Are they hiring?

[fuzzybutt]

So I've sat at my computer filling out job applications for almost 3 months now. I've had 2 job interviews so far and no luck.

Well my last resort is to go out there personally place to place and ask if they're hiring. How do I go about doing this? Just ask any employee working there to see if they're hiring? Ask for a manager?

How do you guys do it? Can I dress casually? I don't have a lot nice clothes as I don't expect working in an office anytime soon.

 

[Sci-Fi]

Depending on where you go, yes you either ask for a manager or human resources. Just tell them you're not sure if they are hiring but you'd like to leave a resume. Going in person is always best, it's in person and shows you have enough interest to go in person. The only time you should ever email, fax, or mail a resume is if it instructs you so when answering an ad. Be confident, clean, dressed appropriately and remember to smile. You want to make a good first impression.

 

[fuzzybutt]

Dressed appropriately? Even if I end up wearing the same clothes to the interview? Well I should worry about that later.

 

[Lonesome Crow]

it's alway better to ask for the manager, but thats what secutaries are for.
To filter out people or just hand out applications in the old days.
I have copies of my resume. I'll just give it to the secutary anyway.

I used to be a manager.
K...most of the time..if we're not hiring. All the resumes gose into
a file draw that I dont open..Just my secutary doing her job and staying
bussied other than squeezing her titays together.lmao

It also depends on the company. Some corporations have a PC you
can use. Some will require you to fill out the aps too and plus turn
in your resume. On site...at that moment. lol
They're strick and dont fresia around. It's kind of a way
to filter out who has thier ducks in the role..lol
Companies like that..pays you the bucks too though.
Cuase they have thier honeysuckle together.lol

You might also try temp jobs company...such as manpower, acme...ect.
Sometimes corprorations will only hire through these sub contractors.
It's like a 90 days trial..so the corporations arnt at risk or have to pay
medical insurance and go through all the song and dance of hire someone
new that might not work out. Plus it's all contracted out.
The temp jobs company will also send you on verious avaliable jobs too.
So the corporations dosnt really post help wanted anywhere other than
letting the Temp work company know they need certain positions to be filled.

You might also try your local unemployment office...its depends.
Some states sucks...like the one im currently living in. There's no one
in there anymore.lmao Just PC terminals.
Other states actaully have a case worker working with companies
and actively trying to find people work or match people with employment.

Other times it's just through walks of mouth for smaller bussiness owners.
Such as construction sub contractors or seasonal work looking for temp help for certain projects.
Some people hang out in bars during happy hours.....

 

[Limlim]

They wont care if you wear the same clothes to the interview as long as they are nice clothes on both counts. Collared shirt, pants, tie, go to payless and pick up some cheapie black dress shoes as well. No jeans or shorts.

If you don't know how to do up a tie do what I do and search for double windsor knot on youtube

 

[Sci-Fi]

Dressed appropriately? Even if I end up wearing the same clothes to the interview? Well I should worry about that later.

What Lim said. But what I mostly meant is be dressed for where you are applying to. Like if you go into a garage you don't want to be wearing a tie and dress shoes. You can wear a polo/golf shirt, nice clean jeans and wear safety shoes. If you are applying to work in an office then you'd want to wear what Lim said. Dress as if you already work there, just a tad nicer, makes you look like you fit in if you do.

 

[Lonesome Crow]

well...when you go in a work place...notice how the employees dressed...even if they're
working in the office. Some company are more lax now. People wear cascual friday
clothe everyday.

If comapanies or positions you're applying for are wearing uniforms...
Dont even worry about wearing the same clothe all the time.lol

I also have my resume on E mail, USB drive and on paper...Gotta cover all the bases.
Differnt companies have differnent ways of doing things...never gonna know until
you walk in.lol

You can also try applying for assistence through your local social service governement agencies.
They actaully will give you a loan or grant to purchase work clothe, interview clothing..ect A couple hundred dallors.

There's also other government funded agencies that will help you with certain trainnings for free.
It depends what field or corprations you're working for.
Example...A secutary will still need an OSHA certificate to step on a work site.
If you apply for a mining corporations..you'll need an MSHA certificate even if you work in the office.

 

[Sci-Fi]

You might want to have a couple of resumes too. Ones that outline specific skills/education that are suited to where you are going to apply. I've had people bring me in a resume where once I look at it I think "wow way too over qualified to work here". I won't hire or even bother calling back that person because I feel it's a waste of time. If they are over qualified you know there is a good chance they won't be there for long. Those resumes end up in file 13.

 

[fuzzybutt]

Well thanks for the tip guys. Seems there's more to it than I thought. Yea I have tried the local employment agency before. They just send me to the computer terminal with the website I can log in at home.

 

[TropicalStarfish]

I've found, in this age, asking in person is useless, in a lot of cases. Most companies that can afford to computerize their hiring process, have done so already.

So if you plan on going into businesses to ask in person, look for new business that are small and just opened.

Depending on what type of job you are looking for, I wouldn't worry about being dressed super nice (tie and dress shirt and pants), unless the business is the type of place that keeps a very professional appearance of it's employees.

I went to an interview once for a hotel, lol. They were looking to fill a front desk position. Turns out me and 20+ people showed up for the same job interview (perhaps in upwards of 40 or more people). I was the worst dressed person there, lol. It was quite embarassing, but I gave it my best shot and it least felt confident in that. Of course I didn't get the job, however. It wasn't the right fit.

Also, I'm pretty sure that because of the economy, right now, the hiring process for most companies has become much more strict as they aren't looking to have large amounts of employees on staff.

