'Tis the Season(al Help Time)

Over the past two days, I've filled out over a dozen applications for part-time and/or seasonal help. I have another two paper applications on my desk that I'm taking a break from filling out so I can get this post up (a day late, sorry, I was filling out applications all day yesterday and it slipped my mind). I also have business cards from three places, because they only take online applications.

I had been worried about how I was going to pay to get to Michigan for Christmas, so I could see my parents, but now I don't have to worry about it, because I won't be going. To my benefit, though, if I'm employed I'll at least be able to give them gifts this year.

So as we go out and start shopping for presents for our loved ones, I would like to entreat everybody to be nice to the people in the stores. Some of them may be a little slow at the cash register, or they might not know the layout of the store as well as some, but that's probably because it's their first week on the job, after being unemployed for several months. They're going to try really hard to help you, because sometimes getting in during the seasonal help time is the only chance these people have to getting a steady part-time (or possibly full-time) job. Give them a little hope by giving them a thank you and a smile; it doesn't take anything away from you and it gives them a brighter day.

Trust me when I say that the bright days are worth more than you know.

-AMW

When Prospects Don't Pan Out

Update on the multiple prospects I had last week. The receptionist job at the medical center: I have heard nothing after my initial interview from them. The editor position for the student centered paper turns out to be a super-part-time job, instead of the full-time position that I was led to believe it was when I applied. The fiction writing I was doing? Massive writer's block.

This has also been the first week of classes for the fall semester, so I have been staying busy meeting with professors and fellow grad students. It was good to be on campus again, though I'm going to miss teaching.

Of course I'm still applying to jobs; I want to work and earn my keep. Trying to stay positive is difficult when the vast majority of the answers (if they're not a silent dismissal) is "no", but it's important to keep my head up and my eyes out for an opportunity.

-AMW

Delay Due to Multiple Prospects

So after months and months of hearing "no", or hearing nothing at all, I am suddenly faced with having people calling me for interviews or writing samples. This is why I neglected my weekly update last week (sorry to those of you who were looking forward to it).

I thought I had a good chance of working in a software company/IT firm as their office assistant, but even after the obligatory call to show interest a week after the initial interview, I have heard nothing. I still may have a shot as a receptionist at a medical center, or at a publication aimed at college students. I would love to work at either place, honestly.

As always, I am still sending out my resume with industry appropriate cover letters. I always have to remind myself that even though it may feel like I'm close to getting a job, I shouldn't count my money before I earn it. This thought keeps me humble and grounded, and motivated to find the right job for me.

In addition to all of this job hunting, I have hit a snag with my thesis, and so I have to do a major revision. I'll have less work to do in the long run when it comes to data gathering, but having to do a revision that takes out a component of the thesis is just as time consuming as adding a component.

Finally, I've been doing a bit of fiction writing. At first it was just to relieve stress from the Rambler Debacle, as I've been referring to it, but then it started to take on a life of its own. I have almost an entire book mapped out, which is good, and a few short stories as well.

That's it for the update; I will resume my once-a-week blog from here on out.
-AMW

A Little Success Goes A Long Way

I have gotten a freelance type job with a Russian company by the name of Rambler Internet Holdings. They've started corresponding more with native English speakers, and even though they've been able to translate their messages from Russian to English, they hired me to proofread and edit their emails for grammar and spelling before they're sent to the appropriate parties. The pay is good for what work there is to do, so I'm happy that I'm going to be able to earn my living again.

I'm still going to be looking for a bigger job with more hours, and I would welcome any freelance job that involves proofreading/editing. For today, however, I think I'll be happy knowing that I have a job thanks to my academic achievements in English, and work on my thesis.

-AMW

Backwards Applications Online

I have found something of an interesting trend while applying online to jobs. I posted a little snippet of what I was seeing on my Facebook, but now I want to blog about it. Online applications seem to be a bit backwards to me.

