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California Job Search

P

phas3

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Oct 5, 2008
1,131
22
I'm on the hunt for a job. I'm 23 and a full time college student, next semester if I get my classes right I can work full time also. I'm trying to find a job that pays between 10-15$ per hour.

Things to consider:
- I've got military background
- Hard worker, so physically intensive occupation is welcomed
- I don't like to sit on a desk all day long
- I'm very social, and able to adapt to new environments

I don't have experience in the job hunting category, my first and only job has been the military so far, so I don't know exactly where to start. I know a lot of users visit macrumors so I figured I can ask here, incase some have any suggestions.
 
Where do you live? What's your major? Do you have any resume builders from high school?

The current economy certainly isn't going to be friendly to young workers without specifically needed skills. I knew a few people who worked at a car plant while going to school (pay was quite good-over $22/hour), but that was 4 or 5 years ago and jobs like that are certainly tough to find these days.

I would suggest that you search for a job that will help you build a strong resume for your eventual career post graduation. It may mean earning less than $10, but quite frankly even if you can earn that much in this economy you're ahead of a lot of people.
 
CalBoy said:
Where do you live? What's your major? Do you have any resume builders from high school?

The current economy certainly isn't going to be friendly to young workers without specifically needed skills. I knew a few people who worked at a car plant while going to school (pay was quite good-over $22/hour), but that was 4 or 5 years ago and jobs like that are certainly tough to find these days.

I would suggest that you search for a job that will help you build a strong resume for your eventual career post graduation. It may mean earning less than $10, but quite frankly even if you can earn that much in this economy you're ahead of a lot of people.
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I live in Marina Del Rey/Venice Area. My major is going to be in Business Management, but my career is going to be in the law enforcement/firefighting field. I'm getting my tuition and books paid for by the gov since I'm prior military under the post 9/11 GI BILL.

The reason I chose to get a major in the Business field is because it is my back up plan incase the firefighting/law enforcement doesn't work out for me or I get injured on the job and have to quit. Plus with a degree I can start off in a higher annual salary in law enforcement.
 
Have you spoken with anyone who is in that line of work, and asked them what type of resumes are looked at more favorably? I would suggest you start there before going any further.

Otherwise, I would say that if you're looking for $10-15, being a bank teller or call center worker would probably give you the pay range and hours you want, but they wouldn't involve much physical activity.

Working in a retail setting would give you the physical activity and social interaction, but the hours and pay are going to disappoint.

If you are good with tools and fixing things, you could be a handyman, but those hours there can be precarious unless you work for someone at set times.
 
A couple things I've learned from a 2.5 month job search (I finally found one!)
* There are a lot more people applying for a single job opening than there used to be so keep your resume to one page to get noticed.
* Don't explain everything you've done in your resume (it's boring to read and easily skipped over). Give them a taste so they'll want to interview you for more info. Make it easy to scan (read).
* Turn small numbers into larger ones. (ie. instead of saying you improved employees speed/efficiency by 15 minutes [90min to 75min] say you improved it by 17%).
* Military experience is a plus. If you don't have any, that's when you're at a disadvantage. You'll be seen as good for management, a hard and dependable/reliable worker.

Take the time to come up with several things
* Resume (.doc, pdf & plain text)
* Cover Letter (.doc, pdf & plain text)
* References (use 3 professional if you can)
* Job Duties (differs from resume, only list what your job duties were without achievements)
* Achievements (differs from resume, only list achievements without job duties)
* Letters of Appreciation (Most interviewers don't ask for any. They can help if you don't have a lot of experience though).
* Start a Spreadsheet of what you've applied for: date, company, position, status. By the time I got my job I had over 50 applications submitted and had had 5 interviews (Not a bad ratio).
* Write down in your resume portfolio (it's good to have one) your top 3 strengths and top 3 opportunities (what you're trying to improve). Know these and have specific examples (if you can) to back them up.
* Know your 3-5 year career plan (since you're in school that one sounds like cake, however, try to relate it to the job your interviewing for)
* I hinted at this but make sure you have .doc, pdf and plain text versions of your resume, cover letter, references, job duties and achievements. A lot of jobs can only be applied for online these days and doing this will greatly speed up your search. I could apply for at least 5 a day if I could find some that interested me. Being able to copy and paste makes searching the hardest and more time intensive part instead and that shortened my job search and lowered my stress.

I was also following your financial thread and I think you're definitely on the right path ... especially for someone in his early 20's. Keep doing what you're doing and I know you'll end up debt free (with savings!) and have a job you really enjoy. Good luck!
 
iJohnHenry said:
He does, but he doesn't say how long, or what was, his tour of duty.

Regardless, he impresses me with his approach to his future life.
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thank you for the kind words, I was in the Marine Corps for 4 years from 2005 -2009. Two tours in Iraq, my occupation was a 1371 Combat Engineer.

I've built/constructed Forward Military Bases in Iraq, built bunkers, repaired the roads of Iraq, help fortify Iraqi police stations, swept the streets of Fallujah/Ramadi for IEDs and most of the Al Anbar Province, swept for weapons caches along the Euphrates River and help dispose/blow up numerous unexploded ordinance all through the Al Anbar Province.

Served my country well and got out with an Honorable Discharge as a Corporal E-4.

Although I have many skills that I've acquired in the past 4 years in the military, unfortunately most of the skills do not help me here back in the civilian world, besides maybe construction and ordinance type fields.
 
phas3 said:
Although I have many skills that I've acquired in the past 4 years in the military, unfortunately most of the skills do not help me here back in the civilian world, besides maybe construction and ordinance type fields.
Click to expand...
Don't sell yourself short. Military experience with a good discharge always looks good. I'm in retail management and would say that 75% of ex-military personnel I hired were fantastic workers.

