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Applying for jobs is exhausting and soul-crushing

Makai

Member
I start training Monday at my first professional job. Both nervous and excited. What tips would you guys give me?

It is a programmers position and it is an office type of environment.

Thank you.
Don't work overtime. Maybe even work undertime if you don't have much to do.
 

Karg

Member
Hello fellow job seekers and career shifters, I'm actively updating my resume and trying to find the best way to describe a particular strength of mine but having trouble wordsmith'ing it just right. The particular strength is related to my abilities around acting as a master translator between technical and non-technical personas. Being able translate those technical details to non-technical parties and vice versa basically. It borders on some product management skillsets but I've yet to find a title or phrase that I feel best summarizes this up nicely. Some that I've thought of so far...

Technical Communicator
Technical Translator
Interface Guru
Human API
Technical Services Champion

Any help or thoughts are appreciated!
 

Slo

Member
Hello fellow job seekers and career shifters, I'm actively updating my resume and trying to find the best way to describe a particular strength of mine but having trouble wordsmith'ing it just right. The particular strength is related to my abilities around acting as a master translator between technical and non-technical personas. Being able translate those technical details to non-technical parties and vice versa basically. It borders on some product management skillsets but I've yet to find a title or phrase that I feel best summarizes this up nicely. Some that I've thought of so far...

Technical Communicator
Technical Translator
Interface Guru
Human API
Technical Services Champion

Any help or thoughts are appreciated!

Irony.
 

entremet

Member
Hello fellow job seekers and career shifters, I'm actively updating my resume and trying to find the best way to describe a particular strength of mine but having trouble wordsmith'ing it just right. The particular strength is related to my abilities around acting as a master translator between technical and non-technical personas. Being able translate those technical details to non-technical parties and vice versa basically. It borders on some product management skillsets but I've yet to find a title or phrase that I feel best summarizes this up nicely. Some that I've thought of so far...

Technical Communicator
Technical Translator
Interface Guru
Human API
Technical Services Champion

Any help or thoughts are appreciated!
Just highlight your technical writing skills. Companies don't really care about what you call yourself. They want you to solve problems, hence the job opportunity. But I would mention this in the interview. Resumes are scanned.
 

Skar

Member
So glad I'm not in the position of looking for jobs. I could have been, I've missed a lot of work. Couple weeks ago I took a week and a half off when I was already over my emergency day limit. Serious stuff. I've brought in doctors notes for almost everything I've ever missed but we all know that doesn't matter. Companies want a reliable employee.

I was up for a promotion despite my subpar attendance because I excel at what I do (CNC MACHINE OP) and was going to get trained at a higher level as a setup guy but that's definitely on hold right now. I have a college certificate in Cnc and am seeking to take more courses in the field. I'm hoping to eventually be a machinist or millwright and I have an interest in programming in general. CNC is cool, I've always had a real knack for numbers and was grades ahead as a kid in math and working with them like his and seeing the results tickles my fancy.

On the side I hope to self teach myself some programming and app development. Depressions a bit h though. I have some addiction issues too which are getting more manageable and I indulge much less as I get older but I still screw up sometimes. 2 weeks off a bad binge right now, yes it had something to do with why I was missing so much.

Making well over 50k Canadian in my job now. About 21 an hour and shit loads overtime. In time I expect it'll go up a fair bit but it's gonna be jumping ship to another company to make more than a mostly lateral move moneywise After promotion I make a couple bucks more but not a whole lot.

I'm here to build my skills, Education, roots of a career type thing. Eventually I'll jump into an aerospace company or a better paying company in automotive which is my field now. Honda and Toyota may pretty much double what I make now, and I'm almost happy with my finances.

Once I used to live on 320 a week take home and made it work with worse habits than I have now. Now I'm taking home nearly 1000 a week and sometimes that but alas, cost of living goes up and until recently I enjoyed it by buying myself lots of stuff I wanted.

So goes life. Still have it. Doing ok right now so trying to stay focused, sober, and happy.
 
