job-seeker contacts/advice

[GAME05]

had a part-time interview today and crushed it, and have an interview next week for a full-time job. now, i'm one to always consider the possibilities, and i'm not totally sure which situation might be best right now.

 

1. I live in Austin, Texas, right now. only three months, but i'm really missing North Carolina--the mountains, better hiking, bigger trees and a lot of my friends there. poor economy there but some good contacts. so basically it'd be with friends and where i enjoy living, but likely be spending a while at your basic crap job and just getting by for a while.

 

2. take a part-time gig that pays decent and at least is near Austin.

 

3. the full-time job interview is in the middle-of-nowhere Texas sorta-near Corpus Christi, so super-hot and super-humid, but full-time and in my field.

 

i find myself still missing North Carolina, though. it seems the quality of the jobs i'm looking at are inversely proportional to the place where i'd like to live. if i were 20 this would be easy, but at 33, i have an equal desire to build a career but also to finally settle down in one place and call it home and not face moving again in a few years. obviously it's ultimately my own decision, but i thought maybe you all might have some advice or have something i may not have considered.

[Invader3K]

Personally, I'd stick to the place with the better economy and better job prospects.

[GAME05]

after thinking i might head back to North Carolina, i'm starting to lean your way, Invader. talking to a friend that i graduated with, it's tough to get a Park Ranger job, so if i'm offered this job, it's better to take it long-term and just deal with an awful and painfully hot city for a year or two. at that point, then i'd be hugely marketable and could then almost choose the place i'd like to live, and with a good job. the alternative is moving to NC, to the state i enjoy, but then working 5+ years in crap jobs until i find something i enjoy. i think i've been too short-sighted on my wanting to move to a good place to live, regardless of the job prospects.

 

now, i could very well not get this Park Ranger job, and then i may very well head to NC even though they have a horrible economy right now for my field. worse prospects but better contacts, anyway.

 

i just have to make sure that my current situation (working a grueling schedule at two minimum-wage jobs and never able to go out) doesn't cloud my judgment. still homesick for NC, though.

[GAME05]

did extremely well on an interview for a part-time recreation (my field) job near Austin, which i'm somewhat unlikely to take.

 

also did very very well on an interview for a full-time Park Ranger job (my ideal job) in Southern Texas. summers there are 105 degrees + 90 percent humidity, so that'll be extremely rough to handle at an outdoor job, but the experience would be too good to pass up. i'd be leaving after two years with experience and a Master's degree into a better economy, so i'd be highly marketable.

 

if i'm not offered the job, i think i'll head back to North Carolina. i think i made a mistake thinking i could handle summers in Texas, but i think they're actually going to eat me alive.

 

North Carolina has a terrible economy for the recreation field, but i know someone who can speak for me for openings in Charlotte, and a favourite professor of mine there knows pretty much every hiring manager in the state, and would be able to speak on my behalf. at the worst, i have a job at a summer camp just about lined up. i'd be the at the same level as a bunch of 20-year-olds, but it'd still be good resume fodder for me.

 

i know i can't make decisions based on friends (though i want to move back to NC in part because of them), but it stinks that my friend here was really excited to have me move down. now i'm working at night so we don't hang out, and then i'd end up moving out on him right after i get here. he's moving away in two years, which at least makes me feel a tiny bit better about it.

[GAME05]

well, my experiment as an employee in the Wal-Mart Deli will now be ending in a week's time. was offered full-time hours at my other job, which means i'll get dental and be able to buy into their health plan in another 30 days, which is just too valuable to pass up. i'd also been working long hours every single day for the past two months because of having two jobs, and i've hit my physical and mental breaking point (which included many days when i didn't have time to eat).

 

surprisingly, the Wal-Mart Deli didn't turn out to be the worst job in the world, and i pretty much knew how to do all the work by the end of my first day.

