Six More Months ’till 30

Today marks exactly six months until I turn the big 3-0.

Surprisingly, I’m not TOO freaked out about the notion of only having six months left of my twenties. My husband and most of my friends are already in their thirties, so to be honest, I kind of feel left out!

Another reason why I’m not too sad about leaving my twenties is because I feel like I’ve accomplished the majority of things I wanted to do during this time: I graduated from college, I lived in another country for a year, I traveled a lot (both locally and internationally), I got married, and I even ran a half marathon. My twenties weren’t perfect; there were some low points in there and some things I would change. But for the most part, I’m happy with how I spent the majority of my twenties and everything I accomplished in this time.

My twenties aren’t over yet, though. I have six more months to accomplish a few more big goals of mine. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you probably already have a good idea of what these goals are, buuuuut let’s recap anyway:

Get a Big Kid Job

I’ve been looking for a Big Kid Job (full-time, salaried job with benefits) since I moved home from South Korea in March of 2012, but it’s been a lot harder than one would think. Not only is the job market extremely competitive right now thanks to the economy, but I changed my career path from teaching to non-profit work, so I had to start over from scratch when it came to gaining relevent work experience. Thanks to all the volunteer, intern, and temp work I’ve been doing for the last 2 1/2 years, I have a lot more non-profit experience now, but I have yet to find a Big Kid Job in the non-profit sector. I just had a phone interview for a non-profit BKJ yesterday, so hopefully I get an in-person interview, and then the job itself. It would be amazing to go from working two part-time jobs to one full-time job and FINALLY start my career.

Improve My Finances

At the beginning of 2014, I was unemployed with over $27,000 in debt and no money in my savings. I’m happy to say that, a year later, my financial situation is in better shape, but it’s still a work in progress: I still have debt to payoff and more money to save. I’d like to have all of my credit cards paid off and $3,000 in my savings account by the time I turn 30, which may or may not be doable depending on how disciplined I am with my spending in the next 6 months. (My spending habit is also a work in progress.)

Get In Shape

I’m about 20 pounds overweight, and I have been for the last 2-3 years. I have STRUGGLED to get back down to my normal, healthy weight on and off again since I gained the weight in the first place, but no matter how much I exercise and how much weight I lose, I always gain it back thanks to my less-than-stellar eating habits. However, I’ve recently gained new motivation for getting in shape: Chris and I decided we are going to “start trying” this time next year. You know, GET PREGNANT. While I’m excited about the idea of me getting pregnant and us starting a family, I’m also terrified of how my body will change during this process A.K.A all the weight I will gain! I can’t imagine already being 20 pounds overweight now, and then gaining another 20-40 pounds from growing a baby in my stomach. I don’t want to imagine it, and I most certainly don’t want this image to become a reality; therefore, I need to start getting serious about losing weight this next year. I know it might sound silly trying to lose weight before getting pregnant, but I don’t care. I need to start this process now before it gets even harder to lose weight post-labor. So bring on the yoga, running, and healthy eating because I have 20 pounds to lose, and I’d like to lose it by the time I turn 30.

I think I may have my work cut out for me. Three big life goals to achieve in 6 months! It won’t be the end of the world if I don’t accomplish these things by then, but it would make entering my thirties exponentially better if I do. I think the fact that Chris and I want to start trying in a year will really help me focus on these goals. We’ve always known we want to start a family someday, but now that we have a specific time frame in mind, I’m realizing I need to kick my ass into gear when it comes to starting my career, improving my finances, and getting healthy. My future depends on it!

What are some goals you want to accomplish before you turn 30? What was one of the biggest accomplishments of your twenties?

