Job Hunting and First Job Hunts

[Coidzor]

One of my friends is 20 and has never worked a day in his life before.

And he needs to. He needed to start actually about 5 years ago, but that's a different story entirely. Sorta needs enough for some groceries every now and then in addition to helping pay for his tuiition some, at least the ones he takes through the community college.

So I just had it confirmed that despite my parents drumming in and helping him get the FAFSA information, neither he nor his father who is also back in school have ever filled the ****ing thing out.

I'm not much better off myself. I mean, I've had, the one job so far aside from a library workstudy gig. Which, not the same at all, yeah.

Sorry if a bit scattered, using the last of my laptop battery to type this up.

Anyway. Any advice you can offer to help a guy out who has just traveled across the country without lining something up first or to a guy who has never had a job before about finding one would be appreciated.

I've worked grocery before (as produce) and I've already started looking for online applications to the various grocery interests around town that I've seen/heard of/know about.

Got a Winco, Albertsons, and then the ubiquitous walmart which is desired to avoid because they're supposed to be really horrible to work for, even moreso as a student due to that whole thing about having classes that are on your schedule.

It's not really life or death, but some suggestions about general places to look for part-time and that sort of thing would get me, y'know, kissing your horribly scarred, scab-infested feet... I'm just... gah right now. I'll try to be on some tomorrow but I can't guarantee a timely response to any questions, but I'll probably avoid thread necromancy. PMs.

[Pyrian]

Q: "Why do all the hippies come to Eugene?"

A: "Because there's no work."

That joke got more than a few dark chuckles when I was there last. :smalleek:

[Zeb The Troll]

If you're not particularly concerned about what kind of work you do, and it sounds like you're not really, carpet bomb the area with applications. Seriously, fill out an app at any place that will give you one. Walmart, Target, BestBuy, EBGames, McDonalds, IHOP, TGIF, OneHourPhoto, anyone. I recommend at least 5 per day. More if the need is great.

[wxdruid]

Are you going to school on a college campus?

All during my college years I worked in the dining facilities. It isn't great fun, but it is work and they're usually willing to work around your class schedule.

[Mordokai]

Q: "Why do all the hippies come to Eugene?"

A: "Because there's no work."

That joke got more than a few dark chuckles when I was there last. :smalleek:

Gee, I wonder why... nevermind I almost smashed the guys face the last day, when he suggested how much blast I'm having for being unemployed.

To be at least slightly on topic: I worked wherever I got work, during my college years. Production halls, security, bakery, laboratory... really, anything that smelled like money. The best I can say is, try. You have nothing to loose and quite a lot to gain.

[paddyfool]

The best job I did at Uni was working as a lab menial one summer, since it very helpfully told me I didn't want a career in lab science ;). Also, don't just apply to advertised positions - spam your CV, with a nice covering letter, round anywhere you think you'd like to work. Once you've got the thing written once, it's relatively easy to redesign for different targets, and if you and your friend are both looking, you could set aside some time to have a go at it together - give yourself moral support, and perhaps a little friendly competition.

[Starscream]

When I was at school I worked as an OA (office assistant) in my dormitory.

By college job standards it rocked. Because I was working for the university itself I could pick my own hours (they always understood about classes and finals and such). And because I was working in my own building, I could wake up five minutes before my shift started, tumble down the stairs and clock in before REM had ceased.

And it was a super easy job. I'm a bit of a night owl, so I would take shifts at 3 am, bring my laptop downstairs with me, and just do my homework, watch movies, or play video games. Even got in a few online D&D sessions while getting paid.

There were downsides, of course. It was minimum wage (most jobs around campus were, there were more people wanting jobs than jobs wanting people, so labor demand was low), and got stressful during move-in/out periods. And I had to deal with the occasional hysterical ranting parent phoning up to demand to know why their offspring weren't returning their calls (and wasn't allowed to tell them that it was obvious from our conversation).

But to quote Douglas Adams "It's a small amount of money for a very small, or should I say non-existent amount of work. Which leaves me permanently slightly ahead of the game". I'd easily recommend it for someone who needs to work around a busy class schedule.

[Felixaar]

As said, just look at the lowest rung of employment - I.E. Supermarkets and Fast Food. Especially fast food. It doesnt pay well, but it does pay.

[Mauve Shirt]

I applied at supermarkets and fast food joints this past summer and every past summer. Turns out they don't like you if you haven't had a job. :smallconfused: How does one get their first job then?!
I need to apply at the library or dining hall. I always think "Hey I should get a job from the school" and then never get around to applying.

