yermom Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 There is a Reigning Sound lyric that pretty much sums up my thoughts on getting a job, "Well it's not that I don't want to work, but I hate filling out all the applications..." I don't remember what date I started working at some job I had 6 years ago or what my bosses name was or how much the paid me or the exact square footage of the parking lot at that location...or any of the other little bits of information I'm supposed to fill in on employment applications. I just need a stinkin' job, why does it have to be so complicated? I think I'd be a primo candidate if the only thing you had to do to get work was take a lie detector test. I'm actually a pretty kickass employee to have around but my resume doesn't really reflect that. Now, about those online applications...urrrrrgh!!! It takes me three hours to fill some crap out that probably isn't going to be read by anyone anyway. I spend an eternity trying to make my "Responsibilities" at previous jobs sound really important so by the time I hit a save or send button, the shit has timed out and I always forget to copy my epic text so I end up losing everything! After that, I usually say "Screw this crap, I'm just going to go read VC now." Anyone else job hunting and finding it as frustrating as I? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gogo Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Now, about those online applications...urrrrrgh!!! It takes me three hours to fill some crap out that probably isn't going to be read by anyone anyway.One thing to remember about on-line applications: there's a good possibility that the text portions are just going to be scanned for key words. So don't worry so much about making those parts epic, just be sure to feed back to them what you think they want to hear, while at the same time giving them enough info that they'll be interested in an actual interview. Good luck! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moe_Syzlak Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I'm actually very close to going live with a side business that is a niche online job site. I'll be posting about here when it goes live. I don't understand what you hate about it. Don't you just write a cover letter and attach your resume? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NightOfJoy Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Just a quick tip.......dont put 'see resume' anywhere on an application. Its an easy red flag to see that someone may have a difficult personality. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Duck-Billed Catechist Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Might want to look into roboform or one of those automatic form fillers. If there are any recent college grads looking for outside sales jobs in Chicago, Denver, LA, San Fran, Miami, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Twin Cities, Detroit, or San Diego, let me know. It is a difficult job (like all sales jobs), but the company I work for is almost always hiring new reps. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yermom Posted November 7, 2008 Author Share Posted November 7, 2008 I don't understand what you hate about it. Don't you just write a cover letter and attach your resume?The staffing company app I'm working on today takes a resume as a supplement to filling in all of the information (basically the same stuff that's on the resume ) on their forms. I hate it because if I just had the old school paper forms in front of me I could stop and start as I please without losing any info. I probably just need to do more cut-n-paste. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
quarter23cd Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I don't understand what you hate about it. Don't you just write a cover letter and attach your resume?A lot of companies make you actually jump through the hoops of filling out form after form rather than just pasting in a resume. It can be pretty time consuming (and infuriating), especially considering that there is little chance of it being read by a human being--at least unless a requisite number of keywords are found and then an HR person contacts you to ask for a more legible resume. At least, that's been my experience. And if that is the case, there is no reason a text-dump like pasting a cover letter/resume shouldn't be sufficient. As a developer by trade, crappy user experiences like that are especially frustrating to me. (You want me to tell you why you should hire me? Have you ever tried using your own @#%!#%@ website????) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moe_Syzlak Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 A lot of companies make you actually jump through the hoops of filling out form after form rather than just pasting in a resume. It can be pretty time consuming (and infuriating), especially considering that there is little chance of it being read by a human being--at least unless a requisite number of keywords are found and then an HR person contacts you to ask for a more legible resume. At least, that's been my experience. And if that is the case, there is no reason a text-dump like pasting a cover letter/resume shouldn't be sufficient. As a developer by trade, crappy user experiences like that are especially frustrating to me. (You want me to tell you why you should hire me? Have you ever tried using your own @#%!#%@ website????) Huh, I've never come across that. Is that more common in the developer world perhaps? As for the site I am launching, it will simply be a field to type or paste a cover letter and then you simply attach your resume as a Word doc. That's it! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 There is a Reigning Sound lyric that pretty much sums up my thoughts on getting a job, "Well it's not that I don't want to work, but I hate filling out all the applications..." I don't remember what date I started working at some job I had 6 years ago or what my bosses name was or how much the paid me or the exact square footage of the parking lot at that location...or any of the other little bits of information I'm supposed to fill in on employment applications. I just need a stinkin' job, why does it have to be so complicated? I think I'd be a primo candidate if the only thing you had to do to get work was take a lie detector test. I'm actually a pretty kickass employee to have around but my resume doesn't really reflect that. Now, about those online applications...urrrrrgh!!! It takes me three hours to fill some crap out that probably isn't going to be read by anyone anyway. I spend an eternity trying to make my "Responsibilities" at previous jobs sound really important so by the time I hit a save or send button, the shit has timed out and I always forget to copy my epic text so I end up losing everything! After that, I usually say "Screw this crap, I'm just going to go read VC now." Anyone else job hunting and finding it as frustrating as I?I will be on this page in two months. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gogo Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Huh, I've never come across that. Is that more common in the developer world perhaps? As for the site I am launching, it will simply be a field to type or paste a cover letter and then you simply attach your resume as a Word doc. That's it!The federal government uses an on-line form, not an attached-resume system. I don't think it's uncommon, in any field. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
