Another job I'm 'eligible' but not 'highly eligible' for.

[AstralFire]

Damnit, good grades, 3 years as a student supervisor and good recommendations. What the hell else do I need to become an entry level secretary?

[Mauve Shirt]

Work experience as a telemarketer.

[AstralFire]

Work experience as a telemarketer.

I actually have that.

[DiabolicalFurby]

Isn't the current job market fun. My department lost ten of it's twenty one employees the week before last and if the coverage from the various job fair's is any indication entry level work, especially corporate, is hard to come by. Not to mention the higher ups deciding in many cases to trim assistant and secretarial positions to balance their collective budgets.

Do you have an online resume you can link to?

EDIT: Though I myself have little experience with secretarial work or searching for jobs in that field. So any advice/rants from my end are no doubt useless.

[AstralFire]

Not an up to date one, no. I've got saved forms under the seven (!) different websites I regularly apply through. The one I have in PDF format, well, I can tell I hadn't made a resumé prior. >.>

[AKA_Bait]

Not an up to date one, no. I've got saved forms under the seven (!) different websites I regularly apply through. The one I have in PDF format, well, I can tell I hadn't made a resumé prior. >.>

A suggestion I'd make also is not to apply through job search websites as much as calling and faxing resume's. Lots of places get literally hundereds of applications through monster and the like. The person on the other end really doesn't want to go through all that if the resume on their desk that came by fax is fine for the position.

[AstralFire]

A suggestion I'd make also is not to apply through job search websites as much as calling and faxing resume's. Lots of places get literally hundereds of applications through monster and the like. The person on the other end really doesn't want to go through all that if the resume on their desk that came by fax is fine for the position.

So what, look up the job through these sites and call/fax instead? I really don't have any good idea of how to look for jobs outside of this and probing the classifieds.

[DiabolicalFurby]

It is just a tough time to be job hunting right now Astral, at least in my area. The only thing I can say is to keep looking and tough it out. Sooner or later employers will stop panicking about the economy and the job market will be more open.

But right now with so many people coming out of college and into a shaky job market and other companies trimming their own assistant/secretarial employees it means that employers can hold out for those experienced star applicants.

We have an entry level receptionist with a four year degree. It's a little demeaning.

[AstralFire]

It is just a tough time to be job hunting right now Astral, at least in my area. The only thing I can say is to keep looking and tough it out. Sooner or later employers will stop panicking about the economy and the job market will be more open.

But right now with so many people coming out of college and into a shaky job market and other companies trimming their own assistant/secretarial employees it means that employers can hold out for those experienced star applicants.

We have an entry level receptionist with a four year degree. It's a little demeaning.


Yeah, I have a four year degree too... =\ Religious Studies though, and I decided too late that I didn't want to be an academic.

[AKA_Bait]

So what, look up the job through these sites and call/fax instead? I really don't have any good idea of how to look for jobs outside of this and probing the classifieds.

Yeah. Unless they specifically say in the AD not to.

[AstralFire]

Yeah. Unless they specifically say in the AD not to.

I'll give that a shot, then, thanks. I hate phone conversations, but. I hate mooching off of my parents a lot more.

[AKA_Bait]

I'll give that a shot, then, thanks. I hate phone conversations, but. I hate mooching off of my parents a lot more.

Yeah, and for a lot of places looking for secretaries they want to make sure you sound ok on the phone before they hire you anyway.

[Krrth]

Depending on where you live, you can always check the nearest military base. (I'm assuming you live in the US. If not, ignore me). The federal gov is doing a lot of hireing right now. Also, check and see if any schools need support staff.

[DiabolicalFurby]

Sounding good on the phone is a plus to be sure. The problem with online job hunters is that you more or less become nothing more than a few sentences of qualifications to be compared to hundreds of others.

If you call on the phone or meet in person you can turn on the charisma and charm and dazzle your way into a position.

Much can be said about standing out in an interview over applying online.

[AstralFire]

Depending on where you live, you can always check the nearest military base. (I'm assuming you live in the US. If not, ignore me). The federal gov is doing a lot of hireing right now. Also, check and see if any schools need support staff.

Actually, most of my application work has been for the government. =\

[Krrth]

It's all about timing. Do you have any friends that can give you a heads up? I've found that a lot of people get started because family and/or friends put in a good word, or just let them know a job is available. A lot of places never actually advertise a job is available.