Currently going through the process myself; never before today had I known there's a feeling for when you accidentally deny a call because you were tapping away on your phone and so have no idea if it was a potential callback for an interview or not.
 

Dynomutt

Member
Started my new job today. Actually got the job about a month ago but didn't want to jinx anything. Great company long but awesome on-boarding process good pay and awesome opportunity for growth and advancement.

I lurked in this thread in and out for a while and want to thank you guy/gals for your posts and insight. To those still searching I know it has been said but do not give up. I was without a "real" job for a while and gave up. I reframed my job search and put my skill in the spotlight on my resume and a good one came through.

Sending you all good vibes and wishing the best of luck. Take Care.
 

PSYGN

Member
Hello fellow job seekers and career shifters, I'm actively updating my resume and trying to find the best way to describe a particular strength of mine but having trouble wordsmith'ing it just right. The particular strength is related to my abilities around acting as a master translator between technical and non-technical personas. Being able translate those technical details to non-technical parties and vice versa basically. It borders on some product management skillsets but I've yet to find a title or phrase that I feel best summarizes this up nicely. Some that I've thought of so far...

Technical Communicator
Technical Translator
Interface Guru
Human API
Technical Services Champion

Any help or thoughts are appreciated!

Dumbifier
 
I've been working at my current job for 2+ years now. Reason I want to move is because there's not a lot of movement in my company, nor do they really provide opportunities for their employees. In other words, I feel stagnant. The work environment is OK (management sucks, but my whole department is cool), the work is low stress, and commute is great.

Over the last year, I've been applying to other jobs, but struggling to get responses from jobs that provide a significant salary increase. I've gotten job offers for pay rates similar to what I get paid. I've denied a couple of them because the commute would be terrible, but yesterday I received one that was a little more intriguing. It's lateral move that would give me a nicer title with very similar job responsibilities. The company is bigger and more well-known, so a lot of potential for professional growth and slightly better benefits. Commute is very similar to what I drive now.

The only thing that bothers me is that their salary offer. It's about a 4% increase from what I make now, which is good but not exactly what I want. Then again, I've been struggling to find jobs with the salary increase that I do want and since this job opportunity would allow me to grow more professionally than my current job, maybe I should take it. One drawback about the job is that they eventually want me to move to second shift hours. Never done second shift before but the hours don't look fun.

Not sure what I should do... not to mention, I'm not in love with my career field (food science/quality control) and may go back to grad school to pursue something else. =P
 
Anyone know about working two part time jobs for the same company?

Is this a thing employers allow, and would it make you eligible for benefits the same as a full time position?
 
For the Software Developers out there, what are some pointers that I should follow when looking for a full time position without internship experience? I've submitted a ton of applications, but either get rejections or no responses at all. Any advice that may help would be much appreciated.
 
For the Software Developers out there, what are some pointers that I should follow when looking for a full time position without internship experience? I've submitted a ton of applications, but either get rejections or no responses at all. Any advice that may help would be much appreciated.
Do you have a GitHub account?
 
A week ago I applied for an IT Customer Support position, and within an hour they phoned me to ask a few questions and had me take a typing speed test. I haven't heard from them since.

Since it's been a week, I thought I'd send out a followup email. But while looking up how to phrase such an email, I saw some sites saying to do it to let the employer know you're still interested, and others saying not to send followups because it makes you look like an attention whore.

Which is right? And what's a good way to phrase an application followup? (I haven't been formally interviewed yet)
 

ATF487

Member
Just had this happen:

1) Applied for job a little under 3 months ago that I thought I was qualified for. Had an interview and they said they liked me, but thought I'd be better off starting at a position below the one I applied for.
2) A job req for that position wasn't open, so they created one (which I had originally assumed was for my benefit)
3) I applied for that job and got an interview very quickly. Thought the interview went well.
4) Waited a month to follow up on the status and got a rejection email. I would have done it earlier but they told me it would be awhile before I heard back, and I was out of the country for two weeks.

What the HELL! I hate my current job and wanted to quit when I got back from PTO after the shit my boss pulled on me. Thought I had a ticket out :(

I tried to ask for feedback in a polite way, but am not expecting a reply, let alone anything specific. Goddamn it.
 