[pendell]

Tell your friend to make sure s/he hits the local movie theatres up for applications. I worked at one for a short time (before being fired for lying to my manager, a shame I will never live down) when I was 17, and it was the best time of my life. Pay comparable with fast food or retail. No training or experience required. But you do sometimes get to watch the movies after last show and the theater is closed. Some really cool people work there, too. My parents met when they were both working a movie snack bar.

Where did I get work before I started my career? When I had no skills or education, but needed cash?

A) Through school. There's usually a help-wanted board near the guidance office. Universities and high schools usually have a dedicated office for just this sort of thing. Some of the jobs you can even get college credit for!

B) Through the ( Employment Development Department (http://www.edd.ca.gov/Jobs_and_Training/Find_a_Job.htm) ) or it's equivalent in your state. They have offices in almost every major city. The jobs they have on offer are usually pretty bad but it's much, much better than nothing.

C) Through Kelly (http://www.kellyservices.com/web/global/services/en/pages/index.html) or a host of similar agencies and companies worldwide. I once spent a summer in college at a shipping department working for just such a company. If you can't type, you may still be able to go to work for 'light industry' -- work that requires little in the way of brains, but a reasonably strong body.

If nothing else, it gives one an extremely good incentive to finish schooling.



I applied at supermarkets and fast food joints this past summer and every past summer. Turns out they don't like you if you haven't had a job. How does one get their first job then?!


Through school. That's how I got my very first job. There was a 'career development center' at my local high school, and on my 16th birthday I went down there, scanned the boards, and got a job as a janitor at an F.W. Woolworth retail store. The local businesses sometimes have an understanding with the local schools and will hire people without previous experience based on their previous experience with the school. Another way to do it is through friends. Presumably you have friends and parents, both of whom have friends and parents etc. Use that Six Degrees Of .... to your advantage. Pull on the chain and sooner or later someone will know someone who's looking for work, and would be willing to put in a good word for you.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[GoC]

Through school.

And for those of us who didn't go to school...?

[pendell]

Well, where did you get your education? Do you have a GED?

Are you home-schooled? Are your parents part of a network of some kind? Would someone in their network know someone who needs a worker?

What about church/synagogue/coven/ritual standing circle? Plenty of people there. The pastor/HPS/priest/rabbi might very well know someone in the congregation who needs someone. Or if they don't know someone who *needs* someone, they may know someone who has a weak saving throw vs. guilt.

What about the local game store? Do they need help? There's often a 'looking for game' notice board -- but there might also be someone looking for someone to do actual work as well.

Fundamentally, the way you get jobs is through people. The best way to find people is to find a shared interest. If not school, then a sport, a religion, a hobby, a technology, a game. Once you know people -- those people also know people. Pull on those chains long enough, and eventually you'll get a job or clues to where you can find one.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Moonshadow]

When looking for work, it's not about *what* you know, it's about *who* you know.

[Syka]

I got my first job at 18. They weren't actually hiring when I put in my application, but I was told they may be within a month and to check back in two weeks. I checked back two weeks later, they still weren't. Every week, I'd call back to check.

Eventually I was asked to come in for the application test or whatever it was. I got hired pretty much because I passed that test- it's sad how few people actually did. But persistence is what actually got me that job despite absolutely NO experience, whatsoever. It only took me about a month total of looking, and I'd only applied two other places (Walgreens, ironically, and the school bookstore...who told me to come back after the rush then after the rush told me they had just FIRED people...idiots...).


My biggest tip is to get in and talk with the hiring manager so they have a face to put with the name. Put in all the online applications you want- but meet in person!

I think it was the same thing with Walgreens. They told me they'd JUST hired someone the day before I was completing my application, but I wanted to finish the application anyway, so the manager knew I was serious. Sure enough, three days later I got a call saying it hadn't worked out with that person (they worked a day then quit).

Also, apply to places who aren't necessarily hiring. A lot of places will keep applications on file for when they DO need employee's.

Not having had a 'real' job at 20 isn't that bad, all my sister has under her belt is as a computer lab student assistant.


As for the FAFSA, Oz has never filled it out either. I've been getting on him to do that. :smallsigh:

[GoC]

Well, where did you get your education? Do you have a GED?

Are you home-schooled? Are your parents part of a network of some kind? Would someone in their network know someone who needs a worker?

What about church/synagogue/coven/ritual standing circle? Plenty of people there. The pastor/HPS/priest/rabbi might very well know someone in the congregation who needs someone. Or if they don't know someone who *needs* someone, they may know someone who has a weak saving throw vs. guilt.

