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Catch-22 of job hunting

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onlyCOpunk

onlyCOpunk

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So my Masters is finished, and I'm about to cast of the part time administration job I had been doing for the last year and a half while I was in Uni in search of a proper job that relates to my spankin' new degree.

But how in this workaday world is anyone supposed to start a new profession? I've been searching and searching and even the smallest roles in my field require experience, but in order to gain that experience one needs to work in one of those roles? It's a real frustrating Catch-22. I've found myself embelishing on my resume and cover letters, but I fear that I might get caught in my tangled web. According to recruiters and my skills on paper all I'm fit to do is office administration and insurance! I do not want to continue doing what I was doing because the longer I work in a role not associated with what I want to do, the more difficult it will become later to make this change.

Anyone have any tips for a new budding professional trying to enter a new field?
 
Not that I have a ton of experience here but knowing someone is key at a lot of places. Meet new people, go to events related to your field, network through LinkedIn.
 
I know I can find a job, that's not the hard part, the hard part is getting amongst a new profession and not being pidgeonholed by recruiters based on past experience.
 
doesn't your university have a career center where companies post listings? by nature of being listed with your school, those would be entry level positions that don't require too much experience beyond coursework.
 
onlyCOpunk said:
I know I can find a job, that's not the hard part, the hard part is getting amongst a new profession and not being pidgeonholed by recruiters based on past experience.
Click to expand...

I know how you feel. It's a war out there and the biggest battle is getting someone to give you a chance. Right now there's not a lot of jobs in my field (journalism/new media). I was lucky enough to score an internship at Canada's biggest news radio station. Hopefully that will give me the experience edge. I'm still worried though.

My advice is to work on your resume. Since you're starting, build it to heavily emphasize your skills rather than just listing jobs you've had. Don't list work experience not related to your field. Keep it to one page, and print it on heavy bond paper. The latter may seem trivial but it makes it stick out in a pile. And for the love of god read it out loud to be sure it all makes sense and there's no grammar or spelling errors. Applies for cover letters too.
 
Here's a cover letter template I've had some luck with.

COVER LETTER TEMPLATE


[FONT=Verdana, serif]Your contact information[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, serif]:[/FONT]

  • [FONT=Verdana, serif]name[/FONT]
  • [FONT=Verdana, serif]address[/FONT]
  • [FONT=Verdana, serif]phone number[/FONT]
  • [FONT=Verdana, serif]email address[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, serif]Date[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, serif]Employer information:[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, serif]- company name[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, serif]- address[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, serif]Att’n: name/job title[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, serif]Salutation[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, serif]Dear Mr./Ms. ____________:[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, serif]First Paragraph:[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, serif] Why You Are Writing[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, serif]The first paragraph of your letter should mention the position you are applying for. Include the name of a mutual contact, if you have one. Be clear and concise regarding your request. Convince the reader that they should grant the interview or appointment you requested in the first paragraph.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, serif]Middle Paragraphs:[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, serif] What You Have to Offer[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, serif]Make strong connections between your abilities and their needs. Mention specifically how your skills and experience match the job you are applying for. Remember, you are interpreting your resume, not repeating it. Try to support each statement you make with a piece of evidence. Use several shorter paragraphs or bullets rather than one large block of text.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, serif]Final Paragraph:[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, serif] How You Will Follow Up [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, serif]Conclude your cover letter by thanking the employer for considering you for the position. Include information on how you will follow-up. State that you will do so and indicate when (one week's time is typical). You may want to reduce the time between sending out your resume and follow up if you fax or e-mail it.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, serif]Complimentary Close:[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, serif]Respectfully yours,[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, serif]Sincerely,[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, serif]Yours truly,[/FONT]



[FONT=Verdana, serif]Signature:[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, serif]Handwritten Signature (for a mailed letter)[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, serif]Typed Signature [/FONT]
 
Yeah, it is real tough. Try to go through your school's career services. Also, ask any of the professors you like to see if they know any colleagues who are searching for fresh grads. Finally, if possible, don't quit your temp. admin job yet as the job market still sucks and the funds you can get from that admin job is better than nothing. Check out Federal employment opportunities at usajobs.gov. Also, if you are interested in specific branches of the government or departments within the executive branch, check out the specific websites for job openings. Sometimes, specific departmental jobs are hard to find on usajobs.gov because they aren't listed with the search terms you would ordinarily use.

While monster.com and careerbuilder probably won't help much, its worth just trying everyday. You will get spam emails.

If you belong to any Chapters (for example, as a Chemical Engineer, I might belong to American Chemical Society, AIChE, etc. while an Electrical Engineer might belong to IEEE etc.), those chapters are listing possible job openings as well.

Any contacts you know who are in the industry? Those should be your first phone call or email during this hunt. Knowing somebody who knows somebody is pretty much the best way to get a job in this shit economy.
 
onlyCOpunk said:
I know I can find a job, that's not the hard part, the hard part is getting amongst a new profession and not being pidgeonholed by recruiters based on past experience.
Click to expand...

the woman im seeing is in this situation as well. a masters in public administration but only a short internship related to her degree. she didnt go looking for something in school because she had a job doing sales that made good money for a college student.

so...everything wants experience where she cant get any, and she doesnt want to work in sales anymore even though she has 5 years experience in it

it sucks :-/
/has experience, schooling, and internship
 
There are schools offering Master degrees that don't have any kind of internship programs? Wow.

Every school I've looked at recently has required an internship for graduation.
 
Things work a bit different over here. No one really does a masters unless your company is paying for it. I on the other hand had just gotten back from overseas and further education interested me, hence why I did it. A Masters degree here is really just like a second undergraduate degree with many being offered as coursework only. An internship would have been great but they are few and far between with many being unpaid, and I couldn't afford to work unpaid. I'm also not planning to quit my current job until I get a new one, but the only crap thing is that the most hours my boss will give me is 20 (it's a small business), I'm also not good at hospo jobs, serving people, standing up all day, it's not my thing.
 
Personally for me to find a job in the field I wanted (IT) I had to take a job that was a little below my skill/experience level. Luckily it was also a pretty good pay increase, mainly because of my experience.
 
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