The Job Searchers' Thread

[_Q_]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

yeah, That's the one thing that sucks, I've always been able to say that I've never been on any kind of government program, now I've been hoisted on my petard . . . hoisted.


The good news, is that I've moved to a second interview with another opportunity which is great, so that's three second interviews for this week, and a first interview. I've also got 35 apps out so hoping more comes from there.

I'm encouraged to learn that there is hiring going on in certain segments of the economy.

Good luck!

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Yamer

So it looks like I may have to swallow my pride and apply for a minimum wage job to make ends meet.

Any suggestions on how to apply for jobs like this when you are over qualified? My resume certainly isn't tailored to apply for this kind of work.

[Yamer]

It was more just a turn of phrase. I'm not actually ashamed of working outside my field. Even if I was I would never let it affect my work. One of the best jobs I had was as a produce clerk at a grocery store.

It's just more of a challenge to completely restructure my resume, which is exclusively tailored for entry to mid level communications, marketing, public/stakeholder relations and pumps up my educational background.

[CaptainCrunch]

I've actually got 3 different resume's that I've put together. A summery, a professional, and a topical. That way I can pick and choose based on the opportunity.



Its a grind and it sucks looking for work, I hope everything works out for you.

[CaptainCrunch]

Captain's Log (see what I did there).


The grind continues, though I didn't feel much like it today, I kept plugging at it and continued to grind away.


I had an interview with a fantastic software company today, the only concern is that I would officially be the old guy on that team if it worked out. But in terms of cool places and positions this one would move right to the top.


Just a thing going into an interview. Really do your due diligence on the company. Google them, go to openglass and read employee reviews if they are there. If they sell a product read some reviews of their product and services, read their website. Do the creepy thing and look up your interviewers on linkedin. Go in and be prepared to tell them why the position and the company are a good fit and exciting to you. I talked to them about the fact that a position search has to be like two investors looking at a stock, and it has to be a good investment on both sides.


I got a third interview next week, hopefully its getting to the end of the chase on that one, its also a great position.


I had an interview yesterday, and it bought up the debate about the why's. Am I looking for a position and am I willing to take a position because I want to get paid and continue my life style. Or am I willing to take the extra time and find something that might just be more interesting and more fun? I don't know, its the eternal question.


I had two more companies come forward with interest. So statistically it stands at



38 applications.
1 third interview
3 second interviews
2 more new inquiries/net news



Oh another thing and its not a first. I applied with one organization and I had to write a basically a environmental psych profile examination, and a 67 question test on sales scenarios. To be honest, I get it, I did well at it, I got contacted for an interview, but man doing it and being dissected like that almost turned me off.

[Inferno]

It's not the job I did the art test for but I have an interview tomorrow at 9:30 for a Graphic Artist/Social Media Monitor at the local college.

[Yamer]

Go and get it, Inferno.

Landed two more interviews myself. Fingers crossed!

[CaptainCrunch]

Here's hoping that all of us jobless have nothing but good things happen. Congrats on getting two interviews Yamer!!


I was hoping to get some feedback. I had a great interview today with a high end recruiting firm, which is fine, I've had that experience in my last life. They want to set up a second interview with me for more then one role.


However the position is strictly work from home, I've never done that before, could be cool. But I'm hoping that I can get some feed back from CalgaryPuck in terms of the benefits and pitfalls of working from home.

[Inferno]

I had my interview and I think I fumbled a bit on some of the non-work related questions(like issues that aboriginal people face) but one of the interviewers who I've known for years told me in private that when he saw my resume he knew I was the guy he wanted and said he would push hard to try and get me the position.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Inferno

I had my interview and I think I fumbled a bit on some of the non-work related questions(like issues that aboriginal people face) but one of the interviewers who I've known for years told me in private that when he saw my resume he knew I was the guy he wanted and said he would push hard to try and get me the position.

Unless you said something outright racist. You're fine, I would have asked them to explain the relation between those questions and the position that you're interviewing for, which would have allowed you to frame your answers.


From my time in recruiting, interviewers will actually respect you if you need to ask for clarification on their line of questioning.


I get that you're looking at IIRC a position in an educational institution. But to be fair to you, asking someones political views outside of the role requirements is a bit unfair.

[Inferno]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Unless you said something outright racist. You're fine, I would have asked them to explain the relation between those questions and the position that you're interviewing for, which would have allowed you to frame your answers.


From my time in recruiting, interviewers will actually respect you if you need to ask for clarification on their line of questioning.


I get that you're looking at IIRC a position in an educational institution. But to be fair to you, asking someones political views outside of the role requirements is a bit unfair.

