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Aerofallosov posted:But a lot of us did post some good advice. The sad truth is, almost no place teaches you how to find a job, network or whatever. Recently, my campus has offered a course in General studies on job hunting, meeting corporate reps, etc. Half the kids I bumped into didn't even KNOW we had Career Services, job fairs or whatever. And yes, a lot of them do help Alumni and have job postings specifically for people with degrees. I also know that English is more than creative writing. Is tech writing dry? Yup, but it pays decently. Even Microsoft needs tech writers. How did they not know you had a career services, job fairs, or whatever? Did they not attend orientation? Did they not read any university pamphlets or do any research during the application process? How is that anyone's fault but that person's? The idea of a university without a career services department is mind boggling. If you can't figure this out on your own, it's no wonder nobody would want to hire you. Businesses are hurting and the last thing they need is to pay someone money to have their hand held. An ideal candidate can take up responsibility on his/her own, drink from the fire hose and ask questions/seek tasks which they can perform for the greater good of the company. My freshman seminar class taught this type of common sense stuff. I spent the entire class bashing my head against the desk thinking, "NO loving poo poo! Oh really?! Companies can google your name and view your public Facebook account? You don't say! Career services office can help me find a job and I should use them as a resource? Fascinating! Resume assistance?! Wow, its like they offer the whole package in job placement. Shocking poo poo, right here!" By the end of the curriculum, I was infuriated by the fact that people who find such information compelling were attending the same university as me and contributing to said curriculum being mandatory. If you wanna learn to ski, you see a ski instructor. If you wanna learn to play tennis, you see a tennis instructor. If you wanna find a job, see a career counselor! This level of thinking falls under the category of "does the applicant have basic problem solving abilities?" (Y/N) cname fucked around with this message at 21:02 on Feb 1, 2013 |
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Feb 1, 2013 20:49
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Benny the Snake posted:-I haven't asked anybody in my political internship for job positions. I've just started and I only know a handful of people: the fundraiser, the field manager, the candidate, the PR handler, and another intern. This is a special election and we're in the primary mode. I talked to Jon, the feild manager, and he told me we're going to fly under the radar untill the primaries are over and we know wether we're going to see the big show. I'm waiting untill more people come in and/or I actually have put in enough time and expirence to where I show that I'm a hard worker. If you guys think it's best, I'll start networking and asking for jobs right now. OP, Are you with an agency or committee? D or R? Answering these two questions and giving no further information won't do you any harm as far as internet detective work is concerned. Aside from those two questions, don't post another word about the campaign. Obviously, I'm an internet person, so my advice holds no credibility. If you don't wanna answer, that's fine, but I'll be honest, I'm dying to know. I don't even need names, just Agency/Committee? : D/R? Start networking You're on board very early and things are gonna move fast, if you make it past the primary. Your contributions will likely triple, within a week and paid positions will likely spring up left and right. If you can learn about the campaign's structure early on, they'll likely consult you once they need to on-board new hires. You know people in high positions. Ask them tons of questions and be sure you're the one they think of when they need to fill a new position. Ask for jobs, right now! Do as much work for them as possible. The more work you can knock off, the better. Squeeze yourself in on projects. It works, if you see/here about a task you think you'd be good at, snag it up. Seriously, learn to do as much useful poo poo as possible. You can go from being an intern to having interns in a matter of 3-4 months, if you play your cards right. I have a hunch you're part of a serious campaign that could be a monumental boost to your resume. Take advantage of it. Your life could potentially get awesome, if you work hard and you guys make it past the primary. 
cname fucked around with this message at 06:13 on Feb 3, 2013 |
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Feb 3, 2013 06:03
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Benny the Snake posted:Since I don't have a job...$50 a month. I'd be paying $2-300 if I had job. Get on unemployment. I'm serious, just loving do it, you've paid taxes, you deserve it just as much as any citizen. You're unemployed and legitimately trying to find work. You have an internship, so you're pretty much guaranteed to be approved. You're crying over the internet, so I think you can swallow your pride and get unemployment. Buck up and tell me more about what kind of tasks could use getting done at the campaign. Where are they lacking in assistance? Are there any gaps in communication/service? How much do you know about the structure. Couldn't hurt to latch onto the head of fundraising. Is there any way you can put this family bullshit on the back-burner? Just hang out at campaign HQ all the time and be home as little as possible.
