Bleek future for only High-School Grad?

Hey, I'd be curious to hear how many of you guys that are currently working in IT and have no Degrees?

I'm finding the job market impossible to get into, I've been unemployed for 2+ yrs, My previous job was a mix of Security, NOC, admin, type duties... after looking for security jobs for about a yr, I couldn't afford to take the "$12/hr" jobs these companies were offering me, my rent alone was $1000/month...so then I tried Temp Admin work...nothing... now I'm trying my luck at the IT field...(I've only been looking for IT jobs for 2 months) fast forward 2yrs later and I'm living with my parents, rent free but I'm now 27yrs old, in debt and it's getting worst each passing month... I just finished applying to a position on Monster.com, they let you see how many other applicants applied and their experience and education level, it was for a 24/7 noc position in NJ, of the 24 applicants, I was the only one with a HS diploma, the Majority had a BA, or Masters... Do I have no chance against this crop of applicants, when a person with a Masters settles for $35-40k/yr, what the hell type job am I suppose to work? $20K wtf.... this seems so hard

How did you get your start...?

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SdotLow

The economy and job market is quite brutal at the moment. Regardless of the unemployment numbers posted, you can guarantee they are quite a bit higher.

I'm lucky enough to be employed at the moment, and I've seen friends and coworkers laid off over the past couple years. I've been pounding away at picking up certs to make myself marketable and have come to realize that they don't quite cut it (at least what I have at the moment). I've only managed to get one phone interview out of the past 4 months of applying. I've applied for every job under the sun, well in regards to entry level IT. As soon as I get my CCNA I'll be shooting for a BA from WGU to make myself even more marketable.

Just as an example, I've seen resumes come through where I work for $12-13/hr jobs from people with masters degrees that were making 90k before being laid off. That's how bad the job market is. HR departments are being literally flooded with resumes. It's hard to get your resume taken seriously when you're competing against highly/over qualified people, unless you know someone that can get your resume inserted into that pile.

hiddenknight821

Armymanis wrote: »

Its called getting a loan from your parents. I took out a loan with my parents and got a car and a job when i was 16 and yes i am still employed to this day. Have only taken 1 year off from work because I was in school other then that I have been working non-stop. When I did enter back into the workforce I had to go to a grocery store and work.

I'm sorry, but in OP's defense, I think he's right that he can't find the money right away, and he would have to get it on his own somehow by any mean necessary. So that leaves him with one option. He needs to get a job. What you just said is completely ignorant since you don't know what his parents' salary is. How would you know if they qualify for a loan. Remember, not everyone is in the same situation as you are. Otherwise, I think the OP would have figured that out a while ago. I don't even think my mom is qualified to take out a loan. Have you ever met or seen a family that had it worse than yours? That's what you need to understand. It irritates me how everyone assumes everyone has parents that are well-off or even alive. That's just ignorant when people make that assumption.

SdotLow

Armymanis wrote: »

Its called getting a loan from your parents. I took out a loan with my parents and got a car and a job when i was 16 and yes i am still employed to this day. Have only taken 1 year off from work because I was in school other then that I have been working non-stop. When I did enter back into the workforce I had to go to a grocery store and work.

You may have that luxury. He may not. Stop being so obnoxiously naive.

I have never owned a car, because I've never been able to afford one. My mother would never be able to "loan" me money, as she's just scraping to get by herself. You know all of those people that use public transit? They can't either. They don't have parents to fall back on to give them advantages. Consider yourself very lucky, and stop assuming everyone in the world lives in the same bubble you do.

Rappeller

johnnyarks wrote: »

Strangely enough not many of you answer my original question is how many of you guys are working in the industry and have no degrees...and how did you get your start, what was your first job/experience...?

I don't have a degree just a GED. I am 41 and in 2000 I worked did collections for a trucking company. I met my wife online and we got married I took a higher paying job w/ better benefits for the family and in less than a year the company filed Bankruptcy. I was unemployed for a year. I moved 2 states to take a job that paid $9 an hour. I was on an internet help desk trouble shooting dial up internet connections. a year later I was doing DSL and dialup. I worked there with no certifications and no degree for 6 years until they moved our department to India for cost savings (6 months later they moved it back to the US, just not our state again). I then took a job as a Buyer (with a bump up in pay) for a manufacturing company, I worked with spreadsheets a lot. A year later I took my current position on the help desk here. (another pay raise and the best benefits so far) and am currently enrolled at WGU to get a degree and certs. I'll be honest I feel for you, but at the same time I have read a bunch of excuses about this and that.

