I can't get a damn job!!

[duke007]

I really need to let some steam off my chest about this.

In my time here I've grown and developed considerably as a DJ and person, particularly since last September when I started bootcamp. My life has been great in all areas except one - employment.

After finishing Uni (June 04), I secured a full-time graduate position at a respected consulting firm. Sounds good right? But the huge problem is I don't start until April. In the meantime, I've been searching fruitlessly for a part time job while steadily eating away at my already thin savings.

No one wants to hire me for temporary casual work because I'm too old for junior wages and I have no "retail" experience.

I find it almost insulting that I am capable of fearlessly cold approaching women in public, skilled in quickly generating rapport with strangers and able to basically sell myself, but I'm not good enough to work in a sh1tty retail store.

Those of you who know me in person or have read my journals/field reports would know I'm an outgoing, fun-loving people person who'd be able to perform well in a customer-facing role. But employers are ignorant....I don't even get interviews.

I was inexplicably rejected by a clothing store during bootcamp and many others didn't answer my applications. My uncle, an executive at a local TV station, almost guaranteed me of graveyard shifts at the network doing technical work. This fell through solely because the guy in charge of the tech dept has personal differences with my uncle.

To rub salt in the wounds I was just rejected by a mobile phone retailer after 2 days. This stings really bad because my postgraduate research at Uni focussed on user behaviour and purchase motivation for mobile technology. I read about 50 of the most recent academic papers on the entire topic and learnt enough to draw my own conclusions. As the topic area was quite new I gained more knowledge than my lecturers.

I briefly mentioned this in the application....never mind my easygoing personality, but I was still rejected.

I just really bugs me when I receive poor customer service from some pimply sh1thead with no life experience or any idea how to treat another human being. And in the meantime I struggle to buy petrol, lunch and a new gym pass while my potential goes unnoticed.

I'm at my wits end...any suggestions?

 

[Yotsuya-san]

duke,

I know what you're going through. A lot of employers are intimidated by the DJ experience. Our society has pretty much shot itself in the foot by wasting our human resources. A lot of good people are educated but poor just because someone else knows someone on the inside or is connected somehow. It seems like, in the professional world, experience, worldiness, and maturity are downplayed in favor of brown-nosing and bootlicking skills. If you look or seem like the kind that can't or won't do that, they often pass you over. Yes, a lot of potential goes to waste because of the emphasis placed on competition.

BTW, what is your professional background in? What's your graduate major?

 

[Wyldfire]

Here is a list of part time jobs available in Melbourne...

http://www.seek.com.au/jobsearch/in...ation=1002&stateselected=true&catworktype=243

(hopefully the link works)

 

[SamePendo]

Come to Mexico.

Like me, I act like I know more than freaking Dalai Lama... and I really sometimes believe it myself.. and I get a job for it. I mean, I do know something, and probably know the basics, and the GOOD basics, the WELL DONE approach to it... and I've got 3 jobs, which in Mexico, considering, are well paid.

People who have 10+years of studying, and know their ****, are rejected, and instead I get the job.

 

[Ice Cold]

have you thought of being a TA or working somewhere on college campus?

 

[diplomatic_lie]

You can't apply the same stuff from DJing to getting a job. If you act too ****y, and act like you know everything, etc most employers will write you off immediately.

Confidence is one thing, but being ****y is another. Considering that you are quite young, they're not interested in arrogance (it might work for an experienced ex-CEO). Act like you know more than the employer, and that's the immediate mark of death.

I used to work with an employer for a tech development firm, and I'd always watch him conduct interviews with graduates. The basic fact I noticed is that he isn't interested in what you've got to say, he's interested in what you've got to show.

And since you're just looking for a part-time gig, your education is hardly relevant.

You could always do commissioned sales (they dont care how good you are since they only pay on success), or telemarketing ($15/hour but hi-stress).

 

[BigWillyStyle]

Yeah that's how it is Duke007, you're pretty much limited to retail type jobs til you get your real career in April. It sucks though that most retailers either want some real young ass juniors so they don't have to pay you an extra dime an hour, or only if you have had previous retail experience then you got a chance if your not a junior anymore. It's cut throat world out their, even shyt retail jobs you need to bring in a fvcking resume and big ass interview with the boss about "what could you bring to the company" Fvck lady, I'm just gonna stack some shelves til my real job gets through, I'm not applying for a fvcking position at NASA.

 

[OzyBoy]

I know how you feel and i have been through that before as well. It sucks. Everything so age discrimatory these days . But on the bright side these are all ****, low paying jobs with very limited future opportunities in them. Get a few qualifications and pick up a little bit of experience along the way to rise yourself above lots of people and you will be able to get into a better job thats what i have noticed over the past few years and i'm almost there.

 

[FreeStyleZ]

heh... welcome to the world of the black man.