The Job Searchers' Thread

[marsplasticeraser]

I did that course. It was a waste of time and I asked for a refund after the third class, which they honoured. Unfortunately I bought a MacBook for $3k which I haven’t used since and couldn’t return.

A colleague who just happened to take the whole thing at the same time completed it and said it was pretty mediocre.

I’ve heard good things of 10-week boot camps (not lighthouse) but these are 60+ hour weeks for 10 weeks.

I think you’re better off doing some interesting projects on your own for your resume using online resources for instruction. You could hire a developer on upwork to help you debug your code if you get stuck, but online communities aren’t too bad.

Originally Posted by lazypucker

Did anyone take the Part-time Intro to Web Development course with Lighthouse Labs? How was the course? And how was the institution?

https://www.lighthouselabs.ca/intro-to-web

I am thinking of taking it to get an edge on my perpetual job search....

[CaptainCrunch]

Bump, I don't know if it matters or not.


But after receiving my layoff notice last Wednesday, I spent a couple of days being mad, scared, terrified, stressed. I wondered about my future, being a older guy in a bad job market. I had a constant ball in my stomach. Frankly the only thing I did on Thursday and Friday was do my application for Unemployment online.



I didn't sleep much, my mind kept doing money calculations based on my package, savings and UI.



I went for lunch with my former employers on Friday and knew it was probably the last time I would really talk to them or interact with them. Which kind of depressed my after 7 years working with them, but they promised me strong references, which is a positive.


The only thing that I did was polish and update my resume to make sure I was good to go.


On Monday I dropped off my ROE and then got to work



On Monday I got to work going to every job seekers website and building profiles, and then between yesterday and today I sent out 7 applications. Of course the problem is the patience factor. I would send off the application and then sit there 10 minutes later saying, why haven't they gotten back to me? What am I doing wrong? I must learn some patience.


I also went through my linked in and set up coffees with a couple of former contacts.


This morning I woke up and had two interview requests, one with a placement firm to generally talk about me, one is an interview with a position that I applied for via a placement firm.


I guess at this point I'm going to keep grinding. I spend about 4 to 5 hours a day on my job search.


Today I'm going to keep searching the ads. Tomorrow I'm going to target similar companies to my skill set and visit their sites to see if they're looking and even if they're not, I'm going to send in a general inquiry.



Even over the last 6 days its hard to stay optimistic and pumped all the time. But hopefully this works out and if I keep doing the right things, things will work out.


Thanks for letting me indulge, if anyone has any feed back let me know.

[ah123]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Thanks for letting me indulge, if anyone has any feed back let me know.

The last time I was in a similar situation, I got some "words of wisdom" from a veteran of the Calgary boom&bust economy:

• Force yourself to get out of the house: go for a walk, meetup with friends or colleagues for coffee, etc.
• Do something physical everyday; workout or a run or hike or...this keeps your brain going and avoids the depressive cycle
• Breathe and take time to enjoy the fact that you don't have to be in the daily grind

Hope that helps...

[_Q_]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Thanks for letting me indulge, if anyone has any feed back let me know.

If you don't mind me asking, what field are you in? I'm just curious.

To put things in perspective, I was in the same boat exactly three years ago. Two months later, I got a phone call from a company in Louisiana that I hadn't applied to and hadn't heard of before. They set up a Skype interview a week later, liked what they heard, flew me out the following week and made me an offer.

I'm now on my second job in the US, this time in Washington DC because, well, Louisiana sucks. At the end of the day, I've looked at this experience as an extended paid vacation more than anything. I'll be back to Calgary soon.

Point of the story is, keep at it. Enjoy your time off and something will come up. The fact you have two interviews set up already is awesome.

[CaptainCrunch]

I'm in IT Solutions sales.


My previous job was selling Enterprise Resource Planning software into small and medium project based companies.


The one before I sold Payroll and HRIS software.

[CaptainCrunch]

Thanks for the positive posts guys.



This has been a good week so far in terms of the search, I'm hoping that I can build some momentum.


So far this week, I've applied or talked to 15 different opportunites. I've got 2 interviews for specific positions set up, one for tomorrow and one for next week, it sounds like I'm going to have a third one. I also have a placement agency interview in the next couple of weeks.


Next week my strategy is to keep looking through postings and also research and send out general applications to organizations that are similiar what I've been in. The networking thing (Coffee thing) is going a bit slower then I hoped as a lot of these people are busy and those meets are a couple of weeks down the road.


I'm not doing this as much as a humble brag, I'm awesome or anything, but allowing me to indulge in posting here allows me to keep a little sane and work things out in my head, and I'm hoping that if I'm successful that hopefully some other people that are working on their next career move can not only share ideas with me, but I can share with them what works and what doesn't work.


I hate frankly going though this, as much as we talk about stopping to smell the roses and enjoy the non grind, I find that I'm not that type of guy.


I have decided to take tomorrow off except for an interview, and find something else to do.


Any feed back you guys have is really really appreciated.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by ah123

The last time I was in a similar situation, I got some "words of wisdom" from a veteran of the Calgary boom&bust economy:

• Force yourself to get out of the house: go for a walk, meetup with friends or colleagues for coffee, etc.
• Do something physical everyday; workout or a run or hike or...this keeps your brain going and avoids the depressive cycle
• Breathe and take time to enjoy the fact that you don't have to be in the daily grind

Hope that helps...

This is good advice.

I've never really been on the 'Job Hunt' per se, but my only similar experience came a few years ago when there was turmoil regarding my employment.

My former employer passed away and I discovered that our succession plan for the business was not what we had worked out, so I left and started my own business.

Starting out on your own is tough, but its all about managing the things that need to be accomplished and the time frame.