 

found what was pretty much my ideal job in my field the other day, which requirements i'm perfect for, and then saw it was a five-month temporary gig. good for the resume, but right now it seems too scary to be both broke and unemployed again in five months' time.

[GAME05]

i'd quit my part-time gig at Wal-Mart to go full-time at my outfitters in large part because they told me that soon i'd be eligible to buy into their health-care program. two days as a full-time employee there and they go "OH, sorry, you actually have to wait until May to get health care." that really got me steamed. the job pays worse than it should, but there's no point in me finding a similar job because i don't expect to be in Austin much longer--though i haven't explored the city's options as much as i'd have liked, i think i underestimated just how hot it is here (85 degrees today) and am basically frightened of the summer (told that it cools all the way down to 95 on summer nights). plus i like North Carolina and Colorado and have friends/relatives there.

 

options on my table right now:

 

(Educational) Program Coordinator: though i very much don't want to be a teacher (essentially what this job is), it's good for my resume plus it's located near Austin. i was supposed to get a callback today to tell me if i was selected or not among the other three candidates.

 

Park Ranger: ideal for my resume, though located in horribly hot and humid Southern Texas. i took second or third in a previous interview, they had a new opening, and the manager emailed me to ask me to reapply (not that i'm guaranteed anything).

 

Zipline Tour Guide: pays only $10.50/hr and only for 8 months of the year (guess i'd go for unemployment afterward). a friend is a manager there and the place has a lot of management potential. nice that it's located in North Carolina, which is ideally where i'd like to live (or Colorado), and i'd be able to apply for the few North Carolina jobs instead of applying from 1,000 miles away.

 

after talking to a friend in the industry, i think it'd be best to take the Coordinator or Park Ranger positions if either was offered ahead of the Zipline job. then just suffer my one or two years as i build my experience and look for a new job out of the state.

[GAME05]

ok, i guess i'm summoning the opinions of my fellow bf.netters out there. i have an interesting dilemma to figure out by Friday morning.

 

it's a good-good dilemma. after many months of searching, today i got offered two separate jobs, and i'm trying to quickly figure out which one would be best for me.

 

1. Park Ranger job--ideally i would like to become a National Park Ranger (or some non-teaching type of parks and recreation job). and no job better prepares you for being a Park Ranger than being a Park Ranger, right? of the two jobs, this job pays better, not even including the usual health/dental benefits. resume-wise, this is very clearly the better of the two jobs. the downside to this position that i keep thinking about is that it is in Southern Texas. being from Wisconsin, there is a substantial fear that i will even be able to make it through the summers, as they are 105+ degrees with high humidity for most of the year. i should add that this job is 80% outdoors. the location is somewhat near Corpus Christi, but is in an otherwise lifeless and empty town. i don't plan on staying there for that long, maybe one or two years until that good experience gets me a better job somewhere not in Texas.

 

2. Canopy Guide--this involves mostly ziplines and rappelling, some environmental education, leading tourists through the woods. it starts with a week of unpaid training that has a 15% failure rate, though i've been assured from a friend who manages there that i'll be fine. pay is less with no benefits. the company is young and growing. my friend was a tour guide last year and is a manager this year. the job, however, finishes the end of November and doesn't start again until about March, so i figure to be on unemployment or working at REI between then. certainly not the better of the two jobs on paper, but still somewhat applicable when it comes to a career as a Park Ranger or something similar where i'd be working as something of a tour guide and naturalist educator. Nice thing about this position is that it is located in Asheville, NC, which i consider to be quite possibly the best city in the US.

 

now, despite being told otherwise by my Advisory Board (who happen to share my last name), i still lean somewhat to the Zipline Guide. One reason is that i don't know a soul in Southern Texas, but I have five good friends in Asheville. For whatever reason I see Southern Texas as being a very lonely existence for those one or two years. I think a lot of me leans toward Asheville is that even though the job is worse, i suffer with loneliness quite a bit and it's a value to me to have friends in Asheville. and as a 33-year-old single person, i have no problems admitting that i regularly pray to finally meet a girl and get to settle down, which i guess i don't really see happening in Southern Texas. maybe i won't meet a girl i Asheville, but at 33, maybe i don't have all that many years left for the chance to have a family. yet long-term, i can't deny that the Park Ranger job in Southern Texas almost certainly gets me to my career goal faster than being basically a tour guide.

