Nyah.

[chaoswolf]

OK. So I went out to a lacrosse game on Saturday with jilara and Scott. He's changed from when I knew him years ago, and was not much fun to hang out with. Also an opinionated nutball who badmouths the filk community. (Sorry, Jane. I can't handle him.) San Fransisco Dragons lost to Los Angeles Riptides 10-17. Grr.

Anyways, that's not where it gets hopeless. I have applied lots of different places this summer, dispite what mdlbear thinks. I'd be applying a hell of a lot more places if he and flower_cat would get off their tails and get my driving lessons...but that won't happen soon I'm sure. No license = no job opportunity. Suckage is that I'm still broke, and I seriously want to find work. I think it's hopeless. I haven't heard from anywhere, and I am definately starting to lose my grip on the whole job optomism thing because not hearing from places is rather discouraging. Gnar...

Happy birthday selkit! Your birthday pressies from your tigerwolf. (Yes, the second one is animated. It has to be viewed as an individual photo in order to show said animation.

Comments

[mdlbear]

Take a look in kshandra's LJ sometime for a list of resumes sent out. Figure most places aren't going to call you back; if you really want the job make sure you have a contact phone # you can call to remind them. Even then you probably won't get an interview.

Looking for a job simply SUCKS. A lot. Sorry about that -- I didn't design the system. I was out of work for 9 months when I left grad school, and I was basically treating job-hunting as a full-time job: 8 hours/day of reading ads, making phone calls, and driving around with my resume.

[chaoswolf]

Well, I'm assuming you had your driver's license at that point since you mentioned driving. It'd be a hell of a lot easier on me if you would get me the lessons you promised. *growl*

[mdlbear]

It would be a hell of a lot easier for us to schedule them if you were awake during the daytime.

Schedule the lessons yourself, for any time that's convenient, and I'll write the check.

[mdlbear]

I'll second that. Yes, I had a car at that point; I did most of my commuting by bike. I also had a skill set that made me employable at a fairly high level; I tried to get you interested in computers, but you wouldn't bite. You still have the skills required for office work, and even something of a track record at cons.

And just count the number of potential employers up and down Stevens Creek. You could probably drop a resume at each of them in, say, a couple of weeks of 8-hour days.

[kshandra]

You still have the skills required for office work

But very little to nothing to back that up in (forgive me) the Real World. That, however, can be easily changed.

Manpower's nearest office to you is right across from Valley Fair; Kelly Services has an office in the high-rise across the street from the Winchester House. Both agencies (all of them - I'm just listing the two closest to Starport) will test your aptitude with office equipment, software packages, etc., etc., etc., and will give you free training to give you more marketable skills. The assignments aren't all months long like the ones I've been taking; tell them you're looking for short-term, so you can just do a day here or a week there, and see what you like and what you're good at (which won't necessarily be the same thing, admittedly). Go in, complete their hiring processes, and get your feet wet.

[chaoswolf]

I'll need resume copies for both agencies, right?

[kshandra]

They take resumes, but they also have an application you have to fill out whether or not you bring one in. No doubt they'll also have someone available to help you build a resume if you don't have one.

[mdlbear]

Great advice! Thanks. (I'm just a parent -- I don't know anything by definition.)

[jilara.livejournal.com]

Hey, we'll have to keep up on lacross!

Naah, Scott doesn't badmouth the filk community, just certain members of it. (Some are people he's had bad experiences with, himself.) If you haven't noticed, Scott has always been opinionated as hell. I seem to recall almost coming to blows with him in your folks' very kitchen, when he was about 19 or 20. Believe it or not, he's gotten a lot better. :-) He also blows off a lot of steam because it's how he detoxes from a lot of work BS and caring for a seriously ill mother (psych types call it transference). No prob, I'm not going to make you hang out with him if you can't deal.

[dragonkiri.livejournal.com]

There aren't many times I speak up, but I do read your journal entries as they pop up on my friends page. I admit that I'm commenting simply because of your latest post, where you 1) plead for people to not leave negative comments about you and 2) disallow comments. And I know already that I'm disregarding both by writing this, so I hope you'll forgive me, but... trying to get people to feel sorry for you because you were told things you simply don't want to hear is not going at it the right way.

I went back and read what gridlore and <"lj user="kshandra"> had to say and I didn't see it as negative. Yes, some of it was harsh, but it was unquestionably well-meant. And given the tone of a lot of your recent entries, they were things that you need to hear. Being negative would be saying something really harmful or designed to hurt your feelings, and I could tell by what they wrote that that wasn't their intention. They may have been pointing out flaws, but they also tried to tell you that you can get over them.

Sometimes it bugs me when you write about your job-woes (or lack thereof). It seems like you're not really looking to get a job - you'll say you want one because you need the money and the experience, but that's it. If you really want to succeed, you have to go at it with determination - not just because you're getting a job for your own convenience. I admit to being a little ridiculous for saying this at the high-and-wise (read: mere) age of 22, but you're approaching the point where not having much job experience will do you a huge disservice. People look at stuff like age and experience and how they correspond, and if you wait too much longer, it'll start getting harder for you to get hired even for shitty retail jobs paying minimum wage. Quitting after the first day counts for jack, with the added bonus of making you look bad. You'll develop the thick skin you need and want - for dealing with bitchy customers, or perhaps people who hate your political views - the more you stick at it.

If you don't want to put in tons and tons of effort to find a job... well, I've mentioned before, there's always the De Anza Bookstore. That automatically does away with the need for a car, since you take the bus there anyway. The interview process merely consists of the manager asking for your availability. Cashiering is easy and you don't even have to worry about providing good customer service - if you haven't noticed, some of the cashiers don't even talk to you as they ring you up. And if you don't want to be a cashier or interact with customers, that's no problem. Ask for a job working downstairs. Before fall quarter starts they always need people to help unpacking/labeling/stamping textbooks. It's that easy. They may let you go once the quarter's in full swing, but in the end, it's still something to put under the "Work Experience" part of your next job application and/or resume.

IAnd do you really want to be stuck with a crappy retail or fast-food job to pay the bills when you're finally out on your own? Do you want that kind of job to be the only one you could get, when you're out on your own?