JOB Search TIPs and Support

[Sparticus]

An intelligent poster here suggested I post job search tips & advice about working with Job Placement people. 13 years ago I left the Job Placement field for another career. So technologically I'm not up to date per Job Search tech & websites.

But networking & finding hidden jobs hasn?t changed much. Many of the online job search articles in the past that I read appeared outdated, misleading, not informative enough or wrong. Don?t forget to go offline & network.

If you talk to 10 different Job Developers/Job Placement personnel/Employment Counselors, you might get 10 different answers! That can apply resumes, what direction you should go in etc. TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS!

Please don?t waste my time . In the past many job seekers asking help 1) were unemployable due to attitude or life situation 2) failed to follow up 3) were getting a Govt check & waited until the checks ended-thereby wasting valuable time 4) weren?t interested in learning the Job Search process thereby reducing their chances of future success.

I?m only human, no longer as young & energetic as I?d like. But if I can help you I will try. You have to learn the rules of Job Search first in order to break them.

 

[Sparticus]

Clarification for THIS board-the above does not apply to Autistic people. I worked with inner city adults in the Placement Dept of Trade Schools
and business schools. Whenever working with the public, burn out + becoming overwhelmed occurs. So kindly excuse me for being so blunt!
I was a Director of Placement in a Medical School in the Newark Essex County area, NY. Then I worked in NYC doing welfare to work & back again to the Medical field.

With 10 years of Job Search Seminars under my belt & five awards for Admissions Rep {SALES} from a prestigious National Corporation I got the **** out of sales [working 7:45am -9 or 10pm] and into Job Placement. I'm not trying to be a hardass to Aspergers people but just to let ya'all know many f*cked us. Imo most people are ignorant [as I was] of the GAME of trying to get a job. If you want advice ask me. If not good luck. I don't give a flying lizards gizard because too many people are jerkoffs.

I helped 50,000 Black women, some Spanish women and men get a job. I worked in the Trade/Business schools. The real deal where a businessaying "Job Placement" would be sued and they would rewrite it "Job Placement Assistance." If I can help you cool. If not good luck.

 

[Sparticus]

RESUMES:

No one ever hired a resume...it's a piece of paper. They hired a person. Especially one who knew the Job seeking game.

 

[Sparticus]

The BIGGEST FAILURE OF JOB SEEKERS is not knowing the game of how to find a job. Attitude is also included. You are either an Olympic Athelete ready to SUIT up or you are an amatuer. How do I know?!!! Cause I FAILED 150 times in jobs...until I went to job seeking seminars for ten years. Would you ask a plumber who would work FREE for you to call YOU? No ****in no, you would call HIM. But for Jobs Counselors, we are not treated with the same respect.

So you lose...treat Jobs Counselors the way you would treat your plumber... I can give plenty of "job seekers" who abused Job Counselors as well as plenty of Job seekers who cultivated a working relationship with job Counselors. Your choice. I'm already trying to hard...

 

[Soup]

You've had some interesting & relevant career experience, Sparticus. I'm sure the people you helped place are grateful to this day: finding work can be very difficult. Even with both experience & training.

I'd add the following advice:

Do NOT apply for jobs for which you know darned well you would be a bad fit.
Find out something about the company you are applying to. In the interview, you WILL be asked what you think you can contribute to the company.Besides blabbering about being a hard worker, you can prepare yourself with some specifics.

When teachers apply to teach at different schools, we are asked about our teaching philosophy. Being VERY familiar with the school's philosophy & approaches to education enable us to demonstrate how our philosophy works well with theirs & what we can add to the school's unique environment.

 

[Sparticus]

Job Interviews:

How prepared are you for job interviews? What have YOU done to prepare for them? What could you do better next time?

 

[Soup]

This is such an important thread for so many of our fellow Aspies who are unemployed or underemployed. I wonder where the heck everyone is?

 

[Sparticus]

Thank you very kindly for your thoughts. I'm here to help others & don't mean to come across as a hardass. But I will mold Job Seeking to Aspergers.

This is such an important thread for so many of our fellow Aspies who are unemployed or underemployed. I wonder where the heck everyone is?

 

[Soup]

I'm emotionally dense, Sparticus; any hard-assedness flew right past me.

 

[Sparticus]

I wish I understood Soup. Can you understand a gentle hand on your face, a soul to soul experience of two people? For me energy comes from peaceful people. I'm not sure how to explain this. Hardass for me means those who take advantage of us who help them. We can't be hurt all the time by negative people.

I'm emotionally dense, Sparticus; any hard-assedness flew right past me.

 

[Sparticus]

Volunteering:

Most people forget that networking creates job openings. As many as 50%-80% of all jobs are said to have been gotten thru networking. Go the extra mile...do whatever it takes to meet more people. Volunteering is one way. I'd suggest volunteering for a large institution as they might have more job availability than smaller companies.

 

[Merritt]

I often hear that statement, that most jobs happen through your network of social connections. Maybe my social network sucks, but any time I have let my people know that I am looking for a job (like now) it has been useless.. never had a friend say, "Oh my place is hiring for such and such.."

