Job searching headaches

In My Humble Opinion
21

(Sorry for the very late reply).

Tried that site, it looks more for coders than me fixing PCs and deploying them to networks. I can’t go back into school now until I’m financially prepared for the courses.

I had two interviews this week, one for a company and one for a recruiter. The recruiter said that she’d send some information about the job description she was looking at today, and so far I got nothing. The guy at the company I was emailing said that he would provide some feedback as soon as he is able. (My guess is that I’ll find out next week or next month).

22

Another can kick.

I have another interview with a lady from another staffing agency. I’m starting to wonder if I’m being sent through an infinite loop with agencies. After two weeks I’ve got nothing but emails regarding opportunities, but no offers.

I’m starting to think I should go with a lower wage than normal for me, there are so many individuals with H-1 Visas in this country for my field (working in IT help desk) that in order for me to compete, I might be forced to undercut wages to get hired. Something’s better than nothing, anyways.

Now I might be playing too conservatively for the wage rate (yearly I would be taking $16K after taxes), but I don’t have the power to negotiate better pay.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do.

23

Last can kick because I doubt anyone can help me now.

After the interview with a staffing agency, she told me that by november and december things are set to cool down, so now I’m left with this situation- either I stop now and wait until January (what a waste! I could have gone to Florida with my family!), or find a part time job until I can get a real job. This gives me a good opportunity to get health checkups and buy some things to improve my odds (buy a car, for one), and then hopefully by January I can find a real job soon.

24

Do you have an Amazon centre near you? Because demand ramps up over Christmas and they take on a lot of temporary workers, and you’d be ideally placed to transfer sideways if you made a good impression.

25

I had a job at FedEx at one time while I was in school and it sucked. Starting there, I’d probably be working just as hard as I did in FedEx (assuming their entry gate level job is working packages), and that isn’t for me. Then again I had external headaches working with FedEx, so I might have better luck.

26

I noticed my parents are getting slightly pushy when it come to finding a job, I still want to wait until the end of December to get the best opportunities (I’m definally going to be highly aggressive than I was in October), but if they keep getting pushy, I may be forced to take a job sooner than later. Some of the jobs require vehicles, and I lack a vehicle of my own. If they keep pushing me, I’ll push on THEM to buy a car for me or I’ll do it with a trust fund that I got. As far as insurance is concerned, they have to put money down on it too, or I’m going to do it myself. Hell, I might consider relocating now if things get really hectic, but the latter would be worse-case because I have no connections elsewhere (and I’d be in significant financial stress if I did relocate for a better job). EDIT: If they get pushy, I might steal their car so I can start working so they might be forced to buy a car for me so that I don’t get fired. Course, all these things I’m thinking about are just worse case.

Part of me wants to go back into college now, but how the hell am I going to pay for the classes? College is out of the question for now until I find the funds, the funds I won’t get until I find a job or find some kind guy to give me cash.

I’m pessimistic in the latter as I am with finding help on this board, so I’m assuming I’m on my own. (Thanks a lot, guys). I’m not saying I don’t appreciate all the previous help given, but I do think this should have been a lot easier. Nothing’s easy- but I don’t deserve all of the pain I got in October.

27

I highly recommend this book for anyone who is job hunting.

28

I’m starting to think that all the IT jobs are at Lake County. Here’s an email I got today:

(By the way, there was no period on the last sentence. Oops.) Another email:

For those two locations, it’s a 3 hour bus ride one way (or worse). I currently don’t have a vehicle (at least until I chat with my uncle about getting one), so I’m disqualified for getting those jobs. There was an email for somewhere in the Downtown Chicago area (I can commute to there no problem, it’s a one hour commute from Hodgkins), but it requires me to work with Macs. Macs are not my strong suit, and I have no certification on it.

A while back my instructor was chatting with a businesswoman, and she said that more companies were switching to macs for graphics designers and stuff like that. My instructor insured that that’s not the case (he worked in the industry before), and that businesses will still need Windows.

I could take a class to get a certification on working with Macs and Linux machines, but time and cost is prohibited. Since I haven’t started working yet, I can’t start earning money to take classes I want to advance further in my life. Worse, time is prohibited- I’m 22, there’s no time for experimentation into fields that I might be interested in (even though the life expectancy is long, I don’t want to be trying new fields when I’m 30 or 40.)

