My son needs a job

[Wasatch Rebel]

My son who returned from his LDS mission the day after Thanksgiving has been job hunting since mid-December and has been unable to find employment. The trouble is, before he went on his mission, he worked at restaurants only--and hadn't attended any college at all, so his experience is limited and there are a lot of people out there with at least some experience competing with him.
I guess what I'm saying is, if you know of anyone who might take on my son in an entry level position (no MLMs please!), or if you have any pointers for how his job search could be smarter, please let me know. I'll be happy to get him out of the house and paying for some of his own food, and he'll be happy to be working and earning.

[CrazyFinn]

This is going to get popular this year I think. Looking for work.

I really don't have any work but a psychological comment at finding work.

Rather than focusing on the skills you have, focus on finding out what people want or need. Once you discover what someone wants you can try to figure out how you might provide it. I used to get this backwards by thinking I needed to have a capability first then find work to use that capability.

This may or may not even make sense to you but it's all I got. Good luck to your son!

[DiscGo]

Where is your son?


I have two suggestions for him.


If he is in Provo or Salt Lake he can apply at Chrysalis (a group home training mentally challenged individuals to become more sufficient). It is pretty easy to get hired on it sounds good for future jobs.


The other suggestion is he checks out the website coolworks.com. They have cool jobs all over the world, and I recommend he go to Alaska for the summer.
http://www.coolworks.com/alaska-jobs/

[Ih8grvty]

Good luck to him.
I have numerous licenses and certifications, heavy equipment operations, hazwopper certs, radioactive waste certs, haz, materials certs, experience going back years.
I got laid off 3 weeks ago and the jobs that are doing any hiring are min. wage. or pay so little its not worth the commute.
Your son, much like everyone else who recently lost jobs, is pretty much screwed at this point in looking for a career. Its bad news all over the country.

It is NOT a good time to be looking for work.
Im debating changing courses myself. Whats it take to become a teacher? I miss having summers off and all the holidays and those 2 weeks at christmas.
Hows that strike ya? all thsoe years I could not wait to get the hell out of school and now Im thinking about not only going back to school, but making it a permanent way of life!

I could not deal with little kids, no way no how, it would have to be high school aged kids or at leas jr high. I really suck at math, my head jsut can not wrap around numbers, Im thinking history, or science, those are the only two subjects (outside computers) that i ever really liked or understood.
The world will always need teachers, maybe your sons best bet is to head back to school, and work part time. Of course, I dunno how easy it is to get student loans at this point, so unless its not too hard, or you got the cash to put him through school, that may not be an option.
Good luck to him, and me, and anyone else whos looking for work.

[Wasatch Rebel]

Where is your son?


I have two suggestions for him.


If he is in Provo or Salt Lake he can apply at Chrysalis (a group home training mentally challenged individuals to become more sufficient). It is pretty easy to get hired on it sounds good for future jobs.


The other suggestion is he checks out the website coolworks.com. They have cool jobs all over the world, and I recommend he go to Alaska for the summer.
http://www.coolworks.com/alaska-jobs/

We live in the SL Valley and he's living with us, of course, without a job it's hard to pay rent somewhere. Thanks for the suggestions. I will definitely pass them along. Wow, I kind of wish I could do the Alaska thing!

[Wasatch Rebel]

Good luck to him.

It is NOT a good time to be looking for work.
Im debating changing courses myself. Whats it take to become a teacher? I miss having summers off and all the holidays and those 2 weeks at christmas.
Hows that strike ya? all thsoe years I could not wait to get the hell out of school and now Im thinking about not only going back to school, but making it a permanent way of life!

I could not deal with little kids, no way no how, it would have to be high school aged kids or at leas jr high. I really suck at math, my head jsut can not wrap around numbers, Im thinking history, or science, those are the only two subjects (outside computers) that i ever really liked or understood.
The world will always need teachers, maybe your sons best bet is to head back to school, and work part time. Of course, I dunno how easy it is to get student loans at this point, so unless its not too hard, or you got the cash to put him through school, that may not be an option.
Good luck to him, and me, and anyone else whos looking for work.

