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Post by a'Lan Mandragoran on Oct 13, 2009 22:33:20 GMT -5
It's been a while since I last worked for anyone other than myself. I've been cutting grass in my neighborhood and doing oddjobs for the older neighbors around. I made a goodly bit of money doing this but it still isn't enough. I've only $8000 in the bank for 6 months worth of work. I need a new car, one that doesn't leak every time it rains. I haven't had a real, steady job in almost 5 years. I'm almost done with school again and 6 months after I graduate in about 14 weeks (too tired to figure out months) I have to start paying back my loans. I've figured that my loan costs will be close to $35-40k for my associates and bachelor's degrees. I could pay that off in 1 year if I had a good job. I've tried career fairs and the unemployment office. The councilors at the city run unemployment center said that no one will hire me in the city because my work record says I am unreliably and the fact that I do not have a checking account hurts me in the long run. I had to transfer my money from a checking account to a savings account because of the inactivity fees from not using it in almost 3 years. According to the career councilor, my lack of credit card use (again, not in the past 3 years due to lack of money) has pretty well taken me off the grid so to speak. They cannot check an inactive line of credit apparently. I don't know why a potential employer would even be worried about employee credit!!! About the only thing that I have going for me is multiple perfect attendance certificates from school. (I got them because it's the only real escape I have from my obnoxious mother and my do-nothing father.) And the career councilor says I am UNRELIABLE BECAUSE I HAVE NOT WORKED IN FIVE YEARS! I have 7 years worth of perfect attendance awards that I brought in with my resume and portfolio! It's not like I was sitting on my goddamned ass doing abso-F**king-lutely nothing! Don't going to school count for anything these days? I mean you need a degree to be a dog shit picker upper these days! I actually have two USEFUL degrees for ANY company with a computer network! I can program in Java and C++ and I can secure just about any network out there given time and tools. If I wanted to go into law enforcement, I could do computer forensics. I have an honors certificate for that class! I mean... WTF!? She said that I lack experiance, so I ask "How can I get experiance?" she said "get a job in the field." soooo... dosn't that kinda go around in a circle? I can't get experiance if I can't get a job to get experiance to get a job! So what the HELL am I supposed to do? BLARG!!!!
Sorry for language, I will not clean this one up. I don't give a damn any more at all.
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Post by KG on Oct 14, 2009 1:41:05 GMT -5
I see what you mean. I think your quandry is best expressed in these two quotes. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Albert Einstein.You get what you expect from people.Bob Suttonbobsutton.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/08/decide_to_do_so.htmlAfter so many interviews, you'd have to be nuts to expect the next one to yield a job... and yet you are compelled to keep asking, and feeling like the answer will always be no... and under those circumstances no one is likely to hire you, because you'd have to be nuts to expect them to... and they come up with all these elaborate excuses, and you come up with elaborate reasons... or perhaps the job councilor does that... for the fact they keep saying no. It's POSSIBLE they run a credit check on you, but If that were the case, no one would have a job. I mean no credit is NOT worse than bad credit, and in this day in age most people have bad credit and still get jobs. You are too agressive, not agressive enough... too big, too inexperienced, too unreliable, overqualified, too young, too old... all these are BS excuses for something else. Something they can't say, can't define... a quality they are looking for... maybe confidence... Maybe if you better defined your plus side, it would outweigh the few minus things they are looking at. PM me your resume' and let me have a look. Mostly though, you have to believe in yourself, and believe in you are worthy of a good job, and that you have favor with the divine... have a little faith. You have to convince yourself it is going to happen, even though it seems nuts to believe that considering how hard you have been trying... there are ways that you can do this, and stir yourself up and fix your attitude, and any problems... my guess is that all this is due to the way you are presenting yourself, either your resume' or your demenor. You have to be ready to sell yourself. Also you are getting frustrated, and that shows... just like the guy in high school who's never gotten laid, creeps out the girls cause he gets too agressive, and overly clingy... cause he's not gotten what he wanted and needed for so long he's on the verge of becoming a stalker and it shows.... well the guy who's been on a hundred job interviews has the same problem with his energy.... and I know your energy is wonderful in the astral, so just channel that strength and energy into your physical form, and be LAN. BE who you really ARE, and not your physical form. Now I don't mean bring your sword and hack them to bits, but be powerful, not agressive. Feel strong and confident, not afraid of falling on your face, cause you are POWERFUL< and the mother's love you. Jesus loves you, and you have a right to go in there with your head up, and tell them you are a damned good IT professional, capable of handling any problem that might arise. OK Lan!!! You sure can. I