Not

Banned
Haven't heard back for 2 weeks and now it's looking like my plan B won't respond to me either

This will be my 3rd shot at a position. Feeling absolutely demoralized at the moment.
 
Remember to always be wary of job scams.

Yesterday I got an email from a company called "All World LLC" that was offering a work at home position where I would re-forward packages sent to my address. I always search a company's details on google before applying or replying to a job offer, so I found out that at home package fowarding is a scam set up by criminals to trick people desperate for income into helping them smuggle stolen goods for them.

Thankfully, I didn't get caught up in this because I decided to do some research. Always, always look into job opportunities to make sure they're legit.
 

Mr. F

Banned
I'm kind of at a loss. I've been through 4 interviews with a company and then ghosted on without any further information. It's so supremely frustrating to not be extended a simple update after being 2.5 months into the process. I've followed up to no avail, it's like I hit a wall.

I suspect that I didn't get the position as the posting was quietly taken down during the interview process, but still it's baffling to me to be treated this way. Just feel utterly defeated.
 
I've been working at my current job for 2+ years now. Reason I want to move is because there's not a lot of movement in my company, nor do they really provide opportunities for their employees. In other words, I feel stagnant. The work environment is OK (management sucks, but my whole department is cool), the work is low stress, and commute is great.

Over the last year, I've been applying to other jobs, but struggling to get responses from jobs that provide a significant salary increase. I've gotten job offers for pay rates similar to what I get paid. I've denied a couple of them because the commute would be terrible, but yesterday I received one that was a little more intriguing. It's lateral move that would give me a nicer title with very similar job responsibilities. The company is bigger and more well-known, so a lot of potential for professional growth and slightly better benefits. Commute is very similar to what I drive now.

The only thing that bothers me is that their salary offer. It's about a 4% increase from what I make now, which is good but not exactly what I want. Then again, I've been struggling to find jobs with the salary increase that I do want and since this job opportunity would allow me to grow more professionally than my current job, maybe I should take it. One drawback about the job is that they eventually want me to move to second shift hours. Never done second shift before but the hours don't look fun.

Not sure what I should do... not to mention, I'm not in love with my career field (food science/quality control) and may go back to grad school to pursue something else. =P

Employers want to see growth. If you move to a job with a better title it shows growth. Are you able to negotiate for at least a 10% increase over what you make?
 
I'm kind of at a loss. I've been through 4 interviews with a company and then ghosted on without any further information. It's so supremely frustrating to not be extended a simple update after being 2.5 months into the process. I've followed up to no avail, it's like I hit a wall.

I suspect that I didn't get the position as the posting was quietly taken down during the interview process, but still it's baffling to me to be treated this way. Just feel utterly defeated.

That's the worst thing about job searching. I've been ghosted three times in the past year.
 

Voror

Member
Got terminated this morning. Still kind of in a haze since it completely blindsided me. Keep hoping I'll wake up. I really liked that job and my coworkers.

I guess I need to take stock in the meantime. Probably going to sell a bunch of stuff though I don't know how much books will go for. I hope I can find something around here soon (Live in Austin area). Hopefully with that and severance will keep me going for a while longer. Not going to be able to put as much on my student loans though now which means the interest will start coming back. I was finally in a position to make some progress.

First time I've ever been fired. Proceeded to go get my car checked as it had been having problems and found it'll cost around 1000 to do so.

Sorry I'm rambling.
 
Got terminated this morning. Still kind of in a haze since it completely blindsided me. Keep hoping I'll wake up. I really liked that job and my coworkers.

I guess I need to take stock in the meantime. Probably going to sell a bunch of stuff though I don't know how much books will go for. I hope I can find something around here soon (Live in Austin area). Hopefully with that and severance will keep me going for a while longer. Not going to be able to put as much on my student loans though now which means the interest will start coming back. I was finally in a position to make some progress.

First time I've ever been fired. Proceeded to go get my car checked as it had been having problems and found it'll cost around 1000 to do so.

Sorry I'm rambling.

