Desperately Seeking Employment

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ThatDaveGuy69 -> Desperately Seeking Employment (5/29/2009 4:17:23 AM)
That's right folks, I know consider my situation to be desperate. I need a job - a real job. I'm a professional computer geek with over 20 years worth of experience. I'm in the Chicago area. I can build a computer or a network from scratch and explain to an 8yo or a CEO. I don't really care about the size of the company that employs me: large, small, start-up. Whatever. The minimun I can afford to work for is $22 per hour. Two years ago I was $80k as an MIS Manager. Insurance would be nice but the paycheck is more important right now. I know many of you will offer job search advice and while I do appreciate it I'm pretty sure I've heard it and applied it where possible. One piece of advice I've gotten over and over is to reach out to anyone you have any contact with. So I am asking this community for help. If you have, or know of, an opening please contact me. Thank you all and I hope none of you ever find yourself in this situation. ~Dave [Mod Note: email address removed]

ThatDaveGuy69 -> RE: Desperately Seeking Employment (5/29/2009 4:21:46 AM)
Crap! Wouldn't ya just KNOW I would go an make a typo?! ~Dave

Fitznicely -> RE: Desperately Seeking Employment (5/29/2009 4:32:27 AM)
Dave, I'm in the same field and position. Monster.com has provided me with 18 month's work in the last 24. I'm sure you have an attractive, up to date profile there. If not, why not? NOW...leads from the site itself have been sparse, but I can guarantee that for every one vacancy I apply for thru the site, I'll get 3 or 4 spec calls from agencies offering similar roles. THAT is where the employment has come from. Hoping you find something soon.

DarkSteven -> RE: Desperately Seeking Employment (5/29/2009 5:55:52 AM)
I'm a lot more experienced with jobhunting than I'd like to be... The best website for it is www.indeed.com. It culls from the major jobhunting sites AND company sites. Linkedin.com is very good for networking, I used it several times to penetrate a company and develop sources in it.

servantforuse -> RE: Desperately Seeking Employment (5/29/2009 6:01:14 AM)
If you limit yourself to jobs that pay $22 an hour you will probably be looking for quite some time. You should aim lower to keep the lights on untill you find what you are looking for.

Dnomyar -> RE: Desperately Seeking Employment (5/29/2009 7:27:43 AM)
servant has the right ideal. Face it the $22 hr jobs are becoming far and few. To many laid off geeks.

Louve00 -> RE: Desperately Seeking Employment (5/29/2009 8:01:52 AM)
Here is a link that connects you with jobs as a freelancer. This isn't my line of work, so I've never applied, but it may help you. Good Luck! http://guru.com/

pahunkboy -> RE: Desperately Seeking Employment (5/29/2009 10:38:39 AM)
farming will be a growth field.

SteelofUtah -> RE: Desperately Seeking Employment (5/29/2009 11:07:52 AM)
Dave Oddly enough the emplyment industry is what I am doin in the business I am starting. There are many rules when it comes to seeking employment and I wonder if you are following them. "NOW HIRING" is an End Game for most employers it means they were unable to promote from within and they did not have enough applications on file to accomodate the employment need. Which is why Want Ad's are good but as a last resort because most companies are desperate when they go to that method of employment. It COSTS a HUGE amount to hire someone from a Want Ad...... Follow Along. I have to take a person who has a full time job and have them stop doing that job and do interviews. Most WANT AD's will being in some 40 to 100 applicants depending on the position and the pay of those applicants many are not correctly skilled for the job opening in addition to having this person stop doing what they are paid to do to do interviews another person will have to be assigned to that applicant to train them to do the exact job as nothing is going to be an instant fit. Solution: Apply EVERYWHERE YOU WANT TO WORK. Even if they arent hiring Ask to give your application to a Manager or HR Exec. MAKE FRIENDS. The Secretary will get your paperwork to the desk it needs to go to if you are her friend. The HR person will remember you and keep your application ready for when they are hring is they like you. Also Finding a Job IS a job. Do your follow ups contact all the places you have applied. Go to the industries you know need someone like you and show up and ask if anything has changed in the current employment need. Also Let go of the "I must Make $$$$ Exactly in order to work somewhere" accept that you may need to substize your income do side jobs and make extra here and there because if you go in saying I need $22.00 and hour I want to know exactly what you are are going to do to earn me the money you are wanting to be paid. Find out if that is the average or mean income for your profession in your area, if you have a workforce state run business in your area they shoudl be able to get you that information. Also Freelance is a GREAT idea, go to several companies and offer a piece rate for your services and then start a home business doing small jobs for more money. If you want to make what you are worth you need to work for yourself. Steel

LaTigresse -> RE: Desperately Seeking Employment (5/29/2009 11:09:00 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: servantforuse If you limit yourself to jobs that pay $22 an hour you will probably be looking for quite some time. You should aim lower to keep the lights on untill you find what you are looking for. I agree. If I lost my job and had to take two part time jobs making less per hour and working more hours, just to pay my bills, I would. It would suck, but I've done it before and can do it again, if I have to. What else can you do? What other skills do you have?

Vendaval -> RE: Desperately Seeking Employment (5/29/2009 11:16:36 AM)
I am in this position myself and know that it is necessary until the economic situation in my area improves. Some of my friends are doing the same. quote: ORIGINAL: LaTigresse quote: ORIGINAL: servantforuse If you limit yourself to jobs that pay $22 an hour you will probably be looking for quite some time. You should aim lower to keep the lights on untill you find what you are looking for. I agree. If I lost my job and had to take two part time jobs making less per hour and working more hours, just to pay my bills, I would. It would suck, but I've done it before and can do it again, if I have to. What else can you do? What other skills do you have?