have two solutions for you. Self employment, or two find a job on line that is not in your area, move to another town and lie your ass off about experience. Either will work. Self employment is a great option for people like you. I've been self employeed since I was 20 years old. I also have worked for other people, but without self employment, my work record would have been very spotty. For example after my second child was born, I didn't do much for years... and when my dad was sick I had another very long break. Even though I haven't worked actively in my field in years, I can claim self employment, and employment with my husband's company (I do help him) Often people don't even list more than three employeers so why not make one of them yourself? You did some work for the police department, right? Haven't you fixed other people's computers at times? So ever since you fixed the PD computers, you can claim self employment. Plus you were mowing lawns and doing odd jobs, that could be considered as part of the services for your company... you do not have to go into detail on what you did for people when you are self employeed. So give your company a name, and put that name on your resume' It looks better if you claimed to have started your company years ago, but you "only took a few clients because you were still in school." Now you are actively seeking clients!! or 'expanding' to a new area. However if you actually go out and get some clients for your computer services, then you don't have to tell them nearly as much as you would a prospective employeer. All you have to do is convince THEM that you can fix their computer. It's not easy, but it is easier than applying. You create your own promotional material, not a resume' They probably won't ask about work history, and therefore your success lays in your sales skills, and how you present yourself, not on your work history. Again claiming self employment is a godsend for those of us who have spotty work records, or times when we couldn't find jobs. If you can't find a job make one, as you learned with your lawn care, and odd jobs services. You can distribute flyers, send out packages to prospective clients, and then call and ask for appointments to discuss their computers... offer free network evaluations. Offer a good rate... and a good rate is still very high... Someone with your qualifications, deserves 50 to 100 dollars an hour, and yes you do have to pay yourself like that so that it defrays the amount of time you don't have work. Call around and see what professional network technicians bill in your area. I don't mean the salaries of the flunkies they send out, but what the businesses themselves pay to get these people sent from a service. Research the competition and how they do business, and then copy them. How can you move to another town and fake it? how can you become a new person? Easy!! There are a number of ways, once you move out of your own little Melrose Place. I did a resume for a guy, who had a really lousy work record. I've done a few of those over the years, anyway this preticualar guy had moved from Ohio, where he told me every business he'd ever worked for had gone tits up. OH god... the cloud just followed him, ya know... he was a royal screw up, and I had to wonder if he singlehandedly screwed up every busness he'd ever worked for, but I guess not... anyway I knew that if they WERE still in business, they'd not give him a good reference, from what he told me. He'd workfd for a month here, and a week there, but since they were all out of business there was no way to check on dates or even if he'd actually worked there, plus it was out of state. No employeer is going to track down former employees of a defunct business to ask them about other former employees. I got the addresses of the places he'd worked who were out of business. I found out the dates they closed, and pretended he worked for them till they closed, instead of getting fired previously... I mean a guy can't help getting laid off, when the doors close on a place. I verified that they were indeed closed for good... no records would survive, or be easily found. Then I looked for a few others who were shut down as well. I made UP basically fabricated the entire work history. Five months employment easily became years... and a month equaled at least two. LOL He was skeptical that it would work, but it did, and he landed a job locally in a matter of weeks. Unfortunately he was still a screw up, and he probably lost that job too, but I know he kept it for at least a few months. LOL The main thing is that you have to be positive NOW! READ that article with the quote, I scanned it. It looked good, but at any rate, you have to believe in yourself, and that MIGHT be easier if your mom wasn't around. IS there some friend or relative that you could stay with in another area, IF you had a job? If so ask them, and then look for a job BEFORE you actually move there. W/O your crazy home situation you might be suprised what you can accomplish. Also don't take the craziness with you. Leave it on your mom's doorstep when you walk out that door, and don't even think of the past. Forget what is behind you and press forward. Never mind the past, create a future for yourself... I have a job interview myself next Wed, and I am very anxious about it, but I believe I can get that job. I want it, I am qualified, motivated, and seriously need the money. I plan to go in there and knock them dead, with my poise, and demenor, and just exude confidence, even though I am a bit afraid I might be facing a learning curve on some of it. I plan to bluff my way till I figure it out, and that is what you have to do too. No hesitation, no second guessing, just knowing that you can helps.
