Job search strategy discussion thread

Hope so. They got some good think tank research institutes.

Should I just apply for another stupid sales rep job? That's the only thing I've ever been able to be hired for.

Tried following up on my application with more supporting documents sent in by calling in the think tank (in university) HR. But the person told me that she doesn't have time to check on it.

Yeah... Figured that it meant just to wait first and just submit any supporting documents that you can get for the application as a researcher.

Looks like I didn't get the researcher job in Singapore with RSIS.

Only way now (for the meantime) is through the British Embassy in Manila aside from the SIIA, which is (likely) being processed since the poor sod who is suppose to look at it wasn't available a few weeks ago. Seems like I can consider the community liaison officer position.

I guess Singaporean jobs are out of the question... maybe. Considering the protests there, it's hard for me to work for an academic think tank.

And family's wondering if it's the wrong BA I got (Pol.Sci)...

I've starting doing some cursory job searches, now that I'm bound for military retirement at the end of the year.^note Not exactly by choice; I technically could stay two more years, but after I told my detailer I wasn't going to take orders to "just anywhere" he denied me for literally everything.

Am I wrong, or does a listing with "multiple locations available" really mean "We have job openings, but not where you actually want them, but we hope you're desperate enough to apply for them anyway." ? Because sure seems like most of the ones I'm seeing with that location don't have any in the state I'm looking for, much less the metropolitan area. And no, I'm not moving to Alaska for a goddamn custodial job.

Oh, dude, I'm right there with you. Whenever I try to look for jobs in my area, I get a bunch of jobs that are either in the next county over or all the way down in Virginia, on the edge of the Metro Area.

I'm in the field that I probably won't have a job soon after my internship at an NGO will end (If only just to get more work experience and show that I didn't have any long term unemployment). My problem is I'm not willing to go do another BA with math in it like business or whatever since I'm not good in it and I'm not confident to work with my dad under a company that he has or has people that he knows of since people will think of nepotism right away.

It seems like the prospects of working in Singapore as a researcher with just a BA isn't going to cut it any time soon (Not sure on the Embassy job application as a community officer) and since I live with parents with them giving me allowance, I don't know if I can afford to go to a Master's to get my job prospects easier.

In case peeps are gonna ask, the "official" reason I didn't pass my first job's probation period is that I didn't meet their standards.

edited 26th Apr '18 10:06:33 PM by Ominae

@Blueninja 0 I'm pleased to say that military retirees are considered primo hires because of the strong work ethic but still having some time before regular retirement age.

Yes, most of the national company job websites have only a vague resemblance to where people want to work; if there's one you are really interested in, set up an alert for a very narrow range of positions if the site will let you.

I'd recommend contacting veterans' groups in the area you want to live in ahead of time—work those connections!

Thanks, I hadn't thought about finding vets groups there; so far I don't have enough concrete plans, just looking. I have TGPS^note basically "how to separate from the military" class next month, so once I'm done with that, it'll be time to start sending out resumes and building a LinkedIn profile and all that.

Is it normal for most of the corporate job listings to not include any hint of what pay scale they're looking for? I've seen a few that I'm qualified for, but it makes me leery of applying if I don't know ahead of time that I'll be able to pay my rent with the job.

Alright, just got a call out of the blue-one of the applications I dropped a while ago prompted a phone call. I spoke with some middle management type who wanted to set up an interview in-person, with the manager...tomorrow. Kind of in a panic-I should have no problem clearing my schedule and getting ready, but it has been a long while since I got as far as a face-to-face interview. Any presentation tips, besides showing up in dress clothes and having a copy of my resume on hand?

@ Blue Ninja: Yes, the salary offered will vary drastically depending on location due to local cost of living, minimum wage laws and availability of qualified people for that job's skills. (And for the upper level jobs, negotiating skills are your friend to get the best salary and perks.) There are various websites that will give you ballpark figures for what salary you can expect for a particular job.

@ Viper Magnum: Come with a few questions about the company and job that demonstrate you've at least read the company website and done a search for recent news about the field of business they're in. Also ask the interviewer what they like about working there.

Thanks, will do.

Fuck...

Still waiting on a job in Manila and my dad's willing to shuffle me off to a factory to get some work and I'm doing my internship at the local NGO and my BA degree is coming in this June from Vancouver.

If this happens, I'll be an embarrassment for my friends.

The application to the British Embassy Manila is now gone.

I am trying to look for a Work from Home job but most of them are sales representatives and I have no experience in sales. Can anyone give me advice on what to do?

I'm assuming there's a really pressing reason you are limiting yourself to Work at Home jobs.

If so, you might have to rely on networking. Do you have any friends, family, etc. who can help you find a job?

If you're good at typing you might look for Data Entry positions; my understanding is that many of those are telecommute jobs paid by your output rather than hourly.

I really don't have a car so cannot really travel anywhere even when I contact family, they d have jobs and things they need to do. I need something that I can do so that some income until I can get a car or something.

Is that so? I really need to find it and I think I can try that. Is it hard?

edited 25th May '18 5:25:25 PM by GAP

I've done it before. Once you figure out what you have to do it becomes second nature pretty quickly.

The hard part is looking for an open position.

There’s a damn question in the application for support officer in the British Embassy page on where I exceeded customer service expectations.

Thing is I did grunt work with little to no public expectations...

I don’t want to lie because if I did this and it comes out in a background check, I’ll be in trouble.

Customer can mean a lot more than you’d think, so if the place you’ve worked at had clients of really any sort you can use that.

I know exactly the question you’re looking at by the way, the British government uses very standardised recruitment questions, nobody likes doing competency examples.

Yeah, by "customer" think of "anyone you have a relationship to within the organisation". Internal customers are still customers, and you're still serving them. If you're helping another department, even just going a bit above and beyond for your manager, then you can use that. Anyone you speak to, you should be thinking of as your customer - that's what I do day to day, and it does improve my performance because if they're a customer with expectations then I've got to go above them or I'm probably not doing my job right.

I have an idea or two for that. I'm trying to remember the specific details on how I did something like that.

Dammit.

I forgot to fully submit my application to the FCO. Friggin too late now.