johnnyarks wrote:

I guess you didn't read where I wrote these are dead end jobs, Security companies here in NYC are like cheap temp agencies, $12/hr is considered "high-end" on their pay-scale, with a rent of $1000/month really, man? You can't live on this. The most they pay is $18 tops and that's supervisor positions with 7-10+ years, or an ex-cop... like I said dead end jobs. Now living with my parents I can take something like $25-30K a yr cause I'm not paying rent, and honestly I'd be pretty content with that for a while, since I consider myself entry level. Seems like you guys think I'm holding out for $60k/yr job I'm not, I only made $35k/yr at my last job...and I was barely getting by on that.

I supported my family on less than $12 an hour for several years (12 x 2080 = $24960 a year

If you have been unemployed for 2 years plus, that will be a definate red flag for an HR department. Nowadays unless you are 18 right out of high school or just graduated from college, it is easier to be hired if you already have a job (even if it is McD's or taco bell). With the economy the way it is, HR departments understand if you aren't working in your field but they want to see that you were a go getter willing to do what it takes to get a job. This does translate into job performance as it gives them insight as to how proactive you are. If you have a job = equals desire for a better job - If no job especially over a protracted period = possibility doesn't see or unwilling to change things necessary to get a job.

I have a friend who works at an employment agency and we were just having this conversation over the weekend. She said their biggest issue was with people getting laid off and then milked their unemployment benefits as long as they could by focusing only on jobs where they made as much or more as their last position and ignored the lower paying or "demeaning jobs". They are harder to find employers for. Whereas the ones who jumped into Mcd's had to work counter or cook or whatever but they still looked, they were usually employed in their field again within 6 months.

I'm not saying this applies to you, but the perspective is something to look at.

W Stewart

Armymanis wrote: »

Its called getting a loan from your parents. I took out a loan with my parents and got a car and a job when i was 16 and yes i am still employed to this day. Have only taken 1 year off from work because I was in school other then that I have been working non-stop. When I did enter back into the workforce I had to go to a grocery store and work.

That's not always an option. My parents certainly don't have that kind of credit to get a loan. They got their cell phone bills in my name and my credit isn't all that great either. In fact it was messed up long before I knew what credit was. I had to join the military like some people stated and save up money for driving lessons and my first car. Life isn't always that easy for everyone. Loans require good credit and a job to pay it back.

W Stewart

Rappeller wrote: »

I don't have a degree just a GED. I am 41 and in 2000 I worked did collections for a trucking company. I met my wife online and we got married I took a higher paying job w/ better benefits for the family and in less than a year the company filed Bankruptcy. I was unemployed for a year. I moved 2 states to take a job that paid $9 an hour. I was on an internet help desk trouble shooting dial up internet connections. a year later I was doing DSL and dialup. I worked there with no certifications and no degree for 6 years until they moved our department to India for cost savings (6 months later they moved it back to the US, just not our state again). I then took a job as a Buyer (with a bump up in pay) for a manufacturing company, I worked with spreadsheets a lot. A year later I took my current position on the help desk here. (another pay raise and the best benefits so far) and am currently enrolled at WGU to get a degree and certs. I'll be honest I feel for you, but at the same time I have read a bunch of excuses about this and that.

I supported my family on less than $12 an hour for several years (12 x 2080 = $24960 a year

If you have been unemployed for 2 years plus, that will be a definate red flag for an HR department. Nowadays unless you are 18 right out of high school or just graduated from college, it is easier to be hired if you already have a job (even if it is McD's or taco bell). With the economy the way it is, HR departments understand if you aren't working in your field but they want to see that you were a go getter willing to do what it takes to get a job. This does translate into job performance as it gives them insight as to how proactive you are. If you have a job = equals desire for a better job - If no job especially over a protracted period = possibility doesn't see or unwilling to change things necessary to get a job.

I have a friend who works at an employment agency and we were just having this conversation over the weekend. She said their biggest issue was with people getting laid off and then milked their unemployment benefits as long as they could by focusing only on jobs where they made as much or more as their last position and ignored the lower paying or "demeaning jobs". They are harder to find employers for. Whereas the ones who jumped into Mcd's had to work counter or cook or whatever but they still looked, they were usually employed in their field again within 6 months.

I'm not saying this applies to you, but the perspective is something to look at.

