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Dr. Lariat posted:This is a man that was let go from a job that consisted of simply, place items in box. But it's totally the economy that is holding him down. Take it to D&D imo
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Apr 24, 2013 00:53
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Dr. Lariat posted:This is a man that was let go from a job that consisted of simply, place items in box. But it's totally the economy that is holding him down. And he's also refusing to tap into resources that could help him.
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Apr 24, 2013 01:25
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So how is looking into teaching overseas going? My friend's do-nothing, creative writing major, borderline alcoholic sibling just landed a sweet, well-paid, air flight and setup costs paid position in Asia. She applied after I suggested this to you. Just to put things in perspective.
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Apr 24, 2013 01:45
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Oh christ Benny I thought you'd be able to handle the cook job. You're overthinking everything, except the things you need to be thinking about. See a loving therapist and don't lie to them or withhold any information. Also, if what you showed me was your novel, uhhh you don't have a novel. I pray to god that was part of a short story. Seriously, see a therapist. They can help you figure out what's going on. Stay away from that hillbilly bar, if you're still going. Yeah I blocked you, but even though I don't have time in my life for your inane conversations, I would still like for you to succeed and be a functional adult.
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Apr 24, 2013 02:56
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I know it's not a novel. It's just an idea I've been hashing and re-hasing for four years now without anything beyond chapter two. It's on hold until I can sort out all these immediate issues out of the way. Okay. Here's the timeline for today up until now: 7AM: Woke up in a panic. Alarm clock was set for 6 but I had on accident set it two hours in advance so it reads 9. Eat breakfast, wash up, and get dressed. I had ironed my shirt and slacks the night before. I also shaved. Facial hair never looks good on me. 8:20 AM: Leave for school. Public transit takes about an hour and a half. I spend the time reading. 9:40 AM: Arrived on campus. I go to the marketplace where my friends hang out. I set up my computer and print out 20 copies of my resume. I meet and talk with some of my friends, including Carl and Pablo (not their real names) who are there for the fair. We swap resumes and help each other out. 10:40 AM: I go to the fair. I passed out over 30 resumes. Each booth I visited I asked what major they were looking for, what positions were open, and details about the position. I ask about locations and tasks associated with the position. I give them a resume, ask for a business card, and ask if they have any questions about my resume. I emphasize my campaign volunteer work, since it's the most recent work experience and lets me highlight my administrative skills. I avoid booths that are looking for specific majors outside my own: quite a few booths want engineers exclusively. Here's a shortlist of the companies I gave resumes:
2PM: I start applying online to the companies I got business cards from. As much as I made a good impression on their representatives at their booths, I need to follow up by applying online. I put priority on THINK, CPP Extended University, and JINS. JINS is an eyewear company based in Japan that wants to set up shop here in the States. I made a good impression on the recruiter. I like this job especially because I'm hoping that cheap frames are part of the benefits(Prescription eyeglasses cost me anywhere between six and eight hundred. I have hosed up eyesight). I made an especially good impression on Second Image: the rep said she'd give me a call for an interview next week. I still have her business card just in case. I apply online to about a third of the places I passed out resumes to, on top of writing cover letters for each place. I take a break every now and then to shoot the poo poo with my friends. 6:30 PM: I hitch a ride with Andy (not his real name) who brings me home. Andy's a great guy who's a hospitality major and tends bar and Disneyland. That's a place that's always hiring and the moment I have a car, I'll apply there too. 7PM: eat dinner at restaurant and read paper. 8PM: arrive home. And now I'm chatting with you goons. Tomorrow I have a 9AM interview with McDonald's. I'll apply to more of the places I left resumes at after my interview. Therapy would be a nice option, but I'm uninsured. It's one of the other things I'm going to have to put on hold. I'll get around to UW and Goodwill as soon as I get all these things sorted out. Benny the Snake fucked around with this message at 05:21 on Apr 24, 2013 |
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Apr 24, 2013 05:16
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Why don't you apply for a disney internship you moron.
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Apr 24, 2013 05:36
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Covered In Bees posted:Why don't you apply for a disney internship you moron. Benny the Snake fucked around with this message at 05:49 on Apr 24, 2013 |
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Apr 24, 2013 05:42
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Benny the Snake posted:Disney is quite a while away in Anaheim and I don't have transportation reliable enough. If I did, I'd apply in a heartbeat. Could you carpool with the Disney employee who drove you home today? If not, maybe he knows some colleagues who would be willing to give you a lift in exchange for gas money.
