So far I have applied for 5 positions in my school and I have been rejected in every one of them
First one was Supply store assistant, which rejected me for not having previous job experience, three were tutor position, one of which I never heard back from, one of which got cancelled due to funding issue, and the last one which just flat out rejected me. Just now I got a rejection email from RA position(yes because there were “too many qualified” people, but were there ever NOT “too many” people?)
I have good grades(so far, two semester worth 3.7GPA) but I m now thinking that I downright suck at expressing myself.
I feel like I will never get a job in my like, and i have never felt so uncertain and afraid before. What am I supposed to do?? I have seen several my peers getting jobs, and it frustrates me that I can’t even get a single job when others can, be it a mail center assistant or whatnot.
Go to the school’s career counseling and have them do bogus interviews with you. Let them give you feedback and try again until you are confident in your interviewing skills.
At MIT I have noticed that it is pretty easy to land a part-time job as a grader - usually the only pre-req is an A in the course. If that interests you and if positions are available, perhaps you could look into that…
My dd initially had a hard time finding an on-campus job. She found that she was trying too hard and came across as uncertain. She applied for lots of jobs but was never picked; she had high school and summer experiences at a vet hospital, lab experience, tutoring, and hotel work, so she was often puzzled by what the staffs wanted.
Then, she practiced with Career Services and she let down her guard and learned to relax. She got to the point where she expected to not be called back with each application. Then, the summer of her junior year, something clicked and she started getting call backs. We found out later that the school got an influx of funding for lab positions, so a number of summer positions opened up which would carry through to the fall/spring quarters.
Does she make a lot of money? No, she only works between 5-10 hrs per week. Does she care? No, but she wanted pocket change to help us not have to shell out money for her activities. She’s also learned about research being conducted for pharmaceutical combinations.
Just keep trying and ask your peers for recommendations. Go to Career Services for practice.
@“aunt bea” I m jealous(and equally humbled) that your daughter had lots of experience during high school! As a foreign student, all I could do was either volunteer or paid self-employed tutors, so it puts me in even more disadvantages. You know we aren’t allowed to work.
I am so tired of “we had too many qualifying applicants” excuses. Just tell me “you are not good enough”!
Go to the foreign language Sept and ask if they need assistants or tutors for Spanish 1 or Korean any level… What about esl? I’m sure this would be handy for international students if they uave someone who knows where they’re coming from. And if you advertise tutoring services for orgo I’m pretty sure you’ll make good money.
Try the library, facilities services, orientation, and admissions. Try equipment cages, computer labs, food service. Also: Start volunteering for 10 hours a week now somewhere on campus. If you do that, you will get “experience” and gain a (good) reputation so you can get a recommendation. Also, once an office gets to know you, they might hire you when a gig opens up.
Do you have office skills?
Keep in mind: In a few weeks, some offices might have to let a student worker go for poor performance or a worker might quit. Stay in touch with the managers so you’re top-of-mind if something opens up.
It isn’t a great time to find a job – fall before everyone is back in campus, and to a lesser extent when people leave (transfer, drop out, go abroad) around winter beak – that is when jobs open up.
You’ve only applied to 5 positions. That’s what my dd applied to in, maybe, a day. For the people who don’t respond, you won’t miss it. Are you monitoring the online job postings daily? That’s what my dd did first thing in the morning when other students weren’t up yet. Keep trying.