Job search strategy discussion thread

OK, I'll send an e-mail to the internship coordinator, and see what will be her response. Thanks.

Had a job interview today with one of the state hospitals. It's the same job I have now basically just for about a dollar more an hour. I would go from 21K before taxes to 25K before taxes a year.

I feel horrible, because I just got hired at this position and people have been very nice, but nice co workers don't pay my bills or feed my kid. I also feel bad because if you're not in your field by the time you're 25 you're probably not going to make it in there. (I just turned 28.)

I did well enough in the interview that I think I am at least in the "consideration" pile. They haven't made a decision at my current job who gets the big promotion but after I was passed up the last time, I have little reason to feel like there is something there for me to believe in, even with my boss telling me to apply.

I don't know. I shouldn't worry. I don't even know if I'll be offered this other job. But I can't help but think if I am what kind of conversation I'm going to have to have with the two bigwigs at my job over it. I'm also tired of not getting anywhere with my job offers. I qualify for jobs that make around 50K a year but I can't get interviews for anything that high.

We're pulling for you!

I'd not worry about that "not in your field" thing anyway. Folks migrate everywhere all the time now. Mid-career migration is totally a thing, it's more about mid-career firings that can knock the wind out of your sails.

To even have a career would be aawwwweeeeesssssooooommmmeeeee......

(dreamy sigh)

I'm in the same boat. I really hope being trapped in the same dismal retail job for the past few years thanks to the recession hasn't hurt my chances of finding a job that will actually make me happy.

Getting seriously anxious now about the interview on Thursday. Points in my favour:

• I'm doing the job already and have been for 6 months. I've also been in the same team a further 5 months and was intended to be moved into the current role well before I was.
• My degree is a joint honours in Financial Services and Risk Management. For the Income section, that's kind of a big deal
• Guaranteed no one will have the kind of reconcilliations experience I do - the hard hitting, brutal, pressurised world of Morgan Stanley's position control team, analysing and reconciling complicated stock market transactions the day after. Considering that much of this roles involves reconciling the daily transactions and bank accounts of the local government and its offices, that's pretty much the closest thing to my private sector work you can get. That sort of direct experience link cannot be bought.
• Being in the job means knowing the exact internal systems better than anyone else going for this role, surely. And my trawling through the intranet and helpfiles for extra info means I would happily bet money that I know more about said systems than my manager and supervisor - the interviewers - realise I do. I know when they were introduced and how, etc, which I have no reason to because it's not relevant as such. But when they ask, I can tell.
• They've spent several months training me so I could help them through the busy holiday season, which I've just done with some aplomb.
• My current manager and supervisor are the interviewers - we know each other, so even if they have to be objective in their considerations, they can't help knowing that I can do a decent job.
• I'm guaranteed great references, and it's the same two references that got me the current job in the first place.

Points against:

• Without having had any formal feedback since I started, I don't truly know how well I'm doing in the job or what I could/should be doing better. A few minor mistakes are meaningless, but I don't know how many I've made or how seriously they consider it.
• I have a horrible tendency to freeze up in interviews. In one, I actually managed to squeeze the plastic cup of water I was given hard enough to split it.
• My confidence is very low. That I've come so close and fallen at the last hurdle so many times really doesn't help things - hope is a dangerous thing. I've had crushing rejections that have sent me into a fullblown Heroic BSoD before, but this would be the worst.
• Unlike the other applicants, I lose my current job if I don't get this one, perhaps with the ignominy of training my replacement first. That will be very hard to take and will completely undo a year's solid work, rendering it all for nothing.
• Other applicants are likely to have been with the Council longer, so will have knowledge and experience I don't.

So yeah, on the face of it, the positives outweigh the negatives. But I can't know yet. Having to work until half 3 until the interview is no better, though the managers obviously won't be there most of the day.

Christ this is gonna be Hell, I'll be glad when it's all over.

Always is, but there are always more opportunities out there. Win or lose, it's a valuable experience.

Turns out the place i interviewed with last week might not be so hot according to an old supervisor. Still want to try it for at least a semester to get the right skills out of it.

Eh, most of those opportunities are impossible. I would really love my chance to come up before I'm too old for it to matter.

I think the interview went okay. It was only 5 questions but they were pretty indepth - including a version of the dreaded "describe a flaw you have" one. Specifically, "Can you describe a time when a problem has been discovered with a reconciliation you have done?". I stalled for time by asking for a repeat of the question, then managed to find a recent but ultimately harmless example of this in which no long term damage was done as it merely threw some aligning systems out of whack (the other reconciliations done on the same sum of money proved it was there, but I essentially hadn't completed the process). I think I dodged that bullet.

I think it's probably a positive that where I blatantly had a good answer to the question but wasn't giving enough detail, I was asked follow ups that were more specific to point me in the right direction. The interviewer knew me well and what I was capable of, but made clear that nothing I didn't say in the interview could count in my favour. I think that may have been him trying to redress that though. Hopefully.

So, Monday morning I'll find out if I still have a job or not. Either I do and it's permanent or I don't and I'm on the scrapheap again. So much for a nice relaxing weekend, eh?

Alright. I just want to beat my bosses:

1) The immediate supervisor position that makes $40K is still not filled and there is no reason to think it will be filled anytime soon.

2) Apparently the second minor position making $30K a year has opened. That manager told me to apply for it again. I did, but again, not expecting anything.

3) I found out one of the girl's on my team is leaving. So that's another job I can try for. It's just $25K but it's more than I am making now, so it's worth a shot. I am not sure when that will be posted. I only know about it because I am having to do all the hiring packets for all this crap.

