Telephone interview imminent! Wish me luck.
Woohoo! Sending lucky thoughts your way!
Sir T-Cups, I also work in advertising in Chicago and just recently found a position after over four months of unemployment. It’s a rough industry to be in right now, especially in this town.
If you don’t mind me asking, what area of the industry do you work in? I’m a media buyer myself, but I know a lot of people in the industry and can keep an ear open for anything that sounds like it would suit you if you’d like.
Twickster thanks for your concern, but I’ve moved past the sorrow stage, now I’m firmly into Anger, anger at the incompetent management/owner
I’ve been applying to a bunch of online job postings, and have set up accounts in the job search engines, I KNOW this will be a minor setback and I will find another job, hopefully I can get back with Small Dog Electronics, as they’re a great employer, and Don Mayer is the most levelheaded boss/owner I’ve worked for, I also applied at the Salem, NH Apple Store, it’s a bit of a drive ('bout an hour commute) but I did it back when I worked for Computer Town and it was no big deal then
Apparently, Smalldog is planning on opening stores in my local area sometime in the near future, it would be nice if I ended up working for one of the direct competitors of MacEdge, either Smalldog or Apple Retail…
Hello Ninja, Thanks so much for the response!! My dream title would be a copywriter. I am a very creative person with great ideas, and I also feel that I am a good writer to boot, so my ultimate title would be a copywriter.
Since copywriting is so hard to break in to I am fine with looking at other positions to get “my foot in the door” (I hate that phrase…) and then I can maybe make a lateral move to the creative department.
Two things greatly hinder me though. I am not working in any field like that now, I am a fresh college grad who simply can’t find a job, so I am working for a paycheck until I can get something more. All of the samples I send in are all school projects, which were graded by former ad execs and such, but they’re not “real”. Another thing that hinders me is I want to work in Chicago, but I live in Indianapolis. I just don’t have the money to move to Chicago without a job. I can move there if I would get a job, but I just don’t have enough money to sustain myself without a job in line.
Last but not least…Other things I would be interested in are mostly forms of marketing, but if I can I would like to avoid direct sales. Selling ideas is fine with me, but the sales people I knew at school were just money hungry wolves, and I don’t see that in myself. But marketing, idea generation, writing, anything creative is right up my ally and I would be glad to do it!
Thanks for the reply and keeping your ear open for me!!!
Good. But please promise me that if your thoughts start drifting back in that direction, you’ll talk to someone.
Seriously – promise. Please.
Update: Had a phone interview today that I got through a recruiter who scared the bejezus out of me over how hard the interview was going to be. I’m not all that interested in the job, but the interview went well, not a slam dunk, but much better than my last one. Also found a posting listed today that’s right up my alley and I’ve e-mailed my resume to a friend in the company and in the department I’m looking at. I’ve also been hounding friends and colleagues for leads and have two people working on leads for me right now. Plus I sent out two resumes yesterday for quasi-dream jobs. So, for this week, I’m feeling optimistic. Next week will likely be a different story… 
At the risk of repeating myself: Don’t underestimate the value of working “for free” for a charitable or volunteer organization, if your schedule allows. Big Brothers/Big Sisters, United Way, your local symphony, Habitat for Humanity, etc. etc. – at the local level, one of them would be absolutely delighted to have someone who was willing to help put out a newsletter, or copy-edit their promo materials. Not only is it a true service – “the work of the Lord,” as my grandmother would say – it looks good on a resume AND it allows you to build relevant experience for the field you’re trying to break into.
ETA: This is especially handy for new college grads who never have a ton of experience. And it makes you look all motivated and civic and shit, which is also good for the rez.
They worked! I have a second interview on Tuesday!
Another woohoo! What the heck, it is Friday. One more: Woohoo!!!
More lucky thoughts for Tuesday’s meeting.
Yay! **fingers crossed. metaphorically, of course, it’s too hard to type otherwise. **
I’ve been out of the job search market for at least 3 years, I know the economy sucks, but is the job search process supposed to be this disheartening and annoying, or am I expecting too much
in my mind, I should just pick up a new job right away, and it annoys me that I haven’t heard anything from any of my prospective apps yet, yes I know it’s only been one day so far, but i’m still panicking here, getting more depressed and disheartened by the minute, I had to stifle the urge to go back to MacEdge and just verbally lay into them, but that wouldn’t work in my favor if things turn around
I’m pretty sure I could go out and get a job tomorrow, there’s a local place that’s hiring, $10/hr plus commisions, full benefits, flexible scheduling, and it’s literally less than five miles from home, I could bicycle to work during spring/summer/fall
the downsides;
1; my Apple certifications are close to lapsing (I have to re-test yearly, and I need to work for an Apple Authorized location to use the self-paced online study/training/review materials), if I don’t re up by April, my certs go bye-bye 
and those certs are neccesary to order parts for repairs, if I take this job, and eventually find a better job back repairing Macs, I’ll have to certify all over again from scratch
2; it’s grunt work, a simple pay-the-bills job, not even close to a career, anyone with a pulse can do it, all my repair knowledge will stagnate
I have applied to the Apple store in Salem NH, as well as Small Dog Electronics in Waitsfield Vermont amongst other jobs, some in the computer field, some not, I’m just really impatient, I WANT a call from either Apple or Smalldog offering me a job tomorrow, dammit…
I know, I know, calm down, stop panicking, I’ll find something, even though I’m tempted to take the grunt job just to tide me over until I get something better, $10/hr is better than $0/hr…
Ya know Jodi, I have more and more people tell me about volunteer services and such.
