So I have a bachelor's degree, resumes typed up and printed, and the only job I can get is a theme park part time job. Tried applying for higher up positions at A LOT of businesses and companies but they say I lack experience, but i have the education. I went for ENTRY-LEVEL positions but these entry level positions always ask for multiple years of work experience. What does a guy got to do in order to get a decent job?
Finding a job
- Thread starter GeeksUtopia
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Blow the person in HR. Getting into the job market without inside contacts in the companies you want to work for tends to be very difficult unless you can get a lot of experience to put on your resume, which you can't do anyway unless you want to spend a couple of years working for free doing unpaid internships or volunteer positions to build up experience.
If you have your Bachelor's Degree in something useless like English Literature, History, or Gender Studies, then you're pretty much fucked, and you're probably going to have to go back to school to learn something practical.
If you have your Bachelor's Degree in something useless like English Literature, History, or Gender Studies, then you're pretty much fucked, and you're probably going to have to go back to school to learn something practical.
Just buckle up and work harder. My grandpa says that always works, and who am I to doubt the word of a man who thinks that "iPhone" is the autobiography of a telephone?
Well I would like to work in the 3D print industry, but so far the only company I managed to get some experience from has been really slow recently so I am not getting any work from them. I also want to work in office management, considering my degree covers managerial education.Baffle said:
Well I have a degree in business management, but nothing is hiring, so I am planning on going back to get either a degree in business administration or management of information systems.Supernova1138 said:
I would reiterate the advice to take a job, any job at this point. Having any form of employment history is a benefit. Your degree is quite general so going for office work in general rather than office management. It's unlikely that anyone will hire someone to manage an office without some track record in the company. You might want to think about going for jobs in HR, usually they have the non technical training so you could use that as a selling point.
This will probably sound backwards and I am going off of my own experience so take anything I say with that in mind but...
Don't ignore temp agencies.
It feels like it would be backwards but a temp agency is a GREAT way to get yourself into a company and pays better than you'd think. It's not perfect since you run the risk of getting cut at any time (I spent a year and a half at my first temp job before getting cut) and it does pay less than being an actual employee (I made $15 as a "real" employee and $12.50 as a temp for the same job) but they can place you quickly and you get yourself an in.
I've been at US Bank (Where I was temp jobbed to after my first gig) and I have worked there now for four years (with one of those being a temp).
Don't ignore temp agencies.
It feels like it would be backwards but a temp agency is a GREAT way to get yourself into a company and pays better than you'd think. It's not perfect since you run the risk of getting cut at any time (I spent a year and a half at my first temp job before getting cut) and it does pay less than being an actual employee (I made $15 as a "real" employee and $12.50 as a temp for the same job) but they can place you quickly and you get yourself an in.
I've been at US Bank (Where I was temp jobbed to after my first gig) and I have worked there now for four years (with one of those being a temp).
It's an employer's market, unfortunately. Any job you can get even tangentally related to those you'd prefer would help put you above the crowds; you can't just depend on a degree to do that anymore.
Just try getting your foot in the door wherever possible. Volunteer places, work part time, build up that CV. Even if it doesn't make you more attractive to employers, getting involved in stuff will make more employers aware of your existence. To be honest having someone you did volunteer work for put in a good word for you with an employer is arguably more beneficial than having a degree. It sucks, I know. The world caters to extroverts and even if you aren't one, you have to at least pretend you are.
I'm currently volunteering for an arts company who have lots of contacts in the area. That's pretty much my best chance of getting a job besides applying for every single vacancy there is (which is something many young people are pressured to do). I lack the mental resilience to work in retail so that option's out the window. Yeah it sucks that I'm not getting money but that's how it is. Things will be rough for a while but just do what I suggested, make people KNOW who you are.
I'm currently volunteering for an arts company who have lots of contacts in the area. That's pretty much my best chance of getting a job besides applying for every single vacancy there is (which is something many young people are pressured to do). I lack the mental resilience to work in retail so that option's out the window. Yeah it sucks that I'm not getting money but that's how it is. Things will be rough for a while but just do what I suggested, make people KNOW who you are.
As someone already mentioned, take any job available while you're looking. You don't want a long period of empty time on your resume where you weren't doing anything. As also mentioned, temp agencies are actually really good, and really help you to make lots of contacts. It gives you a ton of opportunities to network and leave a good impression with management of companies, so if they do have an opening and you apply there they already know your work ethic and personality.
If you're actually intending on going back to school, don't just vaguely pick a major and go back to get it, go with the intent and purpose of using it to train you for some sort of future career. Think of education as being like investing in a business: if a friend asked you to invest in his new start-up, and he said "I don't know what our business plan is, and I don't know what we're going to sell or what we're going to do" you'd tell him to take a hike. Yet all the time people spend huge amounts of $$$ to get a degree that they have no idea what they're going to do with it.
CAPTCHA: NICE JOB. I see what you did there Escapist...
If you're actually intending on going back to school, don't just vaguely pick a major and go back to get it, go with the intent and purpose of using it to train you for some sort of future career. Think of education as being like investing in a business: if a friend asked you to invest in his new start-up, and he said "I don't know what our business plan is, and I don't know what we're going to sell or what we're going to do" you'd tell him to take a hike. Yet all the time people spend huge amounts of $$$ to get a degree that they have no idea what they're going to do with it.
CAPTCHA: NICE JOB. I see what you did there Escapist...
Hey ... history is useful. History degree alone won't pay well, but there are plenty of things you can do with it. Get a dual major History/Sociology, or History/Psychology, and it can set you up nicely for a job working in the political arena, for instance. Political parties pay well for people who know how to read public opinion, past and present. I earned quite a bit of money in education on the back of having a history major.Supernova1138 said:
(edit) I know someone that became a campaign aide researcher for the Labor Party of Australia earning quite a decent amount of dosh. Not only that it basically gave them access to political power which may or may not be worth far more than simply dollars in your hand when you take into effect influence. Depends on how highly you rate personal power over simply money in your hand. I like to think adding weight to the formation of a policy, or helping dictate the path in which policy is created, is itself a rewarding experience that is hard-pressed to find a suitable dollar value. Or at least the idealist in me would hope so.
Well, it obviously depends on the degree; some career paths are certainly harder to find a job than others. But (from my own experience, mind you), you kind of just have to keep going. Keep sending out resumes, keep doing interviews. Try contacting recruiting agencies and posting your resumes all over job sites. Perhaps look for internships/apprenticeships in your field as well?