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Rookersh posted:Let's see how well this goes. https://www.dropbox.com/s/8plfbow1x1fy2im/goon%20version.doc - Remove "Professional". just call it Skills and Experience. If you can cut a word out, cut it out. - Your skills section contains no skills, just a vague summary of what you did. - As a hiring manager I would be extremely interested at what you did at an underperforming store (assuming that's the truth). Whether you're a barista or COO of a $20m/day manufacturing plant, underperforming businesses are some of the hardest places to run/work in and especially turn around. What specificly did you do to make it profitable? Hiring managers will drool over that. - Remove stuff like "highly proficient" and "integral part". There's no way I know that stuff is true. Sure it might be, but when I read resumes I just gloss over buzzwords like that. Replace it PROOF of how you're highly proficient and an integral part of the team (e.g. "only team member to be able to stripdown and rebuild Xyz coffee machine" - Your third McJob description provides nothing useful besides that you managed to keep a job. It's all vague resumespeak which is a big part of why people don't get interview calls. Yes, I'm sure you provided quality customer service in a fast paced environment, that's what McD's is like. What did you do differently from your coworkers that sets you apart? What degree did you get? What kind of job are you applying for?
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May 17, 2014 14:16
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joyfulgirl129 posted:- director kept referring to me as "First Name", which bugged me a little. I was conscientious to address her as "Ms. lastname". 1. 98% of the time, people go by their first names in business. If this bugs you, well, learn to deal with it. This includes everyone from entry level grunts to departmental directors to Fortune 500 C-class execs. I call our CEO by his first name. You probably came of really weird insisting on Ms whatever. 2. She shouldn't have asked it that way, yeah, but she just wants to know if you can travel out of state for work. There is nothing illegal about asking about your home life, marital status, race, religion, or whatever. The way to respond would be to warmly say there's nothing about your personal life that would stop you from traveling. Telling them "I don't answer questions about my personal life" just makes you come across as cold. They want to get to know you a little to see if they can work with you and there's nothing wrong with that. 3. Clueless interviewer yeah, not necessarily a red flag. If they want to make sure their expectations match yours, put the f-ing salary range in the job ad, DOE. Otherwise don't bitch. However I think you're limiting yourself a little by not talking about salary *at all* until the offer stage. You were obviously right not to tell them what you currently make but saying "I'm looking for a range of $-$ depending on benefits" will save you a lot of time. Do you really want to waste your time going through three rounds of interviews and getting an offer 30K less than what you were expecting? Proceed with caution, but I doubt you'll get a call-back from this lady.
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May 25, 2014 17:26
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Edmantium posted:Been out of work for a bit now, finally got a call back, but the message was left at 5:15 on Friday so anytime I've called there's been no response. He stayed 15 minutes late for whatever reason? You're overthinking this. Also "every place closes at 5" is a generally bad assumption. Maybe the hiring manager is pulling extra hours or maybe he works 11-7 or something. Really know way to know. Call him back, leave at most two messages, move on.
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Jun 1, 2014 23:33
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Pron on VHS posted:Is it bad to wear a suit with pinstripes to an interview? It's charcoal and the stripes are very conservative and thin, I just am dumb and my plain charcoal suit is in another city. Questions like this keep popping up and are unanswerable because it's completely dependent on what industry you're in and what type of job you're applying for. For me (manufacturing) I would expect someone to wear business formal to the interview, but could give a poo poo what color the suit, shirt, tie, etc. is., I just care that you can dress professionally. Law, Wall Street, etc., might see it differently.
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Jun 4, 2014 17:11
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Halloween Jack posted:There are two positions I'd like to apply for in the same department. Given that a cover letter is supposed to display how much you want this particular job, do I need to apply for one and forget the other? Is there a proper etiquette for applying to both so as not to hurt my chances? There's nothing wrong with applying for two jobs in the same department if you're a reasonably qualified candidate for each. I'd say if you can write a good cover letter for each position, there's nothing wrong in doing so. If your cover letter for either one is weak or mediocre (if you can't come up with something enticing), I wouldn't apply to it. We've done a fair amount of hiring in my department (quality) and in R&D, and have had job postings come up at the same time with people applying to both every once in a while. Lots of chemists have experience in both departments, we've never had to fight over anyone before but we obviously talk to each other. I would never blanketly throw away a good candidate for my dept. just because they applied to theirs with a crap cover letter, but it might make me think about their motivation a little more. Wanting a job doesn't mean you have to want just that one job. Reasonable hiring managers understand this. As long as you're not just bombarding a company with resumes there's nothing wrong with it. The test is whether or not your cover letter/resume/other application materials come up as compelling.
