downtown3

Hi

I hear you man - i have been there. Would like to help you out. I sell books and will send you 3 interviewing books for free - ill pay the shipping. Its a good start and may get the wheels turning in a different direction. The three i will send are:

-201 Best Questions to ask on your interview
-Interviewing - Effective techniques to help you answer tough questions and make a great impression
-How to Get the job you want in 28 days.

PM your mailing address and I will have them out tomorrow morning. Ill give you more details about me so you know who you are talking to.

Good luck to you - lots of friends here.

best
matt

thomas11

Awesome downtown. Nice job on jumping in to help out. Very nice of you.

Fly N Buy

A few years back I was having difficulty producing income / finding a job. I understand how this feeling can be scary. While I continued to look for employment, I also spent numerous hours investigating small business opportunities that require micro amounts of capital. Have you considered exploring some of these?

Professional sales positions requiring licensing - insurance or real estate sales can be lucrative and some organizations have a training program coupled with a small salary to help get started.

These are all things I have done at various times. I also started a photo booth company catering to wedding receptions/parties and have a fence staining startup currently.

Sounds like you've got the first thing perfect - don't drink!! This will open doors - step out in faith with some ideas of your own. You can do it!

Ps - stopped looking for a job and got to work!

Dave42001

What kind of job are you looking for? What do you do? I'm a sales guy and used to work the New England area including Boston, lots going on!!

What job sites are you using? Do you have a LinkedIn account?

It's a numbers game for sure..

FLCamper

I was also going to suggest spiffing up a Linked In account. It was through a contact there that I got my job. Same for my daughter - her profile got her the interview which led to the job.
One other suggestion that goes along with MikeM's comment: he doesn't need a job but gets lots of offers. I imagine you're feeling desperate, but try not to let that show through. Try not to appear too needy.
I saw three presentations recently. Two were really good, but the second guy seemed desperate for the sale and really ruined his chances. He kept offering to cut the price on the service, kept saying that they were just estimates and he could get the numbers people to negotiate. Then, asked several times when he'd know who won the contract. He really hurt his chances -it showed a lack of confidence in a way.

Jackedjohn

Thank you all for your advice I appreciate it. I do have LinkedIn... Not completely savvy with it though. I skated through getting jobs by references but I can't use my license right now.

Dave42001

Wish you the best of luck. you cant use your license right now? you lost me..

I skated through getting jobs by references but I can't use my license right now.

Jackedjohn

I forfeited my nursing license. Sent you a PM DAVE

venuscat

Hi John.

This is a free website that has some awesome help in so many areas.

Free Interviewing Skills Tutorial at GCFLearnFree

V xx

INgal

Hi Jacked,
I saw this online tonight and thought of you:

When the Job Search Seems Hopeless - The Chronicle of Higher Education

Hope this helps a little!

charliesworld

I can relate to this. My partner has been out of work for over 2 years and cannot get a job. I am self employed and my income is erratic. I don't really earn enough to keep the family going. We literally live month by month and it is is getting me down so much. I wake every night worrying, I feel like I'm walking round with the weight of the world on my shoulders all the time. We have 3 children and the only thing that keeps me going is trying to keep things normal for them. I spent the day with some of their friends and mums the other day, all of which work and have working husbands and no need to be constantly worrying about money. It was a good day but at home after I couldn't help but get upset and just think why can't I just be like that. I would just like to be able to take my family out for a meal at the weekend or out for the day. I just want an end to the struggle but it's just not happening. My sister married into a wealthy family and has had literally everything bought for her, house, car, wedding, expensive holidays more than once a year. I can't see her very often because she just winds me up. It's hard to listen to her complaining about an unreliable cleaner when she doesn't work and I do work and don't even know if I can pay my mortgage. Life sucks!

