Laid Off, Job Wanted

[crunchtastic]

Niche..

Back in the Fall, I tried the "Beyond normal resume" route.

I figured, architects like creativity, right... So I had a much more 'designed' resume with photo, profile, plus all the normal info. I then had 3 pages of work samplings that graphically tied into the resume. It all made for quite the snazzy pdf.

I only sent it to two firms though... I wanted to see their reaction before ruining any chances with more firms.

Results were negative.. didn't lead to interviews.

So.. not quite like your plan... but enough to convince me that when i start sending out lots of resumes this week since I am unemployed as of last week, I will not be sending the graphic resume.

Course... maybe my ugly mug just scared them off and others' results will vary.

Before I did all this, I read through several websites that listed the do's and don'ts of resumes.. they all said not to include a photo of yourself.... I tried anyways.

Hmmm good points here.... along these lines, Niche, you might try to physical approach but not a flashy website--that way if you decide it really could be career limiting, you could pull back the fancy resumes and not have the online spectre out there.

but, keep in mind you're targeting a sector that for whom back-slapping and glad-handing is as vital as air and water, and people who engage in that business tend to be shameless self-promoters.

[TheNiche]

Have you tried applying for a census job?

Yep. The vets will probably hog most of the supervisory positions, but $17.75 to be an enumerator in central Houston is sufficient to garner my attention.

[lockmat]

How about joining HPD? Decent salary, easy to promote, good benefits, job security.

[TheNiche]

Before I did all this, I read through several websites that listed the do's and don'ts of resumes.. they all said not to include a photo of yourself.... I tried anyways.

Since the beginning of the year, I've applied to 91 positions throughout the United States using the traditional resume and cover letter. I haven't had a single call-back, and my approach is somewhat more refined than it had previously been IMO, so it's even worse than it was last year. Given that track record, a test of two applications seems to be a grossly inadequate sample size from which to draw conclusions about what will work or what won't.

The number of job openings within this niche industry is about a couple dozen within Texas (not all of which I'm qualified for). Beyond Texas, I'm not going to be as well qualified; I'll still apply for similar out-of-state positions, but the point being that I don't have much margin for error if I use any of these as test cases. If I'm going to do this, it'll be all-out or none at all.

Before I did all this, I read through several websites that listed the do's and don'ts of resumes.. they all said not to include a photo of yourself.... I tried anyways.

I'm a little torn on that. I need to work on my image, one way or the other, so a few good mugshots could probably be had. On the other hand, I certainly would rather showcase my credentials rather than my age in this case.

[TheNiche]

Hmmm good points here.... along these lines, Niche, you might try to physical approach but not a flashy website--that way if you decide it really could be career limiting, you could pull back the fancy resumes and not have the online spectre out there.

but, keep in mind you're targeting a sector that for whom back-slapping and glad-handing is as vital as air and water, and people who engage in that business tend to be shameless self-promoters.

Ha, well actually I was wondering whether it might be useful to develop suitable social networking profiles and incorporate the little icons into all my physical and digital materials so as to give the impression of an integrated marketing campaign that reaches out to what this particular audience would think of as early adopters of new technology.

As you point out, the target audience are good ol' boys, back-slappers, and shameless self-promoters. I've done consulting for their kind, but they're all over the damned place in terms of my gut instinct as to how they'd respond to something innovative.

[Highway6]

Given that track record, a test of two applications seems to be a grossly inadequate sample size from which to draw conclusions about what will work or what won't.

I agree... however I was already leery of the idea beforehand because of the "dos and don'ts" that I had read and was convinced by someone else to go for it.......Also, since my preferred search for the time being is not only confined to Houston, architecture firms, but also within a reasonable distance of my residence and my wife's school, I really was not willing to waste too many firms with this 'special resume' experiment.

[TheNiche]

How about joining HPD? Decent salary, easy to promote, good benefits, job security.

Thought about it, but would rather go military in that case. Officer pay, management experience, bitchin' awesome VA benefits.

[WAZ]

I got laid off during vacation by way of cell phone on the day before Christmas Eve.

