Job search strategy discussion thread

I had to fill out every application piece by piece and tailor a cover letter for each.

I could never get so many tailored letters out in one day. My record was ten, and I was high on coffee and a first kiss.

Im used to it. I have been trying to improve my circumstances for a while.

Tailoring is a loose word, unless the jobs applied for have nothing to do with each other. I usually just pick the closest one in my stable, "save as", and fix a few sentences here and there.

Yeah, it's not a total overhaul each time. Just a question of things like modifying X in the sentence "It has been my lifelong dream to work in X industry" and such like. And in the duties of past jobs bit, picking out the specific ones relevant to that application. For example, if a given job has no phone duties, but lots of filing, then that's what you should say you did in previous jobs (assuming it's true of course).

For my part, I'm not sure that listening to It's The Fear by Within Temptation on repeat was the best preparation for the job interview, but I got through it! I'm very grateful for my fast typing speed, given a half hour test which amounted to "Tell us everything you know about different forms of income support". 1150 words in that time is decent going!

I had a slight panic when I realised I'd only properly researched one of the four, because that one is specific to the team. It probably shows as the section on that is twice as long as any of the others. Still, it is the most important, and I did get the most important stuff about the other three. I could have written more in more time, but everyone faces that issue. Not everyone will have produced two full pages of A4 in that time.

Interview itself went well too, I managed to say all the right things, added a bit of humour into the mix as well. Hopefully done okay. I'll find out tomorrow, and as I'm in the pub for a quiz, I'm either celebrating or comiserating!

On another note: you know what's frustrating? Receiving a letter from the Employment Center to contact X company in regards to a paid internship on Wednesday, when the interviews had been done on Monday and Tuesday and the candidate had been selected. I went there today, Thursday.

Now, I'll simply have to get the letter stamped, otherwise my inscription will be invalidated. Not sure if I should register a complaint agains the Center due to only sending a letter.

And, on top of that, I keep hearing on friends of mine from those days of college either getting unpaid internships, badly paid internships or emmigrating towards other countries.

My country's government is a fucking joke. And maybe the country is a joke as well, at times.

edited 9th Apr '15 9:21:36 AM by Quag15

Stories like these (not the first one I'm hearing) make me stay away from our Job Center. Even if I wanted a job in Portugal, that would not be a place I'd rely on.

Anyway, I'm officially starting my full-time job search today (now that I don't have any Uni-related work). Always a menacing prospect, especially since I'll be looking for jobs abroad.

edited 9th Apr '15 11:01:25 AM by JonnasN

Agreed. I wish I could find a better way to find something without having to resort to that Center (and I still have to finish my Master's degree's final report).

Good luck. What countries are you looking at for jobs abroad?

I've been considering the possibility of working in either Iceland or Norway, but, in order to get a high-skilled job, I'll have to learn Icelandic or Norwegian.

edited 9th Apr '15 11:24:24 AM by Quag15

For now, UK, Germany and Norway are my first choices, but I'll try to keep my mind open.

What I keep hearing about the Nordic countries is that English proficiency is enough for an entry-level position, and that learning the local language only becomes a requirement if you want to stay (I guess this could depend on the specific profession, though).

You could try learning some Danish, as that sort of thing implies you'd get used to Norwegian/Icelandic quicker than other applicants.

I thought that was pretty funny.

In light of my impending lay off and the lack of successful interviews or many interviews at all, I have begun looking at education again.

I am maxed out on degrees for the state and I dont have the strength for a third BA or second Masters. So I am looking at technical certificates.

I can get a whole stack of them pretty easy considering I already have almost every class but one semester per paper. So tomorrow I will make the appointment to have all my ducks in a row so if I have to, I can start this fall.

Definitely the way to go about things. Skills are important.

Edit: my this post seems vapid in hindsight.

Are you seeing any particular job that you're sure you could get if you just had "x" skill?

edited 15th Apr '15 7:50:42 PM by Ogodei

Not really. It would just improve my options.

I qualify for a lot. But the problem is often I am overqualified. I would love to leave this godforsaken state because a lot of the problem is that it is my location. But alas, I need a job to move so it is a catch 22

Guess I'll stop lurking and speak up. I'm considering going for a PhD, but that's not likely given the common pitfalls associated with that path. The computer science track for my linguistics program has proven to be more trouble than it's worth, so I might switch to the general language track since I already have a lot of credit loaded up in that area.

