MY JOB SEARCHING TIPSince business is extremely slow at my "retirement job," I have decided to start looking again after a few years. I used this method during lengthy dry spells even after I started working at the marketing and research firm in April 2002: I accessed switchboard.com (the best online directory ever) and checked business categories from A to Z. The first business category is accounting so I am working on that one now; I am almost done. I just have to phone a few people which I have not been able to contact! I printed lists of all the accountants, accounting companies, and CPA' s in Jupiter, North Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, and Lake Park. I called them and asked if they have part-time office jobs and offered to send my resume. Some said they did not but wanted to see my resume anyway. A few said no; virtually all of these people were courteous and seemed interested. I am pleased that I have the opportunity to get my resume out there to a fair amount of accountants. Some are not available but I will call them back for a while until I get an answer. I am going to hit most of the categories of businesses and do the same thing. The next one after accountants is adult entertainment. I guess I better skip that one. I am not fooling myself that this is going to be the answer, but it' s a lot better than just depending upon the posted job ads that happen to fit my criteria (very close to home, part-time or temporary). I am using my time constructively and feel it will pay off to some extent. It did the first time I used this method of job searching. This is "cold calling" by phone. Everyone should consider it. You are being proactive and getting accustomed to speaking with potential employers over the phone about a job. You are taking the first step and showing initiative. Sitting around and waiting is not the answer. "Resume blasting" is definitely not the answer nor is depending upon luck or the Internet or the newspaper or temp agencies or even networking. I am in the process of contacting advertising agencies who are close to my home. I am finished with the list of accountants! The responses have been pretty good. They say they are not hiring but they still want to see my resume. One guy told me he would call back with a tip but it turned out to be a sales job with commissions only. I am not interested in any kind of sales; I am not particularly customer oriented and prefer to remain behind the scenes. No doubt there will be some categories that are not right for me so I will skip those, but this project should keep me busy for a long time. It beats sitting around and getting pessimistic and wasting time. You cannot watch TV, read, and play on the computer all day and remain sane! I think of it as a selling job where I am calling "potential customers" for my services - only I am not getting paid of course. There' s a remote possibility that I may be called back to work at the marketing and research firm where I have been employed off and on since April 2002, but I am not really counting on that. Their business has not been good for a while and in recent years - they lost several major accounts. The fees they collected from one account took care of their entire payroll! Despite the very negative attitude by many on this board about employment agencies, I found in the past that temp agencies are great sources for part-time work. I had to turn down assignments when I was registered with a few agencies, because I was getting more calls than I could handle! My background is as a professional in marketing communications, and I was very leery of temping because I assumed the agencies would not have any positions for someone like me. Well, I was wrong about that. Plus I found that I could land interesting & stimulating admin ass' t positions as well. Many jobs thru agencies are not advertised in the papers or online. So, while what you are doing is good, and could be very fruitful, it couldn' t hurt to throw your resume into a couple of good agencies. I was a temp off and on for many years. Before 1998, the assignments were very good and the agency recruiters were helpful and professional. However - now it is just the opposite. I am 65 years old and I do not want to deal with the unprofessionalism and sleazy sales tactics of these people. They either call you for jobs that you are not qualified for, pressure you to accept them, or they compliment you after you take their battery of tests and then ignore you completely. Yes! Some agencies are probably a little better, but I do not want to find out which ones are; I do not have the patience to go back in time and put up with the foolishness. I checked Craig' s List, and I have an interview scheduled for this coming Monday at 11:15 a.m. It' s a cleaning service in Lake Park and they need someone to do very basic office chores for 12 to 16 hours a week - half days. Although I would prefer to work whole days (3 or 4 days a week), this is fine. This is exactly what I need right now which is a supplemental income in addition to the Pratt and Whitney and Social Security pensions I get. Someone from my dance class who is probably my age or a little young told me she is going to register with Robert Half or Account Temps since she is looking for a bookkeeping job. I did not give her my opinion but I wished her luck and success! I hate agencies with a passion and clients do to. As long as their is a healthcare crisis, outsourcing, illegal immigrants and others, majority of the middle class who loose their jobs will have to do business with them. It is close to legalize prostitution there is. The only difference is we have to call them assignments. Unemployment still say their jobs. If you do a 8 hour in a day, that counts toward your weeks that qualify for unemployment. If you get called by an agency, make sure you have a ready excuse if its not a job you don't want to do while your collecting unemployment. Being busy with other agencies is a good one to use on them, that way they can't pressure you it taking a below rate offer. | |
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Career Tips
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