I got laid off last week and have been looking for a job. It’s frustrating. Everybody CLAIMS to be hiring right now, but half of them don’t want somebody under eighteen, and the other half… I don’t even know. doesn’t want me, apparently.
booo.
Do temp agencies care if you’re under 18? I’ll have to look into that option…
I was a little ambivalent about attending grad school right away and I decided that if I found a decent job, then I’d put it off for a couple of years. Well, I found zip and none of the temp agencies I registered with had anything appropriate for me. I don’t understand, I did well on all of their tests. So a couple of weeks ago I bit the bullet and now I work part-time as a cashier at Target. Fun. At least it’s only for a couple of months!
I haven’t found a job in Ottawa yet. But I won’t worry until I’m up there. It seems nobody really believes I want to move to Canada.
What do you do?
Very true. And they did it by encouraging people not to “Think different.” Which is excellent advice for anyone looking for work.
I’m a programmer. Oracle Forms/Reports and SQL. Formerly COBOL, which I’d accept, but I’ve never worked on an AS400, which seems to be standard up there. (My familar HP3000 is obsolete.)
There is the occassional ad on Monster and the like that I’ve applied for, but seriously, I have the strong impression that they really can’t believe someone wants to move to Canada from the U.S. Small sample size, but still - I don’t get it. I’m pretty much resigned to accepting the the real job hunt won’t start till I’m there. (July 10th!)
I’ve been job hunting since the tenth of last month. I’m ready to throw in my towel and get whatever job serving food is available. I’ve had felt I was getting to the end of this job search thing several times but somehow my varied experience hasn’t gotten me a job yet.
I blame it on my being caught off guard by all these questions that have popped up in interviews lately about working in teams. There have always been one or two of these in my interviews, but now it seems they beat you over the head with them.
Tell me about a time you influenced someone else.
How good of a team player are you?
What do you do to get other people to stand behind your ideas?
How do you motivate other people?
Tell me about a time you had an idea and pitched it to your coworkers, and put it into action.
What? I’ve worked retail and food service inside and out. Plus I’m a student and often find myself in study groups and group projects. The team thing happens, but I’ve never put any thought into it as it happens. So I can’t think of anything to respond to these questions with. It would be like if someone asked you “So, tell me about a time you bought an article of clothing that was the wrong size. How did you handle that situation?” Between the wanting to find the best, and most interesting answer, and not being entirely sure when the hell the last time you bought a shirt the wrong size anyways, it’s easy to fall over yourself.
Here’s a couple of links http://www.techjobsottawa.com/
http://ottawastart.com/jobs.shtml
I found several by searching on ‘Oracle’ here http://working.canada.com/ottawa/index.html
Looks like they’re from recruiters but that will give you an indication of which recruiters staff programming positions.
I don’t have much faith in the mega job boards but you might as well try all possibilities - I’d drop the mega boards down on the list, though.
Lie. Make up a story. I spoke with someone once whose job it was to ask those stupid questions. Basically, they want an answer. They can’t check into your life to find out if it’s true. I said to this person ‘but people could just make their anecdotes up’ and the person said, in essence, ‘yep’. Probably being able to sound convincing on the spot is the skill they’re actually trying to hire for. Expect they’ll ask you one of these bozo questions and be ready to invent on the spot.
The first two I haven’t seen before. Thank you, very much! The latter I’d found and gave up on; I can’t remember why. Perhaps that was when my job search was still geographically broader.
My brother-in-law is an Oracle programmer here in Calgary. He makes an extremely nice living working at contracts from a placement agency. With all the high-tech in Ottawa, I can’t imagine that they don’t have something similar there. I could ask him if he knows anything about that, if you’d like.
JoeSki, questions like that are why I’m thinking I just might stay in the temp world. There is only so much bullshit I can shovel, you know?
Substitute “My sisters” and that is my situation. I’ve been unemployed since mid September. I have quite a bit in savings and am doing OK finance wise (though I’m also trying to live frugally)
Recently had an interview that went well, but unfortunately went very well for someone else. Some other recent activity has given me hope, but at some point I may have to expend my search (I don’t want to move)
Brian
The position at the summer camp I really, really wanted has just turned me down.
Fuck! I mean, my options at this point are to move out so I qualify for OSAP loans–which means I’d have no house and no job–or take a year off school in the middle of my B.A. degree to work (and pay rent to my parents), because I don’t know how I’m going to make up the fees from last year and next year now.
I’m sorry, I just… really need more booze and ice cream at this point.
Aha! A place to commiserate! Pass the ice cream along…
I’m looking at an exceptionally tough position right now: I’m looking to earn income over the summer, to help pay college tuition, and willing to take pretty much anything 'cept food service (and telemarketing; tried that and it was miserable); however, I’m moving to a different city in a month. Where am I honestly going to find jobs that will be willing to hire me for only one month at a time? I’d love an office environment temp job, but have no idea where or how to look for one, or if there’s a chance in hell of there even being one. MI’s job market isn’t exactly blossoming for the unemployed right now.
I just wanted to give you guys my sympathies. {{{Hugs with Icecream sandwiches}}}
Before becoming pregnant, I was in the middle of a very frustrating job hunt. Hopefully, all of you will find want you need.
Best of luck!
Have you thought about spending a few weeks with a career counselor?
http://www.right.com/ca/ab/calgar/lac/lac.htm
These folks are very good. Don’t be fooled by the managementese on their web page; they know how to get people to find jobs.
Hey featherlou, I had a good experience with the ProTemps agency.
I believe the CRA is looking for someone here in Calgary as well, and though I only worked for the city as a teen that was a good experience too. They were good to work for.
Best of luck finding what you are looking for. 
Amen, sister.
Pity me: I started a master’s program after doing a bunch of informational interviews in the field and they all assured me that there were jobs falling off trees. They all lieeeeeeed. I’ve applied for dozens of jobs and gotten nothing.
And there’s always some stupid hoop that you have to jump through. Write a five-page essay explaining why we should give you an interview (true story). Now answer twelve more essay questions (also true). Provide three references. No, different ones. No, not those either. Actually, make if four. And they have to be written in letter form on letterhead and mailed to the department head (believe it). Now we will never speak to you again and not tell you why.
I can do the job!!! I swear!! Just give me a freakin chance!!!
That’s got to be infuriating. It’s like applying to Google and then realizing they want your SAT scores. Um, I took those 8 years ago. I’m supposed to remember those scores forever??