Please enter a Job Title and/or City.
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Should I Call Co-Worker?
August 14, 2007 by jill eThere was some talk that an aide was not coming back to fill her position for the following school year, at the school where I work as a substitute. I called the school and talked to the administration, and I was told that she did not quit yet. Now, the people I heard this “talk” from are reliable people that I work with.
I would like to know if this person is planning on leaving because I am interested in her position. The school and school board have known for months that I am interested in the job full-time. I have made calls to the school itself, wrote two letters of interest, had a letter of recommendation sent, sent my references to them, and I talked to a school board member.
I have been searching for other jobs in the meantime, until further notice, but I really want this job. My family thinks I should call my co-worker and ask what her plans are. I’m not sure if I want to do that. Is it any of my business and not my place to ask or should I call? If I call, how should I ask her?
If she is planning to stay, I don’t want to keep wasting my time hanging onto this position. -
The Best Boss….
by jill eAfter thinking over the jobs I’ve had since I started working, I would have to say that my job at the elementary school, the one I have worked at for three years, has my favorite boss.
I work as a substitute teacher’s aide for disabled and autistic students. This job can be very demanding, especially when I’m not there the entire during the school year. I always do my best when I work with the students and I try to follow specific directions given for each student, but the thing that helps give me more confidence and security in my job is the teacher, the manager of the classroom.
She is always very positive and works well with the students. Her attitude and positiveness rub off and stick to me. The teacher makes me feel comfortable by showing me, in a kind manner, how to do something, and speaks to me as if I work in her room year round.
My boss lets me know how well I am doing at my job. I don’t expect to be told or even reminded of how well I work, but for me, it’s more like an incentive. It’s something that let’s me know I’m doing a good job and helping the students. And that’s the most important thing I can give the students. I have taken my boss’s example and I am providing them with the tools they need, an education. -
Fall Job
June 15, 2007 by jill eA few days ago, I sat down and typed a letter of interest to the school district I’m currently working at, as a substitue personal care aide, and I applied for a full-time job starting this fall. I previously hand wrote such a letter, but it was short and to the point. I wanted it to look more professional and I wanted it to state my qualities for the position. I believe that the school should know my abilities, but I wanted to stress them even more for this full-time position. I wanted them to know that I am much more than a substitute.
I have even considered calling one of the school board members and explaining to him about my interest in the position. I don’t think that this would hurt my chances. What do you think? And also, when should I do this? School has just let out for the summer. Should I give this member and the school a few more weeks until I call them since the school year just ended and the new school year won’t be here until September? I know it’s probably not too early, but it’s worth trying. I don’t want to bother or nag the school district and possibly loose my chance of getting the position.
Also, I had an interview at a tutoring agency in April and was hired, but I still have not started to tutor yet. I have called the agency a few times, but no word from them so far. They needed tutors so why aren’t they calling me to work? School is out, but should that matter? I don’t want to spend my whole summer waiting for work. I wonder what takes places like this so long to set up tutoring. I have already turned in my clearances and the necessary paperwork back in the beginning of May. I’m just frustrated. -
Full-Time Job?
May 31, 2007 by jill eFor the past few weeks I worked at the school as a personal care aide, one of my three jobs, and I loved it. There is quite possibly a full-time aide position opening up for the following school year. I have written a letter of interest, which I was told to do by the administration department. I asked fellow employees and other teachers who teach in the same curriculumn if I needed to do anything else in applying for the position and the answer was “no”.
I’ve been a substitute at this school for three years. Is there anything else I should be doing to ensure the hiring committee that I really would love the job or should I just wait and see what happens? Afterall, summer hasn’t begun yet. I think I made it pretty clear that I want the job, but I feel that I need to “get my foot in the door” now (even if I already am a sub), who knows who the school will hire.
I heard that the woman who is leaving the job will not be giving her notice until the end of summer. If she decides to do this, I will go crazy. Full-time jobs are hard to come by, especially the one I like doing. I’m waiting for this job to pan out. Should I plan on finding something else for this fall just in case it doesn’t? I already have this job, plus two other casual jobs.
How much time do I give them until I call and see if the position was filled or even if the woman has left the position yet? I don’t want to be bothersome. -
Job #3
April 10, 2007 by jill eLast week, I had an interview at a place that gives tutoring to students around the area. The nice part was that I would be working close to home and I could make my own hours. The pay isn’t bad, but I wish that I had something more stable, more reliable, and full-time.
Now, I’m working three jobs at once, but I’m hoping that once I start tutoring, I will build up a list of students, and then that list of students will get bigger, and so on. Hopefully, once I start, it could lead to full-time and I wouldn’t need the other two jobs.
The tutoring is usually only an hour or two at a time, but given the pay an hour, it’s not too bad. This is closer to what I want to do with my degree, but not exactly. Who knows, I may like it better than what I think. However, I believe this is giving me experience. At least it’s closer to where I want to be than some of my other past jobs.
At first, I saw an ad for it in the newspaper. I thought about it for awhile and faxed my resume to the company. The next day I emailed them (because no phone number was given in the ad) to see if they received it and I was told that they did, but they were looking for primary teachers, something that I wasn’t. I responded back with my qualifications and a few days later, I received a call asking to come to an interview.
