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DustingDuvet posted:Here is a VERY basic critique. Hope this helps! Thank you, all of that is extremely helpful. By "online salesperson", I mean that I'm acting as a Sales Associate on a department store's website. I'm the person on the other end of the "chat with an expert" button, and I give info and make sales that way. It's the exact same job as Online Sales Advocate, but it felt weird having the exact same job listed twice at two different companies. I'll work my construction experience back in and emphasize teamwork more, and get more specific with my sales info. Those bits about volunteer tech support and the tech skills are also great ideas. I'll get to revising, much appreciated!
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Jan 6, 2015 23:42
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So I have been applying at places to increase the number of hours worked but I dont get callbacks despite having a lot of experiencs. A part of me says I should check up with the place I am applying while my folks says if they hire you right away then you get the job. Should I be checking in with the company?
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Jan 7, 2015 00:48
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What industry are you looking in? I can think of only one that "hires right away" and that one operates by somewhat different rules than the corporate world.
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Jan 7, 2015 01:35
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FrozenVent posted:What industry are you looking in? I can think of only one that "hires right away" and that one operates by somewhat different rules than the corporate world. Just standard entry level stuff.
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Jan 7, 2015 02:48
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If you have lots of experience, why are you applying to entry level jobs? I wouldn't bother following up after sending an application; after an interview or a call back is a whole other thing. What's the average application to interview ratio these days, 1:50?
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Jan 7, 2015 03:00
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FrozenVent posted:If you have lots of experience, why are you applying to entry level jobs? My experience is mostly unskilled labor but I need more hours since I am stuck in part time. So anything would work as a new work opportunity
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Jan 7, 2015 04:25
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FrozenVent posted:What's the average application to interview ratio these days, 1:50? gently caress, really? I need to apply more.
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Jan 7, 2015 04:38
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I meant interview to application. I heard 35 applications for one interview when I was in college, but that was ten years ago and probably from someone's rear end.
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Jan 7, 2015 04:45
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Misogynist posted:"I don't agree with how the company is being run" is a red flag in an interviewer, but "the owners are taking some really big and questionable financial risks that are putting my job in jeopardy" sounds reasonable. Are you able to tell us more about what's going on behind the scenes? There are some minor things (such as legal having no office only for us, not even cubicles), some slightly more worrying (such as having lost a major case that will lead to layoffs if we also lose the appeal in the upcoming months) or some very big ones (like the HQ office (located in Europe) already having had layoffs and being involved in a corruption case). I'm willing to wait a few months, maybe until I have a year in the company.
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Jan 7, 2015 05:02
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FrozenVent posted:I meant interview to application. I heard 35 applications for one interview when I was in college, but that was ten years ago and probably from someone's rear end. Actually, I read it the way that you intended rather than the way you wrote it. I work in a really small field. I don't think there are 50 places I could apply to. Certainly not in the US. But the rate of response is like online dating low. Job searching: more like online dating than you thought.
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Jan 7, 2015 05:10
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FrozenVent posted:I meant interview to application. I heard 35 applications for one interview when I was in college, but that was ten years ago and probably from someone's rear end. This seems kind of high to me, if you're getting a 35:1 response rate it's probably time to reconsider your job application methods. I've been searching since September, and just calculated my application to interview rate at about 15:1.
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Jan 8, 2015 02:49
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Honestly those both sound really low to me?
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Jan 8, 2015 04:30
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I feel that if you're getting response rates in the area of 50:1 or higher, you're not being specific enough with your applications. I've had much better luck in applying to fewer postings where my skills fit closely with the job description. Instead of taking 3 hours to apply to 5 positions that seem kind of applicable to your skills, spend 2 hours searching for companies in your area that interest you, seeing which ones are hiring, and the final hour crafting an application that blows them away. Then again I've been unemployed for 4 months now without a single offer, so take my advice with a grain of salt 
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Jan 8, 2015 21:12
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Wait, how long does it take you to send an application? Takes me maybe 15-20 minutes to quickly tailor/rewrite/proofread my cover letter and mayyyybe adjust my resume if it's a really specifically focused job. I don't feel like I'm half-assing that, either, my cover letters read well and in 15-20 minutes of work I usually don't feel like spending any longer on it would improve the writing or content.
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Jan 8, 2015 21:40
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For more general applications it takes me about the same amount of time as you, however if I find a company or position that I really like I try to send something extra along with the application. If they have a blog, maybe a brief pitch for potential blog articles, or some samples of my work if it's relevant. I scored a recent interview by applying online and then getting in touch directly to write a guest post for the company's blog, as they featured guest articles from time to time. This situation won't apply to every job posting you find, but it really pays off for getting an interview. Works best with smaller to mid-sized companies where you can send stuff directly to employees without going through an HR department. Also, I'm unemployed, which means that I can make 3 cups of tea and wander aimlessly around my tiny apartment while obsessing over every tiny detail of my application to my heart's content.
