Friday, February 3, 2012

Another week of being a job hunter


I was pondering “what did I learn this week about finding a job?”  Not sure I have a great answer, but I did stay pretty busy.
This week, I:
  • Sent an email about an unpaid internship opportunity
  • Met with a Scientist at Amgen
  • Interviewed for a part-time job (counts as interview practice AND I might get a part time job)
  • Finished my first educational writing contract
  • Got two new educational writing contracts
  • (Did not learn Python)
  • Attended an AWIS Board meeting, got some newsletter help
  • Found a location that might need some volunteer help: NWABR
  • Had coffee with another job hunter to think about strategies for the job hunt
If I were new to this, I might feel really pleased that I had some many different things going on.  But I’ve been at this a while- none of these seem like things are going to transition to employment next week, so it’s hard to get real excited about any of it.  However, it does give me some ideas about new things I can try next week.

3 comments:

  1. Hey Sandlin,

    I can't remember if you mentioned it in a previous post, but have you contacted a recruitment company? When looking for my first post-grad (industry) job, I got knocked back from a few ("no experience"), but one finally took me on. I had a couple of false starts and some crap temp jobs, but then something more long term came up, and that company ended up keeping me on permanently. I tried all the other things you talk about, but it was the recruiter placement that got me a 'proper' job in the end.

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  2. Minx! You've got a proper job now! Congrats!

    I haven't had much luck finding a recruiter who is willing to work with me. I've had a couple say, "sure, we'll keep your resume on file, but I can't tell you the last time we placed a PhD." How did you find the recruiter that got your placement?

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  3. Thanks! I'm pretty happy (it was QUITE the battle). As mentioned, I contacted quite a few recruitment companies and they were totally uninterested. I kept trying and then I inquired about a position with a particular company (not present in the US). I was unsuitable for that position, but I spoke about my background and goals and asked some questions about entry pathways. The recruiter invited me to come and interview with them (which results in being 'put on the books' and considered when suitable positions arise). I was asked if I was willing to do temp work to get experience on my resume, to which I said yes, and then given a couple of temp jobs (first one was a one-day job processing a mailout - not exactly thrilling). There were a couple of times when I was recommended to a company along with another candidate and the other person was picked over me, that was frustrating. Then I was given a 2.5 month part-time job at a good Pharma company, and they liked me, so they offered me a fulltime position once my temp contract ran out. The job is entry level, and below my potential, but I'm ok with that as 1) I'm planning on moving up ASAP (and I negotiated as much as part of the new position), and 2) unless it's a bench position, it's pretty hard getting a higher level position without any industry experience.
    I know how hard and demoralising the process is... but like everyone said to me, it will happen eventually. You are doing so much, something will click eventually. And everything you are learning about job hunting now will also serve you for the rest of your career. Hang in there...

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