Job search

[Anastassia 0]

Guys,

I am curious if you have any experience with job search that you could share.

I started looking recently, sent out a bunch of resumes and no one call for two weeks.

I understand that they might never call because I am a lousy candidate, but my husband says it hasn't been long enough and they still might call me.

How was it in your case ?

Thanks a lot

Ana

[Jasman0717 8]

I think it depends on the position, more skillsets required would require wider recruitment range. My wife didn't have any previous employment history and applied for training type positions. She was called back in just a few days. When I recruit we will keep a recruitment position open for two or three weeks and then spend another couple of weeks reviewing the resumes.

Good luck

[canadalaura 0]

The job I work at now, they called a day after I emailed my resume - I started a week later.... but I am still getting calls for interviews on resumes that I had sent out at the begining of January - there is hope!

[ceriserose 1]

I've been sending out resumes since the end of December...I'm just now getting rejection letters for those early ones. (A lot of them were long shots so I'm not surprised.)

I did have one interview last week from a mid-January application. Have not been called back on a shortlist or sent a rejection.

I'm personally finding it unsettling; I went through a temp agency for the last couple of years in Canada and had placements within a week each time a contract wound down. Here, the temp agencies to whom I've sent my resume haven't even called me for the initial intake testing. I know I have solid and transferrable skills, I think it's the nature of the area I'm in.

Hope that helps and you start hearing back soon!

[luv2teach77 41]

I found that invaribly most companies I applied to NEVER got back to me in any way shape or form. A few companies either mailed or emailed me a standard response about keeping my resume on file but most never fed back at all.

That in itself is pretty frustrating because no feedback at all makes it very hard to make changes to your resume or your approach before your next interview or application.

The first job I actually interviewed for told the temp agency they'd have an answer in 48 hours... 5 weeks later the finally emailed thd recruiter saying they'd employed someone else (like we couldn't work that out ourselves !!).

I think if you are a prime candidate then you'll normally hear back pretty quickly. My theory is the longer the wait for a callback, the less chance they will call at all.

Hang in there but don't do what I did after my first interview and sit waiting for the call...keep sending your stuff out so that hopefully you have a choice of offers.

Mark

[kc456 0]

They may call right away (if they want to hire someone urgently). They may call in 2-4-6 wks, depending on how the hiring process going (hiring manager is away, HR manager is busy, this is not a top priority). If they *never* call -- and that's what you probably experience more often -- then the reasons can be numerous:

- you were not qualified

- you were overqualified

- they hired an internal candidate

- the position (job requisition) was closed due to budget or reallocated to fill another position

- there is a hiring freeze

- there was a restructuring and the position no longer exists

And many more.

So, don't get discouraged, just keep looking and networking.

[samantha_lou 0]

Ahhh, the job hunting days, I remember those well...

Most of the resumes that I sent out got no response at all, so you just have to hang in there. One company, (who were very rude), TRM corporation (based in Portland, OR and I have no issues with badmouthing them, not because they didn't hire me, but because they were so rude with dealing with me afterwards), I hadn't heard anything, so I phoned the woman who interviewed me to follow up a week and a half later, and she was rude and obviously annoyed I had called to follow up, but said she would get back to me the following week - nada, nothing, not a phonecall or a rejection letter. The only reason it annoyed me, is because she told me she would get back to me after I called her to follow up, and secondly, was really quite rude about it. Even if they weren't interested in hiring me, a "thanks for interviewing, but no thanks" really isn't all that hard if a candidate takes the time to call you after an interview.

The job I did take had a far better recruiting experience, I had an email the day I sent in my resume, a phonecall two days later for a screening, and then another phonecall the day after that to call me in for an interview the following week. Then two days after the interview, the HR manager called me and offered me the job in her department. I was very happy, and the timing and waiting was way more reasonable - and everyone I spoke with really friendly and polite. At the same time as I interviewed for my dental job, I was also interviewing with Shane Company, they do diamonds and wedding jewellery and such, gorgeous stuff in their stores. I'd had four interviews with them, and just shortly after I'd finished my conversation with my new boss at the dental company, and accepted the job she offered me, they called me for a fifth interview...my husband was wondering exactly how many interviews they were going to put me through before offering me a job or telling me "No"...quite amusing, but a very professional company to interview for, and very very very thorough!!

