Job Hunt Part: ∞

[Will-Mun]

Deeeep breaths... deeeeep breaths.

Calm Blue Ocean... Calm Blue Ocean... Calm Blue Ocean...

Okay, so I'm calmed, still pissed, but calm. And I have news!

End of an Era... I hope.

So I wa talking to my friend last night about the awesomeness of Transformers. He is hessitant to see it, I am assuring him it is the best movie I've seen in a long time. We continue to talk about this and that, and eventually the job thing comes up. I tell him my plight, having NO money, and not a clue what to do when he suggests something.

"you can work with me if you want"

This is the friend I made when I first was hired at Radio Shack. Back when I was in the MALL Radio Shack. And it was our friendship that got us through that job, seriously. He has specifically said I was the only reason he stayed that long.

Personally I'm suprised he doesn't have a vendetta on me for that.

But anyway, since he left, and I went to the shopping center Radio Shack we haven't hung out alot, we basically just talk online every now and again, so I have NO idea what his job even is.

The guy works for an office. According to him the job is this.

"I'm a customer service rep for a utilitiy companies, like people call and are like I'm putting a pool in some dudes yard and I type in the info in the ol computer"
"like I said it's boring as all fuck but outside of calls you can chill and read magazines all day"

The guy also gets paid 11/h, and works full time. And he thinks he can get me a job there.

No selling, no real customer interaction. Just putting info into a computer. I WANT this job.

And because I want it, I probably won't GET it.

But here's hoping?

[JustADude]

Hush! Those kinds of jobs are obtainable! I'm moving into one as soon as one of my previous Counties of Residence gets off their butts and responds to the background check. If they don't do it before Friday, my start-date moves back to the 23rd, but still, I'm in.

[ArenaBoy]

Go for it Will-mun, you deserve it. Job hunting sucks and I know what you're feeling right now.

[Andara Bledin]

*crosses fingers, toes, eyes, arms, legs, and anything else I can manage*

Good luck on getting that cushy office position.

.... and here's hoping there's a few more out there for the other active job seekers.

^-.-^

[Will-Mun]

Update... sorta.

Well it's been a couple days since I was able to talk to my friend. He has limited access to a computer, but I got his cell now (told you we haven't been in contact much) so now it shouldn't be a problem.

So I asked him what was up, and he told me that his boss was on Vacation, but he'd ask when the man got back, so... Keep hoping for me!

[Bagga]

But just a minor point, and this is only my opinion.

Maybe it is best to wait a couple of weeks before ringing to check how your application is getting on. You have to give a fair amount of time for references to be gathered. (hell, I have had job references take months. I even had an English School in Spain that finally got around to offering me the job for the FOLLOWING ACADEMIC YEAR!)

Ringing too often in the week following the interview may have made you look demanding, impatient, or even desperate. (ok, maybe you are desperate for the cash, but you have to seem cool calm and collected, so you can deal with the SCs)

[Andara Bledin]

The vast majority of the jobs I have ever applied to were filled within the week of being advertised in the Sunday paper.

The only ones that weren't were the really nice ones that required a large amount of knowledge/experience.

^-.-^

[Will-Mun]

Oh god... Oh god oh god oh god....


I got a call, well, My mother's husband took a message for me... Wal*Mart called, they want an interview this Monday... This is just...bad.

I only applied to Wal*Mart in desperation, I never ACTUALLY wanted to work there. But... I know what I need to do. I mean, if my friend CAN'T get me the job...I need to take this one...

I really don't want to work there... This is bad...

I can only hope that my friend gets me that job...

[BookstoreEscapee]

Do the interview anyway. It can't hurt. Look at it as practice, if nothing else. Besides, if you took that and your friend came through later, you could always just say, hey, this isn't working out for me/I got offered another job and just go.

Good luck.

[Will-Mun]

So my friend sorta kinda worked everything out for me. The thing is... I HAVE to be hired through a temp agency... Whatever, as long as I get the job right?

So I worked out to go in yesterday and get it all done... And through a gross misunderstanding, I go to the building and spend 20 minutes walking around the second floor looking for this place, when I was supposed to be on the first floor!

Honestly, the name wasn't in the building glossary.

So I called them up, explained what happened, and went in today. GOD I hated it.

"Here, fill out these three forms of paperwork."

Fill em out, sit for a few minutes.

"Now fill out these SEVEN forms of Paperwork, front AND back."

...Fill them out, sit for a few minutes.

"Come in and take this four page test."

Take the test... Which consisted of naming the abbreviation and past tense of a few words. A "Map" test... Questions refering from a really bad photocopy map of the are. A compass, to show I know N, S, E, W, NE, SE, NW, SW... And a Paragraph explaining how I dealt with a problem customer, so I'm in fourth grade again apparently.

I finish.....sit down... and wait a few minutes.

"Come in and take this data entry test."

Take the test, basic typing skills, rather easy. TRY not to get too flustered of the timer (no time limit, but there was a timer.)

I finish, told to actually STAY in the room, and wait for the head...temp agency lady I guess, to come interview me.

We go over this and that, and she tells me what my friend told me. The boss lady of this company is on vacation. So when she gets back, they'll tell her, and I'll go in for the REAL interview.

Though I hear from the temp lady she can be a bit...serious.

Oh yeah, and I skipped the Wal*Mart interview. I know it was stupid, but...I just don't think I could work at Wal*Mart.

[Will-Mun]

So.... My friend told me his boss gets back on Monday.... Last Monday. And she did. I've been waiting for a call. Wondering whats up, I call my friend...

He tells me that indeed his boss is back, and that he asked her about me. She claims that the temp agency never contacted her about me...

Slightly peeved, I called up the Temp Agency (which I had planned to do today anyway.) And ask in a polite way "What the FUCK?"

