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[Go_Ly_Dow]

Been hunting for 4 weeks now and struggling. Brings me down.

Would anyone be willing to look at my CV and give me some pointers?

I feel my experience is decent for the roles I'm going for (general-admin/office based roles) but the CV itself is just one giant info dump and could look a lot smarter.

 

[soulassssns]

Reading threads such as these really depresses me since I am currently 18 years into a military career that ends at 20 years. I have literally no expierence in the civilian job market and no idea on how to transfer my military expierences over to a civilian job.

This shit literally scares me when I think about what is coming in the next couple years.

 

[Levi]

Lost my job of 8 years a week ago. First interview since then in 10 minutes. Nervous.

 

[Escape Goat]

Reading threads such as these really depresses me since I am currently 18 years into a military career that ends at 20 years. I have literally no expierence in the civilian job market and no idea on how to transfer my military expierences over to a civilian job.

This shit literally scares me when I think about what is coming in the next couple years.

Can't you go to school on the GI bill for free? Even if you don't think you have skills that transfer into civilian workforce you could at least do that.

 

[ByronicBluez]

Can't you go to school on the GI bill for free? Even if you don't think you have skills that transfer into civilian workforce you could at least do that.

Yup. He at least has paid school and housing for 36 months.

 

[ByronicBluez]

I have a Secret clearance but I can't get a job with any agency.

Don't apply directly to an agency. You want a contracting gig.

 

[EmptySpace]

Any update?

not until the end of this week. they interviewed last week and this week.

sigh. i haven't stopped job-hunting, though.

i just don't like the whole "finding the right fit" mentality. just hire me and i'll do the job and i go home at the end of each day. i know, that's not how it's supposed to be but hey most will turn out like that.

 

[Escape Goat]

Don't apply directly to an agency. You want a contracting gig.

I got a contractor job but then the Navy Yard shooting happened and I had to wait for the full Secret vlearance. It finally came through 2 months before their current contract was up. I passed since it wasnt guaranteed Id be picked up for the new contract. :-/

Good news today though. The company Ive been interviewing with called today. It looks like thy may be making an offer by this Wednesday. If they dont ttally low ball me I should be on my way to Dallas soon!

 

[Assanova]

Who knew that getting an engineering job would be so difficult. I was always told that there was a shortage of engineers.

Did you do any internships and was your GPA above a 3.0? I am in a field that is in short supply, and I've seen some of my competition. All had GPAs above a 3.5. Unfortunately, highly technical majors also attract the brightest students.

 

[BeforeU]

Okay I have a job related question and thought I would ask here.

So I graduated last year, engineering. Found a job within few months. Now I am planning to move to states, because I am a computer engineer and there isnt much opportunities where I live. Toronto, Canada.

Now I am not sure how I would approach this. First of all I have a nice job, I dont want to quit before landing another job. And second of all, do I find apply for a work visa in states? Or find a job. Will they hire me as a Canadian Citizen?

I am confuse. Planning to start applying from summer.

 

[NZOO]

I emailed her yesterday, no reply. I will probably call friday if still no word.

These people in HR need to be evaluated and fired I swear. The lack of communication and run around is terrible.

 

[brerwolfe]

Okay I have a job related question and thought I would ask here.

So I graduated last year, engineering. Found a job within few months. Now I am planning to move to states, because I am a computer engineer and there isnt much opportunities where I live. Toronto, Canada.

Now I am not sure how I would approach this. First of all I have a nice job, I dont want to quit before landing another job. And second of all, do I find apply for a work visa in states? Or find a job. Will they hire me as a Canadian Citizen?

I am confuse. Planning to start applying from summer.

Better off looking up official literature on the matter. Anything anyone on here says is likely just speculation.

That being said, a friend of mine couldn't qualify for a work visa here in the states because the company that wanted to hire her couldn't make a valid case that they were unable to find an american citizen with her skill set.

Similarly, I remember flying to Toronto for a job a couple years ago. Canadian customs asked what I was there for and what my role in the job was (I was hired to shoot some James Bond exhibit and upscale hotels by Tourism Toronto). Then they asked: "Tourism Toronto couldn't find anyone here to do this?"