I have two bachelors degrees in Finance and Economics, plus seven years of experience in varied real estate consulting and development roles. I specialize in multifamily but have experience in all other major asset classes as well as in various niche real estate markets.

I'm not desperate. I've got enough current assets and easily-convertible fixed assets to last me several years. Anyone with a decent position: please inquire.

Thanks,

-TheNiche

Yowzas. The day before Christmas Eve, by cell phone. That's cold blooded.

If it's any consolation, these things happen for a reason. I was laid-off in mid October; me and 2 other guys from my previous employer. They weren't really my level, and I was able to land work fairly quickly. Things got worse where I used to be, and last week they let 19 people go. Nancy Sarnoff reported on it in her blog. I was devastated when they let me go, but it'd have been a lot harder for me now.

My advice:

First, the old cliche - NETWORK! It's good to build friendships with people all around. I mean real people; who you work with; who are in your rolodex. Clients are great; previous coworkers can be just as good.

Second, don't be too elaborate; but do be professional with the letters and resumes. I designed my own letterhead; and IMO it was more useful than my portfolio. I also did business cards to match the letterhead. (They're good for other things too, like if you get involved in civic clubs and super neighborhoods.....)

Third, stay productive when you're not looking for work. Stay on the same schedule you were on while employed. Wake up early during the week. Commute to your study or couch or wherever. Work 40 hours a week. Write a book. Take a course. Volunteer somewhere. Even do a blog (comments on other blogs don't count).

I don't want to toot my own horn, but when I was laid off in October, I found work in 3 weeks. In April 2008, when I lost my previous job - it took ten days.

Knock on wood.

Anyway, Niche, we've come to blows on here before, but, best of luck!

[TheNiche]

Yowzas. The day before Christmas Eve, by cell phone. That's cold blooded.

If it's any consolation, these things happen for a reason. I was laid-off in mid October; me and 2 other guys from my previous employer. They weren't really my level, and I was able to land work fairly quickly. Things got worse where I used to be, and last week they let 19 people go. Nancy Sarnoff reported on it in her blog. I was devastated when they let me go, but it'd have been a lot harder for me now.

My advice:

First, the old cliche - NETWORK! It's good to build friendships with people all around. I mean real people; who you work with; who are in your rolodex. Clients are great; previous coworkers can be just as good.

Second, don't be too elaborate; but do be professional with the letters and resumes. I designed my own letterhead; and IMO it was more useful than my portfolio. I also did business cards to match the letterhead. (They're good for other things too, like if you get involved in civic clubs and super neighborhoods.....)

Third, stay productive when you're not looking for work. Stay on the same schedule you were on while employed. Wake up early during the week. Commute to your study or couch or wherever. Work 40 hours a week. Write a book. Take a course. Volunteer somewhere. Even do a blog (comments on other blogs don't count).

I don't want to toot my own horn, but when I was laid off in October, I found work in 3 weeks. In April 2008, when I lost my previous job - it took ten days.

Knock on wood.

Anyway, Niche, we've come to blows on here before, but, best of luck!

On the commercial development side, it was all about timing. Not long before you switched jobs in early '08, I'd given notice to a former employer that I was going to look elsewhere (without having anything lined up). In less than thirty minutes of chatting on the phone to my network, I had something lined up doing almost exactly what I wanted to do and with plenty of perks. I made the new employer wait about a month while I calmly wrapped up projects in my current position as not to burn bridges, then give me an additional week for personal time off, and then give me a starting bonus when I finally did come on staff. It was the peak of the market.

Nowadays, the majority of my network has either moved on or is also unemployed. And there is no a labor market for what I did, really at all. Simple as that. To the extent I can network, the opportunities are pretty random and not industry-specific. Posting on HAIF has been fairly useful, for instance.

[porTENT]

You could change careers or keep being patient and wait out the stall. Don't start a blog, unless you plan on catching box cars and writing in hobo moniker with a grease pencil that doubles as a comb. You could always write your commercial real estate version of "the art of war." Good luck, I've had to take some garbage time jobs in order to just survive.

[crunchtastic]

Thought about it, but would rather go military in that case. Officer pay, management experience, bitchin' awesome VA benefits.