Looks like we have a little bit in common(I met my girlfriend online). I got my GED too and I'm supporting me and my girlfriend and eventually my unborn child off of 12.50 an hour but the cost of living isn't the same everywhere. if rent is 1000 dollars where he lives then it takes more then a whole paycheck just to pay rent alone. That doesn't factor in all of the other bills he may have to pay. Think about all the debt the OP says he has and throw that on top of regular bills. There's no way to even save up to get a car.

W Stewart

W Stewart wrote: »

Looks like we have a little bit in common(I met my girlfriend online). I got my GED too and I'm supporting me and my girlfriend and eventually my unborn child off of 12.50 an hour but the cost of living isn't the same everywhere. if rent is 1000 dollars where he lives then it takes more then a whole paycheck just to pay rent alone. That doesn't factor in all of the other bills he may have to pay. Think about all the debt the OP says he has and throw that on top of regular bills. There's no way to even save up to get a car.

That being said, have a few kids and get on section 8. Nothing wrong with getting assistance when you actually need it just as long as it's only temporary to get on your feet. Times are hard right now and the government has no problem screwing you if it benefits them so at least take advantage of the benefits they offer for people who are going through hard times.

That was partially a joke but at the same time if you're finding it hard to make a living off of the pennies these guys are willing to pay you then no one can fault you for getting government assistance when you already have a job and you still can't provide for yourself and your family. Some people take for granted the fact that they have an education and a good job and attack people who need a little bit of assistance because a few are lazy and just want to live off of assistance for the rest of their lives. The economy is bad and people need help. There's no way I would be able to make it with 1000 dollar rent off of my pay. I would have to live out of my car and eventually move to an area with a lower cost of living.

SdotLow

Rappeller wrote: »

I supported my family on less than $12 an hour for several years (12 x 2080 = $24960 a year

If you have been unemployed for 2 years plus, that will be a definate red flag for an HR department. Nowadays unless you are 18 right out of high school or just graduated from college, it is easier to be hired if you already have a job (even if it is McD's or taco bell). With the economy the way it is, HR departments understand if you aren't working in your field but they want to see that you were a go getter willing to do what it takes to get a job. This does translate into job performance as it gives them insight as to how proactive you are. If you have a job = equals desire for a better job - If no job especially over a protracted period = possibility doesn't see or unwilling to change things necessary to get a job.

I have a friend who works at an employment agency and we were just having this conversation over the weekend. She said their biggest issue was with people getting laid off and then milked their unemployment benefits as long as they could by focusing only on jobs where they made as much or more as their last position and ignored the lower paying or "demeaning jobs". They are harder to find employers for. Whereas the ones who jumped into Mcd's had to work counter or cook or whatever but they still looked, they were usually employed in their field again within 6 months.

I'm not saying this applies to you, but the perspective is something to look at.

I'm not excusing the OP, as I agree he was making excuses and whining a bit. With that being said, there is an enormous difference in cost of living between different areas of the country. I'm fairly certain that NJ/NY is roughly like my neck of the woods, where you can live outside the city and live in a shanty shack, ghetto, effeciency 1 bedroom apartment and be paying $1100. A 1 bedroom closer to the city is $1600+. Staying on unemployment making more than you would if you took a lower paying job so that you could stay in your home and keep food on the table is understandable to me, as I live in one of those vastly over priced areas.

I live in a crappy area, in a crappy 1 bedroom apartment and pay $1250 a month with no utilities included. I'm as far away outside the city to support not having my own car. Any further out and public transit would not be an option.

A buddy of mine lived in Florida with a roommate in a very nice 2 bedroom apartment only paying $575 a month for that apartment. Cost of living can be, and is, very different throughout the country. And saying "move to x,y,z" while good advice on paper, doesn't always play out so well in reality.

DigitalZeroOne

It's very easy for everyone (myself included) to be Captain Hindsight; here is what I would do going forward. The first thing I checked on indeed.com is any job with "network" in it, within 15 miles of Hoboken, NJ. There were over 16,000 returns. Just for fun, I put "network entry" into the search and came back with over 400 returns. What I would do is contact as many temp agencies in your area as possible. I know you said that you don't have a car, and since you are with your parents, I would jump on the bus as long as it took to find something worthwhile.

If you are applying at retail stores, you may want to remove any hint of certifications, you can tell the stores your interests, but don't make it seem as if you are waiting on something better. I would also check on craigslist for jobs, look for small businesses. Be careful though, make sure the place is legit. Good luck.

