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I am 40 years old myself. Recent MSc graduate from a top British University (I am an American) and I graduated with my BA in 2010 from another top US university (3.85 GPA), along with internship experience, professional experience...I worked on the UK Parliamentary Election campaign in 2015 (I hold an MSc in Political Communication).
I am back in IT at the moment, which is a field I despise. It is soul crushing to come in and play enthusiastic workerbee daily, however I needed to bring some money in.
(I am also in Washington DC at the moment, which might be the worst place I have ever lived..but I came to find a job in my field, and thus far I have nothing to show for it)
Phil, I sympathize with you because I am stuck in a similar situation, Chemical Engineer that started my career in energy, power generation, obviously I landed that job by networking (family networking indeed) but I don´t have an education background. The company I worked for is one of the largest contractors in my country. I even tried an international relocation, I spoke with Chief Operation Manager, but I was unable by the way.
What about Duke Energy?
Yeah, it goes contrary to the standard advice of get in with a company and then work up. We both got in with a company we would have wanted, but then the way up was just as difficult as an outside person would have faced. It was kind of shocking though, I would have expected at least some leads from that internship, but I didn't get any.
I've checked for utility jobs around the nation, and the east and west coast and Houston do have some (not a whole lot though) but it's hard to justify a pay cut due to COL and being so far from family.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jorge ChemE
Rather than a Call Center job, I am thinking about something related to Sales Engineer. Despite I am not good facing customers, even I don´t have related experience, I see that the requirements are not as harder as technical oriented jobs.
As an example, in my job search I just came across this:
Edited: As I previously told you, I am not an Electrical Engineer but I am finding interesting jobs as Sales Engineer in Schneider Electric. You could give it a try.
I'd have to be engineering though to be technical sales. I just have phishy feelings about mutual fund sales or other Econ like sales areas.
Phil, after reading you I have to say I can´t believe this is happening in the USA. I have no words. I grew up with the idea that an american engineer (I intuit you are not an engineer) or similar degrees, as you say there, STEM, can have a really good life and have a lot of really top companies to choose and achieve a perfect career. Of course I am speaking about americans, not foreigners.
I empathize with you. About me... I have prepared documents that had been signed by the third richest man in my country and the 259 in the world and now I am unemployed. By the way, have you considered applying again in Xcel or looking for other internships in similar companies?. As far as I know in America the internships are paid.
Phil, after reading you I have to say I can´t believe this is happening in the USA. I have no words. I grew up with the idea that an american engineer (I intuit you are not an engineer) or similar degrees, as you say there, STEM, can have a really good life and have a lot of really top companies to choose and achieve a perfect career. Of course I am speaking about americans, not foreigners.
I empathize with you. About me... I have prepared documents that had been signed by the third richest man in my country and the 259 in the world and now I am unemployed. By the way, have you considered applying again in Xcel or looking for other internships in similar companies?. As far as I know in America the internships are paid.
Lol I know. The thing is, it's seemed this way forever. 2008 was my first year of high school and my oldest bro got lucky that year graduation from college and landed a spot at Kinder Morgan. He's still there and hasn't really had any options outside of moving outside CO Springs which he won't do. Older brother had 3 internships (1 unpaid) and got a private equity job which he didn't like cause the work was insane and there was no advancement. They just cycled through analysts. He's now doing landscaping as well trying to figure out where to go next. He graduated almost the top of his college in accounting. I think the easy career was something from I time I don't remember.
Xcel doesn't have entry level postings outside of accounting. I applied for the one they had, and that one wanted 1 year preferably. I might look at internships again, but the last one didn't go anywhere and didn't pay all that much.
Hopefully this won't last long for both of us though!
What type of job and pay are we talking about for these jobs?
I hear stories like this all the time, so you would think it would be easy to get hired, but that has not been my experience.
It hasn't been my experience either. I am 56 years old and have had a very tough time with finding a job after being laid off from my company of 19 years. I have over 10 years of management experience of customer facing employees and 5 years of marketing experience. I am educated, make sure to color my hair to remove the gray, and am not overweight. I have been very flexible when it comes to scheduling both phone interviews and face to face interviews. I've taken their stupid 1-5 hour tests and and haven't asked for travel reimbursements when I had to fly there for an interview (food and parking) thinking it would give me a leg up. I have even applied for entry level type marketing jobs even though I know I will have to take a pay cut (which at this point I'm O.K. with). Trust me I'm not asking for sympathy. I'm just stating the facts.
Last edited by milesfive; 04-28-2016 at 12:51 PM..
Reason: Grammar
It hasn't been my experience either. I am 56 years old and have had a very tough time with finding a job after being laid off from my company of 19 years. I have over 10 years of management experience of customer facing employees and 5 years of marketing experience. I am educated, make sure to color my hair to remove the gray, and am not overweight. I have been very flexible when it comes to scheduling both phone interviews and face to face interviews. I've taken their stupid 1-5 hour tests and and haven't asked for travel reimbursements when I had to fly there for an interview (food and parking) thinking it would give me a leg up. I have even applied for entry level type marketing jobs even though I know I will have to take a pay cut (which at this point I'm O.K. with). Trust me I'm not asking for sympathy. I'm just stating the facts.
Wow. The hardest part is you keep feeling like your doing something wrong, but you don't know what. And it seems like other people are finding things, but you just keep slipping through the cracks.
It really drains to do those long applications though, especially when it feels like they don't lead anywhere.
I'd like to hear from people who are unemployed and have been job-hunting for a long time with no success. I'm about to be faced with looking for a job soon. What problems have you encountered?
I just started my job search last month (March 28th). I have applied for 35 jobs, went on 2 interviews and was rejected for 4 jobs. I am keeping a City-Data Blog about my job search in order to keep me on my toes and perhaps it may help others who are looking for jobs.
Anyway, being that I am 49 years old and currently looking for a full-time permanent job, it is going to be a tough, long process, as there are few jobs in my area (rust belt and getting rustier by the day). But this time I am going to try to stay "positive" or at least not be miserable and negative during my job search. I also, make sure to apply for jobs that I am qualified for (or at least have most of the qualifications required). We'll see how it goes. One thing I do know, is in my job search experience, things come in "spurts." You may go months with no interviews and then get 3-4 interviews in one week. You may go weeks with no new jobs to apply to, and then in one week apply to ten new jobs. It is either feast or famine.
You have to be in it for the long haul and not get discouraged during the famines.
Wow. The hardest part is you keep feeling like your doing something wrong, but you don't know what. And it seems like other people are finding things, but you just keep slipping through the cracks.
It really drains to do those long applications though, especially when it feels like they don't lead anywhere.
I really believe it has to do with my age. Once I find out I didn't get the position I do a search on LinkedIn to see who obtained the position. Based on their job experience and when they graduated, all of the people are 20 years or more younger than me. I just keep plugging away hoping someone will give me a chance!
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