Mr Hanson says he is determined to find a job

He lives with his wife Melanie, 48, and 16-year-old son Joseph in Selly Oak - he also has a 22-year-old daughter, Kimberly, who lives in Portsmouth.

I've been filling in my Homebase application form and I've got my CV finished. I've also got another form from the hospital for a maintenance assistant.

I did my CV mostly myself then e-mailed it to my son-in-law who made a few corrections, then we were batting it backwards and forwards between each other until about 12 o'clock last night.

The young guys are more modern guys than me, I'm used to working with spanners and hammers and their tools are pens and computers Read Mr Hanson's first excerpt

I was surprised how talented I am. There's a lot there but most of the things we did at Rover seemed to be done off the top of our heads.

I'm pleased with it, it shows I'm able to retrain having done three different jobs.

One thing about these job opportunities that I find annoying is the way the application forms ask for education at the top. I've got no qualifications which will definitely go against me in the first case.

It says in my CV how adaptable I am but are they even going to get to that if I have no qualifications?

Get on bike

And then it says referees, we can't give referees because the company has wound up, that's another black mark against us as well.

One good thing that has happened is that my son said I could go out on his bike looking for work, I'll probably do that next week so I can extend my search further.

We went to the introduction at the college together yesterday and my son wasn't that impressed so when I came back I showed him the application forms, he's got to do better than me.

Everything was just going through my head like how am I going to manage Read Mr Hanson's second excerpt

It might be a bit of a kick to see he has to fill these in, there is a lot more than he thought he needed. That is a good thing to come out of it.

I phoned the Job Centre's phone line but it was less helpful than I expected. They say they're going to give this help and that help but it was just processing, they asked 'what's your number?' and that's it. I've got an interview on Friday.

I think it is harder for an older person to find a job. If you've got a 35-year-old and a 48-year-old who are you going to employ?

The young guys are more modern guys than me, I'm used to working with spanners and hammers and their tools are pens and computers, so I'm at a loss there.

At the moment I am optimistic that I will find a job. It's hard, I haven't been rejected yet, when I do get rejected that's when it will start to hit me.

I am determined, there can be 10,000 out of work but with my skills and determination I will get a job.

BBC News will be following Mr Hanson's progress all this week.