Back to the Career Job Drawing Board

At the end of 2013, I found myself extremely frustrated with my job situation. I had just gotten laid off by a non-profit I really wanted to work for, leaving me in a panic. I thought for sure I would get hired on permanently with said non-profit, but thanks to my “lack of work experience and skills,” I was left unemployed with a dwindling bank account. After constant job rejections during the next couple months, I decided to put my career goals on hold, and instead, take a part-time restaurant job. Of course, working as a server again wasn’t my ideal work situation, but at least I would be making good money again. (My non-profit paychecks were low, and my unemployment checks were EVEN LOWER.) So in mid-January, I took a part-time serving job at a fine-dining steakhouse, and in mid-April, I took a part-time job at a non-profit. Since April, I’ve been pretty content with working full-time between these two part-time jobs, because since the beginning of 2014, my mentality has been all about paying off my debt/saving money and working whatever job(s) in order to do so. But now? I think I’m ready to start working on finding a full-time, salaried, career job again.

I know what you might be thinking: “Typical millenial. Never satisfied and always wanting the next best thing. You haven’t even been at your current jobs for a year! Why start job searching again?” Yes, I know, I will be the first to admit I’ve had SIX different jobs since I graduated college 3 1/2 years ago. Truth is, ever since I turned 29 in May, I’ve been thinking a lot about my career path again. I have less than a year until I turn 30, which is when Chris and I said we would seriously consider starting a family. This means I need to figure out my career shit, and soon! Because the last thing I want in life is to be a pregnant waitress.

So what am I going to start doing in order to figure out my career path and find a full-time job? Here’s what I have in mind:

• Start job searching daily. Obviously.
• Start attending networking events again. I haven’t been to one since December. I went to so many last year when I was career-focused and found them to be really helpful with meeting new people and improving my networking skills.
• Work on improving my job skill set. At my current non-profit job, I’m learning a lot about marketing, social media management, and Microsoft Office programs. I want to improve these skills by working on them during my free-time (reading books on these topics, taking classes, etc.)

Last, but not least, I need to figure out exactly what I want to do for my career! Yes, I’m 29 and still figuring this out. Surely, I can’t be the only woman on the planet who has a fear of commitment when it comes to deciding what she wants to do for the rest of her life? If it’s any consolation, I have my career path narrowed down to three possible choices:

1. Non-profit: I’ve always loved the idea of having a fulfilling job that allows me to help people in need, which is probably why I originally wanted to be a teacher. However, the more experience I get in the non-profit sector, the more I learn that most of the entry-level jobs are in fundraising. Fundraising jobs are extremely stressful and require a lot of night/weekend work. The closer I get to turning 30 and starting a family, the less appealing a job in non-profit fundraising sounds.
2. Event planning for a fine-dining restaurant: I could really see myself doing this as a career. I’m a planner through and through. I will plan the shit out of your birthday celebration/bachelerotte party/baby shower. I live and breathe Google calendar and Excel spreadsheets. I basically have the next year of my life planned. Throw in the fact that I have 10+ years of fine dining experience and BOOM. Perfect job for me.
3. Full-time blogger: I read a ton of blogs authored by mothers who blog for a living and are able to help support their familes. THIS sounds like the ideal job for when I become a mom. Make money from doing something I love? Work from home? Help support the family but still be able to stay home with the kids? Where do I sign up?!

I’m nervous to start job searching again because I know it’s going to involve a lot of rejection and feelings of I’m-not-qualified-enough-and-no-one-will-hire-me, but I can’t avoid it forever. The good thing is I’m in a much better place financially than I was six months ago, so the urgency of finding a full-time job right away is low. I’m going to be able to focus and take my time with this. Regardless of how long it takes, I’m hoping that this round of job searching lands me the full-time, salaried, career job I’ve been seeking since college.

Are you happy with your current job/career? If not, what are you doing to find something better?