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Jun 6, 2014 18:27
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Pron on VHS posted:I want to send a thank you e-mail to the 2 managers who interviewed me on Friday. It is for a Product Manager position in a health consulting firm. During the interview I called them by their first names, but now that I am writing the e-mail, it feels weird starting it with "Dear Mary", it sounds too personal. They are both in their thirties and mid-level, is it too formal and stiff to say "Dear Ms. Linked"? How should I address them in the opening line? Is even the "Dear" too formal? First names are completely fine, especially if you were on a first-name basis with them on the interview. Honestly nobody is going to hold it against you if you call them Mr/Ms X in an e-mail, if you feel more comfortable with that go ahead, as long as your letter is professional and polite it won't make a difference either way. "Dear X" is standard for almost any business of industry and is just American writing style. Typically thank-you notes should go something like: "Dear John, Thank you for interviewing me for the position of <X>. I enjoyed talking with you about <specific thing you guys actually discussed in the interview>. I hope to hear from you soon. Sincerely, Applicant". I've interviewed a couple people who insisted on calling me Mr. Seacat. I usually just smiled and said "please, call me Bob" -- it just felt a little too awkwardly formal (although I never held it against them). The only exception is people who have a doctorate (MD or PhD), some people holding such degrees are pretty particular about being called Dr. X even in person, but they are in the minority. seacat fucked around with this message at 03:22 on Jun 9, 2014 |
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Jun 9, 2014 03:18
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TheModernAmerican posted:Just a small question, due to *~reasons~* my freshman GPA was a 1.7, which drags my total to a 3.2. Is there anyway to indicate that my later years were much higher? Grad schools care about your undergrad GPA. Employers don't. Fill the space with something else.
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Jul 3, 2014 17:39
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Pureauthor posted:So, here's a question. I applied before to be a teacher trainee under the government's institutes, but got turned down, in part because I think I completely flubbed the interview. I'm now trying to apply as a teacher/tutor at independent facilities, but whenever I get an interview they will ask 'Did you apply for a job at the Ministry of Education?' and I'm basically forced to admit that yes, I did, and yes, I got turned down, and no, they did not give a reason. I don't know what country you're in because Ministry of Education is not a US thing. The real question they're asking is "if we searched our internal files what would we find on you". Having said that I think you're way overthinking it. You weren't the only applicant and you were not "turned down", they went with someone who was better for the position. In this economy in any country incredibly qualified people don't get jobs all the time for various reasons: personal politics, the CEO's son needed that job, maybe your personality just wasn't a fit for office culture, someone else is even MORE qualified, etc. It's not a black mark to not get a job you interviewed for and it's completely silly to think so. Even if you had a crap interview (which everyone has had) it was a teacher trainee position presumably some time ago. I doubt anyone remembers or cares. It's not like the "have you been convicted of a felony box". Just check the yes box and forget about it.
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Jul 4, 2014 18:37
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Xandu posted:I think it's okay to put that on your resume, after all your combined cumulative GPA includes all of your coursework, I don't see why it'd make sense to include some of it. Most of those jobs will likely require an official transcript for verification at some point, though, so they'll see all your GPAs. Repeat: Employers don't give a poo poo about your undergrad GPA.
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Jul 5, 2014 02:14
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Shugojin posted:the only really translatable thing about that kind of work is "this guy can be relied on to show up". I mean you'd kind of expect to be a given Man, it depends on the industry but that's not as much a given as you probably think. I've had a surprising amount of college grads think it's totally OK to be 2 hours late, no call no show, etc. and had to have the talk with them. Some straightened up, most we had to fire. It's pretty much impossible to directly relate factory work or movie theater work or fast food or whatever into software development but just holding down a job for over a year (even part-time) holds a lot of weight in my book. Edit: one thing you guys could try is if you guys have any measurable accomplishments at your job you might list those. I know it sounds laughable but try to answer the question "did I do anything at my <menial> job that everyone else did not?" For factory worker guy -- I walk out to the production lines every day and it is completely menial manual labor but did you learn anything, learn any equipment, etc, that the other people didn't? Obviously if you're working the tube filler you're not gonna make it go any faster and increase output 100% but maybe you could mention what you did learn about it. No sane hiring manager is going to expect you to write some sort of three paragraph essay about how working the tube filler or whatever relates directly to software engineering. If you're light on content you could find a way to draw some parallels, for example we have a customer who has a zero defect policy that stresses mad attention to detail -- I've only done a tiny bit of coding years past but that's something you could at least bring up. One example is a recent Chem grad I hired who was waiting tables FT for about a year due to the crap job market. His resume jumped out at me because first he got a real job, menial as it was, rather than moving back in with his parents and whining, and second there was no bullshit corporate speak about "excellent independent and team worker!" or generic list of classes, just real accomplishments relative to his coworkers (increased sales, averaged +x% a night in tips, etc). May sound silly but people don't tip well for lovely service. He turned out to be a superstar hire and moved departments and now probably makes close to what I do 
seacat fucked around with this message at 17:55 on Jul 9, 2014 |
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Jul 9, 2014 17:41
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Halisnacks posted:First off, I'd like to say that I can tell DustingDuvet's service is really good. I recently got a quick mark-up by them as a sample, and used that resume to apply for a job for which I've now been contacted for an interview. 1 for 1! If this doesn't result in an offer I'm definitely going to pay for the full service before sending my resume out to other places. "Dear Recruiter, Pleasure to hear from you. My best availability is on Tuesday 7/15/14 and 7/17/14 at 11:30 AM. However due to my work schedule I won't be able to talk more than 30 minutes. Please let me know if that's a problem and we can arrange a better time. Sincerely, x" You're obsessing way too much about this. This is a phone screen to make sure you're not a drooling moron, not an in-person interview. They're typically 10-15 minutes. If they take longer they don't know how to do phone screens and so gently caress them.