Hypntick

johnnyarks wrote: »

Please read post #35, these offers were from Security companies, as in Security Guard Companies, contracts... You are just a employee# to these companies, everyone is expendable... If I took a $12 gig 2yrs ago I'd be making $12 now, they are thankless dead end jobs, that is the reason for the career change into the IT field, the only ppl who make good careers in Security are ex-law enforcement, i.e. Cops, retired FBI.

and to be clear I have no problems taking a $12hr job now, I'm living at home with my parents, I don't pay rent, that was the issue with taking these jobs before was that my rent was $1000/month, $12 a month wasn't gonna cut it.

See this is where i'm going to disagree with you. You say if you took the $12 an hour job then you'd still be making $12 an hour now. This was 2 years ago, why would you stay in a dead-end job for 2 years? You take the job to make yourself viable in the eyes of a hiring manager or HR department. They don't care where you did it, they just care that you were employed. Unfortunately with the way things are these days if you hit 6 months without work you're unemployable. It's a harsh fact but there are quite a few job postings i've seen that state point blank "The unemployed need not apply".

When you have work, no matter what it is, the hiring manager looks at your resume and sees "Oh good this guy didn't just sit on his butt, he didn't think this work was beneath him". I know you say you'd take anything now, but if you've been out for 2 years, you may have let the only chance you had pass you by.

tpatt100

hiddenknight821 wrote: »

I'm sorry, but in OP's defense, I think he's right that he can't find the money right away, and he would have to get it on his own somehow by any mean necessary. So that leaves him with one option. He needs to get a job. What you just said is completely ignorant since you don't know what his parents' salary is. How would you know if they qualify for a loan. Remember, not everyone is in the same situation as you are. Otherwise, I think the OP would have figured that out a while ago. I don't even think my mom is qualified to take out a loan. Have you ever met or seen a family that had it worse than yours? That's what you need to understand. It irritates me how everyone assumes everyone has parents that are well-off or even alive. That's just ignorant when people make that assumption.

Yeah my parents are both deceased. It was my National Guard paychecks and money left over from my GI Bill while attending school that paid my rent/food.

johnnyarks

Hypntick wrote: »

See this is where i'm going to disagree with you. You say if you took the $12 an hour job then you'd still be making $12 an hour now. This was 2 years ago, why would you stay in a dead-end job for 2 years? You take the job to make yourself viable in the eyes of a hiring manager or HR department. They don't care where you did it, they just care that you were employed. Unfortunately with the way things are these days if you hit 6 months without work you're unemployable. It's a harsh fact but there are quite a few job postings i've seen that state point blank "The unemployed need not apply"...

$12/hr didn't cover my rent/bill/food/transportation. Unemployment checks did. Its just simple math, and when I get asked this in my interviews, everyone of the managers conducting the interview understands this.

A lot you guys don't seem to understand the cost the living here...it maybe a lot lower in your City/State... I was living in East Flatbush brooklyn, this is pretty much considered the ghetto, its not to bad cause I grew up in an area like this so I'm used to the "hood", but I lived across the street from the Project buildings, and my rent was $1000/m, about 1:20hr from NYC typically on MTA (this is considered far to New Yorkers =D)... To be clear to everyone, I'm not making excuses, I'm stating facts of my situation, this is what happened, the original point of the thread was to find High school only grads who have successfully gain employment in the IT field and see what their path was to get there, but for some reason changed into critiquing how I could have done "X" to not be in my situation, its so much easier to be a 3rd party looking at the situation as a whole and say "oh you could have done this", how bout you live it first, I see a lot of you guys **** on me that already have BA/BS degrees, its so much easier to just poo poo on someone without it. Maybe I didn't quite have the same opportunities you did growing up, and gauging from a few of the responses I'm seeing here, It seems like it's easier to find work in other parts of the country. There is MAD competition here in NYC, at any one point I've personally know 8 close friends and family members to be unemployed for at least 6+ months (some with degrees/ some not)... I'm not making excuses, I didn't write the thread for ppl to feel sorry for me, I'm 27, I'm grown, it just is what it is, and I'm just trying to find a way to overcome the economic situation in my city with what I have.

JohnnyBiggles

johnnyarks wrote: »

$12/hr didn't cover my rent/bill/food/transportation. Unemployment checks did. Its just simple math, and when I get asked this in my interviews, everyone of the managers conducting the interview understands this. When your unemployed you never think your gonna be out of work for 6 months, then it turns to 12 months, ..etc. Of course, If I knew that I was gonna be out of work for 2yrs I would have broke my lease and shacked up with my parents and immediately enrolled in a B.A. program, but you never think like this, you always say to yourself, "I'll find work next month, or the next month, something will turn up" ...but that just doesn't happen.

