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Can someone really be overqualified for a job if that person cannot land a job that he thinks he is qualified for? Honestly OP, working in customer service is valuable experience. You learn how to interact with people, how to juggle your manager yelling at you while helping customers, and it gives you perspective on the world. Believe it or not, it will build skills that will follow you through your entire life. Even when you get a professional office job, guess what? You still have customers. Your coworkers are customers. Your boss is a customer. Clients are customers.
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Feb 5, 2013 17:07
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Bro, you've got a BA in English Literature from what I assume to be an ordinary college; you're not a bio-engineer or a doctor or whatever. You're not overqualified for McDonald's. Everybody and their mother has a BA these days or is working towards one, including many people in retail positions. reflex posted:And for gently caress's sake, you have an English degree and can't spell regardless or use decent grammar? Proofread your poo poo because you have no idea how oblivious it makes you come off as. reflex posted:Can someone really be overqualified for a job if that person cannot land a job that he thinks he is qualified for?
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Feb 5, 2013 18:43
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BrainParasite posted:I'd rather work in a warehouse than customer service. They look identical on a resume. The pay is almost identical. Neither is very flexible in scheduling around your internship. Neither are mentally challenging. You have to deal with angry and wrote people all day in CS. In a warehouse, you just have to move everything from point a to point b.
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Feb 5, 2013 18:49
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Agro ver Haus doom posted:OP do not listen to this advice. Hi what's up I actually hire people. This is advice I give because when people follow up too much their name sticks in my head as that annoying desperate twat. Two bumps, three tops is what I think is acceptable before it gets annoying and you need to back off. But the idea that you should keep following up ad nauseum is a bad one that fosters a lot of pesty communicators. Over-bumping can be bad. It makes someone seem anxious, desperate, and hard to work with. You don't want to sour your relationship with your contact that way; you don't want to stay in someone's brain because you were too annoying. Grandpas a Racist posted:Yes and no. It's a fine line, but reaching out is never in itself a bad thing, and if executed politely and properly with the right measure of conviction, it exemplifies good communication skills and business acumen. I've benefited professionally multiple times from following up in different applications. I never said not to follow up, geez people. I just said that you need to develop a sense for when it's appropriate. As I said above, in most cases 2 bumps, 3 tops is good enough to let them know you're being proactive without getting in someone's face about it. But again, all depends on who you're dealing with. StrangersInTheNight fucked around with this message at 18:58 on Feb 5, 2013 |
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Feb 5, 2013 18:55
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cname posted:This is all wrong. Customer service is a massive field, which spans across all different types of companies. It's experience which translates across multiple industries. If you can pay your dues as a CS rep for a poo poo company with a poo poo product and lots of pissed off customers. Eventually upgrade to a company, which offers a better product and has a far more civilized method of assisting customers. It's pretty obvious I was talking about an entry level job not doing CS for a complicated technical product or working in a warehouse full of bees or anything. A career in customer service would clearly beneficial for the OP. I just don't see the benefit of an entry level customer service position over other jobs unless that's what he's going for Really, the important thing is that the OP find a job, any job that will get him out of his mom's house.
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Feb 5, 2013 19:04
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StrangersInTheNight posted:It's cool. You hire people and I hire people too and help run a business. Really you're just projecting really bad if you think "following up" on a job means being a creepy goonlord and stalking the hiring manager, or whatever. OP, I'm curious. Your father was offered a job by your uncle, but he declined. Why didn't you take the job? Why don't you talk to your uncle about getting a job? It seems like you have some family members in the area that can help you out, but you're not taking advantage of it.