Protected: My New Side Hustle: Mo’ Money, Mo’ Experience

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I Got Myself a Side Hustle

Over the weekend, I got a second job. I also received another sign as to what career path I should be pursuing…

On Friday night, I was wondering why I hadn’t heard from the person who interviewed me for that part-time, contracted, non-profit job I’ve been mentioning. She said she would let me know by Friday, yet I still hadn’t received any news. So I checked the email account that’s listed on my resume thinking that maybe she emailed me and it didn’t get forwarded to my main email account. Lo and behold, I found an email from her (sent on Tuesday) stating that I was not chosen for the job. After interviewing three times for that particular job, I didn’t get it! I haven’t emailed the employer back and asked for feedback on why I didn’t get the job, because I have a feeling she’s just going to tell me that they went with “someone who has more experience.” And to be honest, I’m really tired of hearing that kind of feedback. I especially don’t want to hear that I’m not experienced enough for a PART-TIME TEMP JOB.

On the bright side, the next day I was offered another part-time restaurant job at a semi-fancy Italian restaurant. I’ll be working as a lunch hostess, but the managers also want me to assist their event coordinator with special event planning. I have a lot of prior experience executing special events, but no experience with the actual planning part, so I think this will be really good experience to add to my service industry resume. And who knows? Perhaps this will give me the experience I need to become an event coordinator myself someday.

Even though I wasn’t 100% sure if I should continue to pursue a career in non-profit, I was still upset I didn’t get offered that part-time temp job. I think this recent rejection brought back all of the anger, frustration, and disappointment I felt when I got rejected for those two full-time, permanent non-profit jobs over the holidays; it brought back feelings of not feeling good enough. However, after my shock and sadness wore off on Friday night, I was feeling thankful for the sign: if I can’t even get a part time temp job in a particular field, I should probably just stop wasting my time trying to change my career and stick with where my experience lies. When I interview for jobs in the food, beverage, and service industry, I feel wanted. I have over 10 years of well-rounded experience in this field, so I’m rarely told, “You don’t have enough experience, so we chose someone else.” Instead, I get interviews AND I get job offers.

I’m loving my current part-time job; not only are my co-workers awesome and I’m learning a lot about food and wine, but I’m making a ton of money (the same amount I’d be making if I was working one of those full-time non-profit jobs I interviewed for). Now that I have a second job to work during the day, I’ll be able to pay off my debt faster! I’m pretty excited about the event planning experience I’ll be gaining, too.

I may not have a Big Kid Job like many people my age, but you can’t say I didn’t try. For the last year, I volunteered, interned, and worked a temp job that got me nowhere and left me unemployed. So I put my pride aside and went back to the service industry; now I’m working again and making money. I’m doing what I have to do to pay off my debt, save for my future, and survive in this crazy competitive job market. And that’s what matters most right now.

On Giving Up, Plan B, and “Changing My Major”

While I was unemployed, I wrote a post where I mentioned that right now, in this crazy competitive job market, is not the best time to pursue a career change because I lack the relevant work experience I need. I also mentioned that maybe I’m not meant to work a Monday thru Friday, 9-5 office job, so maybe I should explore other unconventional career paths where I can utilize the work experience I already have. Essentially, I was thinking about giving up on pursuing a career in non-profit work.

Then one evening, while I was watching season 2 of GIRLS, I came across the episode where Marnie gets fired from her Big Girl Job. She has a hard time finding a new Big Girl Job, so instead, she gets a job as a hostess because it pays really well. When she runs into Booth Jonathan at work, she tells him her situation, to which he responds:

“I love when young people are passionate about something, and then they just give up the second they have to struggle.”

I know Booth Jonathan is a fictional character, but what he said in that episode really resonated with me. As soon as he said that to Marnie, I immediately thought, “Oh my god, I’M MARNIE! I’m giving up on pursuing a career of helping others because I got rejected for two non-profit jobs and now I’m struggling. I’m giving up on my passion.”

Since watching that episode a few weeks ago, I’ve been thinking about my current situation a lot. First of all, this isn’t the first time I’ve given up on a potential career. Second, I’m confused. Is a career in non-profit something that I really want? Something I’m truly passionate about? Or was it just a Plan B? Something else for me to pursue since I decided I didn’t want to become a teacher? And if not a career in non-profit, then what? What am I meant to do with the rest of my life?