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Jul 11, 2014 23:24
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"Dear Hiring Manager" is nothing any hiring manager would have any problems with. This question comes up all the time. I even get resumes addressed to "Dear Sir or Madam" which although hilariously outdated I've just skipped the introduction and gone right to the meat. Edit: if you do know who the hiring manager is you should direct it to Mr/Ms/Dr X. As a side note if you have to spend time looking for the hiring manager's name they probably don't want you to know it. Except for a tiny handful of extremely weird companies it really is that simple -- cold calling the company trying to figure out who's hiring for the position (yes, I've had this happen), will always lead more harm than good. It really isn't some sort of hide-the-ball puzzle you're expected to figure out, just a screening process. Unless maybe you're in high pressure sales or something.
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Jul 18, 2014 03:14
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Xeom posted:Wait you suppose to send thank you letters for phone interviews too!? Hell no. Most people born after the 70's don't even care about them for in-person interviews. yohoo posted:freaking out However, "I'm going to interview with this place regardless" may work against you depending on how close-knit your industry is. Also, sorry to sound jaded, but you have no idea what working for "company I REALLY want to work" is like unless you're pretty drat close to someone that's actually worked there, very preferably in the position you're interviewing fore. Everyone in every reach of the internet keeps posting "my dream job" and "this amazing company" and yes, there are dream jobs and amazing companies, but with 100% certainty there is no way to know that from the outside.
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Jul 19, 2014 11:31
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Aquatic Giraffe posted:I had professors in college say the best way to send your resume to a company was by physically mailing it to them. I can't think of a better way to get your resume deposited in the trash as soon as it arrives. Hahaha, the old "Overnight fedexing your resume to the VP of operations makes it seem more important!" poo poo that the boomer generation throws at us. Deposited the trash is a lucky outcome in that case. The unlucky outcome is the important recipient gets annoyed at having his day interrupted and blasts you publicly to all his executive friends and you get branded with a "do not hire". Ironically I actually saw of the senior VPs, a near-senile 70-year old hunchbacked dude, go on a 10 minute rant about how so-and-so will never work at this company. (f'ing hypocrite) poo poo's almost as bad as the "just walk in and ask for the job" advice your grandpa gives you. Hard for the older generation to come to grips with the fact that things don't work the way they used to. E-mail and online app systems (crap as the latter may be) are used for everything. In the science corner of the manufacturing field, recruiting agencies are used heavily -- it's where I started my career as a temp lab tech. Do not physically show up to apply unless it's in retail, restaurants, fast food, maybe hospitality. Absolutely dress formally and conduct yourself professionally - that hasn't changed. Do not throw away a single penny on resume paper, printed thank-you cards, or any other gimmicky poo poo. Mak0rz posted:letters and cards Spoilers Below posted:applying for a job at a college, people more old school about etiquette seacat fucked around with this message at 22:21 on Jul 19, 2014 |
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Jul 19, 2014 22:14
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Xenoborg posted:Is it appropriate to put a few sentences explaining a gap in work on your resume, or leave that for your cover letter? It would be awkward to see it in a resume, yes. I've never seen anyone do it. Generally the idea is for your resume to market you, not to point out any shortcomings. I find many people are more worried about work gaps than they should be. Obviously employers are gonna be wondering about them. A year and a half is a fairly long gap, sure, but why not just say you were in USAF training at that time (you were?). You'll always be asked work gaps by any sane hiring manager. Any sane hiring manager will also not discredit you for valid responses - taking care of children or parents, enrolling in a FT educational program even if you didn't finish, personal medical problems including mental health problems, and (most common reason I've seen) laid off in the Great Recession (yes, it's over, and there's still people looking). If your work gap is because you were serving time for child molestation or something that's different. In many cases I wouldn't advise to point out work gaps in a cover letter since that's designed to market you as well. But I might suggest dropping a line in there that you attended USAF and were unable to complete it for legitimate medical reasons and are now looking for civilian opportunities -- presuming of course you have attendance and discharge paperwork to prove it. I know this country has a long history of treating its returning veterans like crap but there are a TON of companies (my own included) which look upon military service very favorably (our CEO, COO, CFO, and inventory manager are all Air Force vets). Still totally up to you but it's very very unlikely that anyone will count it against you.