So, my goal is by thanksgiving, I'll have at least one interview. I would really love to have a new job or a better position at this job by Christmas, but little goals are less disappointing.

Are they (the bosses) annoyingly bureaucratic or is there a lack of funds or something?

edited 3rd Sep '14 1:08:42 PM by Quag15

I got the ob! First time in my nearly 28 years on this earth that I have a permanent job (of the last 12, I've been employed for 11 on temporary contracts ranging from 3 weeks to a year and a half).

This is stability I've never had before, means I can get my own car, means...everything, really.

I'm not yet earning enough to bring my fiancee across from the USA, but I can move from this to a better paying job hopefully. It will do for now.

Most of my coworkers are happy, but two aren't. One has acted like I'm not there for most of the year I've been here (seriously, if the two of us are talking to someone else, she won't reply to anything I say unless the other repeats it) and I have no idea what she has against me. So that was expected. The other chose, instead of expressing any congratulations, to bitch to someone else that the former modern apprentice in our team didn't get the job (thinking I couldn't overhear). I think she thinks I've just waltzed in there for a few months and walked into the job and don't actually deserve it, which my above posts and earlier ones in this thread about my struggles getting jobs put the lie to. Fair enough she doesn't know that much about me but the assumptions aren't fair to make. The manager went well out of his way to assure that nepotism played no part in the appointment, it was the application and interview alone.

That one kinda hurt because we've always gotten on really well. I'm assuming this is one of the same people who was raging at the manager at Christmas though because the same modern apprentice was marked down on her annual review for turning up late almost every day for 6 months. Funny thing is, even if it's just an office and no one really cares day to day, when it's that sustained it's gonna be a problem. It was enough of a thing that we got her an alarm clock as her team birthday present earlier this year. Even if the manager is guilty of it too, since as he admitted it would count against him in his own review.

Ugh, sorry for the rant, I know you can't please everyone but a bit of courtesy would have been nice rather than just ignoring me all day.

edited 3rd Sep '14 1:16:53 PM by CaissasDeathAngel

Not sure. Honestly I think it is because they are so busy they're not making a choice, but they wouldn't be so damn busy if they would just hire someone and move on.

JOY! So happy for you!

Hiring can be a nasty business like that. We really need to revise the system so that it breeds less resentment.

Or you're just working with jerks. There are one or two in every workplace. Some of them are well-connected though, so be wary.

Congratulations, however. I hope to meet you at this sunny place next May or so.

Being very busy is not really an excuse when a meeting to discuss it can be easily arranged weeks earlier. I hope they'll give you a proper answer.

Congrats!

As for me, it has been three days since my first internship has started. So far, there's not much pressure, though some of the videos I edit are a bit tricky at first. Still, it looks promising.

I'll also have the chance to possibly start an internship at the football club I support in July, so I've got this year and most of the next one figured out.

Congrats, CDA!

I suppose if your co-worker got on really well with the tardy apprentice (and the frequent lateness didn't affect her own work) she'd want the apprentice to stay on, over someone she's just okay with.

I remember one of my jobs had a young woman named Tuesday that we all called "Wednesday" because of her inability to keep a schedule. She kept claiming that her mother hadn't woken her up.

Today was so-so. Our regular job club leader is still at home resting from the heart attack. Out of four Employers of the Day, the one I actually wanted to talk to never showed up. I have an appointment with my Veterans' Rep on Monday to see if I can get into any assistance programs.

So, it's still student employment, but I've moved on up from being a student assistant in the provost office, to a temp worker, to now I've been hired in IT.

Since I'm shifting my program of study to Computer Science, the IT work is probably a lot more relevant for developing my skill set and connections. Yosh!

Keep on keeping on, Tomu! Keep track of everything on your resume.

eta: Had meeting with Veteran's rep today, Tuesday and Wednesday are Job Fairs, Thursday is Job Club...so tired.

edited 8th Sep '14 5:48:23 PM by SKJAM

I have a potential dilemma. My job coach just sent me information about a hiring event at a clinic for exactly the sort of entry level medical support positions I've been pursuing, and the pay and benefits sound quite good. The issue is that it's during my retail shift next Tuesday. Wondering if I should call in that day, and if so what to tell them. I don't have too many absences on my record, and this sounds almost too good to pass up.

In any case, I also have an interview for a medical records position the following Wednesday when I'm not scheduled, so I can at least look forward to that.

You should let your current employer know about the hiring event, and ask if you can move your shift around it. It's okay to let them know that if circumstances allow, you will be moving into a new field (be sure to emphasize how much you have learned from the job.)

Tomorrow morning I have an interview for the second minor promotion. The one I've been passed up for twice, including in favor of a felon.

I'm not putting any hope into it. But you can't win if you don't even try to play the game. I'll do my best and just see what happens.

I hope all you darlings have wonderful luck this week!

May you get that promotion. If not, I may finally lose faith in the job search and promotion system itself.

Good luck!

edited 22nd Sep '14 2:11:57 PM by Quag15

Started a new (paid) internship today at a group that works with elementary and high school students on job-readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy. It's a good example of turning a good thing into a great thing, as i'm still no-nights-no-weekends, but with some powerful points to my resume and enough money to make rent and student loans without backfilling into savings.

Good to hear, Ogodei.

I have an interview on Wednesday with Capella University as a temp opening. A lot of lukewarm calls (not cold-calling, but not exactly hot either.)