So you lost your Job! What now?

Brutus

Well-known member
Hetman
This is a generic thread so if anyone has any addition advise or personal experience they would like to share advice regarding their search for a job in their related field please let people know. I work in the Information Technology field.

I worked at a data center in the ground floor of a hospital for 12 years. I won't have a job at the end of March due to the job being streamlined (Department downsized and 'consolidated' to other data centers the nationwide health network runs') and processes we run being automated. The company I work for has been great (with pay and insurance) and I got good compensation package.

Now, if you click on this thread checking it out and still have a job. I am going to tell you a few things.
1. Keep your resume up to date.
2. write down what you've done at your job so you can fill in the job description when asked what you did.
3. Get with the people you've worked with and ask if you can use them as a reference.
4. Don't be complacent. I was complacent and paid the price for it rushing to update my resume after 12 years and stressing myself out in the process.

That said applying for a job is a stressful process hoping that someone will look at your resume and say ' we need this person' then you get a call.
My own personal experience so far, Apply for as many jobs as possible. There won't be a unicorn job waiting to save your ass at the last minute waiting just for you.

Be prepared to put your resume in at company site after company site. Even if you go to indeed, glass door, or zip recruiter websites you will still need to put your resume in at the company website. It gets so god damn annoying you ask yourself why the fuck do they ask for you to upload the resume then they run it through a bot to filter it. THEN you have to go through what the bot processed and manually make a bunch of damn CHANGES EVERY SINGLE FUCKING TIME. Be prepared to do that a lot.

Websites that I found reliable
Indeed .com website
ziprecruiter .com website
glassdoor .com website
There are also staffing agencies\companies you can give your resume to and they will call you if an opportunity shows up.

If anyone has any resume format that the bots will read and get it right every time please let everyone know.
Please be aware there will be companies out there that are selling services to remake your resume desirable and perfect for that job opportunity for a price of course. You can get the same service for free if you look at examples of resume templates on google docs.

Still searching, Still hoping.
Have a good day everyone.
 

Doomsought

Well-known member
From my experience, resumes are becoming increasingly useless, but a portfolio will get you results. I started getting job offers as soon as I put up a portfolio on word-press, and I know it is what got me my job because they had my portfolio printed out and we talked about its contents during the interview.

If you worked in a datacenter, I'd suggest buying some old equipment that is being sold off during an upgrade cycle and setting up a private server system that has something you can show off during the interview.
 

What's the sitch?

Well-known member
I'll have to try some of those other sites, been using indeed lately. I want to quit my job, but I have been sticking with it. I am just too tired in general to "job hunt" more than a little bit. The excessive overtime and shifting hours are terrible, I can't sleep and my thinking is generally shot.
 

Brutus

Well-known member
Hetman
The ascension hospitals from what I've seen require all HDD's with sensitive data to be drilled through and all servers to be taken to a 3rd party for disposal\recycling. So no high powered personal server farm for me :(. My job for the past decade has been pushing buttons and making sure everything runs, keep the servers running when the A/C breaks down (it used to frequently), and be the first line of communication people call when everything's gone to hell.

So far applied to multiple jobs but with the way things are going they may be a big hiring freeze if things go downhill.

I'll have to try some of those other sites, been using indeed lately. I want to quit my job, but I have been sticking with it. I am just too tired in general to "job hunt" more than a little bit. The excessive overtime and shifting hours are terrible, I can't sleep and my thinking is generally shot.

Sounds like burnout it may take a while to recover from it from my personal experience. You can also use google to do job searches, just type in the job & area and it will pull information from indeed ziprecruiter.
 

What's the sitch?

Well-known member
Sounds like burnout it may take a while to recover from it from my personal experience. You can also use google to do job searches, just type in the job & area and it will pull information from indeed ziprecruiter.


Most recent one happened last week, where the boss tried to get me to do blatantly illegal things (not the "company guide lines kind" or "eh if I squint a little" )and refused several of my "No's". Proceeded to cuss me out and screamed at me to do it and said other things. I'm not even mad that he lost his cool and swore, nerves are kinda short at this time and we are short staffed, but that he blatantly tried to abuse his authority to force me to do actual serious illegal crap.

I had to report him after that, doubt he will get more than a warning. We'll see if I get retaliated against, I just don't really care a whole lot anymore. It would be nice if he forced it so I can claim a few months of unemployment while job searching, we'll see.

I don't really want to share more details or indentifying info for possible legal reasons, not because I personally care.
 

Brutus

Well-known member
Hetman
Most recent one happened last week, where the boss tried to get me to do blatantly illegal things (not the "company guide lines kind" or "eh if I squint a little" )and refused several of my "No's". Proceeded to cuss me out and screamed at me to do it and said other things. I'm not even mad that he lost his cool and swore, nerves are kinda short at this time and we are short staffed, but that he blatantly tried to abuse his authority to force me to do actual serious illegal crap.

