Octopus Overlords

Moliere wrote: ↑Fri Aug 10, 2018 11:38 pm

Drazzil wrote: ↑Thu Aug 09, 2018 1:58 pm

morlac wrote: ↑Thu Aug 09, 2018 10:32 am The same way you did 8 years ago....as a wall decoration.

Aren't you just a ray of sunshine.

Given the history of these threads it's also more than likely the truth.

Fair enough, but I'm *trying* to change. Small steps right?

With school starting back up, the fall career fairs and events will be coming up quickly. Get your foot in the door now and make contacts with your university's center.

i.e., take action other than posting on OO about your intentions.

Use this thread to tell us what specific actions you have taken. Not what you're going to do. Not what you want to do. Not what you hope to do. Not what you plan to do.

Here's your next month and a half.

Cal Poly Pomona Career Center Calendar

August 22, 2018
Part-Time Jobs & Volunteer Fair

September 18, 2018
Resumaniac All Majors

September 20, 2018
Clothes Closet Open House 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Prep for Career Fair Workshop 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

September 27, 2018
Senior Alumni Networking Breakfast 8: 30AM - 10:00AM
Fall Career Fair 10:30 AM – 2:30 PM

Drazzil wrote: ↑Sat Aug 11, 2018 5:42 pm

Moliere wrote: ↑Fri Aug 10, 2018 11:38 pm

Drazzil wrote: ↑Thu Aug 09, 2018 1:58 pm

morlac wrote: ↑Thu Aug 09, 2018 10:32 am The same way you did 8 years ago....as a wall decoration.

Aren't you just a ray of sunshine.

Given the history of these threads it's also more than likely the truth.

Fair enough, but I'm *trying* to change. Small steps right?

F the small steps, you've been dancing with small steps for the last 8 years. Getup and GO!

I am thinking of going to the state for a month to look for work. Im thinking of having. my good friend check in on the cats every day. I just worry that. my older cats. will die of loneliness.

Advice?

Drazzil wrote: ↑Tue Aug 14, 2018 3:57 pm Advice?

Call the Cal Poly Pomona Career Center.

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Tue Aug 14, 2018 4:02 pm

Drazzil wrote: ↑Tue Aug 14, 2018 3:57 pm Advice?

Call the Cal Poly Pomona Career Center.

So you dont think leaving the state for a month to look for better opportunities out of state or you think that Cal Poly's network might have leads that way?

I think leaving the state is a bad idea. There are employers coming to your school within two weeks to a month and a half from now. Let the experts that you have access to as an alumnus help you.

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Tue Aug 14, 2018 7:14 pm I think leaving the state is a bad idea. There are employers coming to your school within two weeks to a month and a half from now. Let the experts that you have access to as an alumnus help you.

I have to pay a NOT nominal fee to become an alum for the year, then ANOTHER not nominal fee to register for career center services.

But I. think its going to be well spent.

And the parking costs will trend towards the rapine.

You think looking for a job out of state would be cheaper?!? Listen to Isgrimnur. He's been through this himself.

This thread is a total car wreck.

Drazzil wrote:And the parking costs will trend towards the rapine.

Are you serious? You are talking about PARKING COSTS when your alternate plan was a month long trip out of state? Just stop with this nonsense.

It's all nonsense. I don't understand a thing he's saying. We have a lot of good people taking the time to give good advice and he replies with things that makes no sense.

McNutt wrote: ↑Tue Aug 14, 2018 10:20 pm It's all nonsense. I don't understand a thing he's saying. We have a lot of good people taking the time to give good advice and he replies with things that makes no sense.

Maybe some context may help. At the latest job fair I talked to one of the EDD representatives, a job developer who told me that he had worked in the IE for 18 years and was retiring soon. The gentleman actively encouraged me to move out of state to a major metropolitan area to seek work elsewhere. He explained that I would have a vastly better chance seeking employment "outside the IE and "preferably out of state" when it came to using my business degree. He explained that "mostly the whole of the Inland Empire is very blue collar"

I thought "Hell. I have no attachments to the area outside of the cats, why not AirBnB an apartment in a major metro area and see what turns up?"

As I get farther away from the date WAG can appeal unemployment and I think to myself, "Why not give it a shot?"

But I can also see the wisdom in going the Cal Poly route, as they have a HUGE network.

RunningMn9 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 14, 2018 9:39 pm

Drazzil wrote:And the parking costs will trend towards the rapine.

Are you serious? You are talking about PARKING COSTS when your alternate plan was a month long trip out of state? Just stop with this nonsense.

You're absolutely right I provide context above. Please tell me where I might be failing at thinking something through.

Yeah you guys are right. Cal Poly it is. I'll register tomorrow.

I was thinking you guys are right. Out of state my degree is practically worthless. Eight years old. Hardly any experience in my field and no RECENT experience. If anyone can use my degree and life experience, it'll probabally be in the Cal Poly network.