If that's the case, my military friends would tell you Air Force OCS for relative ease of the program and management focus. Provided you're ok with the fundamentalist christian influence in that branch's leadership and particularly in CO Springs.

But try to hold off on a drastic step like that. You don't want to get sent to a backwater and come back with neurological trauma and have to test those bitchin VA benefits for the rest of your drool-covered life.

I have a great respect for service and nearly all the men in my life, present and past, have served, but I can't recommend it in these times. Next stop, Haiti (again).

[TheNiche]

You could change careers or keep being patient and wait out the stall.

Yep, I have to change both occupation and industry. There's no way around it. The "stall" is going to last for years.

[TheNiche]

If that's the case, my military friends would tell you Air Force OCS for relative ease of the program and management focus. Provided you're ok with the fundamentalist christian influence in that branch's leadership and particularly in CO Springs.

But try to hold off on a drastic step like that. You don't want to get sent to a backwater and come back with neurological trauma and have to test those bitchin VA benefits for the rest of your drool-covered life.

I have a great respect for service and nearly all the men in my life, present and past, have served, but I can't recommend it in these times. Next stop, Haiti (again).

That, or Navy. And on the one hand, this is my 'Hail Mary' option. On the other, financial distress is a disqualifier for officers, so it'll be a decision that I evaluate very carefully after income taxes kick my ass in mid-April.

[AtticaFlinch]

Yep, I have to change both occupation and industry. There's no way around it. The "stall" is going to last for years.

Maybe now's the time to look into interpretive dance as a valid career choice.

[AtticaFlinch]

If that's the case, my military friends would tell you Air Force OCS for relative ease of the program and management focus. Provided you're ok with the fundamentalist christian influence in that branch's leadership and particularly in CO Springs.

But try to hold off on a drastic step like that. You don't want to get sent to a backwater and come back with neurological trauma and have to test those bitchin VA benefits for the rest of your drool-covered life.

I have a great respect for service and nearly all the men in my life, present and past, have served, but I can't recommend it in these times. Next stop, Haiti (again).

My brother joined the Air Force about ten years ago as a moderate Christian with no strong beliefs and a spotty track record of church attendance.

These days, he's a new earth Bible-thumper who's taken his kids out of public school because they have the audacity to teach subjects like science there.

That's just one isolated incident, and it should in no way be taken as representative as the Air Force experience as a whole.

[TheNiche]

My brother joined the Air Force about ten years ago as a moderate Christian with no strong beliefs and a spotty track record of church attendance.

These days, he's a new earth Bible-thumper who's taken his kids out of public school because they have the audacity to teach subjects like science there.

That's just one isolated incident, and it should in no way be taken as representative as the Air Force experience as a whole.

I know a guy who basically went the same route for the same reasons, but was formerly Army intelligence. To his and his kids' credit, they're all brought up multi-lingual and are on track to finish the high school curriculum before other kids get to high school. He's even got his twelve-year-old daughter doing calculus.

Say what you will, I'm impressed.

[AtticaFlinch]

I know a guy who basically went the same route for the same reasons, but was formerly Army intelligence. To his and his kids' credit, they're all brought up multi-lingual and are on track to finish the high school curriculum before other kids get to high school. He's even got his twelve-year-old daughter doing calculus.

Say what you will, I'm impressed.

No doubt that's impressive. I was just offering some non-conclusive anecdotal evidence to support crunch's fundamentalist Air Force leadership contention. It means nothing to the actual facts, and my brother's devolution into the hellfire and brimstone mentality probably has nothing to do with the beliefs of his bosses. It's just a coincidence.

[editor]

I feel you on the job placement companies. Five years ago they used to fight over me. Now I can't get them to even acknowledge I exist.

I even went to my old standby -- Kelly Services. They haven't been able to provide me with an hour of work in 16 weeks so far. Yet they keep taking on new applicants. Frustrating.

This might be a little off the wall, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

The Edmonton, Alberta police department is hiring. Americans. Lots of them.

They've been sending recruiters to cities like Seattle and New York and Boston and putting up billboards in those cities, too. They'll train you, find you housing, and even take care of immigration for you (no citizenship change necessary).

