Hi nixie
Sorry to read about your predicament. Have you thought of being self-employed in your field of interest and qualifications?
I am s/e since 1976. Hell at the start but once you get going no-one can fire you. The year before that, I sat down with a beer and a fag and thought about the situation. At the time I was the advertising manager/PA to the sales director/and part of the management team of an auto parts/powertool and white goods multinational. Ten year service and work 'em to death was the firm's credo. Hell, they even wanted me to organise a marketing conference on my honeymoon...
Banks are always impressed with education, which you have.
I see you as a consultant freelance troubleshooter. Make som,e calls to your bank. If they give you crap, try another. Once you have an appointment, put on a tie (uggghhh!), shine your shoes and chat the manager up. Be confident in what you want. Never ask for a small overdraft. Go big but reasonable. The only problem with this idea would be if you have debt judgments. If you're clean, I'm sure the banks will help.
It was just about the same time back in '76 when I made the break. After I secured finance (my peanut pension took 3 months to pay out btw), I went looking for small premises (20 square metres), arranged the phones and drafted a mailshot listing my services. These I mailed or handdelivered to target firms.
Between that Christmas and the start of the New Year, 4 clients responded and became clients.
This ain't no luck!
Just goalsetting and action
Just do it. More ideas wil follow from other diy'ers
Good luck
bulgin
Sorry to read about your predicament. Have you thought of being self-employed in your field of interest and qualifications?
I am s/e since 1976. Hell at the start but once you get going no-one can fire you. The year before that, I sat down with a beer and a fag and thought about the situation. At the time I was the advertising manager/PA to the sales director/and part of the management team of an auto parts/powertool and white goods multinational. Ten year service and work 'em to death was the firm's credo. Hell, they even wanted me to organise a marketing conference on my honeymoon...
Banks are always impressed with education, which you have.
I see you as a consultant freelance troubleshooter. Make som,e calls to your bank. If they give you crap, try another. Once you have an appointment, put on a tie (uggghhh!), shine your shoes and chat the manager up. Be confident in what you want. Never ask for a small overdraft. Go big but reasonable. The only problem with this idea would be if you have debt judgments. If you're clean, I'm sure the banks will help.
It was just about the same time back in '76 when I made the break. After I secured finance (my peanut pension took 3 months to pay out btw), I went looking for small premises (20 square metres), arranged the phones and drafted a mailshot listing my services. These I mailed or handdelivered to target firms.
Between that Christmas and the start of the New Year, 4 clients responded and became clients.
This ain't no luck!
Just goalsetting and action Just do it. More ideas wil follow from other diy'ers
Good luck
bulgin
Nixie, since its Xmas season, you could probably get a temporary minimum wage job at Toys R Us, Zellers, Walmart (but only if this one doesn't make you gag), etc. Your height would come in handy for restocking the higher shelves. It may be a lame gig, but they won't expect you to have any experience, and it will offer incentive to actually get a job in your field.
Max
Max
Nixie,
It is entirely possible to pick up a tech job during the holidays. I know several companies down here in Seattle that have lost key tech folks over the past couple of weeks. It seems like a lot of people like to jump ship at the end of the year to get a clean start for the next one. This leaves their employer in a bad situation, so they look for someone who can adapt quickly to fill the void.
With your qualifications, even if you have no prior work experience, you may want to look at doing tech support at a local computer shop or perhaps working for someone like Geek Squad at Best Buy (do they have BBs in Canada?).
Personally, though, I would start with friends to see if they know anyone that is hiring. That is almost always the quickest way to finding a job. If they don't know anyone thats hiring, the next step is to pound the pavement. Get out on the street and start poking around local shops. Retail jobs are always in high demand during the holiday season since many companies bring on temporary employees to deal with the extra load. Also, check the want ads in the local paper.
Anyways, good luck! I hope you transition from starving student to successful techie in short order!
It is entirely possible to pick up a tech job during the holidays. I know several companies down here in Seattle that have lost key tech folks over the past couple of weeks. It seems like a lot of people like to jump ship at the end of the year to get a clean start for the next one. This leaves their employer in a bad situation, so they look for someone who can adapt quickly to fill the void.
With your qualifications, even if you have no prior work experience, you may want to look at doing tech support at a local computer shop or perhaps working for someone like Geek Squad at Best Buy (do they have BBs in Canada?).
Personally, though, I would start with friends to see if they know anyone that is hiring. That is almost always the quickest way to finding a job. If they don't know anyone thats hiring, the next step is to pound the pavement. Get out on the street and start poking around local shops. Retail jobs are always in high demand during the holiday season since many companies bring on temporary employees to deal with the extra load. Also, check the want ads in the local paper.