Very good point. It's being optimistic. Without it, you'd get no new job at all anyway. Again, hindsight is 20/20 right? You wouldn't immediately change your whole lifestyle to moving back in with mom & dad or to renting a single room somewhere and giving up your car or cellphone the day after you get canned would you? (unless you live a rather extravagant lifestyle, but I consider my own pretty damn moderate to sub par, even) As good an idea as it might be to, it really only works in hindsight. These things serve as advantages for someone unemployed... and it isn't until later that you really need to start breaking things down to nothing... and then it's even harder to conduct a job hunt. For example, right now it's actually cheaper and more efficient for me to drive my 16 yr old car than it is to use public transportation, having 2 jobs and looking for a new one.

hiddenknight821

johnnyarks wrote: »

When your unemployed you never think your gonna be out of work for 6 months, then it turns to 12 months, ..etc. Of course, If I knew that I was gonna be out of work for 2yrs I would have broke my lease and shacked up with my parents and immediately enrolled in a B.A. program, but you never think like this, you always say to yourself, "I'll find work next month, or the next month, something will turn up" ...but that just doesn't happen.

That's it! There's the needle in the haystack we're looking for. You have procrastination issue. I understand you're determined to search for jobs, but again, we were looking at you where you gotten too comfortable with the unemployment benefit that you had that probably disgusted us and forgot about the objective of this thread.

Okay, we posters need to stop bashing you now on your past since what's done is done. No need to look back and say "He coulda" or "He shoulda". That's opportunity was long gone the second the OP made his first post in this thread. Now, you posted your resume earlier, and one of us would be happy to critique it, but at the same time we're being a hypocrite too as we probably don't have time to help you, and we're too busy with our lives. We wanted to help you, but we rather spend our free time reading the other threads here. At least I'm speaking the truth here.

First Last Name

000 Address Ave. City, NJ 11111

555-555-5555 emailaddress@here.com

Skills
Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician (CCENT), August 2011
CompTIA Network+ Certified, June 2011
Completed 3 months of CompTIA A+, Network+, & CCNA Classroom training at New York Business Institute
Proficiency in Microsoft Office programs such as, Excel, Word, & Outlook
G.E. Security - Picture Perfect, Access Vision (Used to monitored IDF rooms, Door alarms, and Panic alarms)
G.E. Security - Wave Reader & Wave Watch, (Used as a front-end UI for DVR monitoring, and to ping remote cameras)
Plans to pursue MCITP: Server Administrator certification on Windows Server 2008
Type 60+WPM

Work Experience

9/2006 - 3/2009 Credit-Suisse / Allied Barton Security Services, 11 Madison Ave, NYC 10010

Command Center Supervisor
· Answered all phone inquiries regarding security procedures, building facilities issues, and building access cards
· Assistant to 3 Allied Barton Account Managers
· The overseeing of Credit-Suisse’ Door, Panic, and IDFs Alarms Station
· Respond quickly and calmly to medical & fire emergencies while quickly relaying direction to First Responders
· Arrange visits with various security vendors for maintenance, or repair of on site equipment such as cameras, card readers, door contacts, and DVRs
· Answer hundreds of alarms for over 45 Credit-Suisse sites in the Americas using G.E. Security programs such as Picture Perfect, Wave Reader, and Wave Watch
· Weekly playback inspection of 80+ digital video recorders (DVRs)
· Daily remote inspection of over 300 Credit-Suisse’ security cameras in the Americas

Corporate Receptionist
· Meet & greet hundreds of employees and visitors while providing them with security I.D. badges
· Simultaneously signing in guests and visitors while dealing with numerous incoming phone calls
· Keep visitor reservation emails organized and concise for future referencing
· Booking conference rooms for various company functions
· Contacting appropriate Credit-Suisse personnel when visitors arrive
· Provide clear direction and assistance to visitors and employees when needed
· Acting as liaison with couriers during after hrs and weekend shifts
· Constant use of company intranet & e-mail system

3/2004 - 9/2006 McDonald’s, Brooklyn, New York, 11237

Crew – Maintenance / Cashier
· Installed POS Operating system upgrades for restaurant’s DOS based cash registers
· Backed up DVR recordings of restaurant’s security camera footage on various storage mediums
· Multi-task in a very fast paced/busy work environment
· Standing for 8hrs+ shifts while maintaining high quality of customer service.
· Worked AM shift to receive truck deliveries