Yeah, Edmonton is cold in the winter, but Houston is hot in the summer. Same strategy for both -- try to stay inside as much as you can. And it's an oil town, so you might even know some people who live up there already.

The best part is -- you'd have to police Canadians. How hard could that be?

[TheNiche]

I feel you on the job placement companies. Five years ago they used to fight over me. Now I can't get them to even acknowledge I exist.

I even went to my old standby -- Kelly Services. They haven't been able to provide me with an hour of work in 16 weeks so far. Yet they keep taking on new applicants. Frustrating.

This might be a little off the wall, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

The Edmonton, Alberta police department is hiring. Americans. Lots of them.

They've been sending recruiters to cities like Seattle and New York and Boston and putting up billboards in those cities, too. They'll train you, find you housing, and even take care of immigration for you (no citizenship change necessary).

Yeah, Edmonton is cold in the winter, but Houston is hot in the summer. Same strategy for both -- try to stay inside as much as you can. And it's an oil town, so you might even know some people who live up there already.

The best part is -- you'd have to police Canadians. How hard could that be?

Remarkably and perhaps embarrassingly...policing Canada would appear to be the best opportunity available to me at this time. Thank you. I'll apply.

EDIT: Actually, their website says that they're not actively recruiting international applicants. Are you sure that it's Edmonton?

[N Judah]

I'm guessing it's too late to take the offer in Dallas doing legal services?

[musicman]

furneral homes are making a fortune. forest park lawndale cheapest funeral(besides cremation) is 10.4k. will leave it at that

[TheNiche]

I'm guessing it's too late to take the offer in Dallas doing legal services?

I could probably still make that happen, but relocating to Dallas for <$12/hr. to work for my mom's first husband is sort of a last-ditch or possibly more like a post-bankruptcy option.

[AtticaFlinch]

I think you should try a different interview technique, one more suited to your personality:

[brian0123]

Remarkably and perhaps embarrassingly...policing Canada would appear to be the best opportunity available to me at this time. Thank you. I'll apply.

EDIT: Actually, their website says that they're not actively recruiting international applicants. Are you sure that it's Edmonton?

If joining the police is an option... why not HPD? They are actively hiring for a lot of different positions. The city also has various job postings that you might want to look into... http://agency.governmentjobs.com/houston/default.cfm If you need part-time work, I understand that the census is trying to hire anyone w/out a criminal background right now.

[TheNiche]

If joining the police is an option... why not HPD? They are actively hiring for a lot of different positions. The city also has various job postings that you might want to look into... http://agency.governmentjobs.com/houston/default.cfm If you need part-time work, I understand that the census is trying to hire anyone w/out a criminal background right now.

I actually have a supervisory exam tomorrow morning for the Census, so yeah I'm already involved in that one. But from the sounds of things, veterans tend to bump out even people who score perfectly on this kind of thing, so I'm expecting field work. Still, it pays $17.75/hr. for central Houston, and that's incentive enough.

For HPD, starting salary is $32k, not as high as Canada...and I'd have to police Americans. I'd rather do military service anyway.

[editor]

Remarkably and perhaps embarrassingly...policing Canada would appear to be the best opportunity available to me at this time. Thank you. I'll apply.

EDIT: Actually, their website says that they're not actively recruiting international applicants. Are you sure that it's Edmonton?

Yep. I saw a big billboard when I was in Seattle, and I also saw a report about it on NWCN. I think I read an article in the New York Times, too.

Here an article from the Cleveland paper: http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/11/canadian_ppolice_to_recruit.html

Here's an article from the Seattle Times: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010066754_copjobs15m.html

That last link says the starting salary is US$48,000 and rises to US$75,000 within five years.

Maybe they know you're from Texas. There's a line buried deep in the Seattle article: "They're not recruiting in Southern states."

Looks like the Edmonton Police Service Recruiting Unit has a Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/joineps

Maybe you could ask them there if they're still taking Americans. There's an "International Questions" section in the Facebook page's forum.

[TheNiche]

The portion of the 'We may not be as immune as we thought' thread that went OT is transcribed below:

heh

houston apartment update

Run for the hills! It's a blood-bath, I tell ya'. ;-)

Not just quite yet. But once my military enlistment (prompted by the failure of the real estate development biz) goes through and I get trained and shipped off, I'll be sure to communicate back the number of confirmed kills.

