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I can't even get my foot in the door here. It's been a year...
The days of walking into a company with a resume in hand and a good strong handshake are over. Now, security will escort you out unless you have an appointment.
I'm sorry (seems like I'm apologizing to everybody here just trying to do some good) but you don't seem to have a realistic perspective on the job market in NYC. That's not a dig at you personally. But your advice amounts to "it's extremely competitive/cutthroat here...so just stick it out."
No, I need to leave. My parents need to leave for warmer climates already for health purposes and I am literally the only reason they are still here. If I could get a job and buy their house from them, that would be ideal, but it won't work out fast enough.
I've been working in NYC for 15 years. I know the market, believe me. You have to network. Granted I did graduate @ a different time where you were not escorted out but every job I have had I had to think outside of the box a little to get myself in. It worked because I am persistent.
Companies want persistent people not people who will walk/move away b/c it's "hard".
The thing is that OP really needs to accept that training doesn't end after you get your 4 year degree.
And a lot of jobs specifically having to do with economics/history really require an advanced degree or additional training, teaching certificate, etc.
A lot of people end up working in retail/waiting tables after college because it pays the bills while they are looking for that permanent position.
And the reality is that most people don't end up using what their degree is in. I used my political science degree for a time, but then I realized I really hated working in the field and it wasn't the right fit for me. My personality just didn't fit what I was trying to do. But with the liberal arts degrees you really have to look at the transferable skills, like problem solving and reasoning and writing.....and how you can use those skills to benefit a potential employer. Have you promoted products? Do you enjoy working with the public? Can you write well? Did you manage an event or a club?
The reality is that hard work only gets you so far. I wish that someone would have told me that years ago. Hard work doesn't give you people skills - which are really important if you are dealing with the public/customers all the time.
The reason why I point this out is because of a situation that my family is in at our church. The person in charge of religious education at my church is just an awful choice for that position. She likes the kids and she's a hard worker and knows her job. These are all good qualities.
However, she has also broken a lot of relationships with families in our parish because she is just a hard person to deal with. Everyone wishes that they didn't have to deal with her. She's really not compassionate or warm towards people. And the adults know that she really doesn't care about building relationships with them or their families. A lot of families - including mine - go elsewhere for religious education or simply do church elsewhere.
She's made little kids cry over water bottles and really just doesn't have much empathy if you tell her that you couldn't make class because grandma's sick and dying in the hospital and saying goodbye to grandma is much more important than making it class. And every year she has to beg for catechists (teachers) because they tend to quit because they don't want to deal with her anymore. But she works hard and knows the job, so apparently that makes everything okay.......
The point is that hard work only gets you so far. And people aren't going to know about your hard work unless you tell them. Nobody is going to magically see that you are a hard worker - you have to tell them all about it. (As more of an introvert - this one was a killer for me to learn!)
So a lot of really comes down to marketing and promoting the skills and experience you have. Did you do any internships? Did you volunteer? Do you volunteer? What is unique about you and why would someone be crazy not to hire you?
You really need to come up with a career goal. Even if you only know where you want to see yourself in the next 2-3 years.
That will really help a lot of this fall into place. If you don't know if you need additional training for the job you want, then it's hard set yourself up on path to get there.
Also, you need to consider if your expectations are too high. The reason why I say that is because when my husband was a manager and screening potential employees, he'd often find that people often thought that they were worth more than their skill set would realistically pay. It was just outside of the salary scale for the job description anywhere in the job market that he was in.
Additionally, he discovered there was a difference in what his team was looking for in an applicant and what HR looks for when they screening people. So, some people his team would have likely considered for a position weren't getting bumped up for additional screening because of HR. Not that this information will make you feel any better about your situation, but it's just a bigger view into what goes on during the screening process.
There are pluses and minuses to getting into larger corporations.
I know this is long and I'm sorry I've gone on and on. However, I remember being in your exact position and I wish that I would have had some realistic advice about getting into the job market after college and what work after college is like. So, hopefully, something I've said helps you out.
Yea I don't care too much about the weather. Will definitely move for the job.
I actually have applied to jobs out in the midwest and rust-belt states but received no responses.
Besides my obvious lack of work experience, I think companies are reluctant to hire out-of-state candidates.
I would pack everything up and make the move to go job-hunting there, but the general consensus on CD is that this doesn't work anymore and that it's far wiser to line up a job first before making any moves.
I would suggest applying directly to companies in the Twin Cities area such as UnitedHealth Group, Prime Therapeutics, and General Mills.
Doesn't make sense! If you love them to death, then why are you saying you CAN'T stay at home longer?
I think OP loves and respects their parents and at this point feels they're being taken advantage of, and that isn't the right thing to do. They have health problems that would improve if they moved south, and OP doesn't want to hold them back. OP is ready to be an adult.
Where would you recommend someone relocate to if they don't have any particular standout talents or skills but are ready to work hard and build their careers?
I (and surely others here also) am ready and willing to move somewhere to get a job that doesn't require 5+ years of experience or any specialized knowledge or advanced degrees that all the entry level job ads seem to demand these days.
While I do have a college degree, at this point, I'm fed up with applying for those jobs knowing that they either won't look at my resume (I hardly have any experience after all, just a degree from an albeit really good school) or there's always someone out there who's far more qualified and willing to work for less.
So I'm really ready for anything at this point. Doesn't even have to require a college degree. I would like to go somewhere with a booming economy that is hungry for hard workers and maybe even willing to actually invest in giving us the training we need so we can do our best.
I know some people like to recommend coding/programming, and I do think that's a good idea. But it takes (realistically) at least 6 months up to several years to get good enough to be hireable. So while I'm not against coding on my free-time, I would really like to just hit the ground running with something that can offer a paycheck.
So please help with any all of your ideas, CD. I am really open to anything. Are there parts of the US that are struggling to find people? Or certain industries? Or maybe specific companies you might know or have heard of? Anything will help, thank you!
Midland-Odessa,Texas/Carlsbad-Hobbs, New Mexico might work if coding doesnt work out.Were still booming.Lots of good paying jobs that dont require degree or standout skills.
Hey, that's awesome to hear. I was hoping this could be helpful to someone else besides me I was sure I'm not the only one in this boat...
I have friends in the NYC metro area, and the general consensus there is that the job market is extremely competitive. Companies there are unwilling to just "take a chance" on you, and that hiring/recruiting there follows a kind of formal well-defined process that requires you to have already checked off a lot of their prerequisites before they even look at you (liking having gone to one of their target schools, for ex.)
Luckily for you, seems like you have more time than I do, so definitely do your best to lock something down before you graduate. I know my parents don't mind having me live at home, but it definitely cuts into their ability to go live their best lives now that they're empty-nesters.
That is definitely true. Even entry level positions are hard to get because you're competing with a hoard of overqualified people just looking to get their foot in the door in New York. I got my first job here through a referral from my old boss before moving. When it turned out that it was a horrible place to work, I left and it took almost two months of endless searching, interviewing, and schmoozing with the right people to find another job that paid well and was in a good organization. This was already with having my Masters degree in that field and 5 years experience doing exactly what this job entails.
I, and many others who haven't lived here, underestimate(d) how competitive it is to get good, skilled jobs. You're applying against literally the best in the country and the world. Just be prepared for that unless you're good with waiting tables or bartending.
I was pretty desperate to get out of my parents' place but couldn't get a job that paid enough to do so, until an opportunity came along. Might not be what you need, but I'll PM you.
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I was sure I'm not the only one in this boat...
