Rejection. It’s never easy to take and this week I’ve had it in spades writes James Alexander.

I applied for sixteen jobs over the last two weeks and, as yet, only three have got back to me – each to tell me that they’re not even going to interview me.

Of course, as I’ve already had negative vibes I’m assuming the worst for the rest even though that may not be the case.

My mood wasn’t improved when I called a recruitment agency I’d been to about a specific job and it was obvious that they hadn’t remembered me; nothing further was happening on that front although it wasn’t an outright no – indeed, it wasn’t even an answer.

I think the worst part is when companies don’t even respond – at least if someone sends you an email or a letter to say “sorry, but you don’t have the experience we are looking for” or similar, then you can understand why they have taken the decision that they have.

As it is, I’m not sure if it’s the way I’ve presented my CV, the way I’ve sold myself or just my background that is causing the rejections.

I am starting to fear more and more for my future as it is seemingly apparent that companies just don’t want to hire someone who is long-term unemployed.

Whilst I’ve spoken about part-time work in past blogs, the fact is I really want a proper, long term stable job – something that will at least keep a roof over my head, and food on the table.

I’m not totally convinced that part-time work will help my job search; at the moment, it seems obvious that companies don’t rate the volunteer work or training I’ve done whilst out of work as worthwhile and I’m not sure if they’d look upon part-time work any differently.

Of course, despite feeling all this negativity, there is nothing more that I can do than to plough on and keep sending in applications – all it will take is one person to say yes and everything will be okay.

• Image by Caro Wallis on Flickr