WTF Niche!!! You did NOT! That's not just crazy, that's Roky Erickson crazy.

Maybe he wants to work in the Kremlin with a two-headed dog.

Army?

Possibly. We'll see.

he he. Nice one. But now we've gone and given the lad ideas.

Nothing is official just yet. Still have to go to MEPS.

The ASVAB test is basically an IQ and aptitude test covering things like mechanical ability' date=' organization and work efficiency, reading comprehension, and the like. It's designed to seperate the people able to re-wire a circuit board from the mouth breathers.

ASVAB has quite a few different scores that it spits out once it's graded but I believe the 'G.T.' score is the one most look at as a basic indicator of the testees ability to perform brain surgery and/or put food in their mouth when they are hungry and dress themselves with their underwear on the inside of their clothes.

I believe 60 is the low end and with a score like that you can pump gas, make a burrito, and point and fire your weapon in the general direction of brown people. Your essentially a high functioning excitable fixed gear enthusiast with a score like that but you're still good enough for the military.

90 - 110 is above average and you're probably capable of doing just about anything in the military while 120 and above is way above average and you won't even be offered shitty jobs once you have your sit down with the recruiter at the MEPS station. You will be offered jobs that can be very lucrative in the civilain sector so you will be offered big bonuses tacked on to longer then average enlistments.

Once your test has been graded you'll have a sitdown with a MEPS recruiter who will pull you back in an office cubicle and present to you a piece of paper with a bunch of jobs on it like 'helicopter rotor washer', 'fuel technician', 'chalk block'. Never select these jobs unless you want to make bread pudding all day, wash dishes, fill fuel tanks, or basically just stand around trying to look busy. these are 'Needs of the Military' jobs and they are offered to everyone who sits down.

the good jobs are in the computer and you have to ask to see them. they will be dictated by your ASVAB score and there is no getting around this so even if you want to fly Apache's really really bad if you have an ASVAB score of 70 the closest you will ever get it filling it's fuel tank.

as for how the different militaries dictate job placement i know this...

Air Force - they will let you pick a career field dictated by your Asvab. You will not be able to pick a specific job. so say you really want to work in Network management on the IT side of things. you can pick that field but you might end up pulling and digging trenches for cat-5 cable through a war zone. air force...additionally everyone at one time or another wishes they had joined the air force instead of army/navy/marines/coast guard. their bases are always in big cities next to big airports or in amazing places like the mediterrain or some coastal tropical island.

Army - you can pick your specific field and job. you will get stationed in shit holes through out your career. You will wish you had joined the air force.

Navy/Marines - I believe you get to pick your specific field and job but i could be wrong. i didn't even talk to either of their recruiters because I know I don't like sitting on a boat in the middle of the ocean for 6 months out of the year and Marines are always deployed to conflicts and war first.

let me know if you have any other questions.[/quote']

I've received several panicked PMs and text messages today over all this, so I probably need to put some details out there.

Up until this week, the niche sector that I'd been courting was the economic development industry, where my real estate experience and business degrees would be a good fit. However, as I've done my research and looked at the kinds of people that get these jobs, I've realized that a job of this nature would probably not be attainable even if I'm qualified on paper. Old farts with connections to the community tend to get jobs like these. Additionally, this would merely be a job, not a strategic career advancement. I wouldn't derive much satisfaction, even if the pay were decent. Worse, actually, it'd basically be about administering corporate welfare. So yeah, that just seems to be a way to assure the continuance of my present bout of self-loathing.