I’m especially torn about this decision because I recently interviewed for a contracted, part-time position with a non-profit, and I have a feeling that the people I interviewed with might offer me the job this week, so I need to figure out what I want to do soon! The job is three months long, and the hours are M-F 9-1pm, so it wouldn’t interfere with my new restaurant job (i.e. my money-maker). It would be good experience, which is what I need, but it still won’t be enough to beat out the competition. And again, I don’t know if I even want this anymore. It’s not that I don’t want to help people in need; I will always be able to do that by volunteering. I just don’t want to spend the next few years getting constantly rejected for permanent full-time jobs and only qualifying for the part-time temp jobs that pay $11 an hour.

I envy people who have always known what they want to do in life– people who majored in a subject that’s actually useful (unlike English) and are actually utilizing those degrees. Sometimes I wonder if I had done that in college, I would have already started a career by now. Instead, I’ve been out of college for three years and I’m still trying to “change my major.”

Since he knows me so well, I asked Chris what he sees me doing as a career. He said aside from a career that involves helping others (like teaching or nonprofit), he said he sees me being an event coordinator for a fine-dining restaurant because of my lengthy restaurant experience, strong attention-to-detail, and love for food and wine. He also said a career that involves writing because of my English background and love for blogging. While I definitely plan to keep these career prospects in mind, I think I’m just going to take a little break from trying to figure out my career, and instead, focus on paying off my debt now that I have a job. I’m tired of being stressed out about the unknown. Plus I’d rather focus my energy on something I can control, like my finances. As for the nonprofit career path, I most likely won’t stick with it, because to be honest, I don’t want to keep struggling over something that was just a Plan B to begin with.

How did you know what you wanted your career to be? Have you always known what you wanted to do as a career? How many times did you change your major in college? Are you utilizing your degree?

The Wrath That Is Unemployment

Last week, a friend of mine seemed surprised to hear about how much I hated being unemployed. “Did you really hate being unemployed that much?” he asked me over Twitter, to which I responded “Yup, I hated it. What’s to love about being 28 years old with no job and no money?” Being unemployed for two and a half months was one of the most miserable experiences of my life, and today I’m going to share in detail why.

I’ve always prided myself on my work ethic. I started working in middle-school as a baby-sitter for my younger siblings and the neighbors’ kids. I got my first real job when I was 16 as a hostess at a fine-dining restaurant. I worked my way through college. Sometimes I worked two (or even three!) jobs at once. I don’t plan on being a stay-at-home mom when I have kids someday. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always worked and I plan to work until I retire at 70.

The beginning of last November started my first time being unemployed. I’ll admit, the first couple weeks were kind of nice. I got to sleep in! I got to wear comfy clothes all day! I had tons of time to catch up on my to-do lists! Plus, I didn’t think my unemployment was going to last more than a month because I was in the process of interviewing for two different full-time jobs, and I was pretty positive I was going to get offered both of them.

In the beginning of December, I received job rejection 2 of 2. I’d say that this is about the time the meltdowns and the panic went into full effect. I didn’t get either of the full-time jobs and I had no more interviews lined up. I had very little money. I was tired of wearing old-t-shirts and yoga pants every day. I was crying at least once a week. I had cabin fever from being home so much. I was restless from not having a lot to do during the day. I was gaining weight from stress eating and being sedentary. I was receiving rejection emails from jobs I had applied for or not hearing back at all. I was having a hard time finding a part-time restaurant job because most restaurants had already hired for the holidays. I wanted to go out and socialize with my friends, but at the same time, I didn’t want to see anyone because I didn’t want to talk about how I was unemployed. I kept thinking about how I’m almost 30, yet I don’t have my shit together. Essentially, I was at an all time low.