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Apr 24, 2013 05:50
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Benny, you literalty have ZERO ambition and its quite pathetic now. I have a feeling your problems go deeper then your inability to do jobs. Perhaps Sociologically. Do you have friends you hang out with on your time off? Do you have hobbies that aren't comic books and watching pg-tv? A good way to get jobs is through friends who have connection into family business. You need to tell us your social life situation dude.
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Apr 24, 2013 05:55
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PurePerfection posted:Could you carpool with the Disney employee who drove you home today? If not, maybe he knows some colleagues who would be willing to give you a lift in exchange for gas money.
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Apr 24, 2013 06:14
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Why haven't you tried tutoring? My campus is littered with flyers promising to help with your essays for $20+ an hour. From your blog posting awhile ago your writing actually isn't terrible. I know there are companies online who can hook you up in that arena as well. Otherwise, does your college offer career counseling? My undergrad has a deal with a SoCal company offering somewhere around 4 hours of counseling free for members of the Alumni Association. You might be able to get some other ideas/light a fire under your rear end there.
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Apr 24, 2013 07:24
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Jeffrey posted:Dude mentions his English degree and suddenly goons go hog wild correcting grammar mistakes on every page. Who cares, ignore them, it isn't funny to point out any more. It hasn't been funny since the fifth page. But that's the point - we have here a man who deludes himself; someone who tosses together a few chapters in five years and calls himself a writer. Benny is presented in this thread as the loving epitome of half-rear end. He's half-assed his degree, his job search, and his work perfornance. Zaurg-- oops, I mean Benny - change your situation by having some pride.
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Apr 24, 2013 07:49
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Benny the Snake posted:Disney is quite a while away in Anaheim: a whole county away. If I had reliable enough transportation I'd apply in a heartbeat. Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fl. offer paid internships, as well as providing relocation money and inexpensive living quarters for those who get hired. I've been there (the living quarters) quite a few times for some parties and they really aren't bad. Nice 2-3 bedroom apartments with a roommate or two, depending on the size of the apartment.
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Apr 24, 2013 10:41
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So uh, given that he's stuck in a situation that a lot of people are stuck in and he's trying his best while not being perfect while there is abuse going on around him, why is it his fault that all of this is happening again? How is it useful to call him a moron and be all BOOTSTRAPS because he's not a perfect person? Your situation sucks, Benny, and I'm sorry about that. You do seem to need a bit more spine and possibly some work on your anxiety problems, but just keep on it. You'll get there. You seem like a nice kid.
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Apr 24, 2013 12:27
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Hyzenth1ay posted:It hasn't been funny since the fifth page. I think it's more than just half-assing. This is an adult who refers to his BA in English as his "studies," who bothered to name every character in his last story (Pablo, etc ), and despite the fact that they never show up again, he also assured us that the names weren't real and that they were all "good guys." Anyone else notice that Hemingway here always tells us what "good guys" he's hanging with? The uncle, the guy at the bar, the owner of the restaurant, these school friends. .... We're treating Benny like he needs the help that could be found in BFC's "Getting your first entry level job" thread (Benny, have you checked that?), but ... something else is going on here.
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Apr 24, 2013 12:29
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Mushmouth posted:So uh, given that he's stuck in a situation that a lot of people are stuck in and he's trying his best while not being perfect while there is abuse going on around him, why is it his fault that all of this is happening again? How is it useful to call him a moron and be all BOOTSTRAPS because he's not a perfect person? If you're reading that people are exclusively saying BOOTSTRAPS, I think you missed something. It's not that people are calling him a moron because he makes mistakes. They're calling him a moron because he goes against valid advice or follows the advice but halfasses it. Nobody expects him to be perfect, but goddamn. It's not like this guy can't get a job at all. He's had two and got fired by the end of the first week from both. That's a huge problem that's not the economy and not a BOOTSTRAPS issue, either.
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Apr 24, 2013 12:42
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It's still unnecessary and something I've seen happen to a lot of people who are in his situation. Also, perhaps dodging all the people trying to make a point about his grammar and other inane crap means he may miss a few suggestions? Or might not be disclosing everything he's doing precisely because he's busy and distracted?
