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Applying for jobs is exhausting and soul-crushing

nightwatcher

nightwatcher

Banned
Nov 4, 2017
412
i have been meaning to leave for over 3 years and two of my coworkers who were in the same boat already found work and left. This makes me feel even worse. This job reminds me of my past life, break up, all the downs. I just hate coming to this building. I need a fresh start, i desperately need a fresh start :( i feel like everyone around me is moving on and I am stuck. Done several interviews, infact have one this week. I hope it goes well. I get fucked in technical interviews

I am thinking whats the worst could happen? I wont find job for 6 months? Thats fine, as long as i stay focused and study. Build my coding portfolio, want to get Amazon Cloud certificate too.

My job is very chill, and people I work with are great. Its just mentally I am fucked, and dont want to be here anymore. I don't know if anyone can understand this.
 
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Forerunner

Forerunner

Resetufologist
The Fallen
Oct 30, 2017
14,660
I finally got my dates for my screening process they are flying me out for. This process is so slow, but it'll be worth it in the end.
 
Poltergust

Poltergust

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,833
Orlando, FL
*sigh*

I've been jobless since last July. I started to aggressively apply for jobs starting the beginning of this year, but the only thing I've managed to accomplish is one interview, where I was still passed up for another employee.

I feel like I'm near the end of my rope here in terms of savings. You'd think a Master's degree would help improve my job visibility, but it doesn't seem to be doing anything. =/
 
SOLDIER

SOLDIER

One Winged Slayer
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
11,339
nightwatcher said:
i have been meaning to leave for over 3 years and two of my coworkers who were in the same boat already found work and left. This makes me feel even worse. This job reminds me of my past life, break up, all the downs. I just hate coming to this building. I need a fresh start, i desperately need a fresh start :( i feel like everyone around me is moving on and I am stuck. Done several interviews, infact have one this week. I hope it goes well. I get fucked in technical interviews

I am thinking whats the worst could happen? I wont find job for 6 months? Thats fine, as long as i stay focused and study. Build my coding portfolio, want to get Amazon Cloud certificate too.

My job is very chill, and people I work with are great. Its just mentally I am fucked, and dont want to be here anymore. I don't know if anyone can understand this.
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Trust me, I know EXACTLY where you're coming from. Also trust me, you do NOT want to leave a steady source of income unless you are absolutely certain you've got a new job waiting for you. You don't know if those 6 months will turn into years. Again, I've been down that road and you do not want to do the same.

On the subject, I've never had to give a two weeks notice before. Out of curiosity, how does that work these days? Is it literally letting them know you're quitting in two weeks? What if you had leftover time off?
 
LunaSerena

LunaSerena

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,525
nightwatcher said:
i have been meaning to leave for over 3 years and two of my coworkers who were in the same boat already found work and left. This makes me feel even worse. This job reminds me of my past life, break up, all the downs. I just hate coming to this building. I need a fresh start, i desperately need a fresh start :( i feel like everyone around me is moving on and I am stuck. Done several interviews, infact have one this week. I hope it goes well. I get fucked in technical interviews

I am thinking whats the worst could happen? I wont find job for 6 months? Thats fine, as long as i stay focused and study. Build my coding portfolio, want to get Amazon Cloud certificate too.

My job is very chill, and people I work with are great. Its just mentally I am fucked, and dont want to be here anymore. I don't know if anyone can understand this.
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If your job is chill, then study coding there. I get that you are sick of it, but if you don't have the skills to move to another job then your gambit can blow in your face.

Motivate yourself to study first, and prepare your portfolio while you still can enjoy your income.
 
SOLDIER

SOLDIER

One Winged Slayer
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
11,339
The fact that I can't study, browse the internet, or do anything at all to pass the time has left me really wanting to leave the job, if I didn't also adhere to my above advice.

