I know I’m not the only Doper currently looking for a job, and thought maybe there’d be some interest in emulating the dieters and clutter-busters by starting a mutual support group. Things we might do here:
[ul]
[li]Share tips and suggestions[/li][li]Provide accountability for each other[/li][li]Bitch[/li][li]Help each other with resumes and cover letters[/li][/ul]
(Not necessarily in order of importance.)
To expand a bit on the above:
[ul]
[li]The standard advice is out there, and one of the things I need to do is go dig out the book from my last job search, which I found very helpful. I’m thinking more of minor shit, which I don’t even know if it’s standard advice these days. For instance: I just went and created a new Gmail address for the job search, since I know it will turn out to be a spam magnet. Once I get a job, I can just let it sink to the bottom under the weight of the spam.[/li][li]I don’t know about you, but I am a world-class procrastinator. My friends will be checking up on me, but not on a daily basis – I need to create a place where I have to report in every day and say OK, today I have done this, this, and this towards getting a new job. [/li][li]This sucks.[/li][li]I know a lot of people do “help me with my resume” threads in IMHO and elsewhere, and that will probably continue, since the non-job-hunters probably won’t be hanging out here – but we can help each other here as well. For instance, I’m a good editor and I’ve done a fair amount of hiring, so I can be helpful – sometimes! – on how to phrase things, etc. (I’m not a super technical type, so I wouldn’t be too helpful to programmers and folks like that.)[/li][/ul]
And – etc.
Today’s projects:
[ul]
[li]Start working on specific language for updating my resume[/li][li]Continue working on my to-do lists (I’ve got four: looking for new job; mopping up old job; personal (call dentist, etc.); and Home and Garden (projects for while I’ve got time, if not money)[/li][li]Email my old boss – not that I want to go back, god forbid, but she just had two people quit on her and there may be something I can do on a freelance basis[/li][/ul]
Okay, that seems doable. I don’t want to make my daily lists too big and ambitious, because that makes me nuts and I freeze and don’t do anything.
You don’t need to be unemployed to be looking for a job! Of course you’re welcome.
Just wrote the email to my old boss – while I was writing it, it occurred to me that there might actually been some interesting work available, since the main high-end person is going to be going on maternity leave soon. That would be cool, to do something not excruciatingly boring.
I’m in. I’m currently substitute teaching, while looking for stable, sane work.
Just yesterday, I found out one cover letter I was using for an electronic job agent contained at least one typo. Proofread, SLK! :smack: Can we call that a week wasted?
Discouraging, and summer’s coming. There’s more pittance to be earned with the country on educational scraps, but it nothing I really want to be doing.
But at least I’m actually using a liberal arts bachelors degree to earn money in a way that doesn’t involve handing people food.
I might be in the process of changing jobs, and I can offer the following advice: When you plan on updating your resume…don’t overthink it, just go ahead and do it. What I mean by this is: When I was faced with the task of updating my resume, I wasn’t really sure how to go about it the best way. Being somewhat of a procrastinator myself, I kept looking at people’s advice on the internet, changing the language here, changing the layout, changing this, changing that, and I was never really satisfied or convinced that it was in a good shape. But suddenly the new place called and wanted to have it right this moment, and I had to update it in a rush - and surprise! it was OK. (Over here, we have to include a picture with our resume, so I even had to go out and have a professional picture taken in about 2 hours, that was nerve-wracking!)
I know that a lot of my friends have encountered the same problem, dithering, looking at tons of examples on the net, never getting anywhere. And I realized that there is probably a million ways out there to format things, to categorize your life etc. Just pick one that you like and that seems good to you - if it’s clean and well proof-read (which goes without saying, knowing you), it’s as good as any out there.
Wow .a picture included. In America we have to be careful of discrimination,sex,age or color. We pretend we can’t know these things before hand. A picture would make all those rules null.
Sorry to hear about your joblessness…I forget though; what do you do in addition to the magazine?
I’ve been unemployed a few times. The longest was 3 months. One thing I found helpful is to stay busy. In addition to the job search, you should make a conscious effort to limit your TV watching. The list of projects is a great idea, but even if you’re not “project-ing”, you should keep a calendar of stuff that you need or want to do. Visit friends you haven’t had time to visit with. Go to a gallery opening. Try a new restaurant…whatever.
Get dressed every day. Sounds like a no-brainer, but it is a psychological thing that worked for me.
Consider jobs that are unlike anything you’ve ever done before. Some skills transfer to tons of interesting industries. There may be something out there that you’ve never thought of doing before.
