Where to look for jobs?

[gysberger4]

I got my Master's degree in Geography/Climatology in May and have been on the job search ever since. I have applied for every single job that I can find that I might be qualified for, and yet I have been unsuccessful at getting hired. I have often gotten responses stating that I was too overqualified for the job, or I am lacking the 3-5 years of experience that they want. I have been searching for geography and administrative assistant positions (I have 4 years experience in that) and am having a really difficult finding any positions that a)I am qualified to do (not over- or under-) and b) that might interest/challenge me in any way.

Did any of you have these problems while searching for jobs? How long did it take you to actually get a job? Did you feel overqualified in your first job/current job? Any advice on where to look for jobs with my degree without being overqualified for them, since I am constantly running into that problem.

[wordsmith]

I really only have commiseration.

I'm actually currently employed, and got both this job (my second, post college, been at it 5 years) and my first job with relative ease, to be honest. The theory was that spending 3-5 years at my current was supposed to be valuable experience to move on from...but now, I can't find someplace that will allow me to move on, I find. I have excellent credentials, and that all-important practical experience under my belt now, to boot...which is what it's supposed to take. But no dice. I got my first two jobs, when I had NO practical experience toward either, piece of cake. Now that I've been "paying my dues," I find that it's not seeming to count for much. And I've not slacked...I've got an excellent work ethic, great work record, have achived a lot in my industry. But I'm having the hardest time getting anybody to let me move on from here, to be honest.

[yankeeyosh]

Ditto. My story is well documented. Three years of dead end pension administration work (with a short stint in the actuarial field in the middle, which I quickly got fired from)...grad school for hopes of bigger and better things...a nightmare job which I got fired from due to lies being spewed...another miserable deadend pension job where my boss was a racist womanizer...and finally, this ultracorporate dead end job, where I do the same exact task pretty much from the second I enter to the second I leave. I wish I had advice...I'd be a much happier person if I knew what to do. Nearly every job I have, I've been well overqualified, and few outsiders seem to understand this. Seeing that you have pretty much the same background I have, I feel your pain.

[AG_47]

Try www.indeed.com It searches a bunch of different job websites at once. Yes, I was/felt overqualified for my first job out of college. I got a job as a typist for a local company. At the interview, they asked me why I was even applying for the job. They told me I should get a job with my degree but they hired me anyways. My co-workers knew I had a bachelor degree (I don't know how they found out) and they would always ask me why I was working there. It got really annoying. I hated the job, so I quit and ended up getting a job working at home as a typist. Even though the job pays minimum wage, I like it and it is really easy but feel like I should have a job with the degree I earned. I'm still searching and applying for jobs in my field. I know I'll find something eventually.

[cache]

I think there are a few people on these boards in the climotology field-vacinity, it seems like a pretty tight market there.

The only adivce I can offer is to keep all options open - all positions, all locations - stretch out your range as much as possible, and keep on it constantly - including folow-up calls, etc.

[sondra_finchley]

I can understand the frustration of trying to find a job and only finding things 'beneath' your level- after I graduated the first time I got a fantastic internship for 6 months afterwards, but that wasnt enough for me to translate it into a real job in that industry (financial journalism). I worked as a hotel maid (shout out to penforprez there), at a Trader Joes, in an orthodontics factory, and doing library administration stuff before I got another job that allowed me to pick up more useful skills (and burn myself out in the process). At all of those they knew I had a bachelors and that it was a temporary job while I looked for something better.

Come up with a plan to get you to where you want to be in the next year or two. If you have to relocate, then get a job to save up the money and continue applying in your target market. Im not saying you have to work fast food, but put some sincere effort into making people contact when applying to local jobs. Start thinking of ways to find jobs that arent on the job boards- think of what fields or job titles the skills you learned in your degree would work for, and then look for employers that would need those skills and send them a well-targeted resume and follow up. Talk to people- thats the best and fastest way to get information, get your resume to the top of the pile, to make the point that you can do what they are looking for, regardless of your degree.

Indeed is definitely good, but seek out the smaller, specified websites for your field, or others you are interested in. Are there any publications or journals for your field where jobs or employers would be noted, discussed, or advertised? The trick is to get out of the general lane of job applicant traffic and find those channels that would serve you better.

By the way, what sites are you looking on? I just typed 'climatology jobs' into Google and got a whole bunch of relative websites where further links to jobs may be available. Im sure your field is varied as mine is, but look at who the employers are offering most of these jobs and contact them. Did you do any sort of special projects or work during your masters that would translate into 'experience'?

[PenforPrez]

Originally Posted by gysberger4

Did any of you have these problems while searching for jobs? How long did it take you to actually get a job? Did you feel overqualified in your first job/current job? Any advice on where to look for jobs with my degree without being overqualified for them, since I am constantly running into that problem.

I've been grossly overqualified for nearly every job I've ever held since college. Everybody I've worked with knew it, and quite often mentioned it to me. Like I needed to be reminded of it! But it seems like most people don't even correctly assess my skills, so I don't know anymore.

I've been stuck in low-wage work for so long that I had one of my professors berate me when I told her I had to look for another low-wage job. I've actually never had an interview for a professional position; it would help if I had some clue as to what I want to do.

Everybody else has said the things I was thinking, advice-wise. Some people have all the luck; for the rest of us, it takes awhile.

Originally Posted by sondra_finchley

). I worked as a hotel maid (shout out to penforprez there)

Hotel jockeys REPRESENT!!

Paul

[sondra_finchley]

LOL! I agree, I was the only American there, everyone else was either Mexican or Bosnian (no joke). They actually had to keep these two groups seperate because there was animosity between the two. This was a 4-Star off-Strip hotel in Vegas. I only worked there about 5 months, but oh the stories! Nothing like finding hooker phone numbers by the side of the bed, used condoms tangled up in the sheets, a $25 chip that had rolled under the couch after the guest had checked out, or having to clean suites (i was promoted up haha) and scoring all sorts of leftover party stuff or conference lefovers. Sucked at the time, but it was definitely character building!

[NewMrs.]

You hotel workers deserve a lot of credit for being able to stick with it. Once summer when I was in college, I took a job cleaning hotel rooms because I couldn't find a summer job anyplace else. I was on this list and was supposed to be on call to clean rooms at 3 different places. I stopped getting called after something like 4 days because I was so slow at it.

[PenforPrez]

Originally Posted by NewMrs.

You hotel workers deserve a lot of credit for being able to stick with it. Once summer when I was in college, I took a job cleaning hotel rooms because I couldn't find a summer job anyplace else. I was on this list and was supposed to be on call to clean rooms at 3 different places. I stopped getting called after something like 4 days because I was so slow at it.

It takes time. I've got it down pretty good now; I was very slow at first too. But I don't have a choice either. I'm making money. I can pay bills, I can go out, I can go to my therapist, I can get a good hamburger once in awhile. It's probably driving my IQ down several points, but until I can actually make somebody see I'm actually *qualified* to do something, it'll have to do.

Paul