I need help, I need a job.

Man I have so many applications out I cannot keep count but maybe I am looking in the wrong places? Pretty much have given up on law enforcement so I was thinking about something in the food service/restaurant industry since I have experience. I am looking for a long term position with advancement opportunities.

Thoughts, opinions or offers?

(No BS comments will be allowed/tolerated regarding my request).

 

Just as an aside… Have you considered Home Depot?

 

Yes and I applied there months and months ago just like I did at Target, Sam's and Walmart yet never even received a courtesy reply from any of them. I even sent a PM to the member who opened up that DQ in Sugarland but never received a reply.

My frustration level is rather high and that is putting it lightly.

 

Don't take it personally if you don't get responses, businesses get many applications and its just not feasible to respond to every one. Especially for a place the size of Home Depot.

 

I'm too old and have to much work/life experience to take it personally but thank you for the reminder. In '07 I worked for the county parks department and foolishly left returning to the seismic (oil/gas) industry, huge mistake. I will be submitting my application for the parks dept tomorrow. Good pay and good benefits and great hours (6am-2pm) and both parks are within 5-15 minutes of home and I still know/worked with 50+% of the workers there so the hazing will be tolerable if I am taken back. Oh and talk about getting in shape FAST!

 

This may be two bad ideas, Gregg, but I'll throw them out and let you decide if they have any merit. Have you considered Costco? Campus police/security? For the former, my wife was telling me about a story a little while ago about Costco being one of the better large companies to work for. For the latter, my brother is a policeman in NYC, and this is the job he is targeting for when he has put in enough years to retire. Again, just some off-the-top-of-my-head ideas. Best of luck, my friend….T

 

Gregg,

This mindset may be what is holding you back.

Are you looking for a job? Or a position?

As an employer, I look at the two perspectives very differently.

What I hear you saying is... you need a job! Money coming in. Something to do, something productive, hopefully engaging and important. But, what you're asking for is a "long term position with advancement opportunities."

First, I'm not sure those exist any more.

Second, and again as an employer, if I have an open position, I want to hire someone who wants to work. Not someone who is looking for a position.

Mike

 

I guess it is true that when two people are told the same message they will have totally different opinions about what they think they heard. Ones perception is ones reality. On the other hand I do understand what you are saying and as you know all to well by now my words are often poorly chosen and completely opposite of my meaning.

In all honesty though I do find it rather odd that you, as an employer, just want someone who wants to work ie "I just want a paycheck until I find another job" and not a employee who has goals other than a regular paycheck. I guess I am the odd duck, my honesty and wanting more is my burden to bare.

 

As an employer, my priority is to get the work done... To have someone to do the job..

If, after they prove themselves capable, a job with more responsibility opens up, my first option is always to hire from within. But, initially, what impresses me is someone who wants to work.

Mike


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Gregg,

I used to be a hiring manager, HR manager, and trainer in a pizza business. The best hires were the people who were willing to work hard and learn skills applicable to the job they were hired into. They were focused on just doing that job very well and generally that made them indispensable. I joined as a driver to work hard to support my university studies, not as someone joining with the intention to be promoted to a senior management job. Similarly, others who were senior managers didn't chase promotion either, they were just people who got very good at their job and who knew the business well.

Those who fancy themselves as manager material from day one usually torpedo their chances by performing poorly at a job they regard as beneath them while they've got their eyes firmly on a promotion. They come across as entitled, lazy, and their coworkers resent their attitude while their bosses are now getting distracted by these personal issues that they don't want to have to deal with. Instead of getting pulled up the ladder, these sorts of people get shoved out the door - if they somehow manage to get through the interview in the first place.

What Mike is saying is this: aim for just the job and stop thinking about advancement - don't run before you are even walking. Once you've got the job, concentrate very hard on doing that specific job to the best of your ability - establish a reputation for being calm, level-headed, competent, and dependable. If a more senior job opens up, maybe you'll apply for it and your good record at your current job will indicate that you're likely to have a good record at the next one too - but don't get distracted by constant planning for your promotion or it'll never happen because your day to day performance at your current job will suffer.

There is also a great distinction between the language of "job" versus "position". A job is something you do. A position is something you occupy. Hiring managers want people who want to actively do a job, not passively occupy a position for a while until something better comes along. You might dismiss your poor word selection as unimportant, but the truth is that the language you apply matters a great deal for making the right impression and getting yourself selected.

Everybody wants more and everybody dreams of bigger things. Not everyone can truly focus upon the job at hand. Prove you're special by proving to an employer that you can focus.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

Mike is making some great points. There are a lot of businesses looking for someone, the problem often is the approach. That is what is lacking. You need help in that area. If you know any employers, not prospective employers but someone you know well that has employees ask for some advice. Tell them to give it to you straight and don't be offended. When it comes to getting a job most people are their own worst enemy.

At the end of the day we need someone that will make us money, be there when expected and not be high maintenance. You must not be coming off as that person. No one doubts your willingness to work but I don't need work done, I need productivity.

 

Mike is correct.

Companies may appear to be hiring per what the websites show, but actually aren't.

I just got cut from my contract after 8 months, the only contract employee in that dept that was cut. Yet I had been told since december I was going to be brought on permanently.