Education
2004 – 2005 - LaGuardia Community College - Computer Operations: Network Administration
2003 – 2004 - DeVry University - Computer Electronics
1998 – 2002 - Bushwick High School - Desktop Publishing (High School Diploma)

References
Xxx
Xxx
Xxx

Now let's get crackin', people. I believe we did not get the details about your past college experience, and it seems like you do have some college experiences, and we would like to know why you left, and get you back on that path you once were on. Maybe we can help make your college experience looks outstanding.

As for the Skills section, you may need to work on that depending on what job you are applying for. If it's for security (non-IT) job, then that would be appropriate, but if it's for the IT job you are trying to apply to, then you should remove all non-revelant things. I know you are trying to pad up your resume, but it's just not lovely at all. Get rid of it. You can leave the certs. I will come back with more recommendations later, but I will wait and let others chime in and apologize about not paying attention to the objective of this thread and help you on this.

SdotLow

hiddenknight821 wrote: »

That's it! There's the needle in the haystack we're looking for. You have procrastination issue. I understand you're determined to search for jobs, but again, we were looking at you where you gotten too comfortable with the unemployment benefit that you had that probably disgusted us and forgot about the objective of this thread.

I'm sorry, but....wtf? How the hell did you get he was to "comfortable" with his unemployment? Seriously, that's just disgusting. Have you even bothered to read the thread?

He lived on his own. His rent alone was $1000. $12/hr for 2 weeks come to $960 without taxes being taken out, after taxes probably 700. With unemployment he was probably getting $1200 or so. Where do you derive him being some lazy unemployed person out of this entire thread?

If it costs you $1300 a month to maintain the bare minimum quality of living outside of being homeless, and you're getting close to that from picking up unemployment. Why the hell would you shoot yourself in the foot and take a job to make half of what you were making from unemployment?

I'd really love to hear the logic that is being applied by the people in the thread that have been echoing this sentiment.

Edit: And how the **** is that a procrastination issue? How is looking for employment when you're living on your own, so you don't have to break your lease and **** up your credit a procrastination issue?

johnnyarks

Originally Posted by johnnyarks
When your unemployed you never think your gonna be out of work for 6 months, then it turns to 12 months, ..etc. Of course, If I knew that I was gonna be out of work for 2yrs I would have broke my lease and shacked up with my parents and immediately enrolled in a B.A. program, but you never think like this, you always say to yourself, "I'll find work next month, or the next month, something will turn up" ...but that just doesn't happen.

That's it! There's the needle in the haystack we're looking for. You have procrastination issue. I understand you're determined to search for jobs, but again, we were looking at you where you gotten too comfortable with the unemployment benefit that you had that probably disgusted us and forgot about the objective of this thread.

I see you completely mistook that for me sitting on my ass again? The statement was meant to portray the "unemployed mindset" - that you always think you will find work and that you would never have imagined you'd be out of work for a sustained period of time. It doesn't mean you don't look for work. You misconstrued. To be clear I was never comfortable on unemployment, I was in the red every month, A lot of expenses where being put on credit with the hope of finding work to recoup my loses...but it just never came.

I stopped school because my mother stopped paying for tuition, and I didn't qualify for a big enough loan/aid to cover tuition for DeVry.

I tried for Community College, but the schedule of working in McDonald's and Swing Shift Security work didn't lend itself to doing both. There were also some money issues there. Classes for my Major where at Noon-3, or 6-8, and I typically worked a rotating 12-8pm, 2-10pm shift, 4-12midnight

Akaricloud

Resume definitely looks like it could use some work..

I'm at work right now so I'll just point out a few things that caught my eye at first glance.

1. Dates: Your date formatting seems fairly unprofessional to me. No 0 in the month but yet the full year? 9/2006

2. Grammer: Under the job tasks you seem to change your style of writing a lot. You go from past tense(assisted), to present and even future it seems. (respond, arrange, keep, acting, ect.)

3. Capitalization: There seem to be a few words randomly capitalized throughout (Door, Operating, ect.)

4. Your high school diploma seems strangely listed. Just list it as a high school diploma.

5. Does your receptionist position have a company or dates associated with it?

I've helped go through resumes and conduct interviews in a previous position I had. This is supposed to be your best work and should be 100% flawless. Anything less will get it tossed in the trash.