I replied (snarkily, in retrospect): "Not sure, but there's only one Mike Wolfe in the U.S. that does what I do, and I'm here now."

 

[drunkendonuts]

i have an interview which would be an amazing career move for me this afternoon, i'm a little nervous, especially since i don't know anyone within the company. like, if i do land this, it'd actually be the first time i'd be finding industry work without knowing someone on the inside, so it would be a big deal for me. i'll let ya'll know how it goes, i feel pretty confident in it!

 

[Syphon Filter]

I just got off the phone with a potential position. They asked for references and i know of some possible options for that. Should i contact the possible references and let them know in advance that i will use them as references? It has been a little over a year since i spoke with these possible references and i am not sure if they will remember clearly.

 

[brerwolfe]

Should i contact the possible references and let them know in advance that i will use them as references?

Yes.

 

[MrS]

i have an interview which would be an amazing career move for me this afternoon, i'm a little nervous, especially since i don't know anyone within the company. like, if i do land this, it'd actually be the first time i'd be finding industry work without knowing someone on the inside, so it would be a big deal for me. i'll let ya'll know how it goes, i feel pretty confident in it!

Good luck - nail it!

 

[Moofers]

Hey everyone. I am pleasantly surprised to see my thread is still chugging along here. I'm glad to see all the support everyone is giving each other!

My contract expired on the job I mentioned in the OP, but I interviewed at another place to do a better job for more money and I actually got the job! I start next week, so I've been just enjoying time off and playing a lot of Bloodborne lately. I spent like two months applying to jobs while watching the last day of my contract get closer and closer, so having this work out is a serious load of weight off my shoulders. I could have stopped applying a long time ago had I known I would get this one, but the interview process took almost an entire month between a phone interview and two in-persons. Very thorough, I know, but there were special circumstances I won't get into. Bottom line is it all worked out and they're excited to have me, and I'm excited to be there soon!

Its not my intention to come in here and brag or anything like that, really I just wanted to stop in and give an update since my original post sounded a bit down and uncertain. I'm hoping my good fortune can serve as a little inspiration and help give hope to those of you in here who are still grinding away on finding something.

I will say that I reworked my resume multiple times and made a "one pager" which was like a flashy resume of sorts, but more intended to be something that would help me stand out and show off my creativity at the same time. I used Piktochart.com to create it because I liked some of their templates and found there's a lot of freedom to move things around and really make it your own. Not every business will want a one pager from you, but I think it could be really effective for certain office environment positions.

I'll also add that I put my one pager, resume (which was also one page), references, and cover letter in a nice folder from Kinko's/FedEx. Transparent with a little clip on the side that lets you lock the papers into place. Using a transparent one let me put my one pager up first and serve as a sort of cover that made the whole thing pop. Hopefully that makes sense.

Anyway, just thought I'd share some of my tricks. Best of luck to everyone still in the hunt!

 

[EmptySpace]

okay, i got another interview but this time it's within my company. hr called earlier just to ask a few questions, i said i can drop by today so i did. i am now scheduled for an interview with 3 people this week.


gah. really nervous about it.

 

[cyberheater]

not until the end of this week. they interviewed last week and this week.

sigh. i haven't stopped job-hunting, though.

i just don't like the whole "finding the right fit" mentality. just hire me and i'll do the job and i go home at the end of each day. i know, that's not how it's supposed to be but hey most will turn out like that.

Okay. Good luck.

 

[EmptySpace]

Okay. Good luck.

i really hate this feeling. i have not had a lot of interviews in the past year. i've only been mostly phone interviews. i've only had 2 interviews so far. overwhelming majority are just no-response or "sorry". so many times i have had disappointments so actually my expectations have been very low despite the fact that i just got a 2nd interview. actually, i might still be job-hunting after i get home from work today. that's actually been my life story for the past 16 months, right after i started working this temp job. every day i just job hunt, even on the weekends and whenever i had to do overtime i went and did it. this past jan-feb i have 100 hours of overtime because i need money. and before this job i was unemployed right out of uni for almost 2 years. there has been more bad news than there were good, so right now i wouldn't even be surprised if i didn't get those jobs. i am not really a pessimistic person, nor have i ever given up (because the moment that you give up, then that's the moment when it's over. boom.) but yeah, it's very hard to feel optimistic about things. i can only do what i can but after always ending up comforting myself, right now my mind is leaning more towards "getting over not being selected" rather than "okay i can do this i can do this hell yeah i can ace this."