ThatDamnedPanda -> RE: Desperately Seeking Employment (5/29/2009 11:56:50 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: pahunkboy farming will be a growth field. Growth field? A regular Will Rogers we've got here.... [:D]

ThatDamnedPanda -> RE: Desperately Seeking Employment (5/29/2009 11:58:57 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Dnomyar servant has the right ideal. Face it the $22 hr jobs are becoming far and few. To many laid off geeks. I think they're right, Dave. You're competing against god-knows-how-many thousands of people who are willing to do the same job for 15 bucks an hour, if not less. What can you offer a potential employer to make it worth their while to pay you half again as much, or even double, what the other applicants will cost?

hlen5 -> RE: Desperately Seeking Employment (5/29/2009 12:43:08 PM)
Way to think outside the box, Popeye!![:)]! Dave, I wish you luck!!

Vendaval -> RE: Desperately Seeking Employment (5/29/2009 1:40:41 PM)
When 9/11 and the tech crash happened many people in Silicon Valley had to relocate to other states. Foreign workers had to go back to their original countries. This recession is worse because it is the whole of the economic system, not just one industry. There are news reports of MBA and white collar employees working as pizza delivery drivers and janitors. I see that happening here in town. At one place where I applied the owner told me they had over 100 applicants, for a part-time minimum wage job. quote: ORIGINAL: ThatDamnedPanda quote: ORIGINAL: Dnomyar servant has the right ideal. Face it the $22 hr jobs are becoming far and few. To many laid off geeks. I think they're right, Dave. You're competing against god-knows-how-many thousands of people who are willing to do the same job for 15 bucks an hour, if not less. What can you offer a potential employer to make it worth their while to pay you half again as much, or even double, what the other applicants will cost?

Ialdabaoth -> RE: Desperately Seeking Employment (5/29/2009 3:00:12 PM)
Agreed on the $22/hour. Look at your finances. Figure out what parts of your lifestyle (and, if need be, your Lifestyle) you can afford to abandon. Pare down to the bare minimums. Besides being able to look for work in new places, you'll find yourself freer - it's an amazing feeling to know that you don't have to have a house, or a car, or a savings account, or eating-out money, in order to be happy. Reinvent yourself, and live simply.

ThatDaveGuy69 -> RE: Desperately Seeking Employment (5/29/2009 3:26:20 PM)
Thanks for all the positive feedback - I knew I could count on friendly strangers. Or is it strange friends... No matter :) I mentioned the $22/hr because after spending 18 months doing everything form landscaping to automotive repair and even some actual computer work I've found that to be the minimum that will allow me to make the mortgage, car payment, utilities, and keep the family fed. Would I take a job for $18? Hell-To-The-Yeah as the kids would say. So I'm not locked-in. But if someone told me they could get me in full-time for $10.50 I'm not so sure I'd be all that thrilled. We just recovered the house from foreclosure earlier this month but it all hinges on making a 2nd monthly pmt in June. We watched the car get re-po'd at 2am last July and had to borrow from family to get it back. That hurt. Had the lights turned-off for non-payment and had to empty what was left in the checking account to get 'em back. I sound like a made-for-TV-movie or an ABC After School Special. I'm scowering CareerBuilder, Monster, Dice, and to paraphrase South Park: I'm so desperate I'm looking on Craigslist! I'm Linked-In, MySpaced, and Solo-Gigged out the wazoo! And now, when I try to follow-up on an ad that actually listed the company name I'm being told I'm over-qualified. UGH! But I did manage to weasel my way into an interview Monday morning. I was initially told that I was over-qualified and that nobody wants someone who'll be bored and leave in a year. Gee thanks - way to give a guy a chance... But the guy was pretty cool and we hit it off pretty well and in the end he agreed to see me. So I got that goin' for me, which is nice... Gunga ga-lunga. So I'm concentrating on happy thoughts and studying that company's web site and making sure the suit is clean and the shoes are shined and writing my letter home after hanging my coat on the lower hook... Yeah, farming is a growth industry the same way that things are looking up in the ladder biz... Thanks again - I'll let you know how it goes Monday afternoon. ~Dave

LadyConstanze -> RE: Desperately Seeking Employment (5/29/2009 3:44:05 PM)
Dave, it might sound like a really crazy idea, not sure if it can be done in the US but a friend of mine in another part of Europe followed my "brain fart" and put his service on eBay, basically he auctioned off a "service" he could perform for individuals or companies after he was made redundant and couldn't find a job. The auction wasn't successful, but he attracted the eye of several people who were looking for his particular skill and has now a 6 month contract.

ladynlord -> RE: Desperately Seeking Employment (5/29/2009 3:57:23 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: LadyConstanze Dave, it might sound like a really crazy idea, Crazy sometimes works best. Call it creative instead of crazy and it is then going to grab attention. In your field Dave, there are many souls searching, so LC's suggestion of a little crazy creativeness tempered with "I think outside the box but am deeply dependable" will go a long way. Good luck friend!

LadyConstanze -> RE: Desperately Seeking Employment (5/29/2009 4:20:02 PM)
I guess working in PR encourages "creative crazyness", I was simply just thinking that ads always work best if they get maximum exposure and people see them at their leisure, i.e. when they are not bombarded with similar and competitive ads, hence the eBay idea because where else do you get so much exposure? Plus the price for an auction is rather moderate.

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