Perhaps, if I didn’t email them I would not have been called for an interview. I figure that I have to do everything I can for a potential job, whether it’s in applying for it or actually working the position. I used to feel as if I was “bugging” the companies when I would call with questions/concerns or even to let them know I was still interested, but as long as I didn’t call every single day, a few times a day, I realized that I wasn’t bothering them. I was working on winning myself a better future. -
Response
by jill eIn response to William’s article about a job and lack of description, my advice would be to maybe call the BBB (Better Business Bureau) and see if the job is real and legitimate. A few years ago a similar incident happened to my family and I, and I remember my mom saying to call them and find out some information. If you’re not sure, ask someone you know about where you might be able to go or call to see if the company is legit.
I get emails all the time saying that certain companies are hiring, and there is little information about them or they seem too good to be true. Maybe it’s just me, but random emails sent to my inbox regarding jobs, I don’t think are legitimate. I would make sure that the job had information about where the company could be reached, the address, etc.
Before sending any personal information, such as a resume, I would suggest calling them and asking information about their company. If a company is hiring, I have always seen them give a description of the job and all the details to go with it. If there are no details, I’d make sure you did a complete search on the job. It could be a scam. -
Credit Checks
March 20, 2007 by jill eThis is in response to the credit check entry.
When I started to read this entry, my eyes grew wide. Employers doing credit checks upon employment, I believe, is wrong. It’s absurd, especially for college students. College graduates have years of debt from tuition, books, room/board, supplies, food, not to mention other bills, such as cell phone, car insurance/payments, and doctor bills.
Of course, when an employer looks at the credit history, it probably won’t look that great, but there are a lot of people today, with and without a college education, that are also living paycheck to paycheck (unless the person is a graduate student who has already found a good paying job).
Maybe I just don’t understand the definition of a credit check. I guess the check would be all right if the employer was looking to make sure the candidate didn’t steal, etc. but on the other hand, it is an invasion of privacy. It makes me wonder what they are going to come up with next.
I shouldn’t complain though. At my office job, my bosses are paying for my notary public commission. I don’t have the money to pay for it and it’s nice that I don’t have to come up with money that I don’t even have. I’m hoping that once my notary commission is ready for me to use and I add it to my resume, more employers will take notice. I’m trying to learn as much as I can being a legal secretary. I want to use that experience for future jobs. -
Local Government Job
March 02, 2007 by jill eIn the mail today, I received a ‘availability survey’ from the local government. I thought that I was getting a survey for a full-time job that would pay well. But little to my surprise, the position paid only $7.25/hr. and was part-time. Now, in order to receive this survey, I had to take the tests for the state. I thought that after taking this tests I would be able to find a better paying job.
When I read the survey and the description of the job, I couldnt’ believe it. It upset me that the job paid slightly over $7.00. Many jobs today pay the same or almost the same and that’s for jobs that don’t require a college degree or state testing. Why is that?
I would have marked the column that read ‘I am available for this job,” but didn’t because with the description above and the distance I would have to travel to get there, it wouldn’t be worth it. Perhaps, if the position was a little closer to home, there might not be a problem. I could deal with the low pay and if hired, work there and recieve some experience.
My main problem is, it’s hard to find a job out of the area due to gas expenses and living expenses. I simply cannot afford it. What do other college graduates do when they hardly have any money and his/her family isn’t able to help with the costs? -
Response to “One Year”
February 25, 2007 by jill eIn response to Andrew’s entry on “One Year”, I think that is great that you’ve been at your present job for a year so far. I’ve been told by many people, mostly family members and friends, that when I get hired at a company, even if it’s not where I want to stay for the rest of my life, I should stay there at least one year to gain experience.
If it happened to be that I would be there longer than one year, that’s good because other employers see that as dedication and that the candidate has experience. I have some friends that have had many jobs in just one year and to me, I don’t think that looks as well as having just one job in your field. By staying at your job for a year or more shows the experience you’ve gained. Perhaps, by staying a year or more at your job gives you a chance to really learn, not just about the company, but also about yourself. It will help you see if you really like it and where you want to go from there.
I’ve been at my job for about six months and each day I keep on learning. Even if I do the same thing every time I’m there, I learn a trick to do the work faster or learn how to do something that I didn’t know how to do before. Granted, I’ve been there six months, usually only one day a week, but still, it’s experience I’ve gained. It’s better than not working there at all.
The other thing that counts, is that when the other secretaries at the law office couldn’t work, I covered for them. I could be doing something else, but I tell myself, I need the experience and it actually does look good on my resume. You never know what “little thing” will get the company to hire you. It could be just that. -
Job Listings
February 21, 2007 by jill eI was just reading over some pamphlets from the career services department at my alumni, and it said that 80% of jobs are never posted. Why is that? Is it because the employer wants the job seeker to “find” them? If they needed to fill positions, don’t you think that they would advertise them? Also, when I had an interview with the federal government, the team of interviewers told me that my resume is what got me there. So, if that is true, why haven’t other employers contacted me for an interview if the federal government did? I don’t think it’s common that the government would interview someone if they didn’t think they were qualified.
I’ve asked myself these questions and I can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong. I think the much of the problem is that I live in a small town with not many job opportunities and that there isn’t much demand for creative writers, and if there is, there is too much competition. I have little experience.
For now, I’m not doing much job searching. In the past, I’ve spent hours online, reading the newspaper, networking, etc. and it has gotten me nowhere. I think that is a sign that I’m supposed to stay where I am now and try to gain some experience.
