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Probably Getting Fired Soon
GirlPants
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
It seems my boss has it out for me for reasons unknown to me and as a result he will most likely find a reason to let me go very soon. Last time I lost a job I don't think I handled it very well. Last time I spend all my saved money on rent for about three months and then I was broke begging people to let me move in with them. I'm not on a lease now and could potentially just moved out now and save my money. Putting all my things at a friends for safe keeping. I have some saved money and I'm wondering where it would be best allocated. Also, if there is any assistance I could apply for in the meantime to hold me over until I can find something new. Anything helps. Thanks!
GirlPants on
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It's great that you have a lead, but don't limit yourself in the meantime. There's no reason not to be applying to more jobs while you wait.
I've been looking for a job for a couple months now. A bunch of my friends who are about to graduate from college are not concerned, they think a job is just going to land in their lap after a week or two of looking. I feel very sorry for them, reality is gonna hit really hard.
"Having a new position to pursue" is not looking for a job. Spending something between all of your free time and 40 hours per week applying for jobs is looking for a job.
You need to be looking for a job.
Trust me Ive tried. Its the only reason I'm still employed now. But, hes made it clear that any mistakes wont go unpunished even if they arnt my fault. Hes one of the worst bosses ive had and he wants me gone so he can hire someone for less money and hours.
its only been a day or 2 since i got the 'getting fired soon' impression. Im on it, but until i get fired i still have to work 30 hrs a week.
30 hours a week isn't even a full-time job. Like I said, it needs to be somewhere between 40 hours per week and all of your free time. If you only have 26 hours of free time a week (16 on weekends, 2 a night on weekdays) that's what you spend job hunting. People who rely on the occasional job tip that comes up once a month aren't seriously hunting for jobs. That's what I'm saying.
Also, job hunting isn't just checking postings on careerbuilder. Job hunting is often doing outreach that gets you back in touch with professional contacts you've made, but not spoken to recently, to make sure they're aware that you're looking.
This. It took me 18 months to find a position after getting laid off, and I've got 15 years experience, certifications, a degree, and ton of contacts. Set yourself a goal of 5 resume submissions per day, and contact them all by voice or in person. Get a LinkedIn profile, and connect to every recruiter you speak with. Go go go go!
Once they deny your initial claim for unemployment, you need to Appeal. And you keep appealing until they give you the unemployment benefit or until you get a job. Seriously. Keep appealing.
Don't do this. Or at the very least, look carefully at the hiring policies of every company you apply to and be sure that contacting them by phone or in person won't be an immediate disqualification. Every single job ad my current employer posts includes a line to the effect "please do not call us at any stage of the hiring process unless otherwise directed" and yet we still get calls from people who believe the extra personal contact will demonstrate something about them. Unfortunately, for us it demonstrates that they cannot follow simple directions, and they are immediately disqualified from consideration regardless of background and qualifications.
Obviously, not every company would be the same, and there are some where a phone call or visit in person could indeed help you. I believe they are growing fewer in number though given current unemployment rates and the massive number of job seekers out there - many companies simply can't afford the time to take that many calls or visits.
Yeah - bingo.
I think you have a better chance at just sending out as much resume/cover letters as possible.
I actually applied to this one place twice over a 6 month span and it wasn't until the 9 month mark that they contacted me and said that they had a position they thought would be perfect for me.
So basically market yourself like hell. Job hunting, especially if it isn't through who you know, is all about random luck and if your info made it into their hands at the right time.
I have to say that volume is far more worthwhile than quality, with the exception being generally small-business, face-to-face customer interaction like retail.
If you send off 10 resumes a day, you'll find someone who wants to hire you eventually. Taking the time to call or follow-up should really be reserved for jobs that you really, really want to get. YMMV.
In this economy, doing both is a requirement. I started my post off by saying 5/day, but 10/day is better if the OP has the time. But when every job has 200 applicants, there's no guarantee that your name will ever get to a short list... suggestions for that OP that he just fill out some apps, send off 10 emails a day, then sit back and wait for the offers to roll in... they're unrealistic.
I found 2 new jobs in the past 12 months. Both were actually improvements from my previous positions (though the first didn't work out after some changes to the company's leadership structure that left me uncomfortable with the long-term future of the company, unfortunately). I did nothing but send out resumes electronically. I never made a single call, never even considered an in-person visit.
What I did do was carefully tailor my resume and cover letter for each and every position I applied for. No matter how similar it was to something else I'd already applied for, I'd do enough research on the company I was applying to that I could spend 30-60 minutes making small changes to things that I felt would increase the attractiveness of my application.
When every job has 200 applicants, hiring managers and recruiters are overwhelmed. I'm sure there are still some out there who can appreciate a call, but increasingly I think you'll find more and more who view an unsolicited call as an unwelcome waste of their time rather than the mark of a go-getter who may be worth looking into. In a job market where those doing the hiring are absolutely inundated with applicants, the conventional wisdom is rapidly becoming obsolete.
This is, by far, better worded but it's what I was trying to get at. In the days before HR departments used algorithms to sort out the candidates based on concrete information (experience, education, salary etc.) an HR rep would have to read each resume and make a personal call on if the person had promise or not. These days the first line is getting past the sorting, and if you can you'll probably get a call assuming you sent a decent cover-letter.
Calls, post-interview, are still fine. I'd say the rule of thumb is to reserve calls for after a company has made you aware they're interested.
I think calls are often appropriate, BUT... when you're managing limited time, tailoring to get past a search filter is far more important. Large scale hirings in the corporate world, government employment and recruiting services are almost all going to use some kind of analytics system to turn 5000 resumes into 100 before human eyes ever touch them. Spending your time tailoring the language of your resume, even when the content is essentially the same, is very important.
Get yourself another job, even if it is part-time. You might be able to go full-time eventually. And you can work it on the side of your other job.
Ehhh. Definitely go to temp agencies for the quick cash when you need it.
Don't go into it with aspirations of full-time employment. That system is specifically stacked against that (employers generally have to pay a hefty amount to the temp agencies for that).
Now that being said, when I was in a desperate situation I was in a single job at a temp agency for 6ish months (as a virtual wage slave). It's a stop gap, but again, I wouldn't look there for actual employment unless you're temping somewhere that matches a degree you may have. If so, your best bet is to buddy up to people that actually work there to network yourself into a job.
If you *can* getting recommended by an employee thats trusted or respected will get you on the short list. Go that way if you can.
Edit: Fixed that cursed "recontamination". Thanks Molybdenum
Put yourself in the shoes of the person responsible for receiving 200+ applications; if they started taking calls from all their applicants, it's literally all they'd have time to do.
Pluto was a planet and I'll never forget
O_o
So all of this job hunting advice is faire enough, but I don't think the "getting fired" angle has been addressed enough. Why does your boss dislike you? Whatever he says you're being fired for, factual or not, is what will most likely end up on record. I really can't think of a situation where you should just let yourself be fired; talk to your boss, talk to you boss's boss, talk to your coworkers, figure out what's up and what you can do. If you can't do anything about your termination, make sure you are being fairly and legally terminated. If you still can't do anything, make sure your exodus is as humble and helpful as possible.
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