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Jul 21, 2014 17:22
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Xeom posted:Whats the general goon consensus about getting a job in retail with a BS. Should I simply not include my BS and just put my AA? I am worried that people won't give me a job because they might feel that I am over qualified(my BS is in Eng). I am sure at least one goon has to have experience with this. Leave your BS off and get one of your friends to say you worked for them PT in a different area of retail than you're applying for as a reference. So if you're applying to stock shelves, say you were a cashier. If you want to be a cashier, say you were a sales associate. Then make up some poo poo why you were PT for four years (taking care of ill parents, going to community college, whatever). There is like a 1% chance they'll check anyway and surely you put in apps to every retail place in the area right? Your college degree will not help you get poo poo retail jobs in anyway. You'll have to blatantly lie. Its not fair or honest, but neither is the world.
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Jul 26, 2014 20:28
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timp posted:Since they said you could ask questions, I'd just be like "Hey, normally I like to dress up for meetings with potential employers but I don't want to be overdressed. What is the typical dress for this event?" Yeah, agreed, just e-mail them and ask if business casual is appropriate for the event. I've asked the very same question for weird events like that before. I've gotten the same question for real 1-on-1 interviews and haven't been put off by it (typically I hire people out of college or 1-2 years out though). I don't know anything about the rail industry but have absolutely no idea why it wouldn't be anything but fine. Not sure of your gender since khakis/polo shirt can be appropriate for men or women. Just make sure to wear the right shoes (i.e. not sneakers or flip-flops) and don't forget to wear a belt and tuck your shirt in (seen both mistakes made). Can't say I'm not put off by them asking you to attend a mandatory information session that's 90 minutes long though. What a waste of time -- why don't they just post the relevant info on their website? If you didn't mention it was a real company my first impression is that it's one of those MLM scam group interviews.
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Jul 29, 2014 01:03
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Pron on VHS posted:There doesn't seem to be a general job search thread so I am posting this here, I can move it to a better thread if someone wants: Do not lie. It will show up on a background check. In the off chance you somehow get through (some shady companies claim to do them for every position but only do them for some to save cash) it is very possible you'll get checked again when you get promoted to a significant responsibility or transferred and that is instant termination. To put you at ease, many (I'd even say most) misdemeanors that old aren't even a blip on the radar. My stupid rear end has two separate public intox charges from college on my record. I was always honest about them I have never even been asked about them at any interview, and I know they all ran background checks. At my company there have been two people with felony DUIs and felony drug distribution charges that had reformed themselves and were excellent professionals. Unfortunately the violent nature means you will have to explain but it's not a dealbreaker in either government or private firms. Typically when you get to the box asking you if you were convicted of any crimes there's an explanation section. If you say you were in a bar altercation at 21 that turned violent and were defending yourself, and since then have successfully completed probation and kept a clean record, most people would understand; we were all that age once. If you're 53 and got domestic violence for beating up your wife that's entirely different. Wouldn't even say a security clearance would be out of the question, but I'm not an expert about that. The immediate disqualifiers are sexual crimes, violent felonies (think murder, kidnapping), and especially theft of ANY kind. seacat fucked around with this message at 22:20 on Jul 31, 2014 |
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Jul 31, 2014 22:16
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Halisnacks posted:interview with 5 managers needing to sign off on a hire I doubt they're dicking you around, and you probably are overthinking it. Places like that drag out hiring (which is already time consuming enough) for like freaking months. Keep applying to other jobs.
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Aug 2, 2014 17:04
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Chaotic Flame posted:stuff My thoughts on this as a hiring manager is that you're reading way too much into stuff you can't possibly know from the outside. All you can do is read what they said which is they are still strongly considering you for teapot dude. Maybe they are lying and already gave the teapot job to someone else. Or maybe they're 100% honest and were so impressed that they want to give you the opportunity to take a choice between positions. Or maybe Basket Weaver sucks rear end and has a 3 month turnover rate and they toss that job at anyone who applies to any other position at the company. Who knows. You said basketweaver pays more and you'd be happy doing it (at least pre-interview). Even if it's outside your comfort zone I'd recommend you go interview. It's unlikely to hurt your chances with the teapot position. Hiring managers KNOW you're interviewing with other places. Obviously the caveat here is that they're two positions within the same company making it much easier for them to share info but this shouldn't be a problem because even in larger industries people share info all the time. Something like this might happen: Basketweaver boss bumps into Teapot boss at water cooler. Teapot boss: Hey how are ya, have you filled that basketweaver position yet? Basketweaver boss: Actually got a pretty promising candidate. Teapot boss: Good for you, anyone I might know? Basketweaver boss: This guy Chaotic, HR sent him to me to check him out, he seems like he'd be a really good fit with <people in my dept> and interviewed great Teapot boss: Oh I've met him, I interviewed him too for <Teapot position> and thought the same thing, am actually about to make him an offer. Good to know my thinking isn't too far off. Obviously one of 1000 possible scenarios. However only apply for basketweaver if you're fairly well interested and think you'd be able to interview well. Dont let the years of experience thing throw you -- those are inflated on job apps all the time. These people have met you for an in-person interview, it's not like they found your resume on Monster. Honestly, I'd take this as a good sign, although there's still no way for you or me to know from what they've said. It means they liked you not only enough to not disappear into the void on you but to even want to discuss a different position for you for whatever reason.