As I’ve said in way too many other threads, I’m looking to move diagonally and upwards. I have an interview on Wednesday that’s for TWO branch manager jobs, one of them my Ultimate Dream Job. I’m so nervous I went to the mall and dropped five hundred bucks on work clothes as retail therapy. Five hundred bucks I, of course, completely cannot afford.
On the other hand, however, everybody loves my dress. And the jobs I applied for before I started wearing suits to work I never got interviews for. Coincidence? Possibly not.
In Spain it’s illegal to discriminate by reason of “anything other than ability to do the job once the proper tools are provided,” but at the same time “looking the part” is considered a chunk (sometimes bigger, sometimes smaller) of that ability to do the job. But really, anyone who is surprised when a candidate named María turns out to have a girly voice on the phone needs to switch coffee brands… (it’s happened to me, several times).
Currently not looking, just letting you guys I’ll be cheering from the sidelines.
What did you buy? Details, please. That is one area that I am very deficient. I love jeans! I hate dressy clothes. Hate.
I graduate (B.S. in Geology, and a minor in GIS/Cartography) this December and I will be looking for a real job. My resume is in serious need of updating, too, but I am honestly thinking about hiring someone. I have a hard time selling myself.
I’m looking for a job, I guess. I’m graduating next week, I only know I don’t want to remain in academia, and I have absolutely no idea what I want to do for a career. The whole thing is too depressing to think about, so I’ve got a few smaller freelance jobs that’ll keep us afloat for awhile while i try to figure out what I’m doing.
It’s weird though, not being anything in particular.
Brujaja – my skills are in writing and editing, so that’s where I’ll start looking – though my substantial “analytical and organizational skills” are way generalizable. The fact that I got to use my skills in a gardening magazine for the last two years was just gravy – I don’t expect to be able to stay with that specifically, though I’ll be talking to some of the other players in the garden mag biz. (Thanks to the Dopers who have emailed me with specific recommendations, insider info, and names of contacts.)
Kalhoun – good advice, all of it. Keeping the TV off, especially! As far as “what I do aside from the magazine,” I’m not sure I understand the question.
Einmon – agree about not over-agonizing about the resume. The one I used two years ago was pretty good – I just need to figure out how to most effectively summarize what I’ve been doing for the last two years, and make sure I don’t leave out any major elements of it.
pepperlandgirl – know what you mean about not knowing what to do after graduating – I just worked minimum wage jobs for two years between college and grad school – can’t recommend that, esp. in this economy. (I did it many, many, many years ago.) Is there a career office at your school that can help you get a little more focused?
For some reason I thought you did a full time job of some sort and the magazine was an additional gig that you started or co-owned – something you couldn’t “lose” but were not doing that exclusively. Don’t mind me…the senior moments have been just flowing lately.
The sad thing is, I’m graduating with my Masters (in British & American Literature), and I don’t know what the hell I’m doing or where I’m going. I have a feeling that makes it 100x worse. In my defense, I fully intended to continue and get my PhD, but then I realized that if I went that route, I’d kill myself. No lie.
It doesn’t help that I’ve got a bunch of freelance web design projects I have been working on, so I spend time working on that (which helps me keep my mind off of my misery) then I am too drained (or too… depressed) to do the job hunting. So I just say I’ll do it tomorrow… wash, rinse, and repeat…
Well, I’m living proof that going that route doesn’t necessarily result in a job, so you may as well get out while the getting’s good.
I’ve posted on the academic job seeking thread, but alas, no news yet – I had two phone interviews on Friday (brain was pretty much fried for the second one), and another coming up on Wednesday (I will be taking the call in the airport, on my way to yet another interview). But at this point, I’m so burnt out on the whole process that I’m not expecting anything to come of any of them.
I think I may have an adjunct position lined up for the summer, but even that is not a done deal.
Testify, Fretful! Pepperlandgirl, don’t do it! Aiee! (the sound of over-educated unemployment)
Hey, Fretful, still having interviews? That sounds like a lot of action. It might not be over! You’re in better shape than I am, anyway.
I’ve just picked up a book called “So What Are You Going to do With That?”–on alternative careers outside academia. Perhaps it will help rearrange my brain. . . Meanwhile I’ve been chopping my c.v. down into a resume to try to see if I can find something in publishing. Aiagh! Why, no, I don’t know how to use InDesign! Funny you should ask! I have picked up some part time freelance editing for a website-- a bit sad, really, but kind of fun.
I’m still in the shell shocked stage of just recently accepting that my chosen career might not be happening, and still in the "what the fuck am I doing now?"stage of things.
And the jobs I applied for before I started wearing suits to work I never got interviews for. Coincidence? Possibly not.