Keeping friend's expectation in check (Job related)

Kyougu

My friend from home is planning to move to Dallas (where I'm at) next month. With talking to him, I gotten the impression that he thinks it's going to be easy finding a job. Hell, for a while there he actually thought that he could get hired without being in town. He expected to be able to throw his resume into careerbuilder and that some company would hire him without an actual interview.o_O

I'm worried that he's going to be in for a shock if he doesn't get a job immediately. This is also due to him having only worked in retail for the past 5+ years and now wanting to do something else. He has an associate degree in psychology, but no bachelor degree or office work experience.

So how can I keep his expectations in check?

blakfeld

I don't know that there's a whole lot you can do. Say your peace on the subject, but some people have to learn not to stick a fork in the socket by jamming it in there with all their might

admanb

... maybe he's just trying to stay optimistic? :P

Make sure he's got enough savings to survive without a job. If he does, I would mention the crappy job market but generally let him learn his own lesson. If he doesn't, I would press the issue.

SkyGheNe

Just be honest with him..."Hey, I don't want to dash your hopes or anything, but it's better to be prepared than surprised"

And I've always found that helping people through their decision making has been better than criticizing and dropping. Like...instead of just saying "that's dumb" I've more or less said "have you considered this?" and shown them alternatives.

Esh

What do you do with an associates in psychology? Yipe.

Are you putting him up when he gets there? Cause if you are, prepare to have a house guest for a long time.

sidhaethe

Has he been to Dallas before? I would suggest to him (if his move date can be postponed at all) that at the very least he should come down there, maybe stay a week and run around contacting every retail location and staffing firm in the area. With a week's stay he might be able to get interviews with at least a few of the staffing firms and get into the database for leads, if not a couple of mall interviews if he is very very lucky.

After the week is up he might have a more realistic idea of how reasonable it is for him to expect to get a job quickly and easily, i.e. if he hasn't heard back from anybody even after he has physically been on their property talking to people, and he might pull back his expectations somewhat.

What kind of work is he willing to do? You say he wants to do something else, but would he be willing to continue doing retail, even if just to start while he looks for something else once he is settled?

DiscoZombie

man, link him to any article on the economy or job market from the past 3 years.

Kyougu

Thanks guys, I'll just try to breach the subject as delicately as I can.

We're actually getting an apt together, so he'll be paying his rent and such. He has around 10k saved up, so I'm not too worried about his finances.

I imagine he'll work retail if he has to, but he's looking for an office job kind of thing. We'll see how it pans out.

Oh, the reason I posted this? I was talking to him and he brought up about how he was planning on getting a new car here in Dallas after a month or so of being here.

Esh

Kyougu wrote: »

Thanks guys, I'll just try to breach the subject as delicately as I can.

We're actually getting an apt together, so he'll be paying his rent and such. He has around 10k saved up, so I'm not too worried about his finances.

I imagine he'll work retail if he has to, but he's looking for an office job kind of thing. We'll see how it pans out.

Oh, the reason I posted this? I was talking to him and he brought up about how he was planning on getting a new car here in Dallas after a month or so of being here.

That's a pretty chunky nest egg. Make sure he gets a job before he gets a car.

MagicToaster

The way I'd go about it is to encourage him to have a plan B, C and D.