I don’t have the capital to start a small business, so having a place that builds high quality computers is out. School is out (pardon the term), and as I’ve said before- I’m not going into debt. My trust fund is done if I go back into college with what I got and no job (for the time being).

29

(Let’s just say I’m losing it.)

Fuck me. I must be a fool. For years I thought fixing computers would be like the auto industry- people need computers fixed as much as they need auto mechanics. How could I have been so wrong? If it was 1996 or 2006, I would have had better luck in finding a job to fix computers. Now it’s smartphones and tablets, and aside from a few companies that do need computers fixed, IT can be outsourced.

I’m a failure in denial. That’s what I am. I’ve prevented the inevitable for years due to my incompetence.

30

Well, time to close the book on this topic for good. I just got hired by a company that I will be working with for the next 5-6 weeks, perhaps more. If all goes well, I’ll be working there for longer, and accomplish goals. The job is full-time, $14 per hour, and it should help my goals. Main goal is to buy a used car, with my side goals mostly fun goals- buy a new bike (so me and my father can ride together in Chicago), take a little trip (California? New York? Vegas?!), enjoy the luxuries, etc. Either way I don’t have too much for budget needs, so I’m in good shape.

Anyways, it’s all good. I don’t have to be stressed out any longer. :slight_smile:

EDIT: It gets kinda weird to tell recruiters now that I have a job now. So weird.

31

OK, so if you haven’t heard already, I got fired in 30 minutes at my previous job (I don’t want to talk about how, but it wasn’t a serious mistake), and I’ve still be searching since then, albeit lightly still because I’m fed up already after 3 months. I don’t want to quit, but if things don’t improve soon, I’m just going to. I’m going to be homeless once my parents kick me out for being useless. (I doubt that would happen, but eventually, something is going to give).

I think I found the real problem as to why I’ve been unsuccessful- job experience. If you look at my resume, (and no, that’s not my real resume, the real one has my real information, for privacy reasons), you can see I’ve had a year of job training and education, three IT certs, and a HSD, good enough for at least a entry-level job, but I think the experience qualifier is killing my chances. Worse, my last school was starting a help-desk system when I was leaving, so I missed out on an opportunity there.

It’s true that I never have enough education, but I don’t plan on getting into debt. Unless you want to pay for that?

Now I’m not sure where to start off in 2017, I have to get a stronger resume, and that includes real job experience.

Surely someone can help me out.

32

Yes, getting started in a field and getting some experience often sucks. My advice is to simply prepare yourself (both physically and mentally) for a pretty tough few years. This means lousy food, sharing an apartment with people you don’t like, taking public transportation, no “side trips” to Vegas, etc.

Getting fired after 30 minutes is pretty bad, both from the POV of not having a job and because you will not have a positive professional reference. (Even a 5-6 week project can be the basis for good references for future job-seeking.)

IMHO, you need to be working somewhere, even if the pay sucks. Have you thought about working for a contract security company? They look for well-spoken and presentable people with clean criminal records. (If you don’t have a clean criminal record, you shouldn’t be looking for a job in IT security.) The pay isn’t great, but there are often benefits, and the working schedule might fit in well with your job-searching activities. The work is often just acting as an after-hours receptionist, or walking a facility like a watchman. Perhaps surprisingly, many security guards end up working with computer systems as they conduct video surveillance or manage access-control and intrusion detection systems.

Good luck to you!

33

If you’re looking now you’re looking when no one is hiring because of the end of year. Many companies also end their fiscal years on Jan 31st and Feb 28th so it may take awhile.

A good strategy is to find a company you would like to work for and get a job there. Any job you can find. Then study the opening elsewhere in the company. It’s always easier to get a job in a company, when you’re employed by them.

34

Look also for ‘access management’. You’d end up processing requests for access to various systems and servers - depending on the authority of the team - and involved in ‘IT Security’ insomuch as access control is a security issue. It also gets your foot in the door and if you prove you can do more and do better, you’ll likely have opportunities to advance.