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Feb 3, 2013 06:27
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OP, what's going on with the campaign internship? Are you going to abandon that? Why are you avoiding the subject? I seriously wanna know if you think the candidate is legitimate and can actually make it past the primary. If you believe so, you'd be crazy to abandon ship at this point. Just be honest and admit it if you're pushing paper for village sherif, or assistant to the regional manager. If it has anything to do with the senate election, ditch the thread, suck it up, stay with your abusive parents and bust your rear end at work. DO NOT ABANDON FOR A MCJOB! You have no idea how easy it is to latch on to politics as a starting career. As long as your an able minded, semi-charismatic individual with no kids and the ability to re-locate, you should be able to find a paid political position within a year. cname fucked around with this message at 16:11 on Feb 4, 2013 |
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Feb 4, 2013 16:07
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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. 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. I don't need to point out how dumb it would be to pick warehouse work over customer service work. "The pay is almost identical."  "You just have to move everything from point a to point b" Seriously? So what happens if there are 4 or 5 trucks in the loading bay? Points B,C,E and F"Neither are mentally challenging." Oh wow, I'm a customer support rep for a web service that offers web services. (I'd rather not be specific. We're one of two companies which offer a certain type of service.) I'd love to be all smug and say it's a cakewalk, however it's extremely mentally demanding. Not every CS position revolves around teaching people where to click or copy/paste a URL. The guy at his political internship probably has both connections and a better idea of how to get jobs, and therefore has a different view of the market. Agro ver Haus doom posted:OP do not listen to this advice. Agreed. No hiring manager of a fast food chain is going to remember a rejected applicant, from the past. It would have to be an incredibly small company with a small list of applicants for that to even be remotely possible. You'd have to be overly annoying and go way outside your comfort zone to bother someone to that extent. cname fucked around with this message at 16:27 on Feb 5, 2013 |
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Feb 5, 2013 16:06
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OP, are you even aware that a lot of people use multiple resumes? I've always tailored mine to fit whichever jobs are more relevant to the position I'm applying for. Leaving information off your resume does not equal a lie. Just leave college off your resume for McJobs and tell them the date you graduated high school. And yes, no matter what position, you're applying because you wanna be with that company for the long haul. (Even if you don't)
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Feb 5, 2013 16:32
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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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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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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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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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almightyerin posted:My parents aren't lawyers but they both worked in a courtroom and their response would have been to laugh and say "sure hon, you go right ahead". It would never had occurred to me to threaten them with the law or taking them to court over dumb stuff. Now had they been asshats who stole my trust fund or something thats a little different. Their view on things was to not involve the cops unless it was a dire cop-warrenting bad situation and you certainly don't take someone to court over piddley stuff. It's not so much a literal situation of calling the cops/taking your parents to court. It's more like your parents coming home early to a bathroom, which reeks of Marijuana. Your eyes are red, you look high, they consider you high, etc. so you yell "Go ahead, search my room!" in defense. They search your room and find nothing, yet ground you anyway. UGHHH! That's such bullshit! You don't have any weed in your posession, your eyes are red, because you're tired and you only seem high, because you didn't get much sleep, last night! No, mom! A drug test isn't fair, because all that would prove is that I smoked weed within the last 30 days. So unfair! They have no right to ground you, without proof which would hold up in court! (But you totally did smoke a bowl in the bathroom) In the OPs case, it was drafting up a stupid contract as opposed to just "Here's $50. I'm gonna give you $50 a month, because while I don't have much, I at least want to feel as though I'm contributing something." cname fucked around with this message at 21:48 on Mar 4, 2013 |
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Mar 4, 2013 21:43
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Leave Danny out of this. Worry about yourself and let your parents deal with his poo poo. Remove yourself from every situation concerning him. gently caress that job. They work out of a garage. poo poo sounds wicked shady. Just learn to tailor your resume/answers/cover letter/interviews so it'll seem like you wanna do whatever they offer, for the foreseeable future. What was the job title, if you don't Mind asking? What did they do/expect you to do?
