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After being laid off from my first "real job" out of college, I'm currently collecting unemployment benefits and searching for a new job.
I still have not had any luck finding employment: not only is my bachelor of arts degree useless in today's economy but the hard skills I acquired at my previous job are limited to proprietary technology... I haven't even been invited to interviews or has any employer bothered to return my e-mails.
Since money is not an issue right now, should I continue searching for a relevant job or should I settle for the first temporary job I can find? If I find a temporary job doing blue collar labor for $8/hour, should I take it and risk losing my unemployment benefits and government subsidized health insurance after the temporary assignment ends and I find myself once again unable to find relevant employment?
After being laid off from my first "real job" out of college, I'm currently collecting unemployment benefits and searching for a new job.
I still have not had any luck finding employment: not only is my bachelor of arts degree useless in today's economy but the hard skills I acquired at my previous job are limited to proprietary technology... I haven't even been invited to interviews or has any employer bothered to return my e-mails.
Since money is not an issue right now, should I continue searching for a relevant job or should I settle for the first temporary job I can find? If I find a temporary job doing blue collar labor for $8/hour, should I take it and risk losing my unemployment benefits and government subsidized health insurance after the temporary assignment ends and I find myself once again unable to find relevant employment?
A majority of standalone BA degrees are useless. Dime a dozen and employers aren't impressed. IMO you should take a blue collar job for $8 / hour and accept this as your destiny.
A majority of standalone BA degrees are useless. Dime a dozen and employers aren't impressed. IMO you should take a blue collar job for $8 / hour and accept this as your destiny.
I like your negativity. I thought I was the only one with that attitude.
Personally, I will not simply take any available job. I make the equivalant of about $9/hour on unemployment, so I don't feel like it makes sense to take a job that pays less than that. Unless it's a decent job, of course. There's many reasons why even a minimum wage job could be great if the work is interesting or the work-environment is nice, but taking a crappy low-paying job? Sorry, I don't think so.
Luckily I do have a very part-time job that is vaguely within my the same bounds as my previous experience, so that keeps me from developing a gap in my resume, which seems to be the biggest downside of collecting unemployment.
About your B.A., yes, in some ways it's useless, but in some ways it can also be helpful, and sometimes it will even be a hindrance.
I am actually in your situation and one thing I can tell you is that it will be extremely difficult to get a blue collar position since you have a BA. The employer will know that you are applying for the job simply because you couldn't find anything suitable to your skills and the employer will also think that you will bolt once the economy gets better. There are also tons of applicants who are out of work and blue collar and the employer is going to prefer to hire that person than you.
I don't recommend dumbing down your resume but if you have to do it then you are going to have to switch to a functional resume rather than the traditional chronological resume. Also, how exactly are you conducting the job search? Just sitting at home and applying online isn't going to get you anywhere.
In this economic and employment climate, you're going to have to play a numbers game. If the job you're eyeing is going to be paying you significantly more than you receive in benefits, by all means take it. But if you're barely going to break even with that job, you may want to think twice before letting go of your benefits sooner than you need to.
I'm not implying that you should be lazy and live off the dol but if you do the math, an $8/hour 20 hours/week job is going to net you less than $150/week. If you net $200/week in UI benefits, it becomes a no brainer.
About your B.A., yes, in some ways it's useless, but in some ways it can also be helpful, and sometimes it will even be a hindrance.
Can you tell me more about that?
Quote:
Originally Posted by X14Freak"
Also, how exactly are you conducting the job search? Just sitting at home and applying online isn't going to get you anywhere.
I have talked to career advisors but their advice can be found anywhere on the internet so I can't really say that I benefited from talking to them. I have also networked with the limited number of people I know but they were unable to find interested employers. What else can I do besides applying online? Should I get on the phone, call a few companies, and try to trick the person who answers the phone into transferring my call to the person responsible for hiring?
I have talked to career advisors but their advice can be found anywhere on the internet so I can't really say that I benefited from talking to them. I have also networked with the limited number of people I know but they were unable to find interested employers. What else can I do besides applying online? Should I get on the phone, call a few companies, and try to trick the person who answers the phone into transferring my call to the person responsible for hiring?
Yes to cold calling and getting your call transferred. I have done that before and gotten my resume forwarded and then landed an interview. A lot of employers really like that initiative and the worst they can say to you is no.
I cold emailed a bunch of college alums and they have been receptive to my emails and we set up some meetings. After that, they will usually offer to forward my resume to the person hiring or if they aren't hiring they will say they will try to connect me to people they know. I used LinkedIn and the Alumni network provided by my school (which lists emails of volunteers open to networking) to get names to email or call.
I have talked to career advisors but their advice can be found anywhere on the internet so I can't really say that I benefited from talking to them. I have also networked with the limited number of people I know but they were unable to find interested employers. What else can I do besides applying online? Should I get on the phone, call a few companies, and try to trick the person who answers the phone into transferring my call to the person responsible for hiring?
At some places, they won't necessarily require a specific degree. More so, they just need to check off that you have a bachelors in anything, period. Don't know of any specifically off the top of my head. Perhaps blue collar, admin, admin assistant, or office jobs that are more basic in nature? For better and worse, you've earned it and are stuck with it.
Also consider checking out career/job fairs, looking on LinkedIn, contacting through LinkedIn, and career centers. I'd not getting you an interview, then more leads.
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