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Apr 24, 2013 12:48
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Mushmouth posted:It's still unnecessary and something I've seen happen to a lot of people who are in his situation. Also, perhaps dodging all the people trying to make a point about his grammar and other inane crap means he may miss a few suggestions? Or might not be disclosing everything he's doing precisely because he's busy and distracted? I guess I'll speak for myself and say that a few months back when the thread was new I suggested going to the Dept of Labor, Good Will, and United Way. Benny has barely even called them in that timeframe and offers up no excuse for it (and also ignores it when pointedly asked about it). Plus he's admitted to going about his job searching process in an inefficient way. Searching for a job should be like a fulltime job and a while back he considered 2 hours of effort good enough. He went to another job fair, didn't apply for anything. People have told him about open positions in place X, Y, and Z, and he hasn't followed up. Even this Disney thing he didn't think to see if he could carpool with a friend before someone brought it up.
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Apr 24, 2013 12:52
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He also doesn't really believe he was fired from the second job. Kinda. He semi-believes it was a twist of fate that he didn't have enough experience, but the owner loves him. In fact, he'd lie for him and give him a reference, but Benny has to keep calling to see if a cashier position opens up, because the guy apparently didn't like him enough to keep his number on file for when one does... He also does occasionally believe he was fired, but his takeaway was "do anything a future boss tells me, even I deem it dangerous." The next story is going to be Benny mangled in a forklift crash. The guy just doesn't see shades of grey/can't read between the lines. (Note: I'm not saying that zucchini-gate was dangerous. But if he thought it was, enough so to actually ignore orders, why not speak up and ask how the chef keeps safe/sanitary, or ask how he can prevent a fire, or what to do if it breaks out, or how often to change rags or ... anything?)
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Apr 24, 2013 12:55
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Correct me if I'm wrong with the recap of your day. 7.00: Panic because I only have 80 minutes to wash and dress myself. 8.20: Get on the bus. 9.40: Get off the bus. That ride was exhausting. I better take some time off now, and chill with some friends while doing stuff I should have done in advance, like printing resumes. You know, despite the fact that there's tons of "don't just give out resumes" advice in my thread. 10.40: Working day starts, time to hit the job fair. 14.00: After 3 hours and 20 minutes, I leave the job fair having given out 30 CVs. At 200 minutes, that's an average of 7 minutes per booth.* I head to the computer center and put in a 4 and a half hour stint in, applying for those jobs. That's 9 minutes per booth on average.** 18.30: I get a lift home, 7 hours and 50 minutes after I actually started job seeking, but also try to count in my dinner into my job seekers diary time. Right, now if the things I address below in * and ** are both accurate, this is pretty much an 8 hour working day. You have fulfilled your unemployed job seeking obligations today. But this should be a normal, average level of activity for you, not something to be proud of and use to excuse a day or two off later in the week. However... * 7 minutes per stand? How much time did you actually spend between 10.40am and 2pm talking to recruiters, and how much time was spent pissing around with your friends, chilling on your phone, reading a book to recharge for 15 minutes before you hit up the next stall, etc. 7 minutes at each stall would leave me feeling like I was about to be hit with 20-25 job offers, at the very least. These were busy people with a lot of people to see, and time is a real premium at these sorts of events. Am I missing the mark, or was you at each stall for way less than 7 minutes? ** Are you a one finger typist who doesn't use any copy and pasting? Applying for 30 different jobs through standard online application forms shouldn't be taking 4 and a half hours. The bulk of each application could be written out once, saved to a text file and copy and pasted across to all the others. Add in a little time to answer less common questions and tailor the occasional answer where you aren't just inputting solid facts like "years studied" and "degree name" but rather "tell us about..." and you still should have been out of there a lot earlier. Am I right in guessing you spent half an hour on applications, had a 30 minute break, filled in a few more then chilled in the computer lounge hitting up youtube until Andy was ready to head home too? If so, this was a big chunk of downtime where you could have researched teaching English abroad, sorted out your loan stuff and at least phoned United Way or whatever. Also, what are your plans tomorrow? That's one day down, with arguably a full day looking for work, even though it seems a bit stretched to tell the truth. Why not fill your week with four more of those? I know you have a McInterview in the morning, but after that why not head down to Goodwill or United Way? Then read up on Disney's intern programs, and post on Facebook looking for any other school friends who may work somewhere cool where there's some form of paid internship?
