Jobs

[Valkyrie_2]

I want to start living full time as a woman. Sure, I'm rough around the edges but it's what I want to do.

At the moment I live in a redneck state south of the Mason-Dixon Line. I need to move North to preferably Vermont. In order to do that, I need a job to go to. Has anybody anything helpful with regard to that?

I've tried agencies and I'm going to say I've never ever in 20 years of throwing my details to agencies had anything bar time wasting from them. Not one single interview. I might cast my details to them occasionally but I'm going to be 905 years old before I get anything worthwhile back.

LinkedIn is often touted but again, all I've had is time wasting. I'll just skip this online bellyache.





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[Devlyn]

Well. My sister moved to Vermont and her husband got a  "part time" job on a farm. Part time being 60 hours a week with Sundays off. It's not the best state for jobs. Good luck.

Hugs, Devlyn

[DawnOday]

Whenever I applied out of state I was told if I moved to that state beforehand I would stand a better chance. Education will also give you a better chance.  Who are you competing against. Hordes of low skill applicants, or skilled or educated positions. It is always advisable to make yourself layoff proof by setting yourself apart from the other applicants. So instead of listing things you think are accomplishments, show the results. I reduced so many hours. I saved so much money, I streamlined processes to the tune of X $.  Bottom line is how you contribute to the bottom line. Don't require constant supervision. Ask questions, present solutions. Participate, don't just sit on the sidelines. So many think all they have to do is show up. Also how do you present? With tattoo's, grunge, levis and sandals? If being female is what you want to portray, wear appropriate clothing like a woman's business suit. A professional demeanor will make a strong first impression. You need to set yourself apart from the herd. Job choice is important. It appears medical jobs are here to stay. Be a nurse. Can't get in to a hospital? Be a traveling nurse who visits patients at home. Learn to code and work from home. Opportunities are out there for those that want to go for it. Don't use slang, acronyms as they don't always work. At one of my jobs with an aircraft manufacturer, the same acronym has twelve different meanings depending on where you are in the company. They also had 103 variations of white paint. Did I say to ask questions. I also recommend reading "What Color is your Parachute" before looking for a job as there is much good information. Of course my job search days are over but these observations have stood the test of time.

[Valkyrie_2]

Whenever I applied out of state I was told if I moved to that state beforehand I would stand a better chance. Education will also give you a better chance.  Who are you competing against. Hordes of low skill applicants, or skilled or educated positions. It is always advisable to make yourself layoff proof by setting yourself apart from the other applicants. So instead of listing things you think are accomplishments, show the results. I reduced so many hours. I saved so much money, I streamlined processes to the tune of X $.  Bottom line is how you contribute to the bottom line. Don't require constant supervision. Ask questions, present solutions. Participate, don't just sit on the sidelines. So many think all they have to do is show up. Also how do you present? With tattoo's, grunge, levis and sandals? If being female is what you want to portray, wear appropriate clothing like a woman's business suit. A professional demeanor will make a strong first impression. You need to set yourself apart from the herd. Job choice is important. It appears medical jobs are here to stay. Be a nurse. Can't get in to a hospital? Be a traveling nurse who visits patients at home. Learn to code and work from home. Opportunities are out there for those that want to go for it. Don't use slang, acronyms as they don't always work. At one of my jobs with an aircraft manufacturer, the same acronym has twelve different meanings depending on where you are in the company. They also had 103 variations of white paint. Did I say to ask questions. I also recommend reading "What Color is your Parachute" before looking for a job as there is much good information. Of course my job search days are over but these observations have stood the test of time.

Thanks. Resume presentation and being there have a lot to recommend them. At the moment I'm driving school busses purely because it offered my CDL training free and I'd almost completed converting an old school bus into a motorhome. Needless to say I was scared stiff driving the beast home when I bought it and realized I needed training and practice, hence the CDL. Before that I was a glorified kiddie minder in an after school program. Now that one is a hard one to sell in a positive light. Before that I was unemployed for 6 months and before that for a month until the manager decided to get rid of me, I was a trainee customs entry clerk with DHL. Before that a bookseller and subsequently head Cashier with a bookstore. Before that office admin at the medical office of a sole practitioner who has subsequently died. That's an equally hard sell.


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[DawnOday]

Not really as hard as it seems. As an office assistant it is not a stretch to call yourself an Office Manager. List savings such as office supply's and controlling inventories. CDL can open a lot of doors, especially with endorsements.  I don't see parents allowing you to drive their kids because you may try to convert them. Ignorance in others is your greatest enemy. I know there are many CDL jobs here in Washington. It is so sad that people think that finishing high school is the ultimate and makes them employable. Those were the old days when jobs were created to employ people. The switch to profits first and greed have made that idea outdated as running with the herd is not the best way to go. There are many online opportunities for education are available like Lynda.com for a few dollars a month there are over 3500 training courses ranging from programming, to design to business and photography. Also available if you feel particularly bright are free courses from Universities like MIT, Harvard, Stanford. I took the Six Sigma course. And on Lynda I took all the Microsoft Office courses. These are the same exact courses you would get if you attended classes on site.  https://ocw.mit.edu/courses Never lie on your resume but there is nothing keeping you from showing your certificates for completing these courses. It beats having a dreadful resume. These days you are not just competing with Americans but with others around the world. There are 130 million people in India with advance degrees. That's half the US population.

[FTMax]

Getting a job when you don't live in the state is very difficult. Most employers want you to start within two weeks of a successful interview, and it's tough for most people to pack up a life and resettle in that amount of time unless they're somewhat close. It would be easier if you were in that general region.