 

the Zipline Guide training starts on Monday morning, and i have a 20-hour drive ahead of me, not including rests. it would definitely be a quick pack and go (capable of it, even though i work tomorrow).

 

it feels like this is a decision of logic vs. emotions, or even of short-term happiness vs. long-term gains.

 

i've thrown out this dilemma to a good number of friends today and they pretty much had the same answer, but you all have always been so helpful to me in the past, and i was hoping that maybe you all might have something to add on it. if i take the Zipline job, i figure i'll have to leave on Friday night, so i also don't have a ton of time to be debating this whole thing.

[greeg35]

If it were me, I'd go with number 1. It fits your overall career plan much better and provides more stability at the same time. I think it is smarter to side with some short term issues if it means you have a better chance of getting what you really want within 5-10 years. Trust your gut though, you understand what this decision means in your life better than anyone else will.

[GAME05]

thanks, greeg. i found it quite telling that every single person i asked about it said "Park Ranger." i think that if i have any instinct of turning left but everyone else says turn right, then just maybe i should be turning right.

 

despite some instincts to the contrary, i took the Park Ranger job today (pending a physical and such, of course). my father noted that since my thru-hike i've mostly been bouncing around a lot from nothing-job to nothing-job, and going to Asheville would be more of the same. at first i kept saying to myself that Asheville is really a place where i'd like to settle down permanently, but i think you can only base that strong a statement on having a career-type of job to allow you to settle. the zipline job is not exactly that job. it's a college-kid job, except i'm almost 34. for the four months of the off-season there i'd be again hoping to get that REI job for $8/hr.

 

so guess i'm not jumping around at the prospect of being in Victoria, Texas, but i guess logic says it's the best move.

[greeg35]

congrats on the job! Keep us posted on how its going. You are living one of my dreams (the park ranger part, not the texas part) http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[GAME05]

the Park Ranger part sealed it for me. those jobs are so incredibly hard to get, and one or two years there will definitely help to entrench me in the industry. two years of related Ranger experience plus a Master's degree plus industry job growth (likely, anyway) should make me incredibly marketable (i hope).

 

definitely scared of the southern Texas heat, so i figure on keeping a cooler in my work truck full of those cooling neck bands and ice packs. it's two months of temps in the upper 90s with high humidity, which makes this Wisconsin boy nervous whether i can make it through or not. but then it's just for a year or two. plus i can keep myself busy with working out and watching the Brewers win.

 

looks like i'm 30 minutes from the Gulf, so i guess i'll become a beach lover. and any bf.netters who want to come down my way on vacation can know they have a place to crash with me.

[Invader3K]

Congrats on your job, Game05. I know you'd been looking for something like that for a long time.

[kilgore37]

It's not that bad. I made it though basic training in San Antonio. I was there the hottest 2 months of the year. July and August. Just drink alot of water and stay out of the sun for prolong periods of time.

[GAME05]

just thought i'd update everyone on how things were going...sorry, though, i realized i kind of bogarted this thread and didn't mean to make it all about me or anything.

 

been at the Park Ranger job about three/four months now. absolutely miserable there. have a very hard time transitioning from the night shift to the day shift and back again, and the work isn't satisfying. but i can't complain all too much, as i'm banking $100/200 per month and this time i have a job while i look for another one. it should be interesting to try and look for government work in a struggling industry while applying out of state. i might as well have a criminal record for the impossibility of that search. but i guess i can always jump to that zipline tour guide next year if i feel like i need to.

 

this town has been rough, too. nothing like not fitting in wherever you go.