Oh, and thank you for serving our country. Thank you for helping to keep my friends and family safe.
 
CalBoy said:
Have you spoken with anyone who is in that line of work, and asked them what type of resumes are looked at more favorably? I would suggest you start there before going any further.

Otherwise, I would say that if you're looking for $10-15, being a bank teller or call center worker would probably give you the pay range and hours you want, but they wouldn't involve much physical activity.

Working in a retail setting would give you the physical activity and social interaction, but the hours and pay are going to disappoint.

If you are good with tools and fixing things, you could be a handyman, but those hours there can be precarious unless you work for someone at set times.
Click to expand...

speaking of bank tellers. I actually received a letter from a company called JVSLA .ORG today, offering me a free 8 week training in their Bank Work Program sponsored by BOA, Wells Fargo, Citi Bank, US BANK etc..

job training
job placement assistance

the next training session is in Dec and also Jan.

says here entry level positions ranging from 20-35k per year. This seems like a good gig, plus it's free training, hmm will def consider!
 
phas3 said:
speaking of bank tellers. I actually received a letter from a company called JVSLA .ORG today, offering me a free 8 week training in their Bank Work Program sponsored by BOA, Wells Fargo, Citi Bank, US BANK etc..
Click to expand...

Guarding money is a limited job, and fraught with risk.

Your training has qualified you for the last part, but I think you can do better on the first part.
 
Well, it can't hurt to hit some construction firms, although most of them are hurting. But you may get lucky, who knows. Also, you might give private security a try, since you're working towards being a LEO. landscaping firms are always looking for reliable workers with strong backs too.

As a fellow Californian, who has been underemployed for almost 2 years now, I know how tough it can be. At least youre not being turned down as overqualified!

Good luck. And be wary of scammers looking for personal information on job boards.
 
mactastic said:
Well, it can't hurt to hit some construction firms, although most of them are hurting. But you may get lucky, who knows. Also, you might give private security a try, since you're working towards being a LEO. landscaping firms are always looking for reliable workers with strong backs too.

As a fellow Californian, who has been underemployed for almost 2 years now, I know how tough it can be. At least youre not being turned down as overqualified!

Good luck. And be wary of scammers looking for personal information on job boards.
Click to expand...

Yes those scammers are annoying. Also look out for the ones that will call you with a fake job offer.
 
QuarterSwede said:
Don't sell yourself short. Military experience with a good discharge always looks good. I'm in retail management and would say that 75% of ex-military personnel I hired were fantastic workers.

Oh, and thank you for serving our country. Thank you for helping to keep my friends and family safe.
Click to expand...

I totally agree with both: don't sell yourself short and a great big thank you for your service. Good Luck!
 
Im from the UK, and have worked in recruitment at a Corporate level. My opinions in bold.

QuarterSwede said:
A couple things I've learned from a 2.5 month job search (I finally found one!)
* There are a lot more people applying for a single job opening than there used to be so keep your resume to one page to get noticed. True
* Don't explain everything you've done in your resume (it's boring to read and easily skipped over). Give them a taste so they'll want to interview you for more info. Make it easy to scan (read). Limit it to 2 pages, not 1.
* Turn small numbers into larger ones. (ie. instead of saying you improved employees speed/efficiency by 15 minutes [90min to 75min] say you improved it by 17%). This is one of the things that totally annoys me, 17% is not concrete, its not a number, and tells me as a recruiter absolutely nothing.
* Military experience is a plus. If you don't have any, that's when you're at a disadvantage. You'll be seen as good for management, a hard and dependable/reliable worker. Yes/No, double edged sword the Military, i wouldnt specifically look at someone from the Military for a management position.

Take the time to come up with several things
* Resume (.doc, pdf & plain text) Go for a .doc, dont rely on your recruiter being able to open pdfs.
* Cover Letter (.doc, pdf & plain text) Same as above.
* References (use 3 professional if you can) 3 Pro's arent essential, but be prepared to list all your previous employers as references.
* Job Duties (differs from resume, only list what your job duties were without achievements) Without achievements? lol what...
* Achievements (differs from resume, only list achievements without job duties) As above, they're a must!
* Letters of Appreciation (Most interviewers don't ask for any. They can help if you don't have a lot of experience though). Wouldnt make a difference to me.
* Start a Spreadsheet of what you've applied for: date, company, position, status. By the time I got my job I had over 50 applications submitted and had had 5 interviews (Not a bad ratio). Err i guess it could be useful, if you have a poor memory or like ratios and pie charts?
* Write down in your resume portfolio (it's good to have one) your top 3 strengths and top 3 opportunities (what you're trying to improve). Know these and have specific examples (if you can) to back them up. Look up SWOT analysis, come up with answers for each.
* Know your 3-5 year career plan (since you're in school that one sounds like cake, however, try to relate it to the job your interviewing for) Believe me if you dont know your career plan its ok, a year ago i didnt think what i'd be doing now.
* I hinted at this but make sure you have .doc, pdf and plain text versions of your resume, cover letter, references, job duties and achievements. A lot of jobs can only be applied for online these days and doing this will greatly speed up your search. I could apply for at least 5 a day if I could find some that interested me. Being able to copy and paste makes searching the hardest and more time intensive part instead and that shortened my job search and lowered my stress.

I was also following your financial thread and I think you're definitely on the right path ... especially for someone in his early 20's. Keep doing what you're doing and I know you'll end up debt free (with savings!) and have a job you really enjoy. Good luck!
Click to expand...
 
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