Job Search: How do you keep going?

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A year after getting my master's, I still haven't found anything. Employers don't care about my degrees or my grades or my awards or anything. How do you get the motivation to keep going? I don't know what else to do except go back to school. Even minimum wage jobs won't hire me because I'm overqualified.

It's a numbers game, and you're in the midst of a bad economy which makes it doubly difficult.

You probably want to get some social going as you continue kind of a steady eddie approach to the job hunting. Maybe informal classes, maybe political clubs (which I recommend, but low-key it), maybe volunteer work (although these organizations can be just as standoffish and as disorganized as anything else!)

And maybe small changes, maybe a written letter of recommendation from a professor, maybe that kind of thing.

I volunteered at places I was interested in working at. I don't know if that would be appropriate, but it's something to think about.

I made a post:
H&R Block, 1 week study, 4 wks job maybe, "cross-co
http://www.wrongplanet.net/postp3269038.html#3269038

Good chance you could study some taxes for half a week, a week, pass H&R Block's test (although maybe not the first time, no guarantee they'll let you take it a second time, but they do need people), get a job that will realistically end early Feb. Won't make a whole lot, but will be interesting experience. And you will do some real human good by being ethical. In particular, I recommend informing your clients about the possibility of "cross-collection" (bank takes entire refund, approximately one client out of 100)


I recommend showing the office manager the loan application

'I have a problem with this part.' Then don't say anything. Let the tension kind of hang there a count one thousand-one, one thousand-two

'But I would like to inform them. And I think it would save us problems in the long run.'


And honestly to gosh, you really will be saving them problems.

Well I've tried volunteering, political clubs, and letters of rec. Only one of those I haven't tried is the informal class thing, but they usually cost $$$.

I've got a degree too and it amounted to nothing. The solution? Get a labor job. Become an ironworker or something and accept that is the best money you're going to make, and forget about cushy white collar jobs, the field of applicants is too competitive unless you really are something extraordinary. I am serious, I'm not stupid at all, but I came to terms with my life and my options and picked a trade. I might try and get into something else down the road, but what I do now pays the bills (quite well actually) so I will stick with it.

I wouldn't think manual labor would be a good choice for most Aspies. I know when I got career-tested, they said it was one of the worst jobs for me.

I think it's a great choice... my academic aptitudes have nothing to do with labor or the trades, but you can go very far by just having a strong work ethic, indomitable will, and independence. I guess you need to be very mentally tough, and be able to work in harsh environments and being in very remote locations with at times very unpleasant people. If you can put up with that though, the financial rewards are staggering. I do what I do because I will never make more money than this unless I own a successful business or become a doctor/top wall street lawyer, I have no family and no wife to stay close to, and I have a criminal record and dirty past where I didn't develop any skills or get any meaningful education. What I'm saying is, if I thought I had a preferable option right now I would take it.

I had my last diploma exam almost 1 year ago, too, and I'm still searching new employment either.

At least 80 per cent of the letters are returned to me within one or two months.
I've had 7 or 8 invitations for a talk (out of 160-180 applications in 10 months, I stopped counting). And after, I always was told not being selected for the job.
Once, I've told a friend of mine jokingly, I should leave my personality at home when I get to the next talk.
I'm quite sure my personal presentation is the problem.

No, it's not getting easier writing new applications.

I have attended some courses on self-presentation but I think it has not helped much. Maybe I just need some more time to regain my self-confidence.

Manual labor requires you to be fast on your feet, be quick witted, and have good coordination. I wouldn't last a day in that kind of profession.

Well, I don't want to be rude or frighten you, but I am beginning to think that might actually be part of the solution.

I am applying for jobs for no more then 2.5 months now (but I am ADHD so it feels like 20 years, impatient as I am). I guess I have applied at about 10 jobs in that time. Four companies have invited me for an interview. Two of them have invited me for a second interview. In both cases I was turned down because of [insert any excuses], and they said they didn't hire the other person either (sic).

This experience, in combination with me not telling about my ADHD during applications, has been quite damaging to my self asteem. For about one week. Then I realized that in case I want a job, and I do, in this day and age, I should:

1. Be very certain about the job I want before applying, so I will be able to convince the company that I am the right girl for the job. (This is difficult to me, because I have many interests and traits, something that scares most NT people.)

2. Forget about myself. Completely. E.g.: Often you already try to look at things from the perspective of the company, and try to talk yourself through the interview that way (right?). But right now, with that many competition, you should be an actor.

For a long time I was convinced that I had to show people how I am, and that I am different, but that this is a good different in many ways. In case any of you are doing the same: forget it. Different equals not good. Something odd. Yes, you want (need) to be able to be yourself at work. True. But first you have to get in, right? If you are in, you might be able to be yourself again.

