RANT: Job hunting sucks

[fs5]

I have a job, I just hate my company. Looking for another jobs on hotjobs/monster/craigslist sucks, I don't know who the companies are Why can't I find a job at like yahoo, google, ebay, namco, atari, sega... somewhere where I want to work.

It's too hard to get a job like that unless you actually know someone in the company and they can refer you.

 

Because you don't have the skills and the in's.

 

[kalster]

luck is very important

be peristent, dont give up


make sure your resume does justice to you education/experience

best of luck

 

[fs5]

Originally posted by: SampSon
Because you don't have the skills and the in's.

I have the skills, I just don't have the in's. no family/friends in positions to refer me.

 

[fs5]

Originally posted by: kalster
luck is very important

be peristent, dont give up


make sure your resume does justice to you education/experience

best of luck

I think my resume is decent, how important is a cover letter? Usually I write a cover letter from scratch and just in the email... usually 2 -3 paragraphes telling them who I am and why I want to work for the company I'm applying to? Should it be longer? should I have it in a formal word document?

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

what kind of job are you looking for?
The best place to look is local city governments. They are always hiring and you would get waaay better benifits and job stability out of it than corporate stuff.

 

[Paul Ma]

That seems adequete. I usually make the cover letter, resume/cv into pdfs and just attach ti all in a brief email, stating who I am and what I want.

 

[fs5]

Originally posted by: Paul Ma
That seems adequete. I usually make the cover letter, resume/cv into pdfs and just attach ti all in a brief email, stating who I am and what I want.

yup, that's what I do, email w/ pdf attachment.

 

[fs5]

Originally posted by: JeffreyLebowski
what kind of job are you looking for?
The best place to look is local city governments. They are always hiring and you would get waaay better benifits and job stability out of it than corporate stuff.

but I don't want to work for a city government.. I want to work for a company that I like and that I support... but I guess that's everybody.
edit: oh I'm looking for a software engineering position... cs major with only 1 year experience under my belt as a software engineer, maybe that's my problem huh

 

[kalster]

Originally posted by: fivespeed5

Originally posted by: kalster
luck is very important

be peristent, dont give up


make sure your resume does justice to you education/experience

best of luck

I think my resume is decent, how important is a cover letter? Usually I write a cover letter from scratch and just in the email... usually 2 -3 paragraphes telling them who I am and why I want to work for the company I'm applying to? Should it be longer? should I have it in a formal word document?

well I dont use a cover letter myself, but people do say that it is important

 

[kalster]

Originally posted by: fivespeed5

Originally posted by: JeffreyLebowski
what kind of job are you looking for?
The best place to look is local city governments. They are always hiring and you would get waaay better benifits and job stability out of it than corporate stuff.

but I don't want to work for a city government.. I want to work for a company that I like and that I support... but I guess that's everybody.
edit: oh I'm looking for a software engineering position... cs major with only 1 year experience under my belt as a software engineer, maybe that's my problem huh

what is your domain preference?

like application development in what? networking, database, telecom etc.


if you can narrow down the companies that you think are a close fit to your preference/background/experience/expertise, I think applying would be more fruitful

 

[Dacalo]

Instead of looking for the jobs you want in listings, consider making cold contacts in the organizations you want to work for.

Send your resume and a cover letter and let them know that you want to work for them. Sometimes, good things happen.

 

[fs5]

Originally posted by: kalster

Originally posted by: fivespeed5

Originally posted by: JeffreyLebowski
what kind of job are you looking for?
The best place to look is local city governments. They are always hiring and you would get waaay better benifits and job stability out of it than corporate stuff.

but I don't want to work for a city government.. I want to work for a company that I like and that I support... but I guess that's everybody.
edit: oh I'm looking for a software engineering position... cs major with only 1 year experience under my belt as a software engineer, maybe that's my problem huh

what is your domain preference?

like application development in what? networking, database, telecom etc.


if you can narrow down the companies that you think are a close fit to your preference/background/experience/expertise, I think applying would be more fruitful

Application development in anything at the moment.. right now I work for a company that provides OEM routers/modems to teleco's. But ideally my dream job is in the gaming industry (I did a short stint as QA in Sega).

You know I should focus my energy on those companies... right now I just browse through the listings and apply to anything that catches my eye then forget about it. I should keep track and follow up.. good advice.

edit: Dacalo, thanks... I'm going to follow your advice.

 

[kalster]

Originally posted by: fivespeed5

Originally posted by: kalster

Originally posted by: fivespeed5

Originally posted by: JeffreyLebowski
what kind of job are you looking for?
The best place to look is local city governments. They are always hiring and you would get waaay better benifits and job stability out of it than corporate stuff.

but I don't want to work for a city government.. I want to work for a company that I like and that I support... but I guess that's everybody.
edit: oh I'm looking for a software engineering position... cs major with only 1 year experience under my belt as a software engineer, maybe that's my problem huh

what is your domain preference?

like application development in what? networking, database, telecom etc.


if you can narrow down the companies that you think are a close fit to your preference/background/experience/expertise, I think applying would be more fruitful

Application development in anything at the moment.. right now I work for a company that provides OEM routers/modems to teleco's. But ideally my dream job is in the gaming industry (I did a short stint as QA in Sega).

You know I should focus my energy on those companies... right now I just browse through the listings and apply to anything that catches my eye then forget about it. I should keep track and follow up.. good advice.

Yes focus helps

I went through the same

Initially when i was looking for jobs i applied based on tools, anything which wanted a c/c++/vc++developer, i applied for that, it wasnt very helpful


I have worked in the telecom/softswitch industry for a year now, when i wanted to change jobs

i applied to telecom companies only, i just applied to 4-5 companies, and i got 3 on site interviews and 1 offer

focus/domain specific applying really helps

i think tools/languages arent really important, any one can learn c++ by reading stroustrupe religously for a month,

if you have background/experience/interest/knowledge of the domain that is what really helps you

 

[Ranger X]

Software engineering with 1 year under your belt? As much as you'd like to believe you have the skills, you don't. I've seen some of those crazy requirements for some of those positions and many want 5+ years. It's hard to come by an entry level position at a place you actually want to work at.

 

[digitalsm]

Try job hunting in a place with 2% unemployment.

 

[fs5]

Originally posted by: Ranger X
Software engineering with 1 year under your belt? As much as you'd like to believe you have the skills, you don't. I've seen some of those crazy requirements for some of those positions and many want 5+ years. It's hard to come by an entry level position at a place you actually want to work at.

I've found companies that are looking for entry level (0-2 years experience).. I'm not applying for jobs that have a 5 year min requirement.

 

[freazer]

Yeah job searching sucks ass. K++ to whoever finds one first.

 

Originally posted by: fivespeed5

Originally posted by: Ranger X
Software engineering with 1 year under your belt? As much as you'd like to believe you have the skills, you don't. I've seen some of those crazy requirements for some of those positions and many want 5+ years. It's hard to come by an entry level position at a place you actually want to work at.

I've found companies that are looking for entry level (0-2 years experience).. I'm not applying for jobs that have a 5 year min requirement.

So, again, you don't have the skills.

 

[fs5]

Originally posted by: SampSon

Originally posted by: fivespeed5

Originally posted by: Ranger X
Software engineering with 1 year under your belt? As much as you'd like to believe you have the skills, you don't. I've seen some of those crazy requirements for some of those positions and many want 5+ years. It's hard to come by an entry level position at a place you actually want to work at.

I've found companies that are looking for entry level (0-2 years experience).. I'm not applying for jobs that have a 5 year min requirement.

So, again, you don't have the skills.

I don't the experience for mid-senior level positions of course! :brokenheart: