Sweet. I’ve been using LinkedIn since shortly after I got laid off. I’m not sure how useful it was for finding a job, but I did find a lot of people I had lost touch with over the years.
Speaking of finding a job. I’ve been holding off on my saga until I had one. Today I accepted an offer to work in Austin, TX.
To recap, last November the company I was working for stopped paying me (and everybody else), and gave me my official lay off notice Dec 1. Starting in November, I started applying to Jobs I saw on dice.com. Not much happened, so I went ahead and posted my resume on dice after a couple of weeks. This actually seemed to get an uptick in responses, unfortunately they seemed to be mostly from head hunters.
Got a phone interview which didn’t go very well. Then two phone interviews back to back that resulted in face to face interviews. I posted about that earlier in the thread. Basically I felt uncomfortable at one place that gave me an offer, and I pinged the other place to see if an offer was forthcoming. I was told the engineering “intent” was to hire me. An hour later he called me back and said that “due to current economic conditions” HR wouldn’t let him fill the position. So with a certain amount of trepidation I turned down the other offer.
So with Christmas fast approaching, I got an email from a company in Austin wanting to know if I’d be interested. I said sure, and two days later I had a phone interview. I thought I did well, especially considering it was the most technically in depth interview I’d had, and I would get an occasional “good answer” from the interviewer.
With Christmas in the way, I had to schedule the face to face for last Friday. I got along well with everyone, and again seemed to do well on the technical portions. Today I got the offer, and 45 minutes later I accepted. I actually had another phone interview scheduled (which probably would have been a face to face if I hadn’t indicated that I had another offer on the way). I politely put the guy off telling him why, and he said that he understood and that he expected that with my skill set he could see that I would be in demand. With that bit of ego boost, I can say…
I GOT A JOB
Thanks for everybody’s help, as well as the success stories that kept me going when things were looking bleak.
Congratulations, HelloNinja and Green Eyed Stranger!!
As for me, the interview I had on Thursday went very well. I met with one of the program managers: I was the second person she’d interviewed, and she pretty much told me that I was her first choice – though she had another interview yesterday. Hopefully that person was sullen, illiterate, and smelly. I really liked the job description, too: a mix of corp comms/marcom editing and tech editing for a federal customer. It turns out that the commute would be roughly the same as the one I have now, and it’s a large, new program with an 8-year contract. She said she’s hoping to make a decision by the end of this coming week . . . fingers crossed!
The only downside is that any offer would be contingent on being vetted by the customer – despite my DoD clearance – and apparently that’s a slow process (up to 2 months or longer). In light of that she was glad to hear that I have coverage through 2/20, and she said that if my vetting wasn’t completed by then I could go to the job site and sit and read non-sensitive program materials while I kept waiting. So if the customer were ultimately to reject me I’d be out of a job, but neither my security officer nor I see any reason why I shouldn’t be successfully vetted.
I’m also still waiting to hear from the other program manager I talked to, the guy I had a phone interview with almost 2 weeks ago. He’s waiting for his contract to be awarded, and I heard a rumor that it might happen on Monday. That job is my second choice now, but if the offers came at around the same time it would be nice to have options!
In the meantime my last day on my program will be Monday, then I’m taking Tuesday off (like most folks around here, due to anticipated inauguration madness), and on Wednesday I’ll start the 30 days at my old program.
(P.S.: I use and love LinkedIn, but prefer to only join professionally-related groups. Besides, joining the group would be outing myself! :eek: )
As of Friday, I’ve joined the ranks of the gainfully unemployed, so I’m going to start looking for a new job this week. I haven’t done this in about 10 years, though, so does anyone have any hints or tips? Things I should do or not do?
Well, it looks like I’m coming to the thread a bit late. I found out Thursday that my team was being merged with another and my position eliminated. The transition is expected to take 3 to 4 weeks, and they’re keeping me on until the end of that. So, it’s off to searching I go. As you all know, this sucks.
My bf said he just sent me a LinkedIn invite, so I should have that going in the next couple of days. I was talking about this with one of my vendors, and he said that he’d give my resume to the recruiter for his company, but he doesn’t know if they’re hiring. I talked to a recruiter at my company, and she was …let’s just say less than nice…
Just a thought: Why don’t we post what we do and where we are? That way if people know someone looking for our skills it will be easier to match us up.
Just popped in to wish everyone luck and good job hunting karma, and to post this SF Chronicle article which discusses the ongoing need for skilled biotech workers in the bay area.
Ahem. Hi everyone… my name is Koldanar and I am now amongst the recently-laid-off. I’m wishing everyone well, and good wishes would help me too. Scrambling to find someone to take my apt so I can be let go from my lease and move in with my GF as well as prepping my resume and trying to de-stress the both of us, so this will be a very long week.
Hmmm…interesting article…so why the fuck can’t I get a job in biotech?! I have a BS in biomedical engineering, and am applying to every job i can find that remotely matches my education and experience.
The problem is that despite the apparent need, every HR person/recruiter sticks firmly to their “minimum of ten PhD’s and a billion years experience” requirement. :mad:
Oh my God how have I not found this thread before???