This is why I wish I could make ends meet with a work-at-home or freelance opportunity, or a series of them at least. Ironically while browsing at work (boss isn't in today) I came across an ad that Crunchyroll is seeking writers, so I'll try to give that a shot.
 
ryul2

ryul2

Banned
Nov 5, 2017
552
SOLDIER said:
Trust me, I know EXACTLY where you're coming from. Also trust me, you do NOT want to leave a steady source of income unless you are absolutely certain you've got a new job waiting for you. You don't know if those 6 months will turn into years. Again, I've been down that road and you do not want to do the same.

On the subject, I've never had to give a two weeks notice before. Out of curiosity, how does that work these days? Is it literally letting them know you're quitting in two weeks? What if you had leftover time off?
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In my experience it's moreorless just a professional courtesy that they should start looking for your replacement. As for time off, at my last job, any unused vacation time was forefeit (I didn't care because I wanted to leave asap-so I basically threw away 2 weeks vacation time. I could have used it and then put in my 2 weeks notice but I had a job offer and I took it). My current job will pay for any used vacation time upon termination/leaving.

and on an unrelated note, I hate the whole job searching process. I'm looking to leave, but it's a total pain in the ass to schedule interviews during business hours. Hope this comes to a close relatively soon.
 
Septimus Prime

Septimus Prime

EA
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
8,500
nightwatcher said:
Planning to leave job, without a job in hand. How crazy does it sound? I have lot of saving, i feel like if I leave my job I will be forced to study, brush up my technical skills and find a new job vs now I am not motivated enough. And I fucking hate the work I do, and I feel stuck. I haven't learned a new thing in 2 years at work. I feel like wasting 8hr of my day here, want to get good at coding. I have been sitting on this thought for a while now, i think I am going to pull the trigger within a month.
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I mean, I did it, though I wouldn't necessarily recommend it. If you truly are miserable, though, it could come through during your interviews. The silver lining is that you also get a lot more time to focus and do interviews.

I'd recommend getting your certs while you're still working, if possible.
 
ViewtifulJux

ViewtifulJux

Member
Oct 25, 2017
537
I have a phone interview tomorrow for a video production/editor job in a federal position, I've never really gone through the normal hiring process though. Does anyone have more specific or even general tips for phone interviews?
 
Spinluck

Spinluck

▲ Legend ▲
Avenger
Oct 26, 2017
28,499
Chicago
Trying to get an entry level IT job so I asked to see my friends resume for pointers.

50% of it was pure bullshit lol. He didn't get an IT job with it (got a job at Nationwide instead), but jeez. Is this a common thing to just straight bullshit your resume?

He was pretty forward with how much he bs'd it. For all the stuff on there that was true and accurate he just played them up.
 
theme park joe

theme park joe

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,201
PIT
Got a semi-surprise layoff in early March, I got severance and two weeks of vacation paid out.

First week, got super sick and slept a 12 hours a day.
Second week took a road trip with a friend for mental health.
Third week, started getting back into a schedule, updated my resume and LinkedIn. Started looking for jobs and editing my resume to look the best.
Currently in fourth week and I'm applying for at least 10 jobs a day and it's looking good so far.

I think I'll be coming here a lot over the next few weeks. I have savings and severance that'll last me into June before things get really tight/I have to borrow from parents.

Spinluck said:
Trying to get an entry level IT job so I asked to see my friends resume for pointers.

50% of it was pure bullshit lol. He didn't get an IT job with it (got a job at Nationwide instead), but jeez. Is this a common thing to just straight bullshit your resume?

He was pretty forward with how much he bs'd it. For all the stuff on there that was true and accurate he just played them up.
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Never lie, so depends on what you mean by bullshit.
 
Kickmaster Kim

Kickmaster Kim

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,227
Mementos
Poltergust said:
*sigh*

I've been jobless since last July. I started to aggressively apply for jobs starting the beginning of this year, but the only thing I've managed to accomplish is one interview, where I was still passed up for another employee.

