bequibar

I went to a "diversity career fair" today at the Wyndham Hotel, and a job fair last month at the Marriot, and, it has to be said, they were both a huge waste of my time and energy.

It looks like Philly is the land of plenty for sales people, technicians and nurses, lol. Any other area is practically nonexistant.

I've gotten more curriculums submitted via email for online job searches than throught these things.

But I took your advise:
I called 2 temp agencies today. One of them will get back to me tomorrow and the other will get back to me as soon as I fax my resume and cover letter, so that's gonna be taken care of first thing in the morning.

We'll see what happens...

Leslie

Job fairs suck.

Are there some universities nearby? Sometimes they do all of their hiring and recruiting "in house" or on their own message boards. IOW you may not ever hear about openings unless you go directly to the school.

bequibar

Oh yeah, I applied to all the UPenn openings that interested me. They have a very good jobs search engine and fairly straightforward application process. But so far no luck.

I mean, I started actively sending out applications after I got the EAD, which means I've only been at it for 3 weeks, so I'm not completely devastated at having zero results. It's too early. But I do wanna cover all my bases.

And I will not think twice about applying to be a waitress, secretary, recepcionist, hostess or housekeeper or whatever if I don't find a professional career job soon. Some money is better than no money. And a crap job is better than no job.

I'm also considering very seriously to train in something, from real estate agent to travel agent or get certified as a teacher. It won't give results immediately and it will mean expense instead of income, but you have to look at what the market is, and those are the industries hiring these days. Not interested in sales, nurse or technician jobs though...

Exile

"bequibar" wrote
    > I'm also considering very seriously to
    > train in something, from real estate agent to travel agent or get
    > certified as a teacher.


I'd suggest training as an immigration attorney.
All you need is to get yourself a checklist to fill in the forms correctly
and make disparaging remarks to those who don't use you ;-)


Andy

Gregg

my dad owns our computer store
"Steffi" <member15202@british_expats.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Originally posted by bequibar
    > > a- networking -
    > > you
    > knew someone who got you the interview/job, who was already in the
    > company, or who knew someone who could help you, maybe family, friend or
    > even your spouse?
    > I got a job at my spouse's work.
    > Originally posted by bequibar
    > > I'm also curious: did
    > you get a similar position to the one you used to have in your own
    > country, did you find something better, or did you have to settle for a
    > lower wage and lower position or even a completely different job
    > altogether?
    > I never had a job before, so I guess I can't
    > answer that. But it definitely wasn't the field I was looking into, and
    > it's not one that I'm planning on staying in. It's paying way too little
    > for the fact that I have a degree. It's just a temp job anyway. I just
    > happened to get my work authorization when my husband's boss desperatly
    > asked for some help to finish off a project. I decided to take it
    > because
    > 1) I'm not expecting to find a real job any time soon.
    > 2) I
    > hang out at my husband's work all day anyway, so I may as well make a
    > few extra dollars to contribute to the household.
    > 3) It gives me
    > something to do until I find a real job.
    > 4) It's a job I can list on my
    > resume (since I've never had a job before).
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

dhabud

Hey Exile

you said getting an IT degree and than job in IT field would be great. Its a tough IT market since there are lots of experienced unemployed ppl in this field. Also first consideration is given to ppl with 5 years minimum expereince. I am fresh GRAD with computer science degree and internship. And its been A MONTH i am looking for job now.

I suggest a career in Medical field.. LOL

Regards
Dhabud

Exile

"dhabud" wrote
    > Hey Exile
    > you said getting an IT degree and than job in IT field would
    > be great. Its a tough IT market since there are lots of experienced
    > unemployed ppl in this field. Also first consideration is given to ppl
    > with 5 years minimum expereince. I am fresh GRAD with computer science
    > degree and internship. And its been A MONTH i am looking for job now.



Hi Dhabud,

I'm not sure what you think I said, but I was suggesting that - although I
have 15 years IT experience and no degree - I believe that the US system
would give preference to someone straight out of college with no experience
and a degree.

It seems like it's the "old school tie" system where the hirers and firers
think:
"Well I had to get a degree so I'm not hiring someone without one!"

I hope I'm wrong, but I've not seen anything which contradicts my belief.


Andy

Mtravelkay

dhabud wrote:

    > Hey Exile
    >
    > you said getting an IT degree and than job in IT field would
    > be great. Its a tough IT market since there are lots of experienced
    > unemployed ppl in this field. Also first consideration is given to ppl
    > with 5 years minimum expereince. I am fresh GRAD with computer science
    > degree and internship. And its been A MONTH i am looking for job now.

Actually, some companies are hiring fresh grads because it's cheaper.

Exile

"mtravelkay" wrote:
    > Actually, some companies are hiring fresh grads because it's cheaper.


If the wage was advertised with the job, then presumably only those prepared
to work for it - young or old - would apply?


Andy

bequibar

I agree. I've been looking for a month now too and all there is are jobs for registered nurses and salespeople.