I am once again on the job hunt. I know this has been discussed before but all I could find are old threads. I also feel a lot has changed in the job market the last few years. With minimum requirements for basic jobs starting to skyrocket I can understand the pressures causing people to just stay where they already are.

I don't want to stay where I am and have started the search (about 2 months in now). It is amazing how slow the process is and how incredibly hard it is to even get a call or interview. It is also discouraging to have to re-input all of your résumé info on each different company's website even though they have you upload it too.

That old saying "Its not what you know, it's who you know" seems to be ringing more and more true every day. Because of all this I thought I would start this thread for those of us searching for new careers/opportunities who seem to be facing an uphill battle. Please share your stories/tips/rants/raves/successes here and get a healthy place to discuss and vent about our situations.


Where I'm at:

2 months of solid looking/applying without a single call back. Actually had 1 phone interview scheduled and they never called. Revamped my résumé twice already due to paranoia. My resume is currently 2 pages long and I keep going back and forth about if I should cram it all into one page (thoughts?). My background is in aviation but I am currently employed by a company in a different industry. I thought the change would be good but I'm afraid I was wrong. So here I am looking to get back into what I know.

I left my last job of over 5 years back in September. I was tired of being a contract worker in danger of losing my job every 6 months (even though the job isn't going anywhere, it's the state, so lots of bullshit hoops to jump through). I'm now at a different state agency, thanks to a friend's reference (she knows the guy that hired me), but in totally over my head. I've only been here about 5 months, but the stress of not knowing what I'm doing is really getting to me, to the point that I'm ready to start looking again.

I had that "in over my head" feeling at my last job. Really sucks. I found a few people I could confide in and soon realized most of my coworkers had the same feeling. Made me feel better till I got traction and started really understanding what I was supposed to be doing.

What field were you in OP?

I find that I honestly can't find enough people to recommend/employee. There is a worker shortage in computer programming/computer science.

Get on LinkedIn with a full profile if you haven't already. My husband and I BOTH got our current jobs from recruiters directly contacting us on LinkedIn.

Originally Posted by Dead of Knight Get on LinkedIn with a full profile if you haven't already. My husband and I BOTH got our current jobs from recruiters directly contacting us on LinkedIn.

I'm on LinkedIn with a full profile. I've been contacted by a few recruiters but no bites yet.

Originally Posted by mtxbass1 What field were you in OP? I find that I honestly can't find enough people to recommend/employee. There is a worker shortage in computer programming/computer science.

My background is aviation/aerospace. I have a bachelors and 3 associates in aviation and I also have my A&P certificate. I spent 10 years in the Air Force and another 3 and a half with a major airline.

A few years ago I would have suggested actually going to the companies you wished to work at and hand off your resume in person and/or request an informational interview. However, my experience has shown me that this will annoy most medium to large companies. They will ask you to leave if you ask twice.

Originally Posted by Spokker A few years ago I would have suggested actually going to the companies you wished to work at and hand off your resume in person and/or request an informational interview. However, my experience has shown me that this will annoy most medium to large companies. They will ask you to leave if you ask twice.

Yeah, most companies at job fairs these days won't even take a resume. They just tell you to go to the website and apply there. Shit like that makes me wonder why they are even at an event like that. Just put up a poster with the web address on it.

My wife has been looking for a while now and she just finished her 2nd Masters (Has her MBA and Masters in HR) and can't find ANYTHING. shes been to a few interviews,m but looses out to other with more experience. She's on LinkedIn and has had a few bites, but still nothing. Its gotten to the point where finances have become such an issue that we are splitting up (her choice.. not mine, but that's another rant entirely)

Originally Posted by OnyxPrimal My wife has been looking for a while now and she just finished her 2nd Masters (Has her MBA and Masters in HR) and can't find ANYTHING. shes been to a few interviews,m but looses out to other with more experience. She's on LinkedIn and has had a few bites, but still nothing. Its gotten to the point where finances have become such an issue that we are splitting up (her choice.. not mine, but that's another rant entirely)

Sorry to hear that. It amazes me that as much as they say the economy is bouncing back and with all these jobs posted (there are a ton) that people still have trouble finding decent work at their skill/education level. It seems like the companies are all being super picky and know they can hold out for someone for bottom dollar and high skill set. I was reading an article the other day about how the Bachelor's degree is the new highschool diploma. Scary that entry level/low wage jobs require a 4 year degree just to get your foot in the door.

I'm debating whether or not to get a second undergrad in a more marketable field (computer science) versus pursuing secondary in a field I know isn't very marketable. :/

Originally Posted by OnyxPrimal My wife has been looking for a while now and she just finished her 2nd Masters (Has her MBA and Masters in HR) and can't find ANYTHING. shes been to a few interviews,m but looses out to other with more experience. She's on LinkedIn and has had a few bites, but still nothing. Its gotten to the point where finances have become such an issue that we are splitting up (her choice.. not mine, but that's another rant entirely)

HR? lol. I know HR people that can't even read a spreadsheet while I did them in highschiool in 1994. MBA is only good with lots of work experience in the right field or from a top 10 program, same as law degree I suppose.

Tell her to travel back in time and do an engineering degree instead.

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To the original poster have you checked USA Jobs for federal jobs? With a military background you'll get a leg up on non-vets applying for the same position.

Originally Posted by Viva Las Vegas To the original poster have you checked USA Jobs for federal jobs? With a military background you'll get a leg up on non-vets applying for the same position.

If you go that route, you need to apply to all that you can and hope the sequester doesn't effect the job offer. I know for a fact that because of the sequester agencies have been in a rush to put in the job reqs ASAP before they are effected by the sequester so that making a job req isn't locked out. Once the sequester and cuts take effect, no one has planned for anything yet, the job/offer may not be available.

Cousin is looking and she tells me lots of private entry level positions are being switched to unpaid internships. There a few paid internships in the government but you have to be in the know as the recruitment windows are limited to a week or by # number of applicants, which ever is sooner. And thus job window applications are up for like 1 day only for paid internships.

Originally Posted by Dead of Knight Get on LinkedIn with a full profile if you haven't already. My husband and I BOTH got our current jobs from recruiters directly contacting us on LinkedIn.

Did you post your picture?

Originally Posted by ITDEFX Did you post your picture?

Yes, though I am not sure how much that matters.

Originally Posted by Malik112099 I'm on LinkedIn with a full profile. I've been contacted by a few recruiters but no bites yet.

Take a look at their jobs board and apply to ones that look interesting. I've found that the interview ratio is much higher for when I apply directly to jobs posted on LinkedIn vs. on a company site.

Originally Posted by Malik112099 I'm on LinkedIn with a full profile. I've been contacted by a few recruiters but no bites yet. My background is aviation/aerospace. I have a bachelors and 3 associates in aviation and I also have my A&P certificate. I spent 10 years in the Air Force and another 3 and a half with a major airline.

Maybe you should move out of OK, it may better serve your career choice. I have an uncle that works for Lockheed, that's pretty much all I know, he can't talk much about his work.

I am looking outside of OK. I'm looking mostly in OK and TX but am open to anywhere for the right position/pay/benefits/etc. I've used USAJobs before and still do. That site is set up so that you aren't even sure if you've even applied to the damn job yet.


Here's that article about entry level jobs for bachelor degrees.

Link

Linkedin is great. I only get responses from regional and small companies when I apply from linkedin. For big companies, I go directly to their websites.

And I would totally go for the computer science degree. I'm planning to go for an accelerated computer engineering masters program myself. I went to business school since my family wanted me to go into finance. Interned at a hedge fund and didn't enjoy it at all...