In my own defense, I really wanted to move out of state.

And I JUST figured out why you guys said what you said. My plan was idiocy. I would need WAY longer then a month to get job services of any kind in a new out of state area.

ID requirements, residency requirements, whew.

A job takes a long time to find and finding a job has to become a full-time job itself.

How many jobs did you apply for last week?

McNutt wrote: ↑Tue Aug 14, 2018 11:35 pm A job takes a long time to find and finding a job has to become a full-time job itself.

How many jobs did you apply for last week?

Only five

Well two with the same company so six.

What did you do the other six days?

McNutt wrote: ↑Wed Aug 15, 2018 12:44 am What did you do the other six days?

Got me. This week I took my car to the mechanic twice to have the controller arms replaced, attended three doctors appointments ( horray for healthcare!) Took my neighbor to the market, an enemy to work, and two visits to mom in hospice one being mandatory, but yeah in beteween all that I could have looked for a lot more work.

Im not being sarcastic. I had a lot more time then I should have. I * should* have applied for more work.

McNutt wrote: ↑Tue Aug 14, 2018 11:35 pm How many jobs did you apply for last week?

When it comes to job search, quality, not quantity, is a far more efficient way to go. If you take the time to research the company, perhaps meet people at the company you are interested in working for, and then tailor your CV and cover letter to highlight why you are the perfect person for the opportunity available, you'll get better quality results than if you simply spammed yourself to every job listing that is remotely plausible.

I don't agree with the idea that someone hard up for a job should be that selective. Once you have a job and money isn't so much of an issue, then start looking for quality over quantity.

But even if he was to do as you suggest, he still needs to put in eight hours a day looking for that job. There's simply no excuse for submitting six applications in a week. He can tailor his resume and still crank out a lot more applications than he's doing now. My point was that it's all talk with him for some reason. He spends a lot of time wasting money and soliciting advice that he's never going to take instead of actually doing the hard work of looking for a job.

There was a true story of a guy climbing Mount Everest when a storm rolled in. He was trapped, lost, and suffering from hypothermia but base camp was eventually able to get him on the radio. They asked him if he could still move and he said yes. They then started talking him down the mountain and when he got close, they set up a ton of lights to direct him in. They were really excited thinking he should see them any minutes. It was at that point the climber mentioned he had never moved. He died a short while later from exposure.

Don't know what made me think of that just now.

McNutt wrote: ↑Wed Aug 15, 2018 10:23 am I don't agree with the idea that someone hard up for a job should be that selective. Once you have a job and money isn't so much of an issue, then start looking for quality over quantity.

But even if he was to do as you suggest, he still needs to put in eight hours a day looking for that job. There's simply no excuse for submitting six applications in a week. He can tailor his resume and still crank out a lot more applications than he's doing now. My point was that it's all talk with him for some reason. He spends a lot of time wasting money and soliciting advice that he's never going to take instead of actually doing the hard work of looking for a job.

I am doing the hard work of looking for a job, but I'm not going to lie to you guys and claim I looked for more jobs then I did. I did sort of slack off the last 7 days. The only call back I got was a temp agency for warehouse work. I registered with Cal Poly today and paid the fees.

Good. The part-time fair is in a week. Be there. And make sure your suit is in good order.

And I do have some good news this morning. Mom is going to start physical therapy so she can maybe go home.

Drazzil wrote: ↑Wed Aug 15, 2018 1:45 pmI registered with Cal Poly today and paid the fees.

Man, an action statement in the past tense is awesome! More of that, less future tense.

McNutt wrote: ↑Wed Aug 15, 2018 10:23 am I don't agree with the idea that someone hard up for a job should be that selective. Once you have a job and money isn't so much of an issue, then start looking for quality over quantity.

Maybe thats the part that. I might have glossed over. As things stand right this minute, I still have four and a half months unemployment left, AND about two and a half to three years operating capital to work with.

If things dont change. So I don't need to pick up the first McJob that comes along. [PS McDonalds actually has a neat management program, I applied] I no longer feel like the sky is falling.

McNutt wrote: ↑Wed Aug 15, 2018 10:23 am I don't agree with the idea that someone hard up for a job should be that selective. Once you have a job and money isn't so much of an issue, then start looking for quality over quantity.

But even if he was to do as you suggest, he still needs to put in eight hours a day looking for that job. There's simply no excuse for submitting six applications in a week. He can tailor his resume and still crank out a lot more applications than he's doing now. My point was that it's all talk with him for some reason. He spends a lot of time wasting money and soliciting advice that he's never going to take instead of actually doing the hard work of looking for a job.

It's a matter of what is effective. The spam method has proven to be very inefficient and ineffective. It also generates a large amount of negative outcomes, which can be discouraging. Seems in this case we're not talking about someone with a high rebound factor when it comes to discouragement.