Here is an example, given in two scenarios:

Scenario One:
I apply to a really nice, full-time job; great pay and benefits, I wouldn't need to do hardly any training because I have most (if not all) of the experience necessary for the job and I can start right away. I make a cover letter and send it along with my resume, and depending on the employer, my transcripts from my graduate school as well.

This takes all of 15 to 20 minutes, and then I can go looking for another really nice, full-time job.

Scenario Two:
I apply to a slightly-more-than-minimum-wage, full-time job; it will pay my bills until I finish my degree and/or I get that really nice, full-time job. I may need a bit of training because they have "proprietary software", but the rest of the job I could do blindfolded while simultaneously juggling flaming chainsaws with one hand [WARNING: Do NOT try this at home, even if you think you're a really, really good juggler].

I can't just send in a resume and cover letter; I must fill in an online application. So I click on the appropriate boxes and start filling things in...and filling things in...and filling things in. Usually after I've manually put in all of my work and academic experience, and listed all of my referral contacts, there is a place where I can upload my resume if I choose (this is one of the few places that it is optional to input data, rather than mandatory). My resume has all of my work and academic experience on it. Oh well, I'll upload it anyway, then click for the next page.

I have to take a competency and/or personality test next. It takes at least another 20 to 30 minutes, and if I have to do both, it will of course take twice as long. By the time I'm done, I've checked about five or six boxes confirming that I am not a felon and there are no warrants out for my arrest. I've also checked at least two or three boxes confirming that my name really is Alice Malia Weaver, and I do not have a nefarious alias under which I've worked to take over the world.

The entirety of the application takes a little over two hours, give or take 15 minutes.

[End of Scenarios]

So now that I have given these scenarios, here is my question: when did it become harder to apply for a minimum wage job than it would to apply for a really nice, higher paying job? One would think that it would be the other way around, since people should be willing to jump through more hoops of red tape to get a better paying job than a minimum wage job.

I would like to hear feedback and reader opinions on this subject. Don't be shy! I would love to talk to some people about this and their view on the subject of online applications.

Now if you all will excuse me, I have some more jobs to apply to today.

-AMW

Time Management Blues

I think that, for the most part, I do really well with time management. I can schedule things and be on time and very rarely have I ever needed to ask a professor or boss for extra time to finish a project. In fact, I can not remember in recent history when I have had to ask for extra time to finish a project, so I would say my time management is really good.

However, I am having a bit of an issue at this point regarding my duties to finish my thesis and my need to get a job. There are several businesses who are interested in me at this point, but I wouldn't be working a nine-to-five, Monday-to-Friday job with the weekends free. I would be working a job that, while a full-time 40-hours-a-week position, would be run over the course of six days a week, not five. I would have one day off a week, sometime in the middle of the week.

As for my thesis, volunteer participation has trickled to a standstill. I posted flyers all over town, and yet I did not receive one serious inquiry. Thankfully my friends have rallied and offered alternative solutions to acquiring volunteers, so I will still be able to get my thesis done the way my professors want it to be done. However, the scheduling for this makes it imperative that as long as I still need data for my thesis, I have to have the weekends open.

So now the real question is: how quickly can I get everybody together for my data collection, so that I can get in on one of these jobs and have gainful employment? Once I have the data, all I have to do is break it down and analyze it, then write the last chapters of my thesis and defend it. If I'm working, I can work on it an hour a night after my job, and then dedicate several hours to it on my one day off. I would also have to schedule my defense on my one day off from my job, which may be a bit tricky because one of the professors on my thesis panel travels a lot and he's usually only in town sporadically at best if class is not in session.

In a nutshell, scheduling far future events in the hopes that things will work out okay has been giving me problems. Also, predicting the future is not something I'm noted for, so trying to schedule aforementioned far future events is becoming very hit or miss for me, and I do not like it one bit.

