How does anyone actually get a job?

[Homerboy]

I also will vote on "it pays to know somebody there"
Is it possible to get hired without knowing somebody? Sure, but it's infinitely harder.

1st "real" job I didn't know anyone by my boss at the job I was leaving gave me an GLOWING recommendation. Every job I have had since then, was based on knowing somebody. Even jobs I have turned down, I was offered because I was able to get my foot in the door past HR. HR is USELESS.

 

[88keys]

Being a tall, Caucasian, physically fit, thirty something American male has done wonders for my career.


But yeah, it can be tough for some people, but I am lucky that I have never found myself out of work even when the economy was at it's worst.

 

[TwiceOver]

I think you have that backwards.

Nope. Plenty of jobs around here and there isn't 20 million people competing for them.

To each their own though.

 

[mizzou]

i worked my way up through jobs that basically are job placement services type things and slowly, gradually built my resume and work history to something that is desirable and respectable.

It took hard work, guidance, ethics, and most of all patience

 

[dank69]

Learn to suppress your gag reflex.

 

[CountZero]

For me the who you know aspect hasn't led to a job yet (though it could have, I just didn't want to move to that company).

1) Search for jobs wherever you like (indeed, monster, etc). Note companies hiring in your field. There are probably places that are obvious for your type of job but there might be less obvious places. The place I'm at now most of my old coworkers were surprised they even did my kind of work at all. This meant a smaller pool of applicants to compete with.
2) Go to their webpage, apply to job(s)
3) Make sure your resume/cover letter match the exact job you are applying for. If they spell out things you abbreviate or vice versa you will get filtered out before HR or a hiring manager sees you. If you find tailoring your resume to the job you are applying for too tedious, too bad.

 

[clamum]

I've been a software dev since early 2007 and have worked at 4 different places since graduating. Since the time I started working in my freshmen/sophomore year of high school, only for two jobs did I already have a contact working there, and they were part time high school jobs. It definitely ain't a necessity.

Like someone else has said, I've never had a problem getting a job when I wanted one. It took several months after graduating to get one, but I didn't look as hard as I could've and I didn't want to accept anything that wasn't even remotely similar to what I had studied in school.

 

[Slew Foot]

you aint getting any sort of decent job without some sort of connection

 

[Tweak155]

I usually get contacted through LinkedIn or Dice.com at this point. I haven't applied to a job myself in a long time... I start off doing contract but you know ahead of time whether it's long term or not.

Right now I'm direct hired, but just had a phone interview today that went pretty well I guess... have an on site on Friday. While the pay boost is quite nice, not sure I want to turn a 15-20 min drive into a 35-45min drive at 4x the miles. Not as concerned about the distance as I am the added time.

 

[Humpy]

Being a tall, Caucasian, physically fit, thirty something American male has done wonders for my career.

Came here to post the same thing.

Everyone one of my jobs has always began with "Hey Humpy, we'd like you to come work for us". The knew about me through connections and word of mouth.

 

[Rakehellion]

And if you don't know powerful people?

 

[Ns1]

And if you don't know powerful people?

 

[pete6032]

The problem with HR departments is that they are often the first cut screeners of resumes and are not experts in your job field. For example an IT department asks HR to post a job opening with X, Y, and Z requirements/certifications. If HR gets a resume not meeting those requirements, but having substantial consummate work experience that amounts to those requirements, then your resume will probably still get thrown out even though the applicant is qualified.

 

[DrPizza]

n/m

 

[Sonikku]

How does anyone actually get a job?

It's simple really.

1.Look for entry level job
2.Get 5 years experience in the industry doing said job.
3.Apply for said entry level job. Done.

 

[stormkroe]

damnit, n/m

too hateful today.

You shut your whore mouth.
You're a good man and you know it

 

[videogames101]

If you have in-demand skills you will get hired fast.