Thankfully, I have a job again. I started my new part-time job last week and I’m already feeling a difference in my mood. I feel better now that I have the opportunity to take a shower, get ready, put on real clothes, leave my apartment, get some social interaction, and work to earn my money every day. In fact, it feels awesome! I will take a part-time restaurant job over being unemployed any day.

Even though being unemployed was a shitty experience, I’ve definitely learned a lot from it. I used to think that most unemployed people were lazy moochers who used their unemployment money to travel and live it up, rather than actively look for a job. While I have met some people who do that, I’ve realized it’s not the case for everyone. Unemployment is not something we can control; anyone can become job-less at any time. We also can’t control how long we’re unemployed for; I know people who have been unemployed for way longer than I was (1-2 years). In a job market that’s super tight and competitive right now, more people are getting laid off these days and it’s getting harder/taking longer for them to find  work.

Money-wise, I’ve learned the importance of having an emergency fund. I didn’t have any money saved up when my unemployment began which was a big mistake. Lucky for me, I qualified for unemployment benefits, which weren’t much, but they helped me pay my monthly bills and gave me a chance to buy the occasional Starbucks latte. Chris took care of the rest of our expenses. (If he wasn’t in my life, I would have had to move back home with my dad.) He was also very sweet about taking me out to dinner or shopping to help get me out of the house and get my mind off things. Oh, and I have to give a shout out to some of my family and friends who treated me to brunch/lunch/ dinner/coffee/drinks during the times we hung out these last couple months. I’m a millionaire when it comes to awesome, supportive people in my life!

Some don’t mind being unemployed because of the free time and free money. It wasn’t for me, though, because I’m a workaholic and I hate relying on others financially. Unemployment was a good life lesson that changed my perspective on a lot of things for the better. But it was also one of the hardest experiences of my life, and hopefully I’ll never have to go through it again.

Have you ever been unemployed before? If you lost your job today, would you be financially ready for it?

I Got a New Job!

In case you missed the good news, I finally got a job! Last Friday afternoon, I was offered a position as a server at a fine-dining restaurant, and I gladly accepted it. I had my orientation the following Monday and I start training this weekend. Once I’m done with training, I’ll be working anywhere from 3-5 nights a week. The restaurant is only a 10 minute drive from my apartment, so that’s awesome. Oh, and the best part? Since the restaurant is fancy and expensive, I’ll be making fat stacks really good tips.

I know this job isn’t as great as a full-time Big Kid Job, but I’m still super excited about it. For one, I will be making WAY more money as a server at a fine-dining restaurant than I make from my unemployment benefits, which means I can start working on my goal of paying off my debt. Second, having a job to go to means I now have a reason to get out of the house more often. No more cabin fever for this lady!

Even though I have a job now, my job search is not over. I mentioned before that I want to work two jobs this year in order to expedite the process of paying off my debt, so along with getting a job, I want to get a side hustle. Since I now have a job where I’ll be working nights, I need to find a day job (ideally some kind of office job). I have a phone interview today for a part-time, entry-level, contracted job at a non-profit that I’m hoping to get. Not only is this job very similar to the contracted job I worked over the summer, but it would be more relevant experience to add to my non-profit resume. Wish me luck!

I really can’t express enough how happy I am about my new part-time job. I plan to blog in detail next week about the wrath that is unemployment, but for now, the important thing to focus on is that I have a job again, and that means things are finally starting to look up.

When was the last time you got good news? What was the news?

Job Searching Tips and Tricks (Part 2)

Public Service Announcement: In case you missed my tweet on Twitter a few days ago, I got a job! It’s only a part-time job, but I’m still super excited about it. I’ll be working as a server in a fine-dining restaurant, and I start today! I’ll go into more details about my new job later this week, but for now, I’m going to finish sharing my job searching tips and tricks.