Out of the complete and utter ruin that is my life right now, mostly because of job failures the one that I was hoping for the most just I was just informed is gone.
It was a great job in Chicago (where I want to go) where I could have worked for a travel company (I love travel…) and everything. I called and practically stalked them for over a month and a half…and they finally gave me the big N-O.
The next endeavor is trying to get a copywriting job that I am in no-way qualified for, I haven’t gotten a no yet…but I will…I will…
It sucks so much. I love advertising more than anything I have ever thought about doing, and I would be so good at it, but dammit it’s impossible to get a job in the field if you don’t have experience. I can’t get the damn experience cuz NO ONE WILL HIRE ME!!!
Save from NY, Chicago is like the ad capitol of the states, and I am trying to damndest to get in, but it’s so hard.
Sorry this is complainy, ranty, and overall just too damn long, but I wanted to get this off my chest and I figure here is best…I guess I will just stay a college graduate working an hourly job at Target until I can…sigh…I just don’t know…
The most amusing ads I’ve found are for low-level admin assistants who also need InDesign, Photoshop and other specialized graphics design experience. Oh, yeah, and they’re only paying 24K a year.
When applying to multiple jobs at one company that are identical aside from location (things like sales that have half a dozen listings all over the country,) can I just put them all in my “job cart” and apply with one copy of a resume and cover letter?
In my location and feild just the opposite is happening. I am seeing an increase in job ads, but they all ask for at least 3 years of experience. Even the entry level positions that I could not afford are not hiring.
Some bad news yesterday regarding the position I had the phone interview for: the contract was awarded to another company. Meh. I’m still hopeful about the position I had Thursday’s in-person interview for, which was my first choice anyway, but I’m now into my last 30 days of employment and the stress is totally getting to me. It’s all I can do to keep from climbing the walls while waiting to hear about that job!
In the meantime, I keep applying for any job that seems reasonable (though for now I’m still putting limits on my commute, holding out for a sane one). Two new applications last night and one this afternoon . . . something’s gotta break soon!
Same here! Everyone wants a bachelor’s and 1-3 years of experience. They’d love to have my master’s and 15 years of experience, but they aren’t willing to pay for it!
IME it totally depends on the company. Some places will let you do that, but others will ask you to apply separately to each position.
I’ve never posted in this thread before, but I’ve been reading along and following everyone’s progress. I am currently in school and will graduate with my Master’s degree in May. My field is healthcare, so there are pretty much always going to be jobs out there if you’re not too picky. I AM picky, however–I wanted regular hours, no nightshifts, no holidays, etc. At my current job, the days and hours I work vary month to month based on the whims of my manager, and I could be rotated from days to nights at any point. Most of all, though, I wanted a job where I could use my advanced degree.
I interviewed for a position two weeks ago, and today the company called and offered me the job! I’m so excited! It’s regular, weekday hours, and the pay is almost twice what I’m making now. Most importantly, it sounds like an interesting job that I think I will really enjoy doing.
I just wanted to share my success story. I’m glad to see some of the other posters in this thread are getting offers as well.
I can also share everyone’s frustration with the crappy, vague jobs posted on job-hunting websites. Ugh. I did have a couple headhunters call me after I posted my resume on one site, but when I talked to them they seemed a little miffed that I was only looking in one particular geographic area and therefore wasn’t willing to move 1,000 miles away to find a job. Another headhunter got a little upset when I said I didn’t want to work night shift. Whatever.
The way I look at it is, they are interviewing me and I am interviewing them right back. The main goal of my questions is to make damn sure I can do a good job. In fact I usually say that, which goes over quite well. So the guy knows I’m not trying to bluff my way in. Og forbid I should get the job only to crash & burn. The second goal is to try and make sure I can stand the job, which I generally keep to myself.
Stuff like what the job includes, what tools I will have to get it done, my management and their expectations, my customers and their expectations, the support departments I would be working with, how many hours peak and average, how much travel, etc. I mentally step through the various job duties to come up with questions. I ask their opinion. The answers usually spark more questions, which I capture with rapid notes so I can keep my attention on the conversation. I look for things they want to talk about. I usually run out of time before I run out of questions. A conversation with an HR droid tends to be just a quick qualifications screen and attitude check. Interviews with future co-workers are usually more interesting and informative.
I research the company before I show up. Financial info, products, market position, and recent news. I drop comments or questions from that to let them know I did my homework. I always expect to answer at least these two questions: Why do I think this job would be good for me now and in future developments? And give an example of a past job challenge and how I successfuly handled it. Sometimes phrased as give an example of a failure and what I learned from it. I keep things light and positive and and never, ever bitch about a past employer.
I’m looking for four things: can I do a good job, is the boss a jerk, administrative gridlock that would make my life miserable, and future prospects. I will walk away if there is a show stopper, which gives me a good balance of confidence without arrogance. If I decide the job is a good fit I tell them so. I have an industry-calibrated number in mind to negotiate from just in case.
I really liked the job description, too: a mix of corp comms/marcom editing and tech editing for a federal customer. It turns out that the commute would be roughly the same as the one I have now, and it’s a large, new program with an 8-year contract. She said she’s hoping to make a decision by the end of this coming week . . . fingers crossed!