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Post by KG on Oct 14, 2009 11:15:23 GMT -5
Sorry guys, but I am going to double post. I thought of more stuff, and the first one is long enough, but I guess I'm just a chatty cathy. LOL
Saving 8 grand in six months for cutting grass is phenomonal! That in itself proves you are reliable. Grass cutting money comes a little at a time, and most people would have spent it rather than saving... plus... wow!!! 8 grand worth of lawn work is a lot!!! YOU have been working for 6 months Lan... you worked and made money, so you've been working.
NO Lan you don't need a new car just cause it leaks water... stuff a Kleanex in the leaking spot and drive on. If it runs then it's fine. ::)Maybe you can fill the hole with some kind of cawk or sealant from the hardware store, depending on where it is leaking, rubber or metal, but really Lan, the car is for getting from place to place, and as long as it runs, don't replace it. I've driven cars that leaked, and so have most people. It's OK>
Congrats that is a very good thing, and you need to stay in school anyhow...
You could, but use some of it to get out. Normally I'd say stay home and use that savings on having a place to throw into the loan, but your home is toxic to you obviously and not conducive to getting on with your life.
I've tried career fairs and the unemployment office. The councilors at the city run unemployment center said that no one will hire me in the city because my work record says I am unreliably and the fact that I do not have a checking account hurts me in the long run.
OK the problem is your resume'... or it is something in your demenor or your words that says, I am unreliable... I can't get a job, and I never did work, and I'm lazy. You are telling them the wrong things... either in print (resume,) body language, or with your spoken words. The councilors should help you, but instead they just believe what they are hearing... from you. You are giving the wrong impression. It's not your work record. IT certainly isn't your credit score, or your banking style, it is the way you FEEL about your self and your work record. It shows.
IF I had to guess, it's that you are unsure of yourself... no wonder considering how your mom treats you. If I had to critizise anything here, it is that you are too timid to act until you do feel agressive.. passive agressive about this whole process. You laze out of fear of failure and not knowing exactly what to do, and then you panic and try to make things happen. I know cause I have done that before with housework... it is what we do, when we doubt our abilities.
My suggestion is to go look at that leaky spot in your car, and seal it with something. Touch up the paint with a spray can of automotive paint, if it needs it, and then go wash it. That will make you feel better. Then go clean some gutters for your neighbors. Suggest to them that the fall leaves need to be cleared. Think about what you say to them and how you approach them, but more in hindsight, don't get nervous about it, just do it, and then think about what you did, and said.
Now, if you can getyour neighbors to let you mow their lawns, and clean their gutters with a certain way of speaking, then you can get companies to let you fix their computers. Start your own business and ask for clients not jobs... schedule monthly maintenence visits do instalations of new software, and hardware, do whatever they need, and make up a contract so that they call you when they have a problem. It's that simple, and while you may not get rich, you can continue both businesses, charging 75 an hour for computer work, and whatever you charge for lawn care. I know the grass is dying, but there are household repairs you could do. Don't turn anything down, and just do both as you have time.
Sorry but I think that is BS. There is something else. It doesn't make sense that he even knows how you bank. Credit cards are evil, and a lot of people learned that the hard way. You don't need a credit card, and while debit cards are nice, they are too easy to use. It's none of anyone's business, and as a self employed person, no one needs to be involved in your finances at all. You might want to pull a grand out of your savings and put it into a corprate checking account, but if you do that is your business. In the meantime start being self employed, and stop telling people you are unemployed.
Oh but you have worked in five years!!! Lawn care, and fixing the police station's computers, and you can fudge and make that sound like a huge amount of clients... speak of your lawn care people as clients, as well as computer clients, make it ambiguous in a way that serves you.
Stop trying with the places you have already applied with your current attitude and start with new people. Start small. Go to small businesses and offer your services, to come in once a week or once a month to do maintenance on their computers,and then be on call. Establish their needs and sell them a couple of hours a month, or a couple of hours a week each. Just keep trying and you will soon have a clients list, and a schedule.
OK so elaborate on your school, in your resume' Elaborate on your skills more. I wan't to see that resume SOON, and we will see where the holes are. I really think that resume' and what you say are what is screwing you.