Last Monday, I shared some of my job searching pointers that pertain to the job application process. Today I’m going to share some pointers on the interview process, as well as some miscellaneous tips:

Before, During, and After the Interview

• Bring the energy! Employers like it when you show a lot of energy and enthusiasm during your interview. A good way to ensure you bring the energy during your interview is to drink some caffeine beforehand. Chris loves to drink Red Bull before his job interviews; in fact, he drank a Red Bull before the last five interviews he had, and guess what? He received a job offer for all five jobs. I drank a Red Bull before the interview I just received a job offer for. Combined, we’re now six for six.
• Wear a suit to the interview. It doesn’t matter if the employer’s dress code is business casual or just plain casual, you need to wear a suit to the interview; it shows you take the job seriously.
• Be prepared to be interviewed on the spot. This specifically applies to phone interviews. A few months ago, an employer called me and left me a voicemail in regards to a position I had applied for. I called her back thinking she just wanted to set up an interview time with me. Turns out she wanted to interview me on the spot, and I wasn’t prepared at all, and she could tell! This also goes for when you apply for jobs in person. When I went in to submit my resume at the restaurant where I just got hired on at, the manager interviewed me on the spot. Luckily, I had mentally prepared myself that time!
• Be prepared for trick questions from the interviewer. I never knew trick interview questions were a common thing until I started job searching a few months ago. Interviewers seem to be asking more and more trick questions these days to easily weed out unqualified candidates. During some of my recent interviews, I’ve been asked, “What did you do to prepare for your interview today?” and “If you could work at any restaurant, where would you work?” During one of Chris’ recent interviews, the first question the interviewer asked him was “Who’s the CEO of our company?” For a full list of common trick questions, check out this article.
• Always prepare questions ahead of time to ask at the end of your interview. And not questions about the job’s salary, benefits package, or vacation time. Ask what’s both challenging and rewarding about the job. Ask about opportunities for advancement to show your career ambitions and that you’re interested in staying with the company for a long time. Employers also like when you ask them about their history with the company, what they like about working for the company, etc.
• Send a “thank you note” to the interviewer a day or two after your interview. And by thank you note, I mean a follow-up email that not only thanks the interviewer for taking the time to meet with you, but shows that you’re still enthusiastic about the job. Interviewers like to know that you went home, thought about what was discussed in the interview, and you’re still excited about the position.
• Do not assume you’re going to get the job no matter how well the interview went. This is the best way to set yourself up for disappointment. An even worse idea is to stop applying for other jobs because you think you’re going to get a job offer based on how well an interview went. The best thing to do after an interview is to assume you didn’t get it and move on with your job search. That way, if you don’t get it, you never got your hopes up to begin with.
• If you get rejected for a job, email the employer asking for feedback. This is a good way to find out why you didn’t get the job and get feedback to help you with your continuing job search. I did this for the last two jobs I got rejected for, and I’m glad I did, because I found out that even though I didn’t get the jobs, the interviewers thought I was a great candidate, I had impressed them, and it was a tough decision, but they ended up choosing someone with more experience. It made me feel better to know that I had done well in my interview, and the reason I didn’t get the job was for one I couldn’t control.

Miscellaneous Tips

• Check your resume/cover letter for mistakes. Check it again. Then have a second set of eyes check for mistakes. Then check it again. This might seem like an obvious tip, but I really can’t stress it enough. I always double-check my resume/cover letter before submitting them, but last week, I found a mistake on my resume a few days after I had already submitted it for a job opening. I wanted to pull my hair out as soon as I saw it! Now I’m extra OCD about checking for mistakes because apparently I can’t trust spell check.
• Put your social media on lockdown during your job search. Employers will check potential candidates’ social media profiles during an interview process, and I’ve seen it happen with my own eyes. While volunteering at a non-profit office a couple weeks ago, my supervisor told me about a potential new intern he was considering while he searched for her Facebook profile! Luckily, her page was set to private so he couldn’t see anything.
• Keep in contact with your references and professional contacts. I think it’s good to keep in contact with old bosses/co-workers in case you ever need to use them as a reference. Over the holidays, I sent out Christmas cards to the last three bosses I had as a small way of keeping in touch.

