how long did it take you to get your job?

[Lothlorien]

I recently graduated with a new Masters degree, which was a change of discipline for me.
Now I'm job hunting and narrowing down on a career path - which, ironically, is again slightly different from what the Masters points towards! My fellow students are either still studying, or have gone in directions which do not suit me (doctoral study, or technical/operational roles in the industry). It was a very small, and very fractured degree, so I don't know anyone in the same boat.

My previous study didn't really yield a career path, or good/relevant work experience, but I've done all sorts of things which have equipped me with a whole lot of transferable skills, and that's what I'm relying on for getting a job. I'm someone who steps up to a challenge and finds ways to succeed, rather than someone who can hit the ground running in a specialised area.

And here I am, writing application after application (hadn't expected this process to be as time-intensive as I'm fining it to be!), wondering how long it may take to succeed, and feeling a bit isolated in the process. I've got a pretty good idea regarding what I'm after, but not how long it may take to get there. Applying mostly for state government and municipal government jobs (Australia). Seems like it takes weeks to even hear back.

 

[GarrAargHrumph]

If you hear back at all...

Generally speaking, looking for a job can be at least a part-time job, if not a full-time job, in terms of time and effort. And, depending on the state of the economy and what fields you're trying to get work in, it can take a few months, after graduation, to find your first real job. If you need money in the meantime, you can take an hourly job that you will quit once you find something better, just to get by.

 

[Vash01]

Do you have access to a career counselor who can advise you on creating a career path and then use a more focused approach?

Getting a job is strongly dependent on having contacts. Can some of your professors help you get contacts?

In my case, the economy was very bad when I finished my Ph.D. Even though my field was very marketable, it was just a bad time to graduate (I didn't really have the option to delay graduation, especially not know how long it would take for the economy to recover). It took me several months to find my first job.

Later, when I lost my job (after many years) due to downsizing, it was again a very bad time. It took me 10 months to find a real job (in the meantime I taught part time at a university), and that too for a much much lower salary.

I emphathize with you because looking for a job is no fun, and it is a full time job, realistically speaking. The more people you know in the industry you are in, the better the chances of landing one.

Do you know of any other students that graduated from your school that are now working? Those and the professors in your department may be your best contacts. Then go from contacts to their contacts and so on.

Good luck, and I hope you find what you want very soon.

 

[Deleted member 221]

Network, network, network. I hate doing it, but it's the only reliable way to find a good job.

Last year, I probably sent out 50-100 "cold" resumes and got one response. I set up meetings with "inner circle" of contacts and ended up with four job offers. Three out of the four were unadvertised positions; two created just for me. You're unlikely to find your next job through your network (who already know you and would hire you if they could!), but more your network's network. Two degrees of separation is the norm.

End-to-end, it still took four months from saying "I'm going to get a new job" to actually having one, and that's in an in-demand field. There's a rule of thumb in the U.S. that it takes one month of searching for every $10k in salary you expect.

 

[SmallFairy]

I agree with @Vash01 that contacts are really important. They were what landed me my job in the end, after working on different projects (sometimes unpaid) and shorter engagements. (I'm working in cultural heritage/museum). Is there any project you can jump on? Make sure to talk to people, make them remember you.

I also found talking to the career counselor at my University very helpful after I graduated.

I know how exhausting it is to be job searching, and how you feel you loose hope. Wish you the best of luck!!!

 

[dewey]

I was laid off at the height of the recession, and it took me 8 months to start a new position. I found my current position because I was chatting with an old friend at a Christmas party. Turns out her husband's college roommate was in charge of filling some positions. So seriously, tell everyone you know that you are looking and what you are looking for. Still, it was six months from the time I sent my resume to the husband's roommate until my start date.

 

[jl]

I've had both contacts and something fairly random happen in the case of my career path. I got my law degree in 2008 and went off to Africa to do some human rights work for 5 months, came back in 2009, when no was hiring. In that case, it really was a contact of a contact that hired me (the father of an old school friend who was looking for his first articling student). That was an 8 month search which involved trying to network (which is really hard and nervewracking when you know everyone else is doing it, and probably doing it much better than you), cold calling and cold resume sending.

Fast forward to 2013, and I lost my job, partly due to a lull in the M&A and financing work for small companies that forms the bedrock of Vancouver's securities industry. In this case, simply through working and being interested in talking to people, I had a network that I started to tap, just to hear about what was going on. It actually didn't help me find my next position, which came through a recruiter 5 months later (though I took a few off).