 

[Fayd]

not true at all.

on the flip side it's annoying when you talk to HR people who are screening you and they try to talk about technology and have absolutely no clue wtf they are talking about or what your responses even mean, but they just write it down anyways to get it to the right person.

i was actually talking to a recruiter last night in san diego who asked me what i'm looking to make and i told him, then he told me that probably isn't likely and i then told him i'm not going to take a pay cut to live somewhere that has a higher cost of living than where i live now. he then went to tell me that san diego doesn't have a higher cost of living than where i currently live (around the DC metro area), and i specifically told him when i was out there i looked at house prices and to get a comparable to what i own it would be about $200k - $300k more than the house i live in now (which was $419k).

he then told me 'oh well if you're buying a house then sure they are more expensive' ... wtf does he think "cost of living" means then? i even told him my friend who lives out there pays more in his rent than i pay in mortgage and his house is about 600sqft smaller than mine.

uh... i'm from San Diego, and live in DC area now.

cost of living is definitely higher in DC metro area.

there are less expensive pockets of housing in both areas, but the cost of food is definitely higher across the whole of DC compared to San Diego.

 

[Zorba]

I'm an engineer, I get hired easily. Hell, after being laidoff from a BK company I had three offers in 2.5 weeks, in an industry I had zero experience in, with a large raise.

Coming out of grad school: Applied to every aerospace job that looked interesting, I found employers I thought I would like and applied directly. Got 11 offers coming out of grad school. The company I went, I refused to take the interview until they offered to interview my wife as well. We both got offers. I actually got what I thought was my dream job.
Job #2: Wife co-oped at the company in college, called up former lead, got offer. Told them they had to take me too, I got offer. I had gotten some other offers, but I preferred this one.
Job #3: Laid off from Job #2, fixed up my resume applied for any job I thought I could do in the city (didn't want to move and not much aerospace in town). Got 3 offers in 2.5 weeks, and started turning down interviews. Though I picked the wrong company and hated it.
Job #4: Wife applied to, got offer, turned them down as we didn't want to move. After I realized I hated job #3, wife called back 6 months later and said she would consider taking the job, but they had to interview me too. In addition to this job, I had several other offers, a few I applied to directly and a few from LinkedIN recruiters.

I think the biggest thing is, most people's resumes suck, and suck bad, really really bad. So if you have a decent looking resume, you will get looked at. Then if you have some sort of skill that makes you valuable, you'll really not have a problem.

Oh and practice interviewing. Until I was looking for job #4, I had never done even a phone interview that hadn't resulted in an offer, which considering in that time I had about 20 different offers I think it was a pretty good streak.

 

[AdamK47]

This thread is keen on the subtle brag... and the not too subtle.

 

[BudAshes]

This thread is keen on the subtle brag... and the not too subtle.

Jobs are the only thing most people here have going for them.

 

[Imp]

You know that position you assume when you're looking for a contact lens on the floor?

Kind of like that...

 

[Zorba]

This thread is keen on the subtle brag... and the not too subtle.

"How do you actually get a job"

"This is how I got a job"

"Stop bragging"

Getting a job is basically taking the time to make a decent resume, taking the time to apply to a fair number of jobs, taking the time to prepare for an interview. Most people would rather not put in the effort for any of those three items, so any one that does has a pretty easy time getting a job. People that don't do those three things well, better have marketable skills.

 

[DrPizza]

This thread is keen on the subtle brag... and the not too subtle.

I think it's because this site has attracted a higher percentage of people with very marketable skills - I.e., there aren't a lot of sociology, history, and psychology majors who hang around here. The percentage of people here who are educated and/or skilled in fields that are in demand are a lot higher than the population at large. Thus, many have experienced relative ease at finding jobs.

Thus, my advice for someone having trouble finding a job would occur long before they were old enough to get a job - maintain a good reputation as an honest, hard worker. If you decide to go to college, major in something employable. Do internships, work for professors, do what you can to get experience before you even graduate. Get to know a lot of people - particularly people who seem to be on successful paths. You can't say enough positive stuff about networking.

 

[Dr. Zaus]

You can't say enough positive stuff about networking.

I agree.

The year I was looking for a job I was 1 of 40-ish people with my skill set, and among 1 of 100ish people pretending to have my skill set. I got 1 of 120 jobs that opened that year.

I got one of the top 12, and my personal #1, job.

I did this because I knew someone where I was being hired and he let me know what the previous candidates did wrong during their interview.

But also, go into a field where there is more demand than there is supply.