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Jorge, I completely sympathize with you and I am in the same situation. However, I do feel that a positive and "go getter" attitude can pique a prospective contact or employer's interest in you. Remember, in their mind, the question is "How will hiring this person help the company?" or "What does this one particular person bring to the table?"
Even if they do not end up hiring you, send a happy or positive response thanking them for the opportunity to meet and that you'd like to be considered for future openings. It is free to say thank you and be excited to hear more about what they (your contact or prospective employer) are doing.
I sincerely hope you get an amazing job, and I think your persistence will help. Just remain positive, ambitious, and connected. Say hello to old contacts. Don't distract yourself with sad or negative thoughts - no one ever gets hired off complaints. I send you all the best wishes and luck!
I was not unemployed for very long, but had a really bad year in 2013 where my income was cut in half from the prior year and I held three jobs that year.
I had to basically shotgun applications all over the country (at least within an eight hour drive or so) and respond to everything that was better paying. Out of the phone interviews I had, I had onsite interviews in Nashville, Charlotte, Greenville, and Indianapolis - the job in Indianapolis paid best.
You probably will have to go way outside of your comfort zone if you've been unemployed that long.
Jorge, I completely sympathize with you and I am in the same situation. However, I do feel that a positive and "go getter" attitude can pique a prospective contact or employer's interest in you. Remember, in their mind, the question is "How will hiring this person help the company?" or "What does this one particular person bring to the table?"
Even if they do not end up hiring you, send a happy or positive response thanking them for the opportunity to meet and that you'd like to be considered for future openings. It is free to say thank you and be excited to hear more about what they (your contact or prospective employer) are doing.
I sincerely hope you get an amazing job, and I think your persistence will help. Just remain positive, ambitious, and connected. Say hello to old contacts. Don't distract yourself with sad or negative thoughts - no one ever gets hired off complaints. I send you all the best wishes and luck!
Thank you misstania. I think I can take my job search with more passion rather than a calvary. I wish you can land a job soon.
Serious conversation, I am spaniard living in Mexico. At first I started searching for jobs in Mexico now I am spreading this search all over the world but in practice I am focusing in selected countries: Mexico, Chile, Argentina, USA, Canada and UK. In my country I can´t land a job because we have 20% of unemployment rate. Perhaps you will think that what I am doing is even ridiculous but let me to explain why I am interested in doing that. If I have any chance to land a job in USA or Canada (mainly USA), even if it´s an internship, unpaid internship even if I have to pay for a job, whatever... if this job last at least 6 months or a year, I would be able to beat that 20% without any doubt. International experience is highly required in my country and USA impress any employer.
I am rooting for all of you to find work that will fulfill and support you.
Jorge and others, have you looked at recruiters or headhunters? I've gotten some good opportunities through them. Perhaps you can call on the phone or email a recruiter directly - the good ones will respond pretty quickly. Just be up front with what you have to offer and make your goals clear (what position job, what pay)
I have tried looking for recruiters before and I don't know where to find any. They say that there are two kinds..one that gets paid even if they don't get you a job so I obviously don't want to go with that kind. It would be difficult to tell which one is good. I also asked my coach about recruiters and she didn't have anything to say for that.
Xcel Energy is actually a really good company. With this internship you should be able to land a god job. I wish I had the opportunity to do an internship there... Good luck by the way.
You'd think it was a good opportunity but... I didn't get hired on at Xcel (they said it wasn't in the budget although they said I was one of their most productive interns). I applied their later for a relevant position (their only entry level in my field to date) and didn't even get a phone interview 4 months later. I had even interviewed the director in that department while I was there... so much for networking.
There's just hardly any entry level positions in the electrical utility industry, or in compliance, which was my area while I was there. Looking at it, only 1 my coworkers started in the energy or compliance industry, and she started like 30 years ago. The rest came from some other background.
So essentially a good internship just turns into generic experience when I apply in other areas.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nickchick
I can't verify that for myself but my coach told me internships are only for people still in school and I have tried applying to internships in the past after graduating. I got no answer from them so I wonder if maybe she could be right.
I don't know you can try it for yourself. It won't hurt to just try. You probly will have better luck than me esp since you have more work experience than me. Maybe just don't put all your faith in it and just see where it goes.
I'll try it after I apply for other positions, but it seems like a lot of them specify like junior in college standing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Serious Conversation
I was not unemployed for very long, but had a really bad year in 2013 where my income was cut in half from the prior year and I held three jobs that year.
I had to basically shotgun applications all over the country (at least within an eight hour drive or so) and respond to everything that was better paying. Out of the phone interviews I had, I had onsite interviews in Nashville, Charlotte, Greenville, and Indianapolis - the job in Indianapolis paid best.
You probably will have to go way outside of your comfort zone if you've been unemployed that long.