I had to report him after that, doubt he will get more than a warning. We'll see if I get retaliated against, I just don't really care a whole lot anymore. It would be nice if he forced it so I can claim a few months of unemployment while job searching, we'll see.

I don't really want to share more details or indentifying info for possible legal reasons, not because I personally care.

Jesus, I know it's not much but Good Luck and Stay Sane.
 

Doomsought

Well-known member
Most recent one happened last week, where the boss tried to get me to do blatantly illegal things (not the "company guide lines kind" or "eh if I squint a little" )and refused several of my "No's". Proceeded to cuss me out and screamed at me to do it and said other things. I'm not even mad that he lost his cool and swore, nerves are kinda short at this time and we are short staffed, but that he blatantly tried to abuse his authority to force me to do actual serious illegal crap.

I had to report him after that, doubt he will get more than a warning. We'll see if I get retaliated against, I just don't really care a whole lot anymore. It would be nice if he forced it so I can claim a few months of unemployment while job searching, we'll see.
Do some research on the relevant regulatory agency.
 

Brutus

Well-known member
Hetman
After doing more searching on google I found out the format they use is Application Tracking System or ATS for short. There are different versions of the software that companies use but it filters out everything into a cheap and easy way to reject your resume before it reaches human eyes.

This is an a PDF guidelines I found for the ATS.
Source: https://www.pcc.edu/staff/wp-content/uploads/sites/114/2018/07/ApplicantTrackingSystem-Scanning.pdf

Copied the text in the spoiler.
FORMATTING GUIDELINES FOR CREATING
ATS (APPLICANT TRACKING SYSTEM)-FRIENDLY, HUMAN-FRIENDLY RESUME

When applying for jobs online, many times job seekers are asked to upload a resume.
Resumes are “parsed” by an applicant tracking system to pull out individual items, such as
name, phone number, company, job title, etc. If the resume is not formatted properly, the
resume parser may not be able to pull specific information and that resume may never get into
employers database.
Here are some guidelines to increase resume compatibility with applicant tracking systems
(ATS):

1. Document Type

Recommended
-Microsoft Word (.doc)
-Txt
-Rtf
Save your resume in the most acceptable formats like Microsoft Word, txt or rtf formats.

Not Recommended
-Docx
-PDF
-HTML
-Open Office
Pdf sometimes gives broken text and many resume parsers/management systems fail to
convert the pdf, html, docx and open office files into text. Never ever scan and send your
resume as an Image.

2. Body Format
Recommended
Use generic text type like Arial/Times New Roman. With standard font size (10, 12, or 14)
Do not insert pictures/templates inside the resume body.

Not Recommended
Avoid tables as this will break the continuity of resume when read by the software.

3. Candidate Name

Recommended
Mention your name clearly in continuation with the First, Last and Middle name. You can
use Bold/Italics while writing the name.

Not Recommended
Do not use any special character like (,;0/- etc. with your name.
Do not mention your present designation or any skill set along with your name.
Do not use extra spaces between each letter of your name.
The system will take the generic words/special characters under elimination category while
identifying the name.

4. Timelines/Dates

Recommended
Try to follow the standard date format i.e. MM/DD/YYYY or you can use Month Name, Year
i.e. May, 2010. Don’t forget to mention the complete year i.e. 2010.
Use similar format throughout the resume.

Not Recommended
Mentioning Date without proper year description is unacceptable to resume parsers i.e.
07/09 – Wrong Format, May’10 – Wrong Format.

5. Fonts - No specific fonts required. Use standard fonts for a professional appearance.
  1. Sans-serif fonts: Ariel, Arial Narrow, Calibri, Century Gothic, Gill Sans, Lucinda
  2. Serif fonts: Book Antiqua, Bookman, Cambria, Century Schoolbook, Sans, Tahoma, Trebuchet, Verdana
Garamond, Georgia, Palatino Linotype, Times New Roman
Use a reasonable font size (10, 11, or 12 point, depending on the specific font).
Fine to use larger fonts for name and headings.

6. Borders and Lines – Fine to use if not touching any text. If in doubt, leave them out.

7. Headers and Footers – Do not use for any important information particularly, contact
information.

8. Graphics, Logos, Charts, Graphs – Do not use.

9. Bullets – Fine to use but avoid fancy shapes. Make sure bullet is not touching any text.

10. Bold and Caps – Fine to use.

11. Italics and Underlines – Do not use.

12. Tables and Columns – Do not use. Keep everything in a single column, top to bottom.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top