Best way to find a job fast? (Seattle, Lynnwood: sales, buy)

[ShadowXOR]

I'm moving to Lynnwood, WA (in Western Washington, a bit north of Seattle) and will be driving out of California on May 31. I was saving for the move but all my roommates moved out and I couldn't replace them. I can't afford to live here on my own and had been planning to move to WA but just wanted more time to save but that isn't happening so I need to get a job essentially as soon as I arrive or sooner.

I'm applying on Craig's List, Monster.com, etc. I think it will be hard to find a job before moving since people want to interview. I'm also going to sign up at a bunch of Temp Agencies. I figure my best bet is to schedule a ton of interviews for the day I arrive so that I will likely get an offer very shortly after.

I currently make $16.00/hr. and I've found a lot of listings around that and I need to make that to survive. I would prefer to find a job before I arrive but I'm not sure if I can make that happen. It would cost even more for me to stay in California and I have virtually no moving costs so this is my cheapest alternative plus I planned on moving anyway.

I have a job with Verizon that I'm virtually guaranteed to get but they aren't currently hiring so I may not get the job until I've been there about a month or so. If anyone has ideas please feel free to share!

[scirocco22]

Can you explain that last paragraph? ...I couldn't quite make sense of it. I thought you had the job. Why would they say they're not hiring and you'd have to wait a month before getting it?


Thanks.

--'rocco

[ShadowXOR]

Originally Posted by scirocco22

Can you explain that last paragraph? ...I couldn't quite make sense of it. I thought you had the job. Why would they say they're not hiring and you'd have to wait a month before getting it?


Thanks.

--'rocco

Basically they are currently "hiring" and took applications for a period, conducted testing, and came up with a list of applicants. They are no longer taking applications and will choose from the pool of us who have already applied and passed all testing. My friend has his manager friend watching to make sure I get one of the many positions. Since Verizon is a large company they are very annoying and take FOREVER to hire. My friend is expecting me to get the job in about a month when they actually start "bringing people on". As of right now they are going to hire a bunch of us but they take their sweet time doing it. I hope that made sense.

[scirocco22]

Ah ok, so essentially you are almost guaranteed to get the job with Verizon, it's just that it will be about a month or so until you actually start to work for them. And you want to find something temporary until you start work for them. Right?


Thanks.

--'rocco

[jwb123]

Hmm... if you are 'guaranteed' a job in a month, I don't know that I would waste time trying to find, interview and start a job, only to burn bridges and leave in a months time. Plus, once you do get hired somewhere, it can take up to 3 weeks to get active on the payroll, and actually paid.

Quite honestly, if you can't float yourself for a few weeks - till the other job starts, I am not sure you are really ready to move. What about your girlfriend? Can she foot the bill for a few weeks? What about staying where you are for one month, so there is less downtime between each job? And finally, could you "couch surf" until you have some cash coming in?

As for "quick money jobs" - if you DONT get the Verizon job - when you arrive, walk into Best Buy, Target, Barnes and Noble, any grocery store or other large chain that hires easily, request an app and if you are decent and presentable - you could probably have a job pretty easily. Again, though - it may take some time to get the paycheck coming in, and with training, etc, I don't know that I would look at these positions to fill a 4 wk gap...

[jwb123]

Also, given that I have experience with hiring for large corporations, I wouldn't consider it a "guarantee" until you have an offer letter and start date.

[ShadowXOR]

Originally Posted by Jenbar

Hmm... if you are 'guaranteed' a job in a month, I don't know that I would waste time trying to find, interview and start a job, only to burn bridges and leave in a months time. Plus, once you do get hired somewhere, it can take up to 3 weeks to get active on the payroll, and actually paid.

Quite honestly, if you can't float yourself for a few weeks - till the other job starts, I am not sure you are really ready to move. What about your girlfriend? Can she foot the bill for a few weeks? What about staying where you are for one month, so there is less downtime between each job? And finally, could you "couch surf" until you have some cash coming in?

If I stay here it would cost me MORE money than moving, so I don't see how I'm "not ready to move". I really have no choice since all my roommates split (I lived with three) and I couldn't replace them. Living here will cost me about $500 more a month than in Washington. And I didn't say it was 100% guaranteed which is why I'm looking for a job to fill in that month, and if it doesn't work with Verizon (or I like the other job a lot) I can just stay.

[Tony1790]

Originally Posted by Jenbar

walk into Best Buy, Target, Barnes and Noble, any grocery store or other large chain that hires easily, ..

Biggest problem there is that the pay scale for those jobs are likely half of what the fellow says he needs ($16hr).

I'm sorry, but I don't know if you are going to find many (any) jobs that pay $16 per hour or better and that are available now (low hanging fruit). I suppose some of the sales jobs may pay that with commission, but the recent sales of many stores are down quite a bit. And wasn't it best buy that just fired all of their highly paid people so that they could rehire them at $10 per hour.

I've been looking for work for a while and finally got a good paying job offer, but it's not here in WA.

Good luck, I think that your best bet is to get on with one of the temp agencies that you have already applied with, work those temp jobs until the Verizon job starts. That sounds like a plan to me.

Tony

[ShadowXOR]

I've found a lot of good jobs up there online, but I doubt they will hire a guy that says he is moving up there over a local. People say there are no jobs where I live too but I've never had a problem landing a good job. My main problem is time. Don't get me wrong, this is far from my ideal situation but my roommates forced me into a corner.

[CityGirl72]

SO are you looking for a temporary job? I can't say a temporary job will pay $16 an hour - but I can say that some money is better then none

GO to the mall - grab a quickie job

Or go to a car dealership - you can get some good commissions there - and they hire on the spot