Anyways, good luck! I hope you transition from starving student to successful techie in short order!
I'm applying to a few coffee shops today, and doing some jobs around the house for the landlady...
I never made friends with the other geeks in my department, because I share no interest with them other than the work... all my friends are from other areas. I realize that I do lose networking because of that, but so be it... What really disappointed me, however, is the cluelessness of my professors about the business world. They don't really have any useful advice for a non-academic job seeker.
maxro, our commie city council forbade Walmart from opening a store in Vancouver...
I never made friends with the other geeks in my department, because I share no interest with them other than the work... all my friends are from other areas. I realize that I do lose networking because of that, but so be it... What really disappointed me, however, is the cluelessness of my professors about the business world. They don't really have any useful advice for a non-academic job seeker.
maxro, our commie city council forbade Walmart from opening a store in Vancouver...
motherone said:
You'd think, but you would be incorrect. The most, and perhaps the only, important finding of late 20th century sociology is that finding a job is best done through weak ties, not close relationships.
See: Mark Granovetter's The Strength of Weak Ties http://www.stanford.edu/dept/soc/people/faculty/granovetter/documents/TheStrengthofWeakTies.pdf
and also his book called "Getting a Job" http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780226305813&itm=2
I just signed up for the local software developer's group at meetup.com, but their next meeting isn't until mid-January.motherone said:
It was not. I don't even know what Speaker's Corner is.maxro said:
I applied for barista positions at some coffee shops I noticed with "Help Wanted" signs Saturday, but it's been two days already, and I haven't heard back from any yet. Kind of discouraging.
maxro said:
I think at one point, CityTV actually had Speaker's Corner
as a half-hour program. Yikes!
Nixie: Best of luck with your search. It is possible to find
something even this close to the holidays. (Just last week,
our group made an offer to somebody...and I'm still
seeing people in this week for interviews with other
groups.)
Take care,
Dennis
Ah, now I know what it is. I tend to watch CBC rather than CTV, so I didn't remember at first.
In reading articles like this one, it mentions "cold calling" as the most effective way to apply (whereas sending a resume as a response to an add as the least effective). However, I've actually tried it a couple of times, and was disappointing so I gave that up. For example, I called MacDonald Dettwiler and couldn't even get past the switchboard... (no I didn't say I was applying but the operator guessed it anyway). I can't help but think that as more people adopt this aggressive approach trying to call or meet potential employers, that companies are making it ever more difficult for that to happen. Or maybe my sample size is small...
In reading articles like this one, it mentions "cold calling" as the most effective way to apply (whereas sending a resume as a response to an add as the least effective). However, I've actually tried it a couple of times, and was disappointing so I gave that up. For example, I called MacDonald Dettwiler and couldn't even get past the switchboard... (no I didn't say I was applying but the operator guessed it anyway). I can't help but think that as more people adopt this aggressive approach trying to call or meet potential employers, that companies are making it ever more difficult for that to happen. Or maybe my sample size is small...
Banned
Joined 2002
I met on IRC a guy that is pretty experienced in the field, and was even a cofounder of a company in Vancouver. Showed him my resume for feedback... totally trashed it hehe and I had thought it was good...
No wonder the response rate was so low. I had sent it to about 20 places and only heard back from four.
I will now rework the resume, but I have again a whole other cycle of sending and waiting for replies, and surviving that time is going to be a problem. Maybe flipping burgers at McDonald's is inevitable in the short term...
No wonder the response rate was so low. I had sent it to about 20 places and only heard back from four.
I will now rework the resume, but I have again a whole other cycle of sending and waiting for replies, and surviving that time is going to be a problem. Maybe flipping burgers at McDonald's is inevitable in the short term...
Dude...Don't feel bad.
I can't even get the gas station to call me back.
I flat out gave up looking for a short while..I handed in countless applications and resumes..Nada damn thing.
Then I got a good lead on an apprentice gig at a local A/V repair place...but it fell through too. (Damn,and I *wanted* that job.)
Highly Discouraging.
Employment in Oregon has been crap ever since the Dot-Com crash..
They say it's getting better,But I dont believe them.
I can't even get the gas station to call me back.
I flat out gave up looking for a short while..I handed in countless applications and resumes..Nada damn thing.
Then I got a good lead on an apprentice gig at a local A/V repair place...but it fell through too. (Damn,and I *wanted* that job.)
Highly Discouraging.
Employment in Oregon has been crap ever since the Dot-Com crash..
They say it's getting better,But I dont believe them.
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