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Mar 5, 2013 02:06
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OP, have you thought about why you were rejected from the interview you recently went on?cname posted:What was the job title, if you don't Let's figure out how we can make you better at bullshitting/embellishing/tailoring responses during interviews. Your family issues are complete nonsense and have little impact on your life, right now. You're not an E/N case who needs to address family issues, immediately. That stuff can wait for when you have your life together. Nobody is being abused, nobody is addicted to harmful substances, etc. It's just routine squabbling, which is insanely common for families. Get your priorities straight. cname fucked around with this message at 17:54 on Mar 5, 2013 |
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Mar 5, 2013 17:50
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Benny the Snake posted:The second idea is how I hosed up. Christine asked me what's my biggest flaw. If I didn't say anything, I'd look like a dick. So I said the first thing that was on my mind: "I get flustered. You know, family issues." There we go! Progress! Never get personal. You should have said, "My lack of ability to successfully answer loaded questions." Seriously though... -"I need to have everything organized, in order to successfully operate. I don't operate well under disorganized chaos." -"I don't like having to remember things off the top of my head, so I need to take frequent notes, in order to be organized/successful." -"I require a steady method of communication. My last group of co-workers were terrible at communicating with one another and it effected my performance in a negative fashion." I'm still curious as to what type of skills were required/encouraged for the position you applied to.
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Mar 5, 2013 18:17
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reflex posted:Maybe your problem isn't that you have an English degree, but that you refuse to apply anything that degree probably taught you. I have no idea what you get out of an English degree, but you can bet your rear end I'd be telling an interviewer the following. -Specific types of language tailored to specific clients. IE: A tech-savvy client vs non-tech savvy client. I'm able to deduct said client's level of knowledge and tailor my choice of language, accordingly. -The use of special character types, to identify important information. An instance being the fact that a client's eyes will be more likely to quickly scan bolded words, before reading the actual body text. -Best practices for conveying directions. OP, can you list some of your own? Bullshit if you have to.
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Mar 5, 2013 18:28
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Underwater Shoe posted:don't expect to be writing reams and reams and be paid for what you produce rather than what's used. So to confirm the double negative. You're saying "Don't expect to be paid for what's used." correct? OP, you should look into the details of this, ASAP, before you even take the test. Show them that you've got a pair and wanna know what's up before you even bother doing any work for them. Theoretically, even providing them with a writing sample is work. Don't write up a word till you know exactly what the deal is. Example: Political campaigns pre-write coppywritten material, before said material is even needed. Remember when the supreme court ruled on Obamacare? The writers from each campaign had to come up with fully-written material for each outcome. -Passes -Gets Repealed -Deferred decision Obviously, only one gets used. I'm sure this situation happens all the time in other fields. Relate to the partial phrase "Make sure before moving forward" as much as possible. It impresses interviewers/HR people by telling them you like being organized/orderly and making sure all ducks are in a row. You wanna know what the subjects are like, what the product is (if there's a product involved), etc. I have no idea. You're the one applying. Ask tons of questions and re-assure them that you're asking because you wanna be sure it's what you could latch on to. When you act as though you're judging them, just as much as they're judging you. It says that you're not just looking for any old job. You wanna find what's right. (Even if you're just looking for any old job.) cname fucked around with this message at 16:25 on Mar 6, 2013 |
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Mar 6, 2013 16:19
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clammy posted:Jesus christ please never give professional writing advice to anyone ever again. And BTW that wasn't a "double negative" you quoted, either. I gave him interview/job getting advice, not professional writing advice. He absolutely should act as though he's trying to determine whether or not the company/job would make a good fit for him, just like they're trying to determine whether or not he would make a good fit for the company. Nobody wants someone who is balls to the wall, desperate for work. That's fine though. We can't share a dialogue since you didn't touch on any of my points. You just corrected a single one of my mistakes and told me to gently caress off, without reason or contribution of any kind. toby posted:Who cares. It is a job. He can do it while he looks for other jobs. It can go on a resume. If it is bullshit, he can say "thanks for the opportunity, I've enjoyed working with you, it's time for me to move on." Yea, obviously, but that's not to say he shouldn't try to act as though he's carefully considering his non-existing options. cname fucked around with this message at 18:38 on Mar 6, 2013 |
