r/UKJobs

23M dealing with long term unemployment. Applying for countless jobs. Tailoring cv to each job and getting absolutely no where. Constantly looking at advice and tips online but seems like nothing works. In Wales so naturally less jobs than England but have a full drivers license and clean dbs with no criminal history. No degree but have done well academically A*AA at A level. Absolutely no luck even with entry level jobs or even factory/warehouse. Just been turned down from courier (amazon flex and ubereats) that was kind of my last resort. Have worked with companies like restart and nothings changed. If anyone could give insight or be of any help would be much appreciated. Just want to be a working tax paying citizen but seems impossible as a young person. Was made redundant in 2022 (worked with covid vaccine bookings) then found a job 2 years later and then was made redundant again (the restaurant i worked for got bought out and they replaced all the staff). Been out of work since about 2024 really struggling and constantly trying new things to find legit work. Any advice/help would be much appreciated

I wish I did not have to look at this insufferable space where everyone is bragging about their next-to-nothings or dishing out expert advice on anything and everything.

I've a background mostly in ASP.NET full stack software development. I'm very hands on, like to tinker at different things and can learn fast.

Employment History

My employment history is like this: Placement year 2018, worked for the full term + summer, graduated 2020, did backend dev in Python at Company A for 7 months, then full stack ASP.NET at company B for 2.5 years, then co-founded my own company and was the sole developer on our software platform, did all the cloud infra in Azure too. That lasted for another 2.5 or so years. This gives me approx. 7 years of professional software development experience.

In May 2025 the company wasn't in a strong financial position, and I started to hunt for jobs. We limped along while I polished it for a launch in September 2025. The site wasn't the success we were hoping. We closed it in February. Despite that, I did learn a lot and my web app development ability is much better as a result.

Job applications

Since May 2025, I've applied for almost 100 roles. I've concentrated on roles where I'm not likely to be filtered out, i.e. ASP.NET jobs. I've gotten 8 interviews, two of which went to a second stage.

The most recent interview didn't go brilliantly, my IDE crashed when I attempted a screen capture of it! That said, it was a take home coding exercise, and I explained my decisions, made improvements during the interview, talked them over with the interviewers. My decisions weren't in keeping with the interviewer's expectations, but I had good explanations for my decisions. It was reasonable for a small project, but sure, I'd have designed parts of it differently if it was for a big live web application.

Help needed

I would like suggestions to improve my chances of success. I do have a good CV and tailor it slightly for each application. I wrote it myself without using any AI tooling. In my spare time I've obtained several Azure certifications, including Associate Cloud Developer.

I've been reading a PDF "Cracking the Coding Interview". I'm also thinking to:

• revise data structures,
• revise C# design patterns,
• revise the classic C# gotchas about delegates and IEnnumerable vs IQueryable,
• maybe read the books C# in a Nutshell and ASP.NET in Action.

But I wonder how helpful these steps will be, as I've never actually been asked about these questions, but maybe knowing them will make me "talk engineer" rather than come across as "just a coder"?

Beyond this, I'm not sure what else to do. I've never been in such a dry spell before with software jobs.

My location is in Northern Ireland, I've been searching in Belfast mostly but would also be willing to work a remote job from the UK mainland. Long term I'd actually like to move from NI to GB.

Any advice on this will be appreciated.

Hello all, I'm looking for some advice. I'm a male in his thirties who lives in Northern Ireland (Belfast) and I'm looking to get into trades (change career) but I really don't know the beat approach to do this or what trade wohld be beat to pick. I was thinking perhaps electrician or oil/gas engineer but I really don't know how to go about this. Please advise if possible.

Long story short , I work for a company owned by Microsoft, my contract is coming to an end but I will be made permanent but by removing me and rehiring me through an agency. I lose all my benefits (health, dental, Microsoft discount etc…) but gain a £7,000 bump in wage pre tax,( I’m currently in £33,000 and I’m 23)

Is this a rip off deal and should I look at better options, apparently Microsoft likes to keep costs a low as possible even if it means not making those who work bloody hard permanent.

Hi everyone, So I am a recent graduate (History, 2:1) and have been applying for graduate schemes and jobs like crazy throughout the past year. After around 50-60 applications, and hearing almost nothing, I have suddenly received 3 offers for new jobs and one from my current employer and am feeling a bit overwhelmed. Here are my options:

1) Current employer: Largest fast food company in the world (lucky guess)

I have worked in fast food for over 7 years now to support my studies, and my current business manager has offered me a promotion to shift management, and has encouraged me to apply for the company's graduate scheme.

Job Type: Shift Manager. Regular job with possible offer of grad scheme later down the track as well.