Really sorry to hear it. How long had you been there?
 
Got terminated this morning. Still kind of in a haze since it completely blindsided me. Keep hoping I'll wake up. I really liked that job and my coworkers.

I guess I need to take stock in the meantime. Probably going to sell a bunch of stuff though I don't know how much books will go for. I hope I can find something around here soon (Live in Austin area). Hopefully with that and severance will keep me going for a while longer. Not going to be able to put as much on my student loans though now which means the interest will start coming back. I was finally in a position to make some progress.

First time I've ever been fired. Proceeded to go get my car checked as it had been having problems and found it'll cost around 1000 to do so.

Sorry I'm rambling.

Sorry to hear and hope you'll be ok until you find something.
 

Bacon

Member
Got terminated this morning. Still kind of in a haze since it completely blindsided me. Keep hoping I'll wake up. I really liked that job and my coworkers.

I guess I need to take stock in the meantime. Probably going to sell a bunch of stuff though I don't know how much books will go for. I hope I can find something around here soon (Live in Austin area). Hopefully with that and severance will keep me going for a while longer. Not going to be able to put as much on my student loans though now which means the interest will start coming back. I was finally in a position to make some progress.

First time I've ever been fired. Proceeded to go get my car checked as it had been having problems and found it'll cost around 1000 to do so.

Sorry I'm rambling.

Worst feeling in the world man, sorry to hear it.
 

Voror

Member
Really sorry to hear it. How long had you been there?

Thanks. A little over a year and a half. Moved for it too and it was the best thing to happen to me since failing to find anything beyond part time work for four years since graduating.

Sorry to hear and hope you'll be ok until you find something.

Worst feeling in the world man, sorry to hear it.

Thank you. On the bright side I do have some contacts in the area and a few of my friends know people at some places that are hiring. So hopefully things work out.
 
It's just straight up rude, especially if they've taken the time to interview the person multiple times. It's just stringing them along to ghost.
I was called in for an interview with a big hotel chain a few months ago. After having an interview with one of the HR staff, I was supposed to have a second one with one of the people that directly ran the hotel. After waiting for a bit, I was told that person was busy and they would contact me again within a week so I can finish the interview process as intended.

Never happened.
 

SOLDIER

Member
Is Indeed.com still the go-to website for job searching? Really hate the sponsored job listings as they feel sketchy/waste of time.

And in regards to government/county jobs, what is usually the best resource for openings?
 
Looks like I'm joining the job hunt after almost nine years. Going to be very careful at my current job, but want to move on. This is all foreign to me again, having to do the legwork.
 

KJA

Member
Hey,

I was wondering if I could get some advice because I'm stressing out a little bit.

A company that I applied for last week contacted me through email yesterday, asking if they could schedule a phone interview sometime this week. Shortly after receiving the email, I submitted the form and listed when I was available to talk but I have yet to hear back from them, confirming when this will actually take place.

It's been one day now since I replied back to them and it's driving me crazy. It's honestly leaving me with a bad taste in my mouth because I have a feeling that they're not going to respond.

I want to send them a follow up email tomorrow but I don't want to come across as a person that's clingy. What should I do?
 
Is Indeed.com still the go-to website for job searching? Really hate the sponsored job listings as they feel sketchy/waste of time.

And in regards to government/county jobs, what is usually the best resource for openings?
In general, you should try and apply directly on the company's website. Indeed.com and other similar sites can help you find companies and postings, but if you try to apply through them, you shouldn't count on your application to even be looked at.
 

RedSwirl

Junior Member
So some job site I had to sign up for to apply for another job just sent me a free evaluation of my resume I didn't even realize they were doing. My problem with resume evaluations is I tend to get conflicting information from them.

Some say I should post my employment history in chronological order, other say reverse chronological order. Some say have my education at the tome, some say at the bottom. Some say resumes should be short, others say they should be medium-sized (this one said my resume was too short at 276 words, with too few bullet points).

Then there's this "doer" vs "achiever" distinction they gave me. They said my descriptions didn't say enough about what I "achieved" at each job. To be more specific, most of what's on my resume is just about my having written news stories. Do they want to see the skills I showed off like research, interviewing, critique, editorializing, and well-organized writing (in AP style)?

