Finding work when moving to IOW

Validis · Guest

Hey guys.

Me and my girlfriend are moving to the isle of wight at the end of Feb! We've viewed a few places to rent, and have actually applied for a place we loved in Shanklin.

We have enough cash to last at least 6 months. I thought that that would be enough time to find a job. However, once i saw this forum and saw a few stories, I think I may have started to panic! My girlfriend already has an interview lined up for next week, and I myself am looking for ANY sort of work, whether it be sweeping the roads, pruning bushes and trees, or working in a shop. ANYTHING! Even part-time behind a bar may be good enough at first.

Are jobs REALLY that hard to find on the island? Or is it not so bad if you really arent fussed what kind of work you do?

I am an Electricians Mate here in London, but as i said, looking for anything! would just like to here some peoples opinions on Working in the Isle of Wight.

Thanks!

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missbad · Joined: 19 Jan 2011 Posts: 15

Hi

Have you had a look at isle of wight country press online, they have a job section and there is quite a bit of work on there at the moment.

Did you find it easy to rent out there. We are thinking of moving to the island in the summer and we are going to look to rent, my only trouble is my dog at the moment. Alot of people dont accept pets. So I will just have to keep looking.

Anyway good luck with your move and keep us updated.

Wight Portal · Joined: 17 Sep 2009 Posts: 326 Location: Carisbrooke

The first thing you've got to realise is wages are rubbish here.

Secondly you need to work out how much you really need to live on.

How much debt are you bringing with you?
Credit cards, loans etc.

Validis, you're a sparkies mate, so you know your way around a building site, ideal as we have a few of them at the moment. Expect to earn from minimum wage to £7 an hour, get yourself a dumper drivers ticket and you could score £10 an hour.

At the end of the day the work is there but don't expect to be well off.

Validis · Joined: 25 Jan 2011 Posts: 3

@missbad, Yeah we've had a look at the Isle of Wight County Press. Infact, thats where my girlfriend got her interview from. There does seem to be quite a few jobs on the site that I could do, and I assume more will pop up each week. I just wonder what the competition is like, trying to get these jobs. Also, finding a place to rent was very easy! we used rightmove.com and by chance, an apartment popped up which is in the same building as our friends out there. We booked a viewing with the estate agent, saw 2 more places, and decided we would make an application for tenancy.

@Wight Portal, its good to know theres quite a bit of building work going on. I hear all the time about how bad the wages are. But does this mean that there are alot of employers paying below minimum wage? It seems minimum wage isnt as bad as it used to be so as long as one of us can secure a full time job that pays at least minimum wage, we should be sorted. Anything the other one of us earn would be money for luxury or for savings.

We're both in our mid twenties, non smokers with no kids and no pets. We dont go out and spend alot of money on nights out either! And our rent will be £500 a month.

So im kind of hoping that even though i hear wages are bad, as long as they are at least minimum wage, we should be ok! I fear having to crawl back to london with our tails between our legs, having "failed moving out".

Even if one of us gets a fulltime job, and the other gets a part time job, that'd be great! Just curious to see how realistic the oppertunities for these are!

Wight Portal · Joined: 17 Sep 2009 Posts: 326 Location: Carisbrooke

What they call minimum wage nowadays is not far off what general labourers were earning 20 years ago. So in real terms the wages are rubbish.
If labourers are not still wet behind the ears, or complete muppets, the only difference between them and the trades are the wages and the pieces of paper that the tradesman have.

It's how many hours you can get that's the real problem. Less than 40 hours and your take home is less than £200, then you have to get into the realms of Tax Credits and, or housing benefit, the latter being refused by a lot of landlords.

The old adage used to be 'Never rent a place that costs more a month than you earn in a week.' At the time households only had 1 income coming in and rents were based on that, now you need 2 wages just to be able to afford a garden shed.

Your rent isn't the only consideration remember, you'll no doubt be paying all the bills, electric, gas, water and so forth, so it makes sense to find out how much each of these are going to set you back each month, before you sign on the dotted.

Jacqui · Joined: 11 Oct 2009 Posts: 44 Location: Calbourne

If you apply for any jobs, don't hold your breath waiting to find out if you got the job or not, employers here are the pits for letting you know one way or the other. Real bad manners!!!!!!!!!! Mad

sparkie1984 · Joined: 06 Oct 2010 Posts: 60

Tell me about it!!!!

