Job Seekers thread Mark 2

[Sliver]

Another thing some people could consider is to use Chrome with the Grammarly extension. It'll help you with your then/than confusion and generally help you present your point without distracting errors.

[RichieRich]

Funny... I don't have the "Go Advanced" but I do have the Preview icon
so I'll test this out...

[RichieRich]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Another thing some people could consider is to use Chrome with the Grammarly extension. It'll help you with your then/than confusion and generally help you present your point without distracting errors.

Thenx Silver... thiz Firefawx doesnint ketch you're erirs vary goodly butt it mite bee bettar then thee ole AOL, Mosaic, and Netscape.

[You Need a Thneed]

Finished the interview.

I highly doubt they are going to get to an acceptable salary. Found out at the end of the interview that they offer no benefits.

Good luck finding good and loyal employees.

[RichieRich]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

Finished the interview.

I highly doubt they are going to get to an acceptable salary. Found out at the end of the interview that they offer no benefits.

Good luck finding good and loyal employees.

If the wages offered are better than EI or if they have no other income, then someone will take the role but keep looking for better compensation elsewhere. Somehow the company thinks they've landed a solid person and not quantify the cost of training/onboarding (repeatedly) nor the inherent loss of morale and distractions/loss of efficiencies to all the other folks already working there. It's a short game and one that some company's have to play in order to stay afloat perhaps?

[TSXCman]

Just finished my first interview in some time for a field engineering role with one of the big BC pipeline projects. They seemed very impressed!



I need to see if they extend and offer and if it's good compensation. Would be a huge commitment to relocate and work 6/1 shifts.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

Anyway, I sort of doubt it's going to work out, but an interview is an interview I guess. I was almost surprised that he actually sent me the interview invite after our breif salary discussion on the phone.

I'm not. They know that A) most skilled applicants are going to be completely offput and surprised by the offers, and that B) out of 200- 1000+ applicants, a hundred or more will kill the interviews and be willing to take what they offer just to get income and work coming in.

[ooogabooga]

Question for you all:

I put in my resignation notice on June 1st effective of June 18th. I get 2 weeks of vacation annually with an additional 5 flex days. To date, I have used 7 of the 10 vacation days. (For knee surgery, my employer wouldn't let me take any other time off otherwise) I get paid semi-monthly. On my current pay, I was deducted what seems to be more than 2 vacation days worth because I would have technically accrued approximately 5 days of vacation this year. First, can they do that on your second last paycheque? And second, I have asked my employer about the flex days I'm supposed to have, and am told due to accounting processes the vacation days have to be allocated first, and flex days after the vacation days have been used up. Obviously I'm not using my full allotment of vacation days this year, and now have been deducted 2.5 days worth of pay to recoup my pre-used vacation.

Are you actually allowed to do this as an employer? I haven't seen anything that shows that they can't and haven't seen anything regarding flex days being used after vacation days.
Am I just kind of screwed out of those 2.5 days of pay? I'm leaning towards yes..

Edit: Spoke to employment standards, yes with the changes made to employment standards act employers are allowed to deduct vacation if you leave if you have used more than you have accrued. There is no legislation or guidance regarding flex days they are at employers discretion.

[InglewoodFan]

Originally Posted by InglewoodFan

I have to say, I've spent the last few days working with a superlative third party recruiter. She tracked me down on LinkedIn for a role I would have never thought to look for but am super interested in. Since then she has been very prompt with all communication, friendly and informative on the screening interview, gave good feedback on my resume. It really seems like she is putting me forward to the client with a decent amount of enthusiasm. Just a breath of fresh air.

I'm very excited about the role, it could be completely career changing. But even if I'm not successful, it will have been a very good experience and I will have given it my best shot.

Epilogue - had a third interview with the chairman and the CEO. Since then, ten days of radio silence from the recruiter and the proponent despite two follow up emails from me. At this point, I don't really care as it would have involved a move that the family was not super keen on and something super sweet has fallen in my lap to keep me busy for the foreseeable future. But it does feel like making bad relationship choices "This one will be different for sure!". And they are all the same.

[CaptainCrunch]

My new gear grinder. Somewhere people have been taught that ghosting is an acceptable form of business communication. Its just to me a rotten practice, and people that think its ok should be hung by their toe nails.

