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[mendonca]

Whilst I definitely won't speak in favour of commission only sales jobs, I actually spent a short time selling energy door-to-door a few years ago, and it is not all bad (except in a sustainable, financial sense).

I think I made a single sale in two and half weeks, and didn't get paid for that, but I learnt a hell of a lot about things that previously I knew nothing about. Mainly confidence speaking to absolute strangers, the perspective you get by dealing with certain types of people (the 'successful' work colleagues) on a day to day basis, and it gives you lots of time to think as you pound street after street.

My favourite days were when I got to chat with lonely, elderly, interesting people and have a nice cup of tea. It was better than trying to push power deals in their face.

So yeah, don't do it.

But if you did do it, you might get SOMETHING out of it.

[GlyphGryph]

Honestly though - persistance, connections, study some psychology. The number one component to getting a job is getting someone with pull to like you (and thus vouch for you). Especially at the low end and the high end, not as much in the middle.

Also, while you're not working? Spend all the time you're not looking for a job actually developing some sort of maketable skill or experience. WORK, even if you aren't working. I recently couldn't get a job for over a year - I used that time to retrain myself, picked up a whole new suite of skills, and lived off temporary work, tech support, and commissions (find things to sell?). Whatever you do, don't stop working just because you're not employed. Not only because you develop important new marketable skills, but because it looks really good on your resume to have "independent projects" and volunteer work at least during your down time. (I also blame coming to my interview prepared. I took notes and references and a whole shitload of stuff. But then, in my field an intense 5 hour interview/test is pretty standard)

And finally, don't just rely on internet ads. Especially for low end jobs like big box retail, even if there is no job, there is still a good chance they'll hire you if you impress them. Go in, ask to speak to the hiring manager. If he's not there, ask when he will be. Deliver your resume in person, ask if they'll be willing to spend a moment speaking to you. Have, ready and at hand, what you can do for the company, and use every psychological trick in the book. (For example, have some tic-tacs. Offer him one early on, trigger the reciprocation response. It won't be enough to get you job, but he might feel he owes you a short conversation even if he turns it down.)

I've basically gotten two jobs that way, so it does work.

[JoshuaFH]

I guess I'll need to get over my anxieties if I want to be that social to get a job. I mean, I've heard about it, but actually going in to see a hiring manager is something I've never seen anyone do, so I'm not sure how they'd respond.

Thank you for the advice though.

I really do need to get out this terrible location that I'm in. Like, really, I live in a trailer park, smack dab in the middle of miles and miles of farmlands, and our only car is the most filthiest, broken-down piece of crap, and I'm constantly worried that it'll go haywire and kill me on the way to any location. Lord knows it wouldn't be the first time it's tried.

I'll see if my aunt will let me live with her in Bay City, because literally anywhere is better than Saginaw, and I won't be isolated in this toxic wasteland anymore. I'll actually be in a community that I like.

[Strife26]

Yeah, getting over anxieties like that is probably the toughest thing. Look at it this way, paper's relatively cheap and if you aren't working, then spending an hour to go talk to anyone you can isn't a big deal. Worst case, your going to be getting better at talking to managerial types.

[Tellemurius]

From what i heard by my aunt in Bay City, she says there are more lowend jobs right now, course i don't fully know since im 2000 miles away.

[Brackev]

Have relatives in Texas?  I heard there are jobs there.

[Strife26]

I'm not sure what the job market in Texas is like. While I highly recommend staying the heck out of Killeen, just on general principles, feel free to stop and say hi if you're in the area.


I suppose, for easy to find work, the Western North Dakota oil fields are always hiring right now. If you're willing to live in okayish conditions and work a fair bit of overtime, there's a buncha money to be made there.

[JoshuaFH]

I suppose, for easy to find work, the Western North Dakota oil fields are always hiring right now. If you're willing to live in okayish conditions and work a fair bit of overtime, there's a buncha money to be made there.

I had not considered this, albeit because I'm not a person adapted to hard physical labor. In fact, I have an air purifier running all the time just to make sure I can breath in my own house.

So I don't think I'll take a job that might very well kill me.

It wouldn't hurt to look elsewhere state-wise though.

[timotheus]

How are your tech skills? Programming? You could look at this time with your Mom as 6 months of super skillset boosting! The amount of programming tutorials online are staggering.

Just a thought.

Job hunting sucks. Here in San Francisco area, it's better than most.

[JoshuaFH]

How are your tech skills? Programming? You could look at this time with your Mom as 6 months of super skillset boosting! The amount of programming tutorials online are staggering.

Just a thought.

And that's certainly not a bad idea. I really like the idea of spending this time as a period of self-mastery. Given the timescales that are frequently shown to me, it looks like I'm going to have alot of time for learning new things, and devoting 30 days at the very least to learning a new skill certain won't hurt me. I've already enrolled for a 10-week free online psychology course by email, and it makes it very clear that it's just for the purposes of those interested in learning, I think it's a good start.

If I were to entertain the idea of learning to program, a skill I've always associated with puzzle building on the atomic scale, what language is actually marketable?

[GlyphGryph]

MIT has a whole lot of free class offerings that are very much NOT just for the purposes of interest in learning.

And programming is a good one, or at least its the route I chose (unsurprisngly, being a computer science major)

Choose a popular framework, and learn the whole thing. Not just a language, but how the language usually fits together in a business environment. And don't be afraid to bring reference material to test interviews - they see it as a sign of being prepared with what you need, and most programmers have some amount of reference materials on hand at all times.

[JoshuaFH]

MIT has a whole lot of free class offerings that are very much NOT just for the purposes of interest in learning.

About the MIT thing, is this perhaps what you were talking about:

http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/

? Cause it would seem to be along a similar avenue, where it's just free information for people interested in learning.

[GlyphGryph]

Many of them are remarkably practical, useful, and high quality, and you can actually get certifications of completion for some. Certainly more than "just for those interested in learning".

As far as languages, here's my suggestions. Keep in mind my work is mostly web based:
C# is pretty much everywhere, and it the goto for guaranteed work lately. It also suffers from much lower compensation. Associated Framework master absurdly helpful: .NET
Java is still a pretty good choice, popular in a lot of industries. You'll have a good deal of competition, though. Don't really know much about industry standards for that.
Ruby is low demand, but lower supply, meaning it commands high page (60k starting) IF you can find a job, which can take a while and will expect some level of mastery. Associated Framework mastery almost always required: Ruby on Rails

[JoshuaFH]

I can get certificates of completion? No way.

I suppose I'd consider the language the has the most online help for it, since going to an actual class for this stuff is way out of my league.

[Stargrasper]

Learn Java.  It's very commonly used in the real world.  It has a massive amount of online documentation.  And Max White and I are writing tutorials for it over in General Discussion in the current Programmers thread.

Here's my very beginning intro tutorial.
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=98412.msg2884133#msg2884133