What Does It Take To Get A Job?

[Provost Harrison]

Well I don't have much faith in much to be honest with you. Perhaps I should give up and become a dishwasher or professional bum.

[MikeH]

Don't give up.

Do some work on your CV - find someone to ask about it if you possibly can!

Be proactive about jobs, don't just send out applications get out there and either meet people or call people. get put through to their HR department and ask them "Hi, I'm looking for a job doing such and such, are you likely to have any vacancies in the near future..."

Don't trust recruitment agencies, they are often completely useless.

Use the Job Centre, it's better than you imagine for decent jobs and they will help you if you give them a chance. I got my job through the Job Centre!!!

If you are being half hearted about it and thinking you'll fail you will fail or end up with a crappy job. It's hard work but what else have you got to do at the moment? And how much better will you feel when you have a job?

Good luck!

ps. I hate the word proactive as much as anyone. I hate myself for using it.

[MOBIUS]

You really should listen to MikeH, can't really think of much else to add...

It does sound like you're beating yourself before you start. That means having a pristine CV that reads well, isn't overly long etc... It's your calling card and needs to set you apart from the competition in a positive way.

Are you just emailing them in or posting them the old fashioned way? These days with me it's email or nothing. Then you need a seperate covering letter for each job which is, if possible, personally addressed to the recipient. Remember to check up the company on their Website or Hoovers.com etc, and drop something 'knowledgable' in. Then there's the follow up call, some places stop looking at CV's after they've got a bunch - you need to make sure they look at yours, that means a phone call (Have a script, or series of scripts - the amount of times I used to get tongue tied because I forgot something was amazing! Also remember to fill it with keywords, as if it's on a database they'll mine them for those...

Have you tried job search/databases such as monster? If you put your CV on those, they might be beating a door to you! Remember those keywords!

Let's see if we can increase your application to interview ratio - remember lack of confidence can also be apparent in the written word!

There, not much to it!

Good luck!

[drake]

You need to clip a picture of your mug in with your resume...all you need to do is catch one fine ladies eye and you're in there big guy!

[MikeH]

I got a PM from boddies about your CV.

If you want to send it to me I'll have a quick look at it for you? Might be able to help. I haven't got much time before I go to NZ on Saturday though so it'd have to be a quick look only I'm afraid.

[rah]

If it's for an IT position, I'll offer the same. Lord knows I have to look at hundreds of them every year.

[Lincoln]

This might be the time to think about a major life change. Sometimes disappointments like this are simply opportunities for an entirely new field. My father for example used to manage a gas station but he found he had an aptitude for accounting. This happened after Standard Oil tried to jack all of their older employees around by the use of various dirty tricks.

I suggest that you think about something more daring and exciting completely out of your field of education. There are many possiibilities and openings for teaching English throughout the world for example.

[Boris Godunov]

GAAAAAAH!!!!! PH shirtless! GAAAAAAAAHH!!!!!

Hey...

Wait a sec...

That did it!

I'm now straight!

*grabs crotch and spits on sidewalk*

[drake]

Don't feel bad Provost...Boris's shirtless visits to the beach have turned many a straight girl gay too

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by drake
Don't feel bad Provost...Boris's shirtless visits to the beach have turned many a straight girl gay too

*ahem*

I posted my shirtless pic in another thread, and I am quite the studmuffin, thank you very much!

[Kaak]

move to texas and work for dell

[SuperSneak]

The way I see it, you have two options:

1) Take all that free time you have to sit around naked with your headphones on and start building a time machine! When it is complete, go back to the time right before you quit your job and don't quit!

2) Post your CV here and have us all mercilessly rip it to shreds, but you'll emerge a better candidate.
In fact, someone should start a thread about that and we can all post our resumes, 'cause I sure the hell could use some ruthless advice on mine.

[Provost Harrison]

So you want to see my CV?

OK then...

[Provost Harrison]

Hey Mike, I have found this out. Actually the jobcentre has been a very useful source of leads, agencies seem gormless, and the best publications are New Scientist.

However I am of the thought that Lincoln has at the moment, there seem to be quite a few teaching English abroad positions which look pretty cool. I was hoping to pay off any debts and ****, at least control them (student loan can wait, but sort out car loan and overdraft), before I looked at doing anything like that, but it is damn tempting...but yeah, I am trying to figure out other career areas, but I am very uncertain. I was trying to get my feet on the ground before investigating anything like that, but it looks like I may be pushed into that kind of analysis sooner than I thought.

[SuperSneak]

Right off the bat (and I don't know if standard format is different over there) you have your education listed before your job experience. This just screams "newbie" to me. I want to know what you've done in the workplace and what your potential as an employee is. All of my applicants have been to school (I'd hope) so that doesn't make you special.
Get them to at least see that you've held a job first, then when they scan down to education, they should be even more impressed. Follow a neutral with a positive (neutral being limited experience) rather than the other way around.
I'll look at it more, but the English spelling is making my head hurt right now.
I think you have the components, but need to trim down some of the desperation and re-arrange some things.