I feel like I'm near the end of my rope here in terms of savings. You'd think a Master's degree would help improve my job visibility, but it doesn't seem to be doing anything. =/
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I can't help you. I've been contemplating getting a Master's too, but I really don't want to end up with another degree and more debt and still be unemployed.
 
Septimus Prime

Septimus Prime

EA
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
8,500
ViewtifulJux said:
I have a phone interview tomorrow for a video production/editor job in a federal position, I've never really gone through the normal hiring process though. Does anyone have more specific or even general tips for phone interviews?
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Same as a regular interview: prep your answers and try to sound enthusiastic. If you can, try to keep your energy level slightly higher than the interviewer's.
 
Valkerion

Valkerion

Member
Oct 29, 2017
7,246
Initial hiring season just ended here, since my contract ends mid summer anything offered would have looked bad if I cut early and quit so I've been holding off. But now I can go all in... just waiting for these people to take down old offers and re-up new ones.

New supervisor is a complete shill... 3 more months to find a new job!
 
SOLDIER

SOLDIER

One Winged Slayer
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
11,339
Been getting a couple of calls from Dice recruiters over potential job offers. They're always eager to meet up and get info, since I know that they make their money off new hires.

Are there any warning signs I should keep an eye on? The companies appear to be legitimate and the recruiters claim not to get their cut from my salary, but I always get a little skeptical when dealing with people like this who aren't technically part of the company looking to hire.
 
Jazzkokehead

Jazzkokehead

Self-requested ban.
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
136
Well, I'm unemployed and need a new job. Any advice on cover letters, resumes, where to look, moral support, etc.?
 
RolandGunner

RolandGunner

Member
Oct 30, 2017
8,528
SOLDIER said:
Been getting a couple of calls from Dice recruiters over potential job offers. They're always eager to meet up and get info, since I know that they make their money off new hires.

Are there any warning signs I should keep an eye on? The companies appear to be legitimate and the recruiters claim not to get their cut from my salary, but I always get a little skeptical when dealing with people like this who aren't technically part of the company looking to hire.
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The easiest thing to do is check their glassdoor and yelp reviews. A contracting firm that doesn't represent candidates well will definitely get negative feedback.
 
SOLDIER

SOLDIER

One Winged Slayer
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
11,339
Any particular sites or job markets that are seeing a potential increase in openings that I should keep a closer eye on?

So tempted to leave my job at the end of the month, but I constantly have to remind myself how foolish that would be. I want to keep applying though in the hopes I get a quick call back.
 
djplaeskool

djplaeskool

Member
Oct 26, 2017
19,788
sca said:
anyone working on Utest?
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I was really heavy on Utest from 2015 through last year. Since I have a full time gig, I used to subsist almost exclusively on static TC payouts.
Noticed a massive shift from TCs to bug-only testing, which reduced my preferred testing pools.
Also the major long-term projects I jumped into and was rather handsomely paid for over those two years all ended over the course of the last half of last year (Scheduled and unscheduled project ends, one project shifted away from UTest, two others were due to the respective companies folding).
That all combined with a kinda major promotion at work has more or less pushed me away from the platform.
I haven't been active at all this year, but I'm still Silver rated, so I get invites periodically.
 
supremeplatypus

supremeplatypus

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,888
London
nightwatcher said:
Planning to leave job, without a job in hand. How crazy does it sound? I have lot of saving, i feel like if I leave my job I will be forced to study, brush up my technical skills and find a new job vs now I am not motivated enough. And I fucking hate the work I do, and I feel stuck. I haven't learned a new thing in 2 years at work. I feel like wasting 8hr of my day here, want to get good at coding. I have been sitting on this thought for a while now, i think I am going to pull the trigger within a month.
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I just left my job without another job. Though I do live with my family, have savings and am going back to university in a few months to study a Computing course which involves a lot of coding which would enable me to really upskill, so I easily could live without it. It was a shitty call center role where all I did was read from a script which was completely useless and unskilled and it was a very restrictive environment which was not chill at all (which means most of the internet was blocked). So to study coding to my fullest potential and really focus on upskilling I got the hell out of there.
 
