The employment option means you have decided to look for job. This could be a job you have found in the local paper, through a friend or family member or one that you have been offered after using your own initiative to ask for it yourself. Some people take up a position with the employer with whom they had work experience whilst at school. In many cases you will be restricted to what is available in your local area - unless you are willing to travel - however whatever your situation try to ensure that the job you do is something that will enable you eventually to fulfil your ambitions.

In most jobs you will receive some form of training as your employer will need to show you how to do the job. Some of this training could be very good and your pay and conditions may be equally good making you pleased with your choice. In some jobs, though, this will not be the case. Training might be poor and your employer may have no interest in helping you develop your skills and qualification levels. Should this be the case you need to decide what to do. Talk to your Connexions Personal Adviser or visit your local Jobcentre Plus to see if you can improve your situation.

If you are over 18 and unemployed you will normally be able to claim Jobseekers Allowance (JSA). You may also be entitled to other benefits depending on your situation. Jobcentre Plus will be able to assess any claim and tell you what you might be entitled to. It is important to bear in mind, though, that Jobcentre Plus will want to see evidence that you are actively looking for work and will ask for proof of applications forms and CVs you have sent to companies, as well as wanting to know if you attend any interviews. After 6 months unemployed, or earlier in some cases, you will be required to attend intensive job seeking sessions in order to claim benefits. You will recevie additional support seeking work if you have learning difficulties or a disability.

The National Minimum Wage (NMW) is a rate of pay below which an employer cannot pay you. It is an hourly rate and changes every October. The rate from October 2009 stands at: 16/17 year olds - £3.57, 18-21 year olds - £4.83 and 21+ Year olds - £5.80. If you are being paid less than this you can contact the NMW helpline on 0800 917 2368 or visit the HMRC website in 'Links'. You must bear in mind, however, that this rate does not apply to people on Apprenticeships or other training schemes since they are paid on a different scale.

Sadly the advice to this is probably not much better than keep looking. Depending on where you live jobs may always be hard to find but during a recession many employers are less likely to take on new people. In fact, they are more likely to be shedding jobs. For adults of all ages looking for jobs the process can be extremely time-consuming and can also be very demotivating, especially when you receive lots of rejections. As long as you are doing all you can reasonably do to find work then it may simply be a case of keeping going until something turns up.

Part-time jobs can often lead to full-time work. Also try doing some work experience - it may sound outrageous to go to an employer and offer your services for free, but if you can prove yourself to be a good worker you never know, your employer might offer you a permanent job because they don't want to lose you. Another option is to do some part-time learning.

You can't guarantee that any job has a future, there is always an element of luck involved in the success of any job. It may not just be the employer you work for that may come across hard times, you may find that for you personally the job isn't all you thought it would be and so you need to look for something else. One thing that can help is to become familiar with the labour market in the area in which you live. See which job areas have the most opportunities and which are shedding jobs. Look at the Labour Market and The North East sections on this site to find out more about local opportunities.

If you are convinced you want to work and no longer want to learn, but still have no idea what you want to do you could always start at the beginning. Check out Connexions Direct jobs4u and look through the section entitled 'Job Families'. This is a good way to narrow down what might interest you. When you have made a list of jobs that grab your attention why not do some local labour market research? Check out the job vacancies in your local Jobcentre Plus and look at the weekly jobs papers. Do the jobs you like come up regularly? If not, what kinds of jobs do come up? What you want to do may be readily available, but it may not...