LOL yeah I know they try to intimidate you with stuff like you don't have a degree, or if you do then you don't have experience, and etc. But if you go in there with confidence... I am almost totally self educated. I have almost an associates, but no one ever asks if I finished. I have experience... and honestly if you present your school in the right way, and your previous self employment in the right way, and make up some business cards, no one is going to question your experience that much... it's all a bluff. No matter how much you know, there's always something you don't know, and so you have to fake it. ;D Fake with confidence. Keep your poker face, and don't let anything fluster you. Exude confidence that's the secret, and you will do fine, when you stop doubting yourself.
OK yes you can, so WTF? Convince others you can. Be confident, and relax you can do this, and stop hounding people you've already asked. Hit the streets and take what you can get, hit the internet, and look fruther. Find out who is hiring, and where the work is. Relocate if necessary.
Lan, the world is full of idiots and naysayers. Ignore and avoid them, think positively, and things will fall in your lap. Stop listening to the people who have said all this silly crap and find someone who will shoot straight with you. Try AARP! In our city the library will set you up with a retired person in your field who will help you with starting your own business. They match you as closely as they can with this helper. He can tell you what is really really wrong, and just ask him to be honest. Not spare your feelings, cause if it is something you are saying, or your posture, or your attitude, or the way you comb your hair, you want to know... right? So try asking a lot of different people what kind of impression you make and what makes them think that. Fix your self. I think it is mostly lack of confidence, and the lack of positive answers when they ask questions.
What language? I didn't even notice, and had to re read three times to see what you even mean by language, but It's OK. I get your point, and that is the important thing. Words are just words, and they express feelings. I understand the feeling very well. Excelent use of profanity to express what you mean... LOL It will be fine Lan. Don't despare.
Kim
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Post by a'Lan Mandragoran on Oct 16, 2009 1:04:19 GMT -5
I'm getting very fricken angry at stupid people who's job I could EASILY do their jobs... today, at an interview with Edward Jones, the HR person took me around their non-sensitive areas as a tour and a "this is where you wont will be working, kinda thing. Walking by some of the terminals, I've noticed that there were 4 or 5 that were unlocked and easily broken into. Their security manager must suck. I couldn't say anything about this though, because that would look REALLY bad when I don't even have a job with them yet, but even knowing that I did mention it because it's what I was trained to do. We'll see how it pans out though.
as for my car, I don't know where the water's coming from... so can't really patch it with rags or anything. My car's a 93 skylark that I got when my mum got a new car. It's old... I need a new car anyway just because of that. Something that I don't need to spend an arm and a leg to repair when something goes wrong.
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Post by KG on Oct 16, 2009 11:45:40 GMT -5
If you got the walk through tour, there is a very very good chance you will get the job!!! There is no point getting angry, now, and obviously they NEED an IT Secuirty guy, or they would not be interviewing. As for making a suggestion or two as you walk through should be fine, and probably a plus. This is just silly, and it makes you sound spoiled. Why do you need a new car? Is anything MECHANICAL leaking? Does it run badly? IF not then the car is fine! Get in the car when it is raining, and find OUT where it leaks. Chances are it is on the rubberized seal around the windshield, or the windows. Find the leak, and Caulk the sucker with something on a day when it isn't raining if it bothers you. Believe me it is much more expensive to make payments than it is to make repairs. Plus anything 95 or older doesn't have to pass emisssions tests at inspection. Plus you save a bundle on insurance by driving an older car, on which you don't have to carry colision, just liability insurance. Buying a BRAND NEW 2010 car would be very very stupid, even with the warrenty and and the whole repair deal... do you have any idea how much a car depreciates once you drive it off the lot? Thousands... and then you owe more than the car is worth. Don't waste your money on a NEW car. Repares on old cars are no more expensive than on a new one, they are just under warrenty... which will eventually run out... usually about the time it really starts giving trouble. If something goes wrong with your clunker and it costs more to fix than it is worth then buy another clunker. I drive a 95' Ford Winstar, and I am proud as punch of it. It is the newest and best looking car I have ever driven. It has GREAT energy and I love it passionately. I had the engine replaced when it blew, in excess of 200,000,000 miles, rather than get another vehicle. I love my van... if you don't love your car, then maybe after you've held your job for over a year, you might consider buying another one, but if you can, get something you can pay cash for. Payments suck, and drive up your insurance bill. If you buy a used car, figure another 1000 dollars for repairs, on things that have to do with the car actually running. My theory though is that as long as a car runs, and gets you from place to place it is worth it's weigh. If it starts getting unreliable though, and your mechanic says, it's going to cost more than the value of the car to repair something, then consider replacing it, but unless you are debt free, and have the cash to pay for it, then buy a nice used car. The most important thing with a car is that you can count on it to get you to work. You might consider buying a second clunker that runs, in case you can't get yours to start though. That is what we do. We keep a SPARE car. In case, and believe it or not new cars leave you sitting just as often as clunkers. If you have a reliable car, keep it.
