Job Search Help

[slubberdegullion]

I got this email from a friend of mine the other day, and with her permission I'm posting it here (though any identifying info has been changed or deleted):

 

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Hi Slubber,

 

Good to talk to u again. Your right, Young Frankenstin is old but a really funny movie.

 

I hear ya about never giving up, but I'm pretty much at the end of my rope. I just cant figure it out. I'm smart, at least people tell me that, Ive got a Masters degree, I do all the right things and interviews go ok. But i've been looking for a job for a long time, over a year now, sent out over 500 resumes, had a couple of dozen interviews, but not one offer. Im almost out of money. Even retail stores dont want me becuz they say that I will take off as soon as I get another job in my field, but employers in my field dont want me becuz they say that I havnt got enuf experince.

 

Ive contacted all my friends, family and everyone else I know. They all know my situation and Ive had a couple of interviews thru them, but nothing has happened yet.

 

Its just sooooo hard, I dont know what to do anymore. I cry myself to sleep almost every night because it seems that nobody wants me. But Ill do a good job!!!

 

Sorry, i just needed to vent a little bit. My spellings bad, sorry.

 

See you l8r 2nite.

 

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OK, so who has any suggestions for my young friend?

[ReluctantRomeo]

OK, so who has any suggestions for my young friend?

 

What kind of work is she looking for? And in which country? Canada, I suppose?

[slubberdegullion]

Yes, she's in Ontario. She's been an admin assistant, and she worked retail for a long time but doesn't want to go back to it. (I don't blame her, I did retail as well and hated it.) Her background includes desktop publishing for magazines and newspapers, and she's got a vast array of computer programs that she's quite comfortable with.

[Outcast]

What is she like in person? How does she come off? Is it possble that she's blowing interviews for some reason?

 

Tell her to sign up with temp agencies - as many as will take her - and avail herself of any of the free training they offer. Also tell her to accept temp jobs and not insist on permanent. Lots of people get permanent jobs that way.

 

Also tell her to go to HRDC; they have resources to help individuals with their resumes, with interview skills, etc.

[ReluctantRomeo]

Also tell her to go to HRDC; they have resources to help individuals with their resumes, with interview skills, etc.

 

Are you Canadian?

[slubberdegullion]

What is she like in person?

Attractive - not a stunner, but certainly not repulsive - intelligent, maybe a little arrogant but she does have the smarts to back it up...

How does she come off?

I know her as a friend, but we've never worked together, so she's likely different when we're together than when she's working. But from what I've seen, she comes off as highly capable and very smart.

Is it possble that she's blowing interviews for some reason?

Possibly, but I haven't seen her perform in an interview so that's pretty hard to say.

[littlekitty]

The only suggestion I can make is to break it all down and check each and every point at which she might be failing.

 

1) Review the CV. If the same one's been going out for a year, update it, freshen it up, so that if someone who's seen it before, see's it again, they can see it's new/updated. She's going to need to come with some good time filling bits and pieces for the last year she's been out of work too. The longer you're out, the harder it seems to be to get back.

 

2) Have someone run through her interview techniques with her. Do fake interviews or something. Make sure she's coming off right and not making a mistake there.

 

3) I can understand the retailers point of view, so if she can get that type of work for now, fine.

 

But I'd think it's best to concentrate on the type of roles she is suitable for. If she's already been in Admin Assis why has she not got enough experience for this role? Is she going for a job too high up? What is the exact issue?

 

If you have experience, say at least a year in the role previously that should be plenty... so she's obviously going for something too high up the ladder or out of her league in some way. Get realistic about what roles she is ready for. If she really does need more experience, try temp or volunteer work in the meantime to help gain the additional experience she needs, these can definately lead to permanent work, I've seen this happen.

 

4) Check how she's dressing for interviews? Is it appropriate?

 

5) Give her some reassurance. It's hard being in that situation, the only thing to do is to keep plugging away at it.

 

My 2 cents...!

[Outcast]

Are you Canadian?

 

I'm just an expert researcher

 

Attractive - not a stunner, but certainly not repulsive - intelligent, maybe a little arrogant but she does have the smarts to back it up...

 

Well I did't mean her datability

[HokeyReligions]

Have her contact the people she interviewed with and ask them to be candid with her and tell her why she wasn't selected.

 

Then she will know what areas need improvement. Also, check her references - you can do that by calling as a prospective employer. Perhaps someone is giving her a bad verbal reference. I had that happen to me - someone who told me that they would give me an excellent reference - hugged me goodbye when I was laid off and I never had a problem with (or so I thought) ended up giving me a horrible reference! I had someone from an agency call my references and came back and told me this woman absolutly blasted me. I contacted the company with the information and demanded that they back up her statements. The company of course could not do that and this so-called 'good' reference got in a lot of trouble. She cost me a good job though.