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Aug 3, 2014 18:27
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Fil5000 posted:Thanks to redundancy I'm hurling CVs out into the ether at a fair clip. I'm now finding myself in a position where I have an interview next week for one job, one that really likes my CV that's put the recruitment for the role on hold for a couple of weeks, and a couple of other things that are looking promising too. The one I have the interview for is the one that I like the look of least out of all of them, but it's the one that I'm furthest down the process on. I'm going to assume by "get" you mean officially accept an offer. If you take an offer and a few weeks later take an other offer you are going to do much more than burn a bridge. You'll seriously damage your reputation in whatever industry you're in and come across flaky and unreliable. By "redudancy" though I'm assuming you're in magical socialist UK land so my advice may not apply.
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Aug 10, 2014 23:25
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Paul MaudDib posted:stuff  But before getting into the other stuff you said "non-student job" which implies you've been employed for money. That should go generally go first even if doesn't have much to do with your degree, unless it was shorter than 6 months.I'm concerned that you're just graduating college and are pushing 2 pages. That shouldn't be the case. You're risking someone chunking your resume due to information overload. Employers aren't nearly as interested in your academic achievements as you think they are. Not trying to be a dick or saying you shouldn't be proud (especially in a bone crushingly hard major like CS, I barely squeaked by one semester in EE before switch to science), it's just the truth. Set it up as: Header Education Experience Publications and Awards <-- for new grads only Skills <-- ONLY if you can actually back it up. I imagine in your case this would be stuff like programming languages. You should not list any school project under experience. It's only experience if you got paid for it. Sorry my advice is pretty brief but I don't know much about hiring CS grads, maybe someone more familiar with the field can comment more. seacat fucked around with this message at 00:16 on Aug 12, 2014 |
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Aug 12, 2014 00:09
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Paul MaudDib posted:Yeah, that was the first thing I said. I've held various paid "student" type jobs doing grading, research work, TA'ing, and programming-by-the-hour, but this will be my first private-sector job in my field. Sorry I re-read the post and realized my mistake -- I edited some stuff.
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Aug 12, 2014 00:17
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FrozenVent posted:Jobs in your field go first, non-student jobs in unrelated fields (E.g. retail) eh... Use them as padding if you have to. If you're in the US, try to keep it to one page, that's the standard from what I understand. You know, you'd be surprised at what stuff can be related with some jobs. My current coworker did a LOT of hiring for an environmental contract lab over the course of 10-15 years. He said some of the most outstanding employees he had (and therefore after a couple years, the type of resume he looked for) were people who worked in restaurants on the side in school because they were familiar with stressful fast-paced work environments, generally had a good work ethic, and had customer service skills which were absolutely requirements of the job. Obviously the science degree was a non negotiable requirement since even the hardest working waiter at Chili's will never be able to jump in and do complicated chemical analysis but... employers do look at your non-major jobs and that can set you aside even more than the complicated technical stuff.
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Aug 12, 2014 00:27
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Mr. Wynand posted:My own impression is that hiring, even in tech (perhaps even especially in tech) does, sadly, end up coming down to personal impressions and "gut feelings" and whatever wishy-washy rapport you manage to establish with your interviewer. Those are always going to take precedence over some theoretical optimal classification strategy based on available evidence. It's just "would I enjoy working with this person?" - and I mean, ask yourself, would you want to work with the average Chilly's employee? What's your immediate gut-feeling when you consider the possibility? Not trying to start an argument here but... 1. (My field is a lab/manufacturing, not tech environment but applicable) I noted in my example above a hard science degree was a non-waivable requirement. Holding down a job while getting a real degree is not your average fast food/retail/whatever employee. quote:not get fired form Wendy's for a whole 2 months in summer break 3. You're talking about intangibles with your interviewer and you're absolutely right. But we're talking about resumes here. The objective of a resume is to get you an interview. No sane hiring manager is looking for accomplishments on your resume at a college side job. Everyone knows service jobs like waiting tables and selling shoes are just not conducive to metrics like that. What we're looking for in a fresh college grad is a track record of reliability and tolerance to start with the gruntwork and stick with it and not complain about it. That will get you your first real job. After that it's your accomplishments and connections.
