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So I've started the process of looking for jobs in my area, ones that are above minimum wage, and let's just say it has not been a fun experience without owning a car. I'm a full-time online college student, but it's scheduled well enough that I can also have a full-time job with it. I'd like to also add that I live within city limits of one of the largest cities in my state, so owning a car has never been a true issue.
The problem is, is that I've gone to two interviews back to back with this one company. They seemed super nice in the interviews and overall everything was good. Until I found out they had lied to me. They told me in the beginning that I would be working on-site only, which means that I would have to get to the building but I would just stay there. That is far from the truth though. They actually are door to door salesmen that promote their products; I won't go into detail about what they sell to keep my identity safe if necessary.
I clarified that in the initial phone call that the secretary made to talk to me about my interview. I don't have a car to drive around, but I can get myself to the business just fine by taxi or whatever. It just sucks that I spent $120 because of traveling back and forth for two days, only to find out that the position requires a car.
That's been my experience so far with interviews, and to be honest I've had better times with minimum wage job opportunities, surprisingly. Hopefully my luck picks up and I can get a decent job in the next few weeks. How have your guys' experiences been with interviews and jobs? |
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I lost track of how many applications I submitted from Jan-Aug, I think it was probably about 15-20 because I was limited on how many avaliable jobs in my field were listed as "entry level". A large chunk of them wanted 2-5 years of experience. Most of them never bothered to contact me back for an interview (I'm positive I still have applications listed as "in review" from 6 months ago), or wanted me to do a video recording of myself answering questions. One made it sound like I was potentially being hried, but actually just wanted to make sure I was still interested in the job. I only managed to land 5 live person interviews (1 in person, 1 zoom, and 3 over the phone) and all of them told me I'd hear back "next week" on their decision. Only two of them actually bothered to call me back. One was to say I was declined (he had valid reasoning and I aprepciate him telling me) and the other one was the one who actually hired me. |
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It really sucks when they say entry level for the job offer, then when you go to fill out your information it says they require 1+ years of experience. It's like, that totally defeats the purpose of it being entry level? But, it's great that you got a job! Hope it's what you were wanting. |
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I feel your pain!! I'm sorry I know its rough Had interviews at 6 vet clinics for entry level positions (receptionist or assistant), they all had me do multiple steps including shadowing, and said I did well, then told me "sorry, we are looking for someone with prior experience". I had told all of them from the beginning that I had none besides owning my own animals. So it's not like they didn't know that going in. |
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It is tough to find a job that fits. A few things I advise: Research the heck out of who you apply to. I've even cold-called, or visited, as a 'customer' to get an idea of what a company was like before I put an application in. I ask for a tour at interviews. Not much help for video, but in person, it can tell you a lot, and if they refuse to give a tour that tells you even more - they have something to hide. Use your research to put together a list of company-specific questions to ask the interviewer (beyond the usual 'benefits' question). Research them on LinkedIn or Glassdoor and find out what their pay scales are - at least if they are a decent-sized company you should find info that way. That way you know if they make you an offer it's reasonable compared to their other employees. This sounds crazy, but I had a manager in an interview tell me that they were open for fifteen hours a day. I knew for a fact they were only open from 9am to 6 pm (it was on the door...), and when I questioned him, he acted like I couldn't count and that was fifteen hours. He also did not read my resume before I came in for the interview, and I made him read it in front of me after his third dumb question. Obviously, I didn't take his offer. On your resume, delete the 'objectives' section if you have one. That is stuff to put in a personalized cover letter, and can actually ruin your resume. Also, make sure you optimize your resume for their application system - a lot of big(ish to large) companies use analyzer software, rather than actually reading applications, to pick who they call for interviews. So the computer looks for keywords, kind of like a search engine does. And, most importantly, if someone makes you an offer, tell them you need to think about it and you will call them back the next business day with your answer. If you get a negative response to that, I consider it a red flag. Don't get discouraged, low callback rates, few interviews, and lots of applications before success are normal - no one talks about that part of looking for a job though. I swear everyone acts like they got hired at the first and only job they applied to. Good luck! |
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primagina said:
It is tough to find a job that fits. A few things I advise: Research the heck out of who you apply to. I've even cold-called, or visited, as a 'customer' to get an idea of what a company was like before I put an application in. I ask for a tour at interviews. Not much help for video, but in person, it can tell you a lot, and if they refuse to give a tour that tells you even more - they have something to hide. Depending on what your'e doing and where you apply, not being given a tour isn't a red flag: it's for liability or legal reasons. I'm in the medical field and tours are going to be questionable because of all the private health information floating around. You definitely don't want someone to see a patient's medical information. That can easily get folks slapped with a massive fine. |
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Eurynome said:
primagina said:
It is tough to find a job that fits. A few things I advise: Research the heck out of who you apply to. I've even cold-called, or visited, as a 'customer' to get an idea of what a company was like before I put an application in. I ask for a tour at interviews. Not much help for video, but in person, it can tell you a lot, and if they refuse to give a tour that tells you even more - they have something to hide. Depending on what your'e doing and where you apply, not being given a tour isn't a red flag: it's for liability or legal reasons. I'm in the medical field and tours are going to be questionable because of all the private health information floating around. You definitely don't want someone to see a patient's medical information. That can easily get folks slapped with a massive fine.
Yes, that's true - also probably not going to cold-call as a customer in the medical field. haha that might be interesting. Contextually, if you can ask for a tour then do so. And there are science and mfg fields that are 'top secret'. I'm less interested in the facilities and more interested in the morale and attitude of the people who work there. That said, in every field, there are things you look for that you either want to see or want to avoid in a workplace. As a tech, if you walk in and the shop is dirty, and everyone has Craftsman toolboxes, you know you won't make any money there. I'm sure there are things in the medical field that fall in that same category of "red flag". |
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Warming, with Sleet and Heavy Icing