That was Plan A. Plan B, if that didn't work out, was to pursue a military commissioning or enlistment in the reserves or national guard and to use the funds to help finance law school. I'd rather not actually practice law, however my frustration with not being able to find a job during this past year would probably have been avoidable if I'd had some graduate-level credentials. But since I've already got a business degree, an MBA is largely redundant. And since I'm qualified for the CFA and intend to also pursue that designation, getting an MS in Finance would also be largely redundant. I don't like being taught at and don't respond well to merely jumping through academic hoops, so I probably wouldn't excel at these programs for lack of discipline. And for once in my life--for the last time that I'll likely ever be a full-time student--I want a traditional student experience where I'm not working full time (or overtime) in the private sector. I want to be a good student, have a good GPA, and rank highly, for once. Student debt is cheap and plentiful, and so I'll embrace it to the fullest extent possible. The military will supplement my income, allowing a few luxuries that would otherwise be beyond my reach...and hopefully will provide an initial bonus that will keep me going this year until I would start law school in the Spring of 2011. That'd give me the opportunity to take care of military training requirements and also get the CFA wrapped up this year, all without having to worry about job-seeking or month-to-month finances.

Longer-term, whether I start off as an officer or not, I'll probably be a good candidate after several years. And once I'm a reserve officer and have a law degree and have passed the Bar exam, I'd have the option to transfer into a JAG reserves capacity. That'd be sort of a wet dream, actually. I'd milk that opportunity for all it was worth, staying in until they retire me, while simultaneously creating a private-sector career for myself.

So that's the plan.

In the short-term, my options are diverse. The only limiting factor as to what I am qualified for is my eyesight. ASVAB is not any kind of obstacle for me. I am limiting my investigation of particular jobs to the Army Reserves or National Guard, Air Force Reserves or National Guard, and Navy Reserves. Having said that, I'm biased against the National Guard because they're everyone's b*tch. The Marine recruiters tried to get me to perjure myself on the initial medical screening forms, so that doesn't exactly reflect well on them...there's also that bit about "every marine a rifleman," and they mean it. And the Coast Guard doesn't offer enlistment bonuses to reservists, and is incompatible with other branches where personnel transfers are concerned.

The decision as far as branch will be dependent on what job openings there happen to be at local reserve or national guard units and will probably be made within the next couple of weeks. During this time, I'm also examining commissioning possibilities with the Army (AF and Navy officer commissions are extraordinarily competitive on account of the economy and their relative safety). I will also be doing a bit of research as far as active-duty alternatives are concerned. Active-duty guys get much better bonuses and a far-superior GI Bill that is fully phased-in by the time they get out, so there is a case to be made for it, provided I have an enjoyable job; at that point, bonuses matter less than my personal happiness. For instance: whereas a Navy recruiter might push sexy Nuclear or Cryptologic fields, I'd much rather be the quartermaster (the ship's navigator, akin to Mr. Sulu). It seems like fun, it'd be safe, there'd be lots of interaction with bridge officers, and the commitment isn't as long. That would work for me. Air Force has similar kinds of jobs that appeal to my nature; Army not as much, but again, it's still an option on account of commissioning possibilities.

Anyway, I'll let you guys know when things firm up. But I'm pretty sure that this is my path.

[totheskies]

The portion of the 'We may not be as immune as we thought' thread that went OT is transcribed below:

Good luck, and thanks for wanting to serve our country. Do you play any instruments or can you sing?? That's a nice avenue to take in the military IMO. Every military branch has its own structure and arrangement of musical groups.

nt isn't as long. That would work for me. Air Force has similar kinds of jobs that appeal to my nature; Army not as much, but again, it's still an option on account of commissioning possibilities.

Anyway, I'll let you guys know when things firm up. But I'm pretty sure that this is my path.

[ricco67]

Well, I am glad that you're able to handle the blows in life with composure. I've met people that simply would have fallen apart as the lives they knew fell apart and sincerely wish you the best on that.

[TheNiche]

Good luck, and thanks for wanting to serve our country. Do you play any instruments or can you sing?? That's a nice avenue to take in the military IMO. Every military branch has its own structure and arrangement of musical groups.

Yep, they give bonuses for military band members, too. It's a nice gig if you can get it. But as for me, I'll sing Roy Orbison sometimes after I've been drinking...but nobody should ever be subjected to me attempting to yodel in the high registers. That'd have to be a violation of the Geneva Convention, somehow.

Well, I am glad that you're able to handle the blows in life with composure. I've met people that simply would have fallen apart as the lives they knew fell apart and sincerely wish you the best on that.

It hasn't been easy, but I've suffered my indignities in private.