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Ben X

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Recruitment agencies!

 

I was unemployed for half of 2013, so I got in touch with a few recruitment agencies. They took all of my details and so on, and one of them told me I'd be kept at the top of the pile for the incoming jobs. I never heard from them until this Christmas just gone (!) where I was sent a boilerplate Christmas well-wishing. So I'm on their mailing lists but not for any positions. The managed to drive me up the wall almost a year later.

 

I also have a Mt. Sympathy for everyone who is bashing their heads against the wall of this mess. Here in Ireland, it seems that the best way to get a job is to know someone (and I'm sure it's like that elsewhere too).

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Recruitment agencies are full of shit, take everything they say with a pinch of salt. Obviously they're a massively useful tool in helping you get a new job, just try not to get sucked in by their bull shit. Half the time they will inflate the salary on a job just so that they can get you on their database, the other half of the time the job doesn't even exsist. My girlfriend up until quite recently was a recruitment consultant and when they had no jobs to work she would have to still phone people and lie to them about job vacancies to get people on their books.

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I am also in a position where I have to look for a job.  My plan is to also go to graduate school, unless I get some kind of dream job before I end up in grad school.

 

Good luck, comrade.

 

Also, hello.  I'm new.

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haha grad school enjoy never being out of debt sure hope you got a scholarship

 

;_;

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I am also in a position where I have to look for a job.  My plan is to also go to graduate school, unless I get some kind of dream job before I end up in grad school.

 

Good luck, comrade.

 

Also, hello.  I'm new.

 

May I ask which subject? And what would a dream job consist of for you?

 

Also, welcome! We've got a welcome thread you should pop onto.

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Oh, it's going really well! I haven't been offered any jobs yet but applying for them is so FUN!

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Well, keep the chin up. I'm sure your hard work will pay off soonTM.

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I have an interview on Thursday. I've applied for two jobs, callbacks on both.

 

I should probably be less scared of applying for jobs...

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Hooooly crap. So I just got called and offered an interview for a job with an amazing studio looking for someone with an art background to work on developing a program in house.

I applied for this job cause I'd be great at it in theory... Except on paper I have no experience or education in the field (except a 6 month course in another programming language that I'm only halfway done). So I didn't even send them a CV, I just emailed and talked about how great I'd be for the job. So they believed me enough to call me in.

God, what if I'm one of those assholes that explains how he got his first job through confidence even though he had no idea what he was doing and was unqualified.

... I hope that happens, but likely they'll realise I have catching up to do when I have an interview with the IT head and the guy who knows the job inside out.

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Sweeeet! Could be they are looking for a newcomer with some experience in a few fields or something like that, so don't fret about your qualifications just yet! Millions of luck with it! Do some dummy interviews with your friends and family if you can, get them to ask difficult and shitty questions, helps iron out the nerves:P

 

I've slightly bullshitted my way into jobs before. If you feel like it is heading for "you aren't qualified enough" then lean on explaining how passionate you are about the field, how driven you are to do well (you started the course, self education etc) and how quickly you can learn what you need to (example from course would be great "project was X, i did X and added Y as a fun side project" or "project was X, so i did my research like this and feel i equipped myself well to research new projects as they come down the pipeline").

 

(For ref, i got my first job because my friend who was vacating it told his bosses i could do it and i knew a few people working there. Slight baptism of fire.)

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You'd be surprised at the number of companies that are willing to hire someone that's under qualified because "they have growth potential" (read "is significantly cheaper.")

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You'd also be surprised at the number of companies that interview you knowing full well you're under-qualified and then give you an immediate "we can tell you have potential, but you're under-qualified" the day after the on-site interview.

 

Sorry, I guess that's not what you want to hear. But ugh it happened to me so many times. Hopefully it doesn't for you!

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Well, they're not going to interview someone without at least considering that they might be right for the job, as that would be a waste of time. And as the goblins tell us, time is money, friend.

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Well, keep the chin up. I'm sure your hard work will pay off soonTM.

 

Thanks :)

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I hear you. However, I just rely on one or two agents that I trust and knowing people. I think the last job that I got from a CV was in 2000, since then it's just been a good relationship with a person at an agency who isn't a dick and knows me, and contacts that I've since made.

 

I look at the job market now and really do feel sorry for people coming out of school/university and having to go through that whole rigmarole.

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Well, they're not going to interview someone without at least considering that they might be right for the job, as that would be a waste of time. And as the goblins tell us, time is money, friend.

 

I wish it worked that way, but I don't really believe it does. Maybe it's different in not-San-Francisco-AKA-startup-central. It probably is.

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I wish it worked that way, but I don't really believe it does. Maybe it's different in not-San-Francisco-AKA-startup-central. It probably is.

 

Agreed. It often means they're just going through the motions to show due diligence before giving the job to someone they know - who clearly was the best for the role, as no-one had the required experience etc. etc. etc. blah blah

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Sweeeet! Could be they are looking for a newcomer with some experience in a few fields or something like that, so don't fret about your qualifications just yet! Millions of luck with it! Do some dummy interviews with your friends and family if you can, get them to ask difficult and shitty questions, helps iron out the nerves:P

 

I've slightly bullshitted my way into jobs before. If you feel like it is heading for "you aren't qualified enough" then lean on explaining how passionate you are about the field, how driven you are to do well (you started the course, self education etc) and how quickly you can learn what you need to (example from course would be great "project was X, i did X and added Y as a fun side project" or "project was X, so i did my research like this and feel i equipped myself well to research new projects as they come down the pipeline").

 

(For ref, i got my first job because my friend who was vacating it told his bosses i could do it and i knew a few people working there. Slight baptism of fire.)

I'm kinda hoping that experience in both animation and programming is the holy grail I can offer them... that and enthusiasm. They're actually a really good studio and I would enjoy the job a lot. I'm gonna do a ton of preparation, read up on the stuff I'm supposed to work on and bring some stuff I've made to try and demonstrate what I've done before.

 

You'd be surprised at the number of companies that are willing to hire someone that's under qualified because "they have growth potential" (read "is significantly cheaper.")

Maybe? I guess I'm too used to animation where (basically) minimum wage jobs aren't uncommon for experienced people so there isn't that kind of incentive to snap them up. I guess programming is probably different, but I've no experience of it.

 

You'd also be surprised at the number of companies that interview you knowing full well you're under-qualified and then give you an immediate "we can tell you have potential, but you're under-qualified" the day after the on-site interview.

 

Sorry, I guess that's not what you want to hear. But ugh it happened to me so many times. Hopefully it doesn't for you!

Yeah, I would be much more sceptical but these people in particular are a small studio, friendly bunch. I know which animation studios to have that kind of scepticism in my head for. I'm willing to let it go for these people... and instead have scepticism about them considering me capable enough of the job.

 

But that's all fine as long as I'm outwardly being confident and charming. I can fake those things.

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Yeah, I would be much more sceptical but these people in particular are a small studio, friendly bunch.

those are the ones that sting the most ):

 

Okay I'll stop being a downer. Good luck!

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What kind of work are you looking to get into Ben? It's not crappy minimum wage hourly jobs is it?

 

No, trying for a permanent/fixed-term admin role paying minimum £20K pa (hopefully a bit more than that though). If I can't find anything in the next month or so, I'll be heading back to Reed and getting something from them...

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But Ben, you are a successful video game developer, like notch, or toblix!

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