Richmond's job market is pure trash (Glen Allen, Washington: middle-class, insurance, credit)

[Mtaylo24]

It isn't that this town is garbage but the job market is.
Have you tried craigslist? Yes, all scam jobs...
What about careerbuilder and monster? Yes I have tried those as well and they work if you want Ajilon, Appleone and other TEMP agencies calling you to place you in a CALLCENTER.
I moved to Richmond in 10/08 because I graduated from college and moved back in with my parents. My parents moved here from Northern VA because my mother got her dream job here. A month after I moved here, I started working in a CALLCENTER as a temp. I Left that assignment for another temp agency to be a homeservices specialist for Bank of America. After 4 weeks they ended not only my assignment, but everyone else on my team without explanation. I went back to my original CALLCENTER as a temp. Today I still work in that same CALLCENTER as a Temp. Why? Because their are 25 temps and they only had 9 openings on the floor and I would have the last consideration because I left and also because THERE ARE NO OTHER OPPORTUNITIES IN RICHMOND...I'm going to say it again THERE ARE NO OPPORTUNITIES IN RICHMOND, VA...DO NOT MOVE HERE. I have a bachelors and I am working on a Post-baccaulareate certificate at VCU and I can assure you that when my program ends in Dec. 2010 I will be gone, gone, gone from this BS "city"...I'm gonna call this "city" a town, there is no such thing as getting a job downtown (either Southside or Glen Allen), no sports teams, and no rail system. But wait...I have had other interviews...with other temp agencies trying to place me in a OUTBOUND CALLCENTER.
But I thought Richmond was home to many Fortune 500 companies? Sure it is, but no one wants to let there job go and open it up for the college grads. NO ONE IS HIRING!!!! Whenever you apply on a companies website you get "Thank you for your interest in the ____ position with _____. We appreciate the time you've taken to share your background and experience with us. After careful consideration, we have selected a candidate whose qualifications more closely match the requirements of this position. We encourage you to explore other opportunities with ____." Are these companies serious? Do they even read the resume that is entering their database. Altria probably updates their website 2 times a month. LandAmerica and Circuit City are no more..Capital One, Genworth and Bank of America are layoff happy. MWV just gets a big fat LOL. Suntrust 3 straight quarterly losses...I don't know. Can't work at Wells Fargo because I have classes at night and they are not flexible for college students. Every job in Richmond requires that you work 11:30-8:00 because they are call centers!!! If you want an 8-5 do no move here. I am packing up and moving to Washington D.C. baby!!!
In closing, I would like to leave you guys with a little story about a job fair I went to last Nov. There was a line wrapped around the building. Three employers had the decency to show up. Cavalier Telephone (LOL), Capital One (Do you think you will last a full year there?), and Bankers Casualty Insurance (lol selling insurance to senior citizens how low can you go...smh)...wait wait wait, there was one more and that is Primerica (LMAO) What a job fair. That was quite a

for all the people that went, monster.com, the venue that was holding the job fair, and most importantly, myself. Sorry this was rant was so long, but somebody had to say it. *ENDS RANT*

[blu_monk]

1) What school did you graduate from?
2) What is your degree?
3) What was your GPA?
4) What work experience do you already have?
5) What type of job are you looking for?
6) Where was the job fair?
7) Why do you keep on applying to call center jobs if you want want to work in a call center?
8) Why are you working on a "Post-baccalaureate certificate" and not a masters degree?

Your attitude is horrible. I am currently job searching and found several postings for jobs in Richmond, VA.
I have been to several job fairs in Virginia, and all of them have been worth my while and have landed me interviews, and also my current job.

Perhaps I can offer you some assistance if you inform me more about yourself.

[Mtaylo24]

Originally Posted by blu_monk

1) What school did you graduate from?
2) What is your degree?
3) What was your GPA?
4) What work experience do you already have?
5) What type of job are you looking for?
6) Where was the job fair?
7) Why do you keep on applying to call center jobs if you want want to work in a call center?

Your attitude is horrible. I am currently job searching and found several postings for jobs in Richmond, VA.
I have been to several job fairs in Virginia, and all of them have been worth my while and have landed me interviews, and also my current job.

Perhaps I can offer you some assistance if you inform me more about yourself.

1) WVU
2) Econ/Business Admin
3) 3.0
4) Banking/Mortgage/Title
5) Something where I'm not on a phone 100% of my day talking to pissed off customers
6) Crown Plaza Broad St
7) I don't apply to call center jobs, the ad always has a fake title like "A/P processor, loan clerk, Appraisal Reviewer"

Yes I do have a horrible attitude because I am pretty frustrated with this place. But then again, this is a rant.

[blu_monk]

Originally Posted by Mtaylo24

1) WVU
2) Econ/Business Admin
3) 3.0
4) Banking/Mortgage/Title
5) Something where I'm not on a phone 100% of my day talking to pissed off customers
6) Crown Plaza Broad St
7) I don't apply to call center jobs, the ad always has a fake title like "A/P processor, loan clerk, Appraisal Reviewer"

Yes I do have a horrible attitude because I am pretty frustrated with this place. But then again, this is a rant.

