Job!

[Gwyn]

I have an interview at Sears in a few hours. Seriously, Sears? I never thought they would call me back.

[Xepher]

Good luck with that (which probably already happened by this point.)

[Gwyn]

I got it, by the way.

[Xepher]

Congrats. Hope it works out well for you.

[ren_pii]

I never had a job before... except for volunteer work.
So... how DO you get your first job? Like what to write in your resume or what to say in an interview... lol... >_>;;

[Xepher]

My first job, I went into an ISP to sign up for service (it was the first ISP to show up in our little town) I ended up talking with the owner, and he was impressed by what I knew. He gave me a free month of service. I poked around on the account, and found some semi-private data on the company I shouldn't be seeing. I went and told the owner about it, and he was doubly impressed with my honesty. He offered me a job the same day (I wasn't even looking for work.)

Next job... Umm... I worked for the special events department at my college. Basically just put your name on the list, and they call when they need stuff. It was just occasional manual labor type stuff for plays and concerts and such. Kinda fun being backstage and managing broadway style props and such during a show.

After that, it was bus driving. Basically they were so desperate for drivers you just had to have a good driving record.

I started by own business after that, doing computer repair. Put up a website and an ad in the paper. Didn't have much business (but had some) for the first month or so. After the second month by "main competitor" (read: "only IT company in town") emailed me with a job offer. The offer was for half billable rate... meaning I got paid half of everything a customer got charged. Considering they charged per hour what my own "company" charged for an entire visit/day, it was a great deal.

UCS (the job I hated and quit in this thread) was the only "real" job I think I ever had. I applied with a bit of experience from before (which was good) a college degree (even though it was unrelated and in journalism) also helped. Mostly, it was the fact that I knew what I was doing, and wasn't shy. The first day at work I managed to get a "promotion" to the department I wanted, simply by telling my boss I wanted it. I said it in front of several long time employees, and they tried to joke with the boss about "Who does this guy think he is? Telling you what he wants when he just got here! Ha!" My boss turned to the guy trying to suck-up to him like that and said "Probably the guy that gets his way... I was transfered the next day.

Anyway, long story short, if you want to know my words-of-wisdom for a job interview/application: Be yourself... within limits. The things that always got me ahead were stepping outside of the box... but not too far. If you're different, you get noticed... but if you're TOO different, you get ignored. It's the difference between going up to a stranger and saying "What's your opinion on monkeys?" (that's an ice-breaker at parties) and saying "What do you think of my bum?" (as you pull down your pants.) Different is good, but make sure it's in-bounds. The letter of resignation I mention in this thread... that's extremely borderline. I only managed that because I had a couple months to get to know the people I'd be handing it to. I would NOT try something like that for getting a job, only for LEAVING one. :-)