Posted on 03/22/2010 11:02:00 PM PDT by GodSaveAmerica+Israel
Hey my fellow FRiends :D
This is a huge and wonderful forum with so many like minded people sticking together and helping each other out as well :)
I am in my early 20s, still in college. I still live with my family and I want to get a job badly (like so many many other people)! I hate having to live off my parents, i feel really guilty, plus I want my own income and responsibility.
Any tips you can give me to really get the job and/or make myself stand out? I know tons of you have experience! I just want a basic job, like working at a supermarket or ANYTHING.
Any tips, or ideas for a small business (no matter how hard) that people need done for them and are willing to pay? Thanks! :D
I am also a recent graduate. I did the whole monster.com route and could not get an interview. A career counselor at my college had me first rewrite my resume and told me that this job climate is the worst he has seen in some time but not to give up hope. He then asked me what my passion was and I just looked at him. I had forgotten my passion. He said that when you are passionate about something it shows through to those looking for employees. Right now I have a part time job doing research for a doctor who is writing a book. I look for research she does not have time to search for herself. I found the job on Craigslist. The research I am doing right now is slightly in my passion area, but it is giving me time to plan what I really want to do. Hope this helps.
I did that for all the while I was in school. Made contacts and while I’m not working for them now, have given me plenty of business in the past.
Thanks I have a friend looking for work.
Please don’t do anything immoral. Relying on yourself means relying on God, who made you AND the legitimate skills that He has given you. Facilitating pornography makes you a pornographer. There are a myriad of other examples, but don’t pretend that you don’t know there is a line that should not be crossed and that it’s clear when an idea is over the line. In the long run, you’ll be better off.
I think the Army is still hiring.
And don’t forget to smile. Show the manager what the customers and other workers are going to see. A convenience store manager hired me because every time I bought something there, I smiled and was courteous to her. And she was one tough, hard-working lady!
A guy I know started a residential window washing business. He did it just to make money on the side in his own neighborhood. Within a year, he quit is full time job to focus on that, as so many people were looking for that service.
He started very simply, just making up door hangers and fliers and blanketing the neighborhoods around where he lives. It would be an excellent “marketing” project to have on your resume as well; and the start-up costs are low.
Wash toilets if you have to. Start at the bottom and work your way up. Too many kids think that just because one goes to college, that they can start right at the top. When I was a kid, I mowed lawns and anything that I could to make money. Kids now a days have no work ethic; just let the illegals cut the lawn or bus the tables and you know what, it has come back to bite us as a country.
Wash toilets if you have to. Start at the bottom and work your way up. Too many kids think that just because one goes to college, that they can start right at the top. When I was a kid, I mowed lawns and anything that I could to make money. Kids now a days have no work ethic; just let the illegals cut the lawn or bus the tables and you know what, it has come back to bite us as a country.
I knew two college age guys who washed windows.....not for businesses,but homes. Find an affluent neighborhood, make up some fliers, and hit the bricks.
These guys did so well, they cut down their work week to three days....but they hustled. They didn’t mess around when working,had ten hour days and before long, word of mouth got them more work.
I got several interviews fresh out of college using the following.
“Hi Mr. Boss. My name is Bob White and I’m a graduate from XYZ College with a degree in widget making. I’ll be in your area next week and was wondering if I could drop by to see what opportunities there might be for someone with my qualifications. Would Tuesday morning be okay, or would Wednesday afternoon be better?”
One guy, after spending quite a bit of time with him, and him describing what they did, him showing me around the facility, finally he said “Well, I’m not hiring at the moment and don’t really plan to. But, I had to see what kind of guy had the balls to ask for an interview like that!” (It was out of some “How to get a job book. It was VERY hard for me to do. But it worked. Oh, and I had a written script laid out in front of me by the phone!)
I spent some more time with him telling me what other companies were doing, and I had several good leads. One company finally called me, but I already had a job with someone else. That one I found out from a professor, half-way across the country.
So networking is important. With friends, family, professors, and even the people you interview with. “I understand that you aren’t hiring now. Perhaps you know of one of your distributors, consultants, etc. that are?
“Charge the cost of the hardware plus $5 or $20 whatever the market will bear.”
Great idea! (I know I bought one of those things and it’s around here somewhere. I was going to put it in but then....)
I met a kid, well a guy in his early 20s, today while I was getting gas.
He came up and handed me a very nice business card and gave me this spiel about a car detailing business he ran on the side of the gas station. Said he could do my truck inside and out for $40. Wax, condition the leather, everything. He had two guys working for him.
