By wrong I mean the ones that aren’t the most desirable for you. Jobs that you didn’t even apply for!
Did you recently get your college degree and after all the blood, sweat, tears and Monster energy drinks you’re ready to use that degree in the real world, only to get job interviews that have absolutely nothing to do with what you studied? “I didn’t go to school for this!” is the frustration I hear from new graduates. Or more often “We didn’t pay for him to go to school to wait tables.” This is what I hear from a lot of parents. College is expensive and we all want a great return on our investment right? If you’re still working at a part-time pretzel stand in the mall, stock person at a retailer, cashier at the drive-thru of a fast-food restaurant, and again waiting tables (and it’s not even at a fine dining restaurant) it’s time to move on!
Now, don’t get me wrong, all of those jobs can help you to build up some transferable skills and you have to start somewhere. Now is the time to use them. So, if you’ve majored in marketing, public relations, engineering, psychology, accounting, finance, business, healthcare administration, or any of the hot majors today, how do you keep from getting calls for those commission-only, door-to-door sales jobs, or any of the jobs that don’t have a promising future?
Get your resume right!
First of all, you’ll want to make sure your resume is targeted to the field you studied and even more, to particular positions that are out there. When you look online at Indeed, Career Builder or any other sites for job postings just look at the duties and qualifications. This will help you to tailor your resume more effectively. Don’t forget those keywords!
As for the interviews, there are so many companies out here that are looking for bright, young and energetic candidates. There are also those out here looking for bright, young, energetic and naive candidates who will work to death for peanuts. They can be very deceitful in the beginning so be careful.
Below are a list of things to watch out for when you’re applying on line or called for a job interview, along with a list of common scripts or statements used for various kinds of jobs. You’ll want to stay away from these:
- I have a great business opportunity for you: This is Multi-level Marketing or MLM. The recruiter (more like a scout) for a particular business will entice you with supposedly good pay and most of all independence. Many times they’ll send you a link to a video with several testimonies of others who supposedly achieved their financial independence or material dreams from this “business opportunity” and if you’re entrepreneur-minded you can get sucked right into this trap. You’re basically selling someone else’s product, working to death to make a dollar and the only real way to make anything is to sign other people up. Stay away! Some might make for a good side hustle, but otherwise they’re a waste of time.
- We can’t give out the employer’s or company’s name, pay or details of the position: Commission-only sales, Telemarketing or tele-service call-center job. This is usually a recruiter from a staffing agency or recruiting firm seeking a large number of job candidates. They are usually pretty vague on the phone because first, they really don’t know where the employer may place you. Second, most people won’t show up for the in-person interview if they know what it really is. Think selling magazine subscriptions, Kirby vacuum cleaners, cable TV/internet service plans or windows in Sam’s Club or Costco. They’re usually sales quota-driven jobs where you get about a week to prove yourself. These jobs have an insanely high turnover.
- Make $1500 a week guaranteed plus commission! Same as above, but you’ll see this in writing on a job posting and/or a recruiter may call you. Everything will sound great, and you’ll be pressured after the interview to start soon or the job will be given to someone else. Ignore this scare tactic. You’ll be glad you did. Even if you want to get into sales, I wouldn’t start with these kinds of jobs. I would go with an in-side sales job somewhere and then work my way towards outside sales after networking.
- No Experience or Degree Necessary: These can be any of the above mentioned jobs (or gigs), or a temporary, contracting work-from-home job that’s absolutely un-related to what you’ve been applying to. You may think when you see the job posting hey I’ve got my degree though so that should make me very valuable!, but the employer doesn’t care. They just want an able body or someone on the phone. Now, many people will take one of these jobs because they have to make ends meet until they find one related to their career aspirations, but be careful. You could get sucked in to the point where you’re working so much, then working two jobs and before you know it you’ve had your degree for two years and still haven’t found anything related. Employers frown upon this too. Even when the U.S. was in a recession.
The best thing to do is check those job postings thoroughly. Call the companies if you have questions. When a recruiter calls you pay key attention to red flags! Job hunting is work in and of itself and takes a lot of time. You can use your time more wisely by going on legitimate interviews.
Got questions? Comment or email me at: wendydknows@gmail.com
And as always… Good luck in your career search!
Wendy Steele
Founder & CEO BluePrint Resumes & Consulting