Need first job seeking advice

[invidia]

So it's been 2 weeks since I graduated and a little over 5 months with 5-7 replies from jobs I've applied. That's a small number since I've applied for well over 50-55 jobs (since I keep track on who and when I apply). I have a BA in physics and no major-related work experience. Just a year of working part-time as operations management.

However, I did get a potential hiring response 3 days ago, and "supposedly" finished their second phase of their job hiring process. I'm really skeptical on this company since their website provides very limited information.

There are a couple of things I need to get cleared away:

1.) There has been a large number of people telling me that applying for jobs on the internet is utterly useless and a waste of time since all applications are automatically filtered for key words and skills. Should I even continue applying for jobs through the web, monster.com, etc? I'm spending quite a bit of time tailoring and re-editing my cover letters and resumes to each company. But that leads me to a much dire situation....

2.) The area I live in is very suburban where at least 90% of the economy is tourism, tourism, and more tourism. Not my field of interest. Nor are there even potential companies I would like to work for. I want to get into some research/laboratory work or computer software development field. I gave up searching for those types of jobs here last month when I came up with nothing. So is it much harder for me to land a job or even an interview if I'm applying from a different state?

3.) The majority of the people I've been talking to (my friends and some acquaintances) said that the only and best way to get a job is through networking and recommendation by current employees. I agree that networking is the best way, but highly disagree it's the only way at that time. But after 5 months of little replies, I'm beginning to feel that it is the only way.

I know 2 weeks of unemployment is nothing compared to what others faced, but take the fact that I've been looking for a job since the beginning of Fall. I fear that it may be more of this unemployment crap from now. My bills are stacking and my savings account is beginning to drain.

 

[MixMasterTang]

You have actually applied at the same place over 50 times???? Applying over the internet has always worked fine for me, and like you mentioned most people do keyword searches of the resumes they receive. Are you applying for entry level positions?

 

[Gibson486]

What I learned today:

Lots of contract jobs are at will employment. No Bond involved. I wish I knew this earlier.

That said, temp work is good to fill the gaps until you find something permanent.

1. kind of true. It depends how lazy the HR dept. is.

2. No.

3. Man, do not get me started. I had a job taken from me because the son of the boss graduated the same time as me.

I have been unemployed for 7 months. Keep your head high. That is all i can say. Work will come to you (ofcourse, you have to find a way for it too). Also, be creative. You have a BA in physics. You should be good in math. Try something thing in the math field.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: MixMasterTang
You have actually applied at the same place over 50 times???? Applying over the internet has always worked fine for me, and like you mentioned most people do keyword searches of the resumes they receive. Are you applying for entry level positions?

It really depends on what field you are in and where you live. For physics, I am not really sure what keywords you would use.

 

[Drakkon]

I dunno who you've been talking to but almost every company i know uses the internet as a main source for candidates now. Careerbuilder, monster, dice are all viable places. You have to watch out as a TON of headhunter/job search companies are on the sites now really mucking things up but a good deal of employers look there. I felt the same way that you did, finding a good job requires the connections, but really it just takes time and getting out there to market yourself. You have to make yourself on your resume look like a right fit for the company your applying to and then at the interview show them stuff that actually applies to the position. Maybe try a site like linkedin and see if your friends are on it - there are quite a few jobs on there that aren't on the other boards. Or find a company that you like, or a college, or any other company and find their web page and see what their jobs section or HR department lists. Send your resume and see what happens.

So long as your a strong candidate a company will pick you up from out of state. A company that will contact you, do a phone interview, then fly you out at their expense wouldn't do so unless they were willing to take that chance of brining you in from out of state. I've never had any trouble applying for out of state positions. So long as your willing to relocate they will pick you up. However if your looking for relocation expenses then you might be in some trouble.

 

[invidia]

Originally posted by: MixMasterTang
You have actually applied at the same place over 50 times???? Applying over the internet has always worked fine for me, and like you mentioned most people do keyword searches of the resumes they receive. Are you applying for entry level positions?

I applied to over 50 different jobs. Not 50 times for one position or at one company. All I am applying to are entry-level positions.

Is it worth going out of state for a temp job?

Originally posted by: Gibson486
It really depends on what field you are in and where you live. For physics, I am not really sure what keywords you would use.

I live in a really non-technological sector of the U.S. (South Florida). The main economy here is tourism. There isn't much out here. I looked through the job ads and there doesn't seem to offer much or anything for me.

 

[PandaBear]

1.) I got 2 jobs and a few more offer in the past from monster, I wouldn't call them useless, especially when you don't have much reputation in the field or connection to begin with. In general most entry level jobs are through job fairs and sites like monster, and they don't expect Nobel prize winner applying for them anyhow.

2.) That depends on which company you apply for. There are a lot of companies looking for out of state grad too, and pay reimbursement. What you may have problem with is competing in a low demand high supply field (like physics in BS level).

3.) That's true for CEO and/or VP types of job. For entry level, there is no way a company hire all through connection especially large company. Maybe your circle of friends all got hired through connection, but that doesn't mean everyone got hired through connection. I had 4 jobs total in the past, 2 of them with no connections (including the first).


Don't get discouraged, learn from your resume and other people's responds to your resume and improve it. I have gotten so many resumes from friends trying to refer them to my boss, and you'd be surprise how many I have to help fixing before it get pass me.