Getting a job?

LegacyUser

This may seem stupid but I find it pretty embarrassing. I have no idea how to get a job. I hand in my cv and I never get a call back or even an interview off the employers. I'm a student and I want to get a part time job at the weekend or whenever. I know employment is difficult to come by in this economic climate but even when times were better, I still found it hard to find a job. On paper, I'm an ideal candidate. I'm intelligent, friendly, well mannered, chatty, no criminal record etc... I have friends who find jobs incredibly easily. One of them gets offered nearly every job he applies for and "on paper", I'd probably be the better candidate. I know that sounds really arrogant and bitchy, but the guy's one of my best friends and I don't mean any disrespect to him, he just seems to have that "x-factor" when it comes to finding jobs.

Also, would I be able to get a job now? I have exams coming up at the end of April and throughout and then I'm away from the end of May until September. Forgive me for being naive, but should I mention this when applying for a job? Or should I just "give my notice" a couple of weeks beforehand? I really doubt an employer would hire me if they were to know I was leaving after a month or so.

Do employers give you time off for exams generally? I remember applying to BTs and they told me I would be expected to work x amount of hours overtime every month or so.

I always find an excuse not to work - mainly I won't have time to study but I need to get a bit of money before I go away I would like to have some experience working beforehand (I'm doing a J1 and I think it'll be hard enough to come by work over there even if I had experience)

miss5

Hi, Have you tried handing your CV in person to the manager?
Also It might help if you know what line of work your interested in.
Obviously with the current economic climate it's difficult to
find work although many friends have found speaking directly
to the manager helped. Good Luck.

dammitjanet

unfortunatly jobs are hard to come by everywhere at the moment, the best thing i can recomend is keep applying. If you apply to somewhere you know they are looking for staff and you don't hear back, you're completely within your rights to call them ask why you weren't hired, and ask them for advice that will help you be more sucessful if you apply again.
It's always best to apply to where there is a standing vacancy- i run a shop and i've a pile of close to 100cvs sitting on a shelf cause i've no vacancies at the moment

Generally time off around exam time isn't a problem, depending on the employer. All my staff are students and at exam time they all help eachother out with shifts (ie if X is doing exams, Y and Z will help cover his shifts)

I would say the May to September thing WILL hurt you. I don't know of any employers who allow that much time off, what i'd suggest is get a 3 month long job to tide you over before you leave- the best for that is as one of the promotional staff for clubs like crawdaddy. They hire people to go into town on thurs,fri,sat etc nights to hand out passes and fliers to whatever event they're running that night.
It's a job you'd be able to leave easy (and they shouldn't mind) cause it's got very little training involved so it's not like they spend money and time training you for you to up and leave a couple weeks later. Also it's easy going and i'm told is a lot of fun if you're a student

Good luck!!!

pepsi1234

I would say you have more of a chance in places that don't have a vacancy advertised. That's from my experience of looking for a job and geeting them (studenty jobs in college). Also, always ask to speak to the manager. If you hand it to another employee which is passed on to the manager, they are not going to take the time to call you and arrange to meet with you. You have to hand it to the manager to make that first impression. Good luck.
Also something might be ringing alarm bells on your CV that you're not getting call backs (maybe too academic and college focused? If you're working in a chipper they might not think you could fit in. It's a shame, and I've had to do it, but dumb down your CV sometimes.

tenchi-fan

If you are emailing or posting a cv always make sure to phone the company to make sure they have received it, ask is there anything else they need, and when the interviews are! it will show you're interested.