Job search strategy discussion thread

If the employer's website doesn't have a spot for a cover letter, they don't want one yet.

As previously mentioned, military retirees are considered primo hires, not least because hiring veterans gives you a tax break (and yes, a disabled vet gives you more tax break.) An active security clearance is good for any job involving working on government contracts, so there's that.

It's okay to be nervous as this is your first time job hunting in a long time. Use that nervousness to give you strength.

ETA: I got the fulltime job and start Monday! Huzzah!

Edited by SKJAM on Jul 11th 2018 at 9:17:22 AM

Yay you!

Already heard back from one of those companies. Their response was basically, "Oh, you can't start for us next week? LOL bye."

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw

You don't need them, then. An employer that's in too much of a rush is like the dude who wants sex on the first date.

@GAP, Idea for finding out about smaller companies: Industrial parks and office parks. Lots of small companies in close proximity to each other. Find out where one of those is in your general neighborhood and spend a day casing it.

Dress like you belong in the neighborhood—good jeans and a polo shirt for the industrial park, business casual for the office park. Carry a clipboard both for taking notes and for looking like you're not just a lost tourist.

You're looking for names of businesses, what their building and/or lobby looks like, and enthusiastic-looking employees.

Then go home, do the research, and see if any of them suit your fancy for the next step of making contacts.

What's your advice for people with only two real skills, no car or cover letter, and little experience?

Depends on said skills.

Otherwise...lack of flexibility, lack of credentials, lack of connections...those are all pretty big handicaps in the job market.

Disgusted, but not surprised

Entry-level or part time work within biking distance of your house.

They should have sent a poet.

It's too bad public transportation in the USA is what it is.

Disgusted, but not surprised

I never learned how to ride a bike.

Is it unprofessional to show up to job interviews on a scooter?

Depends on what you've got on the scooter. If it's relatively free of tasteless decorations, you're probably fine.

Disgusted, but not surprised

No cover letter is pretty easy to fix. Google up some examples (especially "no experience" examples) and make a checklist of the points you'll need to establish. Go modular so that you can customize to the business you're targeting. Save a copy on your hard drive, and on a flash drive so that you are less likely to have to start from scratch each time.

You can write a cover letter. Also as mentioned, there are plenty of entry-level jobs looking for people; many of them don't require much beyond basic computer literacy^note and you're here on TV Tropes, so you probably have that and maybe customer service skills. If you haven't already, try www.usajobs.gov and see what kind of entry-level jobs are near you.

Re: the scooter, I guess it depends how silly you think you'd look riding up to your job interview in business casual attire.

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw

As long as you dress nice a scooter is fine. Trust me, I’ve seen weirder. Electric scooters are actually a very popular way to commute to work in a lot of cities.

In addition to the .gov site posted above I’d also suggest either retail or food service for entry level jobs. If you have a mall in your area most major chains take applications online, so you can apply to lots of places easily. It’s the same for restaurant chains.

They should have sent a poet.

Concerning the ghosting thing, I have a question:

If I'm getting job proposals via LinkedIn from abroad that could be summed as "We're interested in you, if you're interested in us, send your CV", I guess it's not okay to just not answer those messages if I would have pursued this position some time later but can't ATM due to circumstances?

Spiral out, keep going.

I would still contact them; even if you can't take the job they want to fill right now, it's still a good way to make a connection at the company that you might be able to turn into a job opening 6-12 months down the line.

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw

I don't know what I'd put in it, though; aside from inventory/cashier duty in my old high school's store and interning for an hour and a half one day a week during senior year (this was several years ago), I haven't really done anything.

First, definitely get mileage out of that experience as much as possible. Don’t lie, but for example if you were a cashier say you have money handling skills. Stuff like that. You can fill out a resume with surprisingly few things. You can also add a “skills” section to your resume and add stuff that you’re capable of but isn’t attached to a job or anything, though don’t put silly stuff in.

Second, a cover letter doesn’t need to be crazy. Introduce yourself, touch very briefly on your experience, say you want to work for the company, and then restate all of that in a conclusion and you’re good to go.

Edited by archonspeaks on Jul 13th 2018 at 1:01:14 AM

They should have sent a poet.

There is no warehouse that will hire me, I know JC Penney will "think" about it.

"Eratoeir is a Gangsta."

Damn, the embassy job description in Ottawa mentioned that the term is a limited contract for up to one year...

I guess this is a one time thing?

Get in, and you have that year to network and look for other positions.

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw

It's a paycheck at least. If you can get it, get it.

Disgusted, but not surprised

No word yet, so I'm still waiting while looking for other jobs.

Four buses starting at 5 AM. I was a sweaty, aching mess by the time I arrived for new hire orientation. Thank goodness the day included no actual work.

Can anyone tell me more about the Americorp and Peace Corp program? I am tryong to see if I could at least try to get out of debt and get myself some credit for my resume.

"Eratoeir is a Gangsta."

Well Carnegie Mellon has an opening for Research Coordinator, so I applied. Sent my documents in to support my application.

I uploaded my transcript, which is not made "Relevant" so that the HR peeps can see it. Although it has some good and bad grades in it, but I otherwise had prior work experience, which I explained in my cover letter

Not sure if I should let HR look at the university transcript for assessment. Right now, they can't see it.

Edited by Ominae on Jul 25th 2018 at 3:35:29 AM

Let them see it. The bad grades can't possibly be as bad as HR seeing that and thinking "Why doesn't this applicant want us to see their transcript? What is this person hiding?"

I sometimes think this sort of "Relevant" thing is just a trap to weed out people who the employers might consider untrustworthy.

Edited by M84 on Jul 25th 2018 at 6:48:13 PM

Disgusted, but not surprised