Made it to Grants Pass... (Portland, Medford: rent, home, job market)

[mdvaden]

Originally Posted by Steamicuta

Three weeks ago I made it to Grants Pass, driving from Phoenix AZ in my Honda Civic packed full of my things.
Suggestions? Remarks?

Bet I could find a job in a week.

I'm in Applegate Valley to your south.

Been in business here for a couple of years, so I just started with flyers and door knocking. Got 3 customers in my first 2 hours.

Not sure what your training is, but there's work out there.

Even if I had to buy a squeegee, scrubber, 6' ladder and bucket - I'd get work in a few days cleaning windows. So I can always make it in what I'm trained for, but if I couldn't, that's just one of a couple of options that have extremely low-overhead. Barely $100 in equipment to provide the best sparkling windows.

About 5 of my friends started business in that, and one grew to where just one of his accounts was all of Multnomah County's buildings.

Basically, you can base an estimate on $15 to $40 per hour for yourself. Stick with single story homes so you don't need a truck. Strap the ladder to the roof and lay a blanket for a pad.

Either way, there's work to get until an appllication is finally accepted.

Sounds like you have a car - there's your biggest business tool.

[kelly999]

i used to live on the coast--Florence. i would like to go back 2 oregon (preferably coastal areas). i used to waitress and bartend but since finished my B.A. and master's. i do not care about using my education--i just want a job, any job (even will bartend again). i also would like to rent a 2 bedroom house or apartment. i am coming from tucson and really sick of it here. does anyone have any suggestions about a nice town for jobs, decent rental prices? i want my kid to go to a high school that is not overpowered with gangs. i miss oregon. new @ this site--hope i posted it right. PEACE! thxs everyone

[DavePautsch]

Steamicuta...what is your degree in?
How does it relate to what you want to DO?

Casting your net a little wider might not be a bad idea...and mdvaden gives some great thoughts on how to get by until you get what you want...but don't lose focus on it.

From the rejections you received, did you gain any insights into WHY?
Have you had anyone (try the Colleges) look at your resume? Help to edit your letters?

Getting a job is a lot like sales: Your job is to solve their problem. Identify the problem, show how you can solve it for them...look at yourself from THEIR perspective (you are the product, right?) Persistence pays off! Show how you can provide value to them...

My last piece of fatherly advice for you: Make friends. You are new to the area (you and your fully packed Civic)...the more people you get to know and develop relationships with, the larger the group of people who want to see you succeed...and the more help you'll get. My situation wasn't exactly the same as yours, but I am in my current job now NOT because of my degree, but because of the people that I became friends with who helped me.

good luck and keep us up to date on how you're doing!

Dave

[Steamicuta]

Ahhh! Thanks to you all for your suggestions and comments! My incredible blessing is that I get to stay with some wonderful friends and don't have to worry about rent or food!! However, the fact that I got a few rejection letters and a lot of no-responses breaks me! How many applications do I have to send out there?! I know networking is important and I'm trying to do that. I spread the word out there. There are people who know me now and know I'm looking for a job. I know that it's much more likely for me to get a job through someone than through just my applications. My resume looks pretty darn good and so do my cover letters, which I write using words from the job descriptions. The problem is not there. I don't know where the problem is, in fact. Fierce competition and people having the right connections to get themselves jobs!
As far as cleaning windows... I just don't see myself doing that, lol! I think there are jobs for girls and jobs for guys and this one would be a job for guys.
I have a bleak feeling my MA in English won't do much for me... Oh well. I'll keep trying and trying until something happens. It's got to. Some time. And in the mean time I'll just have to deal with the frustration, right? I guess...

Oh, and I'm trying Medford and Ashland, too. Definitely not just Grants Pass. I'm doing as much as is possible right now.

[mdvaden]

Originally Posted by Steamicuta

Ahhh! Thanks to you all for your suggestions and comments! My incredible blessing is that I get to stay with some wonderful friends and don't have to worry about rent or food!! However, the fact that I got a few rejection letters and a lot of no-responses breaks me! How many applications do I have to send out there?! I know networking is important and I'm trying to do that. I spread the word out there. There are people who know me now and know I'm looking for a job. I know that it's much more likely for me to get a job through someone than through just my applications. My resume looks pretty darn good and so do my cover letters, which I write using words from the job descriptions. The problem is not there. I don't know where the problem is, in fact. Fierce competition and people having the right connections to get themselves jobs!
As far as cleaning windows... I just don't see myself doing that, lol! I think there are jobs for girls and jobs for guys and this one would be a job for guys.
I have a bleak feeling my MA in English won't do much for me... Oh well. I'll keep trying and trying until something happens. It's got to. Some time. And in the mean time I'll just have to deal with the frustration, right? I guess...