I think that particularly when you are younger or less experienced, it is the network that is far more important, as you simply can't point to your experience. The network remains extremely important since I am searching nowadays and I have had more leads as a result than through cold mailings + recruiters so far. However, I feel that with time, your experience starts to speak for itself (though, take my thoughts with a grain of salt since I'm also still relatively green to the working world). Perhaps my current search will be very different than the last, and I may be editing my words in a few months' time.

I would also note that I think my job searching is kind of dissimilar to most in my industry, because I've changed my field search a bit, focusing on the corporate in-house counsel role (which was my last job) instead of staying in private practice. As a result, my law contacts are important, but since most are private practice centric, they aren't usually as focused on my field as a recruiter is. However, since I'm not really in their field, I don't directly compete with my standard lawyer contacts and for that, I think they are much more open to sharing information that they do have.

I wish you the best of luck with your search!

 

[Aussie Willy]

I recently graduated with a new Masters degree, which was a change of discipline for me.
Now I'm job hunting and narrowing down on a career path - which, ironically, is again slightly different from what the Masters points towards! My fellow students are either still studying, or have gone in directions which do not suit me (doctoral study, or technical/operational roles in the industry). It was a very small, and very fractured degree, so I don't know anyone in the same boat.

My previous study didn't really yield a career path, or good/relevant work experience, but I've done all sorts of things which have equipped me with a whole lot of transferable skills, and that's what I'm relying on for getting a job. I'm someone who steps up to a challenge and finds ways to succeed, rather than someone who can hit the ground running in a specialised area.

And here I am, writing application after application (hadn't expected this process to be as time-intensive as I'm fining it to be!), wondering how long it may take to succeed, and feeling a bit isolated in the process. I've got a pretty good idea regarding what I'm after, but not how long it may take to get there. Applying mostly for state government and municipal government jobs (Australia). Seems like it takes weeks to even hear back.

Any wonder it is taking so long if you are applying for government jobs (having worked in local government in the past).

My suggestion is to register with temp agencies. Seriously my best jobs have come from temp work and you get invaluable experience that way in a variety of industries, including government. Even a job that lasts a week or two is better than sitting at home waiting for a job to come along. You will also get interview experience and learn a lot from that.

 

[KatieC]

My gov't job timeline:
Oct - saw job listing, applied
Nov - invited to write a test - 4 hours
Dec - invited to write another test - 2 hours
Feb - invited to interview
April - offered a job
May - started job
But that's just the job with the current federal agency. Previous gov't jobs all relied on me knowing someone - contacts. This isn't Australia, but I'll bet it's not much different. My provincial jobs all came through knowing somebody.
Good luck finding something interesting.

 

[aliceanne]

I found my current job by working temp jobs. It wasn't a temp job that turned permanent, but rather I met people who knew about job openings and served as references. It took about a year to find a job this way. For me, applying cold was a waste of time.

 

[Moto Guzzi]

Government job. I took a federal civil service exam that has been since discontinued. There were six parts, each worth 100 points. I scored 99 on three parts and 100 on the other three. Within a week or two of getting my scores, I was called for an interview. Two weeks later, I was offered an intern position. Because of my high score and my grade point average, I was able to start two grades higher than most interns. I started my job two weeks later and stayed at my agency for 36 years in various jobs before retiring early. I was maxed out at my grade level and didn't want the responsibilities of the next grade. With years of minimal cost of living increases/pay freezes, I decided enough was enough. I don't regret my decision at all.

 

[Aussie Willy]

I found my current job by working temp jobs. It wasn't a temp job that turned permanent, but rather I met people who knew about job openings and served as references. It took about a year to find a job this way. For me, applying cold was a waste of time.

Not that I got my current job from temp work, but my previous job started as a temp, led to permanent, then I changed areas which then gave me the skills which led to my current job which has worked out incredibly well for me. So temp work should never be discounted as an option.

 

[Lothlorien]

Thank you for all the replies.

Unfortunately I don't have a good network at this point, though I am tapping into what I do have and looking into ways to expand them. Part of the issue is that I was mostly out of the workforce whilst doing my Masters, and the one job I had was completely irrelevant.
Still, it's starting to come together. Someone who works in the government department I'm applying to gave me good tips on reading the selection criteria and figuring out what they actually mean, and this has been incredibly useful. I also met up with someone else who works there, and this person will help me network within the department by finding people who know my best referee.

At the moment I'm re-working my resume from chronological to skills based, and not ever having created one in this style before, it's quite a job!