Some ideas:

- Do you have any family or friends that live in the state currently who would allow you to use their address on your application? The only issue you might have with this is if you were to get an interview. Could you afford to travel to Vermont from where you are now on short notice for an interview?

- What does your level of education look like? The best way to utilize LinkedIn is to search for people you might know who work at the company you want to work at. Say I apply for a job at ABC Corp. I'd then go search for current employees at ABC Corp that I have some kind of connection with. Ideally I'd know them, but if I didn't I just need a common thread like having gone to the same university. I could then send them a message, mention that we are alums of the same school, and ask if they like the culture at ABC Corp because I recently applied for XYZ job. You can finesse this into getting a direct line to HR and getting your application to the top of the pile.

- You mention having a CDL. What about looking into New England based trucking companies? Even if this isn't something you'd want to do long term, it would at least get you in the region where you would likely have better luck applying for local jobs.

[LizK]

General discussions?

[Valkyrie_2]

Getting a job when you don't live in the state is very difficult. Most employers want you to start within two weeks of a successful interview, and it's tough for most people to pack up a life and resettle in that amount of time unless they're somewhat close. It would be easier if you were in that general region.

Some ideas:

- Do you have any family or friends that live in the state currently who would allow you to use their address on your application? The only issue you might have with this is if you were to get an interview. Could you afford to travel to Vermont from where you are now on short notice for an interview?

- What does your level of education look like? The best way to utilize LinkedIn is to search for people you might know who work at the company you want to work at. Say I apply for a job at ABC Corp. I'd then go search for current employees at ABC Corp that I have some kind of connection with. Ideally I'd know them, but if I didn't I just need a common thread like having gone to the same university. I could then send them a message, mention that we are alums of the same school, and ask if they like the culture at ABC Corp because I recently applied for XYZ job. You can finesse this into getting a direct line to HR and getting your application to the top of the pile.

- You mention having a CDL. What about looking into New England based trucking companies? Even if this isn't something you'd want to do long term, it would at least get you in the region where you would likely have better luck applying for local jobs.

I'm not keen on having my real name online. I've had some stalking incidents in the past and though I believe it's over, I'm never entirely sure. It's that that keeps me from LinkedIn and Facebook.

I see people advertising for CDL A jobs all the time. I have a CDL B with P&S endorsements and no restriction for stick shift nor air brakes.

I'm thinking maybe take a job driving school busses. I sent an online application to Burlington but I do believe all these online things go to a black hole. I doubt anybody ever reads them.

I suspect rather than applications, the way in is either via the golf club or meeting the hiring manager as opposed to his flunkies. At least... my last few jobs went like this...
Current job... saw the notice on their fence
Last job... knew somebody working there
Previous job.... walked in the door and buttonholed the hiring manager
The one before that... the employer now deceased was a non blood relative.


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[MistressStevie]

my last few jobs went like this...
Current job... saw the notice on their fence
Last job... knew somebody working there
Previous job.... walked in the door and buttonholed the hiring manager
The one before that... the employer now deceased was a non blood relative.

The pattern you outline there is really common for lots of jobs.  From as best as I can tell
only a very lucky few get call backs on a resumes to advertisements.  My own success with
that approach is not more than one call back in thirty resumes delivered through my life. And,
call backs are not interviews or offers.     

Most of the positions I have ever had came from networking which is just like you
have had results with Val. 

If you are articulate and willing to talk any number of service positions always have openings.
While they may not pay top dollar, they get you working closer to where you want to be. 

Bolles "What Color Is Your Parachute?" is an amazing work and very relevant. 

Build skills and a portfolio and get in the chase until you find the right niche.

[Valkyrie_2]

The hard thing is getting work that isn't bottom dollar. Heck, I have a BA and various other qualifications. Doesn't seem to have helped any. I'm almost 50 too! I did have an interesting chat with somebody working for the Dept of employment though. He commented the stuff they advertise is all bottom dollar entry level stuff.

I gave up on agencies and websites totally. As soon as I get told to fill in a form or fill in a website I learned just to walk away.

Right now I'm driving school busses. This was motivated because I bought a school bus to convert into a motorhome. That conversion has taken me most of the last 3 years and it's habitable though not luxuriously so. I'd been doing pretty much a nothing kiddie minding job and figured there's no really worthwhile employment to be had in South Carolina. Been trying for years to get more than crap jobs. Hence I took this job to learn how to drive my motorhome.


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[FTMax]

The current workforce is the most educated ever. There were limited jobs available in the period between 2000-2010 so many young people just stayed in school. As a result, most jobs have upped their requirements to make a Bachelor's degree the entry level standard. It's great to have, because you'll meet the minimum requirements for more positions and thus be able to apply to more jobs, but it doesn't set you apart like it would have in the past.

I will say, you may want to rethink online applications. Not because of response rates but because of your age. Age discrimination in hiring is a very real thing, and the downside of always applying in person is that someone immediately gets to make a judgment on you before even looking at your qualifications. Online applications from what I have seen never include birth date, so at least with these someone has to review your application and make a decision based on merit.

Also adding - the jobs that are in demand right now from what I have seen are either related to computers, engineering, or are trades. A lot of the people I know involved in trades hiring are having huge difficulties finding qualified people to fill vacancies that pay well. Many companies have started or reinstated apprenticeship programs that will pay people while they learn the trade just so that they can lock someone in for projected openings. Maybe you could look into options like that?