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Jan 8, 2015 22:02
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That makes sense. I'm a BS in Chemistry with 5 years in research reagent manufacturing, so all the job postings I see are behind a wall of HR and I'll rarely if ever get ahold of a hiring manager. For posted job apps, all I can really do is write a full page cover letter and send it off. Follow up with a phone call to the company or an appearance in person, but most often this is met with an aggressive "You will be contacted if we want to hear more from you, sir. Thank you for calling goodbye."
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Jan 8, 2015 22:56
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MickeyFinn posted:The appropriate way to address an unknown person in American English is "to whom it may concern." Most cover letter advice recommends against that. On the other hand, most cover letter advice appears to be stuck in the Pre-internet era, so...
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Jan 9, 2015 00:04
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HisMajestyBOB posted:Most cover letter advice recommends against that. You could address your cover letter to "HRH The Queen Mother" and nobody would care, we literally could not possibly care less who you address your cover letter to.
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Jan 9, 2015 01:20
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So I applied to a job recently and have a phone interview for it tomorrow. Hooray! But, my situation is maybe a little weird, so I wanted to ask advice. I imagine they will ask why I'm leaving my current position, which is a PhD program. My job title is "research assistant" and I never said within my application that I'm leaving a PhD but simply that I got my masters and am still working in the lab, though I'm curious if I should address it when/if I'm asked. It is reasonable to say that I finished my Masters (in the spring) and continued on to wrap up some projects, or should I nip it in the bud and say that I decided not to do the PhD and wrapped things up? I'm not applying for a research position, so my decision to not pursue an academic research-based degree doesn't seem like it should count against me, but I don't know the best way to broach the subject.
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Jan 9, 2015 01:21
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I think you have to be honest that you won't pursuing your PhD once you get the job. Not sure it needs to come up in the phone interview unless explicitly asked (focus on the research/projects you've done and why you want the job), but you do need to be clear before they make you an offer so there's no confusion. edit: Not totally clear from your post, if you didn't say on you resume you're currently pursuing a PhD, then you don't really need to bring it up
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Jan 9, 2015 01:35
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HisMajestyBOB posted:Most cover letter advice recommends against that. Well, one should make a reasonable effort to identify the recipient of the letter directly. But I have applied to plenty of jobs where there is no specific contact information and no way to find out besides cold calling HR at the place, which would have likely ended with confused silence on the behalf of HR. Depending on my mood, I either use the formal greeting or nothing at all.
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Jan 9, 2015 01:38
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I was at a 40:1 application:interview ratio fresh out of college with no "real" experience besides a handful of internships and was shotgunning my resume to any job that I was sort of qualified for. For my second job with a couple years experience it was closer to 3:1.
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Jan 9, 2015 01:43
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Diabetes By Sundown posted:So I applied to a job recently and have a phone interview for it tomorrow. Hooray! But, my situation is maybe a little weird, so I wanted to ask advice.
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Jan 9, 2015 01:44
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Is it ok to use a functional resume? I've had to scrape for employment over the last few years and I've only got one thing lasting over a year so there are a lot of gaps. The only people calling me are temp agencies.
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Jan 9, 2015 02:52
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Huh, so I got a call from a recruiter a week or two ago talking about a specific position at a specific company. He called me back today to ask when I'm available for an interview, and I'm free tomorrow so he booked it. It's a 1-year contract position for an analytical chemist at $30/hour. I'm currently salaried around ~$48,000 with medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plan benefits plus 18 PTO days per year and stuuuupidly flexible hours (come in whenever, leave 8 hours later, give or take). So far I haven't seen anything about benefits for this position, and I'm assuming contract work means "just the money," but I'll know more after the interview. I also haven't ever thought about hourly pay, so I'm constantly math-ing it out to equivalent salary to make comparisons. It's better money than I'm making, but that's about it. The glassdoor reviews of this place look loving abysmal, and with this being contract work when I'd really prefer a full time spot somewhere, I'm pretty apprehensive. I'm obviously going to wait until after the interview to really decide how I really feel. I've never done contract work and I've never had a recruiter. I have the luxury of a comfortable and stable (dead end underpaid but comfortable and stable) full time job already, so I'm not worried about blowing this, but what should I be on the lookout for, here? Any particular nuances to interviewing for contract work I should know? Recruiters?
