How to get a job (or not)
- Thread starter Birdjaguar
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^^^ Yes, when I had a company 401k the fees were low. I hope your company has a Roth option. That is important. If they don't, you can open one for yourself. Fill both with savings.
hobbsyoyo
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I'm currently not offered a 401k, this is all for future reference. None of my previous employers did any kind of matching for their 401k's so I chose to focus on paying off credit cards before saving. If you lose a job, you have to roll the 401k over to another comapany's plan, right? Or can you just freeze your contributions and let it grow? Or both?
Paying down debt is a good option! You don't have to move a 401k from a past employer, but it helps to keeps your life simple and move it to an investment house. Most investment houses (like Vanguard) will move it for free and convert it to an IRA.
You can roll it over into a private 401k which is what i've done a few times. But of course that means you have to pay the vig.
caketastydelish
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Got an interview for an IT job (something in my field putting my bachelors degree to use), but they hired someone else, basically saying they wanted someone with more experience.
How am I supposed to get experience if I’m not allowed to work ?
How am I supposed to get experience if I’m not allowed to work ?
yung.carl.jung
Hey Bird! I'm Morose & Lugubrious
Got an interview for an IT job (something in my field putting my bachelors degree to use), but they hired someone else, basically saying they wanted someone with more experience.
How am I supposed to get experience if I’m not allowed to work ?
by voluntarily enslaving yourself without compensation and selling yourself way below your own value, aka "internships".
hobbsyoyo
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I would not really worry about it. There will be lots of other entry-level IT positions out there. It sucks to take an L but honestly I don't think this will hold you back.Got an interview for an IT job (something in my field putting my bachelors degree to use), but they hired someone else, basically saying they wanted someone with more experience.
How am I supposed to get experience if I’m not allowed to work ?
I'm not sure they're common in IT and if they are, I would expect them to be paid. Unpaid internships are a thing in the US but any jobs touching technology will tend to have paid internships here. And they're usually much better paying than full-time service sector work. I had one friend convert from intern to full time (salaried) and took a substantial pay cut due to the loss of overtime. That story is uncommon, but interns in tech do usually make good money.
Synobun
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General IT tends to be unpaid. Specialized IT gets the big bucks.
A way around feeling exploited is to volunteer; even if you were high up in your field, you'd be unpaid unless you were managerial, and even then you might not get a payday from it. My city, for example, has a non-profit which builds computers at low cost for disadvantaged people, does repairs, and IIRC does electronics recycling too. While the work may not be directly relevant, it's IT adjacent and looks better on a resume than something like dishwashing if IT is where you want to end up. Volunteering also tends to have better scheduling so you can fit it in around your normal work.
A way around feeling exploited is to volunteer; even if you were high up in your field, you'd be unpaid unless you were managerial, and even then you might not get a payday from it. My city, for example, has a non-profit which builds computers at low cost for disadvantaged people, does repairs, and IIRC does electronics recycling too. While the work may not be directly relevant, it's IT adjacent and looks better on a resume than something like dishwashing if IT is where you want to end up. Volunteering also tends to have better scheduling so you can fit it in around your normal work.
caketastydelish
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Help Desk is what it was. I’m having trouble even getting that.
Do you have any non tech call center experience?
hobbsyoyo
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@caketastydelish
How many applications have you put out?
For reference, in my recent round of unemployment, I had about 200 applications out. About a dozen led to phone interviews and of those I had I think 6 follow ups and on-sites. Only one led to a job. You have to cast a very wide net these days. Do you have a LinkedIn presence? I got lots of calls off of that.
How many applications have you put out?
For reference, in my recent round of unemployment, I had about 200 applications out. About a dozen led to phone interviews and of those I had I think 6 follow ups and on-sites. Only one led to a job. You have to cast a very wide net these days. Do you have a LinkedIn presence? I got lots of calls off of that.
caketastydelish
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barely but it was a long ass time ago and I hated it.
@rah should be more up to date on the best path to IT help desks, but I would think that call center work would help. Can you find a small company in an industry you know something about that hires remote workers? Or how about the many new hires by the big boys to screen social media content?
yung.carl.jung
Hey Bird! I'm Morose & Lugubrious
I wish you the best for your future endeavors. you deserve it. I've not gotten lots of "entry level jobs", even internships, requirements are incredibly high today
Surprising, competent help desk people are in demand.
Here, all it takes is a few accreditation or class work. Or work experience. But we're more likely to take the chance on an inexperienced person because we're worried that an experienced person seeking an entry level job is either lying or has other issues. Previous call level experience is considered a plus, but not required. And again, it's just to get you in the door and exposed to management to give them a reason to move you into a more desirable position in admin or dev. Of the dozen HD people I hired, one quit, one fired, 4 still stuck on help desk (since they haven't shown any additional proficiencies, and the other 50% hold good paying jobs. So not a bad proposition. It took the 6 less that a couple years to move up. So a year of mediocre wages followed by a decent payout.
Here, all it takes is a few accreditation or class work. Or work experience. But we're more likely to take the chance on an inexperienced person because we're worried that an experienced person seeking an entry level job is either lying or has other issues. Previous call level experience is considered a plus, but not required. And again, it's just to get you in the door and exposed to management to give them a reason to move you into a more desirable position in admin or dev. Of the dozen HD people I hired, one quit, one fired, 4 still stuck on help desk (since they haven't shown any additional proficiencies, and the other 50% hold good paying jobs. So not a bad proposition. It took the 6 less that a couple years to move up. So a year of mediocre wages followed by a decent payout.
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