synergy1 said:
first of all I have been there in a persistent state for the last number of months, arguably years. They tell you that your are too inexperienced, over experienced, not quite experienced...everything. You want to break ****. Easily the worst thing in my life to date, and I have had immediate deaths in the family already. HOWEVER... Be aware that this economy has been **** since 2008, and no recovery is in sight. For every job vacancy, there are hundreds, maybe thousands of qualified applicants who are running out of time and money too. Its ugly, and frustrating as hell.
What can you do? move on. Find new opportunities and keep on applying. I am just now working temp and feeling like **** is rounding the bend, but its faarrr from over. Gotta keep hitting up those apps until something is signed on paper. In the meantime, find work outside of your field. Having a job is like having a girlfriend, its easier to get a job when you have one.
Wish I had more to tell you. go on over to my other thread on this same subject if you want more insight. Trust me, you aren't alone.
This type of thinking would kill any sane person in a desperate situation.
When i was job hunting, which lasted about a full year until i got a full time position, i had credit card debt, student loans, lawyer fees, car problems, and so much more sh1t going on.
I still applied to jobs everyday. I worked on my resume everyday fixing, moving and rewording the whole damn thing. Then i worked on my cover letter/CV everyday writing my letter like a damn story. Saying how wonderful i am, how i deserve to be there and what a benefit i would be not only to the company i was applying to but any company because of my personality, drive, and open minded thinking.
I failed many interviews. I wrote down scripts of how to answer potential questions after a few failures. I practiced the scripts and potential questions over and over again. I answered the questions that i failed to answer in the interview and incorporated those in my scripts. I practiced my mock interviews everyday until they became natural.
I had my introduction on lockdown which i ended up using for every interview. It was solid, quick and clear. (assuming they know my name during the interview... well i recently graduated from this school where i studied this, during school i obtained this internship where i worked here and did this stuff. after that i obtained a job here where i picked up these skills and did this and that(relevant to current job). during that time i also entered into a business plan competition where i finaled out of 97 contestants. Now i am currently working on this project. blah blah blah my whole resume in depth in about 2 minutes.) Then i answered their questions they had about my previous positions. They obviously asked about my competition and projects which i then went indepth about.
The hardest questions are why do you want to work here/why do you think you're best fit.
I basically say i'm creative. I finaled in a competition, started my own project, all while maintaining my current position. The reason why i believe i would be a great asset to xxx team/company is because I am extremely creative, I have great time management skills and dedication to what i do. I don't believe anyone else exemplifies these qualities as well as i do, and if given the opportunity, i would like to prove them to you. (and i did and still am)
I then went on to work on many subtleties of my interviewing skills and cover letter. I made sure to be confident and display my skills and traits without bragging. I made sure everything i said was short and to the point.
Remember, don't worry about anyone else. There always competition in anything you do. Women, work, interviews, sports, etc. I used to be a nationally ranked swimmer and sure its good to know about your competition and research their credentials/skill level if you can but after that when the time comes to lay down the work you can really only do you.
Do your best, believe in yourself, and the rest will fall into place.
I had the mind set of, "I am getting a job, if its not this one then it will be the next one or the one after that. So what if the competition is more qualified, I know that aren't as creative, dedicated and persistent as i am. I will get the job because i want it that much more than them."
I ended up getting the first opening over more qualified and significantly more qualified people. The person that was hired after me had a masters in economics while i had a bachelors in business law (totally unrelated to M&A).
Life's tough man, gotta fight to survive.