 

[Mupod]

man what the hell. After yet ANOTHER late paycheque I felt the fire lit under my ass so I started furiously job hunting at work today. Not even an hour after putting in one application I've got an interview for a seemingly-great job 7 minutes from my house and they wanted me there for an interview tomorrow. I had to reschedule for thursday morning but shit, I'm not sure I'm mentally prepared for this.

It seems like basic helpdesk stuff which I'm quite familiar with, but I've been doing VOIP-focused support for the past year so I'm worried about being rusty with interview questions. Was hoping I'd have more time.

Would be great if I got it so I could say goodbye to this place. I can't deal with the stress of not knowing if I'll be paid, hell I'm suspicious that my employer is committing some kind of tax fraud and hoping I won't get screwed out of the tax return I NEED right now.

 

[nampad]

If anyone is wanting to read a happy post I can finally provide one.

I've been a lurker here more than a poster, but my job hunting persistance finally paid off.

A little back story, I do currently have a job at a condo rental/property management company. Needless to say, dealing with upset guests and owners basically everyday for the past two years has been soul draining and very depressing. For about the past 6 months I've been looking for a job, and I was finally offered one a couple of days ago.

I'm finally moving into my dream field of HR with what sounds like a great company in the Florida Panhandle.

All in all, I'm happy I stuck with the job hunting process for as long as I did. It felt like it took forver, but it finally paid off.

Now you can give us jobs

Hope you did ok! I'm heading to work now myself haha. I should be hyped instead of nervous but the unknown is always kinda scary. I feel it should be ok.

Was a little bit chaotic. Joined the company with 20 other people and after some presentations and IT handing us over our equipment and showing us how to set everything up, we all got to our own departments.

The partner of my service line was sick and he didn't appoint a mentor for me in time. I sat around alone in an office and asked the managers for work, which I then got. Boring stuff I had no idea of mostly. Next day I scanned some documents and got some hardware for others.

This week it is finally starting though and I will be at a client at the end of the week. Reading up on stuff right now.

Hope it worked out for you as well.

 

[deftech sold out]

My job has been trying to hire people for months, we just can't find any good candidates. If anyone is looking for sys admin'ish type work in/around Orlando FL, hit me up.

 

[brerwolfe]

My job has been trying to hire people for months, we just can't find any good candidates. If anyone is looking for sys admin'ish type work in/around Orlando FL, hit me up.

I'm in Orlando. What is a systems administrator? I may know people. I know lots of people.

 

[Syphon Filter]

Yes.

I will make sure to do that. Is it ok if i list my references in an email or should i include them in my resume which will then be two pages?

 

[soulassssns]

Can't you go to school on the GI bill for free? Even if you don't think you have skills that transfer into civilian workforce you could at least do that.

Of course and I do plan on doing just that but it has been a very long time since I have been in school. I'll be almost 40 when I retire and after I finish a degree I will be joining a job field with no expierence going up against "kids" in thier early 20's. life is about to get much more challenging to say the least.

 

[deftech sold out]

I'm in Orlando. What is a systems administrator? I may know people. I know lots of people.

A system administrator is a person who is responsible for the upkeep, configuration, and reliable operation of computer systems; especially multi-user computers, such as servers. We're looking for people with experience with Windows, Linux, VMWare, SANs, etc.

 

[keeblerdrow]

.1.

 

[Sora_N]

Now you can give us jobs



Was a little bit chaotic. Joined the company with 20 other people and after some presentations and IT handing us over our equipment and showing us how to set everything up, we all got to our own departments.

The partner of my service line was sick and he didn't appoint a mentor for me in time. I sat around alone in an office and asked the managers for work, which I then got. Boring stuff I had no idea of mostly. Next day I scanned some documents and got some hardware for others.

This week it is finally starting though and I will be at a client at the end of the week. Reading up on stuff right now.

Hope it worked out for you as well.

4th day at work. I'm enjoying it so far, the work isn't that hard but can be challenging and I still need to learn.