I thought when I stopped drinking everything would fall into place and life would get easier but it didn't. Personally I'm a long way from that girl who couldn't get through the week without being blotto at least twice. I have more confidence and I don't have that sense of shame that followed me around but life can still be hard. A key thing about getting sober is that you have to learn to live with the bad stuff when it happens. My family would fall apart now if I started drinking again - all of them rely on me in every way and as much of a strain that puts on me I would rather that than being the disgusting drinking mess I was before.

TopGun1

I am in this same EXACT place with the same exact problems. overqualified for half, the other half I am under qualified for. About 3 weeks ago I got to a really dark place with this that I never want to get to again through all of the frustration. Keep at it though! Things seem to come up in the most unlikely times

MikeM

Here's a wacky idea that just might work: next time, don't go in to get the job. Go in to make friends.

Anna

Yes, do keep at it and don't be discouraged. Tell everyone you know that you are looking for a job because you never know where it might come from. I got a great job through a volunteer position.

Ultramarathoner

Quick Tips on "transitioning"

1. Create a one page networking document. Include a summary, key experience and successes (skills), geography you are targeting, industries you are targeting, and companies you are targeting.

2. Put together a "Request for Career Coaching" letter asking to sit down with the recipient for a brief conversation about your search focusing on several questions (If you had my background and experience would you approach the job search similar to what I'm doing? / Are there other industries or companies I should target? / Is there someone you recommend I talk to? / What are some of your career goals- how can I help?).

3. Send the request to 20 people in your network. Be creative, clergy and hairdressers know a buch of people. Approach your meetings as an open dialogue on advice- and a chance to let folks know how they can help.

4. There are plenty of interview resources. Try the library. Write down questions and answers that have given you trouble in the past. Come up with stories and examples for key job competencies.

5. Try to find out early in the interview the 2-3 things the manager is looking for in their new employee. If asked "Tell me about yourself" or to "Walk me thru your resume" at the onset- consider this type of answer, "Great! I'd love to! I have a lot of experience and success to share- and want to make sure I'm specefically speaking to the qualities which closely align to this position. Can you tell me a little about the top 3 things you are looking for in this position so I can highlight relative experiences as I answer?"

Write the 3 qualities down. Reference them throughout the interview (when appropriate) and end the interview summarizing how your experience aligns to the specefic qualities being looked for.

trachemys

Ultra, that is excellent advice. Thanks.

MikeM

Getting a job is all about building relationships. Get good rapport with the interviewers. Connect with them. Show curiosity and enthusiasm. Become the person they really want to have on the team.

The credentials. The resume. They are almost irrelevant compared to that.

Jackedjohn

thank you for all the advice. I'm feeling very negative today so excuse me if I don't respond to the advice because it seems overwhelming right now. Please don't take offense to that. I really do appreciate it though.

Dee74

continued best wishes John

D

HopeandFaith1

Hello! I suggest that it could be your anxiety that is hurting your chances. Anxiety can be unconsciously projected and result in a negative "vibe" - whereas confidence, even if you have to fake it to a point, can have the opposite affect in a job interview. It is not so much what you say but the attitude that you carry with you into the room. My motto has always been "fake it till you make it".

You got my attention when you mentioned that you "sensed the interviewers to be unimpressed, underwhelmed, uninterested...", and I would just like to kindly suggest that you could be overthinking my friend. Next time concentrate on putting your best foot forward and don't worry about what they may or may not be thinking. I think you are over focusing on their reaction to you before you ever really even start - I suggest that you make yourself stop doing that. Instead of worrying about how or what they are thinking, change your focus to what you are projecting. Think of it this way - if you play to their boredom and disinterest and project a sense defeat before the interview is even over, then you're not going to get the job. So why not take the opposite approach - smile big, and sincerely, speak from a place of calm, self-assuredness instead of insecurity. Pretend like you don't need the job even if it's not true, because right now you're overfocusing on how bad you need the job and it's tripping you up. When you stop focusing on your anxiety and instead focus on all the good qualities and skills you have to offer, and act accordingly, I believe you will start to notice a different reaction. Best of luck to you!!