# I didn't get the job **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 20, 2003, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-get-the-job/156261 "2003-02-20T03:27:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Themis00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/13edae/32.png) [@Themis00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Themis00)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-get-the-job/156261/21 "2003-02-21T02:08:26Z")
Work at a restaurant. Judging from your past posts, it looks like you’ll make a good hostess, waitress, or even bartender. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-get-the-job/156261/22 "2003-02-21T03:59:50Z")
Guin, aren’t you still in school? Is this an off-term for you? If not, have you graduated? ---
**Author:** ![vandal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/858c86/32.png) [@vandal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vandal)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-get-the-job/156261/23 "2003-02-21T05:01:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > **Dammit. I didn’t really expect to get it, but it would have been soooo sweet.** I’m curious, why didn’t you think you were going it? Did you think you were not qualified? It seems that with your passion, as well as knowledge of books, you would have been a definite shoe-in. ---
**Author:** ![vandal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/858c86/32.png) [@vandal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vandal)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-get-the-job/156261/24 "2003-02-21T05:02:58Z")
Uh, let’s try that again. That should read, why didn’t you think you were going _to get_ it? ---
**Author:** ![Gozu\_Tashoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@Gozu\_Tashoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu_Tashoya)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-get-the-job/156261/25 "2003-02-21T08:20:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by keturah \* > \*\*hey Guin–do you live in(or near) a college or university? Often, dental schools will offer treatment at very low prices. \*\* I’ve heard recommendations like this before. And, you know, just wondering, is it possible to pay a little bit more and ask for an ‘A’ student? And **Guin** , **Dao** , don’t worry about it. You’re both smart young women (IIRC), so you’ll make things work. It may take a little longer than you like, but you’ll make it work. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-get-the-job/156261/26 "2003-02-21T17:29:23Z")
**Guinastasia** , FWIW my wife had a lot of dental work done at our local dental school, back before I met her. She praised the student who did her work very highly. And it was extremely cheap - important since she was also dirt-poor at the time. Would it be OK if I added you and **Daowajan** to my “praying for a job” list? It was originally three names long - now down to one, since the first two on the list have found very good jobs 🙂 and I need some new names. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-get-the-job/156261/27 "2003-02-21T17:30:55Z")
**Dewey** - Same for you? Sorry for the double post. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-get-the-job/156261/28 "2003-02-21T18:10:31Z")
Add away. The transactional legal market could use a dose of divine intervention. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-get-the-job/156261/29 "2003-02-21T18:17:25Z")
Temping might be the solution for you. I went job hunting for about 6-8 weeks with no real prospects. Finally I decided to try the temp agency. The first place I went into offered me a temp position to start within a week. That place hired me on full time with benefits two months later after I proved myself. It’s not the job I was looking for (was looking for something clerical, ended up in customer service) but it sure beats having nothing at all. My advice to you: ask the place what they have open immediately. A lot of places put ads in the paper promising positions, but they’re really just looking to get more people in their database to attract clients. One place (Manpower) that said they had immediate openings when I called to inquire changed their story when I actually applied, and didn’t contact me for four months to offer me anything (and that was for a job for one day), by then I had already found something else. It’s not always a permanent solution but it does help you get your foot in the door somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Creative\_Munster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/919ad9/32.png) [@Creative\_Munster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Creative_Munster)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-get-the-job/156261/30 "2003-02-21T18:24:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Payne N. Diaz \* > \*\*Every time I didn’t get the job I wanted, there was an even crappier one just around the corner, that I had to take out of sheer economic desperation. > > But seriously, **Guin** , hang in there. Something good will happen, eventually. \*\* This cracked me up because it is so true. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-get-the-job/156261/31 "2003-02-21T18:48:02Z")
I temped out of college. It turned into a real job (secretarial), which turned into a different real job (IT Administration), which turned into a different read job (Network Analyst) which turned into a different real job (Consultant), which turned into a different real job (Manager), which turned into my current job (Sr. Network Analyst - I hate management and the writing was on the wall about consulting). My husband had a similar experience - he temped, became a typesetter, then a writer, then a manager, got into e-business, moved companies. Don’t close doors. And the secret to successful temping is to be a pest to your agencies (don’t wait for them to call you - call them every morning with “well, what do you have for me today.”) and a godsend to your clients. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-get-the-job/156261/32 "2003-02-21T19:21:49Z")
Go for it, **Shodan**. I guess it was because I had answered the ad in the classifieds late-that and low self-esteem from being unemployed for so long. I didn’t want to get my hopes up. Yes, I HAVE graduated, in 2001-but jobs are so slim. _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![tsarina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@tsarina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tsarina)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-get-the-job/156261/33 "2003-02-21T19:49:15Z")
You should check the employment websites at the colleges around Pittsburgh. If you work for a university, you’ll get excellent benefits, and often they’ll even pay for any classes you want to take. Even if it isn’t a history job, it’s something. Keep plugging away! ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-get-the-job/156261/34 "2003-02-21T22:03:51Z")
**Guinastasia** , I think I should have the link for CMU’s job site around here somewhere. I’ve also got the name and address of the temp agency which does placement there, although I haven’t heard from them since I signed up there. I _know_ you’ve got better computer skills than some people I’ve worked with on temp assignments – I could have used you on Wednesday night. Also, please do check out the Career Center at the Carnegie Library in Oakland. They’ve got a lot of good resources; in fact, they’re the ones who put me on to CMU’s temp agency. If you like, tell them I sent you. Being unemployed is frustrating, depressing, and boring. In other words, it combines the worst aspects of life. ☹ On the other hand, five years ago this month I took a temp job because I was broke and it was close to home. Not only did that temp job turn permanent, the company that hired me paid for me to back to school and get my degree in computer science. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for both of us, and hope that something in this city gives soon. CJ ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-get-the-job/156261/35 "2003-02-21T22:53:22Z")
A note from my experience: universities may be a great option for you, because a) they appreciate employees with an intellectual bent; b) they generally offer great benefits; and c) often you can take a class or two every semester for free. (Two of my friends got their bachelor’s degrees this way.) However, they do take bloody forever to have applicants jump through their HR hoops. That said, some universities have their own internal temp pools. I temped at Northwestern after finishing my grad coursework, until I found a permanent job. If you get a temp assignment and the boss likes you, they generally find a way to push HR to hire you more quickly. It worked for me, except that I managed to find a job more in my field than what the university was offering, and faster than my boss could manage to push through the paperwork for a permanent university hire. (He was a very decent guy; I told him I didn’t want to delude him into thinking I wanted to stay at his admin job, because I really wanted a job in my field, and he said he’d take me anyway for as long as I was willing to stay, and that I might as well have full benefits.) You’d be surprised how many completely clueless people work in admin positions for universities; jobs like that pay less than admin jobs in the private sector, so at least around here, universities have trouble attracting and retaining the best candidates. This can work in your favor; don’t sell yourself short! ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-get-the-job/156261/36 "2003-02-21T23:58:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\*A lame rant, perhaps. But that job I interviewed for at Half Price Books. You have mail [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-get-the-job/156261.md?page=1)