I would say with Christmas coming up, it might be a good idea to aim for retail establishments, and just try everything.

I'm not sure what you are looking for, but it sounds like you might be looking for entry level positions?

Try everything, look on craigslist, try all the fast food places, restaurants, retail outlets, grocery stores...

I mean if that's the case, as long as you don't look like a bum and appear well groomed and dressed in decent clothing, you should be okay for any of those type of business for an interview.

Good luck.

 

[Lonesome Crow]

I went through one of those local county government serives agency.
That's how I got my class A licence for free. It was only a 60days course.
$6000 if I was to try to get it on my own.
They offer other course such as welding so you can be a certified welder.
Even something as simple as driving a forklife...you'll need a forklife certificate.
They also offer office work types trainning. You'll get a certificate of trainning at the
very least to add to your resume.

If you live in CA...you might try applying for free college grants. Lots of people
are doing that. The economy is bad..So rather than trying to work part time
or a low paying job...you can just focus on your educations.
Not much to live on though..lol

You might also wanna check the bullitin board for state funded programms.
In NV...you'll actaully get paid pretty good money for 2 years to get trainned
such as being an electrian. Its kind of like an apprentenship program.
$20 an hour aint bad..to get trainned.lol
Corporations gets taxes write off ...so they particpate in it.
Cuase it's also cheaper than to pay a full salery for an electrian...$40-$50 an hour.lol

You also should get a print out of your driving record and a print out of your criminal record even if you dont have
a history of criminal activities. Most corperations or Well establish bussiness are going to ask for you driving
record...becuase it'll list warrants on there if you have one.lol No piont in hire someone if they're going to jail.lol
I have both becuase city jobs or government jobs ask for both. the dmv for the driving record and the courthouse
for the criminal record. $15-$20

They'll bascailly gonna ask you for all of this when they hire you...As soon as you come back with a negative
result on your drug test.lol

 

[fuzzybutt]

I've found, in this age, asking in person is useless, in a lot of cases. Most companies that can afford to computerize their hiring process, have done so already.

So if you plan on going into businesses to ask in person, look for new business that are small and just opened.

Depending on what type of job you are looking for, I wouldn't worry about being dressed super nice (tie and dress shirt and pants), unless the business is the type of place that keeps a very professional appearance of it's employees.

I went to an interview once for a hotel, lol. They were looking to fill a front desk position. Turns out me and 20+ people showed up for the same job interview (perhaps in upwards of 40 or more people). I was the worst dressed person there, lol. It was quite embarassing, but I gave it my best shot and it least felt confident in that. Of course I didn't get the job, however. It wasn't the right fit.

Also, I'm pretty sure that because of the economy, right now, the hiring process for most companies has become much more strict as they aren't looking to have large amounts of employees on staff.

I would say with Christmas coming up, it might be a good idea to aim for retail establishments, and just try everything.

I'm not sure what you are looking for, but it sounds like you might be looking for entry level positions?

Try everything, look on craigslist, try all the fast food places, restaurants, retail outlets, grocery stores...

I mean if that's the case, as long as you don't look like a bum and appear well groomed and dressed in decent clothing, you should be okay for any of those type of business for an interview.

Good luck.

Thanks for the advice. Yes I am looking for entry level positions because my Associates is pretty much useless. I've applied to retail since it's the only experience I have and office jobs since I can use Microsoft office (though Excel/Access is something I'm not too comfortable with).

I've worked seasonally all my life that's why I'm looking to finally have something stable where I can save money while going to school. I'm a lightweight and my back isn't the strongest that's why I'm avoiding warehouses and work requiring heavy lifting.

 

[IgnoredOne]

Look into your local WIA program with the Department of Labor Workforce offices; they can often assist if you are unemployed and need job assistance, this is especially useful if you're seeking to get into college.

My experience as to hiring is the opposite - most better positions are hired only by referral or by knowing someone who knows someone, with the computerized systems only acting as a stopgap, which is why networking is so valuable. Your Associates is not that valuable unless its in a very specialized field, but experience can be, especially in an IT field. I'm currently working a fairly cushy position in IT, and I got it through a combination of specialized language skills and general IT knowledge and experience; I did not originally have an IT-related college degree, although I am certified technically in several fields.

If you're looking for jobs online, then your best bet is to sadly go the mass route - its essentially cold calling, so expect a 5% response rate, and even lower on the hire rate. Its not invalid, mind you, just keep those statistics in mind as you apply widely.

In terms of dress code, it varies, but it rarely hurts to dress up well. Unless specifically told to dress down, dress up /better/ than those currently working, as you are essentially a guest seeking approval from your hosts of the evening. Eventually, you'll get to know the culture of the place and be able to outfit to meld with it; I'm in an international corporation at the moment, and there's significant emphasis on dress code as our other corporate clients often visible, yet jeans are still acceptable.

 

[fuzzybutt]

The local WIA program uses a site called employflorida which I've been using for the past year. The same site is used by the terminals at my local employment offices. Yea...

Of course I'm going to try networking again. A lot of my close friends don't work. Or pretty much all of them are in school. I have friends I haven't talked to in years and I find it pretty rude to just hit them up and ask them for work. I just went to a job fair this morning. It wasn't really a fair but at least I talked to the representatives there and got to know the company.

 

[MadMonkè]

agencies work.
they have access to jobs that you would not think about applying to and a lot of times end up to be pretty decent or at least have opportunity to move up.

apply to as many agencies as you can. let them work for you.
but there are a lot of scam agencies so be careful.
never pay for a job.
but some agencies make a cut of your pay.... which is better than no pay... but still...