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Post by a'Lan Mandragoran on Oct 16, 2009 19:47:57 GMT -5
I took my car through touchless carwashes, driven it in the rain and even soaked it down with the garden hose. No clue where the leak is. Can't fix something I don't know where it's at. I've ruined my dress shoes, pants and a sports coat in the damned thing. The floorboards under the carpeting is rusted and eventually will be rusted through as to be a safety hazard. I don't have a trunk because of the leaks and without a trunk, my spare tire is in the back seat. The leak's caused a few electrical problems, such as no dash lights. I guess just saying "It leaks very bad" isn't enough. I can't see how fast I'm going at night and I don't know if I have my high beams on except by playing with the switch. I really do need a new car.
The interview apparently didn't go very well. I was to be hired on as a programmer on their database. An easy enough job. They DO need a security guy who knows what to do though. I'll reapply for that job. I'm looking or my electronic copy of my resume so I can e-mail it a fw places. However, they said "We will keep you in mind next time we're hiring." That seems, to me, to be a nice way of saying "We'll call you when someone better can't be found."
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Post by KG on Oct 16, 2009 21:29:47 GMT -5
hmmm... and you don't see it drip when you go through the car wash? It just gets wet? Your shoes and pants get wet? Maybe it's coming up from the road through the rusted floor? Or maybe it is coming out under the dash? Or through vents or something... It IS possible that the leak is on the bottom... salted roads cause floorboard rust, maybe the only leaks are on the bottom... It would shoot up through the floor perhaps if the hole was a large one. Floorboards can be welded with a metal plate put down and welded to the existing metal... don't know how much it would cost to hire it done. It could possibly exceed the value of the car, unless a body mechanic owes you a favor, or you can find someone who works cheep... in which case it could be a very cheep fix. You don't by chance know how to weld? Of course you'd have to be very very careful... gas tank's down there too you know... but more near the back.
Maybe you could look for a cheep used car, that seems to be in good running order. Sometimes you can pick up a used car for around 1000 dollars. Start shopping I guess, unless you want to try putting something over the floor temporarily and see if that keeps you dry, and then see if you can find someone to weld the floor. You could try spreading plastic over the floor, and see if that helps. At any rate keep that one, in case you have car trouble with the other one.
I've driven cars that leak before, and you can usually see where the water is coming from, when you are driving. Sometimes though it takes a long soaking rain for the water to start seeping through. You can't find the leak when it is raining? It isn't coming from the heater radiator is it? That is usually on the passenger side though, but it will shoot water on the floorboard... IDK Wish I was there to check it out with you. IT sounds like a mystery.
So the trunk is leaking too... either all the rubber seals are worn out, or it IS coming up from the bottom.... very possible, especially if your city salts the roads a lot. If this is the case, and you do get a different car, be sure to wash underneith it when you use a car wash... you should always wash under the car after a snow, and get it very carefully in the spring, when you know it isn't going to snow any more. Especially pay attention to the fender wells.
Mostly I am telling you you'd be better off not signing up for payments... even if you get a job. I remember once I was working at a place for about a year, and I thought.... I want a nice sterio. I went shopping for a sterio, and almost bought one, but I told the guy I wanted to sleep on it, and then the next day I was told I was being let go. I am soooo glad I didn't buy an $800 sterio system. Another time I bought a guitar and amp, when I was self employeed. I bought the amp on a payment plan to "build my credit" which was a stupid idea. Money had been rolling in, but seasons changed, and I had a dry spell. I still had to pay on my amp in addition to my other bills. It wasn't much but between the fact I'd blown my savings, and the fact I had even more bills, it really caused a hardship. In general I learned not to use credit, or buy something that uses up most of your savings, no matter how secure you feel in your job... cause stuff can change really really fast.
Hmmm... I'm sorry... usually once you get an interview there is at least a 50/50 chance... then unless there is a better qualified applicant willing to work for cheep, you can get it. Anyway I'm sorry to hear you didn't get it, but it's possible they will call you later. My husband got a job on a call back a year later. He was a close second choice, and the guy they hired didn't pan out at all. He was a ditz... who just talked a good game. That happens a lot, so you might still get a call.
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