So start by looking what the company is looking for. Google the people that will interview you. Maybe even spy at the building. It will relax your nerves to know a little upfront. Then, when you go to the interview: act. From the moment you leave your house, act that you are already working there, and act that you are NT. Of course you are not, but if you act you are, you will convince them. Observe how the NT act and copy this.
Read about body langage. For instance; I always sit on the edge of my chair, legs crossed and even a bit curled around each other. I talk with my hands. Always. So now I force myself to sit with my back to the chair, legs next to each other, and I keep my indexfinger lightly between thumb and index of the other hand. I practiced this with friends. It felt completely weird, and I felt like an idiot. They told me I looked confident and NT. That practice gave me the guts to do this for real. I do not succeed any time, but I guess there is no harm in that. It's ok to show some enthusiasm.
And then there are the questions you ask. I have experienced people think it is very odd if you ask them how many collegues you will be working with or how big the office is right away. This is essential information to me (and I guess to you too?), but in fact it scares them. It is sending out the signal that these are probable problem areas to you (which they are), so it will set off conscious or unconscious alarm bells. Remember, you are only allowed to ask questions about the work itself. The fact that is very important to you to know how many minutes your lunchbreak will last, and if you have to spend it with coworkers, does NOT, I repeat NOT mean you can ask these kinds of questions.
Either you will get the job and will find out these facts for yourself soon, or you ask them and will be bypassed by a NT straight away. Act perfect.

Of course, forget about this in case the interviewer is obviously not NT. ; )

Above are my latest experiences and realizations, triggered by your remark. I'd like to know what you and others think of this. I don't advise to pretend to be somebody that you are not, I just advise to completely hide the fact that you are not NT. And in case I didn't make myself clear: I detest acting. I need a job.

You applied for 10 jobs in 2.5 months and 4 actually responded to you?

I'm sorry, not to be rude, but I would kill for a response rate like that. Fewer than 1 in 20 of my applications leads to an interview.

Actually, 4 have invited me, out of which now 3 have invited me for a second interview / follow-up interview too. Of course, I did have to preform some voodoo for a result like that.

Seriously: I guess I am doing something "good" in both my letters and my interviews. What that is? I just give them what they are looking for, and act NT. It is emotionally wearing me out, but that is what job hunting is anyway, and it does seem to pay off. Yesterday I was invited for a second interview again. This time I made extra sure my cv matches the job completely (adjust your cv to every job!), and paid extra attention not to ask weird questions or blurt out things I shouldn't, and also paid a lot of attention to my body language, as well as the interviewers.

I even made a little small talk in the elevator (but only because I could sense the manager person was feeling awkward about the silence and perhaps was nervous about the interview himself too).

The next interview will be with the manager again and some external tech person. Maybe the tech person isn't even NT, that would be cool! : )

I think my trick is that I realized that if I have a lot of capacities and I am able to learn a lot of different things, I should at least for once try to see if I can "learn" to act NT as if it's just a language. Just to make things easier on my side. After all, they do outnumber us.

Good luck to all of us!

(BTW: I am in the Netherlands, I guess it also depends on where you are how hard it is to find a job right now, although over here it is more difficult then it has been a couple of years ago, I giess in for example the US it is far worse...)

greetings fellow job seekers.

I can totally relate to all of these problems with job hunting.

I tend to be over-qualified, too-varied-in-my-interests, hyperactive/intense, and female (being female is not a problem in itself, of course, but it is when combined with the other aspects, and with the man-dense fields that I prefer).

At the moment I am tending toward finding a trade, and sticking with it.
Basically I need income now, and I am sufficiently obstinate to stay the course. I also don't mind getting dirty.

I do find it hard to take the first steps though, making contact with potential employers.

Has anyone here used a go-between, or employment agent to help secure employment?

Space, what trade did you get into?

Tip for Sad Aspy: if you suspect that you are "overqualified" for a particular job, e.g. manual or low wage job, simply omit your qualifications from your application. You can always ask the employer before you apply, what the desired educational level is for the applicant. Then, adjust your CV.

rule number one, people: There is no such thing as being overqualified... it's a polite and very bullshitty way to say they don't want you.

Also, before an interview, try to do some research on the company and use that knowledge in forming an application. ie. famous products they've made, their image to the outside world etc. This cn also help you immensely with answering their questions...

Another good thing to do within some fields, is to ask THEM some questions that are not answered beforehand in the advertisement. It shows that you have some additional interest and initiative in the company's inner workings

Showing off previous works is also a good idea, especially in higher-up jobs... If you're a programmer, you could show off a program you think is good and stating why. This can help the company in evaluating how much "bang for the buck" they get.

Guess that explains it....lol.



A number of people tell me to do this and my counter-point is this: if I leave out education, they'll wonder what I was doing those years. Now granted I had a job in grad school, but it was at the school (I was a TA) so I can't put that on there without arousing suspicion.



So what....I'm not actually qualified for a job at Lowe's? Also, I got turned down for a job at Books-A-Million, while someone with a GED (that's the high school equivalency test if you're not in the U.S.) got it! And don't tell he must have had experience...he's barely 18.

And I would also add that being overqualified and them not wanting you are not mutually exclusive categories. They may not want you because you're overeducated. They know you won't stay at the job....it costs them a lot to hire and train somebody.