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Mar 6, 2013 18:34
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OP, please don't go knocking on doors, unless you plan on wearing a cowboy hat, bolo tie and kahki blazer, pretending to be "old school southern." Really though, your best bet is to go door to door selling gasoline, out of a Range Rover. ClemenSalad posted:Hes done in 2 weeks what I did in 2 days when I was looking. He has a wildly different view of trying, he has nothing else to do with his time. Its better than nothing though I guess but I'm not gonna congratulate it. On paper/internet forum context only, I'd agree with you. The only reason why I'm not on your side is because these threads are always disorganized, conversation/chat type threads. If the OP really wanted to get more out of it, he would give us a more comprehensive list of what he's doing. I know this post pertains to the whole idea of "no matter what path the OP takes, goons will insult him." Honestly though, when I was looking for work, I submitted organized reports to my career counselor. March 22 -Submitted application to https://www.website.com sent cover letter to hr@website.com Follow up scheduled for March 27th. -Dropped off application at Wendy's no face to face conversation with hiring manager. Manager's will be in on March 24th 8am-4pm -Followed up with https://www.fuckshit.com in regards to cover letter/resume sent in on March 18th OP, I hope you're keeping records of what you're up to. Obviously I'm not demanding you tell us everything but I hope you're not relying on your memory for stuff like this. Having your job search procedures down on paper brings things into far better perspective. You can more properly assess the way you handle scheduling, followups, walk ins, etc. Also, use your phone's calendar/task list/notepad. cname fucked around with this message at 16:40 on Mar 22, 2013 |
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Mar 22, 2013 16:34
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Benny the Snake posted:I'll branch out within the next few weeks but right now I want to spend this week focusing on what's convenient. Branch out now. You've had the past 2 months to focus on what's convenient.
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Mar 25, 2013 17:48
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Hitting the owner's wife in the head with a tray sounds like one of those things that should be laughed off. Unless you really got her good, I can't imagine consequences going farther than routine ribbings from your co-workers. How did it happen, anyway? Victim blaming can be acceptable in the restaurant industry. (Not that you should even consider blaming her.) If she is the restaurant owner's wife and has lots of experience in the restaurant, she should know better. (Depending on how it actually happened: Need more detail) Restaurant employees are well aware that you need to always keep your head up, and expect the unexpected. There were many times where I was bumped into/hit with stuff, because I failed to shout "Behind you!" or "On your left!" Tell them you wanna bus tables, ASAP. Say you wanna learn the restaurant industry the proper way, by starting off as a bus boy. It's not so bad, trust me. If I ever had to go back to the food industry, I'd only apply for busing positions. I've been a busser, server and host. Host probably retains the most dignity, however it's also the most boring/lowest paying position. Wait staff get paid depending on how busy their shift is, however they're basically the customer's bitch. Bus boys get paid hourly on top of a tip percentage. If you're the only bus boy on, during a busy night and work quickly/efficiently, you'll make far more than the wait staff (even without factoring in hourly wage.) The hardest part is learning to navigate around quickly/safely, while staying out of the way. Your job is literally to pick up anything dirty and get it out of sight as quickly and sneakily as possible. Once you get past the initial disappointment of how loving disgusting the general public is, it becomes "Everyone is a goddamn cave-slob. Everyone will leave the worst mess possible. Any table which doesn't look like a city dump, by the end of the meal, is simply a bonus." cname fucked around with this message at 17:13 on Apr 16, 2013 |
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Apr 16, 2013 17:01
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Your fine, man. Sounds like she hosed up. She should have stepped back when you went to lift the bin. poo poo like that is supposed to be muscle memory for those with years (hell, months!) of kitchen experience. That being said, learn to be graceful in the kitchen. You need to think about navigating a kitchen the way a member of a SWAT team thinks about navigating rooms, corners, walls, etc. cname fucked around with this message at 17:45 on Apr 16, 2013 |
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Apr 16, 2013 17:42
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Never, have I ever thought "job loss" would be part of anyone's job search. This is a modern-day excommunication, in the making. The OP is gonna have to find somewhere else to live once he's been fired from every establishment in town.