[RichieRich]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

My new gear grinder. Somewhere people have been taught that ghosting is an acceptable form of business communication. Its just to me a rotten practice, and people that think its ok should be hung by their toe nails.

Totally agreed. It shouldn't take much more than a "thanks for your time however we have proceeded with someone different etc etc". Perhaps they were waiting for the other person to accept the role, actually sign legal docs, and have their first day? I went through this recently too where I was first "loser" (again) and the radio silence took too long. I also finally sent emails to the actual interviewers and HR saying... time for a conversation, yay or nay. Got my PFO email before the end of the day, but at least it was closure.

[TSXCman]

Originally Posted by TSXCman

Just finished my first interview in some time for a field engineering role with one of the big BC pipeline projects. They seemed very impressed!



I need to see if they extend and offer and if it's good compensation. Would be a huge commitment to relocate and work 6/1 shifts.

I got the job offer on Monday. Lots of things to consider and prepare for if I go. It's a pretty quick turnaround to be packing up my life in a couple weeks.


Nice to get some work, but there are definitely a lot of intense feelings since receiving the offer.

[calf]

Are reference checks still a thing? A former colleague has asked me to be one for her. Realistically, I'm probably way down her rolodex and can speak in platitudes about her, but not really get into specifics. And she's experienced enough that anyone hiring her probably has a good idea if they want to hire her with or without my good word.

What's the likelihood of getting that call? She's in accounting/finance, and would be applying for jobs in any industry out there.

[ah123]

Originally Posted by calf

Are reference checks still a thing? A former colleague has asked me to be one for her. Realistically, I'm probably way down her rolodex and can speak in platitudes about her, but not really get into specifics. And she's experienced enough that anyone hiring her probably has a good idea if they want to hire her with or without my good word.

What's the likelihood of getting that call? She's in accounting/finance, and would be applying for jobs in any industry out there.

They’re still a thing, at least for jobs at the City. Earlier this year, when I went from temp to full time, my boss called my references, even though I had been working for her for a year already (and they were the same people she called when I first applied for the job).

[CaptainCrunch]

yup still a thing, I tend to have to do it, though I'm never quite sure of the validity of Vandelay Industry references.



But its still a requirement by most employers.

[CaptainReboot]

Originally Posted by calf

Are reference checks still a thing? A former colleague has asked me to be one for her. Realistically, I'm probably way down her rolodex and can speak in platitudes about her, but not really get into specifics. And she's experienced enough that anyone hiring her probably has a good idea if they want to hire her with or without my good word.

What's the likelihood of getting that call? She's in accounting/finance, and would be applying for jobs in any industry out there.

Yep, I've given out at least half a dozen reference checks in the last year. Some were phone calls, some were emails. I think one was a survey of some kind. It's good that she asked you first. I've gotten some where I wasn't expecting a call and got caught off guard. So always let your references know that they may be receiving a call.

[RichieRich]

ALWAYS let your references know if they might expect a call, what the role is, and why you believe you're a good fit. I follow up with an email in order to provide some bullet points they can talk to.



Years ago I was contacted as a reference for someone... that someone had never asked me to be a reference... because I would have said no. It's ok to say no to being a reference.

[You Need a Thneed]

I’ve given out sheets of references over the last few job searches, but I suspect that exactly zero calls were made to any of them.

[FurnaceFace]

Depends on the role but for full time references are nearly always done and they typically want supervisory references. For contract roles the recruiter will often ask and contact. References are a good test to see if you’re actually being looked at hard. If they ask for references but your references don’t get contacted, often something is up.

Richie’s points are very important and I think necessary to get you a positive reference. You want them to match what you’ve said are your strengths and it could be worth giving what you feel is an improvement area. I think that could get you tripped up in a reference check.

I recall it recommended to do a QA on your references, having someone contact them to review what they say. I think that may have been an outplacement thing, CC maybe you can weigh in if that’s something you’ve seen recruiters do on behalf of the job searcher?

[Weitz]

I’m surprised to hear references are still a thing. Not sure what I can gather from a reference. Outside of actually confirming employment somewhere.