35

I’ll look into that (after the new year, it’s quitting time at this point, so I might as well rest). I’ve already got the housing issue taken care of for a few years (and more because my mother broke her ankle), I live in a village on the Southwestern edge of Cook County that’s covered by Pace 330 (it’s a 3/4 mile bike ride- I already have a bike, by the way- to the stop I need to go), so public transportation is already resolved (honestly, I never tire of riding trains to the city. I wish I was living near Pace 600 though, those buses are so much nicer (I recently rode one, leather seats, express service to the Blue Line, and frequent service (more so than the 330). Course I’d have to give up Sunday service for all the luxury in a regular fare route. Rerouting on topic…) And for the record again, I got fired not because I did a bad job or killed a cat (how? I rode three buses to get to work!), management just fucked up somewhere.

Guess I got plenty of time for the side stuff I need to do (especially for NYE), albeit I don’t have much, but once that’s done, I’ll probably accelerate searching again.

36

Having a hard time finding some leads on CareerBuilder. What should I be typing in related to entry-level IT security? (And for the record, my record is clean.)

37

So yet another can kick on my #312th post in the board on the thread I normally post in. Searching has been normally dead right now because of planning for two vacations (including one on April 20th-April 22nd with my family), after that though, there should be no vacations until September when my family heads to NYC (hopefully they’re driving- we have an I-Pass transponder, so we should have no problems heading down the (new open-road) tolls. If they’re taking a train, I’ll take a pass on this trip.) In-between those vacations I should still be looking for work. Right now I have these problems:

[ul]
[li]Location. Currently I live in Southwest Cook County (I’m not telling the exact location for privacy reasons, but I am near the Pace 330 route), most of the jobs I’ve found are in the north side of Cook County, or on the Northeast side of Illinois near the lake. (Either way, I’m looking at a 3-hour commute one way by bus!) Relocation is not possible in the short term, and depending on a court case, my parents will not support me in finding a house or an apartment on the north side of cook or Illinois, nor in Chicago. (Why, I have no clue. You would think they’d help their son out!)[/li][li]“Reliable Transportation”. AKA, I need a car. My parents won’t assist me in finding a car, they suggest that I take money out of my trust fund my uncle set up for me, but my uncle warns taking money out of the trust fund will impact the fund in general since the fund will lose value if I do. Considering my luck since 2009 (when I started high school)*, I’m no gambling man, so I’ll leave the trust fund intact (or at least until my uncle recommends a good time to take money out of it).[/li][li]Job locations. I haven’t seen many “ladder-starter” jobs as of late, at best I get locations from Romeoville, Vernon Hills, Wisconsin and a few north side locations. Considering my opportunities in 2016, it’s been a struggle.[/li][/ul]

*I’ve always said I’m unlucky. I’ve had no friends, no contacts, no girlfriends, no sex life and no luck gambling on money. I’m not sure how to get on even footing with individuals richer than me (and that would be the middle class with their cars, houses and snootiness), but I don’t want to be 66 years old only to find out I’m where my family is at right now at wages!) I fear taking high risk chances cause I’ve failed on high risk chances many times with no success.

I still have hope. It’s not all as grim as it is, my life could be a lot worse, with smoldering debts, no living and no job training. I’ve got a platform to get me up a ladder, I have no debts and I have living accommodations. Options are all open on the tables. It’s just a matter of figuring out which options.

38

Good that you’re leaving the trust fund alone. Scrape and get by as you can for now. It’ll be hard but you will make it! Then when things get better, add a little to it with each paycheck. No matter how little your regular contributions are, even if only $25 on each pay day (but try for more), Just Do It!

Your ally is time. In time, this fund’s interest compounding will take off. You could easily retire as a multi-millionaire, if now you are in your 20s.

Good luck, and hang tough. Be strong!

39

Let me see if I followed correctly.
Your in your early 20’s, have a trust fund of undisclosed size that you don’t want to access, don’t have a steady job, live with your parents who keep threatening to toss you out because of lack of aforementioned job, don’t have your own wheels, can’t find a local job, can’t get to more distant jobs because of lack of transport, stop looking for jobs to go on vacations with your parents, don’t want to go in debt to get a degree, have a certificate but no job experience or real offers. You don’t or can’t relocate. What is it you want out of this board, or is it just a blog about why your life sucks, as if many here didn’t have the same issues at your age.
My advice? Grab enough of the trust fund to get some wheels to get to a job that you can use to learn to stand on your own as opposed to living the life your parents and uncle are restricting you to. Some debt is not the end of the world. Paying your own way out of current cash receipt ALL the time may be noble but also not always doable.
You want to get on even footing with people richer than you? They most likely have debt.