Thankfully with some positive references from coworkers in that dept, was brought on in another dept without an interview or anything. I had to take a big pay hit, but a job is better than not working. And as a new coworker pointed out, I will now have experience in the Cash dept, which greatly expands the places I can work.

Sometimes you have to take a few steps back to move a lot farther forward.

Gregg, don't try to put a square peg in a round hole. Don't go in with expectations other than being polite and positive.

 

Id add to what you've said by saying, take opportunities that you may otherwise be opposed to. You have to if you really want to work.

When I got the job as a claims adjuster a few years back I hated the idea of it, but that 1.5 years I was there was the worst and best experience. I knew what I never wanted to do again, but knew how much I can hate a job and any "heavy" workload I see in the future will always pale I comparison.

I don't mean to bring up so many personal examples, but I've had job issues so much thst I understand it so much.

If you are receiving personal feedback simply for your own benefit, then you're not self aware and not trying to be. I know my problem isn't me because I hear the positive feedback a person should hear, and i ask how I can work harder or more efficiently.

Those are the questions to ask. Once someone sees you as a quality asset more permanent employment will follow. Whether at the current job or somewhere else. But you have to stay positive and stay aware!

 

What happened to your job in the oil and gas industry? I work in that industry and hard workers are still doing well, I fell into it in 2008 by accident but its been a great career.

 

Gregg,

I'd suggest a much more targeted and strategic career plan. Perhaps with the help of some sort of counselor who specializes in pairing the right job with the right personality.

I've been following your posts for a while. You start threads that have one of three themes:
1) "I've got a job!" These usually turn out to be premature. The job wasn't really there, or an interview was assumed to be an offer, or something else went wrong.
2) "Something shiny!" You seem as distracted as a magpie. Whether it's something material -- like the Rolex or a Porsche 996 -- or a new career -- like getting a pilot's license or becoming a pharmacy technician.
3) "Woe is me." Like this thread. Or other rants, centered on family, self-respect, or whatever topic those negative emotions cluster around. And sometimes those posts get very few replies, but the ones that get more are when you are "more than frustrated" with the job situation.

You may disagree with me, but I'm seeing a tend here.

I really want to see you do well, and I think being more strategic with a career path plan will help get you on your way. Another great resource for that is the local business library.

Matt

 

Simply stated, no one owes you anything.

This is the hardest lesson to learn when looking for anything in life, but especially a job.

They don't owe you:

A call back if you apply.
An interview if they do call back.
A second interview because you're sure the first one went well.
A job because the 2nd interview really DID go well.
A job because you're perfect for it.
A living wage if they do hire you, if you don't talk about wages during the interview process.
A raise because you've been there six months, six years or a lifetime.

They don't owe you anything but this simple equation. You owe them an honest day's work, they owe you an honest day's pay. That's it.

When I was hiring, I looked for someone who wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty, both literally and figuratively. Get into the job, work his ass off and at the end of the day feel good about what they did for a living.

You need to be confident in your abilities, but not cocky. And absolutely sure of yourself. If you come off as unsure, insecure or unable to learn, you're done before you start.

Dress appropriately for the job you seek. Don't wear a $1000.00 suit for a job interview at Home Depot, don't wear a polo shirt to Sak's.

Want to work in the food service industry? Yup, I owned a restaurant at one time and have some experience there too. Biggest plus in that biz? Experience and willingness to take the crappy hours as the noob, and work into better hours. Look clean and neat when you apply for food service jobs. Looking dirty isn't going to make a food service manager hire you.

Oh, and when you interview, at some point they're going to want to see your food service chops. so re-acquaint yourself with how to be a server, or bartender, or whatever position you're going for, and understand what that particular restaurant serves.

Finally, in the age of the internet, no one can walk into an interview without a rudimentary knowledge of the company giving the interview. Do 20 minutes research on that company before you meet with them.

Oh, and good luck job shopping is only as good an experience as you make it. Lots of rejection, followed by one savory acceptance.

Good luck on the hunt.

 

There is a job search seminar support group that meets in a church on Westheimer, in River Oaks. The guys that chair it are HR guys from huge multinational corporations.

Thursday at 1PM.

They point out, rightly that applying for jobs NOT YET advertised is a sound strategy.
Applying for advertised jobs is almost statistically pointless.

I will find the info and post it back here.
God luck.

 

I got past a first interview with an HR manager because of this. She randomly asked what the company's stock price was. I'd looked that morning and told her. She shook her head and said I was wrong. I laughed and bet her $1. She checked and discovered I was right, embarassed that she'd missed a 3 day run up. I let her keep her $1 and moved on to the next round. I was introduced to the SVP as the guy that knew the stock price.

 

I think this is a great post.

 

For the job I just landed in Phoenix I read the 10k and last 10q before the phone screen. I put the inhouse interview off for three weeks and studied 4 hours a day on the industry/company and my profession. The last 24hrs I studied behavioral interview questions and practiced my responses.

The whole interview was behavioral based!

I was told I was far above my competition who were at least as qualified as I. The difference was I really wanted this job and no one was going to be more prepared than me.

 

congrats on the new gig, you going to work for Jim Bob?

 

Thanks and No. I am in solar energy.

 

We all are.

Congrats!

 

Exactly.

Treat job hunting like an actual job.