For those who haven't been keeping score, my job hunt has been miserable at best. Currently i hold a bachelors degree in criminal justice and i'm attempting to find a simple desktop support position. Desktop Support (DS) is what i'm good at according to my resume. We have to remember that a resume is a way of showing what you've done successfully and NOT a reflection of your potential. What a resume doesn't reflect is your potential or the circumstances under which you learned specific skills.
Don't go thinking a head hunter (staffing agency) is going to help you get a job. Anyone who tells you that their looking for "the right candidate for the right job" is full of shit and i'm proof of it. I've had them trying to convince me to be submitted to positions in surrounding counties. They justify it because from the city proper to these locations "it's only 30 minutes". First of all, they need to stop using mapquest because those times are under ideal circumstances. They also need to understand that gas prices are never going to go down to a reasonable level in my life time. Why the hell should i drive 45+ minutes for a job that pays $16-17/hour?
Flat out, i want them to stop bullshitting me. Plain and simple. What part of I WILL NOT WORK HELP DESK don't they understand? Yes i need a job soon and i need something to freshen up my resume but c'mon now for crying out loud. You want to send a hands on type of person out to go do a phone job? Where will you be when i walk out on the job after a month because it's complete bull shit, depressing, and completely not what i want to do? Oh that's right. You'll turn your back because i allegedly burnt you.
Why do these headhunters and HR clowns always ask me the most generic questions? "How much experience do you have with TCP/IP?" What kind of question is that? Seriously. Do you want me to give the wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_protocol_suite) definition? Are you looking for someone who has a concept as to what TCP/IP is or are you looking for a Cisco guru? You would know the difference if you'd bothered to do your homework before accepting this job.
I've placed my resume on sites like www.monster.com and www.careerbuilder.com. Those have been oh so much helpful for me. Monster got me a 4 month gig last year that paid an obnoxious a month and was painfully boring. Careerbuilder has done nothing but blow up my spam filter. I guess the moral of the story is that if you're using these sites you should change your privacy settings so no one can see that you exist and quietly troll the job listings. Also, make sure that you make note of who is offering the job. More often than not the jobs you see posted are generic jobs to get you into yet another head hunter database.
I got turned down for a non-profit this summer. Why? The job description was for desktop support. When i got there and interviewed for appx 1:45 (it was supposed to be < style="font-style: italic;">ME and no one else. I know i won't get paid for it but that's besides the point. It's something i can tell yet another headhunter and HR person about and have them be completely confused as to what i'm talking about. I can tell potential employers that i find the concept of snort (http://www.snort.org/) positively fascinating and then watch them as they get nervous because i know of a non-M$ product that they've heard of but have no clue as to what it truly is.
If you'll excuse me, VNC still doesn't want to play nicely and i need to go find my hammer....
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