<p>Since random applications over the Internet haven’t done the trick yet (I hope my e-mailbox is chock full Monday) I was curious as how most of you got your current job. The most common way I would believe would be through a friend/coworker or applying through the newspaper ads, so how about it?</p>
<p>joev,
I got my first job by word of mouth. I was finishing up graduate school and a school district in which my DH worked was creating a new school psych. position. H told me. I applied. Got the job and that was it.</p>
<p>Some of us are not married to the house, but do make a home for our familes. So, please, homemaker not housewife.</p>
<p>amen, speckledegg!!! I was just going to say that!!!</p>
<p>And, many HOMEMAKERS have had “real” jobs, and got them in a variety of ways. And, many HOMEMAKERS, with kids leaving the nest, could be going out into the market again, but now, since you dissed us, we ain’t gonna share our ideas… ;)</p>
<p>JK</p>
<p>Most people get jobs through some sort of connection. That connection could be a friend who knows someone whose brother works at…</p>
<p>27 years ago I was a math grad student and TA at TAMU. My company couldn’t hire enough computer programmers for the defense jobs they had on the books. They hired 30 math/physics grad students for a 60 day contract ($200 a week). They put us in campus housing and force fed us 21 semester hours of computer science in 8 weeks, along with at least 6 hours of OJT each day. They then hired the survivors. After 27 years, there are at least 8 - 10 of us still working for the same employer (although the name of the company has changed 3 times).</p>
<p>I was planning to go directly to grad school, but registered with the placement office at school just to get some experience at interviewing. My would-be employer went through the resumes and invited me to interview. I went to the interview with no notion of going to work for them. However, they made me an offer I couldn’t refuse (they paid for my tuition plus a salary while I pursued a full-time master’s degree at Stanford). The rest was history.</p>
<p>Current job-
Answered a post card mass mailed to pharmacists throughout Southern California. The hospital had child care and was going to have a Kindergarten class. Well the Kindergarten class fell through-needed 8 kids and had maybe 5. Now the “kid” has finished his first year of college and I am still there.</p>
<p>Speckledegg and citysgirlsmom you dames are a hoot. (JK) I don’t know the exact terminology for a stay at home parent, I just meant that it was obvious how they got the work (love of family, desire to let spouse persue career, better children’s lives etc)</p>
<p>Thank you to speckledegg and citygirlsmom for reminding joev and the world at large that being the woman who has primary responsibility for a house is a complex job and often not one’s sole job. And to joev, I second the good suggestions given by earlier posters–contacts, chance, word of mouth, and answering ads in the nearest big-city paper are often the best ways to get a job; Internet job postings often garner such large responses that it’s easy to get lost in the crowd. And I must also add my own comment here: saying even humorously that “you dames are a hoot” may not be the best best way to show an understanding of and respect for mom-age women and their intelligence and achievements, no matter how good natured you are and kindly you mean it to sound. Some of the people reading job-query letters or training new hires might be just such women. Along similar lines, a reminder always to be polite and respectful toward secretaries and other non-executive personnel–they too may have more power and repsonsibility than those who still think of them as and treat them as “the girls” may realize.</p>
<p>first career post college: secondary math teacher for 10 years (5 schools and 3 relocations due to DH’s jobs, necessitating credentialing in 3 states). In the mid-70’s, Calif had a glut of teachers (including math). Wish the internet had been around as I spent the latter part of my senior year spraying typed applications out to 100 districts statewide. I was fortunate to be one of three hired out of 200 in a desirable district near San Diego. Two years later, the tide turned (prop 13) and a math teacher was highly sought after. Hasn’t changed since.</p>
<p>second career: raising 2 kids (both now out of the nest) and running a business with H. Office was at home and I was the accountant, controller, office secretary, warehouse manager, PR contact, human resource manager, etc. Managed to volunteer and work at the same time. Hardest job I’ve ever done.</p>
<p>now a rehash of first career: Back to teaching 8 years ago when D went into 6th grade and we had sold our business. Walked into my S’s high school and my D’s middle school and told the principals who knew me well from volunteering that I would only work at those two schools and to give me a call if they needed a math teacher. Two weeks later, I’m employed at the high school.</p>
<p>I have been a homeschooling mom for about 20 years. I did some freelance writing during that time, but it never amounted to anything. Five years ago, with a son starting college, I desperately needed some income. Through a homeschool email loop, I heard about online essay grading through Educational Testing Service. They happened to be hiring at the time, so I applied via their website and was hired. I have been working for them ever since. It involves a few busy sessions over the year plus 3-4 days a month year-round–I am involved in two programs through them.</p>
