I moved to San Francisco 2 months ago. My partner (boyfriend) got a good job here and we picked up and left Virginia. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE it here, it’s one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever been to. I’ve met some really nice people and have started to do some networking.
I’m depressed (maybe depressed it too stong of a word) because I still don’t have a job after 7 weeks of searching. I worked in Virginia at the same company for 11 years and have a solid work history, and several references. I’ve applied for at least 20 jobs and have only heard from 2. At first, I thought that my resume had something wrong with it and it was turning off employers. I double checked it and also had several other friends look it over. It’s perfect. I am most comfortable in the customer service/call center field, and there don’t seem to be that many call centers here. Most of my job searches have been online, but I’ve also scanned the newspapers and done some cold calling.
I did manage to get a second interview at a dialysis cllinic a few weeks ago, thanks to a friend who works there. The hiring manager told my friend that he really liked me and that he thought I’d be an asset to the clinic. I called the hiring manager last Thursday to find out if he’d made a decision yet and I was told that a decision would be made tomorrow (Wed). He said he had three applicants to select from. So, fingers crossed. This would be an ideal job for me.
Anybody have any words of wisdom? Or a pep talk, in case this job doesn’t pan out?
The best advice I can give (which I can hardly even take myself) is to learn how to handle job offer “rejection” just like waking up in the morning. It sucks, but you just have to get used to it. The easier it becomes to deal with it, the faster/more confident/skilled you’ll become at finding a new, even better job.
2 out of 20 ain’t bad either!
Convince yourself that it might be 1 out of 50 that could even pan out, and learn to say “fuck-it” to the other 49.
Now, this might not work for you, but it didl for me, when I was forced into the same situation. I’ll have to re-learn it though in order to get out of the current hell-hole I’m in.
This is a pretty much useless opinion to give but, I don’t think you’ll find many call centers in the Bay Area because the wages are a lot higher here than most employers would like to pay. For that reason, I don’t think there are many call centers in most large American population centers, and actually, I believe that most call centers are now overseas (India, for example).
The above is strictly and opinion and may have no basis in fact whatsoever.
I live in San Francisco and I really love the weather and scenery here, but some people who live here (actually, MANY people, IMO) are among the most self-absorbed people I’ve ever met. Walking down a sidewalk here is a trying experience as groups of 2 or 3 people take up the entire width of the sidewalk and refuse to move out of the way even enough to allow you 2 feet when you pass them.
Back on topic: if you do customer service, couldn’t you find retail work here at least in the short-term?
Good luck here in “The City” (see? Even THAT is rather self-centered!)
I sent out no fewer than 300 resumes and out of that I had two interviews and two shitty little post cards that said “Thanks for nothin’, Cocksucker!”
Give yourself some time. As long as you’re not starving or sleeping under the viaduct, you’ll be fine. Take a crappy little job to make yourself feel like you’re contributing. You can work part time and job search part time.
Also, really, REALLY consider temping. Its the best way to get into a company and get a taste of what they’re all about.
I temped in downtown SF when I was between jobs and found it fairly easy to find work–a lot or a little, depending on what I wanted (of course, this is all relative to particular skill sets).
I’d also look into volunteering somewhere that interests you–it makes the time go faster, you’ll meet more people (and possibly more connections), and it won’t leave a big vacuum on your resume if the job search continues for longer than you hope.
I live here too and I have no idea what you’re talking about. I can only guess you had a bad experience in a perceived snooty neighborhood like the Marina or Russian Hill or something. Of course I hesitate to paint with such a brush, as I don’t actually know any self-absorbed people of the people I know in those neighborhoods.
And yes, I know the user name is a plaindrome, I just found the “self-absorbed” comment amusing. (And confusingly atypical compared to my 15 years of SF living).
Post your resume on Monster, Careerbuilders and HotJobs. You’ll get offers. Now, sure, several of them will be for commisioned sales work, but still. Dooku has some good advice, too.
I live in Davis and found my job on craigslist. It took a little while, but I like the job that I have. Be carefull, though, as some of the posts are from headhunters that don’t tell you that until you have shelpt to the otherside of the universe to talk to them.
If there are self-absorbed people in SF, I sure haven’t noticed them. But then, I’ve got my own stuff to worry about. All those self-absorbed people will just have to fend for themselves.