Despite the pressure to find something asap, or sooner (things are getting grave financially), I am actually enjoying this process, most of the time. Great exercise in reframing the way I think about my experience and skills, and it's getting easier to come up with good examples when writing applications.

I have worked temp jobs before and am pursuing this avenue now too, though I have found that it can get you stuck in a certain pathway and it's hard to branch out of that. So for example having done lots of data entry work, those are the temping opportunities I'm getting, and I'm not keen on them, and it's not a good way to develop networks.

Just today I got a rejection from a short-term job I was extremely keen on, would have enjoyed and which would have given me great experience (and possibly contacts). The feedback was that while I had a very strong application and could definitely do the role, I was not really in the running because of A) lack of local government experience, and B) because my work experience doesn't align with the industry the work is in. Several times in my life I have had to accept whatever job I was being offered even if it wasn't what I wanted to do, so no wonder about the lack of industry alignment, but it's hard to know how to deal with this. I've asked the consultant about how I'm supposed to get local government experience when not having it disqualifies me from getting a job (not in these words, obviously).

 

[Impromptu]

I found mine by temping too... I wasn't actually looking for a full time job, I was only on a break from graduate school. Then the place where I was tempting offered me a full time job just when I was getting really annoyed with my studies. And a few months later, I was able to move into a more career oriented position from the original job offer (for the same department), and it suddenly turned into something interesting.

But I probably would never have found something like this by looking for it, because I wouldn't have looked for this particular job. I got incredibly lucky.

 

[jlai]

I just switched jobs. I started a job for the field I am studying now but I actually havent completed my certification in school. I had been wondering how I could get a job in the field without starting over in pay, even though I have no experience in the field I am studying.
I got a little lucky. Sometimes the supervisor writing the posting does not know what she is doing, and ends up with a job description that doesnt attract the right pool of applicants. But it worked to my advantage and I got the job I like.

If you have school experience in local govt use it. Employers ask for more than they need sometimes. And in thise cases, bluffing a little may be ok

 

[Aussie Willy]

Just today I got a rejection from a short-term job I was extremely keen on, would have enjoyed and which would have given me great experience (and possibly contacts). The feedback was that while I had a very strong application and could definitely do the role, I was not really in the running because of A) lack of local government experience, and B) because my work experience doesn't align with the industry the work is in. Several times in my life I have had to accept whatever job I was being offered even if it wasn't what I wanted to do, so no wonder about the lack of industry alignment, but it's hard to know how to deal with this. I've asked the consultant about how I'm supposed to get local government experience when not having it disqualifies me from getting a job (not in these words, obviously).

I totally understand your frustration. Years ago when I worked in public libraries (not my first choice of library because I much rather business libraries), it then became absolutely impossible to get work in any other type of library because I didn't have the appropriate experience. I think it is fortunate to find an employer who is looking more for attributes rather than direct experience in a particular field. I think they can discount a whole range of people based on only looking for particular experience.

What area of local government are you wanting to get into?

 

[Vash01]

Lothlorien,

You can find contacts in many different ways. Do you have any hobbies? It doesn't matter if the people work in your field or not. The key is to let many people know what you are doing and that you are eager to start working.

Have you heard of Toastmasters? They are a Communications and Leadership organization and they are international. It is a good opportunity to network and develop new skills at the same time. As a Toastmaster I have met many people in all kinds of professions. Sometimes something just clicks and you get some contact names. It is easy to find a club near you by going to www.Toastmasters.org and looking for a club. At the very least you will meet new people which could lead to meeting more people and so on.

What part of the country do you live in? I am assuming you are in the USA; sorry if I am wrong.

I am in Arizona, and I work for a local government agency. I am looking for a better paying job, but haven't had much success so far, but that's because I have not tried very hard. I have talked to a career counselor, and he emphasized talking to professionals in your field, and asking for information, contacts, etc. I took a career test through him - not for aptitude, but to identify possible jobs. I got a weblink from him about various professions (just information; not specific job openings). If I can find it, I will send it to you.

I agree with the things mentioned by other posters- let everyone know you are looking for a job, and do a temp job until you find a real one.

ETA: I found this link:
http://www.bls.gov/ooh/

I don't know if it helps but there may be some useful info in it.

 

[berthesghost]

Got out of college during Reagan and it took me about a month to find a good job.
Finished grad school during bush sr. Recession and it took me over a year to find permanent work.
Got laid off once during Clinton years and it took me about a month to find a new job.
Got laid off during bush jr. Recession (sure seemed like a depression to me!) and it took me over 5 $&@ing years to find a stable job in my profession.