It must be a pretty good thing to get in to since so many people seem to be bringing it up…it will definitely give me something to do my next day off!!!
To add to what Jodi said about volunteering, working for a local organization is also a good way to network and find a job, or the organization itself may hire you if a staff position opens up. You’ll have proven your worth and known personally, so you’re miles ahead of a faceless resume.
Robin
MacTech – even if the economy didn’t suck, it would take more than one day to find a new job.
Your posts truly concern me – consider finding someone to talk to. Please.
Recruiter here to give some friendly advice.
I also fourth - tenth? nth? - the suggestion of volunteering and also taking on jobs now that are not in your field, to at least be working while you’re finding something more permanent.
All of our clients are really picky about the candidates and it’s hard to market our own candidates to them just because they know they have the upper hand with so many people out of work and so many other staffing firms full of qualified candidates.
In fact, we had a hard-fill position come up recently where we sent in 8 fully qualifed candidates who had the experience and skill sets that were required to a T. The client came back to us and said they were going to pass on all of them. No real reason. Just “they don’t seem like they would be a good fit”. We’re pretty sure they didn’t read the candidates’ portfolios that we put together for each of them. We’ve worked with this client for years and we know what type of personality and work ethic would work well there. Nope.
So you see, it’s hard on all sides. Anything to keep your busy, anything to make you stand out (in a positive way) would be good. There are thousands of people out there with the exact type of work experience those job postings are requiring, but they’re not getting called on for even an interview. It’s now time to step your game up and differentiate yourself somehow.
That’s how I got my position. I was a recent grad with honestly little applicable experience for the office setting. So I thought why not apply with a staffing firm to get temp work while I try to find a more permanent position on my own. The person who interviewed me and referred me for the internal position told me that the only reason she was referring me was because of my volunteer experience. I started out as a regular volunteer, then was promoted to oversee a department of other volunteers. I also managed a budget of $15,000. She said that showed responsibility and that I’m willing to step and take initiative. Because hell, it’s volunteer, why should I do any of it since I’m not getting paid?
Since then, I’ve been promoted twice within my organization and now I’m the Vice-Chairwoman who oversees a staff of 200 people with a budget of over $250,000. I’m still not getting paid, but I’m gaining some diverse experience and I’m meeting some great people who I can network with if I get laid off. Win-win it seems to me!
So get out there and volunteer or get a part-time job or something. Sure, these experiences may not be in your field, but it beats sitting at home moping! And you get to meet some really great people and apply your skills. You can even gain some valuable skills by volunteering!
Good luck everyone!
Glad to see I’m not the only one growing frustrated and disheartened. Going on close to two years unemployed. May of ‘07 I quit my job because it was an insanely high stress level job and there was no way of reducing that stress. It had gotten to the point where I was having panic attacks every morning at the thought of going to work. So I said forget it. Decided to take a month or two of ‘me’ time and had some fun, did some traveling with my boyfriend and had a good ol’ time.
Well then found out I was pregnant. Not only that, a high risk pregnancy. I was told it would be best not to go back to work if I could at all do that. So I moved in with my parents and waited it out. I have my daughter and since I’m pretty ‘stable’ (living with my parents), I decide to spend the first six months with her. About November I decide it’s time to get looking.
It’s January now and nothing. There’s hardly any jobs available that I’m qualified for. The ones I do apply for, I never hear from. In all this time I’ve gotten one interview. At Petco…and obviously I didn’t get it. It’s so frustrating because I just know the nearly two year stint of unemployment is really hurting me and there’s nothing I can do about it.
All I can do is keep trying…
I’m leaving for my interview now. Wish me luck!
And I’m back. The interview went very well indeed, but my security clearance may have lapsed. Fingers tightly crossed!
Good luck Quartz. Even if it lapsed, isn’t it easier to get it reinstated than it is to get it in the first place?