Frustrated w/Job Hunt
 

I graduated in December and I have been waiting tables since January. Is anyone else having problems finding a job. Monsters a big POS, no help at all! All those resumes and NOT ONE call, it seems as if they are looking for possible position openings, not real positions.. It seems like the only jobs in anything that i would be interested in the paper(Wash. Post) require 5+ years of experience. I'm ready to pull my hair out, I CAN'T STAND waiting tables. I need a *real* job. Does anyone out there have any advice for where to look for actual positions. Other then company websites, I'm open to any company I just don't know alot of comanies. So i don't know to go there to look. :(

A couple of comments...

I know your frustration from a couple of levels. First, having children who have been in your position. Second, having lost a very well paying executive position and looking for a new one for over a year before accepting one for much less money than I was making.

So, some advice for whatever it is worth.

Don't shoot for the moon -- try for a satellite. In other words, don't set your sights too high. Get your foot in the door and prove your worth. You're caught in the old Catch 22 of not being able to find meaningful work because you have no experience, but not being able to gain experience without a job. But understand that experience really is the best teacher. That's why employers ask for it.

The only way to beat that is to keep trying.

When you do get a break, work as hard as you can to impress, don't complain about the working conditions, be punctual, dress well and be dependable. Play by the company rules -- no matter how stupid they may seem. And they will. Also realize that in most cases, you will learn more about how business operates in the first few months on the job than you did in all of your years in college. So, don't try to educate your boss.

This is true, no matter how menial the job may seem. Remember, someone will be watching.

My point, I suppose, is this -- your opportunity will probably come sooner or later. When it does, be thankful for it and don't screw it up.

Thus speaketh the voice of (good and bad) experience.

I'm having the same trouble. I just graduated last Saturday but it's still frustrating. My parents were reading in their newspaper (the Sun-Sentinel) that this is the worst job market in decades and that only 10% of college graduates have a job lined up. That's really sad considering only a few years ago employers were giving signing bonuses to people with underwater basket-weaving degrees. I think I'm going to take a break for the next semester and do retail to make some money. Then, go back to get my MBA next spring and just hope that the economy gets better.

I am in a three step process of interviewing for a company, doing ok so far. Find out if i make it further in the next few days. Hope I move on.

when the economy's bad, everyone goes to grad school. Especially law school.
Unfortunately law school graduates are having a terrible time getting a job. Graduation is several weeks away, this is the last week of finals, and some of the top students in the graduating class still DO NOT have jobs.
My friend Dan was interviewing today, to be a new associate in a 1 person firm (well then it would be 2). Some of his competition were members of law review (typically the smartest kids in the class)...... the fact that THEY don't have jobs yet scares me.
I am REALLY praying that the economy improves SOON.
Good luck to everyone out there looking...

Hi, I noticed you were from Maryland....so I am going to put in my two cents! Anyway, I found my current position from careerbuilder.com. There is also hotjobs.com and flipdog.com. Yes, it is annoying to read through everything, but in the end, if you wind up with a job, it was well worth it. By the way, what's your major? I might know of a place for you to look specifically. Anyway, best wishes, and don't give up. It took me 6 months after graduating to find a job in my field ;)


Jadey

My fiance graduated last May. He didn't find a job until September. Got the job 4 months to the day after graduation.

He's got a degree in Electrical Engineering, but he's working as a computer programmer. He's not getting rich, but he'd soing pretty well.

I hate law school, but the IS job market is so bleak that I'm staying where I am. The legal market is a little better, a little more stable than IS.

I totally agree juniorgrrl. My boyfriend graduated last August and he is in IS/IT as well. He didn't find his job until February because the whole IS/IT field is crazy right now!

I'm not out of school yet so I'm not looking for full-time work, but even finding *part time* work is hard right now.. (at least in my area). I have been looking since January and have yet to find something :(

i'm having a hard time too, i've checked all of the job websites. now i'm going thru my schools career center. i figured i'd have jobs lined up, being a civil engineer and all with a master's degree. construction jobs are always going. but the market is tough, and none of my friends have jobs either. lack of experience isn't the problem, i have 2 years worth and i'm only 24....so it has to be the market. check your professors, especially if you're cool with them, they'll give you a recommendation. that's probably the strongest help outside of crazy resume (trust that, i have a tight resume....but that ish hasn't helped out nothing). one of the companies i'm trying to talk to now is from a contact with my professor.

I'm having a hard time too. I do have a job for the moment, but only part time, and only through the end of May. :(

The plain and simple fact is that the economy sucks @$$ right now and isn't getting any better. There was an article yesterday that said that IS/IT jobs will continue to be scarce for the next YEAR.

Good luck to all my fellow job hunters.

Maybe we should all get together and form our own company... ;)

My last day at my current job will be May 23rd. I have been looking for a new job but I haven't been very successful. It's probably because I'm not really sure what I want to do and I all of the job listings that I have looked at don't appeal to me. :(

Things are rough everywhere. I've been looking for a different job for the past year almost, and I've really come up with nothing. I applied to some positions through monster.com -- what a complete waste of time! I never heard anything back from any of them, which either means monster has a lot of crap or nobody wants to hire me (which is entirely possible). I've also applied for jobs through companies' individual websites and nothing came of that either. I hate to say it, but it makes me think that networking really *is* the way to find a job, and that's next to impossible to do when you're looking to move across the country. Yikes.

I guess I can just say -- good luck, everyone who is looking! :)

2 cents from an oldster who's been there
 

Instead of waiting tables, you might try signing up for a temporary placement agency. (Like Manpower, etc)

You can get biz experience from a number of different places, a "real job" in the mean time, and you can "test drive" different companies before trying for a permanent position.

Like it was said before, you're in a Catch-22 regarding your experience. I used the temp contracting approach for getting practice in my field, and getting my name out among recruiters. It worked!

Hang in there--it seems like it is taking forever now, but starting up in the career world is always a little slow. Keep at it and you'll make it!

Adrienne (PNAM-2003)
:)