cname fucked around with this message at 16:03 on Apr 17, 2013 |
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Apr 17, 2013 16:00
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Benny the Snake posted:Well I'm here on campus for the Spring Quarter Career Fair. Here's the shortlist I'm printing out twenty copies of my resume and plan on passing out each and every one. I learned my mistake from the last career fair in that I have to check my biases at the door and give resumes to anything that I might have a chance at. As per kimbo305's request, I'll put post the hours of the day later on tonight. In hindsight, I really should've posted my resume here. I've had five or six different people look at it, including the career center, my academic adviser, and a few goons. I'm confident it looks good. Now we know who to blame! Seriously though, who told you to print out 20 copies of your resume and hand them out like business cards?! Was this something you came up with on your own? Nobody is gonna hire you, if they see you walking around, "Resume for you! And a resume for you! And Oh, Hi! Pleased to meet ya! Here's my resume! Yes, yes, nice day outside, huh? Have a resume!" Collect business cards and send them a tailored version of your resume. You wanna be tailoring your resume accordingly to the job description. MassaShowtime posted:Benny, you should move in with that dude captain walker. Then put that poo poo on youtube. thanks. Walker has a job he's been able to down for more than 2 days. Benny would just drag him down. 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's indicative of the thread. The OP assumes some sort of "baseline" level of effort and sticks to it, no matter what. No matter how many times someone insults his grammar, he still refuses to right click on the red, underlined text and select the proper version. No matter how many times he gets rejected, jobs don't work out, etc. He still refuses to put in a full day. See: Those who have posted about how what he plans on doing should only take a couple hours and he shouldn't chalk a few small tasks up to a full time day of work. There's no bootstraps for bootstraps. cname fucked around with this message at 19:30 on Apr 23, 2013 |
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Apr 23, 2013 19:03
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Arsenic Lupin posted:I agree that an email resume *with a customized cover letter for the employer* is the way to go. Paper resumes are much more of a nuisance for the employer to deal with. Agreed. People who are trying to find a job in a specific field can get away with doling out resumes left and right, provided they're at a job fair/meetup/convention, which is largely focused on said area of expertise. Benny is looking for a job. Any job. Chances are, no two openings are alike, have the same general requirements, etc. It would be silly to submit an "English Degree/Looking to become a writer" based resume to the home & garden section of the Home Depot. (You can bet your rear end that Benny is doing this, regardless and will continue to, despite this advice.) Benny, can we see a cover letter? If you don't have one, type one up, right now and submit it. Shouldn't be hard for an English degree haver/literature wizard. cname fucked around with this message at 19:22 on Apr 23, 2013 |
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Apr 23, 2013 19:18
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PurePerfection posted:Generally speaking, yes, but at my university, it was specifically requested that students bring paper resumes to hand out at the school's job fairs, and that's what the employers expected. It isn't great to walk in empty handed and just collect business cards if all of the other attendees brought resumes or letters or portfolios or whatever with them. Benny, this is the best advice your gonna get, in this thread. Career fairs are no longer, "I'll go to the job fair, meet some people, learn about a few positions that are open, hear about some companies, go home, sleep on it, decide which ones I could see myself in and apply to those, with the same resume and cover letter!" It's tough poo poo in the job market. People are going to job fairs to gently caress poo poo up and be sure that twerps like you are swatted away like fruit flies. People are going in, having already researched the entirety of certain companies hosting informational booths. They've already tailored resumes and perhaps already contacted someone within the company, so they can name-drop. It's almost like your outside, pounding on the door, shouting and screaming for someone to let you in, while others are taking the effort to find a way they can weasel inside, making as little noise as possible. I just hired a candidate for the company I work for. I chose him, because he pretty much took it upon himself to start working for us, regardless of how the interview went. He tested our product, hosed around with it and came to the interview with a list of questions, things he would suggest to improve the product and solutions to a few discrepancies, within the interface. It's almost like he could have barged into a meeting and provided us with decent contributions. cname fucked around with this message at 19:42 on Apr 23, 2013 |
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Apr 23, 2013 19:38
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Benny, Look up 1 post at PurePerfection's post. The contrast is seriously depressing. You're the equivalent of a window shopper (vs someone looking to place a bulk order) at a career fair. Seriously man, I'm not trying to grind you to dust over the internet, or poo poo all over you. You've posted (maybe) 1 proactive/forward thinking decision, in this thread, so far. Something about researching spring fashion, prior to your interview at Hollister. THATS IT! Aside from that, you have done nothing proactive or anything considered even remotely "above the norm." Even if you don't know how, you haven't even bothered to ask "What more could I be doing?" or "How could I better prepare for this?" Not that you even need to ask. Various posters (including myself) have been telling you this, yet you've been totally ignoring all advice relevant to sticking your head up above the massive crowd. cname fucked around with this message at 21:26 on Apr 23, 2013 |
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Apr 23, 2013 21:20
