Job hunting/Medical/dental health plans advice

[mjolnir117]

Whew! Finally found a job! Not the best wage, but a good starting point for my career. Now I have to worry about purchasing medical and dental insurance in BC. I keep getting ads from HBC offering dental and medical insurance. Does anybody have any advice regarding that or any advice regarding anything now that I'm new to the working world? Crash course on medical insurance?

Thanks




---original---

Hi,

I've been job hunting for a few weeks now after my graduation and only got one interview after apply for half a dozen or so jobs. My instructor suggested that I try to get my name out there by going to the human resources department of companies and submitting my resume without a cover letter for a specific job. Does that strategy work anymore? I've also looked up a bunch of companies that interest me in the yellowpages. Any suggestion on how to apply without a specific position to be applying for? I'm looking for a microcontroller/firmware/embedded systems programming type job.

Thanks in advance.

[sh0n]

To the OP

I think you would want to focus your strategy on the specific type of industries you had mentioned.

On a side note,

My GF who recently graduated and is looking for a job as well. She has done everything form sending out 50 copies of her cover letter (tailored to each company) and resumes. Out of those 50 she was only able to land 2 interviews. I'm not sure if its the Vancouver job market thats the problem. I'm guessing since its the New Year and the Olympics are coming soon, there should be many hirings. But this isn't the case.

If you want to discuss a little bit more about the Vancouver Job market and your experiences please message me. Let's think about it as helping each other out.

[Jucius Maximus]

I would be very very pleased if I was able to get a 1 in 10 response rate for my applications.

<--- Gainfully employed

Showing up at the place to submit a resume without a cover letter does not sound like a winning strategy to me. Most companies (almost without exception) want a web submission now. You have to focus on making your resume and cover letter really good. I always personalize them to fit every application. Go look at www.collegegrad.com, which IMO has some of the best jobsearch info on the net.

My last jobsearch run was in 2005. I applied for 169 jobs and got a total of 10 interviews between 8 companies. Actually the first interview of those 10 was the one that led to my employment... it simply took them a long time to extend the offer!

[iamfat]

For the UofT campus, some recruiters get 1000s of applications.

I've heard from applicants that the ratio of resumes to responses (either interview or reject) is something like 50 resumes to 1 response, roughly.

[mjolnir117]

wow...had no idea the situation was that grim...guess I should increase my application rate...thanks all for the feedback, especial sh0n

[Mulder and Scully]

A 1 in 12 response rate is incredible! Realistically, if you're applying for jobs you're actually qualified for then a 1 in 20 response rate would be really really good.

[cui5]

well, i am in the same shoes as the OP. I only applied for those fit my qulifications and related to my major. I almost hit the ratio like 2/10 for around 40 jobs.

BTW, i am so panic and want to know if my stragety will work in any sense.

I just resend my resume to those who interviewed me before and ask them whether they would by any chance have new position fulfill my qualification. its almost like not-so-cold call

Is this a good idea? THanks for yall inputs

[65505201]

All I have to say is to keep plugging at it and don't give up. All of the jobs in my industry are down in the States, and I've finally gotten 1 interview after about...10 months and 80 applications?

Another thing that you may have to consider, is to continue advanced studies in a city full of your targeted companies. Personally, I'm hoping that I'll get into the University of Minnesota so that I'll be considered a local candidate while attaining my Master's degree.

[mjolnir117]

All I have to say is to keep plugging at it and don't give up. All of the jobs in my industry are down in the States, and I've finally gotten 1 interview after about...10 months and 80 applications?

You had no income for 10 months?

[rockthecasbah]

Can I ask those of you recent grads who actually GOT a job (not just any job but a job you can see as relevant to your career), how long did it take from graduating to getting that job? Not counting jobs that were offered even before graduating (i.e. I have a friend in accounting who went to a career thing for E&Y at his university and was offered a job... we didn't have that at my university but definitely not for liberal arts majors)

I graduated in June 2006. I went on a longish vacation afterwards, got back in November and started the "real" job hunt soon there after.

So far, I only have gotten ONE interview for a job that's more geared to non-university grads but at least was relevant to my career goals. Also, I should probably add that I [double] majored in programs that didn't streamline into an obvious career (i.e. accounting, business, engineering, etc) and I'm trying to get into the media industry, so it's probably more competitive.

