How did you find your job?

[Thoracic]

Since I am in the job finding mode I thought I’d take a survey on the method that worked for your current or prior employment. Conventional wisdom and what I learned in school was that networking is the best way, and my past jobs were all found by applying to an ad and using a contact inside to put a good word in. I recently heard from some people I know that used a site such as Monster or Indeed without a contact to snag a job. Thoughts?

 

For those also looking for work I wish you the best of luck and that your perseverance brings you success.

[RoosterCogburn]

My professor in college was nice enough to give me an apprenticeship.

 

Rule #1 for college: Suck up to your professors!

 

seriously though, rule #1

[shhpank]

I joined the USAF in a 'open general" slot. Meaning they could give me pretty much any job the want, not the smartest move. Luckily i got a great one doing dental lab. Basically I make crowns (or caps some call them) and dentures. If you want any info on the Air Force or dental lab fell free to contact me.

[Crasher]

Haven't - yet.

[AcidParadox]

What is this job thing?

[CSL]

Networking is the best way for sure.

[Wifestein]

I've never worked college first :]

[rolf]

Networking most of the time. 2 part-time jobs (one >5 years, one >2.5 years) and an intern ship of half a year. Not only are were those good (and easy, and for the time being well paid) jobs, but because of your connections, the people in your new company will help you faster.

 

I also had 2 advertised jobs, another intern ship of half a year and working in the supermarket for half a year, but these were different. The supermarket job sucked (obviously), the other intern ship was good, but different.

 

 

Currently no job; as Alexandra said, college first. For my previous education I had plenty of time to work next to my education, but now I don't have any more. Also, my current connections don't give me any interesting jobs

[Razzled]

Took the civil service test back in '88. Needed to pass written, oral, physical and (2) two psych tests. Guess one wasnt enough. Got hired in '90. (5) five more Christmases and I'm collectin me pension.

[PHANTASM]

Without networking you are dead in the water.

 

I got a B.S. degree about twenty years ago, and I worked about a dozen temp jobs for about ten years. About 2001 I decided I had to go back to school. I had an interview in 2000 where I was turned down because I didn't have a Master's degree.

 

So in 2004 I went back to night school at ITT Technical Institute. I found a job as a database administrator. This was unfortunately a temp job. Two weeks before the end of my year-long contract I told my boss that I found a new job, and then he begged me to stay. I remember telling him "dude, you fired me, don't you remember?". He had told me two months previously that I had to start looking for another job since my contract was ending. Then he was surprised when I found a "real job" with benefits instead of begging him to give me an extension.

 

My new job was running HPLCs and setting up a LIMS system for a major pharmaceutical company. My wife coerced me to buy a house, which was a profoundly stupid move. In February 2009, the company was shut down and I had to go on unemployment. This is when I started getting drunk and playing ET all day. I had always loved gaming but never had huge blocks of time to play.

 

In February 2010, I finally found a temp job working on a prehistoric Access 97 database, in a smelly polluted laboratory, after a year of looking. It was literally an insane asylum, the only people who had stayed there had gone completely insane from years of extreme managerial abuse. I began having fantasies of dropping out of modern society and living off the land like an Indian (you can do that here in Missouri).

 

I continued looking for work as if I was still unemployed, and I lucked out and got another interview for a different temp job in St. Louis at a company I had worked for previously. It was for a shipping clerk position. They needed someone who was really good at Excel and VBA applications, so they could set up a new data management system and fire most of the old people who were working there already.

 

I knew the guy who was interviewing me, and I convinced him that I would stick around and help him automate his system. So I got the job in August. Mass layoffs began in September, and I was kept around to help rebuild the new system they are putting in place. There is one old guy there left there. It's funny because he used to whine all the time to me about how much his job sucks (it didn't he just thought it did) but now he talks about how important he is and the system is "too complicated" to be automated.

[ajnl]

I'm in college with a crazy schedule, so I needed a job that was very flexible ..

 

So my sister found out some organization needed their website worked on, so thats what I do. Work on their website

[Amu]

I found my apprenticeship with verry big luck.

 

I started applying after Starting 10th Grade on secondary school. I was on a school with 10 grades.

 

I searched as long as I finished school and I was 16. Then I thought I would become an unemployed unmotivated junky.

 

One evening the boss of a hotel phoned me because my application. After the job interview he said I can start tommorrow or Monday

[Handzz]

What is it you are looking to do?

[milli vanilli]

like handz said, depends on what you want to do

[KevinBacon]

Like nobody said, these days it's largely based on who you know in this fukt job market...