What about the local game store? Do they need help? There's often a 'looking for game' notice board -- but there might also be someone looking for someone to do actual work as well.

Fundamentally, the way you get jobs is through people. The best way to find people is to find a shared interest. If not school, then a sport, a religion, a hobby, a technology, a game. Once you know people -- those people also know people. Pull on those chains long enough, and eventually you'll get a job or clues to where you can find one.

Respectfully,

Brian P.
Self-taught and I reside in a seperate country from my parents. My almost complete lack of social skills precludes a decent network formation.

[Erloas]

Well I didn't get my first job until I was 18, and that was working for my uncle doing construction before I left for college. My dad had said "you're going to be working for the next 40 years, there is no need to waste your teenage years working and making next to nothing in the process" or something like that. Which is true, what you make working part time while going to high school will generally be eclipsed in only a few months working a normal job.

One thing to remember is there are a LOT of businesses around that you will probably never go into, you won't even think about the fact that they are there, and they all need employees too. Of course small business owners run the gamut in attitude, but generally speaking they seem to be much more accepting of college schedules and they don't have to fight with corporate policy to give someone an unusual schedule.

I spent all of my college years working for a small company that made cables, didn't make a lot, but made more then most fast food and grocery store people make. They were generally pretty good about vacations, and best of all, not being a really consumer based business like fast food and grocery stores, they were very often closed for major holidays. Of course that changes drastically depending on the type of small business, the one I worked for was almost only targeted at other businesses, so when businesses weren't generally working, we didn't have to either, where as some place like fast food is much more insistent you work there on holidays because they have more people coming through.

We had a lot of other people work there for varying lengths of time, I was there about 4 years, one of my friends ended up there 5-6 years, some people were only there for a day or a week, some were there for a semester or two. While they didn't have much to offer in benefits and wasn't much of a chance for raises, it was still a great job to have while going to school.

I'm happy to say I've never had to flip a burgers or deal with irate customers, well every once in a while there, but that was because I was more on the production side of things rather then the customer side of things.

[pendell]

Self-taught and I reside in a seperate country from my parents. My almost complete lack of social skills precludes a decent network formation.

Then, as Shojo would say, perhaps it's time to learn to Play The Game ( http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0606.html).

Social skills are required both to get a job and to keep one. And it is a game, like any other. It's not as much fun as metal gear solid or D&D, but it's a game that has real-life rewards.

I think you've got more social skills than you think you do; you've been able to survive on this board for three years without being banned, right? That means you have at least one rank in social skill, which a number of people don't have.

So you can do this.

This isn't something like flying a fighter aircraft or solving a partial derivative or running a three minute mile, that only the elite few can do. This is well within the capacity of a normal human being, and one I have every confidence you'll be able to learn.

In any case, I think you'll find that the problems you mention are obstacles, not complete walls. Wanting to have a child and having a hysterectomy -- that's a wall. Not having social skills -- that's solvable. The trick is to find out what you need to get from point A to point B, and doing it.

I think you're more capable than you realize. Be creative! Be imaginative! If you can run a character in a D&D game without being murdered by the rest of the party for being a jerk, you possess the skills necessary to win and keep an employer's confidence.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[GoC]

Two basic problems:
A. I'm not a normal person. I have had a very different upbringing and way of thinking and I'm from a different culture to the one I reside in.
B. There are no courses on social skills.:smallfrown:
And trial and error would be painful to say the least...

[pendell]

A. I'm not a normal person. I have had a very different upbringing and way of thinking and I'm from a different culture to the one I reside in.


So am I. I've been moved every few years for as long as I can remember. I've always been the stranger, always been the out of town kid. Always the loner, always the kid who didn't fit with the other kids.

I survived. More than that, I thrived -- I not only completed my education, I was able to convince a female to marry me, silly that she was. We're still married 15 years later, which shows what complete idiots we both are :).

Even so ... am I correct in guessing that you're living in a country you are not native to? Have you looked at the various expat web boards? Even in a foreign country, there are people trapped there in a country not their own. Your fellow outcasts can be a profitable source of contacts.



B. There are no courses on social skills.


No, but there is on-the-job training. You didn't need to take courses in eating with a fork, did you? :)



And trial and error would be painful to say the least..


Less painful, I expect, than the alternative.

There's no way to avoid pain in this life that I have found. The most I can do is choose the *kind* of pain I am forced to endure, whether that is pain which results in long-term gain (forcing myself to socialize with people when I'd rather curl up with a good book) or enduring pain that results in no profit.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Telonius]

Temp-to-Hire can be a good option - that's how I landed my job. (The college jobs center was useless if you didn't want to go into consulting, and I had no contacts or family in town).