I guess I'm posting this because I really had a difficult time of it because for 3 months I was living off of savings which were being eaten through at a rapid rate because I was sinking it into starting my own business.

I hadnt been 'unemployed' since I was 14.

But having goals and a mission and getting out, as was posted, for walks or the gym or just to clear your mind and focus on something else, is really important.

I'm not going to lie, there were hard days.

Like, 'having a scotch at noon' days. Do not do that.

Having that mission and that focus really helps. But you also have to be sure to just do your job but dont let it consume you.

[Yamer]

Another interview, another rejection. Closing in on 16 months on the 22nd.

[CaptainCrunch]

Sorry to hear that man. Hope for only good things for you.

[Wormius]

Odd thing about recruiters - my wife is currently consulting for a company, she has been picking up consulting work for a while. She received a call from a recruiter asking her if she was available and they were recruiting for the exact same company that she was currently with. She mentioned it to her boss and they said they aren't looking for anybody else and don't have a recruiter working for them. I guess some recruiters are just skimming old job postings on various sites. Not sure what is in it for the third-party recruiter. Anyway, I suppose the moral is just don't get too excited by recruiters contacting you, as they might not really have any connections to the company they claim to be recruiting for.

[CaptainCrunch]

Yup, that's a fair enough conclusion, that's why my first question for the recruiter is based around what they know about the company and the position and the person doing the hiring.

[CaptainCrunch]

First interview and I didn't throw up on my shoes, which even with a phone interview is an achievement.

[FacePaint]

Hi Captain, great to hear about your progress. Just a reminder that there are no cost services out there that can help you out with your job search https://www.alberta.ca/calgary-employment-services.aspx

If you have an interview you can drop in at a place like BVC or McBride and they can run through some practice questions and scenarios with you. If you are looking for more practice there is a free interview skills workshop you can take that will show you video recording of practice interviews so you can see what you need to work on.

I do contracting for employment, training an career services so if you want to ask me a question then feel free to message me and hopefully I can provide some decent options.

[fundmark19]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Odd thing about recruiters - my wife is currently consulting for a company, she has been picking up consulting work for a while. She received a call from a recruiter asking her if she was available and they were recruiting for the exact same company that she was currently with. She mentioned it to her boss and they said they aren't looking for anybody else and don't have a recruiter working for them. I guess some recruiters are just skimming old job postings on various sites. Not sure what is in it for the third-party recruiter. Anyway, I suppose the moral is just don't get too excited by recruiters contacting you, as they might not really have any connections to the company they claim to be recruiting for.

Recruiter shouldn’t even be giving out the company from a first call. Red flags would have been right there for me

[FLAMESRULE]

I work for a small E&P and we put ourselves up for sale this past summer. Bids received were NFG, as expected, with the WCS diff. So it could be a sale, or status quo and I'm hella bored at work. Either way I could have lots of time on my hands.

Just curious if anyone has really jumped into any online training (like EdX or Coursera)?? I've found a few really good looking "Micro Masters" from legit universities and am very likely going to jump at one or more of them.

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by Yamer

Another interview, another rejection. Closing in on 16 months on the 22nd.

On one hand I truly feel bad for you but the other hand wonders (and no offence) if you're too picky or if you really want to work. seriously, there is zero chance I would ever be out of work for 16 months.

[Yamer]

Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus

On one hand I truly feel bad for you but the other hand wonders (and no offence) if you're too picky or if you really want to work. seriously, there is zero chance I would ever be out of work for 16 months.

Heard this question before, but I'm not applying for anything I'm not qualified for. On average I send out 20-30 applications per month, depending what's available. Entry to mid-level positions. The only ones I filter out are places I really wouldn't be comfortable working at, or wouldn't be a fit.

If I was ok with minimum wage labour I could probably have a job by the weekend. And believe me, it's getting to that point now.

I thought I would have work by August last year, so it's easy to say.

[CaptainCrunch]

Ok, this is where you start to go nuts.


I've put out 22 resumes since last Monday, I've had a couple of interviews, one last week that hopefully leads to a second interview.


I just had one today, that's a cool position, but I might be too senior for but want to pursue.


Now its the terrible wait to see if these other applications bear fruit.


But man your mind plays mean tricks, maybe I'm applying wrong even though I followed instructions. Maybe I'm too qualified.



I'm spending about three hours a day working on this, and I have football, but I'm slowly starting to go insane.

[CaptainCrunch]

Man, again This is a bit of indulgence for me, but thanks for letting me do it. Over the past week and a half, I've learned that I think you need a wall to throw things against while your going through this process, and since I don't have a lot of option for that, I use this.


I'm up to 28 applications sent, I've had two first interviews, and I was sent through to second interviews on both of those today for appointments next week.


That has to be a good thing right?


I would like to hear back on more of my applications, but for the most part they've only been in front of these people for 8 days, and a lot of them wait for all possible applications.


I'm going for coffee with another of my contacts tomorrow, which will be nice.



I guess I need to continue to apply, and I get to do my first EI card today (yeh!?!).


my fear is with the experience that I have that I might be looked at as over qualified.


Here's hoping that one of these two seconds bears fruit.

[_Q_]

Bit of a rant from me.

I've been casually looking into coming back to Calgary since I now have a small family and it makes more sense to be close to relatives. I have been able to work remotely from Calgary on a number of occasions this year, but this isn't a viable option long term for our family.

So last week I see three jobs posted in my field at a former employer. Great I thought! Looks like they've got a lot of work, I left on good terms, and they have a history of hiring former employees. So I message the hiring manager on LinkedIn who I know fairly well. He then proceeds to view my profile, view my message and then not even give me a response.

This is so beyond aggravating. At least have the decency to say something like "sorry not interested." I forgot how much applying for jobs sucks and how infuriating the entire process can be.