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I graduated 5 months ago and I've been unemployed since then. This looks bad on my resume.
I've applied to almost every company that posts on job boards -- Dice, Indeed, SimplyHired, LinkedIn, CareerBuilder, etc. Almost every time I see a listing that looks great, I look on my spreadsheet and see that I applied there a month ago.
Less and less options, a race against the clock, etc ... This is not good. Any advice?
In this economy don't worry about looking bad for having a gap in employment, 5 months after graduation isn't too long. What is your degree in?
Have you tried craigslist? I have found multiple jobs there (I have a master's in science).
Since you aren't getting interviews, I suggest tailoring your resume to match word for word as much as possible what they are asking for.
So if the position says something like "type at least 65 words per minute" and you put in "type 75 wpm" the system might not catch it cuz it's not matching. That's just a very basic example.
I graduated 5 months ago and I've been unemployed since then. This looks bad on my resume.
I've applied to almost every company that posts on job boards -- Dice, Indeed, SimplyHired, LinkedIn, CareerBuilder, etc. Almost every time I see a listing that looks great, I look on my spreadsheet and see that I applied there a month ago.
Less and less options, a race against the clock, etc ... This is not good. Any advice?
Graduated what? High school? College?
If college, what did you major in?
What were your career objectives?
Have you ever been employed?
Have you considered producing a functional (not chronological) resume?
welcome to the real world, it's tough out there. this current crop of college grads (+/- 3 yrs) is facing one of the toughest job markets in many years. from what i've read, predictions are that most will never make the kind of money their parents made (adjusted for inflation and taken over an entire career) because they'll have lost at least 5 - 10 yrs of earning power because of this economy.
this isn't meant to discourage you, but to remind you that you're not alone, and to not blame yourself. most importantly, don't tie your self worth as a human being to your ability to be a "productive contributor to the economy", or you'll end up horribly depressed.
Someone I know from HS graduated with a bachelors degree in business management. He did absolutely nothing for a year. I mean nothing. He refused to take any job he deemed "beneath" him. Well, shortly after that, he began searching for jobs that were slightly below his self imposed worth. Progressively, he lowed the bar. Today, he works at Arby's. He's been there for 6 months now.
Don't be like this guy. Try to get any job you can. Even if it sucks, it's experience. What many college grads lack is real world, OTJ experience. The guy I described never had a job in his life. How can you go from never working a job to managing others who may have years of experience? You can't. So now he's going to have to start at the bottom and work his way up. That's the way it was always done, and exceptions are not going to be made in most settings because someone has a degree.
My advice... Keep looking, but don't be afraid to take that down and dirty, possibly minimum wagish job. At the very least, it will provide you with experience, and that will be a benefit no matter what career you ultimately pursue.
I did not have any specific career objectives, unfortunately. Since the highlight of my college experience was working on a research project under a Computational Neuroscience grad student, using some statistical software to write scripts that crunch numbers, plot graphics, etc., I assumed that would be widely applicable and I could get some entry-level position in Analytics, Programming, or something like that.
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Have you ever been employed?
Yes, this is my first time being unemployed for a while. During college I had a part-time job as Math tutor at a learning center in the city. I was getting paid by the university for my research project, so that was a job too.
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Have you considered producing a functional (not chronological) resume?
Have you tried your college's career services? Large companies spend a significant amount of resources recruiting from universities. It's an inside track to starting a career.
Job boards on the internet are a notoriously ineffective and time-wasting effort for finding a job...you have to break through what in the HR world is known as the "resume black hole" in which the gravitational forces are so great that there is a 99% probability your submission will never be seen by another sentient being. There was a recent article on LinkedIn Today about this...I don't think I am allowed to link to it.
You are better off looking through your contacts: friends, relatives, former bosses, professors, college career center, etc.
Job boards on the internet are a notoriously ineffective and time-wasting effort for finding a job...you have to break through what in the HR world is known as the "resume black hole" in which the gravitational forces are so great that there is a 99% probability your submission will never be seen by another sentient being. There was a recent article on LinkedIn Today about this...I don't think I am allowed to link to it.
You are better off looking through your contacts: friends, relatives, former bosses, professors, college career center, etc.
I check my university's job board daily and I've been to a job fair (useless) and I've talked to a career counselor there twice.
I'll agree that five months isn't excessive, but with each passing day, you become less employable. Also, I noticed you said you had a part-time job through the college, but have you ever had any private sector employment? Many times employers don't count part-time or internship type work as employment experience.
Consider this. The "average" mathematics major may start with an "average" salary of $35k (I am just making up numbers for this). However, let's assume you take that $10/hr job and start out at $20,800. Most future offers will be based off what is then your current salary. Starting this low leaves you with a big salary deficit to climb out of relative to the average. Also, let's say you take that stocking job at Lowe's for experience. Guess what? Your math major doesn't help there and then you have the "damaged goods" stigma of being "just a Lowe's stockboy." In future interviews, you are no longer thought of primarily as a college graduate in mathematics, but as the Lowe's stockboy.
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