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Jan 9, 2015 02:55
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If you're working as a contractor through a contract agency, the agency will offer you health/dental/401k/etc benefits usually after a probationary period (mine was 60 days), you will get nothing through the company you're working at. You will likely also not get any PTO. I got lucky in that my company offered me 6 paid holidays, but that's highly unusual. I don't really mind being a contractor except for little stuff like having everyone handed a bonus check in a meeting except you, and not having PTO. I would not work as a contractor if you don't have much of a financial cushion built up, since contractors are always the first to go when they need to tighten the budget and you'll be out on your rear end with little to no warning and not being paid for time off can gently caress up your budgeting since if you have to take a couple sick days one week your paycheck will be short a few hundred dollars. When the place I'm working at now hires contractors, they have the agency send them qualified candidates and if they're not a total moron in the interview they're hired since if they don't work out they can just boot them out in a few months and get a new one, but the interview is pretty much identical to a regular job interview except for them making sure you know you're temporary. Once hired we're treated like regular FTEs, a lot of people don't even know who's a full time regular employee and who's a contractor.
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Jan 9, 2015 03:31
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RadioPassive posted:Huh, so I got a call from a recruiter a week or two ago talking about a specific position at a specific company. He called me back today to ask when I'm available for an interview, and I'm free tomorrow so he booked it. Edit: This is for people who are lone contractors rather than contracted through an agency. As a contractor you will be responsible for an extra 6.2% in social security taxes. Also, you won't get any health or dental insurance, no 401k and you may or may not have lovely PTO. On top of that, after a year they can say 'see ya' with a clear conscious. Ask how frequently contractors turn in to FTEs, that is what you really want to know, right? Right now you make about $24/hour and get some other nice things and they are offering to pay you $28.14/hour (after subtracting the extra social security taxes) without any benefits at all really. Do you know how much your insurances cost? For instance, I know that I pay 25% of my medical premium out of pocket each month, so I know my total premium. If you do, you can figure out what that is worth at your job because insurance (with the same coverage) will almost certainly be more expensive on your own. You should totally nail the interview and get an offer, but I doubt they will pay you enough unless you play hardball (not a recommendation, just a feeling).
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Jan 9, 2015 03:41
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That's exactly what I was expecting. I'm going to see it through, but I totally anticipate being exactly who they want to hire and having absolutely no interest in the job because, like you said, the compensation doesn't add up.
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Jan 9, 2015 03:45
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Some years ago I was a (paid) intern in a big law firm in my country; about 6 months before my internship ended, the firm became a partner with Baker & McKenzie (a VERY big international US based law firm) and now the firm uses the "Associate to Baker & McKenzie" everywhere, even in their pens. I'm preparing my resume for a Law program in the US and I was wondering if I should put the "Associate to Baker & McKenzie" next to the name of the firm, so that it sounds a lot more interesting (I don't think Law Schools in the US would know that much about law firms in South America) or if it could be considered a lie, since out of my 3 year internship, the firm was an associate to B&M for only the last 6 months.
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Jan 9, 2015 13:29
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radlum posted:Some years ago I was a (paid) intern in a big law firm in my country; about 6 months before my internship ended, the firm became a partner with Baker & McKenzie (a VERY big international US based law firm) and now the firm uses the "Associate to Baker & McKenzie" everywhere, even in their pens.
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Jan 9, 2015 22:16
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So that was weird and hilarious. Individual interviews with the hiring manager and two other chemists in the lab go well. Then a woman from HR sits down and just opens her interview with, "You're 6 years into a full time salaried position, why are you applying for a contract position?" And I need to explain, uh... I didn't apply, your recruiter called me and set this up, he basically just cold called me and asked if I wanted an interview and I didn't turn him down. I mean, the work sounds interesting so far, if the compensation was right I'd go for it, and that's something I'll need to talk to the recruiter about, I guess. I use the recruiter's name and she doesn't know who that is. "Wait, you didn't talk to Mike?" mmmmno, I talked to Kevin? I try to pull up the recruiter's emails to me about this, but their building is a dead cell signal zone and it won't load. So we're both sitting there wondering both what the gently caress I'm doing here and how the gently caress I got here. She wraps things up pretty politically after that but it's clear she's not happy. We talk about the hours and the workload pretty frankly and directly (because gently caress it at this point). It's worse than my current job in every way. I think I managed to contain my amusement until I got out to my car. I call the recruiter and tell him all this, tell him this sounds like a major downgrade from my current job, maybe great pay could save it, but it'll probably be more than he's willing or capable of offering. I also mention that my current commute is ~18 minutes, and driving home from this interview is showing me 45 minutes on google maps. I tell him I'm driving right now, and I'm going to take the weekend to think about what kind of money I'm going to need to salvage my interest in this, and to call me Monday. He sounds completely deflated and says "Alright I'll talk to you monday..." and we hang up. Anyway, the technical part was fun. I got to talk pro chemistry for an hour and practice my interviewing before HR finally figured out that we've both been horribly shotgunned into this thing by the recruiter.