I left the island moved back to my original town and a month later after I have moved into a flat and got settled down, one of the electrical companies rung me up asking if I wanted some work!!!!

only 3 months after I applied to them.

Just one piece of advice. Trust me it is amazingly hard to get a job there.

Me and my girlfriend moved down, she is qualified in payroll I am a fully qualified electrician.

No-one was interested mate. No-one barring a couple replied to say no sorry you dont have the job etc etc....

There were tons of jobs, my mrs applied for everything, I am not kidding, everything from payroll to trainee accountancy to sainsburys as a shelf stacker. (which she eventually got a job as)

We had a 6 month rent at a family friends place to try and find our feet there as we loved the island so much.

I applied for everything from xmas temp sales to every electrical job going that I was qualified for.

I sent about 25 CV's to electricians and companies.

I am unsure if you have read my story on here, but please PM me or ask on here if you have anymore questions.

I had some great help on here about things, put myself through the 17th edition testing etc and was so gutted to move back. I would still go down the island like a shot if I could.

But we personally couldn't take the pay hit to do a job that less paid than me as an electrician and the mrs as a payroll advisor.

It is such a great island, mostly friendly people, but I must say as a mainlander I did struggle with not having any shop within easy range, i.e. needing to catch a ferry.

For example John Lewis only run a truck over on certain days so you could wait weeks to get a delivery if all their slots are full. Petrol is expensive (where else are you going to fill up?)

Just use your head mate, your doing exactly what me and the mrs did, 6months is nothing when your draining your savings (which we did) I hope it works out for you better though Smile

on the plus side your going in season so hopefully more work about

Wight Portal · Joined: 17 Sep 2009 Posts: 326 Location: Carisbrooke

The moral of the story is, ditch the rose tinted glasses before you take the plunge.

I honestly don't understand how Sparkie spent 6 months here and never got some sort of employment. He is the exception and not the rule, for anyone who is thinking of moving here.

But for it to work you must be prepared to do anything and not just look within what you may be qualified for, if you're not willing to do that, then you're wasting your time.

At present there's quite a bit of construction work going on here and so general labourers are needed. They're advertised on the Government's Job Site as temporary. That word puts people off because everyone is after something permanent. Temporary in the building game can mean anything from a weeks work to a couple of years or more and is used to let you know that they're not intending to employ you for life, but if you're any good and further work is available they may keep you on longer.

Back before the whole country was wrapped in cotton wool by the Health and Safety Executive, it was possible to turn up at a building site and blag the foreman into giving you a job. Unfortunately a small minority of idiots were getting themselves hurt or killed and the Executive stepped in and now you need a CSCS (Construction Skills Certification Scheme) card to be accepted.

This card is issued after you've passed a test on basic site safety; manual handling, working at heights and so on. It costs around £25 and has to be renewed every 5 years.

But of course it doesn't stop there. There's a whole range of certificates and cards needed if you are to be using anything more than a broom and shovel. Most power tools can be used by anyone, but you will need a certificate to change blades on cutting tools.
I worked on the Sainsbury site and the sparkies were held up for 3 days because the foreman wouldn't allow me to change a cutting disc in the angle grinder I was using to chase out a wall. The only guy with a ticket was a subby who had taken the weekend off to go home.

Plant such as diggers and dumpers have had their own certification for years, but it wasn't compulsory to hold one on site. I used to drive dumpers and rollers on site with no ticket, but you now need a CPCS (Construction Plant Competence Scheme) card. This can turnout quite expensive if you're a novice as you will have to start from scratch with training, if however you have had and can prove at least 2 years of recent experience and are over 21, you might be able to go straight to the test.

The wages in the construction industry for labourers whether unskilled or semi-skilled range from the National Minimum to £7 or £8 an hour. If you also have a dumper licence you can score up to £10 an hour.

The only reason why it's worth doing this is because of the hours. The construction industry, long ago threw the European Working laws that govern working hours out the window and so you are able to work more than 40 hours a week, which isn't really a bonus, but does give you a liveable wage at the end of the week considering what the hourly rates are.

sparkie1984 · Joined: 06 Oct 2010 Posts: 60

That maybe so Wight Portal, I just wanted to let him know my side of events as his situation is amazingly similar to mine.

He does have the summer season on his side though, bearing in mind we moved down in october.