Then I flipped the business card over and there were pics of bbq items: ribs, chicken, etc. I jokingly asked him, “So you do bbq too?” He looked at me apologetically and explained that, yes, he did indeed run a bbq operation - on the OTHER side of the gas station, but he apologized and said they had to shut down early today as business was better than he expected and they ran out of product! :-)
I was pretty impressed with his desire to succeed and told him I would come back and take him up on his offer for the detail and have some bbq while I waited.
Tutoring pays pretty well and is flexible for your schedule. In my world (parent of young kids) many working parents would love to have a college student pick up their kids from school and take them to their afternoon activies. It should pay a bit better than babysitting (which around here is $10.00 an hour) since you are using your car. Try the city parks and rec department, for jobs as referees, teachers or day camp counselors. The WSJ had an article a couple of years ago saying that there are never enough lifeguards for beaches and pools any more because college students are doing internships instead. the concessionaires in the national parks hire students from abroad because not enough Americans apply for summer jobs at the restaurants and lodges. Also, try nursing homes/assisted living. They have a high turnover and a need for people who can speak English loud and clear to the elderly. I met a college student who was earning money as a free-lance “justice of the peace”. She had gotten certified to perform weddings. It doesn’t take too long to become a phlebotomist (?sp?). That’s someone who takes blood samples. One pre-med student I met did that to get in the door in the medical world.
I don’t know which state you live in; the rule vary from state to state. It only takes about a month to become a certified nursing assistant (CNA). Many nursing homes will pay for your training. Many states will pay too if you are unemployed. In any event, if you can scrape together the $750 or so, the federal law is that you SHALL be reimbursed after a month on the job.
If you become a CNA, you will have more job offers than you can stand. You will also be shocked to find out how many are within 5 miles of your home.
Expect $10-$15/hr to start.
It’s hard work. Good luck
You should try to hang out your shingle and start a business. Hopefully you are living near a SCORE office (Service Corp of Retired Executives) which is a terrific volunteer program administered by the Small Business Administration. Meet with a potential mentor or two and brainstorm with them, reviewing the resources at the SCORE office, seeing if anything jumps out at you.
Invest in an inexpensive accounting software package and name your business (you can always change it later), and set up as your first vendor a cpa/bookkeeper that you might want to work with. If you can incorporate or otherwise license inexpensively, do it.
“If you build it they will come...” I know the actual quote was different in the movie, but as written here it is very powerful to keep in mind. The point I am trying to make is that even before you know exactly what it is you will do, begin to take the steps of setting up the structure. Don’t buy into the idea that you must have a business plan first, although that is the consensus view. Necessity can serve well as the mother of invention.
Let your uncomfortableness at living with your folks be like a grain of sand to the oyster, out of which you will build your pearl of a business.
And remember, in business, it isn’t “do or die”...it is “do and then do some more.” There is a wondeful Calvin Coolidge quote out there about the value of Persistence that is very good to keep in mind.
Here’s to your success!
I do not know where you are, but; we have all kinds of covenient mart jobs available here. People do not want to work for min wage here. Let me ask you what you think about $78 a month take home in 66? I did it for the big money,all that glory, this country, and to kill commies. Why not you?
Dunno where you are, but if you are figuring on a job in sales, you’ve gotta be a self starter...
That single attribute makes you able to hang out your own shingle.
Start a cleaning business, and target professional offices.
Buy a bucket and a squeegee, start a window cleaning business - My BIL came here from Costa Rica and did exactly that, and he was prosperous (I mean PROSPEROUS) within two years. Target big residential neighborhoods and professional offices (doctors)
You can get started in a tile-laying business with about $500. Easy to learn, easy to do, if you’ve got an artistic touch.
Painting houses is a very lucrative field, as is lawn care. Both cost a bit more to get into, but the ROI is remarkable.
All of these YOU can do by yourself, or hire according to your abilities and needs... most cost very little to get into, and each can be done according to your own schedule, including control of how much work you actually want. All of them are capable of 35-50 bucks an hour, depending on where you are.
Wow, I just came back to look at responses... Its overwhelming to see all the responses and advice! This country has such great people that look out for each other and help their fellow man. The Communist pieces of feces trying to ruin this country will pay!
I am definitely soaking all of this up! Bookmarked and all.
Now, if war and blowing sad ass people away is not your bag, get a pressure washer. Man, it has power.Get one with pro tips. You and a buddy could wash three decks a day, stain two with a power painter/stain tip, plus have another two waiting each day. Add the siding jobs that need cleaning, the cement driveways, etc. Try a whopping $300 or less to get started. Hell, I offered my wife’s son my pressure washer, wrote an ad, had ten jobs lined up in the first week. He did not want to work, which is the problem with many young. Heck, you use their water, ask them what stain/preservative they want, and they buy it. If they want Olympic- you will be back next year or two. Cabot, and; you forget them for awhile.
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