So I am pounding the pavement looking for a McJob

 

[Sparticus]

I feel ya & been there. Networking is a large expenditure of energy, time and includes lots of rejections. Some Aspies are better at an email networking campaign than the phone or in person. That can include an informational campaign, direct mail or asking if there are job openings.

Learning the rules of networking increases production & results. Creating a business & social network besides family & friends is essential. Though I was never the best at keeping my network after I was hired. I'd let a lot of hard work disappear...then a year or years later I'd have to redo the whole networking thing.

Having a short script prepared before networking helps. Practice beforehand what you will say to someone:

"Hi I?m ____ I won 3 awards for [Company A.] When I was with [Company B] I saved my Dept $200,000 by doing ____. Currently I volunteer for ___. I?m talking to you because [example -I?ve always wanted to work in the ___ industry?]

At this point you either ask about job openings or go for the informational interview [or schedule a 5-10 minute info interview at a later date.] Whenever you receive a ?no? you always ask ?can you recommend other people I can talk to??

Here are some networking ideas:

Using yellow pages, volunteering, asking professionals like Doctors/Lawyers for recommendations, joining offline & online job search groups, your Career Dept of your College or Placement Dept of a trade school, talking to an Alumni network, joining a Church or Synagogue, taking an important person out to lunch, taking a class, getting involved in a social or hobby group, joining a professional association in your field or a field that you want to work in & that meets once a month for lunch etc.

Hope that helps. Good luck

I often hear that statement, that most jobs happen through your network of social connections. Maybe my social network sucks, but any time I have let my people know that I am looking for a job (like now) it has been useless.. never had a friend say, "Oh my place is hiring for such and such.."

So I am pounding the pavement looking for a McJob

 

[Merritt]

I feel ya & been there. Networking is a large expenditure of energy, time and includes lots of rejections. Some Aspies are better at an email networking campaign than the phone or in person. That can include an informational campaign, direct mail or asking if there are job openings.

Learning the rules of networking increases production & results. Creating a business & social network besides family & friends is essential. Though I was never the best at keeping my network after I was hired. I'd let a lot of hard work disappear...then a year or years later I'd have to redo the whole networking thing.

Having a short script prepared before networking helps. Practice beforehand what you will say to someone:

"Hi I’m ____ I won 3 awards for [Company A.] When I was with [Company B] I saved my Dept $200,000 by doing ____. Currently I volunteer for ___. I’m talking to you because [example -I’ve always wanted to work in the ___ industry…]

At this point you either ask about job openings or go for the informational interview [or schedule a 5-10 minute info interview at a later date.] Whenever you receive a “no” you always ask “can you recommend other people I can talk to?”

Here are some networking ideas:

Using yellow pages, volunteering, asking professionals like Doctors/Lawyers for recommendations, joining offline & online job search groups, your Career Dept of your College or Placement Dept of a trade school, talking to an Alumni network, joining a Church or Synagogue, taking an important person out to lunch, taking a class, getting involved in a social or hobby group, joining a professional association in your field or a field that you want to work in & that meets once a month for lunch etc.

Hope that helps. Good luck

Thanks, that's a lot of great info. I actually just got off my first shift at my brand new job! I think I need to make an effort this time to really get to know people and add them to my 'network'.

 

[anne.bc]

I have been going to Workability IV at my college for months. They have helped me look for work and that's about it. So far I have just been getting interviews, and right now I have two candidacies: the State of California EDD and the IRS for seasonal work as a Tax Examiner.

Their advice on job hunting online: avoid Monster, Career Builder, and SnagAJob. My counselor says they have been fishy lately and with SnagAJob there are so many ads that I can't even complete applications. I tried everything and had to quit apps because there's no way out of the loophole.

DO use Indeed.com and SimplyHired. I swear by Indeed. Do not apply for jobs that have been up for 30+ days. Type in your area that you live and hit search. For relevance, click newest. If you see something you like that was posted more than 4 weeks ago, call the company first to see if you should apply or not.

For Craigslist (I don't want to touch it with a 50 foot pole because I'm female and I don't want to get scammed or worse things because I happen to be female): postings with a phone number should be okay, because you can contact them if you have any questions, plus it can help determine if it's a legitimate company or not. Avoid postings that are short and don't have a phone number. Also avoid postings if the compensation listed seems a little too good to be true.

I'll post later about resumes when I find my notes. They taught me how to reformat mine to make it better and it makes sense to me.

 

[Warwick C]

I'll look forward to your post on resumes Anne, as I am thinking about up dating my one.
In terms of agencies in New Zealand there is Work Focus Which I have found to be help full,
I was with Workbridge and Elevator and both did not pick up on the aspergers.

 

[Sparticus]

Congratulations!

Thanks, that's a lot of great info. I actually just got off my first shift at my brand new job! I think I need to make an effort this time to really get to know people and add them to my 'network'.