Oh, and I'm trying Medford and Ashland, too. Definitely not just Grants Pass. I'm doing as much as is possible right now.

My friend with the largest and most successful company had men and women.

Odds are, in single level residential, a woman would get more customers than a man.

Hope you find something that you enjoy.

Its interesting how many small businesses are strung out through the Applegate Valley.

Hey, its a long shot, but in Grants Pass, see if moderator cut]Tools, articles and resources to help answer your mycorrhizae questions[/url] needs any help office or computer wise.

The link is Mycorrhizae.com >> This site stuffs a bunch of text over the link, but that's the right URL

I've ordered from them before, and saw them on History Channel's Modern Marvels in the past couple of months.

[KatinOr]

You should try the temp agencies. Many of the larger companies here go through temp services so its easier for them to weed out the people who wont work well for them. I know several people who have started that way and landed really good jobs. Call the ones in the phone book and ask if they have positions in your area.

I am in Medford, I may have some ideas, depending on what you do.

Work here isn't hard to find. . . depending on how you go about it. It just has its own system hehehehe

[Steamicuta]

Well, I tried several temp agencies, too. Three, to be more specific. One is absolutely pathetic I think and it's in Medford - First Staffing Choice I think it was. They got me nothing. I was interested in a position of Optometric Assistant (not that I have any experience in the field, but it sounded interesting) and they left me hanging. No phone calls, nada. Express Personnel in Grants Pass got me an interview about three weeks ago. I still don't know what they decided. Neither the temp agency nor the company told me anything. And the third one and a more obscure one did nothing at all. So that's that. And I applied for so many jobs I can't even remember them... At the Rogue Community College, at SOU in Ashland - for administrative positions, at the Job Council, at the Josephine county, Jackson county, and many local businesses - in Grants Pass, Medford and Ashland. That's that. I'm running out of resume paper, lol! I started with a brand new resume paper pack of 100 pages. I think I have about 20 left. Someone was telling me to try to figure out what's wrong in my applications since they are my first "contact" with the employers. I've been thinking of that. Maybe my cover letters speak more about me and my qualifications than how I can bring success to the companies. I really don't know...

At any rate, KatinOr, should you have concrete suggestions, do tell, pray!

Right now a job is like Mecca... It's a surreal situation. Yep.

[ConeyIsBabe]

My family member went for an interview this morning at Harry & David and got the job! They are hiring now.

[mdvaden]

Originally Posted by Steamicuta

Well, I tried several temp agencies, too. Three, to be more specific. One is absolutely pathetic I think and it's in Medford - First Staffing Choice I think it was. They got me nothing. I was interested in a position of Optometric Assistant (not that I have any experience in the field, but it sounded interesting) and they left me hanging. No phone calls, nada. Express Personnel in Grants Pass got me an interview about three weeks ago. I still don't know what they decided. Neither the temp agency nor the company told me anything. And the third one and a more obscure one did nothing at all. So that's that. And I applied for so many jobs I can't even remember them... At the Rogue Community College, at SOU in Ashland - for administrative positions, at the Job Council, at the Josephine county, Jackson county, and many local businesses - in Grants Pass, Medford and Ashland. That's that. I'm running out of resume paper, lol! I started with a brand new resume paper pack of 100 pages. I think I have about 20 left. Someone was telling me to try to figure out what's wrong in my applications since they are my first "contact" with the employers. I've been thinking of that. Maybe my cover letters speak more about me and my qualifications than how I can bring success to the companies. I really don't know...

At any rate, KatinOr, should you have concrete suggestions, do tell, pray!

Right now a job is like Mecca... It's a surreal situation. Yep.

My theory is that a resume should fit on one page, and a cover letter within 1/4 of a page.

Did you notice the mycorrhizae.com that I mentioned?

I tried to make it easier for you with a link, but the moderator cut it.

Makes me wonder what on earth the hyperlink option is for in here. Anyhow, they may be a potential employer.

Am I the only one who has an earth / internet icon for hyperlinks when writing a reply, or are you users seeing that too?

[Steamicuta]

OK. How many times will I hear NO, NO, NO, and NO?! Company after company selects other candidates for their interviews, company after company says NO. What the heck do you have to do around here to find a good job? HR Assistant? Some office experience they wanted (a year). I have 2 years of "office experience" and some education behind which should say a thing or two about me. If you know the right people, you can get a job here. I think that's the only way you can get a job here.
Secretary jobs and "admin" jobs I don't want! And I'm just tired of "starting at the bottom" (besides I'm never even given that chance here!!!). I've been doing that for years. I want a decent job, that pays more than $10/hr. Is that really impossible here? In that case, I'm better off returning home. I tried and tried. If it just doesn't work, no more I can do. There's just NO after NO after NO. Please tell me there are others in this situation out there.