Initially I said prejudice and one of the interviewers clarified it as issues they face with getting an education if they live in a remote area. I just answered that they might face issues being able to travel to where they want to go to school and with living expenses while going to school in a small area with limited housing.

I don't really see what that has to do with a graphic design job but I guess it's something they have to ask since a large majority of their students are aboriginal.

[Kerplunk]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

However the position is strictly work from home, I've never done that before, could be cool. But I'm hoping that I can get some feed back from CalgaryPuck in terms of the benefits and pitfalls of working from home.

While I haven't worked completely full time from home (a few months stretch after surgery and every once in a while after), I can offer a bit of perspective on this.

On the one hand, you are in an environment that you fully control, and you don't have to slog into an office every bloody day, saving on the commute time and lets you do more personal stuff while still getting work done.

The biggest negatives is that there could be more distractions, depending on how your personal space is set up, and slightly more complicated coordination with co-workers if the tools aren't available to talk to them easily. Depending on how much you like co-workers, the lack of social interaction at an office could also be a bit of a down side.

If you do work from home, try to set up a separate space specifically for work, possibly even down to having a different work computer, to help minimize distractions. Also try to stick to a "work" schedule, to prevent time working from bleeding into personal time, since I find it can sometimes be easier to lose track of time working at home.

[RedHot25]

I got to work from home for a brief time. I echo the above. It's also easy to get distracted - e.g. I can just pop in this load of laundry, or I can have the tv on in the background while I work, etc.

Another challenge I found was officially shutting things down for the day. By that I mean, when do I close my email/turn off my computer? At work there was a definite cleave if you will - you physically left the building, your computer off, no phone messages. At home it was more of a constant doubt of "should I turn my email off now? Am I done for the day? Etc".

[CaptainCrunch]

So just an update, I haven't done one in a while. But the last couple of weeks has been very tough, Motivation has been tough because of all of the external stuff.


I think the job search is coming to an end though thank god.


I've talked with 13 companies. Next week I have a 2nd interview over breakfast with an extremely large company so that should be interested. I have a third interview with a company that is a good fit with their VP and area manager. I have a second interview with another firm. With the work from home role, they requested my references and want me to do a psychometric assessment. We also talked about the offer and starting date and they would like to finish this up by Wednesday of next week so that sounds like we're getting to the hiring stage. Unless I come across as a serial killer in the test.


I think that doing the full disclosure thing with interviewees is helping to speed things up.



But I really need something good to happen in my life and with this job search.

[ooogabooga]

I am in the same boat, I have been for quite a few interviews over the past month and a half, coming in second place for 3 different opportunities. It gets frustrating as I have asked for feed back and all the feed back I have gotten was that I did an excellent job, there was nothing to improve upon they were just able to find people with exact relevant experience to the positions. Just trying to keep my head up and keep pounding the pavement and sending as many applications for positions that I am reasonably or even over qualified for.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Question: When looking, has anyone had any success with positions based from anywhere but willing to travel?

For example, a consultant can be based in Calgary with clients in Edmonton, Vancouver or Toronto.

Basically I'm starting to put my feet into the water to see what the next logical step for my career is, but don't want to necessarily limit myself to my hometown. If there's a company out there that would be a right fit for me (and I for it) but would allow me to be based here, I wouldn't want to pass up on that opportunity. I just don't really know how to include those types of jobs in my search.

[_Q_]

Update on my job search.

As I've stated earlier in this thread, I've been casually looking for jobs back in Calgary as it just makes sense for our family now to be back home. Obviously it's a bit of a struggle to convince an employer to hire a candidate that lives in another country, especially in a struggling job market like Calgary. Because of this, I gave myself a deadline of February 2019. If I can't find a job to move back to, I would just move back and look for a job while out there.

So I applied to a few places, talked to a few recruiters, but got mostly nothing. Then on Monday, one of the companies I applied to 2 weeks ago gives me a call for a 5 minute phone screening. They liked what they heard and told me I would hear back from them by the end of the week about a phone interview with the hiring manager. Well, they called me back the very next day and set up an interview for last night.

The interview went extremely well, even discussing my potential start date. They told me they're extremely busy with work and will have no problem keeping me busy considering what I can bring to the table. At the end they told me I'd hear back from them by Friday as they finalize everything.

I wouldn't say this is a done deal just yet, but this is extremely promising. I am extremely happy that I might finally get to come home!

Anyways, good luck everyone. It's tough out there, but there are parts of the economy doing surprisingly well still.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by _Q_

Update on my job search.

