Two men, 40 years apart - one in England, the other in Wales - but they share the same daunting experience of unemployment.

Their downbeat mood is palpable: a smile is rare, and their softly spoken voices convey a lack of confidence and hope after years of sitting on the subs' bench.

In the town of Royal Wootton Bassett in Wiltshire, 25-year-old Ben Gillet is in his cramped room lighting up a hand-rolled cigarette.

The window is ajar and a crisp cool breeze forces its way through, blowing the curtain into the side table.

He hasn't slept all night - a common recurrence when you're without work, he says. The last time he was employed was in 2008 - and now his days mostly consist of playing video games and consuming vast amounts of tea.

"I've played all my games to death, I watch TV series that I've watched three or four times through," he says.

"My confidence is practically nil. I have no reason to be confident these days - I don't know why I'm failing to get a job, because I get such little feedback that it just amounts to none."

He doesn't have a plethora of experience. Short stints at factories and restaurants make up the bulk of his CV, along with low-grade A levels in sciences and IT.

Pessimistic
Ben lives in a clammy rented flat with a friend. The kitchen is swamped with dirty plates and cutlery, some of which have been there for weeks. Mould lines the mug from which he drinks tea.

bbc.co.uk

Get rid of the beard for a start...

I think I' do the same thing but problem is I'm just way too pretty for prison and I don't think I'd be too good at being a criminal either.

Everyone has to start somewhere, I've worked since I was 15 and had plenty of jobs in customer service, every single one has taught me something valuable. I would never tell my kids they shouldn't take a job like that, especially when they were younger I would always want my kids to have a part time job.

Snap... taught me some excellent lessons in life, started at 13 in local shop for £1.25 an hour. Of course it was slave labour, but it was my money, and I bought paperboy on the C64. Win.

I didn't like it at the time haha and I was going out partying all night etc but it taught me that you HAVE to work and I eventually started to enjoy it!

P.s this is what my money used to go on:





Good times!

My first paid job bar paper rounds was in a Threshers. Couldn't work the floor cos I was too young so it was out back sorting and clearing. Also done bar work, bookies, customer Svs work.

Not in this thread though.

Urm, first job. I think helping family on building sites or in their garages for labouring jobs. Must have been about thirteen.

I worked in a shocking bar in Whitley Bay giving out 'buy one get one free on all bottles' stickers to legless stag and hen do's and all the other wrongens (The pic below is the bar with a revamp so it was worse at the time)



Worked in Clarks which was lovely, fitting kids shoes, worked in another few bars in Whitley Bay, went to Ibiza did 2 seasons (sold/did loads of laughing gas) Worked at Orange twice and Fenwick twice (a department store) now I'm here. It's been canny actually :-D

That looks like a proper hole!

Yep, it was, it was class!

Delightful place.

Aha, Page 10.

Whilst I believe he originally wanted to be an Artist and went to Art School, the job which probably left its greatest mark on Hitler was working for the German Army in World War I.

Did you see what I did there

Nobody cares!

My first job was delivering thousands of Yellow Advertiser free papers complete with the standard crazy amount of flyer supplements that fall out of the paper whever you open it. Me and my bro wised up and learned that if we put all the flyers in the paper the night before and folded them we could do the round in record time, plus we'd already counted the number of homes on the route so had exactly the right number to make it lighter on our backs. We got about £15 a week to split between us, that went on Nintendo and Sega Megadrive console games every few weeks after we'd saved it. I can't hear anything off of Warren G's regulate album without being reminded of dragging that paper sack around with me.

I went Whitley Bay last year. Jesus christ there's one bar on that street that are advertising topless bar staff from 11am as their main selling point. Proper fat cunts as well.

There is nothing quite like Glen's Vodka ... thankfully!

You loved it, don't lie.

My first job was helping out at the local shop in the warehouse out the back when I was 14. Basically moving pallets of alcohol round and then doing the shelving up at the end of the day. It was that shit I left and got a paper round.

Was 15 when I got my first job in a health & beauty store, The pay was shit and the managers weren't much better. I had just enough cash to go to the pub that night so I was happy. I left when they wouldn't give me the time off to on holiday with my parents, coz I couldn't legally be left at home as I was under 16. That's when I did my NPLQ and started working at the leisure centre. The rest is history.

Me included!

The first job I had (aside from getting in the way at my dads shop in return for a bit of pocket money when I was very young) was when I was 14. My cousin and I aquired a chip van which we set up on the car park of my Uncles resturant (which was closed at the time) conveniently located next door to the busiest nightclub in the town... We would open up from 11pm til about 2:30am Thursday, Friday & Saturday and make about £200 each, each night (which was alot of money in 1985) - Happy days

In fact, upon reading that back I'm rather tempted to go and buy another chip van!