me too. I have sent my cover letter and resume to probably like 20 people now, and not even 1 reply.

oh well, it's a tough field I guess, but I could use at least an interview or two to get my morale up. What I really need to find is a good contact.

7/21/2006 10:03:18 PM

Me too. I have only had one interview in the last year. It didn't go so well.

On another note, what I really need to find is a good contact some good pussy.

7/22/2006 2:28:15 AM

20 people?

100 times and expect 3 or fewer replies.

its the nature of the market

7/22/2006 3:23:14 AM

How long ago did you send in the job applications? VERY rarely will you hear a response in less two weeks. Also, check when the fiscal quarters begin/end for the company you are applying to ... lots of positions can open up especially at the beginning of a new fiscal year.

Keep it up ... I didn't hear anything for a month, then got flooded. Also, make sure your cover letter is well done ... I revised mine and got a lot more calls afterwards.

7/22/2006 7:25:19 AM

Yeah I got very fortunate and had a job lined up upon graduation, but only after at least a month of searching every possible site and checking out every job that even remotely had to do with my field.

7/22/2006 11:42:03 AM

have you been unemployed since may?

7/22/2006 12:02:08 PM

I had to annoy the shit out of my current employer calling about once every 2 weeks from May-August a few years ago. I got an interview in June, then they told my at the end of July I didn't have a job because they couldn't hire someone...2 weeks later I was hired. I ended up interviewing 3 times with them. The job market was seriously shit then and getting a good paycheck was almost impossible so my offer was LOW.

Sometimes you just have to show them that you really want the job. Unless they specifially ask you not to call, I'd call them. If it's for a job that's close by, but out of town, call them up and tell them you'll be in town for a few days next week and ask if you can come in and talk to them.

7/22/2006 1:04:56 PM

thanks for the encouragement guys, it really is helping. I mean I'm definetly not gonna give up. I'm actually writing a new cover letter for another job I'm going to apply to, it's just sometimes it can be rattling not to even get a reply (especially for one job that I felt I was over-qualified for). But yea I'm sure it will work out.

^^No, I had a part-time job, but then I moved to nyc for grad school (i just graduated). But the nature of the profession I'm trying to crack into is that even "entry level" wants you to have experience, so I'm trying to take my grad classes at night, and get a full-time job during the day. I really just need to try to find a contact from a professor or something. I think it might be easier for people to take a chance on you when they have someone else (the professor) to blame if it doesn't work out.

7/22/2006 2:22:17 PM

what are you trying to get into? some more specific than general electrical engr work?

7/22/2006 2:24:40 PM

I submitted stuff for about 40 positions (not diff companies) before just getting an acquaintance to hook me up. Your best bet is to ask people you know to send your resume around. HR people are lazy and will trust the word of an existing employee before looking through eleventy billion resumes and setting up interviews.

Is this for an ece job? I find it very hard to believe that the entry level market for that is tight.

[Edited on July 22, 2006 at 2:42 PM. Reason : sdf]

7/22/2006 2:41:37 PM

sorry I'm actually going to grad school for financial engineering. I'm looking to get into trading, so some position on or near a trading desk, specifically within fixed income, more specifically within structured credit or index rate exotics.

7/22/2006 2:56:12 PM

Man I feel hella lucky. They came to me.

7/22/2006 3:00:29 PM

ok I have a few questions:

1) do you think 1.5 pages for a cover letter is too long?
2) I have been sending an email with a cover letter, resume, AND CV attached. I have a lot of stuff related to independent study on my CV which I think is relavent to the job, but doesn't necessarily fit on my resume. Is it ok to send both, or should I try to condense some stuff on my resume, but a brief point about independent study on my resume and lose the CV?

thanks for any input you can give me

7/22/2006 3:50:17 PM

Cover letter should never be more than 1 page.

7/22/2006 4:03:19 PM

^really, i don't know if I ever heard that, but that's a pretty hard rule you'd say?

7/22/2006 4:05:21 PM

^yes, especially since you have no work experience. see earlier statements about HR people being lazy. It actually reflects poorly on you if you can't condense what you want to say into something that is concise, clear, and direct.

7/22/2006 4:33:59 PM

ok, what do you think about the resume AND CV, should I condense it to a resume only? I'm trying to send of another email shortly so a few quick responses would be greatly appreciated.

7/22/2006 4:36:19 PM

Well think about it. A cover letter is just that. A cover sheet. A quick one page review.

I don't see the problem in including both your resume and CV. Put the resume first. But, if there is something super important you want them to see, make sure it's on your resume in case that's all they look at.

7/22/2006 4:43:17 PM

ok cool, thanks

7/22/2006 4:49:54 PM

You should make it so your resume has everything you need to say. Again, there is no reason why someone coming out of college should have more than 1 page.

7/22/2006 4:51:23 PM

yea, I mean my reason is that my major and work experience don't really coincide with the positions I'm applying for, so I feel like I need to make it a little more obvious that I know about financial concepts, but I know what you're saying

7/22/2006 5:04:12 PM

Hit up a career center at a local community college/university ... like now. Not gonnna knock ya too bad, but the resume/cover letter should have been finely polished before starting the job search.

7/23/2006 11:02:53 AM

yea, I mean like I said, I'm in grad school right now, so it's not like I'm just sitting around wishing for a job. But, I want to get a full-time job to do while finishing up my program. I agree about polishing the resume. The problem is that I thought it was finished, but I'm not getting any response from my resume, so I'm making some adjustments.

7/23/2006 1:04:16 PM

networking FTW

7/23/2006 3:57:24 PM