As I've stated earlier in this thread, I've been casually looking for jobs back in Calgary as it just makes sense for our family now to be back home. Obviously it's a bit of a struggle to convince an employer to hire a candidate that lives in another country, especially in a struggling job market like Calgary. Because of this, I gave myself a deadline of February 2019. If I can't find a job to move back to, I would just move back and look for a job while out there.

So I applied to a few places, talked to a few recruiters, but got mostly nothing. Then on Monday, one of the companies I applied to 2 weeks ago gives me a call for a 5 minute phone screening. They liked what they heard and told me I would hear back from them by the end of the week about a phone interview with the hiring manager. Well, they called me back the very next day and set up an interview for last night.

The interview went extremely well, even discussing my potential start date. They told me they're extremely busy with work and will have no problem keeping me busy considering what I can bring to the table. At the end they told me I'd hear back from them by Friday as they finalize everything.

I wouldn't say this is a done deal just yet, but this is extremely promising. I am extremely happy that I might finally get to come home!

Anyways, good luck everyone. It's tough out there, but there are parts of the economy doing surprisingly well still.

Good luck man. Hopefully it works out. Not to be a downer but I've been in a similar situation a couple times now over the last two years only to never hear back from the company. I couldn't even get the recruiter to reply back to me to let me know what happened. It was as if everyone involved in the process just vanished overnight. It was really frustrating.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by _Q_

Update on my job search.

As I've stated earlier in this thread, I've been casually looking for jobs back in Calgary as it just makes sense for our family now to be back home. Obviously it's a bit of a struggle to convince an employer to hire a candidate that lives in another country, especially in a struggling job market like Calgary. Because of this, I gave myself a deadline of February 2019. If I can't find a job to move back to, I would just move back and look for a job while out there.

So I applied to a few places, talked to a few recruiters, but got mostly nothing. Then on Monday, one of the companies I applied to 2 weeks ago gives me a call for a 5 minute phone screening. They liked what they heard and told me I would hear back from them by the end of the week about a phone interview with the hiring manager. Well, they called me back the very next day and set up an interview for last night.

The interview went extremely well, even discussing my potential start date. They told me they're extremely busy with work and will have no problem keeping me busy considering what I can bring to the table. At the end they told me I'd hear back from them by Friday as they finalize everything.

I wouldn't say this is a done deal just yet, but this is extremely promising. I am extremely happy that I might finally get to come home!

Anyways, good luck everyone. It's tough out there, but there are parts of the economy doing surprisingly well still.

Great news on your search. Hopefully it works out for you. Just be prepared for the hurry up and wait syndrome that you get before the final offer.


I have a bunch of interviews going on, I have one where I hit the final stage I had to write a profiling test and submit two references that they'll call if there's an offer coming. I phoned my contact who's a vp, and he informed me that he had a busy week and was going to his sons hockey tournament on Friday so can we wait to discuss on Monday.


I had another interview with a really interesting company, and met with their VP and CFO, I think it went well but they're leaving town for a couple of weeks so I won't hear anything til then.


On another one I did a third interview and they were going to take a week and if they move forward to the next step I would have to give them a 30 60 and 90 day business plan.


With some of these companies, I'm sure they they lose their better candidates due to too much process and delay.


All I can do at this point is keep applying and talking to people. I had 10 interviews scheduled this week, most of them in the second or third phase. But I'm starting to go a little batshark crazy.


I hope you get that job Q

[_Q_]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Great news on your search. Hopefully it works out for you. Just be prepared for the hurry up and wait syndrome that you get before the final offer.


I have a bunch of interviews going on, I have one where I hit the final stage I had to write a profiling test and submit two references that they'll call if there's an offer coming. I phoned my contact who's a vp, and he informed me that he had a busy week and was going to his sons hockey tournament on Friday so can we wait to discuss on Monday.


I had another interview with a really interesting company, and met with their VP and CFO, I think it went well but they're leaving town for a couple of weeks so I won't hear anything til then.


On another one I did a third interview and they were going to take a week and if they move forward to the next step I would have to give them a 30 60 and 90 day business plan.


With some of these companies, I'm sure they they lose their better candidates due to too much process and delay.


All I can do at this point is keep applying and talking to people. I had 10 interviews scheduled this week, most of them in the second or third phase. But I'm starting to go a little batshark crazy.


I hope you get that job Q

I mean it is frustrating to no end having to do the whole hurry up and wait thing. I've done it before, while unemployed and it drives you absolutely crazy. Even this current job that I have right now in DC, I had to wait close to a month for an offer.

There's always some stupid HR policy or someone not involved in the process that needs to sign off on it or something.