The position opened up because someone else was quitting, she was really nice and a great employee for sure, she trained me for 2 days and then she left on Thursday.

It's my second time in an office setting, the first time I'm doing something I actually want to do (Accounting). I still get extremely hungry and not used to waking up so early, but I actually look forward to going to work despite the work not being spectacular. I think I will learn a lot, and I really want that experience!

Due to my previous job (supervisor at a pharmacy retail), I had to work 4PM-12AM every shift for 8 months after my manager let me become supervisor..took a small toll on my body which is why waking up early is not hard. Going to keep trying, haven't been late so far.

I get the impression that I look decent enough to the supervisor, she actually mentioned that I asked a lot of good questions and they were better than previous trainees lol. She seems great and very helpful, the guy that got moved up a bit is not that great, I'm actually doing his old work now and I kinda hate asking him for help since sometimes he's not very helpful. Hope to catch up to him in the future and won't have to ask him as much.

 

[brerwolfe]

A system administrator is a person who is responsible for the upkeep, configuration, and reliable operation of computer systems; especially multi-user computers, such as servers. We're looking for people with experience with Windows, Linux, VMWare, SANs, etc.

Would you mind PMing me the job listing? I have two interested people.

 

[Nelo Ice]

So I already have a job but I don't work nearly enough hours. I work at a restaurant but I'm just a food runner. So out of all the positions that get tipped out, I get the least. Was hoping to become a server but have no idea if or when that will happen.

I haven't been applying like crazy just because I know all the crappy jobs I could possibly get may take months to get back to me. But thanks to recent threads about entry level jobs I went on an app spree yesterday. Used a temp agency, craigslist, and just applied to places I wanted to work at even if they weren't technically hiring such as Costco and Starbucks.

Now fast forward to today, I wasn't expecting to hear back from anyone. But to my surprise I got a call from Costco while I was at the store I applied it. They asked me if I was available for an interview.

Now I have an interview setup for tomorrow so here's to hoping I land it. Excited to hopefully land it since I've heard nothing but good things about working at Costco. I'm still in shock they called so quickly and I didn't have to do anything to get them to notice me lol.

 

[brerwolfe]

So I already have a job but I don't nearly enough hours. I work at a restaurant but I'm just a food runner. So out of all the positions that get tipped out, I get the least. Was hoping to become a server but have no idea if or when that will happen.

I haven't been applying like crazy just because I know all the crappy jobs I could possibly get may take months to get back to me. But thanks to recent threads about entry level jobs I went on an app spree yesterday. Used a temp agency, craigslist, and just applied to places I wanted to work at even if they weren't technically hiring such as Costco and Starbucks.

Now fast forward to today, I wasn't expecting to hear back from anyone. But to my surprise I got a call from Costco while I was at the store I applied it. They asked me if I was available for an interview.

Now I have an interview setup for tomorrow so here's to hoping I land it. Excited to hopefully land it since I've heard nothing but good things about working at Costco. I'm still in shock they called so quickly and I didn't have to do anything to get them to notice me lol.

Nice work. I feel like you just moved here, though!

 

[Nelo Ice]

Nice work. I feel like you just moved here, though!

Lol yeah. I was expecting months on end of waiting for someone to call me back. Thought I'd have to constantly check up on all the places I applied for and hope they would respond at all.

Anyway just wanted to post in here that hey apply to any place even if there isn't any indication they are hiring. You may just get lucky.

 

[LProtag]

I have an interview that's a week away from today and I'm getting pretty antsy about it. It's my best shot at a full time position as I've worked in the school district as a substitute and did my student teaching there.

 

[deftech sold out]

Would you mind PMing me the job listing? I have two interested people.

Done and done.

 

[Cudder]

i have an interview which would be an amazing career move for me this afternoon, i'm a little nervous, especially since i don't know anyone within the company. like, if i do land this, it'd actually be the first time i'd be finding industry work without knowing someone on the inside, so it would be a big deal for me. i'll let ya'll know how it goes, i feel pretty confident in it!

ALWAYS ask your references if you can use them and make sure they respond with an "okay/yes" before you give their info to the employer.

