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how the hell does anyone get hired these days?!

dexterq20

dexterq20

Turbo Monkey
Mar 6, 2003
3,442
1
NorCal
[rant]

After 8 bajillion job interviews that all go really well and leave me feeling warm and fuzzy inside, I keep getting the same answer: "we've hired another candidate"; or "we found a better match for this position." What the hell am I doing wrong? Is this what I get for having a liberal arts degree from a public university? Or am I doomed because I've spent the last two years being a ski bum and playing in the mountains? Or maybe it's because California is an economic hell-hole these days? I thought it would be relatively easy to grow up, leave the ski bum lifestyle, and find a "real" job. How the hell does anybody find a job these days? This is getting ridiculous. And very frustrating.

[/rant]
 
dump

dump

Turbo Monkey
Oct 12, 2001
8,225
4,480
How many interviews have you really been on?

Do you tell them you were a ski bum?

Do you have prior experience?
 
jimmydean

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
41,219
13,355
Portland, OR
Guess it depends on your field. If you are trying for whatever job a liberal arts degree prepares you for and not getting it, I hear Starbucks pays OK for that degree.
 
Scrub

Scrub

Turbo Monkey
Feb 4, 2003
1,454
120
NOR CAL, Sac/CoCo County
Try a different approach at your next job interview, go in knowing you won't get the job and be cocky and arrogant. You prolly won't ever see them again anyways and you might feel like you just showed them who runs your show. You don't have nothing to lose, except your time and energy.
 
Colonel Angus

Colonel Angus

Monkey
Feb 15, 2005
917
419
land of the green chiles
dexterq20 said:
[rant]

After 8 bajillion job interviews that all go really well and leave me feeling warm and fuzzy inside, I keep getting the same answer: "we've hired another candidate"; or "we found a better match for this position."
Click to expand...
They prolly did.



dexterq20 said:
What the hell am I doing wrong?
Click to expand...
Drooling, maybe?




dexterq20 said:
Is this what I get for having a liberal arts degree from a public university?
Click to expand...

Yes.



dexterq20 said:
Or am I doomed because I've spent the last two years being a ski bum and playing in the mountains?
Click to expand...
Also yes.



dexterq20 said:
Or maybe it's because California is an economic hell-hole these days?
Click to expand...
Absolutely yes.



dexterq20 said:
I thought it would be relatively easy to grow up, leave the ski bum lifestyle, and find a "real" job.
Click to expand...
Wrong.




dexterq20 said:
How the hell does anybody find a job these days?
Click to expand...
Jobs are overrated.



dexterq20 said:
This is getting ridiculous. And very frustrating.
Click to expand...


For all of us.
 
jonKranked

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
86,005
24,551
media blackout
dexterq20 said:
[rant]

After 8 bajillion job interviews that all go really well and leave me feeling warm and fuzzy inside, I keep getting the same answer: "we've hired another candidate"; or "we found a better match for this position." What the hell am I doing wrong? Is this what I get for having a liberal arts degree from a public university? Or am I doomed because I've spent the last two years being a ski bum and playing in the mountains? Or maybe it's because California is an economic hell-hole these days? I thought it would be relatively easy to grow up, leave the ski bum lifestyle, and find a "real" job. How the hell does anybody find a job these days? This is getting ridiculous. And very frustrating.

[/rant]
Click to expand...

bold: all of the above.

red: joke's on you.

I've been working in my professional field 3+ years now and am still having trouble finding a new job.
 
Sandwich

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,080
5,999
borcester rhymes
yup, it's a challenge for everybody. We currently have ph.Ds applying for junior level positions, ie working underneath somebody with a bachelor's and 10yrs experience. Anybody who tells you the economy is turning around is not telling the truth.

You probably didn't get the job because you aren't the best person for the job, to whatever level they are looking for. Try to put a positive spin on your ski-bum-ism. Otherwise it just like laziness, even if that's all it was.
 
B

blue

boob hater
Jan 24, 2004
10,160
2
california
SkaredShtles said:
The California thing.

Have you tried moving somewhere else?
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He lived with me in Utardia over the winter, then ran away come spring.

Then again, so did I...but I came back.

Ben, I found a decently-paying career-oriented job in about two weeks when I got back to SLC. Sadly, turns out the guy who owns the company is a paranoid schizophrenic and fired me out of the blue a week in (the day after he told me I was doing great and getting along with everyone really well).

Anyway, yes, California IS that bad. Unless you've got an excellent skillset or an education in a specified field (or both), you're pretty SOL for a career-type position. I know you've been gunning for an outdoor industry job - maybe find some office peon position outside of CA that can give you some decent business skills, suck it up for a few years, and then try to get into the industry. People who know the basics of business management in the ski/bike industry are few and far between and highly sought after.
 