1) Most schools have career centers or online job postings that are for the specific school. Have you tried this? I got 2 of my internships by doing this. Perhaps make friends with the career adviser coordinator and tell them you are looking for a job. If he or she sees something new, they might just send it your way.

2) Econ is always kinda of meh. I think most people know this going into it tough. I knew a few Econ grads that worked at BestBuy. It's just a little harder to find a job as opposed to an Accounting or Finance major

3) Are you sure? Having exactly a 3.0 sounds kind of fictitious. I'm not calling you a liar, but when recruiters see you have exactly a 3.0, it's kind of hard to believe. People usually have below or above.

4) What does that mean? Be more descriptive. Were those internships?

5) You should be able to find something. Perhaps you should include the word "analyst" in your job searching to filter out some calling jobs. What about a claims rep for travelers insurance, it's better than nothing and the people you talk to are not pissed off. Saw that job the other day.

6) Don't waste your time with those. Only go to University sponsored career fairs. UofR, VCU, UVA and GMU all have multiple career fairs during the year. I believe the season they usually have them just passed, but you might want to keep a look out. Yes, you can attend another school's career fair. I did it all the time. It's kind of fun actually. Some you have to sneak in, but most are open to the public.

7) AP jobs are known to be b*tch jobs that pigeon hold you where all you do is data entry. So stop search for AP jobs. AR involved credit and is a little more interesting though. I would avoid AP. Not be sexist, AP jobs are typically old women jobs. "Loan clerk"??? what do you expect searching for the word "clerk"- that's another bullsh*t data entry job. Clerk stands for clerical, aka do nothing and play with paper all day. Stop searching for that. Appraisal reviewer? Never even thought of doing something like that.

- So include the word analyst.
- Maybe include the word "compliance" and see if you can find a SOX or - Audit job, may be boring, but you can learn a lot about a company and don't have to talk to people on the phone all day.
- Instead of "banking clerk" or whatever, try "commercial lending" or "credit analyst" or why not even try for a "financial analyst" position or "underwriter"
- And stop searching on all those bullsh*t sites, I use one and one only -

w w w. i n d e e d. c o m

^ love that one. only apply to companies directly on their website

Why not just look up companies you know in the Richmond area and check out their career page?

I use to work for this Bank - Career Opportunities :: Citizens and Farmers Bank (http://www.cffc.com/home/car - broken link)

And if you're going to go back to school, do something that is actually worth something like a MBA @ VCU and not some worthless certificate.

[sls76]

This is a terrible job market, especially for new college graduates. Unfortunately, very few places are unaffected by this recession and I doubt the job market will recover anytime soon (not sure if it will ever permanently recover). While there are certainly places doing better than Richmond (e.g., DC and the suburbs of DC), the unemployment rate in Richmond is lower than the national average (by almost 2%). If I had no ties and wanted secure employment and could handle the relatively high cost of living, I too would head to DC. The federal government certainly won't be getting smaller anytime soon.

[RVA-Jsn20]

Yes the unemployment rate is actually low in Richmond (comparatively). I bet it's much worse in the midwest or california

And I hear it's worst for young people and recent college grads... best to pick something you might consider 'below' you, and just wait until the market picks up.

[PrinceTheo]

The job market is bad most places in the country. It's called a RECESSION.

[Mtaylo24]

Originally Posted by PrinceTheo

The job market is bad most places in the country. It's called a RECESSION.

Lol I know man I know

[Mtaylo24]

Originally Posted by blu_monk

1) Most schools have career centers or online job postings that are for the specific school. Have you tried this? I got 2 of my internships by doing this. Perhaps make friends with the career adviser coordinator and tell them you are looking for a job. If he or she sees something new, they might just send it your way.

2) Econ is always kinda of meh. I think most people know this going into it tough. I knew a few Econ grads that worked at BestBuy. It's just a little harder to find a job as opposed to an Accounting or Finance major

3) Are you sure? Having exactly a 3.0 sounds kind of fictitious. I'm not calling you a liar, but when recruiters see you have exactly a 3.0, it's kind of hard to believe. People usually have below or above.

2) My Post-baccalaureate Certificate at VCU is going to be in Accounting. I can sit for the CPA if i choose so afterwards seeing that I will have 150 credit hours and 24 accounting hours

3)Lol, you never know, sometimes people can have exactly a 3.0, but i will admit that I overshot it a tad-bit since I'm in a public forum and GPA is personal for me hehe

[ElectroPlumber]

I sympathize with the OP--it is so frustrating to be told from your birth that getting a college degree will guarantee you a middle-class existence and then to find that companies no longer want new college grads because they have to spend the money training them and would rather have someone experienced that can hit the ground running.

My advice to is look hard at what skills employers are willing to pay for and then go back and get the training that is required for the job. It may be as a nurse or an electrician or plumber or HVAC repairman. Those jobs are still out there. You can no longer go to college and major in something that sounds fun or used to be in demand (like business or econ) and just expect that there will be a job waiting for you.

This is a cold hard fact that the colleges are not telling their students. If the recovery ever comes, it will no doubt be jobless, just like the last recovery was jobless. Every job created since 1997 has now been lost and more jobs will be lost because of globalization and outsourcing. Unfortunately, this is the new "Normal". You either adapt or get used to working in call centers and retail.