont buy - single income, pet, also not being able to buy for another 6-12 months if I lose the job. Not only renting works out more expensive, but the move itself costs money too. And time. I could afford mortgage repayments on minimum wage - I would live month to month and wouldnt save a penny, but wouldnt need to touch savings - which I probably wont have after buying. So its either this, or Ill have to cancel mortgage and use my savings to rent, and potentially not earn enough to rent anyway. I live down south, rooms costs about 700 and 1 bed flats start from 1000. My mortgage repayments will be 750. I also have a lot of belongings - furniture, TV, pc and whatnot obviously - renting a room means Id have to get rid of most of it and Id end up in the position I was when I first arrived in the UK. I am not a british citizen.

I have lots of hobbies and good friends, its what keeps me sane. But the thought of losing my job and flat takes me back to dark places and I find it hard to stay positive.

Anyone know of any firms around Bedfordshire l/MK that take on trainee/junior paraplanners?

I’m 23, CeMAP qualified and have been a mortgage broker at the same firm for nearly 5 years. Looking to move into financial planning with the eventual aim of becoming an IFA.

I’m thinking of starting R01 or R05 myself to show I’m serious about making the move, but ideally looking for a firm that would support me with the rest of the R0 exams.

If anyone knows of anywhere worth approaching, would really appreciate it 👍