Totally Confused and FrustratedAs embarrassing as this is...I am hoping that ya' ll will shed some light on my inability to gain employment! I live in Houston, Texas......plenty of places to find a job, right? Not for me anymore!!! I am currently in school online to obtain my Associates in Business, ( which unfortunately due to the lack of money ), has been placed on Academic probation for one block of classes. Embarrassing!!!! Of course, I have been very focused on remaining positive...yet with each passing day further realizing how far away from the world of "active" employment I have come. I am highly qualified in hands-on sales/marketing and at the age of 22yrs was making 68k selling new cars at a Chrysler/Jeep lot in 2001. Once I took some time off for my personal life I found it slightly harder to return, yet still managed to obtain a job in the Marine industry...which I still do some part-time work for, however, I feel totally disconnected from the work field I use to thrive in. My driving record contains too many speeding tickets to be a car salesman, and I have tried every motivating thing you can imagine to kick start a career change....w/no luck. 30 days is the max amount of time I have remained employed in the last 2 1/2 yrs!!!! I started school my first year off thinking it would help shape my career objective, but it proved to be fruitless in regards to securing employment. The last 6 mo. of 2006 was when I feel like the reality of my loss began to sink in, and here I am back at the same time last year finally realizing what has happened. I need help!!!!! Should anyone have any suggestions at all....no matter how minute they may seem, please share them w/me. I fully believe that there is a plethora of information to be gathered by means of positive criticism and other means of communication. Thank you so much!!! I wouldn' t worry too much about being on probation since it was for financial reasons and not academic reasons. ie: failing classes. When sending out your resumes, try a different format from the standard "Past three jobs in reverse date order". I have never used any other form, but apparently there is a form that exists where you can list just the relevant information for that particular job. Or you can list just the company names without the dates of employment. Someone else could lead you in the right direction to obtain samples of these forms. When you write your cover letter, make sure to put that you "are currently enrolled in an on-line program to obtain your degree." This is technically true still. You are enrolled. At the interview, you can explain that you are not currently taking classes due to financial concerns but that you are still enrolled. Sales may not be the way to go any longer. Apply to companys needing a secretary, receptionist, administrative assistant. You do have the skills needed for most of these. I am presuming, anyway. Typing, Computer knowledge, can run a fax, telephones. You definitely have the customer service since you have been in sales. Your absence from the working force was for personal reasons and unless pushed, most interviewers will accept that as a valid reason. You can always state that the jobs you had in the last years were temporary positions. And the fact that you still have the part time job, even if you are only called upon occasionally, does show that you are a valued employee that deserves to be called upon and will perform the required work as wanted. Until your points go down on your driving record, some jobs maybe out of reach. Telling them you were young and stupid with speeding may help and having a good record for awhile. If many of these speeding tickets were before 18, you were a minor. Could be forgiven, check your record, employers will. Your driving record follows you to a different state. Try to list any type of job while you were taking on-line courses. Use what they call a functional resume and not list dates if possible. Your young, so all that is not lost. My daughter and her boy friend had the same problem. Behave yourself, when your 25 years old, if thats the worse thing you ever have done you will have grown up and will be around to remind others. Then your insurance rate will be down. Which caused you to have finacial problems. Anything is still possible, take the lead off the petal!
If you liked sales, perhaps trying a different type of sales job would help. For example, do pharmaceutical sales instead of car sales. I hope that helps. *sighs* Here is where the frustration occurs; by only hearing vague pieces of my problem you instantly derived a bigger problem in a more "D-day* sense of the matter. In otherwards, to you it is clear that I am stuck, possibly indefinately depending on the "meaning" of the word (personal) when used in referencing employment gaps and changes. Which I don't fault you for....however, I've been employed prior and currently have a full time position in the accounting industry...but, I'm concerned that disaster will come about again. A back-lash for whatever the reason...I know not.-----which is what I wish I could change. That is another way of asking my first question again. Boy you are telling the truth! Sadly enough, I don' t have either time or the luxury of it to wait until they fall off my record. And I am currently employed, just dissatisfied and concerned. Whoa, slow down there cowgirl! Take it easy on the accelerator - this isn' t the Indianapolis 500! First of all, I was in your same predicament. Today it is taking much longer to find a job. You cannot be choosy about the job you want. If you are qualified, take it. Gone are the days when employers would just pick you out and that was that. Now the employers have a who slew of candidates to choose from so they are picky. It took me 200+ resumes before I even got call backs for an interview and I have an MBA degree. | |
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