A little too tipsy right now to elucidate...but I think I've already bored you all to tears on my job situation...so....
I'm doing all the "normal" things.
In what ways have you gotten jobs other than the usual?
Thanks,
R
Creative Ways in Which You Have Gotten A Job
by berylblue 26 Replies latest jw experiences
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SM62
R,
I have read a book where people have sent cardboard cut-outs of themselves, product samples, CVs on balloons etc etc. These are all very well and extremely gimmicky, but to be honest, the only way to get a job is to apply for every vacancy you think you can fill. Don't apply for one job and wait to see if you have an interview. Apply for as many as you can and go to as many interviews as possible. I read in a job-hunting manual that you need to apply for up to 40 jobs before you get the right one (mind you - this is applied to the UK in 2003 - it may be different in your area) Maybe you need to look at different types of work - have you considered changing your line of work? I know how demoralising it is when you are going to interview after interview, but the important thing is not to give up.
Are you looking for a new job or just considering a change? What line of work are you in?
Terri
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maybesbabies
Back in my fast-food job days, I used to work at Pizza Hut. I worked there for two years, and at the time it seemed like the best job I ever had. One day I got in a fight with my manager and quit. I had just quit smoking that day, and couldn't handle it anymore, so in a fit I ran across the street to the Chevron to get a pack of smokes. I knew the clerk there, and told here what had happened, and that I didn't know how I was going to make it without a job. We chatted for a while, and then I sat outside and had a cigarette. A few minutes later, the manager came out and hired me on the spot! She later became a good friend of mine, and helped me leave my abusive husband and move out of state! I guess it wasn't something unusual that I did per se, but the circumstances were.
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iiz2cool
Some years back I was unemployed and in the unemployment office. I found a job posting there that seemed to be a perfect fit, yet when I spoke to the job counsellor about it she discovered the position was filled and refused to give me any contact information for the employer.
I got a bit angry at this, so I snatched up her file on the employer and walked out of the office with it. I went straight to see the employer, told him what my skills were, and explained that he needed me whether he realized it or not. I guess he was a bit surprised at my approach, but told me I could start the following Monday.
Walter
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Lady Lee
I just seem to have developed this habit of making my own businesses - working on business #4 now
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kyria
I think in general, you just have to be lucky and catch the HR person on a good day!
However, I once wrote a really unconventional cover letter in which I said that I couldn't take filing papers all day anymore and I really just wanted a chance to be the creative person I knew I could be. I sent it out to a bunch of places... most ignored it... one didn't. I got hired!
It worked out for the best, because the kind of place you want to work at is the kind of place that will respond to a cover letter like that.
Once I drew a cartoon of myself applying for a job by hanging on a bungee cord outside the office window holding a sign that said "Hire Me". The jerk hung the picture up behind his desk (I knew someone that worked there) and then never hired me! So who knows. All these places SAY they want independent creative people, but they really just want business-casual drones that won't make waves.
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Mindchild
I hope this doesn't come across the wrong way...but I've never had a hard time finding a job when I wanted one. It is not that I'm superman but I learned a few secrets about jobs...having had so many of them when I was younger, and having set up businesses and corporations later in my life.
First....think outside of the box. If you use the want ads to try to find a job, there is going to be hundreds if not thousands of others there trying to get the same damn job. If you have better qualifications than anyone else, cool go for it, if not you would be better off looking somewhere else.
Second...look at yourself critically and ask yourself honestly...would you hire you if you were applying for the job? What can you offer someone? Why are you worth the money? I've often made myself jobs by doing research on the type of companies I wanted to work for and called them beforehand to find out how well the business was doing. I would put together a pitch and a customized resume and strut in there and do myself, and 5/10 times get the job on the spot.
Third...ask yourself, do you really want a job flipping burgers, cleaning toilets, or just plain general labor? What do you really want to do? I have often gotten jobs with ZERO experience because I wanted to learn a new occupation. For example, I wanted to be a truck driver once and walked into the office of Shell Oil Company and told them I was there to work. The owner looked at me and said, "I have an 18 wheeler sitting outside full of gas. You think you can drive that thing?" I replied 'I don't see why not." He threw me the keys and told me the route was on the passenger seat. Now, at the time I hadn't even drove anything bigger than a pickup truck...but dammit I wanted this job. So, I got the owner's manual out of the glove box and read it on the spot, for how to shift the gears....and off I went. Never got in a wreck either, LOL. My point is, you can do what you want to do if you apply yourself and have some courage.
Fourth, if you are really smart, instead of thinking forever about what kind of job you can get, go blow $18 and get a copy of Robert Kiyosaki's book "Retire Young Retire Rich" When you read this, you will find out why working for a living is a piss poor strategy and never gets you ahead. Yes, there is a better way.
Kind Regards,
Skipper
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berylblue
btt
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simplesally
I wanted to be a salesperson at a car dealership and they kept telling me I didn't know "the system" but I kept going back. Finally, I got an interview, but the sales manager kept answering the phone and letting people interrupt with stupid questions. I got out my wallet and slammed a credit card on his desk and told him "I may not have a job or any money but damn-it, I have credit cards! And if I have to take you to lunch to get the time I deserve, I will!" ....... I got the job and almost 20 years later he is still my friend and I am still in the business.
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SanFranciscoJim
While living in the Virgin Islands, I lost my job and most of my possessions courtesy of Hurricane Hugo. After relocating to the U.S. mainland, I thought that getting a job would be a breeze with my management background. I went on interview after interview, only to be confronted with a word I'd never heard before: "overqualified".
I ended up at the local welfare office applying for government assistance and food stamps. While I was there, I got into a conversation with the front desk receptionist about various federally funded programs available for survivors of natural disasters. Apparently, the office manager overheard the conversation. When I was taken to the interview room by the eligibility worker to see if I qualified for assistance, she handed me a job application which she said had been handed to her by the office manager. I thought it was a ploy to see if I really wanted to work, or if I was one of those lazy bums mooching off the system. I filled it out as a joke.
The next morning, I received a call from the office manager asking me when I could start. For the next several years, I worked for the welfare department as an intake counselor!