I agree. I have never heard of anyone getting a job this way. I don’t understand why OP left Philly in the first place – moving to Austin where he only had a place to stay for 30 days doesn’t make sense. Missing the traditional Wharton interview schedule shouldn’t have been a huge deal if he had stayed in Philly and interviewed this fall along with the current seniors. If at all possible, he should try to move back there. If not, Austin must have Kaplan or other test prep companies interested in hiring someone with high SAT scores. The one in my small town is always recruiting.</p>
<p>OK, but remember your GPA is still at 3.0. I am sure there are other Wharton grads who have a higher GPA and still without a job. You are not the only one.
Have you told your mother of your dire situation? Sometimes we have to swallow our pride.</p>
<p>OP, you need to stop obsessing about what your situation should be and start dealing with what it is.</p>
<p>You either need to find a place to stay in Austin on your own once your relative kicks you out, find a way to get to Philly, or convince your relative to let you stay longer. Have you tried asking him/her? Begging?</p>
<p>If staying there isn’t viable, you need to move. Probably it will be just as easy to move to Philly as it will be to rent a place in Austin with 0 money, so focus on that.</p>
<p>Ways you can earn money:</p>
<p>Donate plasma.</p>
<p>Have a garage sale (added advantage of getting rid of everything you can’t transport easily.)</p>
<p>Think up yard work tasks and go door to door offering your services.</p>
<p>Get a crappy minimum wage job and DON’T TELL THEM YOU’RE LEAVING IN TWO WEEKS. Texas is an at-will state, that means you can walk out at any time.</p>
<p>Rake some leaves…lots of people need help with this task right now…and you can make quick money. Make up a simple flyer and put it in mailboxes. Say you will do a job for a flat fee…it will likely get you more jobs than charging an hourly rate. Rakes are cheap… go for it.
You hit a rough spot here but don’t get discouraged. Lots of good advice on this board…read the posts carefully…and then make a plan. Good luck!</p>
<p>mildred: Unfortunately that is the case, but there’s nothing I can do about it. It’s a really, really long story – but turning to her is not going to help. She’s aware, but just not interested.</p>
<p>mamadrama: Brickwall in what way?</p>
<p>anneroku: I had been working in Philadelphia while taking my final class – I hadn’t been able to secure a place to live in Philadelphia to live at the time, nor had I ever gone through the process before. Time was short and my relative reached out to me asking how things were, and extended the invitation (in exchange I built the entire website and underlying systems for his business). The problem was that a few things were under a false pretense. It was a generous offer on his behalf, but unfortunately the location, transportation issue, and I’m guessing my GPA has made it hard to find work here. Had I had a place to stay in Philadelphia at the time, I would have just stayed. I should have just sucked it up and asked my friend, but I have a really, really hard time asking people for things.</p>
<p>Naturally: Are you saying the “two weeks notice” concept doesn’t apply in Texas? If I just say “I need to quit by tomorrow” out of the blue, that’s perfectly fine?</p>
<p>Max, I applaud you for not wanting to inconvenience your friends too much. But I would sell what I could (or borrow) to scrape together bus fare back to Phili. Ship the computer cheap. Leave or sell the rest (box what you think you really must have long term so your relative could ship it later if necessary). Try to get a minimum wage job flipping burgers or delivering pizzas or waiting tables at night so you can job hunt during the day. While couch surfing, be a BIG HELP to the friends letting you stay. Do the dishes even when they aren’t yours, clean the bathroom, vaccum, care for any pets, etc. Make yourself a more welcome guest by helping out.</p>
<p>One other suggestion if you choose to stay in Austin, post specifically on Craigslist to see if anyone lives in your area and commutes daily (or even a couple days a week) into Austin. Offer to barter skills (web, tax prep, marketing, etc.) for rides down there. This (1) gets you downtown regularly to job hunt, (2) gives you a chance to show your business skills to someone local who might be a good contact. And you can put whatever business-related work you do for them on your resume, no one has to know it is unpaid/bartered.</p>
<p>I figure with Christmas around the corner, I can definitely sell some old stuff I know I’m probably not going to need. Shipping would be a lot cheaper in the end upon moving, too. </p>
<p>I just thought of another issue. Even if I went back east to Philly to stay with my friend, Winter Break requires on-campus residents to be gone during the duration, meaning I’d probably have to find an off-campus spot before getting there, most likely, or find a different friend whose place I can crash who lives off-campus.</p>