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S

skunkty14

Monkey
May 29, 2007
175
0
Besides the job market being tough, the ski bum thing followed in distant second by the location (Cali) is killing you. Taking two years off means you better have a good way to explain that in an interview. Are you interviewing for positions you would've been heavily qualified for two years ago? Or a bit of a reach? If the positions are even a slight reach you don't have a good chance in this job market unless you kill the interview.
 
dexterq20

dexterq20

Turbo Monkey
Mar 6, 2003
3,442
1
NorCal
skunkty14 said:
Taking two years off means you better have a good way to explain that in an interview. Are you interviewing for positions you would've been heavily qualified for two years ago?
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Interesting point, but I'm actually more qualified now than I would have been without the past two years as a ski bum. Although I graduated from school and immediately began living paycheck to paycheck and playing in the mountains, I was managing ski and bike shops, as well as interning with ski industry sales reps. My ski bum jobs have, in all honesty, made me a better candidate for the entry-level outdoors industry jobs for which I've been applying and interviewing.
 
dan-o

dan-o

Turbo Monkey
Jun 30, 2004
6,499
2,805
There's an endless line of marginally qualified candidates for outdoor industry jobs. Get some real skills, something beyond being able to set-up an EZ-UP in a muddy field while blazed, and re-apply when you're more than a warm body with a vag on your chin. (not personal attack, just my stereotypical view after 15yrs in outdoor industry).

Smaller companies in obscure locations are another avenue into the industry.
 
Ithnu

Ithnu

Monkey
Jul 16, 2007
961
0
Denver
dexterq20 said:
Or am I doomed because I've spent the last two years being a ski bum and playing in the mountains?
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We had an intern at my work who put off starting full time for 9 months to be a snowboard bum. Even went to the other side of the planet for the summer, trust fund baby. Come fall I don't think the job will still be there. The intern was branded by management as "unreliable".

So yeah, it does look bad.
 
kazlx

kazlx

Patches O'Houlihan
Aug 7, 2006
6,985
1,957
Tustin, CA
Um maybe go back to school and get a real degree? Don't mean it to sound harsh, but what exactly did you learn as a liberal arts major...or more specifically why should an outdoor company hire you with a liberal arts degree?
 
johnbryanpeters

johnbryanpeters

Hero
Sep 27, 2001
36,105
16,556
Making moss sad in New Haven, Vermont
'K, so since I was listening to a candidate today...

I don't care so much whether you spent some time as a recreation bum as I do about how quickly and how well you can pull your weight and then some if and when you join us.

You're at a distinct disadvantage to those who spent the equivalent time performing tasks that relate to what I need done to accomplish my business goals.

Liberal arts degrees are a dime a dozen. Liberal arts degrees followed by a couple of years of screwing off are a mil a dozen.

Sorry, but that's how the real world works.
 
Westy

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,457
20,254
Sleazattle
I've been dealing with the job search thing for the past 7 months. There were so many jobs I applied for that I knew I was probably the best candidate for. The problem is that in this market there are always good candidates and it is hard to really prove your qualities with a resume and a few hours of interviews. All the offers I recently recieved came from jobs where stomeone close to the hiring manager could vouch that I was in fact smart, easy to deal with and hard working. My experiences weren't even good matches for the position.

In other words contacts and networking.
 
Serial Midget

Serial Midget

Al Bundy
Jun 25, 2002
13,053
1,896
Fort of Rio Grande
I'll be doing a bit of hiring in a few months. Now, more than ever, there is a wealth of talent out there. Prior experience and a verifiable track record will trump any degree with little to no experience. Right now my company is focusing on recruiting top performers from other companies - the thinking is that those who are still producing in a down economy are the kind of people we want.

As for the ski bum thing - as a potential employer I would question weather or not your personal values and priorities are in line with the opportunity I have to offer - this sort of distraction is never good for a candidate.
 
dexterq20

dexterq20

Turbo Monkey
Mar 6, 2003
3,442
1
NorCal
Serial Midget said:
As for the ski bum thing - as a potential employer I would question weather or not your personal values and priorities are in line with the opportunity I have to offer - this sort of distraction is never good for a candidate.
Click to expand...
Are you serious? So does that mean you're not a good employee because you're passionate about cycling?
 
dan-o

dan-o

Turbo Monkey
Jun 30, 2004
6,499
2,805
dexterq20 said:
Are you serious? So does that mean you're not a good employee because you're passionate about cycling?
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As long as it doesn't take priority over your work (during the work week) outside interests aren't a problem.

I had a foreman who was an avid fisherman. Lived to fish.
When he blew off a week during a major restoration project because 'the tuna are in' I helped him follow his dreams of becoming a professional fisherman and ****-canned him.
 
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