IATTBYB Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I will just add, that once you go through all of the hoops of filling out the apps, getting the interview, etc., would it kill the employer to let you know why they decided not to hire you? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
quarter23cd Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 As for the site I am launching, it will simply be a field to type or paste a cover letter and then you simply attach your resume as a Word doc. That's it!I think you're onto something here. I will just add, that once you go through all of the hoops of filling out the apps, getting the interview, etc., would it kill the employer to let you know why they decided not to hire you?I always just assume that their background check revealed my VC post-count and that I most frequently post during work hours. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MrRain422 Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Seriously though, if anyone can hook me up with a job, would be appreciated. kthxbye Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Three dollars and 63 cents Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I'm about to go back on the academic job market. Last time around, I applied for about 75 jobs and managed to get only one initial interview (for semifinalists), and I didn't get a campus visit (for finalists). I was going to be working as an adjunct for $2,000 per class until the college where I work now had a last-minute vacancy in July. Things worked out well for me at the eleventh hour last time, and I certainly have more experience than I did two years ago, but the market is pretty bleak right now. I hate automatic forms. It seems like a lot of community colleges use them. Some things go to HR and some go directly to the department, so it's a mess of forms, cover letter, CV, teaching philosophy, writing sample, and "evidence of teaching excellence" (a big photocopied pile of stuff), recommendations, and transcripts, each one tweaked just enough to make it sound like I think their vacancy would be the Very Best Job In the Whole Wide World. It's painful. Good luck to everyone looking for jobs. There's a chance I may end up staying where I am, but considering our budget has been cut so much that we're getting yelled at for making too many photocopies, I'm not holding out too much hope. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
viatroy Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I'm with you Loretty. It took me 8 times longer to find a a job than it ever has before, online apps suck, as do corporate HR sites that require you to create a profile, as does the nonresponsiveness/impersonal nature of applying online. Some places don't even bother to acknowledge that you've applied. Or send you a letter 8 weeks later saying 'thanks but no thanks'. I found a great job, but it's only 25 hpw, and I'm appealing to the FSM that it becomes FT soon, before my tiny ship sinks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
OOO Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 i've been sending out job applications this week, all to automated forms. We'll see how it turns out. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PigSooie Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 What is this? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yermom Posted November 7, 2008 Author Share Posted November 7, 2008 I was weirded out by that too. I think it came from one of these, "?!?!" or something. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
quarter23cd Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Thank you, I was trying to figure that out, too! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Good Old Neon Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 On the upside, the unemployment and welfare forms are a delight to fill out Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yermom Posted November 7, 2008 Author Share Posted November 7, 2008 Whatevs dude, all of my unemployed friends don't get checks. They get a debit card and they renew their forms online.Geeze, it's like we don't have to have actual, physical, human contact ever again. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Three dollars and 63 cents Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 One of my classes is doing a unit on technology. We read an article the other day talking about disintermediation--the idea that the internet enables us to do a lot of things ourselves that used to involve working with other people, things like shopping and cashing checks and things like that. What I realized by the end of our discussion that day was that many of them would be completely content if they never had to deal with people face to face. It was a little disturbing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yermom Posted November 7, 2008 Author Share Posted November 7, 2008 It drives me crazy because I like to think I'm ten times more charming in person than I am online! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ZenLunatic Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I remember job hunting and it sucked every bit as you are saying. Especially with this economy, jobs hunting will not get any easier. The processs does suck but thats what is out there. You have to put your name and application out there as much as you can. Go through all the painstaking processes. It is a numbers game. Dont give up. Good luck. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MrRain422 Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I've been collecting unemployment since July. It's a pretty meager check -- not close to enough to get by on. My severence is running out soon, so every time I get a check it's actually sort of depressing as I realize how screwed I am if I don't get a job within the next few weeks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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