I think you may be able to find work teaching, but might need some college courses to do so. They are always looking for math and science teachers though--from what I've heard. I think my son would do just about anything, including part-time right now, just to get some income, and maybe a foot in the door---he doesn't have a family to support or anything. At least that way, he could be looking to improve his job situation, but have a little money coming in. At this point he's trying to avoid McDonalds etc., but that may not last.
Anyway, I hope you find something soon.

[Wasatch Rebel]

This is going to get popular this year I think. Looking for work.

I really don't have any work but a psychological comment at finding work.

Rather than focusing on the skills you have, focus on finding out what people want or need. Once you discover what someone wants you can try to figure out how you might provide it. I used to get this backwards by thinking I needed to have a capability first then find work to use that capability.

This may or may not even make sense to you but it's all I got. Good luck to your son!

Thanks, CrazyFinn. I think you are right on with that suggestion.

[fouristhenewone]

man - scary time to be out of work. At least he is young and has a place to live with you.

My two cents - First, if he is bilingual, which many RM's are, that is an advantage in the job search. Customer Service and Tech places are always looking for people who speak more than one language.

Secondly, caution your son to use his missionary experience as just that, an experience, not a job qualification. As an employer, when hiring, I often get RM's who come in with little or no job qualifications, and try to pass of the 2 years they spent in Idaho like two years spent in a customer service job. It's not a job, and it doesn't automatically qualify you as someone who is good with people. I've had many discussions with active missionaries, and those conversations ranged from intelligent, quality discussion to piss poor chat with a door to door salesperson.

Lastly, practice interviewing. A potential employer cares about your experience and qualifications, but often as much as anything, it's the interview that makes it an easy decision to hire or not to hire. Different interviewers look for different things, but I think commonly, you are looking for a person who is open, but not too open, honest about the level of experience they have, shows a deeper interest in the position. and is confident but not cocky. Remember, it's an interview, not an inquisition, so coming in overly nervous isn't necessary.

[Wasatch Rebel]

man - scary time to be out of work. At least he is young and has a place to live with you.

My two cents - First, if he is bilingual, which many RM's are, that is an advantage in the job search. Customer Service and Tech places are always looking for people who speak more than one language.

Secondly, caution your son to use his missionary experience as just that, an experience, not a job qualification. As an employer, when hiring, I often get RM's who come in with little or no job qualifications, and try to pass of the 2 years they spent in Idaho like two years spent in a customer service job. It's not a job, and it doesn't automatically qualify you as someone who is good with people. I've had many discussions with active missionaries, and those conversations ranged from intelligent, quality discussion to piss poor chat with a door to door salesperson.

Lastly, practice interviewing. A potential employer cares about your experience and qualifications, but often as much as anything, it's the interview that makes it an easy decision to hire or not to hire. Different interviewers look for different things, but I think commonly, you are looking for a person who is open, but not too open, honest about the level of experience they have, shows a deeper interest in the position. and is confident but not cocky. Remember, it's an interview, not an inquisition, so coming in overly nervous isn't necessary.

Thanks--that's great advice.

[Last Child]

In times like these sometimes you have to take any job that you can get. Any pay and being busy is better than no pay and a sedentary life.

I have on many occasions hired people with no experience whatsoever. I actually like to train people to do things "my way". One thing however is very important to me when I look over a resume. Did this person work continuously. Were they willing to take a job they didn't want just to keep working or are there large gaps in employment history. To me that tells me what kind of worker the person will be. Too many people now days only want a "certain" type of job or will only work for so much $$$. As if no pay is better than low pay? I don't get it?

Lets say I have an entry level Survey Tech position available.

Candidate A comes in. He has 5 years experience but has been unemployed for... lets say a year. He is more than qualified but during the interview I find out that he either didn't take "other" jobs or didn't look for "other" jobs because of pay or lack of interest in the "other" job.

Candidate B comes in and has no surveying experience whatsoever and doesn't even really know what surveying is (a current employee I have fits this). He has however had steady employment with only small gaps in his employment history. He explains that he disliked many of his jobs but needed work and he is here looking for a new beginning.

I am going to take a chance on Mr. B just because of his attitude towards work.

I have hired and had many a college student apply for employment here. I am stunned at the number of these that have never even had a job. Any job. No resume whatsoever. I honestly explain to them that I feel that shows a total lack of incentive and work ethic and that I wouldn't even consider them for employment. I give them my best advice and then watch them leave with tail between the legs. It is very sad.