That's what I'm concluding too. It's not worth spending a lot of time on any one company/opening, because for the ones I did, nothing came about and some of my furthest advances came from random, quick applications.
I know I could a job if I'd just go for anything, but that's going to end up being a call center/ wealth management, which I'm just not interested in. I'm being a little picky and it's taking a long time, but like I said, I can hold out for a while cause I'm basically working full time landscaping and have virtually no expenses. It's not super easy though and it gets depressing. I think going for a SQL certification will break the monotony and be a plus even if I don't use it in my first job.
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.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil P
There's just hardly any entry level positions in the electrical utility industry, or in compliance, which was my area while I was there. Looking at it, only 1 my coworkers started in the energy or compliance industry, and she started like 30 years ago. The rest came from some other background
Ok, I am not going to say this applies to EVERYONE who is out of work, but it sure applies to a lot of people who are. There are lots of jobs out there, but people either are too picky or the simply do not want to work.
I see it every day, people who have lost the drive and desire to actually get off their butts and go find and keep a job. For example, the company I work for hired a young lady ( a black young lady........and I only mention that to show we do not discriminate in our hiring.......we were happy to have her aboard). Her first day, she was supposed to be at work at 8 am. She walked in the door at 7.59 and said "Wow, I can't believe I actually made it on time !"
Her 2nd day, she was 20 minutes late and her excuse was "I'm really not feeling well today." Third day, she was on time. Fourth day we were slammed right at 8 am and she wasn't there. When she walked in the door at 8:06 and strolled by me, I asked her if she knew she was supposed to be at her workstation by 8, and her response was, "Tell that to traffic !" When I told our manager she was not working out, his response was, " 5 people applied for the job and she was the only one who actually showed up for the interview !"
To fill another position, we hired a guy (a white guy this time........just to show we are not above not wanting to work either), and he was supposed to come in the next day with his driver's license and SS card to finalize the hire. He never showed and when our HR called him, he said, "I've changed my mind."
As for the age discrimination, that is BS too. I'm 70 and I walked in and got my job at 67, when I decided to return to work after retiring. I could walk into another place and get a job today, if I wanted, because I would show them I have initiative, would do a good job, and would actually show up every day on time !
Every day some customer comes in and tells me he or she is trying to add a person to their workforce, and they can not find people who want to work. I know some of you are legitimately trying to find a job and are struggling, but that is not always the case. People have lost their work ethic and their ability to sell themselves, it seems.
I know I could a job if I'd just go for anything, but that's going to end up being a call center/ wealth management, which I'm just not interested in. I'm being a little picky and it's taking a long time, but like I said, I can hold out for a while cause I'm basically working full time landscaping and have virtually no expenses. It's not super easy though and it gets depressing. I think going for a SQL certification will break the monotony and be a plus even if I don't use it in my first job.
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.
Ok, I am not going to say this applies to EVERYONE who is out of work, but it sure applies to a lot of people who are. There are lots of jobs out there, but people either are too picky or the simply do not want to work.
I see it every day, people who have lost the drive and desire to actually get off their butts and go find and keep a job. For example, the company I work for hired a young lady ( a black young lady........and I only mention that to show we do not discriminate in our hiring.......we were happy to have her aboard). Her first day, she was supposed to be at work at 8 am. She walked in the door at 7.59 and said "Wow, I can't believe I actually made it on time !"
Her 2nd day, she was 20 minutes late and her excuse was "I'm really not feeling well today." Third day, she was on time. Fourth day we were slammed right at 8 am and she wasn't there. When she walked in the door at 8:06 and strolled by me, I asked her if she knew she was supposed to be at her workstation by 8, and her response was, "Tell that to traffic !" When I told our manager she was not working out, his response was, " 5 people applied for the job and she was the only one who actually showed up for the interview !"
To fill another position, we hired a guy (a white guy this time........just to show we are not above not wanting to work either), and he was supposed to come in the next day with his driver's license and SS card to finalize the hire. He never showed and when our HR called him, he said, "I've changed my mind."
As for the age discrimination, that is BS too. I'm 70 and I walked in and got my job at 67, when I decided to return to work after retiring. I could walk into another place and get a job today, if I wanted, because I would show them I have initiative, would do a good job, and would actually show up every day on time !
Every day some customer comes in and tells me he or she is trying to add a person to their workforce, and they can not find people who want to work. I know some of you are legitimately trying to find a job and are struggling, but that is not always the case. People have lost their work ethic and their ability to sell themselves, it seems.
Don
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.
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.
Yeah, absolutely. Some years ago I read a story in my country about a farmer that put a job ad to feed and maintain his pigs. The "candidate" should have full availability even on weekends, he offered food and 300$ per month. Then, that dude complained because nobody wants to work there and argued that the unemployment was high because people don´t want to work o_O
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