So this morning I spent a good couple of hours applying to random retail jobsinmy area, which is a small college town in the middle of nowhere, and I was trying to think of other ways to get a job. I sent some resumes via CareerBuilder and Monster but I very rarely if ever hear back from those. In alittl ebit I plan to call a few other small places here in town asking if they are hiring or what the application process is, and probably Friday go drop off resumes. I have even attempted to look on Craigslist for my area to find any openings but I think due to the area it is not really used.

I need to somehow find a job for while I am here at school and I know the economy is bad but are there any other suggestions you all may have for where to look or how to get a job?

I was thinking of doing some basic freelancing for programming or computer repair but that is very unstable especially here. Next semesters I hope to start a student programming organization at my college to work on real world problems to help people learn and grow their skills. Last semester I tutored a couple hours a week but made at most $30 in two weeks, and that really didn't cover anything.

Any suggestions?

3 guys in my town sat down at the central station with a sign saying they needed a job and played the guitar. They got something like 40 interviews in a day and got featured in the newspaper.

So, that maybe :shrug:

This town really has no main hub to it besides the school and that is really only the kids that walk around or faculty. I have tried talking to my advisor but he wasn't sure of anything and there does not appear to be any on campus jobs available and when there is the students who qualify for work study get the first shot at them.

Start your own business, what are your skills?

What are your competences ? The so-called economic crisis is not like before where all were affected. Presently, there are some lacks of competences in some domains while too many in others.

Imagine you are a product and you want to sell yourself. So:
1/ Try to know who you are really, what do you know, what are your strong point. Objectively.
2/ List ALL the companies/shops/employers of your area (I understand you are not ready to move).
3/ See which one can fit to your skills (hard and soft skills). Target your future company seriously.
4/ Go for the funnel strategy to contact their boss; first you must know who is the person recruiting. Then you call, you will probably get a secretary (sorry a "personnal assistant" they say in pc language). Then "Is it XXX Ltd ?" "Yes, sir" "Ok, you might be the p.a. of Mr XX, I am Mr. Darkone" "Yes sir" and then she might say straight ahead "And what do you want ?" "Is Mr XX around or could I call you back tomorrow afternoon at 2pm ?" "Call back." "Ok, who should I ask for, you are Mrs ?"
You can also go directly for appointement. My advise is be sure you know the company you are visiting. And ask them questions about themselves, show you are interested.

I prefer to use a duck blind and resume's treated with 3-day-old meat drippings.

I dont know where you are at, but over here general labour job opportunities are lowering and high tech/skill jobs are increasing. I bet plenty of people in town are going after the same jobs.

You gotta talk to people, talk to people you know who may know of something. Jobs on campus, like bookstore/cafeteria. Coop usually has good paying temp job opportunities while gaining experience.

I think even though I am still learning and a beginner I may try and freelance and do some programming or tech support. Not sure how much that can take off around here but it is worth a shot.

Good luck, hope things get better. It's hard to try to keep positive, but a postive demanor counts during interviews.
Dont waste time applying for jobs you are severely underqualified for, focus on your strenghts.

freelancing is great because you are essentially setting up your own small business, and you pay taxes on your profits, not on all the income. You need to figure out who your potential clients would be in your area and go after them like a persistent bulldog.

It sounds like you are in a small town, but I would imagine there are at least a few temp/employment agencies, which is another option that can lead to quick paying work. Sign up with all of them and keep checking in with them daily.

There is also always the service industry, which tends to be less discriminating due to very high turnover, not to mention flexible hours while you are studying.

If you are looking for full-time employment, tailor a couple of versions of your resume to match the types of jobs you are looking for, and polish the resume and cover email until they are excellent. Call hundreds of possible companies and make a personal connection with someone over the phone before you submit.

Whatever you choose, just keep in mind it is a numbers game. For every few dozen or perhaps hundreds of rejections, you will get at least a few interviews. I don't know if you are experienced in interviewing, but if not, research some sample job interview questions and practice with someone. You want to make a very confident and friendly impression.

I realize this thread is a month old but it is still relavant. I have been doing applications and sending resumes and still no calls. The school semester is almost over but at the same time I will be here next fall to work as well so it wouldn't be that temporary of a job.

I am combing through Monster and CareerBuilder as well as Craigslist and the school website but so far nothing has had any success. I am going to redo my resume again tomorrow and see if that helps but I am not holding my breath.

I also tried Dice.com for more technical jobs but again nothing from that. Startign to become a bit bummed out because some people I know either just got hired or have interviews and I am stuck with nothing.

Any other suggestions?

Call. Call once a week, twice a week, once a month. Any of those. Not every day, because then you probably just come across as a pirck, but I have passed on plenty of messages to our hiring manager and I can tell you that the day after reading a resume is probably the last they will remember you, if they have a busy schedule.

Call and say you are following up on an application, call and ask about what to expect in the way of the hiring and application process. Leave your name and number.
Do not call to ask if they have looked through your application, because again they probably don't remember you.
And furthermore it sets up more of a conversation, compared to the yes/no answer and a click.

It's times like this I wish I wasn't a white male so the system could do the work for me.

I don't find websites that list jobs (like on Craigslist, Monster,...) to be very useful.
Contact places directly even if they are not advertising a position.
Does your department offer internships?

How's your resume looking? Is it more than one page? If so... cut it down to one. Long resumes tend to get sidelined. In this country you can call jobcentreplus, give them a top three list of what you want to do, like admin/retail/bar work of something, and they'll frequently send you letters, call you, and send emails for the jobs that suit you the same day they come in. S'a good service. You probs don't have it there, though.