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Apr 24, 2013 13:01
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Thora posted:Also, http://www.opm.gov. The application process is tedious, but honestly what else do you have to do? This literally made me loving chuckle. You either don't work as a civil servant or you don't watch the US news. Their is an INDEFINITE hiring freeze on the biggest agency's in the federal government. Sequestration is a bitch like that. I really want to see benny succeed but their are positions that NEED to be filled that cannot be filled because they aren't allowed to hire the people that could do it (engineers, lawyers, stuff like that). The agencies that are still allowed to hire during this time have such specific job requirements that i doubt Benny (no fault of your own here) would qualify. It cant help to look, but seriously for all the people telling him to "sack up and enlist" your idiots. The DOD is turning 18 year old, in shape, intelligent kids away because sequestration means their not allowed to bring people on. Wait lists to join the branches can take years, and they aren't even really lists, DOD basically just keeps you in limbo. ITT: A federal employee rant's on why he cant hire people to fill billets.
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Apr 24, 2013 13:27
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Masonity posted:I better take some time off now, and chill with some friends while doing stuff I should have done in advance, like printing resumes. Just to point this out; not everyone has printers at home. I know they're dirt cheap & stuff, but some of us don't. I know I don't.
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Apr 24, 2013 13:29
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Another odd thought - Benny, if all these places that were at the fair are local, hiring and you'd just have to apply online anyway --- how come you hadn't applied months/weeks ago? Why was that whole list of places not previously on your radar?
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Apr 24, 2013 13:34
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Since it's part of your work day, that 80 minutes on the bus should be used as self improvement time or prep time. Paperbacks and other wastes of time are for the evening when everything else is done. Read a paper so you can have intelligent conversations about something topical. Look though the want ads. Buy a book on self improvement and read that. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People would be a great start for you. That's money much better spent than some stupid restaurant dinner.
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Apr 24, 2013 13:47
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You should certainly check out the Orlando Disney opportunities, they hire like crazy because they always need people. Also Vista Waaaayyyy. quote:quite a few booths want engineers exclusively. Let this be a lesson to any goons considering higher education. This is pretty much unilaterally true. If you want to be hire-able, major in an engineering field. My roommate went from one 45k job to a 50k job to a 58k job one year out of college with a 2.8 GPA and a Computer Science degree. If you have a level of talent to it, engineering can be a great boon to you. You can always minor in whatever feel-good field you want. Work to live, don't live to work. AcidRonin fucked around with this message at 13:59 on Apr 24, 2013 |
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Apr 24, 2013 13:52
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Masonity posted:** Are you a one finger typist who doesn't use any copy and pasting? Applying for 30 different jobs through standard online application forms shouldn't be taking 4 and a half hours. The bulk of each application could be written out once, saved to a text file and copy and pasted across to all the others. Add in a little time to answer less common questions and tailor the occasional answer where you aren't just inputting solid facts like "years studied" and "degree name" but rather "tell us about..." and you still should have been out of there a lot earlier. Am I right in guessing you spent half an hour on applications, had a 30 minute break, filled in a few more then chilled in the computer lounge hitting up youtube until Andy was ready to head home too? If so, this was a big chunk of downtime where you could have researched teaching English abroad, sorted out your loan stuff and at least phoned United Way or whatever. Really? I recently went through a job search period where I was filling out online applications, and I don't know, nine minutes a form doesn't seem unreasonable at all. I'm sure I probably had a lot more stuff to enter, but I think I probably took longer than that on each. Sir John Falstaff fucked around with this message at 14:01 on Apr 24, 2013 |
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Apr 24, 2013 13:53
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Sir John Falstaff posted:Really? I recently went through a job search period where I was filling out online applications, and I don't know, nine minutes a form doesn't seem unreasonable at all. I'm sure I probably had a lot more stuff to enter, but I think I probably took longer than that on each. Not to mention bastard really annoyingly formatted forms that won't let you copy and paste. Or ones that want everything formatted backwards to the way you've got it saved. Five minutes to deal with that, plus four to come up with an appropriate response to 'why do you want this job / what can you bring to this job?' which needs to be pretty specifically tailored doesn't sound unreasonable.