The last issue is something I'm not sure I can help -- a lot of the jobs on my resume were pretty short, often less than a year. Some were freelance gigs that simply ended, others ended because the company I worked for went out of business or just ran out of money for freelances (i.e., I got laid off). Maybe the people critiquing this just don't understand the nature of these gigs.

In any case, I'm starting to realize almost every promising job I've gotten, I got by essentially side-stepping the whole resume-interview system.

In general, you should try and apply directly on the company's website. Indeed.com and other similar sites can help you find companies and postings, but if you try to apply through them, you shouldn't count on your application to even be looked at.

I liked to go through LinkedIn if possible simply because it feels like the most sensible system. If it's one thing I hate right now it's having to sing up for a completely new account and password with every individual job I apply for, only to then have to re-input my entire employment history after having already uploaded my resume.
 
Is Indeed.com still the go-to website for job searching? Really hate the sponsored job listings as they feel sketchy/waste of time.

And in regards to government/county jobs, what is usually the best resource for openings?

Indeed and LinkedIn are both good. For government, it's usually the city or state websites. There is also USAJOBS.gov for federal jobs.
 

SOLDIER

Member
Indeed and LinkedIn are both good. For government, it's usually the city or state websites. There is also USAJOBS.gov for federal jobs.

For the life of me I don’t know how people find jobs on LinkedIn...is it through job ads or by establishing repetoires with other members (i.e. employees)?

For those who don’t know, I’m currently a Digital Court Reporter (Tier 1 Manager/Help Desk) in my local courthouse. It’s a chill job with great benefits and insurance, but the pay is lower than I’d prefer and there are no advancements with the job itself: if I want to move up, I have to do it laterally.

But after nearly two years, I’m not seeing any promising openings, especially in light of the recent hiring freeze. I really want to search beyond and see if I can find something better, or at least something equal that offers new skills/paths to advance. I don’t want to do this job forever, especially with its shitty commute.

I just don’t know if I should stick to state jobs, try county, look outside government jobs altogether....there’s a lot of forks in the road and I’ve been too hesitant for too long on where to look next. But I really could use a bit of guidance.
 
Is Indeed.com still the go-to website for job searching? Really hate the sponsored job listings as they feel sketchy/waste of time.

And in regards to government/county jobs, what is usually the best resource for openings?

governmentjobs.com, actually. Helped me find listings for some county positions I probably wouldn't have come across otherwise.
 
It's just straight up rude, especially if they've taken the time to interview the person multiple times. It's just stringing them along to ghost.

Many companies (especially the big ones) gets tax breaks and HR quotas by interviewing externally. I know for a fact of several companies who never hire externally unless It's entry level or hogh level positions. But they will interview people externally and never choose them.

I was personally told I had the job but there was a "headcount freeze". Right... so why bother interviewing?
They have to meet their quota.
 

SOLDIER

Member
governmentjobs.com, actually. Helped me find listings for some county positions I probably wouldn't have come across otherwise.

Thanks. I’ve used that site a few times but I get so overwhelmed by all the different job sites that I should really narrow them down to just a couple.

My previous concerns remain the same though: I don’t know if I’m limiting myself by sticking to government jobs (low pay, long wait times for responses, etc), or if I should branch out and look at companies instead.

It would help a lot if I could determine what I could be capable of applying for based on my current position and skill set. I don’t suppose there exists such an assessment type of site (“You’ve got X experience in Y field, you should move on to Z”)? Or if anyone’s willing to look over my resume/LinkedIn profile and offer suggestions, that would be greatly appreciated as well.
 

Donos

Member
Looks like I'm joining the job hunt after almost nine years. Going to be very careful at my current job, but want to move on. This is all foreign to me again, having to do the legwork.

Was the same for me after 7 years now. Had 4 job interviews and didn't get the job (as close second) in the first three. Now i grabbed a government job in the fourth one which is going to be a bit more boring and with older people as a team but way better conditions from vacation days to hours, salary and highly reduced travel to work (from 50mins down to 8mins). Like in most countries public/government jobs are the safest and family friendliest for longterm.
 