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Aug 12, 2014 02:41
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Liam Emsa posted:I received a "pre-employment verification and background check form" for a job I am very interested in. The form requires me to list my last 5 positions and the Reason for Leaving. Second, IANAL but despite whatever's going around as far as I know it is not against the law anywhere in the US to discuss performance or dismissal issues with a reference checker. Whether or not your previous employers feel it's any legal risk -- well, it's completely up to them. To be fair you have to be a really bad employee (or have had a really vindictive manager) to get an actively bad reference even if you were fired. It's actually not an uncommon practice to "negotiate" reference terms with your last bosses. Hoping to put you at ease, but I don't completely understand your post, are you talking about one job in (B) or two? I have absolutely no idea why anyone in their right mind would drop you for shifting a student job to better accommodate your class schedule. If I'm understanding correctly you were never terminated, you resigned your position on good terms to have something that better suits your schedule. Not sure why you're specifying "laid off" either. Generally when coaching up out-of-college employees I have to explain that: laid off = position was eliminated due to lack of work (not your fault). terminated/fired = YOU (not the position) were removed for performance or misconduct issues (generally your fault, but depends on your manager) resigned = left the position of your own accord (hey, at-will employment goes both ways guys). I must add: Do not lie on any paperwork, even by omission. I hate to use corporate speak but sometimes the position really wasn't a good fit or you have a crazy boss or you didn't realize the material you spilt $20,000 a kilo or you're human and made any sort of mistake. It doesn't sound like you were terminated at all from your post. I'm just kind of throwing it out there for the thread: my current awesome boss and her also awesome boss were fired from their jobs because the owner of the business they are working wanted to throw a bitch fit and thought he knew more than their decades of experience. Now they are making more money, enjoy more control, run a bigger business and are generally much happier. So checking that "Have you ever been terminated from a job" box is not the death sentence some people make it out to be. In my company they don't even give me those boilerplate applications, I have to ask for them (and rarely do). What I go by is the applicant's resume and cover letter and a brief phone screen. When it comes to forms like you mention above it sounds like it's just HR paper churning so just give them some general answer. "Seperation due to lack of fit". They use that vague business speak all the time, so can you.
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Aug 23, 2014 00:38
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Good Canadian Boy posted:So I created a "gimmicky" resume, which I prefer to think of as more visual and semi-non-traditional. I've shown it to a few people that are managers or do hirings and across the board everyone is intrigued and is neutral to very positive about it. I know it says not to post resumes, but I'm not really looking for comments on anything but the presentation of it. Look man as a piece of graphic art I commend it and I wish I could make stuff like that for my company's various documents, I don't even know how to draw a straight line in Photoshop. It's nice, not tacky, pretty pleasant to look at. But my advice as a (caveat: only 2 years experience so far) hiring manager is: do not do this. I can't imagine it's any easier for job seekers in Canada than the US but this is just not the way to set yourself apart outside of a few niche fields. It falls in the same realm of stuff as sending chocolates to your interviewer and wasting your money on fancy resume paper. If I have a position over and I get 40 resumes for a position I want to go through them as quickly and fairly as possible to identify the top candidates. Which means a graphically boring but content filled 1 page resume will actually do you better. This thing would just confuse and frustrate me. The content is where you need some work although it's far better than what I've seen from most fresh college grads. "A charismatic and organized professional ..." sentence means absolutely nothing. You just graduated from college, you're not a professional yet. Take that off. Take off everything from high school. Take out Word/Excel/Powerpoint/Apple OS/Windows OS from computer skills -- everyone with a college degree and a pulse should know the rough nuts & bolts of all those, it's implied. Try to improve your bullet points, they're a little bland. I just did a quick scan and there are six instances of the word "Worked" in your experience/teaching placements sections. Obviously you worked there. What did you accomplish? Also what kind of jobs are you actually applying for (presumably teaching)? Can't give a much more specific critique. Sorry I'm not trying to be a dick or send you back to the drawing board. But unless it's graphic design or some other creative industry you're shooting for this will probably hurt you more than help.
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Aug 26, 2014 01:15
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Xenoborg posted:Is there a standard procedure/timing for contacting a company after an interview to see if you're still being considered? Everything I turn up is just talking about thank you notes right after the interview. I see this question all the time. 1. Who is your primary contact for this position? If it's a recruiter (internal or external), e-mail the recruiter once to check up, 1-2 weeks after the interview. If it's a REAL hiring manager, e-mail the hiring manager once to check up, 1-2 weeks after the interview. If it's HR, do not contact them because they are responsible for drug tests and filling out paperwork after accidents and stuff *after* someone is hired and have no hiring authority of any kind and somehow got stuck as your primary contact. Seriously if you see "HR Generalist" or "HR Specialist" or even "Vice President of Human Resources" or whatever they do not have any pull to get you hired, they just protect the company. 2. After doing the above, start applying to other jobs and do not make any other contact until they contact you. It will not help you in any way. The end.
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Aug 28, 2014 23:38
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Tawd posted:(Posted in the LI megathread too, but it's a valid question for both!) A friend of mine is in the rather cliche situation of being very intelligent, university educated, stuck in a retail job which he is nown floating up to more store manager/multiple store mobile manager type position (do they give him the title and benefits to go with it? Of course not...) Anyhow, he's looking to make the step from retail to...anything else...does anyone have a good example of a CV that might be a good example of how to try to do this? By your use of university/CV I'm assuming you're in the UK or Australia or New Zealand. There's no one-size-fits all bullet for this situation. What did he get his degree in? What kind of employment hubs are in the area -- e.g. manufacturing, finance, government, etc.? What has he done differently than his peers (other than just not be a complete fuckup) to earn this increased responsibility?
