Teamwork skills you can work on with volunteer positions, and in temporary jobs.

For employer contacts, get the local industrial directory, or Chamber of Commerce, or even Better Business Bureau., Get trade magazines and look at the ads. Look up the industry on the internet.

When you've got a place to try, go to the industrial directories to get the name of the people who would be your boss. Your local librarian will know about those directories, or your Chamber of Commerce. Name, not just title. Do *not* send letters to Human Resources unless an ad tells you to -- they only know a job exists after they're told, but if someone is thinking of creating a job, and has your resume on hand...

Back when I was looking, most seekers weren't too assertive, so they highly recommended actually calling the people in charge, and spending no more than 60 seconds of their time asking if you could send a resume, then later confirming it arrived. I actually got a few plant tours that way, and two of them sent my resume to friends who were looking for someone.

But, these days there might be too many people doing cold calls-- enough to make it annoying. Hard to say.

Hand out your calling card with name, number, key qualifications and type of job you want, to EVERYONE!!! Parents. Siblings. Hairdresser. Guy who fixes your car. Former employers. Former coworkers. Everyone who someone might mention something work related to, even in passing, or someone their spouse might mention something to.

Volunteering is a good way to make connections, too. But maybe be a bit more subtle about the job searching aspect of it -- when everyone's saying how they make a living, you say you're looking, and let them know you'd be interested in any leads they might have.

Sign up with as many placement agencies as you can -- both temporary assignments and those who help find permanent employees. Call them up even if the job they are advertising today is only marginally related -- several of them keep files of potential employees, and it's cheaper to use someone on file and in their database than to advertise and interview in a rush. One kept calling me for five years, to update their database. Here, the employer pays the agency for their work -- it's cheaper than paying their own HR person to do it, esp if it's not a job the HR person usually hires for. (Eg. a plant that's largely boring assembly looking for an engineer.)

At temporary jobs, most of the way through, mention you're looking, like the place, and give them your resume and card. AND ask if they know of anyone who might need someone with your skills. (Many people in charge have friends, neighbours, former classmates, contacts in professional organizations.)

If a temp job through an agency becomes permanent
your new employer will have to pay something like 10% of your annual salary as a placement fee, which is fair, considering that they don't have to advertise and wade through resumes.

Yeah, I know some experts say don't take temporary when you're looking for permanent. Hogwash. It shows you are serious about working. It gives you references, experience, money, and contacts with employers and people who know employers. A temp job that sucks up all your time might be bad, because it doesn't leave you time to follow up on leads, but a short-term or part time job is perfect!

One of my temp jobs, as a receptionist, I handed my resume in to the boss, and he stared. No job there, but two weeks later a friend of his called me up -- too far a drive, but still a contact.

(That's another thing -- the temp agency sent me to chemmie type places -- I knew the language there, adapted faster than their other people, made the temp agency look good.)

Take courses. Interest or job-related. Join a club. Join a gym. Gets you meeting people. As for volunteering, when they start discussing what they do for a living, you've got your opening.

Best of luck,

Cricket

__________________
Between stimulus and response there is a space.
In that space is our power to choose our response.
In our response lies our growth and our freedom.

- Viktor E. Frankl

Why not sign up to a temping agency for an audio typist or similar position Tengu? I'm pretty sure they will find you work quickly.

__________________
Thanks Cep

Gatchamania.net Administrator

I concur with everything said here and cant help grouphugging everyone for offering such excellent advice and suggestions.

Dayum but you are all such a group of caring , compassionate and helpful souls!




Only thing I would add, would be considering the years Ive known Tengu and her highly individualistic nature, attention to detail, love of cars, quality rugs and creative writing....

is FOLLOW YOUR PASSION !!

Work out what you excel at , what you absolutely love ..and GO FOR IT

Heck have you considered starting your own business?? I mean it..consider it as a very worthwhile option!..

Have you ever sat down and talked about getting a job with the clubs youre involved with?

Just how far away are you prepared to work for the job of your choice?

Is teamwork necessary for the job you want?

some of us are self starters, others people persons, or numbercrunchers, or ...

you get the drift..

Dont go for second best Tengu..it all comes down to whether you want a job ..or a carreer.

Sometimes we have to just "get a job" to enable us to step up to achieving our dream carreer..Dont confuse the two..so you dont get stuck in a rut of working in a place or enviroment you dont like.

It just takes time, guts, able to withstand obstacles and knockbacks..learning from them in the process..

And personally I think you you possess those qualities ..

Keep trying Tengu...never...EVER give up..!!

Yeah baby ..Yeah!!!

__________________
Shoot first..ask questions later!

Imi what woderful words and you are very right

__________________
Like the Phoenix I rise from the fire. Beware all who try to tame me, you may get burned

I think Imi's right in the teamwork thing -- it's a current buzz word, meaning do you make your coworkers' jobs easier or harder.

Attention to detail, now, is something worth advertising -- it can be the difference between making a huge profit or huge loss on a contract. Keeping a customer or losing her.

And job vs career? Careers are nice, but I'm gonna take the minority position. Society tells us we should want careers, big things, that we will do and mostly love until our graves. And if we don't find the right one, it's our own fault, and we'll be totally miserable.

That's way too much pressure.

Start with your situation -- do you need a way to pay the bills, or do you have the leeway to look for something more interesting?

There's nothing wrong with washing dishes in a dead-end job while you look for something more interesting. Or saying "this part of my life is boring, but the rest has potential". Sure, you'll hate the job, but you'll be able to pay the bills, and sticking it out until you find the next job looks good. Many, many people are in this situation.

Read the biographies of some writers. Spider Robinson comes to mind for jobs for pay rather than for love. Not that he didn't do his best at each job, but he also didn't let the jobs define him.

Asimov worked in a candy store, and then was a typist in the military.

Don't worry about specializing in one thing and missing out on everything else. Also, don't worry about specializing in the wrong thing.

The more you learn about one field, the more you will learn about others. Take your article on house leeks -- botany, building, climate, architecture, history on very local and national levels, and superstitions. And you will have proven that you can go into depth.

Employers want people who can take something and worry away at it until it works, and then can take that same persistance to the next project. The ability to ferret out information and learn new skills is as important as the information and skills you already possess.

Guess I'm saying that focusing on the small picture -- bills, what you need for today's job -- does not necessarily get in the way of the big picture of a career -- but the big picture of a career can prevent you from doing the little things that are needed today.

Cricket

__________________
Between stimulus and response there is a space.
In that space is our power to choose our response.
In our response lies our growth and our freedom.

- Viktor E. Frankl