My only advice is hassle people. Better to hassle in person, while dressed well. You have a CV, walk it into the building and talk to the receptionists when you hand it over, be personable, looks better than sending it in. Ask to fill in application forms while you're there in the reception, make small talk. The receptionists are often the best known people in the place, and they will mention you when they encounter a boss or something. Call up employers, and talk your way from the receptionist to the human resource department, ask about the kind of people they're looking for, tell them you're interested in the company, and would like to know what you can do to improve your chances of becoming an employee. "Any particular qualifications or skills I should concentrate on?" If you're keen enough and they know that they may just grant you an interview just to see what you're like. If you get a reply from a prospective employer telling you your CV and application is on file, call them every two weeks to follow it up. Don't let them forget you.

Doesn't matter if its an office or a shop or whatever, talking to the staff in a shop, about 'whatever' while you're asking about work, will get you put ahead of people who have their applications stashed in some drawer somewhere. I'm pretty good at getting jobs, I just blow at keeping them. (I've quit jobs just to play a new game.) lol You are the product, and you're the salesman too. Nobody knows the product better than you, and all you gotta do is understand your customer, make your sales pitch, and make the product something they'd like to have around.

Are you sending the same CVs to companies for an IT job as you are for a retail job?

It might sound like massive hard work but you really need to cater each CV and cover letter you do for each job. If a company sees 100 CVs for one role, how do they narrow down the list? They look at the people first who have applied for that job only which will show in their CV. Now they're not stupid enough to think they've actually applied for that job solely, but if you send a CV that highlights your retail experience as much as your IT experience, they can't see which you prioritise. If you don't have time to cater each CV, at least have one for each job 'type' you're going for. Your IT CV should go into detail about what programs you can use, your experience with them and all past experience you have with this. Your retail CV should go into detail with customer service, solving problems you've had in previous roles and any experience you have with teamwork.

Feel free to send me your CV to look over if you like and I can offer any helpful pointers. I've recruited in the past so know what I'm looking for. Or if you just have any specific questions, ask away.

I talked to people at my school and nobody really seems to know of anything open int he area then again the town is quite a ways form anythign big. We have a ton of small retail stores and food places in town but those get filled pretty quickly. My resume is 1.5 pages without references and I can't really shrink it anymore without leaving out important stuff or some experience.

You can make it more brief, I guarantee it. [all you need is work / school title, time allocated, and any recognitions. If you have multiple, just write "multiple recognitions" because you can talk about it later]

And yes, tailor your resume to the place you are applying. Applying to retail? Bold, or expand on anything that involves multitasking and customer service.

I'm currently job huntin as well, but i think I'm about to find a position. Hopefully.

Cut the resume down to a page. If your wondering what to trim, anything that isn't relevant to the job your hiring for. Customize the resume AND cover letter. Don't go in w/ out a cover letter. Do not be generic, it will help you stand out.

Many of the larger corps now use recruiters and web applications, in my recent experience , almost 75 % do. Often times the recruiter is the one who does the initial interviews, then the store manage takes it from there. this makes it difficult to get face time with any prospects.

Practice being interviewed. Make sure feel comfortable talking about yourself, past work experience. This can be difficult since most of us are taught to be humble about things we have done. Also knowing WHAT to say is as useful as knowing what NOT to say. For example, I made the mistake of sounding too ambitious and I think the perspective employer felt I had too many other things going on.

Don't get down on yourself and keep sending out resumes. Getting denied for job after job can really be discouraging not to mention a self esteem buster.

My 2 cents hope it helps.

what I do is apply to about 5 jobs at a time, then go back every other day the first week, then every day for about two more weeks. If that doesn't work, then I apply for 5 more jobs and repeat the process. It has worked every time for me. I got a job at an alpaca farm (current job), at an emergency helicopter medical place doing grunt work, a job at a flower shop, and a job at jack in the box by doing this.

Since each job could require different things lets talk about building a good resume:

• A good resume speaks in one tense and either in third or first person
  
• A good resume should have body copy no larger than 10pt font. Your headlines can be bigger if you'd like.
  
• Be clear, concise and straight to the point about your job experience.
  
• Make a http://www.google.ca/images?hl=en&q=letterhead&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=1366&bih=677 to make your resume stand out from the rest
  
• When you're writing your objective, make sure to include the companies interests for hiring you in mind.
  
• Spelling, spelling, spelling. Spelling or grammar errors show your employer that you are not a detail oriented person.

I disagree pretty strongly here. Simple is better, and much better than pretty.
Unless you just mean well organized.

Resume's have structure for the ease of the employer, and yes you do want it to stand out, but not because it is purple or flashy.

That works on billboards.

Perhaps putting the word "pretty" defeated the purpose of what I was saying.

http://earth2erich.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/resume-with-letterhead3-791x1024.jpg http://hoitu.net/images/hoitu-corporation/letterhead3.jpg

The second one is nice and all but its far too distracting. The letterhead should only be a maximum of an inch in height.

Okay, yes.

I was just about to reference one myself.

I know what works best for me. I use Linked-in to network.
Also people you worked with in the past. Network with them even if you did not know them too well.
You would be surprised how many connections you may have if you reach out.

Also do not undersell yourself or be down about not having a job. I have found people are more compelled to recommend you if you are upbeat and sound excited to work.

Even if you have flipped burgers your whole life, develop a professional resume to highlight you skills.
Any job worded the right way can highlight skills and experience that will add to your value.