I'm pissed off with recruiters right now.

I've been trying to get a new job for a while and getting no where. A couple of times recently I have responded to a job ad by a recruiter and actually got to talk to them. Oh they are so excited by my resume they are sure their client will want to talk to me. A couple of days later, no their client has decided they don't want to interview me after all.

Grrr.

I think you may find that a lot of those vacancies don't actually exist and are just generic job specs put online by the agency to get people to send their resumes in.

I know what you are saying but I'm pretty sure the last two were real vacancies.

they want to hear what you actually did to get round the issue. Sit down with the person and broach the 'difficulty' without it becoming a problem? get to know them a bit better (social work event, to break the barriers)?, work around the difficulty by using other people or limiting contact with difficulty person to essential stuff? understand the other persons point of view and try and compromise? work with hr to get them training (if it was an employee struggling for example), get training yourself on asserting yourself/working with difficult people/negotiation/saying NO etc (clearly dependent on the issue you have)start a fistfight in the canteen? etc etc. what you might do would depend on the difficulty you are having and how often you need to work with them, if they were a peer, a manager or worked for you etc.

It's not the recruiters who decide who gets interviewed. Besides the recruiter is there to serve the company, that's who pays them. They're not there to find an individual a job.
But I feel your pain....I've been through about 80 or 90 interviews the past 6 months before I found a good job.

Its bloody typical of US hiring habits.
They put on a circus act and expect you to be in fits of enthusiasm, then sweet F.A!

Recruiters and Personnel staff are just salesmen who cannot sell.

Have an interview with Walmart this afternoon - I'll let you know how it goes

Good luck Civilservant!

I am going to try and see the job hunt as an opportunity to try and reframe my career, so definitely willing to start at the start (as long as I can make a living wage at least!) ...

As I have a lot of education admin experience and a fair bit of journalism experience, I have been trying to draw what my strengths are from this, to possibly create a value-added/skills based resume that I can use for positions that are related; so things like Marketing Assistant for example, or a Social Media assistant would be something that I think I could do well; or a press officer position for example. If I can get more regular media work, that would be my ideal, but I'm not counting my chickens too much on that, as I will have to build networks quite extensively first.

2nd interview with the Store Manager today. Guess that's a good sign

Well I've got a job (subject to background/drug checks) - not bad for only 3 days after getting my SSN

Just got back from the hospital to give a sample, that was something I've never done before. Still I'm not that way inclined so no worries there.

As for the interview, it was a typical competency based one that I've done a hundred times (given and taken) over in the UK, there was little difference. At the end there was a long chat about the differences between the UK/US, specifically Trade Union movements, but that was all.

One thing I did think was odd was that he praised my appearance, a simple shirt/tie affair. Apparently people don't turn up for interviews dressed well over here

High five! I'm jealous, even if it was for Walmart.

Thanks

Got to start somewhere! As my mum always says, it's easier to get a job if you have a job (and in this case any work history in the US at all)

Well done!

Congrats Civilservant! You're right, it's a jumping-off point. Don't take any metabolic by-products off people