Turgon

Guys.

The thread is becoming toxic. I sense that people mean well but we are veering into territory of assumption about the motivation of the OP, and assumptions about what repondants are thinking or trying to say. I have seen this sort of thing escalate into bad feeling between regulars on a forum which is unnecessary.

For my part I think the OP needs some good practical advice on how to land a decent job.

My take, as I have said earlier, is to work out a three year plan with the goal of being in a decent permanent job by the age of thirty. I think that's both practical and sensible not only for the OP but also for many, many people struggling in this economy. I really dont think the economic landscape presently offers lots of great opportunities for many people at this time.,least of all people struggling at the bottom end of the employability stakes.

It's a crap economy and IMHO about to get worse for a while.

So. Could we all please respond with ideas on how to locate the sort of work in the OPs locale that will get him on, always keeping in mind his cost of living in his locale.

I may offer some advice a bit later on job searching, although Im not familiar with NY. Im speaking to Cisco tommorow to go over a number of migration options we have and need to look them over first this evening..

johnnyarks

SdotLow wrote: »

I'm sorry, but....wtf? How the hell did you get he was to "comfortable" with his unemployment? Seriously, that's just disgusting. Have you even bothered to read the thread?

He lived on his own. His rent alone was $1000. $12/hr for 2 weeks come to $960 without taxes being taken out, after taxes probably 700. With unemployment he was probably getting $1200 or so. Where do you derive him being some lazy unemployed person out of this entire thread?

If it costs you $1300 a month to maintain the bare minimum quality of living outside of being homeless, and you're getting close to that from picking up unemployment. Why the hell would you shoot yourself in the foot and take a job to make half of what you were making from unemployment?

I'd really love to hear the logic that is being applied by the people in the thread that have been echoing this sentiment.

Edit: And how the **** is that a procrastination issue? How is looking for employment when you're living on your own, so you don't have to break your lease and **** up your credit a procrastination issue?

This is the thing I feel alot of these guys are young, and never really got into any money troubles, or never have lived on their own, or really just don't understand living expenses.

Rappeller

In my opinion the best way to get a job, is to network, network, network. In todays environment it is just as much about who you know as what you know. When my job was going away I talked to all of the professionals I knew, especially at church and just asked them to keep an ear on the ground for me. I didn't ask them to put in a word for me, just to give me kind of an advance notice. A couple of leads did come that, I even got a call from out of state the said " I heard from x who heard from y that you were looking for work, what skills do you have" since this was an informal meet and greet we talked and decided we weren't in the same field but because I impressed him he did put out some feelers for me also which did get me the position out of the IT arena but kept me fed until I got the job I have now. Volunteer in programs that work with kids (i.e. Scouting or Big Brothers/Big Sisters), not only will it help you feel better about yourself, you are helping the future generation grow, AND a lot of professional people have kids and if they see you volunteering and doing a good job with kids they will help yo get your foot in the door. Even though I am a peon at work, I am friends with presidents, CEOs, CFOs, and business owners. Most of them I met through voluunteering.

johnnyarks

Akaricloud wrote: »

Resume definitely looks like it could use some work..

I'm at work right now so I'll just point out a few things that caught my eye at first glance.

1. Dates: Your date formatting seems fairly unprofessional to me. No 0 in the month but yet the full year? 9/2006

2. Grammer: Under the job tasks you seem to change your style of writing a lot. You go from past tense(assisted), to present and even future it seems. (respond, arrange, keep, acting, ect.)

3. Capitalization: There seem to be a few words randomly capitalized throughout (Door, Operating, ect.)

4. Your high school diploma seems strangely listed. Just list it as a high school diploma.

5. Does your receptionist position have a company or dates associated with it?

I've helped go through resumes and conduct interviews in a previous position I had. This is supposed to be your best work and should be 100% flawless. Anything less will get it tossed in the trash.

thanks, no one has ever really given me any criticism regarding my resume, I will make some adjustments... You really think I should just wipe HS diploma off my resume?

networker050184

Lets keep it on topic please.

hiddenknight821

johnnyarks wrote: »

your doing it again, Taking the situation as a whole as saying "you could have done "X"

... When you're living in the moment your brain doesn't think like this..you assess the situation on a week to week or month to month basis.. and Moving in with my parents when I lost my job wasn't 100% full proof, I didn't want to break my lease on my first apt, mess up my credit and screw my perfect landlord reference, and lose my security deposit.

