I Got a Job!
Yesterday my brother, David, who's home from college till tomorrow, and I drove into the nearby "big city" so I could apply with a job placement agency. I got the heads up from a family friend that this particular agency is the one that a lot of business corporations in the area turn to looking for temporary help in clerical/administrative positions.
I filled out lots of paperwork and made an appointment for this morning to come take the clerical test. I was a little curious what it would cover and as I don't have any experience with this kind of work besides some computer classes in high school and basic college class work , I didn't know what to expect. When I got there this morning, I was handed the test and a pencil and began answering a variety of math questions, spelling questions, filing questions, etc.
After that I sat down with my representative so could ask me a series of uncomfortable questions about what kind of person I am, my long- and short-term goals, why I would be good at this job... Since I wasn't even sure what job I would be considered for and couldn't really answer her question until I had an idea, I asked her to explain what I might be qualified for. She told me their agency places people in temporary positions as receptionists, light data-entry secretaries, etc., but because the positions are short-term, the work doesn't require too much prior training and I would therefore not be asked to do something I didn't feel comfortable doing.
After that little interview she showed me to a computer for another clerical exam. This one was more detailed and involved me actually preparing a spreadsheet, doing work in Word, plus more math and spelling questions. When I was on the 2nd to last question of the 4-part exam, a 2-hour endeavor, she popped her head in the door of my little room and said she had already found me something and I should go over and interview this afternoon.
So I drove over to the job location, a huge, old school turned office building, with a maze of hallways and doors to different departments, and finally made my way up to the 3rd floor to the department. This department sends therapists into local schools to test kids for, and help kids with learning disabilities. I was introduced to the woman whose job I'm taking over because she's moving. But instead of interviewing me, they proceeded to train me in. So over the next hour and a half I was introduced to about 15 people, shown the ropes at the desk I'll have which shares a large room with the school therapists when they come to the office on Fridays, and taken to the mailroom, lounge, and offices of other colleagues. It was a whirlwind, especially since I didn't think I'd be going to the job agency without a job and coming home with a job!
Like I said, the job is only temporary, 3 weeks to be exact, but this job agency seems to place people really fast, so I am hoping there will be more jobs of this nature to follow. It's nice because I won't have to commit to anything too long-term at this point.
Otherwise, I work my very part-time jewelry job tomorrow, selling fine jewelry at a department store, but while that job is fun and the perks are nice (big store discount which came in handy over Christmas), I only work there 4 times this whole month. That was just not enough income, nor enough to keep me busy. This new job certainly will do just that. Not only is it M-F, 8-5, I have to drive 40 min. everyday to get there and home. No more sleeping in, lingering over breakfast. I'm sure the days of freedom I'd been having will be sounding really good soon, but I'm just happy to be able to keep tackling those student loans!
What I still don't understand, though, that all this time I've been sending out my application for similar jobs all over the area and all over the country, I did not receive ONE response. I realize I have absolutely no administrative experience, but some of those places even specifically asked for German-speaking administrative assistants, or 0-1 yrs. experience. True, they probably didn't want to hire someone halfway across the country, and maybe companies don't take online applications very seriously, though I did send in some paper resumes to a few local jobs.
The only places I received any response was from two translating firms. One was part-time and on the East Coast (and they, too, wanted someone from the area), and the other was translating intricate engineering patents, of which I didn't even know some of the English words. (I found out later no one who had applied for that job got it; translating these patents is a language of its own and not easily mastered!)
But who'd have thought that all this time I spent looking for/applying for jobs I could've just gone to this job placement agency from the beginning? I didn't even know temporary jobs like this existed!
I filled out lots of paperwork and made an appointment for this morning to come take the clerical test. I was a little curious what it would cover and as I don't have any experience with this kind of work besides some computer classes in high school and basic college class work , I didn't know what to expect. When I got there this morning, I was handed the test and a pencil and began answering a variety of math questions, spelling questions, filing questions, etc.
After that I sat down with my representative so could ask me a series of uncomfortable questions about what kind of person I am, my long- and short-term goals, why I would be good at this job... Since I wasn't even sure what job I would be considered for and couldn't really answer her question until I had an idea, I asked her to explain what I might be qualified for. She told me their agency places people in temporary positions as receptionists, light data-entry secretaries, etc., but because the positions are short-term, the work doesn't require too much prior training and I would therefore not be asked to do something I didn't feel comfortable doing.
After that little interview she showed me to a computer for another clerical exam. This one was more detailed and involved me actually preparing a spreadsheet, doing work in Word, plus more math and spelling questions. When I was on the 2nd to last question of the 4-part exam, a 2-hour endeavor, she popped her head in the door of my little room and said she had already found me something and I should go over and interview this afternoon.
So I drove over to the job location, a huge, old school turned office building, with a maze of hallways and doors to different departments, and finally made my way up to the 3rd floor to the department. This department sends therapists into local schools to test kids for, and help kids with learning disabilities. I was introduced to the woman whose job I'm taking over because she's moving. But instead of interviewing me, they proceeded to train me in. So over the next hour and a half I was introduced to about 15 people, shown the ropes at the desk I'll have which shares a large room with the school therapists when they come to the office on Fridays, and taken to the mailroom, lounge, and offices of other colleagues. It was a whirlwind, especially since I didn't think I'd be going to the job agency without a job and coming home with a job!
Like I said, the job is only temporary, 3 weeks to be exact, but this job agency seems to place people really fast, so I am hoping there will be more jobs of this nature to follow. It's nice because I won't have to commit to anything too long-term at this point.
Otherwise, I work my very part-time jewelry job tomorrow, selling fine jewelry at a department store, but while that job is fun and the perks are nice (big store discount which came in handy over Christmas), I only work there 4 times this whole month. That was just not enough income, nor enough to keep me busy. This new job certainly will do just that. Not only is it M-F, 8-5, I have to drive 40 min. everyday to get there and home. No more sleeping in, lingering over breakfast. I'm sure the days of freedom I'd been having will be sounding really good soon, but I'm just happy to be able to keep tackling those student loans!
What I still don't understand, though, that all this time I've been sending out my application for similar jobs all over the area and all over the country, I did not receive ONE response. I realize I have absolutely no administrative experience, but some of those places even specifically asked for German-speaking administrative assistants, or 0-1 yrs. experience. True, they probably didn't want to hire someone halfway across the country, and maybe companies don't take online applications very seriously, though I did send in some paper resumes to a few local jobs.
The only places I received any response was from two translating firms. One was part-time and on the East Coast (and they, too, wanted someone from the area), and the other was translating intricate engineering patents, of which I didn't even know some of the English words. (I found out later no one who had applied for that job got it; translating these patents is a language of its own and not easily mastered!)
But who'd have thought that all this time I spent looking for/applying for jobs I could've just gone to this job placement agency from the beginning? I didn't even know temporary jobs like this existed!
posted by Heidi at 5:12 PM
1 Comments:
yay, good for you! something to do AND paying off your loans!
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