“The problem is that you’ve been out of work for three years…”

These were the exact words used to me by a recruitment consultant I was on the phone to about a job this week I’d seen in the paper.

A job I could do easily, and had a lot of experience doing.

As I pointed out to her, the only way I could fix being out of work was by getting a job – and if people weren’t going to employ me because I was out of work, then I was in a bit of a pickle.

In fairness, I went along to the office to meet with this consultant and she was a lot more helpful face-to-face, but even so, there are still a few hurdles to overcome on the way to getting this job.

They would send my CV to the employer who, if they thought I could do it, would ask me to fill in a couple of online tests and if they came back okay then I would be given an interview.

I’d already had a telephone interview and a face-to-face interview with the agency – all for a job that didn’t pay much over minimum wage.

I’ve come to the conclusion, like a record number of people did last month, that the way forward might be part-time work.

I can work up to a certain number of hours a week, for a certain wage, before I lose any benefits.

Admittedly, it’ll make things a bit trickier with regards to childcare and whatnot, but if I have to be employed to get a job then…

Maybe the thing to do would be to get a simple part-time McJob and hope that it leads to something bigger.

With university students returning to their studies next month, I’m hopeful that there may be a few office temping jobs available.

I must admit though that, at 32, it’s not exactly awe-inspiring to have to do something like this, just to get back onto the job ladder.