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Aug 29, 2014 21:44
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Susical posted:I've been through several phone screens now (at least 10) and every one has asked me for an expected salary - and each person I talked to seemed really really confused and irritated that I didn't want to name a number. What do I do in these situations? Is it okay to ask for the budgeted/target salary for the position? Yeah, it's generally a standoff to see who will name a number first. What to do depends on the company, the position, and how much bargaining power you have. At the phone screen stage though it's just to make sure you're not wasting each other's time over an absurd difference. Just looking on Indeed.com for my job title there are positions from 35K-105K which is a pretty wide range (job titles can be very misleading). Are you pretty comfortable estimating with what the positions you are applying should pay, +/- 10Kish? Hard to give you more advice without knowing a little bit more about the positions. Indeed, glassdoor, etc., can give you at least rough figures. IMO there's nothing wrong with asking an expected salary range "if you were hired", even this early in the process. However if they ask you what you are currently making that's a dick move and you should be very wary because it's either a case of clueless interviewing (bad) or them actively trying to pay you less than you deserve (very bad). Also don't forget benefits weigh into the situation. My company unfortunately does not offer health insurance anymore and I make this well known to every person I interview, because apparently our HR lady who does the phone screens neglects to mention this minor fact. :P
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Sep 2, 2014 17:06
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Susical posted:Has anyone done a HireVue video interview? I'm doing my first this evening and am a bit anxious since I have no idea what it's going to be like. https://www.youtube.com/user/hirevue Which was a combination of hilarious and cringeworthy. Then I checked out their website and it's full of articles with vague business speak and management cliches about HOW TO TAKE HIRING TO THE NEXT LEVEL. I still don't know what's supposed to be so revolutionary about this, Skype has been around for ages. I'm kinda conflicted on this general type of thing though. On one hand, it's nice to see who you're talking to. On the other hand, body language comes across poorly in videos, and people are naturally a little more shy & nervous when they know they're being recorded (unless they are in show biz and used to it).. there's a reason the whole videophone thing never took off. I'd just treat it like a normal interview. It just sucks 'cause you can't do it in your PJs like with a phone screen.
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Sep 5, 2014 14:13
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AA is for Quitters posted:How long should I wait before I email to follow up on an application? 2 weeks, one e-mail (not a phone call). Also you said applied and phone screened, not interviewed in person. How do you know this would be such a fantastic step up in your career if you haven't even been there yet? *SOAPBOX ALERT* There's a notion I keep seeing that "PERSISTENCE WILL GET YOU THE JOB" (translation: if you annoy them enough that means you are the best person for the job because you want it so much and they will hire you!), probably as a relic from the boomer areas where fantastic jobs with pensions and benefits grew on trees. That may true for some niche fields and a small amount of horribly managed companies. For the most part though those days are long, long over. Man, if an employer really wants call you or interview you or fly you out or (yay) offer you, they're generally not going to forget to do it and need a reminder, especially more than one. Obviously poo poo gets hosed up, applications get lost, hiring managers lose e-mails, all that happens. I would be a fool to say it doesn't. There's nothing wrong with following up with a e-mail. And I would never hold it against anyone for sending me a brief one liner e-mail "checking up". But it's not going to impact your candidacy like you think it will.
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Sep 5, 2014 19:14
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Hiring managers would generally find it pretty weird if you omitted your address because where you live/how far you commute has a big impact on your life. Some of the most ethical HMs I've worked with (NOT necessarily the heads of the companies) count quality of life really important and bring up in the interview "you will have to drive <x> every day and freeway <y> sucks". No matter how badass the job is a 2 hour daily commute round-trip (can turn into 3-4 hours with traffic) will wipe out a five-digit pay raise in 6 months and you will be miserable. Just like you said. In this case it's best to tell the truth and say you're leaving in Big City and stuck in a lease right now but are willing to bear the commute for a while and relocate closer at <however long> in the future. This is not unprofessional, or distasteful or anything, the worst case scenario is they have a better candidate that's just closer to the job. I actually had this scenario with a very talented (seeming) chemist who was one of my top picks for a position before she had to drop out to some unfortunate personal reasons. Phone number area codes don't matter. I live in DFW but have had an Austin area code since 2004 and have received multiple offers and promotions since then. Everyone knows it don't mean jack.
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Sep 8, 2014 04:05
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Nerokerubina posted:I've been looking for work for over a year after exiting academia. Strongly considering altering my resume so that it shows me as having gotten my Masters degree this year instead of last so I don't have an inexplicable year-long gap on my resume. Can pass it off as a typo if I get called on it, once I get in the door (I've had literally one in person interview and two phone screens in the probably 50+ jobs i've applied for, just getting in the door to talk to anyone is my goal at this point). Terrible idea y/n? Dude, do not lie on your resume. Your (future) employers will find out. You said "acadamia" so I do not know if it's research in marine biology or chemical microscopy or high-energy physics or whatever. Truth is, in today's economy a year-long gap is not the scarlet letter it used to be. Please tell us you filled that time doing something better than sitting on the couch and playing WOW or something It's really no a big deal. I've hired people that were *four years* out of work that turned out to be excellent. Lying, It will only hurt you. It will not help you, ever.