robox

robox

Member
Nov 10, 2017
966
Got a job interview coming up this afternoon. I've been prepping for a week and still nervous af. I want the job, but all the prep makes it seem like the stakes are higher, and it's making me more nervous than usual.
It's been pointing out to me I need to work on my speech, since I'm a normally quiet guy. I'm practicing saying what i've prepared out loud but I can't get over how corny I think my voice sounds.
 
Dynamite Cop

Dynamite Cop

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
3,002
California
My roommate was able to escape her crappy retail job because she had a friend that hooked her up with a full time job with benefits. Well she's planning on leaving that after a few months for another job she's been interviewing for. Basically, she's had a bit of ease in finding jobs.

I'm still unemployed after a few months and even though I've said I have savings to still pay rent, I'm getting a bit irked by the "So how's the job search going?" question every other day.
 
sca

sca

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,470
djplaeskool said:
I was really heavy on Utest from 2015 through last year. Since I have a full time gig, I used to subsist almost exclusively on static TC payouts.
Noticed a massive shift from TCs to bug-only testing, which reduced my preferred testing pools.
Also the major long-term projects I jumped into and was rather handsomely paid for over those two years all ended over the course of the last half of last year (Scheduled and unscheduled project ends, one project shifted away from UTest, two others were due to the respective companies folding).
That all combined with a kinda major promotion at work has more or less pushed me away from the platform.
I haven't been active at all this year, but I'm still Silver rated, so I get invites periodically.
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I joined a couple of years ago, but never was able to "get" it. I read that it's potentially a good spot to get some side money or maybe even a primary income, if dedicated. I finished the intro test, but was wondering if there were any other details I'm missing?
 
djplaeskool

djplaeskool

Member
Oct 26, 2017
19,788
sca said:
I joined a couple of years ago, but never was able to "get" it. I read that it's potentially a good spot to get some side money or maybe even a primary income, if dedicated. I finished the intro test, but was wondering if there were any other details I'm missing?
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The ramp upward is SLOW.
It took about 9 months of squeaking about $100-300/month.
When you hit Silver, things get good and you're getting daily invites and opportunities for consistent pay.
When I hit Gold rating in Jan of 2016, the floodgates opened. This is where you can ostensibly make a living on Utest, but a took a year of grinding it out.
 
ryul2

ryul2

Banned
Nov 5, 2017
552
Received an job offer, not sure whether or not to take it though. Is it considered rude to send a counter offer to the employer? The job offering is that I pay 20% of my health insurance (medical/dental/vision) whereas at my current job, it's 100% paid for by my employer. Also, would it be appropriate to ask in detail what their vacation/time off policy is before accepting?
 
SOLDIER

SOLDIER

One Winged Slayer
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
11,339
djplaeskool said:
The ramp upward is SLOW.
It took about 9 months of squeaking about $100-300/month.
When you hit Silver, things get good and you're getting daily invites and opportunities for consistent pay.
When I hit Gold rating in Jan of 2016, the floodgates opened. This is where you can ostensibly make a living on Utest, but a took a year of grinding it out.
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Theoretically, how much could you be making on Utest, and after how many hours a day? Is it more lucrative than Amazon's mTurk thing?

This might be something I try to do on the side, but not if I have to put in five hours a day or anything like that.
 

Interested Observer

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
3,654
ryul2 said:
Received an job offer, not sure whether or not to take it though. Is it considered rude to send a counter offer to the employer? The job offering is that I pay 20% of my health insurance (medical/dental/vision) whereas at my current job, it's 100% paid for by my employer. Also, would it be appropriate to ask in detail what their vacation/time off policy is before accepting?
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You're crazy if you DON'T ask those questions. It's not rude at all.
 

bawjaws

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,584
Yeah, if an offer is on the table then absolutely ask about the benefits package and don't be afraid to ask if there's scope to improve certain areas of the package. You can often secure concessions on non-salary benefits as many employers will have a set structure for salary but greater wiggle room on other benefits.

