<p>I just want to offer some hope for those whose kids are looking for summer positions.</p>
<p>DS got his after the school year was finished and he was home for the summer (after his sophomore year as an ECE). He had not done the whole application for internship thing and, at that point, he was applying for “college kid” summer jobs, not internships (eg, landscaping, etc.). But he also went online to the few tech companies in our area and lucked into finding a summer opening (maybe not an official “internship”, but who cares) at one of them. He applied online and was called within the hour>> phone interview >> got the job.</p>
<p>So, do not give up. BTW, this was not really a job in his direct field of interest. It was a biotech firm (also not his direct field of interest). But it was a tech job, involving software testing and interacting with customers re bugs. It paid no more than (maybe less than) some of his friends with painting jobs, but again who cares? He worked for that company again the next summer and we all believe this was a major plus in him having job offers when he graduated in 2009.</p>
<p>Moral - do not give up. Cast a wider net than you might have originally thought, including companies in related fields. I’d suggest even non-related fields. For example, a major retail corporation may have jobs related to IT, etc. I imagine many of your kids are already doing these things, but if not… or if they think it’s too late for summer positions - 'taint necessarily so.</p>
<p>Great good luck to all. And I do like reading your “journal,” BC Eagle and regularly check this thread hoping it’s time for my Congratulations post :).</p>
<p>Side note: I’d suggest to all that you help your D and S prep for the “surprise” interview. Maybe a little role play, and good idea for them to carry around a little index card with a couple of points… so that they can refer to it and whip themselves into gear if the call comes at an odd time. IDK how it was that our S handled his unscheduled phone interview well… but he did. Probably just luck; but with more than one of the kids on this thread experiencing this, better to be prepared than to ask the company to call back at a better time, imo.</p>
<p>I’ve been looking on about a dozen job posting websites, my school’s job posting website, the job posting website of a few other schools, and the local newspapers in all the cities I am open to working in. So far, the newspapers have been the most helpful. I have all but given up on monster because it is filled with too many scammy postings. But things aren’t going too shabbily. In the last week and a half I have submitted about 150 resumes, and so far gotten about 8 interviews-- one offer that I turned down because it wasn’t what I wanted after all, and the rest are scheduled for the next couple days. Wish this wasn’t finals week!</p>
<p>I’m not an expert on job hunting but sending the same resume to 150 companies just won’t work. </p>
<p>In this time and era you need to dedicate some time to tune the resume according to the company to say the least or at least write a cover letter catered to each company.</p>
<p>Strategy of cover letter may fail where computers filter the resume as the first cut.</p>
<p>Instead of rehearsing for surprise interviews, we maybe better in teaching our kids in how to take control of a situation. Interview is a very important event, no one should be suprised and be expected to perform. </p>
<p>If it were to happen, a student should say, “I appreciate your call, but I am in a middle of (class, lab, meeting…) right now, would it be ok for us to reschedule this? I will be available ( ).”</p>
<p>At D1´s school they have soundproofed rooms set up for student to do audio or video interviews.</p>
<p>I do write a unique cover letter for each company and tweak the resume to highlight the most important and relevant factors each time I submit. I assumed that went without saying!</p>
<p>It’s been like 7 business days, I’ve gotten a call almost every day, some days more than one, and I am a social science major with only a bachelors applying in one of the worst job markets in the country. I’m not complaining! The most recent call I got was this morning and that was from one of the first resumes I sent out, so I haven’t ruled out getting more calls from that same batch. </p>
<p>I posted mainly to commiserate that I am trying hard too, and to mention the point about checking the local newspapers in different cities. I have been finding dozens of job postings in the newspapers that I haven’t found anywhere online.</p>
<p>When having a phone interview be very sure of the time zone differences. This happened to my student when having a phone interview for a scholarship. School was one time zone over and she got caught on the sidewalk of a busy street. Not the best situation. Even if you are planning to work locally, the phone screeners may be in a different time zone.</p>
<p>Ema/POIH - getting 8 interviews over the past 7 business days even with 150 resumes is actually very impressive even in a solid job market. Especially for a soon-to-be grad. Most HR departments can not turn around recruitment activities that quickly.</p>
<p>That’s really tough when you get a call for a surprise interview–concerned that it may be your ONLY opportunity to make a good impression on the other hand not being prepared & not being in a good setting. I guess I’d also ask about the potential to reschedule, or at least put it off for a short while to get into a more soundproof setting for an interview. It’s very tough to hear sometimes, especially in a noisy environment & when the call is NOT during one of the times you indicated.</p>