It doesn't matter whether it's a "quality" job or not. Show that you are familiar with the entire menu at McDonald's and you'll have an edge over the guy who says "uh, I like chicken nuggets." In fact, it's far more likely you'll need to find a way to stand out when applying for a "low quality" job as generally the skill sets required are limited and that means more potential applicants. Once you've developed something of a specialty and reputation, then companies are more motivated to chase after you.

I had an interesting day. I took my car to the mechanic friday to have the controller arms done. The arms needed to be tightened a bit and my air filters needed doing. It was pointed out to me that I had scoring on the rotors so they needed to be resurfaced.

They left an air gun in my car so I brought it back today and had them surface the rotors. In the course of that I just had him redo the front pads. I only had them for 5k miles and they already were at 50%. So I spent 200 on the rotors and the brakes.

So controller arms + oil change + cabin air filter + new brake job and surfaced rotors cost me about $970.

I talked to the guy that ran the place and he was telling me how busy he was with the phones. So I said

"Why dont you hire me to take care of your office and be extra hands?"

I told him if he hired me he would never have to worry about not having the time to go to lunch again... and he wouldn't have to have his mechanics drop everything to go catch a call.

I told him about my business degree and marketing experience. He immediately said no but then I could sort of see the wheels turning behind his eyes, like maybe I should ask again when I take the car to have the door handle done next month.

One issue small business have is an aversion to overhead...employees not generating revenue need not apply. It would greatly enhance your chances if, aside from being a mere receptionist, that you show them you can be a business manager that can develop their business and bring in more revenue.

I had something similar come up about 15 years ago...a small high tech company. I showed them how I could take support chores away from their engineers. They were on board with the idea, but wanted to wait for one more large contact to cover the overhead. I was not available when this occurred.

Drazzil wrote: ↑Wed Aug 15, 2018 5:46 pm I told him about my business degree and marketing experience. He immediately said no but then I could sort of see the wheels turning behind his eyes, like maybe I should ask again when I take the car to have the door handle done next month.

Unless you think this guy is totally comfortable saying to those that pay his sallary that he should hire you, so that you can do some of the things he is expected to do - I think you are being a fool.


If this guy totally runs the whole picture and is being run down by all the things you think you can bring to his would - then yeah, tell him how you could do everything he needs to get done better - otherwise you are just telling him that he isn't doing his job. Good luck.

The 'wheels turning' moment could have held quite a different nature in his head (rather than considering your proposition at all).

Jeff V wrote: ↑Wed Aug 15, 2018 2:34 pm

McNutt wrote: ↑Wed Aug 15, 2018 10:23 am I don't agree with the idea that someone hard up for a job should be that selective. Once you have a job and money isn't so much of an issue, then start looking for quality over quantity.

But even if he was to do as you suggest, he still needs to put in eight hours a day looking for that job. There's simply no excuse for submitting six applications in a week. He can tailor his resume and still crank out a lot more applications than he's doing now. My point was that it's all talk with him for some reason. He spends a lot of time wasting money and soliciting advice that he's never going to take instead of actually doing the hard work of looking for a job.

It's a matter of what is effective. The spam method has proven to be very inefficient and ineffective. It also generates a large amount of negative outcomes, which can be discouraging. Seems in this case we're not talking about someone with a high rebound factor when it comes to discouragement.

It doesn't matter whether it's a "quality" job or not. Show that you are familiar with the entire menu at McDonald's and you'll have an edge over the guy who says "uh, I like chicken nuggets." In fact, it's far more likely you'll need to find a way to stand out when applying for a "low quality" job as generally the skill sets required are limited and that means more potential applicants. Once you've developed something of a specialty and reputation, then companies are more motivated to chase after you.

It took me 9 months to land my new job. Strategies used:
1) Glassdoor and other job sites.
2) Finding out where my FB and LinkedIn friends worked so I could ask for their help to get past the HR blackhole.
3) Multiple times I showed up at the company after having submitted my resume online to offer a paper copy of my resume.
4) Created 5 different versions of my resume to coordinate with the job application.
5) Per Isg's recommendation I tried the professional organizations like PMI for networking opportunities.
6) Talked to recruiters in my field.
7) Attended job fairs.

In my case the only thing that helped me was #1 and #4. Everything else was a complete bust. It was good to have activity and feel like I was trying every option, but ultimately, it took me spamming my resume out hundreds of times, getting a dozen phone interviews, that turned into 4 onsite interviews that turned into 1 job offer. In this day and age it takes work to find a new job unless you have someone that gets you an inside hook-up. All that rejection was tough to take, but it lead to the perfect job for me: doing work that I want to be doing for a great company, 30% pay raise, and reducing my commute from 25 miles to 5 miles.

My monthly turmoil posts on the unemployment numbers show how long people are out of work. Median duration is over 6 weeks. The average is almost five months. Someone has to blowing the curve, obviously. But it takes a lot of time and work to find a new job. And those career fairs are the best short-term bet.