RedSwirl

Junior Member
I'm gonna ask again: What do you really need to do to get into technical writing?

I ask because according to my mother, who spent years working with technical writers, it's one of those jobs basically any educated person can do with a bit of training. Based on what I've seen in applications, they usually want like 3-5 years of experience but that's how it's going with most "entry level" jobs where they don't actually want to do any job training.
 

Ogodei

Member
Is Indeed.com still the go-to website for job searching? Really hate the sponsored job listings as they feel sketchy/waste of time.

And in regards to government/county jobs, what is usually the best resource for openings?

Indeed still casts the widest net, yes (speaking as someone who camped out on Indeed for two weeks in August). Obviously it's better to follow their links to the source as they may not have all the information you need, but as far as listings go i can't find anyone who's more comprehensive or easier to use.

I got a job at a company that sells software and services to nonprofits. My 7-week odyssey is over (which is good, as i got a rejection email from one of my other prospects in my inbox just now).

Pretty good benefits. Okay salary, but they have some incentive pay to help that potentially, as well as a scale for growth at annual reviews, so i could advance a bit the first couple of years.

Which is good. I had 4 W2's last year. I'm going to have 4 this year. As far as "permanent" jobs, I went through 2 of them in 15 months. I need to stay somewhere a good 3 years now to prove my worth.
 
Thanks. I've used that site a few times but I get so overwhelmed by all the different job sites that I should really narrow them down to just a couple.

My previous concerns remain the same though: I don't know if I'm limiting myself by sticking to government jobs (low pay, long wait times for responses, etc), or if I should branch out and look at companies instead.

It would help a lot if I could determine what I could be capable of applying for based on my current position and skill set. I don't suppose there exists such an assessment type of site (”You've got X experience in Y field, you should move on to Z")? Or if anyone's willing to look over my resume/LinkedIn profile and offer suggestions, that would be greatly appreciated as well.

Apply for everything that you're interested in, everywhere.
 

Ogodei

Member
Apply for everything that you're interested in, everywhere.

More specifically in the case of government jobs, yeah, long wait times mean you could wait a long time even if you succeed. This was a mistake i made out of undergraduate, that i was bound and determined to be federally hired, which was naive of me to begin with but i wasted a good amount of time trying.

Like, there's one time i got anywhere with a federal job, with one of the many US intelligence agencies, and they straight up told us "don't hold out for this even if you pass this interview round. The background check could take a year+ and you might not succeed. Get other work in the meantime."
 

entremet

Member
Looks like I'm joining the job hunt after almost nine years. Going to be very careful at my current job, but want to move on. This is all foreign to me again, having to do the legwork.

Interviewing is going to feel weird for a bit. See if you can contact a career center and do some rehearsing.

Or rehearse with a friend or SO. That's usually where the rustiness is the highest. I was where you are a few years ago.
 

SOLDIER

Member
I'm gonna ask again: What do you really need to do to get into technical writing?

I ask because according to my mother, who spent years working with technical writers, it's one of those jobs basically any educated person can do with a bit of training. Based on what I've seen in applications, they usually want like 3-5 years of experience but that's how it's going with most "entry level" jobs where they don't actually want to do any job training.

This has annoyed me to no end as well. With all these jobs that demand X amount of years of experience, where are you supposed to get the experience to be considered in the first place?

Some people have suggested to ignore the requirement, but it would be so much more helpful if more job ads emphasized on-the-job training.

I didn’t know a single thing about my job’s software (used for digital recording) until after a few months of learning from the repeated problems people would have (“Got this specific problem? Go do this specific thing”).
 

Darkone

Member
Hello Gaffers,

I work at a PCB assembly company.

I wanted to open a thread about Factorylogix Aegis MES software but i found this thread which i hope it will help me.
The company i work at purchased Aegis software for paperless production line.
I was woundering if anyone here work in this field and know around with that software and i can contact for tip & support.

Thanks
 
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