<p>S did not mention getting any such interviews, but he doesn’t always tell me what happens in his life, especially such details. He is pretty poised and tends to interview extremely well, especially in person. I think he was able to do a lot of in-person interviews at their engineering career fairs on his campus. Not sure whether there were phone and/or in person follow up interviews. I know that he did have a few in person follow up interviews at the sites where he would work–one in HI & one at JPL. Not sure whether there were more–he only tells me what he wants us to know.</p>
<p>I didn’t pay attention to last 7 days but if that’s the case then ‘Emaheevul07’ have been irresponsible with his job hunt as it’s late for this season. As recomended by DD’s college career office and shown by the student survey that most student who get jobs prior to graduating are the one who started the process in September/October of the senior year.</p>
<p>Last year, a lot of graduates from D1´s school found jobs over the summer. Her Big Sister from her sorority was studying to be a weather broadcaster (couldn´t imagine someone´s aspiration was to be such) ended up getting a job at a TV station down south by Sep. She was willing to be flexible on her location and she didn´t give up trying.</p>
<p>You know, I had a rough semester and my priority had to be school. I have been networking and doing internships and taking every opportunity I could for the last few years, and I started my formal job hunt as soon as I had attention to spare. So far, I like my chances and I am not that concerned. I have months and months to find a job and I am getting pretty good feedback on my resume so far. I am not sure why you feel the need to zero in on any negative aspect of my job hunt you think you can find, POIH. My intention in joining this conversation was, as I said, to commiserate and share my tip about the newspapers-- not to derail the thread arguing about whether or not I suck at job hunting. I would have liked to have started sooner, but I was not able to do that and am making the best of it, and I would say I am doing so with at least some degree of success if I am getting this many calls back already. I am not interested in continuing this vein of conversation with you.</p>
<p>I don’t think I’ve had any surprise phone interviews, but I did have someone an hour away call yesterday to ask if I could be at their office that afternoon, and I lost the opportunity because I couldn’t be. I found that frustrating. I make it a point to write at least a bit of a blurb about each company as I am applying and keep it on hand in case they call, because for some of the calls I’ve gotten the HR person has chatted me up about the company and I don’t want to make an ass of myself not knowing what they’re talking about.</p>
<p>I always thought it was never too soon when it comes to job hunting but yes you have to start one day. Better late than never.</p>
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<p>It has nothing to do with finding flaws in your approach to job hunting but since it’s a public forum identifying the issue with the approach can help others being proactive in their searches.</p>
<p>You are not alone. Lot’s of students don’t pay attention towards this till it’s too late. Reminding people on public forum is one way to prevent frustration at the end of graduation.</p>
<p>even with graduated students, research experience and extensive networks (DS), it is still difficult to locate matching jobs even in engineering, hard or soft or both.</p>
<p>The Economy is in a lull. Lots of possibilities that can tank the recovery. USA budget is tightening and many firms that deal heavily in R & D could be in a real quandry. Government cannot create jobs but sometimes it can make jobs easier to happen. Red tape is not a real issue but whether the percieved business climate will be fortunenous.</p>
<p>I read that Ohio is going to spend Big Bucks in hopes of attracting business. Hope the taxpayers get their money’s worth. </p>
<p>POIH, while I admire self-determination and those with an internal locus of control, I have to say that over years of your posts you are the only one I’ve seen who steadfastly believes that absolutely anything that happens to someone is their fault (as in they could have prevented every possible bad outcome). You apply this logic to everything: from getting into Harvard, to particular GPAs and test sores, to income and jobs. </p>
<p>It’s great for individuals to believe they control their destiny if it enables them to work hard and achieve more. However it seems quite dysfunctional and unpleasant to blame people after the fact- especially when any reasonable person can see that some things really are due to factors beyond their control. I just hope you do this only on line and not with your family members.</p>
<p>If your goal was really to help future others, you would have written something constructive such as, “this is unfortunate. It’s a tough job market out there. I strongly encourage students reading this to…” rather than saying things like “if that’s the case then ‘Emaheevul07’ have been irresponsible with his job hunt”.</p>
<p>Just because YOUR D has a great internship you felt the need to post about on this thread, doesn’t mean all other kids without that opportunity have done the legwork wrong.</p>
<p>We are trying to get D to do SOMETHING this summer that will make it easier for her to find a job when she graduates next year. She’s got her hands full with finishing up this term, so don’t have high hopes for her searching for anything at this point & her school ends in just a few weeks! Ah well, things will work out. We told her shadowing, being an unpaid intern, or whatever are all OK with us.</p>