My mother is nagging me day and night about this fact and says there's something problemmatic with my resume (but really, it's not like a recent grad will really even have that much of a stunning resume with relevant job experiences). But this thread makes me feel better.

I find that there are PLENTY of jobs I apply for that I am really well-qualified for. But they won't even give me a CHANCE by at least offering me an interview. It's so disheartening. Of course, most job requirements also tend to have so and so years of related experience and it's kinda hard to get that experience if I can't even get a foot in the door.

If worst comes to worst, I think I'll just apply for more education. Maybe a certificate or get my Masters...

[cui5]

[B]
If worst comes to worst, I think I'll just apply for more education. Maybe a certificate or get my Masters...

Well, my suggestion is to get some advance degree while you are looking for the job. My resume after undergraduate school was nothing but a plain paper

[weedb0y]

Can I ask those of you recent grads who actually GOT a job (not just any job but a job you can see as relevant to your career), how long did it take from graduating to getting that job? Not counting jobs that were offered even before graduating (i.e. I have a friend in accounting who went to a career thing for E&Y at his university and was offered a job... we didn't have that at my university but definitely not for liberal arts majors)

I graduated in June 2006. I went on a longish vacation afterwards, got back in November and started the "real" job hunt soon there after.

So far, I only have gotten ONE interview for a job that's more geared to non-university grads but at least was relevant to my career goals. Also, I should probably add that I [double] majored in programs that didn't streamline into an obvious career (i.e. accounting, business, engineering, etc) and I'm trying to get into the media industry, so it's probably more competitive.

My mother is nagging me day and night about this fact and says there's something problemmatic with my resume (but really, it's not like a recent grad will really even have that much of a stunning resume with relevant job experiences). But this thread makes me feel better.

I find that there are PLENTY of jobs I apply for that I am really well-qualified for. But they won't even give me a CHANCE by at least offering me an interview. It's so disheartening. Of course, most job requirements also tend to have so and so years of related experience and it's kinda hard to get that experience if I can't even get a foot in the door.

If worst comes to worst, I think I'll just apply for more education. Maybe a certificate or get my Masters...

Try going to Company's Career Fairs. Plus, get any entry level at a company that you are interested in, its easier to switch to position of your choice after minimum tenure within the company as opposed to applying externally.

Keep something going on the side though. What kind of pre-graduation experience do you have?

[iamfat]

Can I ask those of you recent grads who actually GOT a job (not just any job but a job you can see as relevant to your career), how long did it take from graduating to getting that job? Not counting jobs that were offered even before graduating (i.e. I have a friend in accounting who went to a career thing for E&Y at his university and was offered a job... we didn't have that at my university but definitely not for liberal arts majors)

I graduated in June 2006. I went on a longish vacation afterwards, got back in November and started the "real" job hunt soon there after.

So far, I only have gotten ONE interview for a job that's more geared to non-university grads but at least was relevant to my career goals. Also, I should probably add that I [double] majored in programs that didn't streamline into an obvious career (i.e. accounting, business, engineering, etc) and I'm trying to get into the media industry, so it's probably more competitive.

My mother is nagging me day and night about this fact and says there's something problemmatic with my resume (but really, it's not like a recent grad will really even have that much of a stunning resume with relevant job experiences). But this thread makes me feel better.

I find that there are PLENTY of jobs I apply for that I am really well-qualified for. But they won't even give me a CHANCE by at least offering me an interview. It's so disheartening. Of course, most job requirements also tend to have so and so years of related experience and it's kinda hard to get that experience if I can't even get a foot in the door.

If worst comes to worst, I think I'll just apply for more education. Maybe a certificate or get my Masters...

You mention media, without providing enough details, I would HIGHLY suggest you try to apply for CBC's internship programs. Since they are government funded (at least partially) they typically will spend more time to interview candidates.

[NeoEsper]

I would suggest going into a internship program like

www.careeredge.ca
www.gradworks.ca

These are low paying jobs at first however 80% of the time it lends into a position within a couple of months or after the internship. I would suggest finding a job asap, after the one year mark it becomes alot harder to get a job.

[en]

I think a major reason is that Canada has way to many graduates for too few related jobs...and not much industry...