The Temp Lady THERE says she WAS in contact with the Boss Lady and was told she only had very early morning hours. 6am-11am, Part time... And I can't get up there that early.

So someones lying, and I'm out yet again of a job. I just don't get why these jobs keep falling flat. I THINK I'm getting it, and it just turns out I don't.

So...I'm going out job hunting tomorrow. Not exactly sure where...But theres gotta be some place I haven't applied to yet.

[Broomjockey]

Shouldn't have skipped Wal-Mart. Bad Karma. Needed to prove to someone/thing that you were serious.

Well, I hope you find something, 'cause having nothing sucks.

[Will-Mun]

In all honesty, I think I'm better off with no job than a job at Wal*mart... I worked at Radio Shack for a year and a half and barely tolerated it... If I started working at Wal*mart, I'd just slip into a spiral of self-destructive depression. I would be making shit money, for shit hours.

I kinda-sorta get off paying bills while I'm out of a job because my mom refuses to listen to me when I tell her to stop paying them. Working at the Mart I would be required to pay my own bills, and again, like at Radio Shack, would be living barely check to check, over-drafting on a weekly basis.

I need, if not a good job, a secure one I'll be able to support myself on, and one that won't make me want to blow my brains out after a few months of working there. So no, the Wal*mart interview being skipped wasn't bad Karma. It was just me knowing I would never be happy there, nor would it solve my financial problems.

But I think it won't be hard to find a job, it's nearly August, which means college students will soon be dropping their hours or quitting entirely, which means fourth quarter and the push to hire holiday help...

So no, I really don't think I'll be out of a job for much longer. The simple matter is keeping the job once I get it.

[tollbaby]

I think part of the problem in this case is that you were relying on others to get things done for you. Yes, you filled out applications fifty ways to Sunday, but you were still relying on your friend to be your point of contact with the employer. That's unprofessional and high-schoolish. You should ask your friend for the employer's telephone number or make an appointment to see her, dress nicely, bring your resume, and ask if there's any chance of employment with her. If not, then cut your losses and look elsewhere, but don't get someone else to sort out a job for you.

And no, you shouldn't have skipped the interview. It's a small world, and word can spread if you start applying at places you have no intention of working and skipping interviews. For all you know, the hiring manager at WalMart could be the husband/wife of the hiring manager at the next place you try, and your name might as well be mud. If you didn't want to work at WalMart, you shouldn't have applied there.

Even when I'm applying for positions I'm not sure I want, I still go through the entire hiring process, and should they offer me the job, I'd politely explain I'd just gotten an offer that was more suited to my needs. Whether it's true or not doesn't matter. But to set up an interview time and not show up is really rude and wastes that HR person's time, because they don't know until your scheduled time that you're not going to show up. No offense man, but I'm sure a hiring manager has better things to do than sitting around waiting to see if some schmoe is going to show for his interview.

YOu're kind of shooting yourself in the foot, and that's meant as constructive criticism. I know you want to find the perfect job, but you know what, you have to feed yourself in the meantime, and it's not fair to keep sponging off your mom. I'm working for a temp agency right now because I lost my job in October. Yeah, I want a better-paying job, and yeah, I hate what I'm doing now, but I've got to feed myself and keep a roof over my head, so I'm doing the crap job for now and continuing to apply for other, better jobs. You can't just wait around until the perfect job lands in your lap...

Besides, it's always easier to FIND a job when you already HAVE one, so if you'd gotten the WalMart one, at least other employers wouldn't be wondering why you were out of work.

[Will-Mun]

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

*CoughHackCough* Blow off the dust here. Okay, so... Here we go with an update.

The Data Entry job didn't pan out, as I was alluding to in my last post ages ago. But... I went hellbent again on applications, and hey it's fourth quarter right? Places are hiring everywhere... I hope.

First, Staples. I applied there, and a week later I called back to see whats up. I was told that the hiring manager wasn't there... And that due to inventory being that week he wasn't looking at applications. BUT the guy knew that they WERE looking for people to hire, and that my best bet would be to call in Tuesday or Wednesday (this week) because by then the Hiring manager would have looked over the application.

But this... is my fall back, my back up. The REAL update is this... Toys R Us. I applied there last week... And got a call back on Thursday... I wasn't here to get the call, but my brother relayed it to me. So Friday I call up, and... they don't answer...

Huh?

I called all throughout the day, nobody picked up the phone... So on Saturday I call again... and once more, no answer. So I get in the car and drive up there. I wait at the service desk, behind some couple with some sorta registry problem for their baby who take too damn long, until someone asks me if I need help. I tell them I got called for an interview and nobody's been answering.

Now I was just there to get the interview date, but the guy interviews me on the spot. Looking over my employment history he sees Gamestop and we're instantly thrown into a conversation about gaming... We get into the actual job, gaming section, and he doesn't do what I normally get in interviews, you know, situational questions...

"Tell me about a time you went above and beyond your expected duties."

"What would you do if you knew a co-worker was stealing?"

"How would you deal with an upset customer?"

None of that, instead he begins telling me about the job, what I'd be doing if I was hired. Service plans, credit cards, all the stuff I dealt with in abundance at Radio Shack.

I feel good about this. The guy said they were reviewing all the applicants Monday (today) and that I will be getting a call Tuesday whether I got the job or not, which I LIKE because as I mentioned before, the last two places I got an interview for sent me a POST CARD rejection letter.

He also told me my open availability but me on the top of the list for hiring.

And if it doesn't work out? I have Staples to fall back on.

But I think this is good. Toys R Us, gaming department. I'll be doing the exact same thing as Gamestop, which I loved, but I won't have to deal with the store being a shitty excuse for a PAWN shop, which is what Gamestop really is.

I'm back!