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Feb 5, 2013 19:08
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StrangersInTheNight posted:Hi what's up I actually hire people. This is advice I give because when people follow up too much their name sticks in my head as that annoying desperate twat. Two bumps, three tops is what I think is acceptable before it gets annoying and you need to back off. But the idea that you should keep following up ad nauseum is a bad one that fosters a lot of pesty communicators. Perhaps you/your HR department or whoever else is involved in the decision making process should draft an automated response for rejecting applicants, instead of following this god awful trend of no callback = no hire. Your organization might have something like that in place, however your post indicates that you just bin applications, without any followup. It's a horrible, amateurish practice and a dick move to those waiting for a decision. You're effectively wasting the time of your applicants by stringing them along. I've always appreciated rejection over no response. Once I get rejected, I can go ahead and delete any reminders to follow up, emails, etc. It's just easier for organizational purposes. The company I'm working for now, sends polite rejection letters. I'm proud of that fact and scoff at companies who treat applicants like poo poo. And yes, no reply = treating an applicant like poo poo. Debate it if you want, it's just personal opinion and I'm sure others would agree. StrangersInTheNight, I'm not placing the blame on you or trying to make you seem like a bad person. I just wanna get it out there that companies should be following up with every applicant, even if it's just a templated response. The economy is rough and it's 10x more discouraging to think that nobody even glanced at your application. All these big name companies think they have the economy by the balls. They think they can get away with lovely practices such as this, because the market is flooded with applicants. I remember the names of a handful of companies who never even replied to me after an appropriate number of followup attempts. I'll probably remember 15 years down the road, too. Stuff like that can and will leave a lasting impression. BrainParasite posted:It's pretty obvious I was talking about an entry level job not doing CS for a complicated technical product Either way, entry level CS will provide more valuable skills than entry level warehouse work. Like someone else posted, if you wanna be in the warehouse industry, by all means, the choice is obvious. CS translates across far more fields/industries. I don't know how you don't see the benefit. You learn the best practices for communication, CRM experience, ticketing, etc. Driving a forklift/using a palette jack doesn't exactly apply to anything other than warehouse work. cname fucked around with this message at 19:42 on Feb 5, 2013 |
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Feb 5, 2013 19:28
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Agro ver Haus doom posted:OP, I'm curious. Your father was offered a job by your uncle, but he declined. Edit: Just applied to my old McDonald's. I'm very sure that I'd get a job there. Benny the Snake fucked around with this message at 19:37 on Feb 5, 2013 |
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Feb 5, 2013 19:33
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BrainParasite posted:It's pretty obvious I was talking about an entry level job not doing CS for a complicated technical product
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Feb 5, 2013 19:35
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Benny the Snake posted:Don't get me wrong. Nothing is beneath a person as long as it's honest. It's just that I'm very much over-qualified for fast food/warehouse work. Besides, I figure I'd listen to, you know, the guy who's a college graduate and has employment working campaigns. It worked for him apparently. Aaah you are a silly man. I am a chemical engineer and I worked for a warehouse for awhile right after school. By the by warehouse jobs can be pretty great. Everyone was very nice and relaxed and the pay was something like $15 an hour. That is a lot for small town Ontario 10 years ago.
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Feb 5, 2013 22:07
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cname posted:Perhaps you/your HR department or whoever else is involved in the decision making process should draft an automated response for rejecting applicants, instead of following this god awful trend of no callback = no hire. Haha oh this is cute. HR dept? My organization? You come from the world of big business don't you? Not all industries work the way yours does. There is no HR Dept. It's just me. I work in tv hiring crew and talent, and I get requests for work literally 24-7. I have no obligation to hold someone's hand and wipe their butt when they don't get a gig. I respond to all the emails I get as cordially as I can but I'm considered anomalous in that regard. Seriously, I am considered odd for it - an especially good egg who goes above and beyond. Non-response to a job you went out for is normal and understandable in this field. I don't like it or agree with it (drives me nuts really), but all I can do is lead by example and not be that way myself. I'm not going to revolutionize a whole industry. I agree it's very nice for you when you get a rejection, but most people are so busy they don't really care what would be nice for you, the rejected applicant. The world doesn't revolve around what is most convenient for you. I have worked in other industries and for corporations and the sentiment of 'oh god this annoying guy' crops up everywhere. That guy who won't stop calling or sending his info along to you, who leaves a mark from his sheer tenacity and inability to read the situation. I've seen corporate hiring managers groan hearing from the receptionist that That Guy who won't stop 'checking in' is on the phone. This is 2013 where places have a dramatic surplus of applicants. You're not always gonna hear back on a job. Deal with it. StrangersInTheNight fucked around with this message at 22:46 on Feb 5, 2013 |
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Feb 5, 2013 22:39
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Just because no response is the norm does not make it a nice thing to do.