Okay. The reason why I was "doing it" again is because you guys blew my statement out of proportion, I felt obliged to explain to you what I meant in further detail despite the fact that I wanted to just forget about it, but again you were pushing my button.

Anyway, if you could be honest with yourself and look back, would you say you could have done something differently? Yeah, I'm sure you would. We gave you you tons of scenarios where you could have not done that, but since it was your decision to make, we had no way of ruling it since what done was done.

Like I said, you could have called relatives, friends, or someone who can reach out to you and ask them for reasonable advices when you were dealing with the crisis. Personally, I would have done something differently, but if you feel that you made the right decision and had no regret, then don't come to this thread to let people bomb **** on you. You can tell them that you make no regret, but you were not clear until later in the thread. Anyway, I'm done helping you. You didn't even bother thanking me. You can continue to become bitter. Remember, I live in the neck of your woods, and you paid no attention to that. Networking is a dangerous game, so you better play it smart. Good luck with your endeavor.

Turgon

Akaricloud wrote: »

Resume definitely looks like it could use some work..

I'm at work right now so I'll just point out a few things that caught my eye at first glance.

1. Dates: Your date formatting seems fairly unprofessional to me. No 0 in the month but yet the full year? 9/2006

2. Grammer: Under the job tasks you seem to change your style of writing a lot. You go from past tense(assisted), to present and even future it seems. (respond, arrange, keep, acting, ect.)

3. Capitalization: There seem to be a few words randomly capitalized throughout (Door, Operating, ect.)

4. Your high school diploma seems strangely listed. Just list it as a high school diploma.

5. Does your receptionist position have a company or dates associated with it?

I've helped go through resumes and conduct interviews in a previous position I had. This is supposed to be your best work and should be 100% flawless. Anything less will get it tossed in the trash.

You spelt grammar wrong. The irony of it

johnnyarks

Turgon wrote: »

You spelt grammar wrong. The irony of it

....indeed !

Akaricloud

johnnyarks wrote: »

thanks, no one has ever really given me any criticism regarding my resume, I will make some adjustments... You really think I should just wipe HS diploma off my resume?

Don't remove it but make it look like your other education listings. The (High School Diploma) in ()'s makes it appear that it's not the main focus of that line but rather an afterthought.

Turgon wrote: »

You spelt grammar wrong. The irony of it

Haha perfect

I blame my work for not allowing me to use a web browser that has spell check.

Turgon

johnnyarks wrote: »

....indeed !

It maybe worthwhile putting a separate post up to get help with your CV. A number of people do this and going by the feedback the results are generally pretty positive when it come to callbacks from agents and interviews.

Heero

The problem is that you look horrible (at least on paper) to anyone reviewing your resume/CV. You have no college education, until recently had no certs, and you were unemployed for more than 2 years.

You would have looked a lot better if you had been able to go into interviews saying you have acheived stuff to improve yourself over the course of your unemployment, like getting certs, getting an associate degree, etc...

Progressing towards the CCNA now will be helpful, but do not think it will be game changing. The experience and 2+ year unemployment will be the sticking point. You will have to take a job that doesn't pay what you want to get that experience, and to even get that job you will likely need some relevent certs such as the CCNA.

It won't be handed to you and you will have to work for it.

johnnyarks

Turgon wrote: »

It maybe worthwhile putting a separate post up to get help with your CV. A number of people do this and going by the feedback the results are generally pretty positive when it come to callbacks from agents and interviews.

...will do !

Heero wrote: »

The problem is that you look horrible (at least on paper) to anyone reviewing your resume/CV. You have no college education, until recently had no certs, and you were unemployed for more than 2 years.

You would have looked a lot better if you had been able to go into interviews saying you have acheived stuff to improve yourself over the course of your unemployment, like getting certs, getting an associate degree, etc...

Progressing towards the CCNA now will be helpful, but do not think it will be game changing. The experience and 2+ year unemployment will be the sticking point. You will have to take a job that doesn't pay what you want to get that experience, and to even get that job you will likely need some relevent certs such as the CCNA.

It won't be handed to you and you will have to work for it.

3 months of boot camp no good?

pham0329

Sit down and think of what your skillsets are and list that under skills, and separate your cert out to its own section. Also, completing a 3 month trainning and planning on pursuing MCITP is not a skill

3 months of boot camp no good?

A boot camp doesn't mean squat if you don't have anything to show for it. Just because you attended a boot camp doesn't mean you understood what was taught.