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I have never heard of such a thing. But would you send a letter of recommendation from a past employer out with a resume? Employers may get lots of response, so possibly that would help?
Also, I am hobby/part time self employed. Meaning I work maybe 2 days a week on a side business. I have online reviews which are all 5 star. Should I include a link with a cover letter?
I have never heard of such a thing. But would you send a letter of recommendation from a past employer out with a resume? Employers may get lots of response, so possibly that would help?
Instead of a letter (that was probably requested by YOU and may not provide info the prospective employer wants) I'd probably provide the name of that person as a reference (get their OK before using them) and invite potential employers to contact them directly.
Thanks for the advice everyone. I had been working just for myself for about 10 years, which was somewhat dependent on having local customers. I moved to another area, because the area I had been living was ridiculously expensive. So my self employment income fell a lot. But in the long run it will be better living in a moderately priced area.
So for the last year, I have only been working for myself part time. And I went back into the job market, just to have some steady income and health insurance but not looking for a real career. I had not been sure what I wanted to do about working for myself....possible ways of growing that. But for the next 2 or 3 years, I want to work for someone else, to be able to take my time deciding what to do.
Anyway, it's a little bit of a challenge not being in the job market for most of the last 10 years. I have had a couple shorter term recent jobs. They ended due to no fault of my own. They were temp and also the last ended due to the business closing.
I have my self employment job on my resume. I may have made the mistake of listing it as a present occupation? I still do that, but very part time, meaning maybe 15 hours a month. But, I don't want to leave my resume with a 10 year gap. Also, I have online reviews that are all 5 star.
I knew I would be laid off shortly before Thanksgiving. I replied to about 15 jobs between thanksgiving and Christmas. I barely got any responses. I would normally do better, as I had gotten my last 2 jobs in the last year faster. The only thing that may be promising is a job I responded to about a month ago. They said I would be good for a different position, and scheduled for me to come in Jan 15, because they were too busy up to Christmas.
I didn't give any explanation about my self employment this time around. It's on my resume, just not mentioned in a cover letter. And before I gave a link to my reviews. This time I didn't.
So I'm thinking that the cover letter with an explanation of self employment and link to reviews helped. But also, I wonder how much the Holidays play into this, with people going on vacations and days off. Is December a bad time to find a job?
I'm going to make some adjustments to my approach and aim to reply to at least 20 jobs Jan 1st. There won't be any holidays after that, so hopefully I get better prospects.
Last edited by FelixTheCat; 12-28-2018 at 06:41 PM..
Reason: Didn't finish the last sentence
Just speaking for where I work, anytime after mid November is a bad time to look for work. We have too much going on with the holidays starting with Thanksgiving and running through New Years to even think about scheduling interviews. Candidates also have holiday plans, and we don't want to disrupt those, either.
Just speaking for where I work, anytime after mid November is a bad time to look for work. We have too much going on with the holidays starting with Thanksgiving and running through New Years to even think about scheduling interviews. Candidates also have holiday plans, and we don't want to disrupt those, either.
Thanks Joe. It makes sense
I have been reading a book about worrying about outcomes like this. It basically states that there are uncontrollable parts to outcomes. For example, you may be looking for a job. You apply and wait. You may wonder why they didn't respond. That part is a mystery. Some analysis is helpful. But you must realize that what others do is not something you shouldn't worry about, because there are so many unknowns. So you should only focus on your part of the equation. In this example, it's the number of jobs applied for and how I apply for them. Don't worry about each individual job, because there is no control over what a person hiring may do. What can you do? Apply, apply, apply. Learn how to apply to jobs better.
Last edited by FelixTheCat; 12-28-2018 at 10:35 PM..
I do a lot of contract work, and never include LOR or references until asked for them, then I provide a phone # and email addy. They do get checked.
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