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Feb 5, 2013 23:00
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StrangersInTheNight posted:Haha oh this is cute. HR dept? My organization? You come from the world of big business don't you? Not all industries work the way yours does. There is no HR Dept. It's just me. I work for a 3 year old company, that's just matured past it's start-up phase. We joke that our CFO is also our HR department. Rejecting an applicant requires about 3 clicks total in SalesForce and can be done by anyone. We usually just do a mail merge of rejection letters. Either way, a brainless monkey could do it and it's maybe an hours worth of work (out of a month) total. While you might be a good egg who goes above and beyond, your company certainly doesn't. To me, going above and beyond means extending yourself for the customer and expecting nothing in return, other than maintaining your good reputation. Once I hear that a company ignores it's applicants, I automatically assume that they aren't willing to go above and beyond for their applicants and/or customers. My company treats our applicants as customers, because you never know. One day, they could be. Or they might know a potential customer. Everything comes around at some point! I see no excuse for such a lack of communication. "We're all too busy!" is a load of garbage. Hire a desk lackey to do clerical work, if you're "too busy." Non-response to a job you went out for is normal and understandable in my field too, but that doesn't mean it's good practice or the appropriate way to operate, professionally. Perhaps that annoying guy might have stopped calling had your company taken 2 seconds to communicate with him. God forbid a corporate hiring manager have to deal with a large number of applicants! I sort of assumed that would have been part of the job description. A hiring manager saying "Ugh! Another one of those pesky applicants trying to get a job!" is like me saying "Ugh! Another one of those pesky customers asking for help!" "We're big shots, who are extremely busy." is no excuse for poor customer service. You can absolutely justify why YOU personally don't send rejection letters, however there's no way you'll be able to convince me that it's professional and/or morally right, for an entire company to ignore rejected applicants. (If you advertise the fact that you're hiring in any way shape or form.) cname fucked around with this message at 23:21 on Feb 5, 2013 |
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Feb 5, 2013 23:12
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Do not stop applying even if you have interviews scheduled. I did 5-6 interviews before I actually got job offers in my field. Also, I had 2 offers at once and I was able to pick the one I wanted more. Never stop applying.
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Feb 6, 2013 02:38
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Namarrgon posted:Just because no response is the norm does not make it a nice thing to do. When I post an ad for an entry level position on Craigslist, I get literally hundreds of resumes within the first three days. I am the only person in my small business who is responsible for reading, responding and hiring, as well as the other things I do daily to keep the place running. There's no way in hell I'm going to send a response, even an auto-response (which is essentially as good as no response at all) to the people I don't choose to bring in for an interview. That's a ridiculous waste of my time, particularly when I can tell that a lot of people are just sending me their resume in order to check off another "application" to keep qualifying for unemployment (which I don't judge - I just know that's what's going on). I also think it's highly annoying to have someone send more than one polite follow up email, and I especially don't appreciate a phone call. I really am extremely busy, and if I'm interested in bringing someone in for an interview, I will be in touch. Don't call me, I'll call you.
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Feb 6, 2013 03:57
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Benny the Snake posted:Another concern is that by applying for fast food/warehouse work, I'm essentially fishing in an over-crowded pond. Sure I could jump right in to either handling packages or making fries but there's much more people reguardless of education status that I'd have to compete with for the same job. Besides I just got an response from a customer service position I applied to-they want to do an interview. I think my prospects are looking up. Throw your nets out. You have nothing to lose.
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Feb 6, 2013 07:12
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OP, might I suggest you look into becoming a bro jammer?
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Feb 6, 2013 10:25
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Kalista posted:When I post an ad for an entry level position on Craigslist, I get literally hundreds of resumes within the first three days. I am the only person in my small business who is responsible for reading, responding and hiring, as well as the other things I do daily to keep the place running. There's no way in hell I'm going to send a response, even an auto-response (which is essentially as good as no response at all) to the people I don't choose to bring in for an interview. That's a ridiculous waste of my time, particularly when I can tell that a lot of people are just sending me their resume in order to check off another "application" to keep qualifying for unemployment (which I don't judge - I just know that's what's going on).  Please, keep posting As I've already posted, auto-response rejections are helpful, because it gives the applicant closure. Any feedback is better than no feedback. Even the most impersonal of rejection letters indicated that I either wasn't qualified or I should consider tweaking things for future, similar postings. OP, don't let society's busy bodies get you down. I know some people don't like to do their job and open/read/reply to emails from applicants, but if you keep at it, you'll eventually find someone who has enough common decency to acknowledge you. Keep following up, even though it annoys people. You seem like you've gotten the ball rolling with quite a bit more momentum than when you first created the thread. cname fucked around with this message at 16:39 on Feb 6, 2013 |
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Feb 6, 2013 16:35
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It honestly doesn't even matter if they respond to you or not. The important thing was that YOU followed up.