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Sep 23, 2014 01:26
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FrozenVent posted:don't bother with any coursework if you're not getting an degree out of it
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Sep 24, 2014 13:23
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Bisty Q. posted:
Yes, agreed.. that sounds completely ridiculous. Perhaps it's applicable for people who have no idea how to conduct interviews (like the ones that ask you poo poo like "If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?"). They would probably be better off hiring people at random, sure. But if you can read body language and ask the right questions an in-person interview is probably the best tool to help you pick the right candidate for your team. Almost everyone gets at least a little nervous during interviews, for example, which is why I do my best to put them at ease, smile and take genuine interest in what they're saying. If I'm hiring for a quality technician position (largely independent repetitive work) and the person bombs a few questions or seems a little socially awkward that's probably fine. If I'm hiring for a quality leader and the person won't look me in the eye or smile and sits stiffly throughout the whole thing they're probably not the right person for a job which requires great motivational and communication skills. This is in addition to reference checks which are often even more useful. seacat fucked around with this message at 12:14 on Sep 26, 2014 |
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Sep 26, 2014 12:09
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AA is for Quitters posted:Question about cover letters: did i screw myself mentioning that I've had good experiences with someone else in the company through my current position? I currently work in broadcast, and have worked with their advertising person to sell ad space with them, and mentioned in my cover letter that I would enjoy working with the company because I've had nothing but positive experiences with them? I also mentioned that I signed up to volunteer with a music school they opened in conjunction with the Boys&Girl's club in the area. Does that help or hurt my chances? If you said "Despite your advertising person being a gigantic slag, I am still interested in your company", THAT would hurt your chances. quote:Also they had PLEASE INCLUDE SALARY REQUIREMENTS in big bold letters on the posting, and my response was "Salary is negotiable based on benefits package" as I really have no clue what to ask for and really want them to toss a number out first so I don't ask for way more than what they're willing to pay, and really don't want to lowbll myself either. I mean, I'd be happy with 24k take-home with health insurance/401k/etc, but if they're offering 40k, i don't want to say that. Glassdoor hasn't really helped a lot either, just because everything with the title "staff accountant" is a lot of CPA type jobs, and "bookkeeper" has no jobs with salaries posted on glassdoor. The only jobs with salaries posted for the company in general are for the CSRs, who make 13.00/hr, so I know that saying 24k take home would be the same as a CSR and lowballing myself a lot. It's an entry level accounting position doing AP/AR and reconcilliation, and I'm still not used to figuring out how jobs work with the cheap cost-of-living out here. The best postings have it right in there: POSITION offers health, vision, dental, 401(k) with matching, FSA, whatever, after probation period. Don't panic right away though because some of the best companies can have some of the most horrendous postings.
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Sep 28, 2014 23:13
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Gimnbo posted:Question about applying online: some sites, like ZipRecruiter, only has one slot to attach a resume file to and no form field to put a cover letter into. Does that mean that they aren't expecting a cover letter or should I add it into the file for my resume? If you can supply a cover letter it almost always be in your favor to do it! A well-written cover letter can really make you stand out in a positive way. Having said that a BAD cover letter is unlikely to help you and can hurt you (for example if all you do is rehash the resume, or show that you clearly didn't even read the job description and just resume-spamming, etc.). If you do not know what a cover letter is or how to write one research first. I as many others ITT recommend Alison Green's Ask A Manager blog for advice: http://www.askamanager.org/category/cover-letters It's totally possible to just submit your resume and get an interview -- I've done it before. But generally it's wise to take the time and effort to make yourself stand out
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Oct 1, 2014 02:29
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SirPhoebos posted:That's the thing: Every time I do an interview I think I did a great job with it. But since I've yet to get a job offer, I'm wondering if I'm messing up without even realizing it. How many interviews have you had? Don't go too hard on yourself. It's in our nature to torture ourselves over these things. But the truth is you just don't know what's on the other side of the table. May you did ace all those interviews and there was just someone genuinely more qualified each time (keep in mind you're almost always competing with 2-3 other top candidates). Maybe you do need to work on some things. Maybe funding for the position vanished in mid-air. Maybe the company is so dysfunctional that it literally takes 9 months from interview to hire someone on. I've had all of those happen to me when hiring. I've had some truly horrible interviews and some truly horrible interviewers. It's just a learning experience. Best way people ITT can help you is to answer totalnewbie's questions and we can go from there. I've never heard of much magic happening with "interview coaching" honestly, although I've never heard of horror stories either. The one thing I can say with confidence is generally stay away from college career centers' advice. The best people to coach you are people who are/have done hiring in the field you're looking at, OBVIOUSLY easier said to get in touch with these people and get them to help you, than done. Practicing some questions with your friends/family, lame as it may seem, is actually a great idea. All the technical knowledge in the world won't help you if you're hyper-nervous (everyone gets nervous), cold, your body language shows you don't want to be there, you're unprepared, etc., and even people who don't know the details can help you with that stuff.
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Oct 5, 2014 15:00
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posh spaz posted:I'm not really sure why they cared so much about my former compensation. Are they just trying to figure out the bare minimum they'd be able to pay me? Yup.
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Oct 12, 2014 19:47
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