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Shark Attack! posted:Benny's looking for a lovely retail job, not a job with "investment banks, consultancies, and extremely popular tech companies," cut him some slack. If he was the kind of person who put that much passion and effort into his life this thread never would have been required, since he would have gone to a decent school and taken a marketable major. I'm not making GBS threads on him over the fact that he isn't doing what potential, investment bankers are doing in order to secure a job. I'm going crazy, because... Ok, think about it like this... You ever been to a concert when the lead singer asks one lucky fan to get up on stage, or something like that? Everyone goes completely rip-poo poo. People are jumping around, screaming, chanting, waving their hands, doing everything it takes to get noticed. People in the back push their way to the front so they can be noticed with the others who are already in front. Benny is basically standing in the middle of the crowd, hands in pockets, muttering "mmmm pick me... pick me, I guess." I'd be totally proud of him if he did the job-search equivalent of "wave your right hand around, for 3 seconds while jumping up and down, twice." cname fucked around with this message at 21:41 on Apr 23, 2013 |
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Apr 23, 2013 21:33
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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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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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Benny, you have crippling ADD and need therapy. You should probably be medicated, but in all honesty, it sounds as though you have zero coping mechanisms. Your attention to detail is piss poor, your organizational skills are slim to none and there are serious barriers which prohibit you from accomplishing tasks, properly. Sometimes people simply gently caress up and get fired. That's fine and all but in your case, I'd be willing to bet that ADD is playing a part in your ability to both interpret and follow directions. I'd be willing to bet that I could gather up all the symptoms of ADD and quote your posts, right next to said symptoms. Until you get the help you need, you won't be able to properly function as an employee, anywhere! I say this, because it takes one to know one. I burned through multiple jobs and went on academic probation, prior to seeking therapy. My situation wasn't as bad as yours. I only got "fired" from two jobs, but the others sorta phazed me out, in a passive-aggressive, awkward way. Still pretty bad, but the only reason my situation wasn't as bad as yours was because I had better bullshitting skills and actually knew how to land jobs. It wasn't until I was an employee that they realized I couldn't follow verbal directions, for poo poo. Therapy made me realize that I have a choice between one extreme or another. Either disorganized chaos, or insanely organized, write everything down, use my iPhone calender religiously, set alarm clocks, reminders, etc. Keys, wallet, phone, must go on the night-stand and be grouped together in a neat little pile. You probably require far more structure and routine. I'm sure your horrible at structuring your own time and following through with that structure. Get therapy, establish some coping mechenisms/get medicated I can't do ADD meds either, but that's not because of my own stubborn attitude. It's because I've tried 12 different prescriptions, since I was 13 years old and the side-effects hosed me over, completely. Without my coping mechanisms, I'd be a useless fool, much like yourself and what I used to be. Does my boss treat me like a baby and assign me tasks with due dates, like I'm a loving high school student? Yes. Does it suck? It's sorta lovely, but it enables me to get things done on time, with quality work. The reward of a job well done, in the end, far outweighs the humility of having to have told my boss, "I need micromanagement." And trust me, the humility of that is nothing in comparison to the humility of missing massive amounts of information and having everyone laugh at you, over a huge fuckup. (See: the following quote) Benny the Snake posted:I've got a big question: is it a faux paus to reverse engineer a cover letter? I've written one for a company that was featured at a fair, and I figured I could just switch around a few names and change a few things for a different company. Is this a good idea or no? Nobody is harping "therapy" yet, because ADD can make you look and feel, more like an inept fool vs someone who has a legitimate learning disability. Trust me man, beating yourself up and telling yourself "I gotta stop loving up." isn't gonna fix anything. No matter how much you try to will-power yourself from loving up, poo poo will just happen randomly. You can even find a therapist who will help you plan out your application process. Maybe even someone who can help you find a job, then give you some tools to make you a good employee who can follow through, without loving up. Here's an example of how I've managed to deal with ADD. I was honest with my boss and told him that due dates are helpful. They'll keep me on task and I won't have to worry about prioritizing. My Boss posted:Salesforce Cleanup As you can clearly see, it's poo poo work. Most of it is data-slave, brainless bullshit. Sure, some of it might be beneath me, but that doesn't matter. If my boss says it needs to get done, it needs to get done and must be important. When I get it done, I'll feel good about it, because I'll know 100% that it's something I was supposed to be working on, as opposed to that feeling of "Is this really what I should be doing? Is this really important? Are my co-workers gonna think I'm wasting everyone's time if I work on this stuff?" It's very liberating to know your place. cname fucked around with this message at 15:18 on Apr 25, 2013 |
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Apr 25, 2013 14:48
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Shark Attack! posted:You know, it's very easy to raise the ADD flag and blame everything on that. Based on what I've read from Benny (and I've been following this thread from the beginning) he's lazy, naive, has overwhelming feelings of entitlement, and generally has a negative attitude. ADD be damned. He could change his situation by simply deciding and committing to change. We all see it. Eventually, you just stop giving a poo poo and shut down. I can't even begin to convey how numb I am to, "He needs to practice his focusing ability." "He tends to be inattentive, at times." "He needs to follow directions clearly and coherently." Oh loving cool! Hey, depressed guy! You need to cheer up!