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Feb 6, 2013 17:03
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Okay it's been about a week, give or take since the incident and my breakdown. Here's what's been going on. Since Sunday, not much has been said about the incident and my breakdown. Although Danny got a lecture from Mom and Dad about how these programs were meant to confuse him and stray away from God and all that. Like he was a drat twelve year old or something. I've been applying and sending resumes to all kinds of places. I applied into the local job agency where I have a couple of friends who work as agents. I stressed to them that my main priority was clerical positions, the kind of work that would fit best to what I was studying. My friend said that they'd do their best. Now my main resistance against warehouse work was the kind of stories I'd read in my local paper. About abuses by the warehouse employers against the workers. While my friend assured me that they'd do their best to put me in a reputable job, she essentially told me in the end it's at my own risk and that I have to be vigilant. As much as I'd like to take my Dad's word against working warehouses, I have to remember this is the same guy who refused a good paying job on his terms from my uncle. So at this point I'm not taking any advice from them. As much as I insisted how I wanted a clerical position, I made it pefectly clear that I'm open to a warehouse job. In the meanwhile, I"m following up with my applications at my local McDonald's and Starbucks. As a matter of fact, the store manager at the Starbucks told me if I don't hear from her in a couple of days to call her. Same with the McDonald's. I'm hoping I get called from Starbucks first. And as for the tutoring position I haven't seen an email or an interview time available yet. Still going to keep checking though. Benny the Snake fucked around with this message at 04:43 on Feb 9, 2013 |
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Feb 9, 2013 03:20
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You do realize not applying for a job because the newspaper found some dirt is bullshit right? Every industry has poo poo bosses and living in fear of finding one is just an excuse to not find out for yourself. I worked a warehouse job for four months between semesters and my boss was incredibly understanding, patient, and awesome. No newspaper wrote a story about him and being a killer teacher while I learned how to drive a forklift.
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Feb 9, 2013 03:41
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reflex posted:You do realize not applying for a job because the newspaper found some dirt is bullshit right? Every industry has poo poo bosses and living in fear of finding one is just an excuse to not find out for yourself. I worked a warehouse job for four months between semesters and my boss was incredibly understanding, patient, and awesome. No newspaper wrote a story about him and being a killer teacher while I learned how to drive a forklift.
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Feb 9, 2013 04:08
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You have a BA and no job. You're don't have any pride to swallow. You have some abstract idea you are above this kind of work, but have no basis in reality for this superiority. Everybody has to pay their dues. You are not exempt because you have a BA and you think that entitles you to anything. Jesus Christ. Get a warehouse job and get a little perspective on how the world operates.
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Feb 9, 2013 04:15
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reflex posted:You have a BA and no job. You're don't have any pride to swallow. You have some abstract idea you are above this kind of work, but have no basis in reality for this superiority. Everybody has to pay their dues. You are not exempt because you have a BA and you think that entitles you to anything. Jesus Christ. Benny the Snake fucked around with this message at 04:26 on Feb 10, 2013 |
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Feb 9, 2013 04:48
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As far as low level service positions go, Starbucks is a pretty sweet job.
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Feb 9, 2013 06:17
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Wolfy posted:As far as low level service positions go, Starbucks is a pretty sweet job.
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Feb 9, 2013 07:47
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I went to uni and got a degree and initially worked lovely warehouse jobs doing order picking. I found that spending 8 hours of the day moving washing power around then made me REALLY focused on doing constructive and productive things after leaving work everyday. I researched things, improved my skills and applied for jobs. Working a poo poo job is a great motivator for getting a better one!
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Feb 9, 2013 15:16
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The word is regardless. Meaning without regard.
toby fucked around with this message at 21:57 on Feb 9, 2013 |
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Feb 9, 2013 21:54
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Benny the Snake posted:True. I guess I've developed this sense of entitlement that since I've invested so much time and money into my degree that it means I need to find something that'll be worth that time and investment. But right now that's neither here nor there. The main objective is to find a job reguardless of what kind of work it is. I've got a lot of humbling and perspective ahead of me. Man you english so good I can sea that studying the language has made your spelling and grammer very well. Literally every sentence above ("True" being a sentence fragment and thus excluded) has horrific grammar or spelling issues.