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Apr 24, 2013 14:05
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Masonity posted:Applying for 30 different jobs through standard online application forms shouldn't be taking 4 and a half hours. The bulk of each application could be written out once, saved to a text file and copy and pasted across to all the others. Eh, I just came off of 6 months of unemployment in February. 10 minutes per application (where you're actually filling out fields on a website and not just sending in your resume via careerbuilder/monster/etc.) isn't that egregious, especially when you run into "please paste your CV/resume in this field. Now in the next 5 - 10 pages please fill in individual details about your resume in all of these other fields, even though you already provided it on the first page" (gently caress you, Taleo  )
Geoj fucked around with this message at 14:43 on Apr 24, 2013 |
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Apr 24, 2013 14:32
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Benny, thanks for posting your schedule for job fair day! Good job. That's a step in the right direction. Sure, people are gonna kick your rear end and knit-pick it to death, but at least you've made a step forward by detailing your entire day. That will enable you to self-evaluate, ajust and adapt, even if you don't directly realize it, just yet. If you want to write a good cover letter, don't use a guide, look for shortcuts, etc. Use your brain. You say your a writer with an English major. THINK. What do YOU think would make for a good cover letter? What do YOU think would make for a crappy cover letter? Why would that make it good/bad? What are you gonna say to make people wanna hire you? Have you seen anything interesting, when researching a company which you could speak heavily on, or have a strong opinion about? A cover letter is not a resume. There's really no specific right or wrong way to compose a cover letter. The idea of a cover letter is to engage someone within the company, to let them know that you feel confident you can handle the position, passionate about the field of work, and would mesh well with the social flow of the office. I've found that speaking from the heart while remaining politically correct and professional yields the best results. Truth be told, I feel like your treating the entire application process like a grind. Yes, it is a grind. It's a horrible loving grind. The idea is that your supposed to grind while making the hiring company think your not grinding. You want them to think your interested, enthusiastic and happy to be reaching out to them, to establishing a point of contact. It's incredibly important that you come across as someone who is enthusiastic about deciding your next step in life, as opposed to someone who is all downtrodden and desperate for work. You can smell the difference, the second a candidate enters the interview room. Sure, if you see a mediocre posting that your not particularly fond of, shoot them a broiler-plate cover letter/resume just to throw another piece of kindling on the fire. For the good postings your really interested in, you need to be putting some heart, thought and creativity into your cover letters. I know I haven't given you much direct information. I specifically decided not to, because I wanna see what you can come up with. If you can figure out how to write an elegant cover letter, on your own, it will be a hell of a lot more valuable than scrawling out some broiler-plate cover letter that everyone ignores. Trust me, it's extremely easy to tell if someone's cover letter was pre-written vs written specifically for one of our job postings. cname fucked around with this message at 15:55 on Apr 24, 2013 |
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Apr 24, 2013 15:50
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Oh sweet jesus you guys if this isn't trolling it's just WAY too sad to even contemplate. Horrific lifestorying, right here.
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Apr 24, 2013 16:33
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Benny the Snake posted:
Was it 20 or 30 resumes? If I were you, I'd actually avoid the "what major" question, especially for jobs that don't seem to require any specialized skills or knowledge. A lot of employers don't require a specific course of study, and I don't know that advertising your English Literature studies before they have a chance to get to know you is a good idea. If you're genuinely concerned about whether you'd qualify, ask a more general question like "what kind of previous experience are you looking for" or "what kind of skills and background knowledge are you looking for" instead. At a job fair, be careful not to spend too much of your time drilling them with detailed questions about the position. You should allow for some small talk and let them get to know you a little as a person. They talk to lots of people who are going to ask them the same kinds of questions, and your goal should be "I will use this opportunity to make myself stand out from the crowd and make them like me." Benny the Snake posted:2PM: I start applying online to the companies I got business cards from. As much as I made a good impression on their representatives at their booths, I need to follow up by applying online. I put priority on THINK, CPP Extended University, and JINS. JINS is an eyewear company based in Japan that wants to set up shop here in the States. I made a good impression on the recruiter. I like this job especially because I'm hoping that cheap frames are part of the benefits(Prescription eyeglasses cost me anywhere between six and eight hundred. I have hosed up eyesight). I made an especially good impression on Second Image: the rep said she'd give me a call for an interview next week. I still have her business card just in case. I apply online to about a third of the places I passed out resumes to, on top of writing cover letters for each place. I take a break every now and then to shoot the poo poo with my friends. Be careful not to get caught up with idea of an employee discount or other minor perks like that, to the point that you focus too much on one job that may not even be the best overall opportunity for you. A discount on $800 glasses is no small thing, but if there's another job out that offers higher pay or even vision insurance, that'd be be a far better option. It's also probably not a good idea to be filling out your online apps or writing your thank you notes/cover letters while you have your friends around to chat. It's distracting, and it increases the chance that you'll make errors. Benny the Snake posted:7PM: eat dinner at restaurant and read paper. With... what money?  ^^Also, listen to cname.