Salary: Zero hour contract (£14.66 an hour)

Length: Indefinite

Distance from home: 10 minutes (would live with parents, no need to relocate)

Location: A small town in the Southwest.

Benefits: Pension scheme, 28 days paid holiday, free health insurance, free meals while working, 30% off food when not working.

Opportunities for advancement: Immediate promotion to shift manager, followed by the centre manager graduate scheme. If I complete this successfully, I would have the opportunity to apply for a business manager role if a position becomes available.

Qualifications to obtain: None

2) A Large Bowling Alley Company

Job Type: Hospitality Management Graduate Scheme

Salary: £26,800 a year

Length: 18 Months

Distance from home: 1hr 10mins (relocation likely)

Location: A large city in the Southwest.

Benefits: 28 days holiday, one in four weekends off, healthcare plan, 50% of food while working, free vouchers for the venue.

Opportunities for advancement: Access to centre manager training programme upon completion.

Qualifications to obtain: Hospitality management qualifications in more advanced levels as the scheme progresses.

3) A prestigious, mid size aerospace firm.

Job Type: Assembly operative (regular job)

Salary: £26,800 a year.

Length: Indefinite

Distance from home: 2 hours (relocation necessary)

Location: A small village in the London - Oxford area.

Benefits: Pension scheme, life assurance scheme, healthcare scheme, 25 days paid holiday. Annual pay rises.

Opportunities for advancement: I would be encouraged to apply for internal vacancies when they open. No direct schemes.

Qualifications to obtain: None

4) A global accounting firm (not big 4).

Job Type: Tax Compliance graduate scheme.

Salary: £26,300 a year

Length: 3 years

Distance from home: 1hr 10mins (relocation likely)

Location: A large coastal town

Benefits: Life assurance scheme, pension scheme, healthcare scheme, 25 days annual leave, significant annual pay rises.

Opportunities for advancement: I would finish the scheme as a chartered accountant and likely progress to management.

Qualifications to obtain: Fully funded ACA and CTA qualifications.

Thanks everyone. To be clear, I am not asking you guys what I should do. I have been weighing up the costs and benefits of each one and am curious to get a some outside viewpoints.

Thanks guys 😄

Is anyone actually using AI day-to-day, or is it all just hype? I mean stuff like ChatGPT, not work tools. Genuinely curious if it's changed how anyone does normal stuff or if most people still don't really bother with it.

Studied law at undergrad and law masters (part time) is currently in progress, both great unis and consistently got distinctions this year. I love law and I’m a massive nerd, and if I didn’t think it would be a waste of my money vs career prospects I’d do a PhD for sure.
I used to be completely confident and competent, and it’s not that I’m not confident now it’s more that I unfortunately had some life events that led to me developing intense panic attacks and agoraphobia. I’m in therapy etc, but I was just hoping someone on here could help me to figure out where I can plan to take my career? I find studying in person extremely challenging and I cannot always leave the house to go to study. I’m worried about how this would affect my career and obviously working through it but I need some direction and motivation. Also I need an income to be honest and I’m applying to remote part time jobs but feeling a bit disheartened as I haven’t got anywhere with that.

Any lawyers with anxiety/panic attacks I’d love to hear from you. Anyone working in person with anxiety/panic attacks also. And honestly anyone with any advice about how to approach this with working and career goals? For example, I don’t feel comfortable going down the barrister route anymore because I don’t feel I could commit the intensity of the job anymore. Any (kind) advice welcome! Please don’t say I need to suck it up and go into an in person job, as you probably don’t understand how intense this illness can be. And I did work when it was first forming, and it wasn’t my choice to leave but I had to due to housing issues and move area. It’s now a lot less possible and obviously harder to get back in but also my agoraphobia didn’t exist then.
Thanks!!

22 F from Kingston looking for work. I have never ever been so stressed in my life. I finished university and still cannot get a job.

Anyone's taken sick leave due to stress leading up to the redundancy date? I'm being laid off from my job after a decade there due to offshoring to Asia. Was first announced 5 months ago with only an expected leaving date and now been extended for a further month with no official date confirmed still.. I've lost out on a house purchase because of this, had to stop family planning, cancel holidays etc. It's been a nightmare. 5 months of uncertainty with no official date confirmed, only an expected date which has now been pushed back a month. Also have been training my replacements in Asia for the last couple of months which sucks big time. Some days I feel better but in general I'm so fed up with my company and stressed about the current situation and my future. I want to leave asap and take some time off to get myself together. My handover is done from my side and I've been asking to leave as soon as possible so that I can get one with my life ( I don't want to lose my redundancy pay, so can't just resign) but they have not given me any definite answers, they are just going round in circles. I am now considering taking stress sick leave for a week or two as I'm struggling to cope and also can't be asked to be there anymore, but stupidly I feel quite guilty for doing that as I've probably only ever taken like 5 sick days in 10 years when I was pretty much close to death bed. Bear in mind I am entitled to 3 months full paid sick leave per year.. I suppose I am looking for encouragement haha

Do you think they were ‘worth it’, or knowing what you know now, would you have picked something else?