Do you have any good interview tips to share? How about any general job searching tips?

Job Searching Tips and Tricks (Part 1)

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I’ve been job searching for three months now, and needless to say, it sucks. Whenever I search for jobs, write cover letters, and study for interviews, I always think about how there are a million other things I’d rather be doing with my time. However, I’ve realized that job searching is a necessary life skill that everyone should have and be good at, because sooner or later, that life skill is going to come in handy. And for me, that time is now.

Since this is the first time I’ve ever been unemployed and actively job searching, I’ve been learning A TON of tips and tricks to help me improve my job searching skills and hopefully land me a job soon! Today I’m going to share some great advice I’ve adopted as my own. Some of it might seem like no-brainers, but for me, a lot of this advice has been eye-opening and helped me to get more and more interviews. So here’s what I have to share; hopefully it will help you, too, if you ever need it!

Finding Jobs to Apply For

• Tell friends and family you’re looking for work because they are likely to help you with your job search. Since I’ve been job searching, I’ve had friends and family email me job postings, job searching advice, and offer to let me use them as a reference. Even Chris’ friends send me job postings! The more people who know you’re looking for work, the more help you’re going to get.
• Attend networking events. This is another great way to get help finding work and expand your network. Lately, when I attend networking events and tell the people I meet I’m unemployed, they’ll give me recommendations for non-profits I should look into or email me job postings that they know I’ll be interested in. And if you’re lucky, you might even end up chatting with someone in your field who is hiring.
• Go into businesses to apply instead of only applying online. I use this trick for when I apply for restaurant jobs. At my last restaurant job, my manager once got 200 resumes for ONE open server position. Talk about competition! I imagine the restaurant industry is still just as competitive now that I’m looking for work. So instead of emailing my resume to restaurants, I bring it into the restaurant myself. This way, I can deliver it directly to the hands of the manager instead of risking the fact that he might not find it buried under 199 other resumes.
• Don’t apply for anything and everything. Unless you’re truly desperate for work, don’t do this. It’s the fastest way to get burnt out during your job search. Save your time and energy for the jobs you really want.
• My favorite job searching sites are Indeed and Glassdoor. Indeed is basically a job search engine, and Glassdoor provides salary info and reviews for companies written by their former employees.

The Resume

• Don’t use an objective; use a profile summary/summary of qualifications instead. A resume objective isn’t helpful because it states what YOU want to get out of the job rather than what you can offer the employer. Profile summaries do just the opposite: it summarizes all of your qualifications in just a few sentences to let the employer know right away what they will get out of hiring you. Objectives are outdated; it’s all about the profile summary nowadays.
• List your accomplishments on your resume. This shows employers that you not only did the job duties that were expected of you, but also went above and beyond at your past positions to make a positive impact.
• Include volunteer work in the “relevant experience” section if it relates to the position. Applying for a job as an event coordinator and you have volunteer experience as an event committee chair? Include that info!
• List your education on the bottom of your resume. These days, most employers are all about how much relevant work experience you have, so that’s the first thing they look for when scanning your resume. Do them a favor and put your work experience towards the top.
• If you have contracted work on your resume that lasted less than a year, specify that it was contracted work. This lets the employer know you didn’t peace out from a job after only a few months. I did this for my recent 6 month contracted position by putting the name of the temp agency in parentheses after the name of the organization.
• Avoid big blocks of text in your resume. Instead, use bullet points to break up information and make it easier to read/skim.
• Save your resume and cover letter as a PDF file and make sure the file name is specific. Saving as a PDF makes your documents look complete. Choosing a specific file name helps your application to stand out among tons of other applications that are saved as “RESUME.docx”.