 

[FiggyCal]

I had an interview today. I'd say it went well, but that'd be a lie

 

[TheSadRanger]

I could use some advice guys, there's a position I applied for a week or two ago that I really want. Well on Monday I received a text message saying it was from that company asking me text back when I would be available to receive a phone call. I'm guessing it's for a phone interview, well I texted back that I'm available most of the day.

Anyways I received the text Monday and it's Wednesday and I haven't heard anything since the initial text. Should I text back again or no?

 

[Nelo Ice]

Well think my interview with Costco went pretty well today. After it was over the manager said he'd definitely give me a call back for a 3rd interview and I was the first person he's interviewed out of 12 people for 3 open spots.

 

[Shadowlink]

Hey Guys,

I've been applying for programming internships for about 3 months, but haven't had any luck. Are there any programming interns on GAF that have any advice? Could it be my experience? I've only taken a year of programming courses.

 

[lordfuzzybutt]

Hey Guys,

I've been applying for programming internships for about 3 months, but haven't had any luck. Are there any programming interns on GAF that have any advice? Could it be my experience? I've only taken a year of programming courses.

Do you have anything to show for it?
A year of courses is rather limited on paper I would say.

Try to develop a portfolio with some projects and link it together with your application if you haven't already.

 

[Mupod]

Man I just had the most pleasant interview ever. Even if I don't get it, I feel like I had a good time just going there. They were so nice, all the questions were easy in that they weren't weird IT scenarios with specific answers in mind. Just asking me about my own experience and what I'd like in a company. I surprised them with how much knowledge I have about VOIP stuff too, they run their own PBX and weren't expecting me to be an expert on that.

Would be great if I can finally ditch this stressful 'will I get paid or not this month' hellhole. New place has free parking and is 8 minutes drive too, I mean I get that here but it's not worth the other crap I have to deal with. I'm fairly certain the owner did not pay his taxes and I'm hoping that doesn't cause problems for me as I just filed my return.

 

[Rawket Lawnchair]

Nearly two months without an interview.

The oil & gas industry sucks major balls.

 

[spuckthew]

I applied for an IT infrastructure position that a friend made me aware of due to him working for the company already. He said he'd put in a good word for me, and the HR director checked out my profile over the Easter weekend. Should I follow up with anything? Is it pointless to message the HR dude with some sort of 'cover letter'-style response? (There was no opportunity to submit a cover letter initially as they only accepted CV uploads on their site.)

Either way, hopefully the saying "it's not what you know, it's who you know" rings true here! (Not that I'm applying for an IT infrastructure position without knowing a thing or two, mind you.)

 

[sdijoseph]

So I applied for this Software Engineering internship 3 weeks ago, and I just scheduled a phone interview for tomorrow. It's with an HR person and she said it would be brief. Unfortunately, they took the job posting for this position off their website, and I don't clearly remember what the specific requirements for it are. I am pretty sure it was described as "working with Java in a fast-paced software development team".

My main questions are:

1. Since this is with an HR person should I expect many technical questions, or are these probably going to be more general?

2. Does anyone have some general advice for this kind of interview?

I am going to brush up on some common software engineering interview questions just in case, but any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Google]

So I applied for this Software Engineering internship 3 weeks ago, and I just scheduled a phone interview for tomorrow. It's with an HR person and she said it would be brief. Unfortunately, they took the job posting for this position off their website, and I don't clearly remember what the specific requirements for it are. I am pretty sure it was described as "working with Java in a fast-paced software development team".

My main questions are:

1. Since this is with an HR person should I expect many technical questions, or are these probably going to be more general?

2. Does anyone have some general advice for this kind of interview?

I am going to brush up on some common software engineering interview questions just in case, but any advice would be appreciated.

1. No, you should not expect many technical questions at all. You should expect many "are you a normal fucking person" questions. Treat this as if it's a first date or your meeting your girlfriend/boyfriends parents for the first time.

Be super polite, very nice and normal.

2. Again, this will just be an interview to make sure you can speak whichever language you need to speak, you dont sound like a crazy person and you answer their questions without making a fart noise.

At the end of the call it's always great to get some closure and expectations of next steps. A very good way to leave the call is:

"How do you think I'd fit into the organisation from our brief call today?"

"What are the next steps within the hiring process?"

"What sort of time frame are you looking at when making a hire?"