-AMW

Red Flags and Interviews

The interview I had today was a learning experience; namely, be wary of anyplace that sells life insurance and helps with overall investment finances, unless you already have a license to sell insurance. Also, being Better Business Bureau (BBB) Accredited apparently isn't what it's cracked up to be.

Here is a rundown of what happened. For everything that is a red flag to the situation not being as straightforward as it should be, I will put (RF#). For those of you who do not know what a red flag is, it's a point in a situation that should make your inner self say "oh really?" or "warning" or "Danger, Will Robinson!".

It started out by my walking into the building, finding the right office and then being greeted by an employee of the company. He took my resume, references and one of my new business cards (he complimented the design and color).

I was then escorted into a conference room (RF1), to wait with other potential hires before the presentation about the company began (RF2 & 3). I still have a folder full of informational material, which I read over before the presentation began, and I found three very obvious typos in a letter from one of the Executive Directors (RF4), as well as various other typos in the rest of the material, ranging from format to misuse of punctuation (RF5).

The presentation began and it all seemed to be very interesting; a go-getter attitude and a personable nature would apparently take a person a long way in this company. Then came the slide that talked about how, since this was a company that sold life insurance, we as potential hires would have to be accredited (RF6, since this was not mentioned in the placement ad on CareerBuilder). How is this done? Well, the company was willing to pay for the educational materials so we could learn what we needed before taking the exam for the insurance license, but some of the costs would have to come out of our own pocket (RF7 - This was also not mentioned in the CareerBuilder placement). The cost to us? A whopping $489 (RF8 -That much money covers about 75% of my bills for a month, and now that I don't have any money coming in from CSU, that's a lot of money to throw around).

But, the presenter assured us, that it would take us three months or less to get promoted to the next level within the company, and with that promotion we'll get a $500 bonus. So really, it wouldn't be spending $489 and never seeing it again; rather, it would just be back in our pockets at the most three-and-a-half months after we'd given it to the company, with $11 worth of interest (RF9)!

The presenter never explained how we could be promoted so quickly, or what we would have to do for those first three months (RF 10 & 11). In fact, other than promising quick promotions, she was incredibly vague about a number of things pertaining to our actual jobs (RF12).

Once the presentation was over, we were called one or two at a time for one-on-one interviews (there were three employees of the firm at the office this morning; one stayed in the conference room with us, and the other two held the one-on-one interviews). I was called relatively early, and I told the employee about the typos. She acknowledged them and agreed that they bugged her, but that looked like all she was going to do about it (though to be fair, I know that when you mass produce some literature, it's costly to go back and fix it and print everything again, and they can only do so much with what the head offices send them).

I also told her that I wasn't going to be able to swing the $489, because of my financial situation. She asked me if I could swing $250, because that was as low as she was allowed to go to help potential hires. I told her I would have to look at my financial situation before giving her an answer, and I would call her later today. After that, she was even more guarded and edgy about the answers she gave me (RF13). I asked her to describe what a normal day at the office would be like, after she asked me a series of questions about my resume; she never answered me, but told me that was something she would get into if I was called back for a second interview (RF14 - what kind of cloak and dagger operation are you running if you can't even describe a normal day at the office? Honestly). I didn't bother asking about pay and benefits; if she wasn't going to answer a simple, fairly non-invasive question, there was no way I was going to get an answer for those type of questions.

In the end, I shook her hand, thanked her for her time, and left. I came home, looked up my finances (yep, still poor), and called the company's office, leaving a message that I wouldn't be able to come up with the money, and thanked them again for their time.

I have to say it: for a place that is BBB Accredited, their hiring practices leave quite a bit to be desired. Also, I will reiterate from above: in their placement ads on CareerBuilder, it said nothing about needing an insurance license or giving the company money as part of the hiring process.

I think I'll be sticking to advertising agencies from now on, or any other field that doesn't have to do with finance or insurance; this experience actually left a bad taste in my mouth, and I thought that was just an expression.

-AMW