In Part 2, I’ll share some tips on the interview process and other miscellaneous advice.

Do you have any good job searching/resume tips and tricks to share?

What I’ve Learned So Far During My Job Search

Back in May, I left my high-paying restaurant server job for a six-month contracted position with a non-profit that I really wanted to work for. I had already interned at this particular non-profit for seven months, so taking on a contracted position seemed like the next step in order to get hired on permanently with the organization. I took a HUGE paycut when I left my restaurant job for the contracted non-profit job, but I wasn’t too worried about it because I figured in six months, I’ll get hired on permanently with the non-profit and be making even more money than I was when I worked at my restaurant job. Taking on the contracted position seemed like the perfect way to gain more relevant work experience, make connections within the organization, and get my foot so far in the door, they’d have no choice but to hire me come November.

Well, that didn’t end up happening.

After my contracted position ended the beginning of November, I interviewed for two permanent positions within the organization. And I didn’t get either of them. Even though I have volunteer, internship, and work experience with the organization, as well as two professional references, I STILL didn’t get either job. You can probably imagine my shock and utter disappointment after I got the first rejection. I mean, how could they not hire me after paying my dues for a year?! So I emailed the hiring manager and asked her how I could be a stronger candidate in the future. Essentially, she told me that I was a strong candidate and she was impressed with me, but in the end, she decided to go with someone with even more experience. The hiring manager for the other position gave me the same response.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from this job searching experience, it’s that the job market right now is really fucking competitive. Sure we all know the economy is bad and the unemployment rate is high and there aren’t a lot of jobs right now, but you don’t really understand how shitty things are until you’re in it— until you’re collecting $600 unemployment checks every two weeks and you keep getting rejection emails for the Big Kid Jobs you’ve applied for and you can’t even get a job waiting tables because hundreds of people are desperately applying for those jobs, too.

One other important lesson I’ve learned from my situation is that right now–in this super competitive job market–is not the best time to make a career change like I attempted to do. Last year, I decided I wanted to pursue a career in non-profit work; now that I have about a year of non-profit work experience, I’m finding that that’s still not enough compared to the amount of experience my competition has. In this day and age, it’s really all about the experience. Gone are the days when people graduate from college by the time they’re 22 and get a job right away because they have a degree. Now that college degrees are a dime a dozen, what employers are looking for is experience, and lots of it. I’m constantly finding “entry-level” jobs that want 3-5 years of experience, or even better, they have NO degree requirement but want 3+ years of experience. Seeing these requirements on job postings all the time constantly makes me feel unqualified and discouraged. It’s almost enough to make me regret spending five and a half years working on my college degree because apparently I should have spent that time gaining experience instead.

But I digress. My last job rejection was a week ago, and I have since moved on from that disappointment and developed a new game plan. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the fact that maybe I’m not meant to work a Monday thru Friday, 9-5 office job, so I’ve been exploring unconventional career paths I can pursue that would utilize the experience I already have. For instance, I have a lot of customer service, leadership, and fine dining restaurant experience, so I’ve been thinking about pursuing a career as an event manager for a fine dining restaurant. This is something I think I’d be great at because I’m super organized, detail-oriented, and I’m such a planner! Another option I’ve been considering is becoming self-employed and working from home. I love blogging, so I think it would be awesome to start making money from my blog and eventually start blogging full-time while doing some freelance writing on the side. I still plan to apply for entry-level non-profit jobs over the next few months, but now I feel better knowing I have a couple of back-up plans in case my attempted career change doesn’t work out like I hoped it would.

Job searching is not easy, especially in this crazy competitive market. I’ve realized that if I want any chance of even just getting an interview, I need to figure out as many ways as possible to stand out among the hundreds of other job-seekers out there. This might mean returning to the restaurant industry or even becoming self-employed. But you know what? If those are my options for my future career, then that’s what I’m going to pursue, because either of those options both sound so much better than being unemployed.