I guess what I am trying to say is... that if I had a child in the same position I would strongly encourage them to take pretty much any job they can get right now. There are jobs out there. It shows incentive. It may even expose one to other possibilities of moving up within that business. It gives them something to do and builds character. Helps them so they can "pay their way" and feel good about doing it. This is another thing that I think parents should be requiring more of. Kudos to you for that. Nothing is worse on the psyche than freeloading and being sedentary.

Good luck to him.

[Iceaxe]

As the owner of my own business.... I'll have to say that last Child nailed this one.... If I know a potential employee is intelligent and a hard worker I'll usually hire them, even if I don't have a particular position available for them at the time.... cause if an employee is intelligent and a hard worker I know I can make money with them... good employees are extremely hard to find.... most folks just want to kick back and do as little as possible and get paid as much as possible....

[Iceaxe]

One other thought.... the best employee I ever hired walked into my office and said..... "I'll take whatever job you have, and you can just pay me what you think I'm worth. I want to get into this business as a career and I need to get some experience." The guy has now been working for me for 16 years and makes a very nice living....

[cachehiker]

When they moved the production line I was involved with to Taiwan a few years ago, the first thing I did was get a business license. Granted I have technical skills and a background in plant automation and electronics among other things, but I was surprised at the work I was able to find. Plants would hire me to rig a conveyer jam alarm in a reflow oven or to solder jumpers on a UMPC motherboard. The work wasn't continuous but instead of letting them pay a temp service double what they pay me, I got to keep it all.

I would often get myself in the door by volunteering to work a half day in order to "assess" whether it was technician work or engineering work and promise to get back with them for a quote which was usually double what I would ask for a semi-permanent semi-full time position doing the same sort of work. One place had me fill in for 10 days for their one and only production technician who left on a cruise. Autoliv payed me for three weeks running an end mill and catching them up on building frames for equipment.

One place didn't pay net 30 and that's always a risk. However, I simply refused to continue working on the additional projects they'd asked me to do and got my check later that week. The biggest hassle was submitting invoices for the work, doing the accounting, filing a Schedule C, and coughing up the self employment taxes.

Best of all, it's right there on my resume: 18 months working as a service and calibration technician. It doesn't mention it was part time but leaving a detail like that off isn't exactly lying. If I had it to do over again, I would've invested more effort into business cards, a line card or sorts, and professional looking business forms. Even if it was just part time contract help for a lawn care business, it still would've been a good learning experience.

[Last Child]

One other thought.... the best employee I ever hired walked into my office and said..... "I'll take whatever job you have, and you can just pay me what you think I'm worth. I want to get into this business as a career and I need to get some experience." The guy has now been working for me for 16 years and makes a very nice living....

Yep, that about says it for me too. This is pretty much what my latest employee did. He has been with me almost 5 years now and he has proved to be a very good intelligent worker.

Those who look at an open door to any job as a way to just get a foot inside so they can start to work their way up will always succeed in life. It's all about attitude and drive.

Also...THINK OUTSIDE OF THE BOX.

[jumar]

Just heard a radio commercial that convergys is hiring. A lot of people I know worked there during the college years.

[CrazyFinn]

Last Child and Iceaxe... You guys have the right thinking by me. Good Job as they say!

[shlingdawg]

Intermountain Healthcare is hiring a bunch of Housekeepers at the new Intermountain Medical Center in Murray. Along with many other positions.

https://ihc.taleo.net/careersection/...ch.ftl?lang=en


Also check out the hundreds of jobs posted at jobs.utah.gov

[Wasatch Rebel]

Just heard a radio commercial that convergys is hiring. A lot of people I know worked there during the college years.

Maybe they really are now. My son applied there about 2-3 weeks ago--and they were running ads then too, but they responded that they had no openings at the time. I'll tell him to try it again.

[Wasatch Rebel]

Last Child and Iceaxe... You guys have the right thinking by me. Good Job as they say!

I second that. That's the kind of attitude I'm trying to instill in my children as well.

[Wasatch Rebel]

Intermountain Healthcare is hiring a bunch of Housekeepers at the new Intermountain Medical Center in Murray. Along with many other positions.

https://ihc.taleo.net/careersection/...ch.ftl?lang=en


Also check out the hundreds of jobs posted at jobs.utah.gov

Thanks. I'll pass that along.