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Re: When did you give up on a job search and deliver pizza?

BG, I want to second F_T's mention of a temp agency here. I, too, used a temp agency when I was looking for work. After more than a year and working multiple positions at the same place, I was hired as a permanent employee.

You might get many different short-term positions at many different companies, but you would be getting your foot in at each of them and making a name and reputation for yourself that can't be accomplished on a resume. And you would at least be bringing in some income, even if you worked three weeks out of a month.

You never know when one of the companies you temped for will have a position open up. Someone that has temped for them will be at the top of their list to ask for.

 

Re: When did you give up on a job search and deliver pizza?

Agree on Temp agencies. My wife, who is a corporate recruiter, has found employees through people they have brought in to do temp work.

 

Re: When did you give up on a job search and deliver pizza?

When we moved back to Va. three years ago, my wife found her current job through a temp agency. Spent a month or so as a temp before they wanted to hire her full time. She's moved up the ladder, and it's the best job she's ever had.

Don't sleep on temp agencies.

 

Re: When did you give up on a job search and deliver pizza?

Case in point: Two of the companies I temped for asked for me by name when they called back looking for more work for another assignment. For the first company, I learned their database system on the fly. In fact, I went from not having used it at all on Day 1 to having the associate director think I had experience with it on Day 5 the first time I was there. The second time, the guy who was essentially my supervisor while I was there told me they were seriously considering taking me with them to their annual conference.

For another company, the assignment was originally going to be for one week with a possibility of extending it to two. It ended up being extended three times, to a total of four weeks including Thanksgiving. That company even had me deposit checks into their bank account and actually run the office for two days while they attended their annual conference.

Temping can help you gain new skills or sharpen your existing skills. Like Lieslntx said, it can also get your foot in the door for a permanent gig. Mine even gave you health insurance when you worked there long enough.

 

Re: When did you give up on a job search and deliver pizza?

Bradley,

I so empathize with your struggles, and that's the first thing to remember: You are not alone in your position. Take some comfort, if nothing else, from that.

Next, if you haven't already -- and as others have suggested, try the temp-job route. It really does work as workers are filling known needs and being hired by agencies that will find/have the jobs for you. Also, you can sometimes tailor/choose jobs based on your needs/desires not only in terms of the type of work but also whether whether the jobs are part-time or full-time, or short-term or long-term. It can actually be a great thing, and a godsend for people who need jobs and are having trouble finding/getting them. Then, when they end, you can decide if/when you want to work in one again, and do it, or not.

It was many years ago now but I worked temp jobs for a while once, and ended up with some great long-term stuff -- one a seven-month gig with the county library's public relations/communications department, one a six-month copy-reading and quality-control job working with ads that went into, get this, a competing newspaper from the one that had laid me off, and one a nearly year-long retail position. Also, sometimes the pay for these types of temp jobs is more than you would make if you were a permanent or staff hire in the places you go to because the agency has to be paid for its part in getting/giving you the job, and the hiring companies factor that in, to your benefit. I remember one temp job I had paid me $13 an hour as a temp. When the company wanted to end its temp contract but then offered me a regular job there, the pay was going to be $8-something an hour. I was amazed. The tradeoff, of course, was in the permanence and security, though I ended up not taking the regular job because I was able to hook on to a nearly full-time freelance newspaper clerk/reporter job that I wanted more.

One question: If you were an assistant manager in a pizza place in the past, why not go for something there that is higher than being a delivery driver?

 

Re: When did you give up on a job search and deliver pizza?

I have to say that, every day over the past year-and-a half or so, I have been thankful for the retail job I have now. And not just because I'm feeling lucky to have it in a lousy job/job-hunt market.

Some posts on this thread have only reinforced that sense. As I mentioned once on another thread, I've been working at Walmart, and, frankly, I've liked it quite a bit and now have realistice aspirations of advancing and making a new career in retail, and maybe even at Walmart.

I know it's Walmart, and not everybody loves it, but there really are opportunities there, and it is, frankly, kind of fun and amazing to be working in a job that is actually interesting and stimulating but not stressful, and that I know is not going to be going away anytime soon.

My job is in retail -- lower-level retail because I am just serving as a cashier and customer-service desk clerk -- so the pay isn't that great (if it were $2 an hour more, I think I'd definitely consider becoming a lifer), but it has other attributes that I like, and for now, it is helping me get by much more than my two-plus years of unemployment and irregular employment did before I got hired at Walmart. Despite the low pay -- I make half of what I made in my last full-time newspaper job -- I'm doing OK in retail terms. I make more per hour than I made in past stints at Target, Macy's and Albertson's grocery store. I also interviewed once at Kohl's and know that I make more at Walmart than I would earn there.

For those who have tried and so far been unsuccessful at landing retail gigs, I'm guessing part of the reason may be that you only marked that you were willing/able to work part-time, or only certain hours/times. In retail, the No. 1 thing they're looking for in the initial hiring process is the prospective employee's availability. Make sure you mark on the application, and say in any interview, that you have open availability -- even if you really don't have open availability and even if they only want to actually hire you for part-time work. Get hired first, and then worry about scheduling issues. If they've hired you, they'll probably work with you regarding them.

Also, with regard to the question on initial applications concerning how much pay per hour you would be willing to accept, low-ball yourself and don't mark anything higher than the first or second options. If you want the job and want more, and get an interview, you can address the issue then, and try to go for what you want then.

My last piece of advice: If you know someone who works at the retail place you want to work at, ask them to please put in a word for you with the place's personnel coordinator. In fact, have them write down your name and contact phone/email information and hand it to the HR person to please pull up your stuff from the company's computer system. These places get, literally, thousands of applicants, and they often will be happy to pull up specific people -- if they know about them. Walmart, I know, does this sometimes on the recommendations of employees, and I have given names of people for the HR office to look out for and to look into on a couple of occasions. You could still not get hired, I guess, but at least you'd know you got looked at and considered on this basic level.

 

Re: When did you give up on a job search and deliver pizza?

I no longer feel bad about not trying to put all the pins back in a dress shirt I tried on but didn't purchase.

 

Re: When did you give up on a job search and deliver pizza?

Brad, as much as you want to get out of journalism, have you thought about looking for some freelance writing and editing jobs online?

It'll bring in some money, and also will show on your resume that you've been proactive in working. Employers don't like large gaps between jobs.

Just don't pay for any job listings or online work. Those are usually scams.

 

Re: When did you give up on a job search and deliver pizza?

I worked for Demand doing online editing for more than a year. At the time I got that job, it was a lifesaver for my family. You have to do a certain amount of work per week, but after that it's up to you to decide how much you want to work. It's piece work, and some of the writers you'll edit are godawful, but it can bring in some money.

Demand and I eventually parted ways because I couldn't figure out their new standards, but then I started freelance magazine writing, which led to my current full-time job for MarineParents.com.

Joe

 

Re: When did you give up on a job search and deliver pizza?

I am seriously not being a smart ass here but hiring someone with a physical handicap can count towards a company's diversity statistics. It may work to your advantage.

 

Re: When did you give up on a job search and deliver pizza?

Sounds like the plotline for way too many porn scenes.

 

Re: When did you give up on a job search and deliver pizza?

They were someone who I had in mind. I had also applied for Demand as a copy editor, and in spite of my years of experience, got rejected. I was hired there as a writer, but they haven't had any articles available.