Job hunting troubles

[PrinceJC]

Hey, I was wondering if any of you guys could offer any advice/help in finding a job, preferably at Disney but anywhere would be appreciated.

My roommate is a recent graduate in industrial engineering from the University of Michigan and has been searching for an entry level job for the last 4 months. He has been using practically every search engine online. I was wondering if any of you guys know of any industrial/manufacturing engineers that he could contact that may be willing to give him some advice.

The thing is that he is trying to move somewhere warm so contacts outside of the midwest would be a major plus! Thanks in advance for any advice or help that you have to offer.

 

[DocRafiki]

I don't know anything about engineering, but does he belong to professional associations? (national and local to the places where he wants to live?) Does he subscribe to their journals? Does he go to professional meetings or conferences? What about his college placement service? What about the colleges in the areas where he wants to work? Who do his former professors know?

In some fields (like mine), places like monster.com are useless. Our biggest job listing source is in the national association's journal. But, even there some states tend to not advertise, and you have to call the schools in each state or the state associations.

As for Disney, they have their own website.

 

[PrinceJC]

Thanks for the advice. He doesnt belong to any associations nor does he subscribe to any journals. Hopefully this will help him out. Its unfortunate that finding a job even with a degree is so challenging.

 

[Robinrs]

It's a rough world out there looking for any job nowadays, take it from one who dealt with it for a year and a half.

BTW, I have two degrees and 22 years experience in my field. Overqualifed for most jobs and underqualified for others.

I went to all the classes at the Dept of Labor. Funny statistic they quoted, only 3 percent of jobs are found via the internet. I was very disappointed, since I seemingly wasted my time posting my resume at ALL of the sites! They also told me that for every job posted there are 200 or more resumes sent, at least they were told that from HR people here in GA.

Not a good picture they painted, almost like they were trying to discourage us!

My suggestion is for your friend to NETWORK. In the work world it's not what you know, it's WHO you know. Every single human being you all know, ASK about positions. Get to know those who HIRE.

And a little prayer doesn't hurt, either!

God bless,

Robinrs

 

[Dan Murphy]

 

[Jillpie]

I completely agree with Robin. Talk to everyone you see, even if you think it wouldn't help, tell them of the search anyway. My DH just went through 8 months of agonizing unemployment, so we speak from experience. He sent his resume to everyone and everything online. Then, he finally found his job. It was from an open house that a company was having. Surprisingly, he didn't fit the entire job description, but he went anyway. He got the job. So don't rule anything out and don't look for the "perfect" fit. Try everything (or tell your friend to rather). And yes, networking is key. All my best and good luck in the search.

And yes, prayer works. It really does.

 

[Fantasmic303]

I've been chasing my Disney Dream for two years now (officially...obviously I've been on the path my whole life!) and haven't had much luck, so I wish your friend the best.


As for working for Disney, the best advice I ever got on the subject came from the elusive Tag Fairy - my tag speaks for itself!!



Good luck though!!