Job search strategy discussion thread

Hence why you need proper CBT and no half-measures. Seriously: that does very well with any anxiety-related issue, as long as the work is put in (and maintained). Give it a look-see.

That is the kind of question people love to throw at you, and one you always need an answer for. Two, preferably, so you can vary it in case they decide to vary the question. The trick is, make it a real weakness ("Perfectionst" and "pushes self too hard" will get you lynched in the interview room) but not a castastrophic one, and one you're already trying to overcome. If you're not trying to overcome it, you should be, but at least phrase it in a way that can't be immediately disproven and is more of a half or exaggerated truth than an outright lie. No one is perfect, but everyone should be continually improving.

On a related note, it's very good to be interested in self-development and improvement in the workplace. Ask them about opportunities to cross-skill with other areas, courses you can do, etc (courses often means online if it's a desk job, so half an hour out of your day or at the start/end of it can make all the difference). Employers love that, especially if you make it clear that by eagerly learning you can be of more use to them. Any decent employer will want to invest in their employees, and that's especially true of the big corporations who have budget for that kind of thing.

Thought I'd weigh in here.

This is very, very true. Emphasis on decent employer though.

Worth noting that working for an ambitious manager is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because if he's the one that hired you, it's because he's planning on have you replace him so he knows he'll have an underling that's capable and has worked with him before. A curse because he'll expect as much of you as he expects of himself (which might be quite a lot).

If you can cut it though, you're on to a good thing.

Like a few others, I was unemployed for a significant length of time after completing university. I live in New Zealand though, so I probably won't recount the story of my adult life unless people are actually interested, or think that it will be a decent parallel to the American experience (I hear it well may be, but that's anecdotal sentiment at best).

Oh, and on the subject of women and unemployment: The girls I know have not had to grapple with unemployment. They are somehow more motivated and more persistent than the guys I know. A few have gotten complacent in being employed (and aren't pushing themselves any further, or not looking for a new job despite dissatisfaction at remuneration), but by and large, the only unemployed people I know are guys. One could say that they are luckier, but that can't account for everything.

My answer to that is usually "There are only characteristics that hampers or beneficial to certain circumstances. There are no such thing as 'strength' or 'weakness' for a strength in one situation might be a weakness in another. But... <place relevant characteristic that might hamper the job and how I am overcoming it>"

edited 10th Oct '12 8:20:17 PM by IraTheSquire

Still, its hard to maintain a good image when you have some sort of physical defect that isn't severe enough for disability but enough to make you shitty at any job that involves stress and/or speed.

You might have mentioned earlier in the thread, but are you seeing someone about that?

Hey guys, I'm going better job-wise and I've picked up a few tips.

If you're in a city, avoid retail if you're white. They assume you're on the corporate fast-track if you're white, no exceptions.

Check out the Directory of Executive Professional Recruiters. A new edition comes out every year. You can sometimes get it out of the library or find online resources if you don't want to buy it off Amazon. Shoot these guys your resume.

Do not apply to retail banks. Retails banks are the ones you see on the street, like Chase. They make you shill bank accounts to your friends and family. Might as well be selling steak knives door-to-door.

Volunteer to work at small law offices and the like in your area. Not only are they happy to exploit you for free, but it may lead to a steady gig once someone leaves. Also, I've found that these guys know the ins and outs of getting an "off the grid" job, without the trapfalls of online applications and the black hole that is HR.

edited 11th Oct '12 1:50:19 PM by johnnyfog

Interesting. Very interesting.

No.

You think I should? I mean it doesn't affect my daily life and it didn't affect me in school.

So it only affects you when you're trying to work...

If you ever want a job, it's kind of a duh thing.

Stressful work.

I really wonder if thats enough for them to care about helping me.

All work is stressful. It just varies in how and to what degree.

Doctors get paid to help you. If they didn't care, they wouldn't do their job. Obviously if you're already on anxiety medication, someone cared enough to see you and listen, and since you don't have a job, someone cares enough to buy it for you.

Stop making excuses and help yourself while you still have resources at your disposal.

What should I look up? My normal doctor is great but I don't think its her field. (The new meds she prescribed for my anxiety are better though)

Recap post 592 and on...

If your doctor perscribed your meds, it's their field.

Wouldn't a specialist be better?

A CBT or something I remember being said.

You still need your doctor to make the referral. No specialist worth anything is going to touch you without it. Your insurance most likely won't pay for it without a referral anyway.

Just make the appointment and talk to your PCP. Maybe your meds need to be kicked up a notch. Maybe you just need to get out of your own way (psychosomatic). Maybe the shakes are a negative side effect you're not supposed to be having.

But I can gaurentee an internet thread is not where you need to be looking for step by step medical advice. Talk to your dad, talk to your doctor.

But just a hint, no one wants to hire someone without iniative. You'll never get a good job if you have to be spoonfed everything.

Sometimes, I wish I had meds. I've been having a lot of trouble concentrating on school work lately.

Thats my problem. I have zero initiative.

And I dont know how to get it.

If you seriously need to be taught how to take responsibility for your own life, you have much bigger problems than merely being unemployed.

For a start, though, I would suggest your devote your efforts to finding a job. You should learn to be financially independent, at least.

I know. I live still like a kid. And I go on Indeed every day and look for jobs I'm suited for.

The thought of being on my own and independent is horrifying.

edited 12th Oct '12 12:49:55 AM by Thorn14

That's one problem I often see with the young, they go for jobs that they feel they are good for, not whatever jobs they can get.

Getting your dream job is a luxury, not a right. Most of the time, work isn't fun, getting a fun job is either with a lot of luck, or something that you work towards while you already have a different job. Work will be stressful, that's just a fact of life.

I'm not asking for a dream job. Just something I can at least be competent in. Like, working at a video store, or best buy, or something electronic based.

That way I can feel like I am truly earning my paycheck.

At Burger King, I was given very few hours because I knew I just wasn't doing a good job, and not due to me slacking off or anything. I did what I was told, I just was bad at it.

Barkey: If you're encouraging job seekers to race to the bottom, all you do is erode the earning potential of the middle class. I get that you have this anti-entitlement ideology, but it's important on a macro level to encourage people to maximize their earnings, not to minimize them, because if everyone rushes to food service and retail because they need job security over high earnings, it lowers the GDP of the country, which simultaneously reduces the number of food service and retail positions, which then means that you don't even get positive returns on job security by virtue of rushing to the bottom!

So if you cannot have your dream job, you'd rather have none at all?

Well gee, that's not a complete mischaracterization of what I said at all.

The argument is, we are all worse off when we push people out of their fields of specialty and into menial labor. Menial labor isn't just bad because it doesn't pay well, menial labor is bad because most people have skills and talents that menial labor cannot make use of, and as thus they are not maximizing their potential.

Certainly, individuals must make the individual costs/benefits analysis as to whether they personally will pursue a menial labor position, or a position that makes usage of their skills; however, I do not think we should actively encourage this type of decision at either the micro or the macro level, as A.) I don't agree that there are huge gains to job security by doing so and B.) it weakens the economy as a whole when everyone does it (by a not insignificant amount).

If and only if there is a decision point of "starve to death because you won't pursue a job at Mc Donalds" and "get that job at Mc Donalds, and pretend you're going to quit later and get a job that makes use of your skills-but who are we kidding, you'll be run ragged working 50 hour weeks and never have the time, and by the time you do, your skills will be out of date), then yes, take the job at Mc Donalds. But make absolutely sure that's the real tradeoff you're facing.