Don't be offended if the job you apply for never gets back to you. We were recently hiring for one person. For that one single job, I got 250 applicants, and we're not even a very well-publicized company. The person doing the hiring does not have time to reply to every single resume, only the ones that they're seriously considering. I know it's frustrating - I've been on the other end of a non-answer. But be certain that if you don't get called back, your resume was not a good fit with the company.

[GoC]

No, but there is on-the-job training. You didn't need to take courses in eating with a fork, did you? :)
A couple of nice things about forks... They're standardized and very simple to use (it's obvious how they work). People are niether. Social rules beyond the basic are an unknown to me and unknowns are scary.
It's a well known fact that people predict the actions of others mostly through using empathy (putting themselves in their shoes) but this method is useless to me. This wouldn't have been a problem if I'd started earlier because faux paus is much more easily forgiven when you're young.

[pendell]

This wouldn't have been a problem if I'd started earlier because faux paus is much more easily forgiven when you're young.


Ah, but you are still young, aren't you? Are you out of your twenties yet?

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Don Julio Anejo]

A couple of nice things about forks... They're standardized and very simple to use (it's obvious how they work). People are niether. Social rules beyond the basic are an unknown to me and unknowns are scary.
Trust me, when you get down to it, people are all the same. Just be nice to everyone (except those openly hostile to you) and you're already half-way there.

[Kcalehc]

It's a well known fact that people predict the actions of others mostly through using empathy (putting themselves in their shoes) but this method is useless to me. This wouldn't have been a problem if I'd started earlier because faux paus is much more easily forgiven when you're young.

A relative of mine, a cousin, had a job that had almost zero contact with people. Data entry, he got a pile of papers on monday and spent the entire week typing them into the computer. The only interaction with other people was apparently reporting to the boss on friday how many things he'd one. Temp agencies can help you find jobs in this vein.

A lack of social skills is not a barrier unless you are trying to make it one. Answer questions fully but don't go into extraneous detail; and smile. It might interest you to realise that many other people, upon meeting strangers and in strange surroundings, also feel a similar way, or at the very least uncomfortable.

[Shikton]

A relative of mine, a cousin, had a job that had almost zero contact with people. Data entry, he got a pile of papers on monday and spent the entire week typing them into the computer. The only interaction with other people was apparently reporting to the boss on friday how many things he'd one.

I've done this too. It sucked big time, but at least you earn some money and can put some job history on your resume. Win-win.

Besides that I've worked in a grocey store, another grocery store, toy store, gardening place, electronics store, in distribution and am now back at the electronics store. Interviews aren't too bad, just show that you have a personality and let the result be whatever it is. Most people apply a few places before they get a job, so just keep going at it. :)

[Vizen]

This MUST be repeated. So Ill just quote it.


When looking for work, it's not about *what* you know, it's about *who* you know.

[thubby]

most colleges have some way to help you find a job.

[Lioness]

I had no experience at all when I got my first job. I had been casually putting in resumes for shops every so often, but none of them got back to me (with the exception of a bakery, who decided I was too young [13]). Eventually I got sick of it, went on to the website of my local supermarket, and applied for a ton of jobs in my area. Checkout chick, deli, produce...all both casual and partime. That's 6 jobs, and I think they took notice of me, went 'this girl really wants a job' and I got an interview. That's to say, I got 2 interviews. A group one, where we just listened to a lot of stuff and tried to solve hypothetical situation. Then I got past that into the individual one with the store manager. Passed that and I got hired.

[Pyrian]

When I got my first job, it was programming. I had already been programming for about nine years. I hardly noticed the difference, aside from now I was getting a paycheck. I liked that part.

[GoC]

I had no experience at all when I got my first job. I had been casually putting in resumes for shops every so often, but none of them got back to me (with the exception of a bakery, who decided I was too young [13]). Eventually I got sick of it, went on to the website of my local supermarket, and applied for a ton of jobs in my area. Checkout chick, deli, produce...all both casual and partime. That's 6 jobs, and I think they took notice of me, went 'this girl really wants a job' and I got an interview. That's to say, I got 2 interviews. A group one, where we just listened to a lot of stuff and tried to solve hypothetical situation. Then I got past that into the individual one with the store manager. Passed that and I got hired.

You certainly live up to your username...

[oyhr]

Once, when I was sure I would be hired, they gave the job to a teenage girl instead. Man, that was annoying. It's tough being 23 and lacking job experience.