 

the best way to advance in my industry is to stay in one place and work your way up, so i'm going to be a little picker this time about landing in a place i know i'd want to stay at for a good while.

 

but not to make it all about me, if you're looking for work and are good at physical labor, withstanding the heat of Texas and know something about machinery, i live right where all the shale fracking/oil exploration is down here, and workers are flooding here because you can make $100,000 for six months worth of work. people are taking home $2500 in a paycheck after taxes and i see a lot of people walking around town with $100 bills. granted, there's no available places to live, so people are living in RVs in parking lots and getting bussed to work, but so be it for that kind of money.

 

oh, and Kilgore, so far i've been able to withstand the heat fairly well. some days are bad, but i drink a couple gallons of water per day. i also regularly dip my head in the sink and then wear a wet rag under my hat to keep my head wet. i heard once that old-time ballplayers used to wear a cabbage leaf under their hat when they played in the field to keep themselves cooler--i haven't tried that one yet, but i'm curious.

[GAME05]

i'm going to set myself a deadline that whether or not i have a new job waiting for me, i'm going to leave this job and this town in six months.

 

in about six months' time, i'll have reached that magical two years of experience in my field which every mid-level job seems to require. some businesses are loose on this, but i've known some (government) municipalities who won't even consider resumes that don't show two years of experience if that's the requirement, regardless of other qualifications. Plus, six months more at this job will put me at 10 months total time, which is enough to say i've learned the skills of the position.

 

i can't bear it here any longer than that.

 

saw a job back in NC that was perfect, required a degree plus two years' experience, and then it said it paid all of $24,000 per year. a person couldn't afford a cheap apartment on that. i'd be almost tempted to take that sort of job (but in a good city) and work my way up from there. maybe i could trade in my car to get a minivan and sleep in that. i'd save up good money even on $24,000 and could shower every morning at the Y.

 

i know it's been done and i'll try, but i don't hold out much hope of finding a low-level out-of-state job. eventually they'll want to interview you in person and i can't afford to fly to a bunch of interviews.

[Raw Biz]

I've been unemployed for about a year and a half now so I figured I might as well try my luck here. I graduated from UW Law School in May 2010 with a certified curricular concentration in estate planning. I've been looking for work in the legal field since. I've had a few interviews but no offers. I think one of my big problems is that I don't have any relevant work experience. I worked as a commercial roofer during the summers in college and then I graduated with a degree in Zoology. Then I roofed again when I graduated in 06 until I started law school in the fall of 07. My dad got me a job with his company in the summer of 08 doing various warehouse maintenance stuff but I was also able to do some OSHA safety research stuff there as well. So my big selling point (which isn't much) is that I was able to save the company some money by doing this OSHA stuff myself instead of having them contract someone else to do it, which they usually did. That was my last job.

I know there are a few attorneys here so I was just wondering if anybody had any advice/contacts/etc. for me. Basically anything would be useful. My main areas of interest are estate planning or family law but I was also interested in real estate and contracts. The only thing I never really wanted to do was be a litigator. Because of my lack of experience, I would even start at a paralegal-type position or possibly even volunteer. I would also be interested in any other fields/positions (not necessarily in the legal field) that might be useful for someone with a JD or that might add experience I could use in a legal job down the road.

I would appreciate any insight/advice/etc. from anyone. Thanks guys.

[dadofandrew]

You might be suffering from your long unemployment more than anything. Hard to believe a law degree would not be able to garner you a job, and that might be what employers are thinking. You might want to either get any job just to get rid of that or come up with an excuse (writing a novel, health, caring for a sick parent) and put that in your cover letter.

[Raw Biz]

You might be suffering from your long unemployment more than anything. Hard to believe a law degree would not be able to garner you a job, and that might be what employers are thinking. You might want to either get any job just to get rid of that or come up with an excuse (writing a novel, health, caring for a sick parent) and put that in your cover letter.

I've thought about that but I don't know what to say. I mean I obviously tried to get a job after my 2nd year of law school but didn't get any offers. And I've been trying since graduating. I don't wanna lie with an excuse but I also don't think it's a good idea to just come out and say nobody's wanted to hire me. If I had to do it all over again, I would probably rethink going to law school. A law degree isn't what it was 10 years ago. It's not even what it was 5 years ago.

[GAME05]

sorry that i can't offer any specific advice, but it isn't surprising that you haven't found a law job in this long of a time. my boss' daughter graduated with a legal degree from a school in DC. two years ago 98% of the class got a job after graduation, and this year 98% couldn't find anything.

 

i hate to throw that "volunteer" word out there because it's easier said than done, but even one day per week filing papers at a law office could be enough where you could put your work at the firm on the top of your resume as a '2011 to Present' position and give off a better impression that you're currently doing legal work to duck some of that "unemployed need not apply" garbage.

 

obviously i'm sure you'll say something better than "nobody's wanted to hire me," but if that question comes up, just have something to show how you're still in the field somehow, whether it's that volunteer stuff or continuing education or just something where you can say you're a lawyer and a laborer on the side and haven't only been laboring in the meantime.

 

are there conferences you can go to in order to network? i went to one when i was unemployed and at every seminar everyone had to stand up and introduce themselves. i was the only one there who said he was unemployed, and i have to think that's a good benefit if someone there happened to know of an opening.

 

---------- (unrelated)

 

it looks like there may be an opening for a Park Ranger at my job in southern Texas if anyone happens to be interested.

there is also a huge need for CDL drivers down here.

also many other jobs in Oil if anyone likes very hard labor, long hours and a $2,500 paycheck per week (i have no ins, however).

[rwa12]

My sister graduated with her JD a few years ago, and ran into similar problems. She decided to pursue a job in her undergrad major (Econ), and got the boost of the JD to get her in the door with the Federal Reserve. She has been a bank examiner since, and recently transferred to a new branch of the government. She doesn't get to use her JD, but she used it to get a pretty good job.

My younger cousin just finished his JD in Florida, he is ambulance chasing, I'm pretty sure.

[NievesNoNO]

I'm a little late to the show here. Game, I can relate somewhat to your situation. I worked in the Parks and Rec field for 7-8 years and couldn't advance how I envisioned so I decided to change fields a couple years back. Not sure how it is in Texas, but Parks in Rec in WI is a quite a close nit group across the state, at least at the municipal level. Everyone knows everyone or at least knows somebody in a different part of the state. It's a huge domino effect when there's a job opening and unless you all ready know somebody it's difficult. It sounds like you have experience now in the field that you're looking towards so that's great! Coaching, officiating, and grounds keeping are other ways to get yourself in the door so to speak. Heck, maybe even volunteer to teach a class relating to wildlife or something at the local community center. Anything to get yourself in that organization somehow so people know your name.

 

General tidbits I've learned along the way:

Much of the "right thing" to do when applying for a job is crap (IMO). Don't waste your time trying to get a name of who to send you info to. You will rarely get ONE specific person reading your application end it doesn't really matter (unless your applying to be somebody's personal office manager maybe). Plus if you address it incorrectly or misspell a name your worse off than had you just sent it to whom it may concern. Basically if they don't bother to tell you who to send it to don't bother trying to find out. Don't bother with call backs. Use your time to search out more opportunities. If they're interested they'll call you. References available on request is fine. Just make sure you have some ready to go if you're asked! I usually bring mine along to an interview and leave them with the appropriate person.

 

Don't sell yourself short because you don't have the specific amount of experience listed in a job description. It doesn't hurt to apply anyway if you really like the job. Be creative in your experience and how it applies to the specific job. Almost every job has overlapping qualifications in some aspects, like customer service.

 

Always tailor your resume to fit the job description. Experience still trumps education.

 

Another job may open the door to THE opportunity you're looking for. Don't shut out a particular opportunity because it isn't in 'your field'. Make use of all your ability. While I work in Technology now, I haven't completely shut the door on Recreation. I'm working for a small college that has a new recreation facility on the table so somewhere along the line I may have the opportunity shift back if I want.

 

Just my two cents.

 

[GAME05]

Nieves, do you know anything about being a Certified Parks and Recreation Professional? i was thinking of paying to get this just for resume-building. i asked an old boss who hasn't written back, but i was wondering if it held any weight at all. it's kind of expensive and very clearly just a way for the governing body to take money out of our pockets, but i'm thinking it's just one more thing that other applicants won't have (though the graduate degree tends to do that already). i am hoping to become a Certified Playground Inspector, too, because it should be a nice value-added on my resume.

 

after these two certifications are complete, i'm going to ask for permanent night-shift duty and then get a simple-enough second job. the extra $200-300 per month will either pay off additional school loans or i could be much more willing to fly out of state for a first interview without having to dip into bill-paying money. i already lost out on a Park Ranger job because i wasn't willing to fly out for a first interview and they wouldn't do an initial talk over the phone. a second job would mean death to any possible socializing, but it's not like i know anyone here, anyway.

 

Get me out of Texas!!!!!

[Dollarbill13]

I've thought about that but I don't know what to say. I mean I obviously tried to get a job after my 2nd year of law school but didn't get any offers. And I've been trying since graduating. I don't wanna lie with an excuse but I also don't think it's a good idea to just come out and say nobody's wanted to hire me. If I had to do it all over again, I would probably rethink going to law school. A law degree isn't what it was 10 years ago. It's not even what it was 5 years ago.

Have you tried working through a legal placement agency? I wonder if it might be easier to find entry level work through something like that where the company would have less risk in hiring someone with no experience

[NievesNoNO]

Nieves, do you know anything about being a Certified Parks and Recreation Professional? i was thinking of paying to get this just for resume-building. i asked an old boss who hasn't written back, but i was wondering if it held any weight at all. it's kind of expensive and very clearly just a way for the governing body to take money out of our pockets, but i'm thinking it's just one more thing that other applicants won't have (though the graduate degree tends to do that already). i am hoping to become a Certified Playground Inspector, too, because it should be a nice value-added on my resume.

 

after these two certifications are complete, i'm going to ask for permanent night-shift duty and then get a simple-enough second job. the extra $200-300 per month will either pay off additional school loans or i could be much more willing to fly out of state for a first interview without having to dip into bill-paying money. i already lost out on a Park Ranger job because i wasn't willing to fly out for a first interview and they wouldn't do an initial talk over the phone. a second job would mean death to any possible socializing, but it's not like i know anyone here, anyway.

 

Get me out of Texas!!!!!

Yes, I was CPRP certified. Everything else being equal I guess the extra certs never hurt. It's been a while but I believe there is a 1 year of experience requirement to take the exam which it sounds like you have. You also must achieve a certain amount of CEU's to maintain your certification. I think it's 2 CEU's over two years. I just attended the annual WI Parks and Rec. conference to achieve those, but you can achieve them in other ways. The exam itself I didn't find all that difficult. If you have the background most of the questions seemed to be common sense, however there is a study guide that I would definately recommend taking the time to study as they will pull some random questions that you'll probably never encounter on the job.

 

I do think it holds some weight in that there are requirements to sit and take the test and there are requirements to keep it. So at least you know the candidate has a baseline level of knowledge and has worked in the field for a minimal amount of time without looking at a resume. Of course, who doesn't like adding certification initials after their name http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif CPRP... actually I kind of miss that one! I don't necessarily think not having it would cost you a job or an interview for that matter. I guess it depends who's screening the resumes.

 

Good Luck.

[jjkoestler]

Do any BFers (or friends/family) work for Insperity? I've been speaking with a recruiter about a PM position, and I was hoping to get more information about the firm.