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Feb 10, 2013 01:58
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toby posted:The word is regardless. Meaning without regard. Wrong. The word is "irregardless" meaning "aint got no regards to give."
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Feb 12, 2013 20:26
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cname posted:Wrong. The word is "irregardless" meaning "aint got no regards to give." No, that one means "ain't got no regardlesses to give."
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Feb 12, 2013 21:18
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Please disregard the previous posts.
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Feb 13, 2013 04:36
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Internet Gentleman posted:Please disregard the previous posts. 
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Feb 13, 2013 08:29
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Saeku posted:My previous warehouse job was very mentally challenging. Because of some lazy idiot supervisors' fuckups, the warehouse was full of literally millions of bees. Think carpeted with bees. Bee pillars. You haven't known a rough day on the job until you've pulled a flailing dead bee out of your ear canal. I really need to know what sort of lazy fuckup results in a warehouse full of dead bees. What was it, a bee storage unit? A bee taxidermy parlour? A honey shop? What is going on here? Edit: VVV gently caress VVV Shonagon fucked around with this message at 21:25 on Feb 13, 2013 |
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Feb 13, 2013 14:54
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Shonagon posted:I really need to know what sort of lazy fuckup results in a warehouse full of dead bees. What was it, a bee storage unit? A bee taxidermy parlour? A honey shop? What is going on here? Ha, I would have loved it to be a warehouse full of DEAD bees. It was a honey processing plant. It's normal for there to be some bees in the plant, since they come in with the honey, but generally they are just sterile workers and a beekeper will come and take them outside. But in this plant, a beekeeper accidentally brought in a hive containing a queen and brood, and the rear end in a top hat whose job it was to remove bees from the warehouse just flat out stopped doing it, for like, a month. Here is a photo of a window in the warehouse:  This is a few weeks before it got really bad. The moral of this story is if you're fluent in the language of the country you work in, then at least you don't need to be in agriculture. Anyhow, now I'm a retail manager and doing hiring. Yeah, we get a ton of applications. But most of them are horrid. If you have a basic sense of what's appropriate in a resume, then you're ahead of 90% of the chucklefucks who want to work retail. A BA in English doesn't make you look bad in an employer's eyes; for us at least, somebody with a BA in English is a bit more desirable because they probably have a decent typing speed and problem-solving skills. "Overqualified" is the people who hand in resumes with multiple programming or engineering jobs, and looking at the thing gives you a sense of crushing pity for them. A BA in English and no work experience ain't all that.
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Feb 13, 2013 18:30
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Saeku posted:Ha, I would have loved it to be a warehouse full of DEAD bees.  Okay, you're not helping in the 'Working in warehouses isn't beneath you, ya dingus' department.
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Feb 13, 2013 21:45
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Benny the Snake posted:Now my main resistance against warehouse work was the kind of stories I'd read in my local paper. About abuses by the warehouse employers against the workers. While my friend assured me that they'd do their best to put me in a reputable job, she essentially told me in the end it's at my own risk and that I have to be vigilant. As much as I'd like to take my Dad's word against working warehouses, I have to remember this is the same guy who refused a good paying job on his terms from my uncle. So at this point I'm not taking any advice from them. As much as I insisted how I wanted a clerical position, I made it pefectly clear that I'm open to a warehouse job. If you take a lovely entry level job in a warehouse and you don't like it, you can just quit, you know. You're not locked into a goddamn contract or something.
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Feb 15, 2013 05:27
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My first job ever was a warehouse job and it was great. It was dirty, sweaty, stressful, things that build character, you know? And if you're fat like most goons, even better because you will lose weight lifting and pushing boxes around all day.
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Feb 15, 2013 06:36
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Sucrose posted:If you take a lovely entry level job in a warehouse and you don't like it, you can just quit, you know. You're not locked into a goddamn contract or something. but if he quits, he won't have a job and ... oh. I guess that isn't worse than where he is now.
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Feb 15, 2013 07:54
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roboshit posted:My first job ever was a warehouse job and it was great. It was dirty, sweaty, stressful, things that build character, you know? Exactly, you get out what you put into it. If you're always complaining about the job, you aren't going to get anything out of it. I'd suggest applying for food stamps and HUD. You don't have to make much yet you'll still be able to live somewhere that isn't living in a hosed up situation. I get the feeling that won't happen because of the pride thing that dad is hooked on either, loving the family in the process.
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Feb 15, 2013 21:17
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