The coding skills would be a lot more lucrative for computational linguistics or really just anything IT related, but C++ doesn't seem to be my strong suit, and it's bringing me a lot of stress right now.

I'm also considering just completely stopping after this semester because Gabrael is about to get laid off and one of us needs full-time employment to keep things from turning to custard.

edited 16th Apr '15 5:42:57 PM by Aprilla

If you feel you could have the earning power to make stopping worthwhile atm. Stopping otherwise might be a bad idea. Depends on how close you are, though. One semester of pain, for instance, could be worth it if that opens up something lucrative immediately thereafter, whereas getting derailed now could really hurt long term for short-term salvage.

Of course, more than one semester and you're talking about holding out for a year, so yeah, likely better...

True. I can't afford to take out loans on a degree track that's just going to slaughter my GPA or cause me to have to withdraw from a class (again). C++ is no joke, and there's a reason why it's considered to be a language that puts your patience and problem solving skills to the test. I already took a semester in Python. It wasn't too bad. However, my second run through C++ is murder on my brain.

Yes, this is my second attempt.

I'm almost done with the class, so I'm obviously not dropping it, but I've been warned that students who have a hard time with loops and arrays in just the first semester are going to get destroyed when it comes to more advanced sorting algorithms and pointers in the second and third semesters. I'm of the opinion that a person should improve with time spent on their education, not get worse.

Of course I wasn't expecting the degree program to be easy. Phonology and syntax were also quite difficult, but I still had a much better grasp of the material. I haven't made a final decision yet, but natural languages seem to be more of my calling. I do much better with Chinese and Spanish, and my second semester of German is going fairly well. But C++? Hoo boy, hold onto to your butt.

The world never has too many multilingual office workers, so I still have a chance at something useful. If I take the doctorate route, I'm going to have to brace myself for the issues with adjunct teaching positions. Higher education in the humanities is going through some nasty changes right now, and I'm not particularly interested in starving while trying to get "Dr." attached to my name. Yes, I know it's not all misery and gloom for doctorate scholars, so if you're a PhD holder and you're thinking "well, it wasn't that bad for me", bear in mind that I fully acknowledge the benefits. I'm just being real about this, especially since I'm in Arkansas, a state not known for its stellar handling of educators.

EDIT: I'm also considering going to my nearby community college and shifting my focus toward an IT certification in networking (CCNA). One of my closest friends is A+ certified with a CCNA certificate among others, and he even said that coding was just too difficult for him. Either way, I'd like to gain more IT skills because that's what will set me apart from the droves of other English and linguistics degree holders.

edited 16th Apr '15 9:06:17 PM by Aprilla

Hang in there, Gabrael & Aprilla.

Next week I start a two week training course at my work so I can do more stuff while waiting for my main job to get busy again. I can only conclude that they both really like me and it would cost too much to train in another temp on the things I already do.

I'm considering enrolling in some Coursera courses to build up skills and shore up my resume a little, since I have no completed formal degrees. I know MOO Cs like Coursera don't have the same weight as traditional education, but I figure it's better than nothing.

edited 18th Apr '15 1:43:16 AM by TomoeMichieru

It's also good small talk during interviews to mention classes you're taking, especially if they might be related to the job you are applying for. "Self-improvement" never looks bad to a good human resources person.

Well, I have a new job. It is a temp job as an intern with my contract coming up in August.

Good points: a job is better than no job. It is closer to my degree and is a good foot in the door to getting out of Arkansas. This company is across the country so I can either stay here in Arkansas or push to go elsewhere. They can't stop me from keeping up the job search.

Bad points: still temporary. Slight pay cut. No time. Longer hours. No benefits.

But we do what we can.

Far better than no job indeed. Sounds like the breakthrough you needed.

I'm going to see about volunteering as a grantwriter for a local NGO (whoever wants me) this summer. That would be a good resume booster, since i'm already set on the money front.

Congrats, even if it's not the finest job. May you get paid properly in the future and have more available free time.

Good luck in your search.

edited 12th May '15 3:57:57 PM by Quag15

Congrats. I'm still hoping you get the job you deserve.

Come to think of it... have you considered journalism?

Yes, I was.

edited 12th May '15 3:49:53 PM by TheHandle

I think you're missing an arrow there?