Seeking advice on job-hunting strategies in the Triangle (how much, land)

[solarity]

Manpower and Randstad are a couple I can think of. Some are better than others depending on the field you are looking to go into. My husband and I were both hired into permanent positions from temp/contract jobs.

[Ed O]

Originally Posted by solarity

I've always found that working with a temp/contracting agency is the fastest way to find a job. Many companies only hire their employees through this avenue so they can check them out without obligation before offering the full package to them.

True, excellent point!! I'd also like to add that a temp job seeker can skip most of the nerve wracking interview questions as most companies who hire temps & contractors will not put you through the mill unless its a permanent position. This is because they also know they can easily discard you if you don't work out. In other words, if you are far better at proving yourself work wise than you are at resumes & interviews, then temp agencies are the perfect avenue for you.

[urbywan]

network, take any job then talk to everyone you see and are in contact with about wanting the job in the field you are interested in. Keep cold calling do whatever to get your resume with a FANTASTIC cover letter SHORT AND SWEET!!

Good Luck!

[pacman23]

Your replies have all been really helpful. Thank you.

Some of you had asked what kind of jobs I have been looking for. Well, I'm totally revealing my naivete about the job market here, but here goes:

I have been trying really hard to apply for positions that I might be qualified for, based on what little job experience I have. I have not really been looking for jobs that I would really be interested in doing, since I have zero job experience in those fields.

I have a few months' experience doing data processing for a lab. I have been looking for data processing positions for clinical trials with Clinical Research Organizations (CROs). Not very successful there. The few months' worth of experience there is not worth much to the recruiting person.

I have an economics degree and since I really like investigating things, I applied for quite a few social sciences research assistant positions with the universities nearby. That hasn't worked either.

I have also been looking for admin jobs since I thought that they'd be easy to get and wouldn't take that much experience. Wrong again, turns out hiring managers really want their admin staff to be well-experienced.

I am really interested in jobs involving in one or more of the following: art and design, media and advertising, buying/purchasing and equity research. But I have absolutely no experience doing any of these things and I always assumed that there was no way I could work in these areas because of my lack of experience.

Also, I realize now that I have no clue how to go about customizing my resume to whatever kind of job I'm applying to. I have been submitting the same resume over and over again. I have no idea how to customize a resume when I just have a degree and two short-term jobs.

Does anyone have any recommendations for reputable employment agencies?

Thanks!

[tluv00]

I can tell you from experience that your biggest pitfall is going to be your scattered experience. The fact that you don't have much transferable experience is going to make it tough for an employment agency to place you because most companies looking to ire temps are not going to want to train you because their assumption is that you are going to be a short term fix for either an absent employee or an overflow of work. Media, advertising, marketing...all of that are going to require either experience or the education in that field. It's going to be tough to place you in something other than a light industrial but if you would like me to take a look at your resume PM me and I will give you my email.

[pacman23]

Are there certain kinds of companies that I should be targeting? I hear that small businesses do most of the hiring from the labor pool.

As far as networking goes, how did you guys do it? How did you find out about jobs? Did you submit your names to recruiting agencies or did you cold-call companies? Was it through friends?

I don't personally know anyone who has a white-collar job. Seriously. So I would really like to know how white-collar people network.

ETA: Also has anyone here gotten hired despite a not-so-ideal background like scattered experience, resume gaps etc.?

[witchseavey]

My advice, FWIW, is to find something that really turns you on and look for entry level there, rather than try to capitalize of your very limited experience. Even if you end up taking a job washing dishes for now, start getting the skills that will get you where you want to be in the future. Go to every temp agency in the city and get that 1st job in anything. Then go from there.

You might try "informational interviewing." You're not asking for a job, you just want more information about what it's like to be a professional "whatever." You'll buy lunch, coffee, whatever, in exchange for information. That might help you narrow down where you want to be.

You might try volunteering at the public access station to get your foot in the Television door, ditto public radio.

Volunteering is a great way to get your foot in the networking door. So is Church.

If you want a social science job, those are often at academic institutions so grad students have the inside track. I'm guessing that you're not ready for grad school, (although taking a class would be a good idea). But, if you get "any" job at a University, you may have a leg up at getting a different job with the same University because you'll hear about it first and have a track record with them. That's also true for jobs in the Government sector.

Buying and purchasing might be easier to get a job in from an ad. I got my first out of college job with a wholesaler by answering an ad. It was sheer luck. But they were happy with a smart person with zero experience (ok, not zero, I had part time work through college, but I was hardly a "professional").

Write a cover letter about how excited you are about working in their industry, their business, their company, that job. Do your homework. Research the company. I got one job because I Googled the guy I was going to interview with and so could talk about an article he'd written.

But, if I have learned one thing in my 30+ years in the working world it's "do what you love, the money will follow."

[PumasInNC]

I second witchseavey's advice. for one, I can tell you from personal experience that informational interviewing is a great starting point for networking. It especially helps if you have no established network in a particular field or geographic region. Here's a good tutorial on how to do it:
Informational Interviewing Tutorial: A Key Networking Tool

Volunteering is also great, if you can afford to give away at least a few hours of your time a week.

[pacman23]

Are there any industries/sectors in the area that value talent a bit more than experience?

[gocubs85]

In your case be sure to include a very detailed cover letter that will explain upfront the employment gaps and what you are looking for. This could help get you over the hump of getting in the door for an inverview