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Jan 10, 2015 04:34
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Sounds like a stellar place to work.
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Jan 10, 2015 05:20
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Not sure if this is the best place to post about all this but I'm having recruiter woes. Quick background, I'm an embedded engineer whose been at the same company for about 4 years and just now looking for a new job. Through the wonders of nepotism I got my current job without having to do a formal interview and I haven't had to do an actual job search since working crappy retail jobs in high school. I'm pretty new to the whole process. I started looking this past Sunday night by uploading my resume to monster, since then I've got about a dozen or so calls from different recruiters. I answered Recruiter A on Wednesday, he told me he was going to submit my resume to Company A and Company B. I don't really want to work at either of these places but I figure this would be great practice for interviewing and what not. Recruiter A called me back later the same day telling me he got me an interview with Company B, which I thought was pretty cool. I then got in contact with Recruiter B today. This guy tells me he's Company A's number one recruiter with over 700 job placements or something and was offering to submit my resume. He specified that if he does so I can't work with any other Company A recruiter, since Company A would disqualify my entry if they saw I had multiple recruiters(seemed odd?). I was a bit skeptical on bailing on Recruiter A but Recruiter B asked me some pre-screening questions (which were quite helpful since I've never done this) and set me up for a phone conversation with one of their engineers for verbal and coding tests. This all seemed like it would be super useful in overall increasing my interview skills so I figured I'd just continue working with Recruiter B for the Company A stuff and use Recruiter A to pursue Company B. The issues began when I called back Recruiter A. I told him I was going to work with Recruiter B for Company A but continue on with him for the other job opportunity. I was being overly honest(habit of mine) and told him that I wasn't going to accept a position at Company A but I just wanted to use Recruiter B's interview prep services. Recruiter A did not accept this response and started telling me how the other guys were liars and they had no connection to Company A. He went on about how he never heard of Recruiter A and that they were actually the number one recruiter! He then puts me on with his manager who proceeds to yell at me about how what I was doing was unethical. I wasn't going to deal with that so I politely told him to forget about everything and he hung up. The manager calls me back about 15 minutes later from an unknown number to apologize for raising his voice and to tell me how he's dealing with 10 different things and is frustrated at the moment. He said if I wanted to do the other interview I still could. I told him I'd think about it over the weekend. Is what I did a terrible unethical act? I figured they are use to people switching between recruiters but I've never talked to one before this week and have no idea. I feel like I should of just lied and said I didn't want to consider Company A at all. I don't even need a job at the moment and was just looking at what was available so this all just seems like unnecessary stress.
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Jan 10, 2015 05:46
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Never trust a cold call recruiter from Monster. I had a few of those, and none could even tell me a single thing listed on my resume. One even went so far as to make a really inappropriate joke about my alma mater while calling me at 7 AM on a Saturday, which got him promptly hung up on. I got with my recruiter by directly applying for one of the jobs they had posted on Indeed, they did not contact me first out of the blue.
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Jan 10, 2015 06:08
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Sir Vanderhosen posted:Not sure if this is the best place to post about all this but I'm having recruiter woes.
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Jan 10, 2015 16:38
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Sir Vanderhosen posted:Is what I did a terrible unethical act? I figured they are use to people switching between recruiters but I've never talked to one before this week and have no idea. I feel like I should of just lied and said I didn't want to consider Company A at all. I don't even need a job at the moment and was just looking at what was available so this all just seems like unnecessary stress. In my experience, most people think that wasting other people's time is perfectly ok until it is their own time that ends up in the garbage heap and then they throw fits. Also, job searching is a positional arms race, either play the game or get left behind. Nothing of what you did is unethical.
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Jan 10, 2015 16:45
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Yeah, I was starting to get that impression about the whole cold-calling thing. Thanks for the advice.
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Jan 10, 2015 19:38
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Can someone direct me to a resume sample or template? I don't live in the US and I have to send mine to an American university but I don't think just translating mine from Spanish to English would be enough. Thanks!
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Jan 11, 2015 06:42
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radlum posted:Can someone direct me to a resume sample or template? I don't live in the US and I have to send mine to an American university but I don't think just translating mine from Spanish to English would be enough. Thanks! You can do a lot worse than the HBS template, but it would help to know what field and type of position you're applying for.
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Jan 11, 2015 07:14
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KernelSlanders posted:You can do a lot worse than the HBS template, but it would help to know what field and type of position you're applying for. I need an account to see the templates, though I can read the suggestions there. Thanks anyway It's for a Law School post-graduate course (not an LLM, just a short program in the US); orientation in the university told me that the resume just needed to show that I've legal studies and experience. radlum fucked around with this message at 15:09 on Jan 11, 2015 |
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Jan 11, 2015 14:27
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