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Apr 25, 2013 15:16
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PurePerfection posted:As to structure, I think it might help Benny now if he starts making a daily schedule for his job hunting activities (in advance, not retroactively tracking what he did during the day) and sticking to it. He could implement daily quotas: submit X online applications. Write Y cover letters. Make z phone calls to potential employers. He should track his work in a spreadsheet and post it for us. Goons will be happy to beat him over the head if he's missing his goals. Hahaha, we've asked him to do this about 5 or 6 times, now. He's sorta done it, but not really. I'd certainly like to see him do a better job of this. I'd be willing to wager a platinum upgrade that a therapist would say the same exact thing. PurePerfection posted:And Benny, just so that there is no misunderstanding - I think it's fine to ask your supervisor for specific deadlines and "micromanagement" once you're on the job, but this isn't something you should blurt out when you first meet someone or when you're interviewing. "What's a ballpark percentage of micromanagement, within the organization? Is there an order of task delegation, within the company, or is it more of a "find something to do and do it," style of task completion?" would be an appropriate phrasing. Unfortunately, now a days, companies are looking for "self-starters" or people who don't need any micromanagement, because nobody can afford the bullshit, middle-management positions that once existed within larger organizations. cname fucked around with this message at 15:28 on Apr 25, 2013 |
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Apr 25, 2013 15:22
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Your entire schedule is hosed together. Unfuck it, man. This is why you need therapy...Benny the Snake posted:9:20 AM: Went around town to check up on places I applied and to apply at other places. I dropped in at an auto parts store, the other Mexican restaurant that needs a dishwasher, the hospital, and a pizza place. I introduced myself to the manager at the auto parts place and he said he'd be making calls soon. The restaurant manager told me if they have something, they'd call me. I looked out front and the "now hiring" banner was taken down, so I don't feel too good about my prospects there. I talked to human resources in the hospital: the food service position had been filled and they forgot to update the job site. I thankfully have the card to human resources: I'll check back on the site today and call HR to confirm the position is still open. The pizza place still has a "help wanted" sign and the manager told me "We always have the sign and we'll review applications when we have something open." I applied for the only position that was open: sign waver. There's still no waver out there. Oh and there's a new fast food joint opening here. I actually talked to the manager who said to wait until the place is opened to apply. In the meanwhile, I checked in to three different shopping centers, stepping in on the places I haven't applied to and asking if there's any positions open. 9:20am: Auto parts store | Cashieer | Introduced self to manager. 9:45am: Mexican restaurant 1 | Dishwashing Position | Management promised to call - probably not happening 10:00am: Mexican restaurant 2 | Dishwashing Position | 10:20am: Hospital | Janitor | 10:45am: Pizza Place | Sign Waver | Ur giving these clusterfuck stories that nobody gives a poo poo about. We don't care about what your spending money on. Just because someone made fun of you, like "Where are you getting the money to spend?" doesn't mean we actually give a poo poo. We're trying to help you get your act together, not curb a spending problem. You have no executive functioning ability at all. This is another symptom. This can be helped with coping mechanisms. Get therapy.
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Apr 25, 2013 18:45
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natetimm posted:So you hung out at starbucks for ~6 hours and sent some emails. Great job, dude. He accomplished more in a day than what your average hipster accomplishes in an entire week.