Just be polite and professional when you negotiate, and stress that you're keen on the job. Now is the time to be asking, as once you're in the door you will struggle to renegotiate non-salary terms.
 
robox

robox

Member
Nov 10, 2017
966
Second interview in 3 days tomorrow, and this one will be a doozy. It's scheduled for 10-6 on multiple rounds of technical interviews.
It's terrible that right now I'm just not feeling up to it. It's beyond nervousness as it feels like an unsurmountable task. I should have scheduled it further off, but I didn't realize how much effort my first interview would take, since that is the one I wanted more and had a lot of prep on it. For this one, I just have an outline but not sure of the details of the content. I have a fear that I'll get chewed out without finishing the circuit. They're flying me out on their dime for this, so there's this compounds the "I don't want to disappoint" feeling.

I have today to come up with a strategy and visualize how I will succeed. And in this case it's not even aiming for job offer but just getting through. This is sooo terrible. I need to relax.



Previous interview I did about as well I could. No acing it, but I'm glad I didn't come across as a bigger fool. I knew I was punching above my weight class for it and I just hope I made a good impression at least. Maybe I should continue being ambitious in my targets and get better at hitting them.
 
Mortemis

Mortemis

One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
7,417
Graduated school 3 weeks ago, and still nothing. I've been job searching since the fall and not much luck. Recently I've had a few phone interviews and one has led to an on-site interview, but that's in a few weeks. Kinda sucks having to wait weeks but I'm not being picky now. Just hoping for the best.

Do you guys go to job fairs with paid admissions? Are they worth it?
 
Sectorseven

Sectorseven

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,560
Interviewers aren't supposed to ask your age, right? If they do, should you just be polite and answer it?
 

bawjaws

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,584
It's illegal in some jurisdictions, I believe. I'd probably not answer the question of I thought the answer would count against me, and I'd file the interviewer under "asshole".
 

Quazar

Member
Oct 27, 2017
177
Spinluck said:
He just put a ton of skills on there that I'm pretty sure he doesn't have. A lot IT related stuff. He didn't lie about having a degree or certifications though. But as far as skills go he had an entire page full.
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That's bad. Most reputable companies will hone in on those buzzwords. I remember I had java on my resume cause I took it in college, and one job I interviewed for really put me to the test. Messed up part about it is the position didn't have anything to do with java, but technical interviewers will put you to the test anyhow. Hell I quiz folks on SQL all the time and they can't answer the most basic questions. People should just put skills on their resume if they're competent in those skills.
 
SpottieO

SpottieO

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,624
I'm super anxious about an internal position I have been taking to a manager about. My main concern is that the offered compensation will be lower than what I'm making right now. It's a really exciting position in a good department but if the money is less I just can't take it.

I've been talking with the manager for two
months about the role. I brought the compensation situation up in our initial conversation two months ago and then we hadn't talked about it again until I expressed my concern to the manager in our most recent conversation this week. Now I'm super paranoid that I've brought compensation up too many times and they'll just drop considering me for the position. I think the final job description is close to being finalized and should be out next week. I'm a super anxious person in general so these last two months have sucked lol.
 
LunaSerena

LunaSerena

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,525
Mortemis said:
Graduated school 3 weeks ago, and still nothing. I've been job searching since the fall and not much luck. Recently I've had a few phone interviews and one has led to an on-site interview, but that's in a few weeks. Kinda sucks having to wait weeks but I'm not being picky now. Just hoping for the best.