 

[Sparticus]

The New York City Public Library asked me to work on a temp Job Search project in the past. It consisted of updating a booklet including jobs websites & reviewing them etc. Would have been targeted for the inner city job searchers. After 2 interviews and having taken Power Point class to get hired, they didn't hire me. Which worked out for me as I had gotten a better permanent job by that time.

So how is this working out for your job search? How long have you been looking and are you satisfied with the results? How many interviews have you gone on? Have you asked for any feedback from those interviews? Are you being proactive with the professionals helping you? What percentage of your job search is spent online? At what point should you take a step back, find out what is not working, change your strategy & inititate new job search plans?

Per resumes-ask 10 Job Search/Job Counselors their opinions on resumes and often you will get 10 different answers! I've looked at 100,000 resumes in NYC & NJ. But have forgotten a lot. Thanks for your offer of showing us here info on resumes. Since you know so much about online job search websites, feel free per starting a new thread on the Online Job Search. You'd be a fantastic teacher!

I have been going to Workability IV at my college for months. They have helped me look for work and that's about it. So far I have just been getting interviews, and right now I have two candidacies: the State of California EDD and the IRS for seasonal work as a Tax Examiner.

Their advice on job hunting online: avoid Monster, Career Builder, and SnagAJob. My counselor says they have been fishy lately and with SnagAJob there are so many ads that I can't even complete applications. I tried everything and had to quit apps because there's no way out of the loophole.

DO use Indeed.com and SimplyHired. I swear by Indeed. Do not apply for jobs that have been up for 30+ days. Type in your area that you live and hit search. For relevance, click newest. If you see something you like that was posted more than 4 weeks ago, call the company first to see if you should apply or not.

For Craigslist (I don't want to touch it with a 50 foot pole because I'm female and I don't want to get scammed or worse things because I happen to be female): postings with a phone number should be okay, because you can contact them if you have any questions, plus it can help determine if it's a legitimate company or not. Avoid postings that are short and don't have a phone number. Also avoid postings if the compensation listed seems a little too good to be true.

I'll post later about resumes when I find my notes. They taught me how to reformat mine to make it better and it makes sense to me.

 

[Sparticus]

REMINDER: PER MY ORIGINAL POST I'D PREFER THIS THREAD TO BE ABOUT A TRADITIONAL JOB SEARCH. IF YOU WANT TO START A SEPERATE THREAD ABOUT WEBSITES & ONLINE JOB SEARCH GO FOR IT!

Imo the online job search strategy, while important, is a game losing strategy for varied reasons. For the elite job searchers & well connected, it can be fruitful. For the average job searcher, imo it's a time sucking trap! 4-5 years ago I was in between jobs & my work in NYC had come to a sudden end. My boss and good friend had hired a 5'7" beauty from Bangladesh. Customers were fighting to talk to her@! True story. My boss told me "sorry Sparticus but I have no more work for you."

So I started a mostly online job search. It's so seductive-you wake up and jump on the computer. It's easier than networking offline and easier than a traditional job search. Plus it's easy to go off course, play a computer game etc. Eventually I networked offline to a potential volunteer position which lead to a full time job offer. My advice-while the younger generations are brought up with more and more tech, yes this is an important part of job search, kindly LIMIT your time online! Get your ass out there and do a real job search!

FACE TO FACE CONTACT IS THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF MOST JOB SEARCHES

Your career will thank you...as jobs generally go to the ones who are either lucky in networking or have worked harder in the job search process. I might be wrong as right now I'm quickly typing this while having a cold. sniff, sniff...but when you realize many Job Placement people mighly only spend only 5-15 seconds on your resume depending on how busy they are...you have to wonder how many emailed resumes ARE NEVER READ!!!!!

I might be wrong as some will always find ways to bend the rules...

 

[Sparticus]

NEW articles coming:

I plan on writing short posts on How to Work with Job Counselors, Why Job Searches Implode***, Resumes, salaries, tricks, Interviews, Advanced Interviewing, filling gaps-resume, finding hidden jobs, applying for a job before it's posted/advertised, which candidates get the jobs and why, How People scam Jobs Counselors which leads to Jobs Counselor Burn out. Which can lead to some of us venting at you or worse, not caring. Hey I don't mean to be a junk yard dog with a tude. Really...I don't mean to sound harsh to anyone. But when you work with people...and you really want to help them, you'd be amazed by how many excuses, getting stabbed in the back & difficult people you encounter.

Since my experience has little to do with an online job search, for me, it's counter productive to entertain thoughts here on that subject. That's why I recommend to anyone to start a seperate thread on that. If I get bitchy, just tell me...I hope to get more patience here otherwise I won't be able to help anyone.

Please excuse me for sometimes not being gentle. I've seen it all & heard it all etc. Always it's the success stories that help any kind of Counselor go foward. Please don't Mickey Mouse me...then I think you are jerking my chain. Just be honest. You can get help a lot quicker by any expert on any subject via candid honesty.

Any questions? Come on, I don't bite!


***I've seen that happen to thousands of people & will tell you how to avoid that