Maine Jobs? No luck here. (job market, salaries, cost of)

[DavidoftheNorth]

Have you tried MESDA: Maine Software & Information Technology Industry Association, Maine Technology Company Resource & Advocate ?

[hollys0822]

Originally Posted by DavidoftheNorth

Have you tried any temp agencies? You may have to swallow your pride a little, but that's sometimes a good way to get a foot in the door.

I don't understand your commet. Why do you have to swallow your pride to work at a temp agency???

[flycessna]

Have you considered not working. Since I've been in Maine it appears lots of people choose not to work. I have thought about myself but still have not been able to master the process from working to not working. The people I ask about how they do it look at me suspiciously...it must be a guarded secret.

P.S. Good for you for not giving up. Yes there are jobs in Maine. And I totally agree with MaineMathTCHER. Pick 5-10 strong companies and work them. I equate it to the house with a for sale sign on the front lawn for 12 months. Doesn’t matter how nice it is after a while people just drive on by it. And I do not know if you are working at all but if your not “GET A JOB” anywhere. Its much easier in an interview to say your looking for a change or something that fits your training and education rather than saying I have no Job. Good Luck!

[mainebrokerman]

Originally Posted by hollys0822

I don't understand your commet. Why do you have to swallow your pride to work at a temp agency???

holly, i dont think he means temp agencies in a negative way. i've heard individuals say they wouldnt work for a lower pay than they think they are worth, think "swallow your pride" means, sometimes you gotta take less to get your foot in the door, then advance from there, beats not working at all

[399083453]

Good tips all of them. Thanks.

- I agree timing is everything, Im just going to keep trying.

- No earrings here, tattoos, etc. I'm lean cut, suit , tie.

- Temp Agencies: While I do respect people who hire temps, I dont respect the reasons companies are using them these days. Maybe the company doesn't want to pay benefits, or healthcare, etc. In these cases, I'm not interested in working for the company if that is the way they normally operate. I'm sure they wont be around too much longer. While temps are great for production related work, I dont think it benefits the company, or the worker to temp for a company where you need good training and/or really need to know what going on in order to be a benefit rather than a liability to a company.

- Thanks, I'll look into MESDA more.

I'm just going to keep revising my resume, keep submitting it and something will come up. I love living in Maine and I know Maine wants to retain people and have good jobs but Its just discouraging to see how hard it is to get a job in Maine while at the same time saying they dont have enough good applicants.

That said: this state and its businesses are going to have some difficult times ahead of it as the majority of its workers (baby boomers) reach retirement and the best and brightest young people have left or are leaving.

Dont worry, I wont give up. I'm not planning on leaving, but I can see why so many people do.

[Acadianlion]

For what it's worth, when I first moved here there were no jobs for which I was qualified, or there were jobs that required education and training that I didn't have. I decided to do odd jobs, and I used my two most prominent skills for that sort of thing to start my own business. The first "skill" was my ability to read...when there was a job that I was offered and I didn't really know how to do it, I went to the library and did a little reading. I also had some seventh grade shop skills that I had learned, and I used those. I had work to do every day in all seasons, and I was completely independent. That was quite a long time ago, and in those days I worked for the princely sum of four bucks an hour. I fed myself and eventually started an insurance business, which is one of those things that everyone knows you can't do without a lot of money...well, I did it anyway and I had practically none. Once I went down the road to being independent, I never went to work for anyone again.

[DavidoftheNorth]

Originally Posted by hollys0822

I don't understand your commet. Why do you have to swallow your pride to work at a temp agency???

Sorry - didn't mean to offend. Temp agencies are great at what they do - provide qualified personnel for temporary positions. They aren't intended to be employment agencies for people with advanced professional qualifications, but, in some cases, that's what happens.

[mandapanda]

I temped for years for the flexibility. Many small companies do not have HR depts and use the temp agencies as just that. I was only mistreated once - by a co-worker and I walked out the door. Never mistreated by a company or agency. They are usually glad to have you and the pay was pretty good too. I turned down jobs and stayed a temp. I had insurance and vacation days from the agencies too.

[MinnesotaGirl]

As a want to be Mainer, I always watch this forum and thought I would wade in with a suggestion. Healthcare always needs good IT people. Most, if not all hospitals are going to paperless charting systems, intergration of clinic, speciality and hospital records etc... I would submit a resume to the large health care sytems-Eastern Maine Medical Center for example, and see what happens.

[hollys0822]

I also think that temp agencies work two-fold. One for the company to decide whether you are a fit for them before hiring you permanently and two for you to decide if you like the company. Many companies use temp agencies to screen potential employees because it is cheaper for them to hire a temp for a few months than the cost of hiring someone who isn't going to work out. I've worked for temp agencies in NH that were not production but administrative, paralegal work and other jobs that had nothing to do with production.

Actually quite a few companies in NH, good companies, only hire through temp agencies, they hire temp to permanent in order to test the waters for the reasons I have already stated. Maybe in your field it is different?