Well I may not be afraid to ask this, but it is certainly relevant in a day like today.How do you get your job?I first came to this site as a kid and since grew up. I have gone on to receive both my undergraduate degrees and graduate degrees and I consider that a great feet to accomplish. However, I only went to grad school because I couldn't find a job. Now several months out of grad school I only have a slightly above minimum wage job working in a call center. I have been consistently (and by that I mean daily) applying to jobs since January 2009, and have yet to have a single interview. My resume is great with several internships and jobs to pay the bills, I have a great education from really good schools. Yet NOTHING! I really want to be a career man.So what do you do and how did you do it? Is there a trick?For those of you who are in the position to hire others, what do you look for in a resume?FYI. Degree is in Communications and have an MBA.
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How did you do it?
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All too often, unfortunately, it is whom you know rather than what you know. If you know anyone with any influence in their workplace (i.e. anyone higher than cleaner), let them know you are looking for a better job.I did get my first interviews on résumé (plus covering letter) alone, but that was a long time ago. There may perhaps be something not quite right with yours - perhaps there is some bad spelling (e.g. 'feet' for 'feat'), or naïve wording. Perhaps you have not sufficiently talked up your experience, stressing what responsibilities you have handled, both in employment and in other activities. Don't forget to include anything that shows dedication or ability to make decisions, including membership of clubs, sporting teams, etc - but how much better if you were on the Committee, or did refereeing, or were Treasurer, or something like that. (Being involved here ought to be a plus, but I suspect employers look down on internet stuff unless you make money from it, so I think it needs to be real-life activities.) Employers expect you to talk up your experience, so if you don't say much about it they will assume you didn't do much - or, worse, that you are incapable of talking things up.Let me be frank - most people who get to positions of power did so through lying, and they distrust humility and honesty.It would be a good idea to show your résumé to a few people of experience and see what they say about it.Don't forget the importance of the covering letter (or the equivalent online document). You need to show how your experience and qualities makes you just what they are looking for. You should show that you tick all their selection criteria boxes with triple ticks, but also that you have additional skills that will make you even better; that you are articulate and resourceful and hard-working and dedicated and energetic and so on.
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Originally Posted By: Ineligible
All too often, unfortunately, it is whom you know rather than what you know.
Yup. I had my girlfriend sleep with half the administration in my college to get my job! :grin: -
I think mine was part luck and part having a penis. Seriously. Sometimes being a man is an advantage! I got my masters in May 2006 and about 4 months before that I sent out one resume to the one agency I wanted to work for. My goal was to move back home to Mayberry. The specific program I applied to wasn't hiring but they asked if they could forward the resume to a similar program that was. The lady that interviewed and hired was in another town didn't know my family or anything. So I did the interview and got the job. I say part of it was luck because it was just a matter of applying at the time there was a need. And there aren't a boatload of people with the right degree applying to work in Mayberry.I also say part of it was being male because there are so few of us in this field. Male Therapists who actually want to have teenage clients are rare and most programs want them. So that helped.Four years later I absolutely hate the agency and can't wait to get out! So maybe I wasn't so lucky...
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Originally Posted By: bobaliciousYup. I had my girlfriend sleep with half the administration in my college to get my job! And you slept with the other half, right?
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The resume got me in the door but I think a lot of mine is a show of confidence that I could do the job and that I could out preform any other applicant.
13 years later I unbelievably regret that I ever went into this entire industry.
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Originally Posted By: OldFolks13 years later I unbelievably regret that I ever went into this entire industry. You too?
