Having difficultly landing job in Houston (yes, really!) (Austin, Arlington: for sale, real estate)

[Topaz]

The Internet hasn't changed human nature all that much...people prefer to hire people they know and like or who are referred by a trusted mutual acquaintance. Years ago I moved to a new state with a masters degree and tons of experience and I kept applying to jobs at the local university and I couldn't even get an interview. I finally started my own company and built a great network of professional connections. The same university that wouldn't even interview me before asked me to teach a class because one of my new colleagues told them about me. I ended up teaching for a semester and it felt like a bit of a victory since my ego was still smarting from all the rejection letters I got when I first moved there. Local job searches are easier than long distance job searches (not that any job search is easy).

[Oildog]

Why not move to Texas for a year to gain residency and look for places to attend grad school (you acn save a few $$$ and quailfy for instate tuition). I'm of the opinion a lot of the poly sci type degrees aren't worth as much w/o advanced degree.

[EclecticEars]

Originally Posted by Texas Mack

Have you considered a career in marketing? I've actually come across people in the industry who have told me that they're looking more at people with poli-sci degrees.

I've given a little consideration to marketing. No hits in the apps I've sent there, either. I'm willing to try marketing as long as cold calls are absolutely minimal--I'd rather dig ditches or build fences (literally, and I've done those before) than cold call. I'm a people person but on a face-to-face basis.

Originally Posted by chris_ut

Consider getting a Texas address through the UPS Store. You can just have them forward any mail to you anywhere in the US and it is a street address not a PO Box.

Hmmmm...I've heard about people getting P.O. boxes in locales they intend to move to. Might be worth a shot.

Originally Posted by lonestarwvu

If you don’t care what you do, you could probably move down and find a job in retail, but I have no idea what the market is like for that either. Might I suggest you take the GRE’s and go to grad school somewhere down here? College is a fine place to be.

FWIW, I think I sent out over 100 resumes when I got out of college with very few bites -- I feel your pain.

My sales/c.s. experience is entirely in retail, where I still work full-time. Retail's not bad overall, it's just annoying when you have (a) "undesirable" customers or (b) customers asking you 3,000 questions about video games when there are five other associates wandering around within a 15' radius doing nothing. BUT...positives and negatives comprise any field of work.

I'd rather move South, establish residency after 12 mos., and attend college on in-state tuition. And...100 resumes? Yikes! Hey, I've sent out probably 50 so far and only received about five hits.

Originally Posted by Topaz

I wouldn't go to grad school in Kentucky hoping it will help you get a job in Texas. You need to be more networked here because liberal arts grads with a bit of business experience tend to get jobs through connections rather than through posted advertisements.

If you can swing it financially, I think you are on the right track to move here and start working at something that will finance your effort to find the right job. I think it is an easier sell to go from local temp work to a local job in your field than to go from a job in Kentucky to a job in Houston.

Agreed entirely.

Originally Posted by Oildog

I'm of the opinion a lot of the poly sci type degrees aren't worth as much w/o advanced degree.

Ronald Reagan was an economics major. It took him nine months after his college graduation to even find a job he wanted--an internship at a radio station 250 miles from his home. The internship ended, he had to go back home to Illinois, but that same station in Des Moines called him back and offered him a full-time position. He accepted. That was the beginning of a snowball affect into a life not doomed to failure.

I know I'll succeed somehow--even if I don't become President, lol--but that will likely require some help from a Master's degree.

Originally Posted by Topaz

The Internet hasn't changed human nature all that much...people prefer to hire people they know and like or who are referred by a trusted mutual acquaintance. Years ago I moved to a new state with a masters degree and tons of experience and I kept applying to jobs at the local university and I couldn't even get an interview. I finally started my own company and built a great network of professional connections. The same university that wouldn't even interview me before asked me to teach a class because one of my new colleagues told them about me. I ended up teaching for a semester and it felt like a bit of a victory since my ego was still smarting from all the rejection letters I got when I first moved there. Local job searches are easier than long distance job searches (not that any job search is easy).

Great story! Your own construction of the American Dream--working hard--led to this karma. Making lemonade out of lemons. Owning a business is tough stuff but can be very rewarding.