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[sdijoseph]

1. No, you should not expect many technical questions at all. You should expect many "are you a normal fucking person" questions. Treat this as if it's a first date or your meeting your girlfriend/boyfriends parents for the first time.

Be super polite, very nice and normal.

2. Again, this will just be an interview to make sure you can speak whichever language you need to speak, you dont sound like a crazy person and you answer their questions without making a fart noise.

At the end of the call it's always great to get some closure and expectations of next steps. A very good way to leave the call is:

"How do you think I'd fit into the organisation from our brief call today?"

"What are the next steps within the hiring process?"

"What sort of time frame are you looking at when making a hire?"

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Ok, thanks. This is my first interview ever, so I am a tad nervous. Will have to remember to take some deep breaths before the scheduled time.

 

[Google]

Ok, thanks. This is my first interview ever, so I am a tad nervous. Will have to remember to take some deep breaths before the scheduled time.

I'm not sure if this will help but know that the person on the other end of the phone interviewing you is probably also:

a) young
b) fairly new at this
c) wanting you to be good
d) trying to make you good
e) nervous about calling you.

 

[Razmos]

Been looking for a job for a few months now, I'm finding it draining and depressing. I've polished my CV to near perfection, been on an employability course, and generally just tried really hard, and I didn't get any interviews at all.

Eventually I did get 2 interviews, at the same time, I prepared for them and was happy to finally be making some progress, only to find out they were a scam organization and they give everyone an interview (it's a long story).

Last week I got a new coach at the jobcentre. Everyone else had been really nice before that, but this new woman questioned me about literally everything as if she didn't believe me, talked down to me, looked at the amount of jobs I'd applied for (which was more than enough for the other coaches) and she looked me dead in the eye and said "Is that it?"

She did get me an interview for some work experience though, I went to the interview yesterday. It kinda threw me though because I thought I was ready for the interview, only to go in and them say "It's not really an interview, more like a casual chat". I saw someone else going for the interview as well, and he hadn't dressed smartly at all, so at least I know I put the effort in, I guess.

Sigh, I really hope I get this work experience, I need to feel like i'm making any progress at all. All I want is to get some money saved up so I can try going to University again, because my life is just a big fat nothing right now and I'm getting depressed.

 

[hydragonwarrior]

Hey everyone. I am pleasantly surprised to see my thread is still chugging along here. I'm glad to see all the support everyone is giving each other!

My contract expired on the job I mentioned in the OP, but I interviewed at another place to do a better job for more money and I actually got the job! I start next week, so I've been just enjoying time off and playing a lot of Bloodborne lately. I spent like two months applying to jobs while watching the last day of my contract get closer and closer, so having this work out is a serious load of weight off my shoulders. I could have stopped applying a long time ago had I known I would get this one, but the interview process took almost an entire month between a phone interview and two in-persons. Very thorough, I know, but there were special circumstances I won't get into. Bottom line is it all worked out and they're excited to have me, and I'm excited to be there soon!

Its not my intention to come in here and brag or anything like that, really I just wanted to stop in and give an update since my original post sounded a bit down and uncertain. I'm hoping my good fortune can serve as a little inspiration and help give hope to those of you in here who are still grinding away on finding something.

I will say that I reworked my resume multiple times and made a "one pager" which was like a flashy resume of sorts, but more intended to be something that would help me stand out and show off my creativity at the same time. I used Piktochart.com to create it because I liked some of their templates and found there's a lot of freedom to move things around and really make it your own. Not every business will want a one pager from you, but I think it could be really effective for certain office environment positions.

I'll also add that I put my one pager, resume (which was also one page), references, and cover letter in a nice folder from Kinko's/FedEx. Transparent with a little clip on the side that lets you lock the papers into place. Using a transparent one let me put my one pager up first and serve as a sort of cover that made the whole thing pop. Hopefully that makes sense.

Anyway, just thought I'd share some of my tricks. Best of luck to everyone still in the hunt!

A thread with a happy ending! Glad you managed to get through your slump - you can probably compare how you felt then to how you feel now.

This thread is a great place for other ppl who feel the same to gather and get some ideas.

Is it possible for you to update the post in the OP and link to your new post saying you succeeded? I think the title could stay the same tho