<p>Less than two years later, I heard about another homeschooling writer on my email loop who was doing “educational writing.” I emailed her and we met to discuss what she did. It turned out one of her jobs was writing questions for all these standardized tests the states give. I could do that, I thought. I got the contact info and sent out my resume (long expired teaching certificate, publication credits, education, etc.). Harcourt Assessment asked me to write some sample questions, and I started getting contracts. I have, so far, done science and social studies questions for grades 3, 5, 7, 8, and 10 for various states. It is harder than I thought it would be, but pays much better than fast food!</p>
<p>The great thing about all my jobs (I also write Sunday school curriculum for my denomination.) is that they can be done at home on my own computer on my own time schedule. The essay grading is during specified shifts, but I get to choose the days and shifts I wish to work. The rest I can do whenever. I’ve been quite happy with the arrangement!</p>
<p>I sent my CV out blindly to a number of institutions in regions of the country I was willing to live, and specifically to a few institutions whose leaders I respected then made follow-up phone calls. Got invited to interviews, and was hired where I am now 9 years ago. This was after 13 years on active duty in the military.</p>
<p>Opened my own architectural practice in New York City in 1986, age 28.</p>
<p>started out working for a temp agency…good money, no benefits. Was hired by same company I was temping for and still there with better money and excellent benefits.</p>
<p>laxmom, I swear by temp agencies! I got my first “real” job via temp-to-hire. I worked with them doing general office management, billing, shipping/receiving, reception, sales, etc for over three years.</p>
<p>THAT got me into my first accounting job for the sister company of the company I work for now (I replied to a newspaper ad). After working insane hours with very little compensation or satisfaction, I found out about an assistant position with the company I work for now. After just over a year, my supervisor quit putting me in charge–this is where I’ve been for a few years now.</p>
<p>Joev, I would have to say that there are a lot of ways to find work. I’ve personally gone through the temp agency, replying cold to newspaper ads, and having connections. My ex-husband on the other hand had NEVER applied for a job in our almost six years of marriage–he was recruited out of the blue by all four of the companies he worked for. In fact, he just recently joined the army because he couldn’t find a job after being let go by the last company. I guess having the experience sending out resume after resume and interviewing (which he also had never formally done) can come in handy even if you are in a highly prized position.</p>
<p>Another person on a long term temp assignment. Went to company was suppose to work 3 weeks. Have been there 22 years.</p>
<p>I’ve been calling myself a work at home Mom for 20 years. hate, hate that term housewife. I also use the term self-employed since I was also an independent sales person. </p>
<p>I just recently found a job, just answered an ad in a paper but I did everything that I had heard to do - wrote up a gramatically correct resume, included some references and after the interview, followed up with a thank you note the same day.</p>
<p>I was the only fool who would take the job . . .at the time, no one else wanted to be the only school counselor in a high school of over 900 students. Imagine. I was young. Now I am aged, :} 18 years have passed. Last year I told them to get me some help with the now 700 kids or I was going to quit to be a greeter at WalMart. Now I have help.</p>
<p>Sister is a career changer and has become a teacher. Was offered the job while doing her student teacher because department head said that she was better than over half the teachers in the department.</p>
<p>Joe,</p>
<p>There is no such thing as being just a housewife/homemaker. Those that chose to stay home to raise children are pretty adept at time management , money mangement, leadership, people management, change management, teaching, training, project management, networking, coaching , counseling, medic and multitasking all which are transferrable skills in the workplace.</p>
<p>Joev, I’ve been in the workforce for 25 years, and have worked for 6 companies as a traditional employee over those years. I was hand recruited for all of them except for my very first job. Have never answered a newspaper add or applied for a job proactively after the first one. I typically change jobs every three to five years, and always “trade up”. I depend heavily on a professional network, but, if that failed, I would use the internet to search for companies that I might like to work for. </p>
<p>Having said that, running a household is much harder than working a traditional job outside the home. With the latter, all one really has to do is show up for work with the verified skill set, and execute the job requirements.</p>
<p>Comparatively, standing up a household and running it efficiently means negotiating the price, purchase and loan for the mortgage, hiring, supervising and paying the plumbing, roofing, siding, electical, air conditioning/heating and other contractors, as well as the landscapers and arborists, maintaining the appliances, overseeing the cleaning, care and upkeep, keeping the technology functioning efficiently at a cost effective rate (phones, cable tv, computers/internet/home networking), supplying the food, managing the material contents, etc., caring for the pets, including licensing, vet care; then add to that purchase, care and maintenance of cars or other transportation, chosing schools, and, beyond all the material aspects, care and nurturing of the other members of the household (children), maintaining good relations with neighbors, etc.</p>