[Moff Chumley]

Um, freeload off of friends in Europe until you find a job there? I'd just say get out of America. I'm not that helpful, but that's what I'd try to do in the long term.

[RTGoodman]

As others have said, the job market right now is TERRIBLE if you don't have a specialized degree and crap-tons of experience.

I've been looking for a job for three months (I just got my BA in History in May and I'm taking a year off before grad school) and have yet to find a place that'll even give me an INTERVIEW. Secretarial jobs seem to be very hard to get for some reason, and that's what I've mostly applied for. I've got excellent grades (graduated summa *** laude), terrific references, and experience as a volunteer for both a non-profit environmental group AND a whole slew of various bands (as a volunteer instructor), but still no luck.

My advice (though it hasn't really worked for me yet) is to not just try things via Monster or any other mass job-listing site. Read the newspaper every day and look for job openings, talk to friends and relations and see if they know a guy who knows a guy or whatever, and just keep looking and applying wherever you can. You might even stop by your local Employment Security Commission to see if they can help. (Note, though, that, depending on your area, they might be of little help. I'm from an area that has relied on tobacco farms and the furniture industry for most of its jobs for at least a century, but now all those jobs are gone away. The ESC here doesn't really help out recent grads that much and instead focuses a lot on trying to find laid-off furniture workers more jobs in the [failing] furniture industry.)

[AstralFire]

Oh yeesh, my grades aren't nearly that good and I had a more specialized major. That's frightening.

Should I do the calling thing when hiring appears to be handled out-of-agency? Government jobs seem to have a lot of "Job is in Northern Virginia, informational people are in Kansas" things.

[turkishproverb]

Part of the problem is regional. Not all of the U.S. is having an employment crisis, and jobs are much easier to get in some areas than others (for example, the midsouth has a fair amount of open jobs at the moment).

Another part is being already employed. Someone who is not working in any capacity at the moment is much less desirable to an employer. If your even working at a Walmart or Mcdonalds while you show off your newly gotten references it can help considerably.

[Griever]

Part of the problem is regional. Not all of the U.S. is having an employment crisis, and jobs are much easier to get in some areas than others (for example, the midsouth has a fair amount of open jobs at the moment).

Very true. In Texas at least, many companies are expanding and some places that have not grown for a decade+ have finally started again. (Southwest Texas, where they have finally started drilling for oil again, as it is now profitable once more :smallbiggrin: )

But anyhow, I second/third (or whatever number we're on) the belief that it is much better in many circumstances to do things more personally rather than just rely on the mass-sites.

[tape_measure]

Why not try the local temporary employment agency? If you ahve in your town/city/villa/etc, they can be an excellent foot-in-door type of job.

Here (http://cgi.ebay.com/Communication-at-Work-8th-edition-by-Adler-and-Elmhorst_W0QQitemZ280251248795QQcmdZViewItem?IMSfp =TL0807301110r38354) is a great book for picking up some tips of interviews, and plain ol' getting noticed pointers. I really hate to point you to another textbook after college, but it helps. But, you don't have to take my word for it [/lavarburton]

PS - don' t pay that price either. highway robbery...

[Shikton]

Just have to agree with the calling part. It lets the company know you're actually interested in their job, and they have the opportunity to ask you a few pre-interview questions. In every single job I've had (ok, not that many) I've called once or twice to check the status on the job I've applied to. Sure, the job market is different in Norway, but letting people know you want to work with them is good anywhere. Almost bound to get an interview.

[Zeb The Troll]

Definitely go with the temp agency if you're having that tough of a time. It's a decent way to get a variety of experiences in while you're looking for that permanent gig, and a lot of places will hire temp-to-perm from these temp agencies since it lets them test drive the applicant without having to go through much of an interview process.

Manager: Hey, Bob. Send over someone. Judy just quit.
TempAgent: Sure thing, Jim. We'll have you someone in the morning.
....
<90 days later>
....
M: Bob, this new kid's working out great. We'll take him on full time. We'll talk.
TA: That's great to hear, Jim. Glad we could do business.

[Don Julio Anejo]

Craigslist is awesome for job hunting, or for anything else for that matter.

[reorith]

Craigslist is awesome for job hunting, or for anything else for that matter.

you can't find firearms on craigslist. :smallfrown: