A lot of job are hire thru friend's referral. I recently got hired because i know someone that work in that company. She also got $ from referrals me. My advice go find an agent to help you find a job. If you get hire the agent get money. win win for everyone. FYI: a lot of entry level job require no experience.. All it does was require a degree.
That's nice, but sadly, we're talking about apples and oranges here. This doesn't apply to every single profession.
Contacts are very important but I agreed with Dan, through my years of experience I've found out that experience is a lot more important than a degree, say you have to choose between a guy with a master's degree and an guy with just a bachelor degree but with 5 years of experience, I'll definitely pay more attention on the guy with more work experience. There are so many things that school won't teach you and you can only earn it experience it yourself. PD: Person, thank God you won't spit on their food, keep being professional.
LOL... I hope everyone realizes I was just joking about the food tampering thing, it was only tongue in check humor; not only is it unprofessional, it's also illegal. That being said, finding a job and interviews are a real onerous experience, even for seasoned workers with plenty of education and solid background. It is that much more so for a brand new graduate seeking for his or her first position. Some of the pitfalls that trip up a 'newbie' applicant (ie. one who has never had to apply for a job before) is the inherent mindset. One tends to go in with the frame of mind that, "...I worked hard for my degree, I (parents or state) had paid my tuition, I invested my time, yada yada... I deserve this job, right?" while the employer's way of thinking is "...who the fuck are you and why do I need a nobody like you?" Obviously, there's a tremendous disconnect between the two. One needs to think from the position of the employer and his bottom line if one wants to get into that organization. Having a gaggle of internuncio (family, friends, previous employer, bosses daughter, whatever) who can speak on your behalf, certainly greases those wheels in the right direction. Having worked there previously (former employee, volunteer, intern) or worked with that company (vendor, supplier, service contractor) also increases one's chances. However, nothing is ever guaranteed. Of course, there's a variety of outside pressures that can impact on hiring too; if there is a deadly shortage in a particular position, most employers cannot be choosy; they take whoever they can get. One fine example of this was the US military at the height of the Viet Nam War. They quite literally took whoever they got (of course back then there was a draft, ie. conscription). Thereafter, even the military began to become very selective in who they inducted; those previously allowed in with no high school completion, or with a criminal record were suddenly turned away. Further, those that couldn't pass a simple aptitude test were also turned away as idiots in the military generally proved to be combat liabilities (forget Forest Gump). What I mean to say is, that sometimes, there are conditional things outside the employer and applicants' control. In general however, if one applies for a very select position in a field that is glutted with similarly educated applicants, then there is very little likelihood that one will be successful. My kids get angry with me when I tell them to choose a field that they can get a job in and not in something that they like; they say they don't want to spend their life doing something that they don't enjoy. I say, so what? I did; and it raised all of them. If I really did what I wanted to do, I would be sitting in a library reading history books all day while they were out in the street begging their next meal. Life is about making compromises and so too, is the world of employment. Sometimes, we get lucky, especially if the general economy is good. Other times, we eat crow, despite having a degree, a nepotist way in, paid a bribe, and sucked off the boss' son; again, nothing is ever guaranteed. My suggestion is to polish up on interviewing skills. All those things that one reads about (the tips and the do's and dont's), in the various 'job seeker' web sites are true to a degree. The applicant needs to convince the interviewer that he or she is going to be a dedicated and effective worker bee that asks for little in return. One of my most favorite stories is from the post tech bubble. The legion of discharged tech workers, mostly computer programmers and coders, who got let go after many tech companies shuttered became the laughing stock of the human resources community. Most, if not all, didn't have a clue into how to properly interview for a job. The bulk of them had been hired right out of school by a desperate tech world eager to cash in on computing technology. When the 'irrational exuberance' finally gave way to sobering reality, all of these high priced tech workers were fired, and had to look for work for the first time in their lives. Most didn't even know how to dress and had such poor interview skills that widespread news articles were written about their unfortunate dose of working world reality. For example, one guy showed (15 mins late) up wearing a tee shirt, shorts and flip flops, while holding a coffee in one hand and a bagel in the other; he then set the coffee down onto the interviewer's table and stated quite plainly that he 'needed' to have at least x amount of salary. Of course, his "interview" was polite and short, and his application went right into the shredder. This too, was a case of employment supply and demand, but unfortunately for the applicant, he hadn't yet realized that the prevailing winds had shifted. Don't lose optimism, but on the other hand, one has to be coldly realistic in today's world. As for the pompous customer? Ignore him, like all the other idiots that I'm sure your place, as any public venue, will get from time to time. Good luck in the job hunt, Person
This is particularly important (not to this thread but for all new grads). As soon as one realizes that the world does not revolve around them, the sooner they can realize how they need to shape their behaviour during interviews to offer them the best chance at an opening. Last Friday I came back from probably my worst interview ever. It was for a code monkey and lab rat position, something I did not want to do. I bombed it like an ant was nuked by a 10 megaton warhead. I could not answer his technical questions. However I told him straight up, apologized for wasting his time and told him that my qualifications did not fit his needs and requirements. We both knew I wasn't going to get this job so we both dropped the interviewer/interviewee act and just had an honest casual conversation. He'd refer me to another manager in an area that he believed would suit me better. Though this has nothing to do with Person's situation, I think this is something that new grads really must understand. Even those with experience sometimes don't understand this. The needs and requirements of the employer comes first, and as soon as one realizes this, one can cater to those needs. The employer will recognize this and attempt to help you in other ways. This is a great skill to have and sadly, not many people have it.
This is a very good point. Actually, just in class today, my professor was talking about how important it is to gain contacts and work experience for when you graduate. But he also mentioned that by the time students graduate, they should have enough experience so when they go for job interviews, they are not interviewing for the job, the company is interviewing them. That's really giving students a false sense of confidence. If throughout their entire undergrad they think that way, well they're going to have a rude awakening upon graduation. And it's true, experience is important. I have a friend who got his Master's in environmental science. He's been looking for a job, but hasn't really been able to find out. Majority of jobs would rather hire an undergrad with the same degree, who has work experience and be able to pay them less. Yeah... that's definitely something I have to work on. I've had some experience, but for the past couple years, majority of my interviews have been over the phone. The jobs are in another Province, so I can't just fly over there. Though it can be nerve wracking, phone interviews are just so much easier, cause I could be having the interview in my PJs and on my couch.
Man, wtf. Your prof isn't the first prof to say this, as I've heard this from others as well. What pisses me off about higher education is that most professors and lecturers I've met have no practical understanding of the real world. They think the shit they teach is more than enough for the real world. This ego they have and how much they lean on their curriculum is extremely harmful to new grads, especially those who do not have work experience (internship, co-op). This recent study by IBM states that, in the IT industry for example, there is a shortage of candidates with actual applicable skills for the new IT jobs. It's not that there aren't enough grads, it's that there are too many grads with outdated knowledge of IT. http://www.canada.com/shortage+2016...est+growing+areas+industry/7656785/story.html Furthermore, graduates lack the ability to seek out new education on their own time to complete their skill set that are not provided by post-secondary education. This is the student's as well as the academic system's fault. People are blaming that there aren't enough jobs out there. But in reality, it's that they: a) Don't attempt to seek the knowledge/experience on their own b) The academic system is behind on the reality of business. (This is all regarding the IT industry of course). So having said that, not only are new grads inadequately trained in school in the most recent technologies, and that they aren't taught soft skills, professors and lecturers are hindering the graduates by instilling, what Person said, a false sense of confidence. School is - pardon my french - a fucking rip off.
Very good points. I know the reason why I transfered out of HR, was that when I was working, and had to deal with the HR department, they rarely did a thing to help me with my problem. Where as in school, we were taught in that situation, _____ would happen, and _____ would follow. Definitely not the case. It was a small reason, but big enough for me to become turned off by the field. My program isn't great either. Compared to George brown, their Hospitality program seems way more appealing than mine. They actually get more on the job experience. Where as I, am learning about Oxidative Enzymatic Browning, and the cell walls that denature because of blah and blah. We only have ONE course that deals with restaurants, running and planning. That just lasts a semester. One class on alcoholic beverages. George brown on the other hand, you work at the school run restaurant for an entire semester, once a week and have a number of beverage courses. I am comparing Uni to College, but I'm pretty sure Ryerson is something similar to mine.
Person, every program or organization, regardless of purpose, has to have their own raison d'etre; else, why would anyone bother with them? Schools, especially planned programs of instruction, has to be meaningful towards some defined goal. If not, no one would ever choose to attend those programs. Instructors and schools thus, almost as a given, have to bang the school drum and trumpet optimistic horizons, even as their personal opinions differ. Seriously, if they were doing that well at it and given the paltry salary that teachers make; why the heck then, would they be teaching it instead of doing it? Food for thought, eh? It's like the same motivation behind the people that sell the financial success books; if the knowledge contained in their books were genuinely good, they wouldn't need to resort to selling books, LOL... Hence, what they're selling you is pure bullshit. But frankly, there's been a growing chorus of disgruntled graduates who is of the unabashed opinion that their college or university years were an absolute waste of not only their time, but also their money. There is a distinct population that, if given that same choice before them again, would choose not to attend. But don't take my word for it, just Google the exact phrase "I wish I never went to college" and up pops 39K hits. One of them even stated that he "...wished he would have gone to prison instead," LOL... Hence, college or university is but only one means to an end; it isn't the only way. Having a bit of experience and contacts too, would go a long way.
There are exceptions Otherwise there wouldn't be any purpose for books haha. But I understand where you're going with that lol. And if I may add, the personality, the attitude and the behaviour to fit their career of choice. .. Should they have any career goals...
on the note of resumes, if keywords is an issue for email resumes etc..just put at the bottom in a footer, a list of random keywords in white font so it can't be seen but a computer will still see it
In a similar vein, I remember years ago, there used to be a trick played on people where a prankster would surreptitiously set their computer to boot to command prompt with black text on a black ground; effectively the screen would just look blank. :laugh:
Just dark humor (a play on what can be even worse than "sleeping with the boss' ugly daughter"), meaning that one's done every shallow or disgusting thing that one can do in order to get that job, ...yet still fail.