I explained that I'd just accepted a job offer just an hour before, the manager wished me good luck and said he hoped everything worked out for me, and they were sorry to loose out...then a couple days later I got a rejection letter through the post from them, I never did quite figure that out

[kc456 0]

Call-backs after an interview is a whole another story. I had one company email me 4 wks after the interview just to tell me that they are still interviewing, after which they will decide on who to bring in for a second interview.

[luv2teach77 41]

I was also interviewing with Shane Company, they do diamonds and wedding jewellery and such, gorgeous stuff in their stores.

Not wanting to hijack this thread but they advertise Shane Comapny around here. I'm curious to know if you actually got to meet Mr. Tom Shane.... the guy does all his own radio commercials around here and is probably the most boring guy ever to do a radio commercial. He now uses his knack for putting people to sleep as a marketing tool !!

Just curious

Mark

[silly_chick 0]

I would say it depends. I have just submitted an application for an on-campus job at school, and they told me that though the position is urgent, it may take up to 3 months (!!!) for them to reply and set up an interview. But it's mostly because of bureaucracy.

When hubby was looking for a job, he got a call from the place where he's employed now the next day or so. But he also sent his resume to about a dozen other places and never heard from them (though he's a USC, he is from another state and was looking for an entry-level job, so it wasn't easy for him either).

From what I've learnt from my classmates (most of them are experienced HR professionals) the best way to look for a job here is through employee referrals. So, it's better to have some kind of a network here, which is hardly possible for the people who just moved to the U.S. form other countries.

Anyways, good luck to you all!

[wong_watkins 1]

Luckily my job search experience was pretty easy...turned in application, got a call the next day, and got hired the same day....

My husband's is a little more interesting...

he went to the job search website Carreerbuilder.com, and monster.com, posted his resume there, and got a couple calls from some job search agents....now my husband has got a good job through them making good money working as a welder

[Anastassia 0]

Thanks for all the responses Guys )

[samantha_lou 0]

I was also interviewing with Shane Company, they do diamonds and wedding jewellery and such, gorgeous stuff in their stores.

Not wanting to hijack this thread but they advertise Shane Comapny around here. I'm curious to know if you actually got to meet Mr. Tom Shane.... the guy does all his own radio commercials around here and is probably the most boring guy ever to do a radio commercial. He now uses his knack for putting people to sleep as a marketing tool !!

Just curious

Mark

I didn't get to meet Tom Shane, but hey, you never know...if I'd gone to interview #5 with them, it might have been him! I think he might even be on the TV now, but I haven't seen the advert, only heard it from the kitchen.

[Ephesia 0]

I started looking for work the day my EAD was approved. I got my very first phone call only a month later, and it was from a temporary job agency who invited me to register with them in person. Which I did.

I got a phone call from another temporary job agency last Wed (the day before my AOS interview). I registered with them too.

Last Friday agency #1 called to offer me a 2-month assignment, which I am at now (I am currently surfing because it's my lunch hour and it's too cold to eat lunch outside). I was really excited about it, and still am, even though it's only a data entry job. The job is easy, I am left alone to do my work, and my supervisor is a kind lady.

Last Saturday, exactly 24 hours after the phone call from agency #1, a third agency called because they found my resume on Monster and know I would be perfect for an admin job at a logistics company that does work for Hewlett-Packard. I had to turn them down because I had already accepted this 2-month assignment, but I plan to sign up with agency #3 soon.

Although I am not where I ideally want to be job-wise, I am happy because I knew before I moved here I'd have to start from scratch. Whether this job assignment pans into something permanent or not, I won't know until much later. For now, though, I'm just very grateful I have a temporary job that's paying me $11/hour to do something unbelievably easy. And for today and tomorrow, I get to sit at a desk that's right next to the window. So I can look at the sky and trees while punching in numbers.

Edited February 13, 2006 by Ephesia