So I graduate from college. I have freshly minted Bachelors degrees in Math and Anthropology, four years experience tutoring college level math and four years of work in a medical records office. Everywhere I work, I’ve had positive performance reviews. I have some supervisory experience and a variety of volunteer work. I should think I am qualified for at least one job in the range of $22k-$30k/year. Right?
Twelve resumes out, no interviews. One position I applied for is still listed online as having 3 openings. What is advertised as “Open until filled” is, I think, more “Open until Jesus himself applies (if we like paper used on his cover letter).”
Yarhggg! I am fortunate enough to have three months money to survive on (provided nothing vital breaks), so I am not yet in a crisis. I’m getting so fed up with hours of searching, cover letters, applications and resumes (as advised, each individually crafted), particularly when no one seems keen on an interview, I feel like chucking the lot and juggling on a street corner for quarters.
It is a little dispiriting to know that, three years ago, people would have been begging at my door to hire me instead of the other way around. I was stupid. I went back to school instead. Now I pay.
When I was being laid off I was sending out 20-30 resumes a week, and even then I knew I was slacking and should be doing more. Out of the hundreds of resumes I sent out, I only got 2 interviews and one of them turned into a job.
The position I filled took over 5 months between them advertising the postition and them calling me for an interview, so these things also take time.
Have you considered becoming an actuary? You wouldn’t think it, but according to something I read, that was number one in the list of most satisfying professions. Good money, too, or so I’m told.
12 resumes? Last time I was job hunting it was 12 resumes and as many phone calls each day, every day. Expect to get an interview for every 50-100 resumes, and to spend about 1 month for each 10k your position pays. Obviously very loose guidelines, but it should give you an idea of what you should be doing with your time.
You need to distinguish yourself from the millions of people out there with similar qualifications. Sending resumes out (though I agree more than 12 is a start) ain’t going to do it.
Where do you want to work? What do you want to do? What kind of jobs are out there that you may be uniquely qualified for with your rather odd double major. (And it is a good thing to be distinct.)
Find a company, then find some people in the company who might have written an article, or been mentioned in a press release or a news story. Call them up and ask them about what they do. If appropriate, you can bring up that you are looking for a job. You might think that they would get dozens of calls, but very few people do this.
This actually works. My daughter got a job with a very famous professor at her univerity through just emailing him, and taking his class, and expressing interest. She’s the only undergraduate he’s spoken to in years.
Someone who is on a committee with me was looking for a job, and emailed me his resume. I had it on my screen when a colleague came in, looking to hire someone with exactly the qualifications of this person. He got the job, of course.
So, send out the resumes, answer the ads, do web searches, but also try to make personal contact with the people who make the hiring decision. Good luck!
12 a day? Sweet Jebus, I’ve been doing 2 a day. Where does one find a dozen jobs every day that match your qualifications? I spend several hours a day searching online, and generally come up with only a handful.
I had never heard of people sending out so many resumes. Is this a new thing? In previous jobs, including some non-student employment, it was generally the only job I applied for.
I’ve considered teaching, though generally community colleges in Washington require a Masters, and believe it or not, it may not pay enough. The usual way to get hired is put yourself on a long list, and if they happen to need you for a class, they call.
I have applied to one actuarial firm, and will tomorrow apply to another. The money, from what I understand, is good. I know several actuaries, however, and have yet to meet one who is happy doing that work.
It looks as though my frustration stems from unrealistic expectations. In fact, reading your posts, it appears I have come off sounding rather spoiled and bratty. In any event, thanks for the encouragement, I will redouble my efforts.
Oh, honey, honey. Your expectations, in this economy, are indeed woefully unrealistic.
When we moved, it took me 8 months to find a job, any job. I applied for entry-level R&D jobs, I applied for lab-assistant jobs, I applied for EMT jobs, I applied for vet tech jobs, I applied for waitressing jobs, I applied for temp jobs. In all that time, I went on a grand total of four interviews. Two of those were for temp jobs. I couldn’t even get a call back to be a volunteer at the humane society.
You have to be aggressive, and you have to look at stuff that isn’t directly up your alley. Sometimes you can get hired for good jobs that don’t use your degree, or aren’t exactly in your field of expertise, so don’t exclude those.
Of course, when I was looking, most of the entry-level positions had absolutely insane requirements for not much money. One company over in the Research Triangle was wanting someone with a Masters in Applied Biotechnology and five years of experience for a position that paid $23,000/year.
Bad a job as teaching is, I have to agree that it’s pretty safe employment. Hell, a lot of places are giving signing bonuses to teachers qualified to teach upper level math and science, your math degree might be helpful in that respect. If nothing else, you might look into substituting until you find something else.
You need to send resumes EVERYWHERE to EVERYONE, not just places that advertise they are looking for jobs. Send them out cold, send them to headhunters. Just get it out there. Yes, it will end up in the back of a huge filing cabinet somewhere a lot of the time, but so what? The more eyes that see your resume the more likely one will say “Viola! This SHort guy is EXACTLY what I need!”
I used to help people jobhunt professionally. One thing that was very obvious to me but not to many who sought jobs is that very often the people who write job ads have no idea what they are doing. If a job looks remotely like something you can do or want to do, send them a resume. Don’t worry too much about qualifications – very often those listed are inaccurate. I kid you not.
Think of the resumes as seeds. Plant a lot of them. Only a few of those will sprout into interviews. Only a few of THOSE will bear fruit in the form of a bona fide job offer. But so what? You only need ONE job.
