Networking is great, sign on to Linked In, and link to all your friends, ex-bosses that still like you, collegues, etc.
Sucks to be me, I guess. I worked for the same company for thirteen years. Who the hell do I have to network with? Nobody. I have no social circle to speak of, nothing but a bunch of aquaintances that couldn’t give a damn if I find a job or not.
As for temping, well, good luck. I’ve signed up with six different agencies. I got exactly one three month gig in ten months.
Oh, and linking to my ex-boss? He’s out of work too.
I have three legitimate work at home jobs. None of them are scams. I’ve made a very respectful income over the last few years. Legitimate work at home jobs can be all about leveraging your existing skill set and finding a way to do that work at home.
If you’re a teacher look into tutoring or test grading. If you can write articles you can do that at home working with editors. If you have a pleasant phone manner you can be a virtual office assistant or work at home answering the phones.
Check out the following sites for legitimate job leads:
http://workhomecareers.blinkweb.com/index.html
Most jobs do not offer benefits like health insurance or paid time off (although one of the companies I work for actually does!) but they do offer a paycheck and a chance to earn some cash without leaving the house.
I’m pretty much the same way, although my former supervisor does have a job.
And today I actually turned down a job, well, a chance for a second interview. It was for Vector Marketing, the sole distributor of…bum bum buuuummm CutCo knives. I think I heard warnings about them before, so I went in with an uneasy feeling. “There’s no cold calling, and no door to door sales.” they said. I talked to the interviewer who said, “The people you’ll do demos for will be expecting it.” “Oh,” I say, “so somebody else sets up the appointment?” “No, representatives set up their own appointments.” I think to myself, “How is that possible without cold-calling or door to door.” The interviewer says, “You start with friends and families, and then move on to leads. There’s also other details that I tell people who are chosen for a second interview.”
Great. I guess technically going to friends and family isn’t cold calling, but it’s damn close. And more details not revealed unless you get a second interview? No thanks. Not that I would be good at doing that kind of job even if I was interested, but I went to the interview thinking it would be something else based on the description. I guess it wasn’t bait and switch exactly, but pretty damn close.
Something to remember when applying for state jobs in Oregon is that most of the job postings are what I call phantom job openings. There really isn’t a job opening, there is a job posting that is already being filled and the advertisement is just a formality.
The job will be filled by someone who is already employed by the state and will be moving up to a better position. Because it is a publicly funded job, the posting must be made public and kept open for 2 weeks, just to follow the rules. After which time the position will be filed from within.
The only real openings are at the very bottom and as you note, competition is strong.
Yeah, I’ve heard that about a lot of jobs (job postings just to comply with the law).
Just out of curiosity, do you live in Oregon?
Just curious; why Google voice phone? And how do you get one? (I presume through Google somehow - I’ll go look now but I’ll throw that question in)
Seconded the civil service/fed. gov’t suggestion.
Got my job as a clerk typist 2 by taking a ridiculously easy exam and being placed on a list. This exam ranks all takers and places you in the list accordingly. It was 50% typing speed/accuracy, and 50% general knowledge. I got a 98 which was one of the highest scores in the state, so that no doubt helped my chances.
Haven’t had luck with USAJobs.gov yet. My dad has been with the SSA for 38 years and has made numerous suggestions, but I still can’t make it to a recruiter’s desk. Stupid KSA algorithm that scans your resume for keywords. Embarrassing when I work for the Disability Determination branch of PA’s state gov’t (funded by SSA) and I handle the SSA claims on a daily basis. I usually lose out to a 40+ year old woman that has scheduled appointments at some doctor’s office for 20 years.
Yes I do, in the beautiful NW corner. And I was getting quite frustrated applying for public sector jobs only to find out later (it’s a small community) that the job wasn’t really there and was filled by a promotion from within. The city, county, state and other publicly funded agencies seem to work the same way. Post a job for 2 weeks as if there is actually an opening and then promote from within.
I agree that temping is an excellent start. Register with a bunch of different agencies. When you go to fill out the forms, treat it like a job interview. Just because it’s just a temp agency does not mean it’s advisable to show up wearing jeans and without a clean copy of your resume. Have your employment history with contacts with you.
Once you are registered, the onus is on you to call them to see if anything is available that might be a good match. This shows that you are actually interested in working, and keeps you relatively fresh in their mind. Chances are they’re not going to call you when things come up; they’ll give it to the guy who calls them like clockwork every Monday morning.
Well, that’s good to know I guess. I’ll still be applying anyway, never know when that 1 in 1,000,000 spot may be open to the public.
Anyway, I found your user name kind of interesting because one of the names it the city I live in (hint, I don’t live in Jones Oregon :D).
But you contacted them, they didn;t send you a cold call email, right?
You’d be surprised at who can be a networking resource–I got a job offer delivered to my front door within a day of moving because I stopped to chat with a new neighbor while I was walking the dogs. It turned out she was renting a house from one of the local vets, and when she talked to him about something going on with the house, she mentioned I was a tech. He was looking for someone, so he walked down the street to introduce himself and ask me to come apply. I’ve been there for five years, and I’ll be leaving in a month or so for a job I found on friggin’ Facebook.
Now, if you’d asked me, I’d have told you both times I had nobody to network with. First time, we knew exactly 3 people in the county: our realtor, my husband’s boss, and his HR director. This time around, I’ve been in one tiny company for 5 years and we socialize with maybe a half-dozen people with any real regularity. But I’m a FB fan of a small local non-profit I’m involved with, and the director posted on their feed that they were looking for someone with pretty much my non-medical skill set. Even before that turned up, though, I had friendly acquaintances and former coworkers I’d had good relations with keeping an eye out for something. And even though the place where I work is tiny, turnover is high, so I had rather a lot of coworkers to draw on.
I’m with crazy cat lady. It’s about networking in the area you live. In my area temp agencies are booming. Then the employer can hand pick who they want from the temps to hire full time.
I get most of my work by word of mouth. I also heard that trying to find work online is useless unless it in answer to an ad for help. Less then 10 percent of jobs are filled that way according to Dr. Joy Brown.
It’s an employers market right now. I get most of my referrals from church of all places?
I think it depends on the area. I got my current job through Craigslist (I posted an ad) and I know of other people who got jobs there too. You do have to be careful. Anything that sounds too good to be true is, and anything that’s sales is likely to be a pyramid scheme.
There are tons of job boards out there; most of them have some scams (especially Hotjobs. In fact, last time I was looking I didn’t see anything but scams there).
Nobody, I got the same thing. As soon as I figured out what it was I left.
Those workers from 13 years are great Networking opps, so is your ex-boss, even if unemployed. Maybe he will Recommend you?
Then there’s your church, fraternal org, social club, college alumni, professional org, relatives- all networking opps. If you don’t have any of these- join. Do you know anyone in the Masons, etc? Ask to join. Huge network.