Experience.

[Chicken_Little 0]

I have been on three full-time interviews since I've been in the US. Didn't get any of the jobs. I've got several temp agencies wanting me to come work for them, and I am using two of them, but I need to find permanent work. Oh, wait...I lie...I was offered one job...but turned it down. The pay was #######, there were no benefits, and you get one week vacation time a year for the first five years, and after that you MAY get a second week a year. Oh, and it was an hour commute. *sigh*

ALL of the places I haven't gotten the jobs have said it's because I don't have enough experience. How the hell am I supposed to get experience without being given a chance? I can keep doing temp work and bring in money, and that's fine, but I want the stability of permanent work. I want a salary. I want benefits. I want respect.

I realize that my BA in history is not too impressive, and that I only have two summer's worth of office experience in addition to my many years of retail, but damnit I JUST finished school. Yes, I'm in my late 20s, but I did school part-time because of personal reasons, and so I don't have a lot of experience in the "real world".

*sigh*.

I thought the stress was over after I got my greencard, but apparently not. Makes me feel like things will keep going wrong for the rest of my life.

[sukie175 0]

Hang in there, VJ'ers often struggle with jobs at first but most succeed in the end. We are all special people if we can get through all this #######!

The vacation time here though is a bloody joke!!

[iceyspots 0]

I understand your frustrations... Hell, I've even seen job postings where employers want "longevity" "clean driving record" and "2 years of experience" for a dang fruit picking job for $6.50 an hour or something like that... Hang in there, if you are good to the agency, when something good comes along they'll let you take a stab at it, and if you are good to them they'll give you AWESOME references when applying for a permanent job.

[MrMrsKnight 0]

ALL of the places I haven't gotten the jobs have said it's because I don't have enough experience. How the hell am I supposed to get experience without being given a chance?

*sigh*.

That's a big problem everyone seems to have. Here in Brazil, most of the time, they'll only hire you if you have experience.... problem is that there are tons of people getting out of college that need to have the first experience!!

Crazy..... can't get a job if don't have experience but can't have experience if are not given a chance to have a job!

[Dixie_Peach 1]

i am so sorry that you are having a difficult time finding a job... i pray that you will find something that suits your area of expertise...

wishing you the best,

lynne

[Nessa 23]

I always wondered if the places i worked in Brazil will count as experience there in the states or if i'm gonna have to start all over again...

[almaty 19]

keep tring c.l.,, just need 1 job..ii remember my dad told me that when i got frustrated all you need is oone job..and you get it..

[Chicken_Little 0]

Thanks everyone!

It's just frustrating when you feel like you're never going to be hired, never going to be able to relax and be stress-free!

[raphael7546 0]

I hear ya on this one.

I worked for 16 yrs for the government in an Office jobback home. Made well over 15.00 per hr plus benefits.

I got here and applied for even file clerk positions at 6 bucks n hr and not a word. After looking for Clerical work here to no avail ; I finally gave up and went to the local mall and dropped off my resumes. I hadn't worked retail since I was in my early 20s.

I got hired at a retail department store making 9 bucks n hr plus benefits. I'm still looking for a clerical positon while I work this job becuz retail is definetly not what I want to do. Standing on my feet 9 hrs a day is not my idea of fun. LOL

The only idea I can suggest for you to get more clerical experience is to maybe do some volunteer work somewhere.

I volunteer at our local Air Force Aerospace museum to keep my clerical skills up. It doesn't pay anything but you can get a recomendation letter from the place you volunteer at and that should count for something.

Goodluck !

[David&Erin_Owens 0]

The first job David got when he received his EAD was absolute #######. And because he had no experience and was afraid he wouldn't find another job, he stayed in it for nearly two years. His last day of work there was Friday so we could get our things packed up. The pay was shite, and the benefits were nill. Unfortunately, a lot of companies over here look at the newly arrived residents, and see easy targets to pay them poor wages and give them few benefits because they'll take what they can get. They NEVER gave David a vacation. Not once. We went to my grandfather's funeral in NY this past November and they gave him the time off without pay. Also, he told them he was going to have to leave the job if they didn't give him health insurance, and they kept saying they would and they never did. They were awful. I'm so glad he's done with them. The only good thing is, now that he has some "experience" he'll hopefully be able to get a better job. Oh, and btw, he has a BA in history too!!!!

[Jasman0717 9]

Claudeth was kind of feeling down with the job thingy until she started getting so interviews. That made her think that someone was at least interested. Keep going!

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I have the opposite problem - I have experience, I'm just not sure if I can back it up with references.

When I first got my EAD I called around a few agencies, and was told that they couldn't 'help me' until I had 6 months experience WITHIN THE US. Add to that - some of them weren't prepared to call the UK to verify my employment, so they discounted my experience altogether.

Hoping for good things this time.

[*Robert* 2]

Hang in there! Getting interviews if half the battle. The more you get, the better you will get at them!

[snz1802 0]

Unfortunately these days, employers sometimes will take real time experience over education requirements. What type of job are you looking for? In what field? I know it is hard when you have no experience, but you will get there, stay positive, you may have to start somewhere near the bottom to get to the top, but you will get there, and unfortunately, vacation time does suck here in the states. I have worked at my job for 4 years now and only get 2 weeks. I will get 3 weeks after 5 years, so don't feel bad. Hopefully you will get something good soon, keep us informed....

[Chicken_Little 0]

Unfortunately these days, employers sometimes will take real time experience over education requirements. What type of job are you looking for? In what field? I know it is hard when you have no experience, but you will get there, stay positive, you may have to start somewhere near the bottom to get to the top, but you will get there, and unfortunately, vacation time does suck here in the states. I have worked at my job for 4 years now and only get 2 weeks. I will get 3 weeks after 5 years, so don't feel bad. Hopefully you will get something good soon, keep us informed....

Well, two weeks isn't bad, it was just that I would have only had one week for the first five years! It made me think that if they're that bad with vacation time, what will maternity time be like? We plan to have a baby in about two years, and I want to find a job where taking time off won't mean losing the job or going broke.

I'm trying to get a job as an administrative assisstant/receptionist/secretary/office clerk (so many names for pretty much the same job!), and have some experience -- only during summers though, as I was in school the rest of the time!