Applied over tonnes of jobs since 18 as I was on a gap year.

I'm almost 19 now, and still no green light.

I wonder if it's going to get bad and even worse in the future.

I've spent almost 200 days out of my 300 days consisted of the gap year before starting uni. So doomed.

I don't know if it's just because there are so few jobs and so many applicants at my level (mid ish management, operations/logistics) but I can't even land an interview. I've applied for lots of other different roles and different levels too, not even a sniff.

This is honestly horrific, I've never ever gone more than a few weeks without having a load of interviews lined up... It's been four months lol.

This is triggered off of the back of a rejection from a Civil Service job, which are not no effort to apply for let me tell you. No feedback, no nothing just no interview for a position I am eminently qualified for.

i'm extremely lucky to have found a job in an area i'm genuinely interested in and enjoy, but i forgot how tiring it is and how little time i have for anything else.

i miss having the freedom to pursue my hobbies and feeling in control of what it is that i'm doing. i miss the opportunity to learn new crafts and eat when i want to eat. i miss have agency and not counting down the hours to when i can go home only to be faced with laundry and chores. even at home, i'm so tired from work that i don't have the mental capacity to engage in hobbies.

i'm so grateful for this opportunity and i also don't miss being stressed 24/7 about money, but i wish we weren't forced to slave away.

in a dream world, i have enough money to not have to work. i'd live on a farm and source my own dairy and hunt/fish and grow vegetables

Hiya all :) 19F, currently on £30K with a £2.5K guaranteed bonus in West London (payroll admin, 2 YOE, college dropout.)

I've been liaising with a recruiter on Linkedin regarding a senior role, the salary range being £35-39K with a guaranteed bonus of £2-3K.

With my current company, it's office-based all week but I have zero commute time- the office is literally on the same road as me, a 2 minute walk! Despite not having a fancy title, I have complete control of my department, albeit I don't think I'm on for a promotion anytime soon. The company priorities employee-wellbeing by having monthly 'fun days' (with monetary prizes ~£50), extravagant xmas parties, and an employee of the quarter scheme (prize worth ~£300.) Other than that.. my annual leave is average, there's no enhanced parental/sick leave, and pension contributions are minimal. I do have a sense of loyalty to the company though- they took in a 17 year old with zero experience.

I haven't been fully informed of the benefits at the new company yet, but I don't know if I'm tunnel-visioning on the salary... It would add a 2 hour commute 3 days a week, and I've estimated that the tube would cost around £1500.00 a year for this, but the salary increase covers that well. Leaving school with no qualifications, I never thought I'd be in the position to ever earn this much.

Is it a no brainer to jump to a role (interview allowing) with a big salary increase and a senior title?

Hi all,

Currently I work remote with 1 day a month in the office and am in line for a job paying a higher salary that would be full time in office.

Finding it really hard to compare the two if I'm honest.

Current role: remote, 43k, looking to leave for a variety of reasons, money is one of them but I also want to go back to an office in some capacity, not possible here due to distance

New role: 70k, office 5 days a week (they seem quite adamant about this), 30 minute commute by car. I havent done 5 office days since before Covid, either been hybrid 2/3 days but mostly fully remote.

The actual roles themselves, my current one has a sales function to it that is really not typical for this role that I really don't gel with and has only grown in importance in the last year whereas the new one would be much more typical for the industry I'm in. Trying not to share too much in case colleagues are here so will leave it at that

I never thought I would be saying this but at the start of this year I realised I do need some weekly office time to be honest, it makes me more productive, happier, more social and some weeks can genuinely feel like lockdown working remote in my current job. That's not to say that there aren't times when it works really well for me in terms of getting to the gym, looking after the house etc, but I do feel on the whole, me being remote is used against me to give me more work, expect me to work over more often and is being used as a reason to overwork me at this current role

I guess the question is what kind of price can you put on full-time office vs remote?

A role I applied for closed on Friday just gone, but it’s been reopened and now has a new closing date for tomorrow.

My application is still showing as submitted/in progress, so I’m not sure what to make of it. Has anyone seen this happen before?

Does it usually mean they’re struggling to fill the role, or could it be something like adjusting requirements / re-posting the advert?