Thinking if we can get work and settled in winter months we should waltz the summer!!

Funnily enough we went back down there 2 weeks ago for the weekend and I do miss the place like mad. especially now I am working flat out 7 days a week currently.

That said I was bored stiff down there with no work.

Just to add, I applied everywhere I could including the likes of p.c. world as general sales, B&Q as an electrical advisor.

I also have a CSCS card covered under my JIB card.

My Mrs got a job, sadly it didn't pay well enough to support us down there. And I had to make the decision between staying there and spending what was left of our savings or coming back to guaranteed jobs for us both.

Wight Portal · Joined: 17 Sep 2009 Posts: 326 Location: Carisbrooke

I wasn't having a pop Sparkie.

Employing people is costly, what with advertising and the time needed to sort through applications, weed out the unsuitable applicants, interview the more promising ones and finally take the gamble and give someone the job. Then there's the training process which might take a couple of months before you actually become fully productive.

Employers are simple creatures to please. All they want to be sure of is that you can do what they want and have the relevant pieces of paper to back it up with.

That's fine if you are applying for something within your trade. But if you're after a menial job like say shelf stacking (no offence to 'Product Display Replenisher Operatives' intended). The employer doesn't want to know that you're a qualified brain surgeon who happens to be between jobs, because he knows that as soon as a position for brain surgery comes up you'll be off and he'll have to go through the costly process of replacing you.

And because you've shown all your wonderful qualifications to the chap, he's then got this seed of doubt about how good you really are, because let's face it who wants to give up £15 or more an hour for £5.95. Yet again he's thinking you'll be on your toes as soon as the opportunity arises.

As I've mentioned elsewhere on this forum, you've got to tailor each application you make to suit the employers needs. In this day and age it is too easy to become over qualified for the position you're after. Remember the employer likes his bit of power over his applicants, if you turn up being more qualified than him you stand no chance.

Interview technique is important. I personally have never got a single job through being interviewed, and so is why I've spent the majority of my working life on building sites. On first leaving school nerves used to get the better of me, I'd stumble over what seemed to be more like an exercise in CIA interrogation tactics rather than an interview, due to all middle management having bought into the rubbish published in those American books like the 'How To Wear Applicants Down In 2 Minutes And Spend The Rest Of The Day On The Golf Course.'

Before giving up and hitting the sites, I changed tac and did most of the question asking, this just flummoxed the interviewer because I was then in control and so his well rehearsed script from his favourite books backfired. After an interview at Morey's for a yard-man position, I came out knowing more about him than he did about me, needless to say I never even got a Dear John from them. And so it was off to the building sites for me, where once shown round the site the most difficult question asked was 'Can you start tomorrow?'

I've also mentioned before that a simple 'Sorry blah, blah, blah......keep your application on file' reply is no good to anyone, because they never say why and it's the why you need to put right ready for the next interview. So simply get in touch with the person who conducted the interview and ask 'WHY?' Otherwise you may find yourself in what seems a never ending spiral of rejection that will knock the stuffing out of your confidence.

sparkie1984 · Joined: 06 Oct 2010 Posts: 60

No worries Wight portal I know you wasn't having a pop mate Smile

Validis · Joined: 25 Jan 2011 Posts: 3

Hey guys, just an update here. We moved to Isle of Wight from London in March. My girlfriend secured the job she had an interview for, so she started work 3 days after moving here. I myself, got work as an Electrician within 3 weeks. And my employer has now told me he'll like to keep me as long as he can, with the current contract lasting untill next summer.

So, everything seems to be going well, and moving to the Isle of Wight has turned out to be one of the best decisions I made.

Its a shame their hasn't been much of a summer! Would have enjoyed to be on the beach every weekend. Anyway, time to see what Autumn and Winter brings!

Wight Portal · Joined: 17 Sep 2009 Posts: 326 Location: Carisbrooke

Praise Be a success story.

Good for you and well done Very Happy

laineyiow · Joined: 16 May 2008 Posts: 188

Validis - wonderful news! So pleased you have both managed to secure jobs and that you are now settled here.

I've found that each season has different things to offer and I'm sure you will enjoy each season as it arrives. You might even find that you will be able to get on the beach - in September - the weather here can be just as warm in September as it can be cold in the summer months!

fuzzy · **Posted:** 13-08-2011, 09:06 **Post subject:**