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Apr 24, 2013 16:35
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Devyl posted:Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fl. offer paid internships, as well as providing relocation money and inexpensive living quarters for those who get hired. I've been there (the living quarters) quite a few times for some parties and they really aren't bad. Nice 2-3 bedroom apartments with a roommate or two, depending on the size of the apartment. Pretty sure you actually have to have some sort of talent to do this.
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Apr 24, 2013 17:06
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Grin and Tonic posted:Pretty sure you actually have to have some sort of talent to do this. No the Disney internship program is a clever way to get cheap labor to man rides and work at hotels (at least for those without useful STEM majors). Benny could probably qualify, although the fact he's no longer a student might hurt his chances. Everyone I know who's done it has either hated every second of it or came out brainwashed by The Mouse that Disney is the best ever and working minimum wage behind a hotel counter is a worthwhile use of their four year degree.
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Apr 24, 2013 17:36
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english muffin posted:Oh sweet jesus you guys if this isn't trolling it's just WAY too sad to even contemplate. Horrific lifestorying, right here. I know, I'm just waiting to see if he can put fourth some sort of extra effort at anything. His whole story makes it sound as though he's always drifted, expecting life to magically happen. A lot of us have been there. I drifted till I almost flunked out of college, freshman year. That changed when my parents told me to not bother coming home if I flunk out. He's starting to show small glimmers of effort. At least that's something. It's like he's some sort of constant variable for job applicant studies. Never in my life have I ever heard of someone doing exactly as instructed to do, no more, no less, when it comes to applying for jobs. OP, please spend the entire day trying to come up with the perfect cover letter. Write 10 cover letters if you have to. Post massive walls-o-text for critique! We're here to help while snarkily hurling insults. Still free professional help, nonetheless. If you do nothing today, aside from coming up with 1 kick-rear end cover letter, it will be a day well spent. Seriously, man. I'll be so pissed off if you come back with bullshit, like... "Dear Sir or Madam, My name is Benny the Snake and I'm an English major from the University of Wherever, California! I am extremely interested in applying to the position posted! I am an organized, hard-working, caring, individual with the ability to multi-task. Because of these skills, I feel as though I would be a great fit, for you're organization! Common interest include the Nintendo, movie blog, television and hanging out with friends. Thank you very much for your consideration. Attached is my resume. I look forward to hearing from you! Thank you, Benny the snake" cname fucked around with this message at 17:47 on Apr 24, 2013 |
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Apr 24, 2013 17:38
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AcidRonin posted:This literally made me loving chuckle. You either don't work as a civil servant or you don't watch the US news. Glad to bring a ray of light into your otherwise grey day, peach pie. As far as following the US news - GBS reports, I decide. I worked for the federal government for almost 7 years. I know the application process is a slog that wants every last detail of your work history and that it takes forever to get hired. I took the exam in October and didn't hear anything for almost 6 months. I also know that hiring freezes don't last forever. What has he got to lose by applying now and having his application on file? Not a thing. But good job I guess on discouraging him on applying to one of the few organizations where an English degree is acceptable for entry level, pays a living wage, is clean and predictable office work (for the most part), has opportunity for advancement or lateral movement, and is lifelong employment unless you are a truly egregious fuckup. So, with that said, it wouldn't hurt to get started with the civil servant application process with the state of California, either. Again, what is there to lose? Nothing! Nursing assistant jobs were mentioned earlier in this thread. The certification course is usually 3-4 weeks and usuallY <$500. It is a field with decent turnover because it is hard work and unpleasant at times. But it pays more than minimum wage. Are there any assisted living facilities, care homes, AFCs, etc, near you? Those places need dietary and housekeeping workers also.