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Apr 25, 2013 19:51
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Never really pegged Mickey Deez for a place that actually gives a gently caress. I'd bet you could lie and say you totally gave your two weeks notice. I absolutely loathe MacDonalds. The one near my house is a squalid wasteland that attracts filth. There's constantly a garbage-juice trail leading from the door, across the sidewalk to an overflowing trash can with bags stacked sky high in and around the cans, occupying most of the sidewalk. All that poo poo attracts seagulls, rats and other critters I'd rather not see at 7am on my way to work. Every loving day, I have to walk past the eye-sore that is MacDonalds and all the loving filth it generates. (People included) Every loving day I get a nice whiff of rotting meat, putrid grease and lovely, fatty food. Do they care? gently caress no! Trash is half their business! The rancid smell causes you to gag, which turns your head to the big, glowing arches. Every time I see a gross pile of litter, (no matter where I am) I can spot a MacDonalds logo or two. You can honest to god, directly associate litter with MacDonalds and the lovely, miserable, slobs who decide to gently caress up the environment. I can see it right now. "I've got it! LITERVERTISING! Quickly, Chad! Send word to the marketing department!" I hope someone burns that place to the ground. gently caress MacDonalds. cname fucked around with this message at 21:54 on Apr 25, 2013 |
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Apr 25, 2013 21:42
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/\ Happy Friday! Same here. I've got maybe 4 hours of database organization and that's it, for the day. Bassnectar show, tonight, so yea, not gettin poo poo done! TGIF, YOLO, etc. Just post your cover letter here, with no personal info. It's Friday, we're all bored, you might as well get lots of feedback. You already posted the college you graduated from, so we've got enough information to creep, if we really wanted. Internet detective work is taboo/against the rules, at this point, so you might as well throw it out there. (Also, nobody gives a poo poo, unless your a pedophile or someone who needs to be reported to the police. That actually happened once, if I recall.) Benny the Snake posted:Target needs a parking lot attendant. I worked parking lot at a local grocery store and it was the best part-time job I've had so far. Oh my loving god! Too true, my friend! This was the best job I've ever had. It literally consisted of getting stoned and hauling shopping carts, while listening to music. It was practically therapeutic. I miss being a professional Bubbles from TPB. Unfortunately, they now tend to hire individuals with special needs. You know, the type of people who work harder and don't smoke as much dope. cname fucked around with this message at 15:03 on Apr 26, 2013 |
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Apr 26, 2013 14:56
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Pepperoni pizza maker for hire. Recent college grad, excelent English writing skills, prior fast food experience, good work, work hard, campaign 2012 expert, will make pepperoni pizzas for money. -Call Benny the Snake. cname fucked around with this message at 16:35 on Apr 26, 2013 |
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Apr 26, 2013 16:27
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Chexmix posted:The breathing meditation suggestion just upthread ain't a bad one, either. Benny, DO NOT assume that you can supplement therapy, proper medication and the practice of coping mechanisms, with breathing meditation. Go get therapy or this will all be for nothing. This is not "mission accomplished! well done! hit the showers! You've gotten past 1 out of 30 some-odd barriers. Also, get a skateboard. Seriously man, you sound like the slowest, most uncoordinated person, ever. Skateboarding will improve your coordination, reaction time, balance and quick-thinking skills when you need to avoid cars/plan lines. (I apologize that 90% post is bold. You know how he is.) cname fucked around with this message at 20:26 on May 1, 2013 |
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May 1, 2013 20:03
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Or the wind. Sometimes, a decent sized back-draft off the starboard port, heading hard-broad can cause the carts to pitch-bowl, thus knocking them into a parked car. OP, just stay upwind, close hauled. If you have to head down, just keep it at a beam-reach and don't attempt anything crazy like wing on wing, before you eventually learn to pop the boom on a jibe.
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May 1, 2013 22:19
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Shark Attack! posted:Don't listen to the people telling you to slack off and only put in the minimum effort. Those people are idiots. Seriously, they are complete, loving idiots. "Don't work too hard! They're only paying you X amount of money!" We get it. You don't agree with the low, min-wage standards, but that doesn't mean you need to give lovely advice. Plenty of people are willing to replace the guy pushing carts for min-wage.
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May 3, 2013 23:25
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