How long did it take you to land your first 'proper' job

[scifisam]

About four years three months - but that was because I gave birth days after finishing my MA dissertation and WTC wasn't around then, so I couldn't afford to work for the first two years.

Then WTC came in, and it took two years of many, many applications for someone to accidentally give me a job. (They called me by accident, but were so short-staffed that they took me on anyway. )

In retrospect it worked out well. I was a full-time parent until my daughter started full-time school, which not everyone can manage.

 

[Cloo]

It is the mindset the irks me.

I'm sorry. I so, so, so didn't mean to imply that retail isn't proper work!!! Really! I don't believe that at all! It's just something some people I knew did as a fill-in job. I know people with retail careers that they wanted as well. I should have put 'fill in work' instead of 'shop', OK?!

 

[chymaera]

I'm sorry. I so, so, so didn't mean to imply that retail isn't proper work!!!

I was irked by the mindset that an office job is a proper job.

 

[Jambooboo]

Depends what you want to do - some of the jobs I've done in social care haven't required any experience, more aptitude and the right personality for the job.

Yeah? Everything I looked at on fish4jobs etc stipulated some experience, be it desirable or a necessity.

Well I guess it won't do me any harm doing what I'm doing now for a while (working part-time for a mental health charity) - having not worked in a 'proper' job since graduating, having lacked direction and having messed up a few things (I spent ages doing an MA before I decided I'd had enough) I could do with something less intense than a paid full time work. Six-twelve months down the line I'm hoping I'll be into the swing of stuff/will have some good experience and new skills/will have networked a bit/will have favourable references to take me into a 'proper' job (ie. a career) etc.