[EclecticEars]

Originally Posted by chris_ut

Consider getting a Texas address through the UPS Store. You can just have them forward any mail to you anywhere in the US and it is a street address not a PO Box.

Great idea, once again.

I got to thinking, though, that if I were to get a P.O. Box and/or UPS address, that address may seem to be as good as actually being in Houston currently in an employer's eyes. (Am I making sense here?)

So, with a Houston address but the inability to verify that I work and live there, might it be just as hard to land interviews, much less jobs?

[Topaz]

Originally Posted by jcm1986

Great idea, once again.

I got to thinking, though, that if I were to get a P.O. Box and/or UPS address, that address may seem to be as good as actually being in Houston currently in an employer's eyes. (Am I making sense here?)

So, with a Houston address but the inability to verify that I work and live there, might it be just as hard to land interviews, much less jobs?

Don't lie. If you get the Texas address before actually moving here, then just say in your cover letter that you are in the process of relocating to Houston and you can be available for local interviews since you are going to be in the area anyway. Also make it clear that you don't need relocation costs.

The main reason for the Texas address is that many HR types and hiring managers screen out all non-local candidates. So if your address says Kentucky, your resume goes into the trash.

Using the Texas address without actually being here doesn't help with the networking part. So it increases your chances but not as much as would be the case if you were actually here working at some survivor job and meeting decision-makers.

[EclecticEars]

Originally Posted by Topaz

Don't lie. If you get the Texas address before actually moving here, then just say in your cover letter that you are in the process of relocating to Houston and you can be available for local interviews since you are going to be in the area anyway. Also make it clear that you don't need relocation costs.

The main reason for the Texas address is that many HR types and hiring managers screen out all non-local candidates. So if your address says Kentucky, your resume goes into the trash.

Using the Texas address without actually being here doesn't help with the networking part. So it increases your chances but not as much as would be the case if you were actually here working at some survivor job and meeting decision-makers.

Blunt, to the point, honest, yet very polite. This is probably the answer I need.

[Supermac34]

Keep updating and redoing your resume until you start to get more bites. Also network and get out there and talk to people. If you can call directly sometimes that's good as well. Also, apply to more jobs. Two call backs on twenty applications actually isn't all that bad. That's a 10% callback rate, and the general callback rate is usually much lower.

[texas7]

I've heard the same that it is hard to get a social science job w/o a masters. Go search Monster.com and see what you can find out on jobs in the area. I know they always need people in the social services office that checks on children thought to be in abusive families (why can't I remember the name of that office, the child welfare office) and those are usually bachelor degree jobs (and a foot in the door of the social services industry) but also heard there is a high level of burn-out with that as well. Might look at some non-profits, united way agencies, etc.

[EclecticEars]

Originally Posted by Supermac34

Keep updating and redoing your resume until you start to get more bites. Also network and get out there and talk to people. If you can call directly sometimes that's good as well. Also, apply to more jobs. Two call backs on twenty applications actually isn't all that bad. That's a 10% callback rate, and the general callback rate is usually much lower.

Yeah, 10% is not that bad. Obviously I wish it was higher, but I'm not getting down about it b/c I'm trying to be realistic.

Originally Posted by texas7

I've heard the same that it is hard to get a social science job w/o a masters. Go search Monster.com and see what you can find out on jobs in the area. I know they always need people in the social services office that checks on children thought to be in abusive families (why can't I remember the name of that office, the child welfare office) and those are usually bachelor degree jobs (and a foot in the door of the social services industry) but also heard there is a high level of burn-out with that as well. Might look at some non-profits, united way agencies, etc.

I've looked at some non-profits. As for social services, all I can think of is underpaid and overworked! I mean, I know I'm not going to become a rich sheikh anytime soon, but I'm don't think I'll go the s.s. route.

[Topaz]

Originally Posted by jcm1986

As for social services, all I can think of is underpaid and overworked!

That's for sure. I know two people in helping professions who make ridiculously low wages. The first is an EMT / Paramedic with several years of experience. He makes $15/hr. And the second is a crisis counselor who takes life-or-death calls on a suicide hotline. She has a masters degree in counseling and makes $14/hr. The second one is building a private practice to earn more because the crisis hotline job doesn't even cover her child care bills when she has to work the night shift.