Do you guys go to job fairs with paid admissions? Are they worth it?
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6ix god said:
3 months since graduating and nothing.
Created a new resume https://i.imgur.com/BZclp8h.png

Would love some feedback. Thanks
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Hang in there guys. I'm not in the US, but I can tell you that I was in the grind looking for job for 6 months after graduating.

Keep applying and have patience, Mortemis, having interviews just three weeks after graduating is great! Just keep at it.

6ix god, just checked out your resume.... For any of the skills, do you have any certification that could back them up? It could be a plus to your resume.
 
Mortemis

Mortemis

One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
7,417
LunaSerena said:
Hang in there guys. I'm not in the US, but I can tell you that I was in the grind looking for job for 6 months after graduating.

Keep applying and have patience, Mortemis, having interviews just three weeks after graduating is great! Just keep at it.
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Thank you! I know having an interview soon after graduating is great, but honestly it's giving me anxiety. Just hearing from others how hard it is to even get an interview or a job is just making me stressed about fucking it up.
 
FrequentFlyer

FrequentFlyer

Banned
Dec 3, 2017
1,273
Currently also in this phase and god I hate it. Finished university (law) in march and my dream was combining my hobby and education, so working in something with aviation law. Turns out there's a) barely anything here to begin with because we're a fairly small country and b) no free positions currently. So I decided to instead do the court practice which is 7 months and mandatory if you want to achieve a classic law job (lawyer, judge, ...). Was about to start May 1st, but thanks to fate and budget cuts exactly that is the cutting point where no new people are accepted, possible even until Jan 2019. So basically the road towards becoming a lawyer etc is closed off temporarily. So as a result I also sent applications to companies for tax law and other jurist stuff. Just got the so far first and only callback, which is in the tax area and the one I actually really don't want to work at but sent the application anyways. Really don't want to do the job interview next wednesday because I really don't want to work in tax and most of my tax law knowledge has sort of vanquished and will barely be refreshable within 4 days. Also the pay would be pretty shitty given my education and its the same firm my gf works at (although in a different section) who already hates it after 3 months there.

I think if I cancel the interview I'll feel bad for turning down the only interview I've gotten so far and possibly/likely prolonging the time with no job, on the other hand if I go there most likely I'll make a fool of myself due to my semiforgotten taxlaw knowledge and even if I somehow got the job I'd most likely be unhappy with it.
 
Woolley

Woolley

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
2,422
FrequentFlyer said:
Currently also in this phase and god I hate it. Finished university (law) in march and my dream was combining my hobby and education, so working in something with aviation law. Turns out there's a) barely anything here to begin with because we're a fairly small country and b) no free positions currently. So I decided to instead do the court practice which is 7 months and mandatory if you want to achieve a classic law job (lawyer, judge, ...). Was about to start May 1st, but thanks to fate and budget cuts exactly that is the cutting point where no new people are accepted, possible even until Jan 2019. So basically the road towards becoming a lawyer etc is closed off temporarily. So as a result I also sent applications to companies for tax law and other jurist stuff. Just got the so far first and only callback, which is in the tax area and the one I actually really don't want to work at but sent the application anyways. Really don't want to do the job interview next wednesday because I really don't want to work in tax and most of my tax law knowledge has sort of vanquished and will barely be refreshable within 4 days. Also the pay would be pretty shitty given my education and its the same firm my gf works at (although in a different section) who already hates it after 3 months there.

I think if I cancel the interview I'll feel bad for turning down the only interview I've gotten so far and possibly/likely prolonging the time with no job, on the other hand if I go there most likely I'll make a fool of myself due to my semiforgotten taxlaw knowledge and even if I somehow got the job I'd most likely be unhappy with it.
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Just go to the interview. Even if you don't want the job just having an interview as practice can really help in the long run.
 
The King beyond the wall

The King beyond the wall

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
977
To those with upcoming interviews - I have always found that one of the most important qualities to demonstrate in an interview is confidence. If you have been invited to an interview you are qualified and experience enough for the job, so be confident in yourself.
 
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