I should probably acquire some sort of job skill

[Dinner]

Elok needs a government job.

[Al B. Sure!]

Elok needs a government job.

Go Army

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

After graduating from university, I applied for a 6 month short term contract contract as an administrator in for a bank- basic office work to pay off my overdraft. It was easy work, and I made myself useful. They offered me a permanent job, and I took it. They sponsored me to take a professional qualification and three years later I was a manager. I then moved into training work for them, designing training courses. Then I transferred to their pensions area, took another qualification, and I'm now a Risk Analyst. It's interesting work that pays well.

[DaShi]

I apply. They don't even call me. Reject me instantly via automated e-mail.

I had a phone interview with Vanguard once but it didn't get past that stage.

Then it sounds like you are doing something wrong. Consider having your resume and cover letter looked at by a professional.

[DinoDoc]

Elok needs a government job.

That is where people without any discernible skill set tend to end up.

[Al B. Sure!]

Then it sounds like you are doing something wrong. Consider having your resume and cover letter looked at by a professional.

Cover letter would be tricky since I usually would make a unique one for each job I applied to... although I am not very confident that I was writing them appropriately.

[DaShi]

Probably not.

[Asher]

Post your resume and cover letter.

[Darius871]

Post your resume and cover letter.

[Elok]

Elok needs a government job.

No, for two reasons. First, Elok has already had several months' experience with the Feds, and that's all the experience he wants. It's a giant tower of bull**** held together by dental floss that gets hastily retied every five minutes when its thousands of workers scramble to avert the latest emergency that should have been seen and prevented two months before but wasn't, thanks to regulations. If I join the Federal government now, I'll have a heart attack and/or stroke within ten years, five if I get promoted to management.

And secondly, I can't get a government job because USAjobs is a brick wall. That's how I know the problem isn't confined to the Census Bureau. That, and my dad, who's a retired federal employee and thinks I should pursue that option. I generally stress the second difficulty over the first when explaining why I'm avoiding the Feds, since that's more palatable to him. He allows that it's pretty much the most bass-ackwards place on earth, but doesn't seem to think that's a problem.

Anyway, the wife suggested bookkeeping, and that has a certain appeal to me. There's a weird zen to making numbers match up. Plus my supervisor can get me access to a QuickBooks tutorial. Really, though, I'm still partly paralyzed by the number of options.

[Al B. Sure!]

No, for two reasons. First, Elok has already had several months' experience with the Feds, and that's all the experience he wants. It's a giant tower of bull**** held together by dental floss that gets hastily retied every five minutes when its thousands of workers scramble to avert the latest emergency that should have been seen and prevented two months before but wasn't, thanks to regulations. If I join the Federal government now, I'll have a heart attack and/or stroke within ten years, five if I get promoted to management.

And secondly, I can't get a government job because USAjobs is a brick wall. That's how I know the problem isn't confined to the Census Bureau. That, and my dad, who's a retired federal employee and thinks I should pursue that option. I generally stress the second difficulty over the first when explaining why I'm avoiding the Feds, since that's more palatable to him. He allows that it's pretty much the most bass-ackwards place on earth, but doesn't seem to think that's a problem.

Anyway, the wife suggested bookkeeping, and that has a certain appeal to me. There's a weird zen to making numbers match up. Plus my supervisor can get me access to a QuickBooks tutorial. Really, though, I'm still partly paralyzed by the number of options.

Can you do bookkeeping without an accounting degree?

I ask because apparently you need a secretarial degree to me an administrative assistant and well, accounting is more complex than just making numbers match...

[Elok]

...WTF is a "secretarial degree?" Anyway, bookkeeping and accounting are two separate things, though I don't know the exact distinction myself. My wife's sister-in-law is a bookkeeper, I might just pick her brain.

EDIT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bookkeeping

See the bit at the start: apparently, a bookkeeper assembles the raw data which the accountant then crunches further for a final report of expenditures.

[Al B. Sure!]

Elok:

"Certification from an accredited secretarial school" is needed for an administrative assistant position.

[Al B. Sure!]

and bookkeeping sounds even more boring and unfulfilling than accounting

And it sounds like what managers in the food service industry have to do everyday as well as everything else... doesn't sound like much of a job, especially not one that will put you on the fast-track of career advancement.

I always had to record the day's transactions, handle deposits, record (as well as actually project/order) purchases such as inventory or office supplies, etc. That was just what I would do during slow times on my shift when I wasn't monitoring the floor, or in the case of Checkers, working the sandwich counter.

[Elok]

XPost

Not for any of the literally dozens of openings I've looked at.

Bear in mind that you're not an Aspie. Orderliness has a deep, abiding appeal to me. Plus bookkeepers have better job security than administrative assistants, I understand the pay is better, and you don't get treated like a miscellaneous gofer by the boss. Perhaps the best part is that a bookkeeping position might insulate me from office drama, which I positively loathe. Nobody gossips to, or about, the bookkeeper. He's part of the furniture.

Also, when I was a pizza drone, the store manager just collected receipts and did inventory, and gave it all to the bookkeeper/accountant. She then balanced the books for that restaurant and two others, made sure everybody got paid. Hers was not a "sexy" job, but nobody bothered her because she controlled the money. Those restaurants were run by morons, so I don't envy her, but she didn't have to take bull**** over missing salad dressing and other nonsense, and if she's gone now I bet it was her decision.