There are over fifteen million Americans unemployed
If you are one of them, what kind of variables would you take into account when searching for a job? How would you prepare for the job interview? How would you negotiate your salary and what would you settle for? If you are a student, like me, how would your school schedule be integrated into your job?
When the company that I was working with for two years went bankrupt in January, I became overwhelmed. I needed to find another job quickly and continue with my college classes. I was hesitant to begin a new job- my old job was very flexible with my school schedule, I knew everyone well, and I was good at the work I had to complete. I disliked my job very much, but I was comfortable with it. It can be stressful starting a new job. Starting from scratch can be intimidating.
I applied everywhere I could think of
I applied for all of these jobs online and I never once got called for an interview. Not getting called for a job interview was strange to me because it has never been difficult for me to find a job- I usually get the first job that I apply to. Just recently, after five months of being unemployed, I decided to apply to some places in person. The first store that I went into asked me to come in for an interview on the spot. After my job interview, I was asked to join the company on the spot. I now see how important it is to go in person to apply for jobs.
For the interview
I dressed up a little bit. I wore an outfit that I had bought from the store and so I deemed it suitable for the job interview to show that I do love the store’s clothing. When I first turned in my application, I did not expect to be asked questions on the spot. I answered questions such as “why do you want to work here?” and “why do you want to work in customer service?” Being asked these questions was so unforeseen that I answered on my toes but prepared myself to delve deeper into why I wanted to work there when I came back for the actual interview. I wrote down the reasons why I would like to work in retail, why I would like to work with customers, and wrote down the strengths that I possess. I also thought about other questions that I may be asked, and prepared suitable answers for them.
Now that I have obtained the job
I needed to make sure they could work with my school schedule. Negotiating my work schedule with my school schedule was not difficult. I started this job at a great time, when I am taking summer classes which will be online. I am going to start off having an open availability and then once I get integrated into the company after awhile, when the fall starts I will be able to change my availability to something that will fit me better when I have on-campus classes. Once they know how efficiently I can do my job, they will be more willing to compromise with me about my availability.
At this point, I have to downgrade to a lower pay. Since I think that I will enjoy this job much more I don’t mind it that much. I am glad to have any job at all, while there are so many Americans without one.