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Apr 24, 2013 17:45
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cname posted:[excellent advice about cover letters] I want to reiterate that this is extremely good advice, and you should reread it before you send any more letters. I used to work as a teaching assistant for several MBA-level business communications courses, and the biggest part of my job was providing feedback on documents like cover letters. The most common problems were, as cname commented, generic boilerplate letters and cover letters that reiterated the resume without providing any new or useful information. You should never be using a "find and replace" function to convert a cover letter sent to one company into a letter than can be quickly sent to another. Start from scratch. It's time-consuming, but at this point, you have more than enough free time to handle it. Again, you should be using your idle time as a competitive advantage over candidates who are working at other jobs or still in school. Think of a cover letter as a way to highlight the parts of your resume that you feel are most important to the job in question. You shouldn't mention every item on your resume. Start with an intro paragraph that explains who you are, what position you're applying for, and why you want it. Then, pick two or three major points (could be skills or previous work experiences) and elaborate on them in your letter. Provide additional information that didn't fit on your resume, and most critically, explain how the skill or experience you're describing relates to the new position you want.. To make this part even stronger, you can borrow words and phrases from the job description and use them in your explanation. Each major point should have its own body paragraph. Finally, conclude with a paragraph summarizing your points, restating your interest in the job, and expressing a desire to pursue this application further through a phone conversation/interview/whatever. Make sure you include your phone number and email address in this paragraph for easy reference. I wrote an extremely detailed guide to cover letters for a university workshop that I taught a couple of years ago - it's a few too many pages to copy/paste here without looking ridiculous. The workshop audience were prospective investment bankers, but I kept the content general enough to apply to other industries. If you would like me to send you this as a PDF when I get home later tonight, please PM me with your email address. (If anyone else is interested, happy to do the same for other goons.)
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Apr 24, 2013 17:55
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AcidRonin posted:Let this be a lesson to any goons considering higher education. This is pretty much unilaterally true. If you want to be hire-able, major in an engineering field. My roommate went from one 45k job to a 50k job to a 58k job one year out of college with a 2.8 GPA and a Computer Science degree. If you have a level of talent to it, engineering can be a great boon to you. You can always minor in whatever feel-good field you want. Work to live, don't live to work.
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Apr 24, 2013 20:08
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*Phew* I thought I was going to get my head ripped off especially hard today. So I'm going to go around and answer some questons. PurePerfection posted:With... what money? By the way, thank you so much, Cname!  Jizznastics posted:Do you have friends you hang out with on your time off? Do you have hobbies that aren't comic books and watching pg-tv? A good way to get jobs is through friends who have connection into family business.  By the way: that's what I was reading on my way up to campus. I did a literature regimen last spring: I read Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Toole, and Chandler in order to become a better writer. I'm not sure if it helped, but it sure did expand my horizons. I'm going to try that again right now. I printed out 20 resumes initially. The computer lab on campus has a kiosk where earlier in the year I put in $20 for prints. At ten cents a pop, I spent two bucks for twenty. After my first pass, I went back and printed out another twenty resumes. So all together, I spent four bucks for forty resumes and passed out a little over thirty. I'd say a good third of the companies present wanted engineer, business, science, or hospitality majors exclusively. I would spend only five minutes per booth, but I was using a shotgun method. Hit as many booths as I could and ask specific questions (major desired, positions open, position details, if they had any questions about my resume, etc.). I have a printer at home, but it was much more convenient to print a stack on site. My McDonald's interview went well today. I'm a little bit nervous about one thing: the manager who interviewed me asked when I left there back in '07 if I put in my two week's notice. I told him that I'm positive I did. Five years is a long time, and I don't know how big of a deal-breaker it would be if I did or didn't for a fast food place. They're going to check back with my old manager to see how good an employee I was, so I don't expect them to call me back until next week maybe. I did good, though. Anyway, back to more online applications. No rest for the unemployed. Benny the Snake fucked around with this message at 20:42 on Apr 24, 2013 |
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Apr 24, 2013 20:39
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Benny the Snake posted:My McDonald's interview went well today. I'm a little bit nervous about one thing: the manager who interviewed me asked when I left there back in '07 if I put in my two week's notice. I told him that I'm positive I did. Five years is a long time, and I don't know how big of a deal-breaker it would be if I did or didn't for a fast food place. They're going to check back with my old manager to see how good an employee I was, so I don't expect them to call me back until next week maybe. I did good, though. Did you not put in your 2 weeks notice? Edit: Also, a payment for what? Do you pay rent to your parents?
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Apr 24, 2013 20:49
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cucurbit posted:Did you not put in your 2 weeks notice? And yeah, I paid $50 to my parents out of my paycheck. It's my monthly contribution to groceries and cell phone.
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Apr 24, 2013 21:02
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