<p>Pretty much, legend. Mind you, I don’t live in Texas, so you might google some law sites to make sure, but Washington is also an at will state (where I am) and that’s how it works here.</p>
<p>This is the site I was looking at that indicates that Texas is an at-will state (though it is set up for an employer’s perspective not an employee’s):</p>
<p>Also, certain jobs expect high turnover so don’t feel too guilty if you get one and leave. For example, I worked for a week at a video store before realizing I couldn’t juggle school AND two part-time jobs (and the other job paid much more). I told them I was sorry, but couldn’t do it anymore and the manager just thanked me for letting me know, wasn’t upset about it at all.</p>
<p>How expensive is shared housing in Austin? Like if you just rented one room in a rental house or multi-bedroom apartment? Would that be viable until Christmas is over (if you found a job, even if it wasn’t a great one?)</p>
<p>Well, that is an issue with the couch surfing plan. On campus (and some off campus) housing probably has limits on allowing visitors. I am a landlord, and we have clauses in our leases to limit how long visitors can stay. I’m not saying my tenants are always compliant, but the clause is there. But I doubt landlords catch tenants at this very often. But I could see dorms being sticky about this after just a few days, the RA would likely catch on. So you might pursue the off campus option.</p>
<p>Here is another thought - - look for someone who needs a house/apartment sitter short or long term in Philly. Again, this might be easier once you get there, but advertise on Craigslist. Or… see if you can find such an opportunity in Austin close to a bus line or town. People do need to have their pets & plants tended to while they are gone.</p>
<p>Need to bring up networking again. Have you tried any way to tap into the Wharton alumni in the Austin area. I know that, with the companies that are there, there must be quite a few. Contact your school alumni office and get connected to the alumni association and look for a chapter in Austin. . Get on LinkedIn and find the alumni group. Find the alumni group on Facebook. This is no time to be too proud to admit you need help form alums. It’s what we do for each other (I’m not Wharton, but in others).</p>
<p>I had shot out a few emails but nothing yet. </p>
<p>I can’t decide if I should keep trying to find work in Austin/Houston or to pursue going back to Philly. I’ve still got interviews pending, and going back to Philly at this time would mean needing to find housing immediately (although I’d still need to find a place here in Texas otherwise) – I’ve spent all day looking into this, and it looks somewhat bleak (everything’s really expensive, even on the cheap side. I’d also need a job to leverage if I were to try to negotiate a deal). It’d be easier with roommates, perhaps, but that’s also complicated. It’d be easier if Winter Break weren’t right around the corner.</p>
<p>It just seems for everything to be in place, I need A, B, C, and D, but I can’t get any one of them without the others. I’m just hoping I can score one of the positions I’ve currently got in the pipes.</p>
<p>I’m having a bit of a hard time understanding why you haven’t been able to find any work with skills like that. </p>
<p>I’m getting the sense that you tend to keep things to yourself, and maybe you keep to yourself too. It’s unfortunate that you don’t have family to lean on, but it does sound like you have a friend or two who might be willing to help out. You’ve got to get out of your shell and ask for help! </p>
<p>Isn’t there some kind of alumni listserve at Wharton? Mine, from my alma mater is full of odd jobs and house sitting. (granted, mine is as far from business school as you can get, which actually means there are more opportunities for short terms gigs.)</p>
<p>I know people who have found places to live in exchange for babysitting, elder care, or caretaking part time. Until you save enough for a place of your own, that could be an option. I know it’s scary to go to a new place without sure bets, but it doesn’t sound like you’re in a position to wait right now.</p>
<p>I have a hard time understanding it, too. I’ve got plenty of skills – I just don’t understand why I’m having such bad luck. I do keep to myself a bit, but when it’s come to this job situation, I’ve been trying to get out there pretty aggressively with little luck. It’s why I’m just completely lost at this whole thing. Even my stuff on Craigslist hasn’t gotten any replies yet, lol – and I’m selling stuff cheaper than what most are asking for, with pictures and everything, Christmas coming up, great condition.</p>
<p>The whole thing’s just really discouraging. I feel like there’s so much uncertainty behind any given option, and even at that, not really enough of a plan to back up any one option even if I could choose freely.</p>
<p>I have access to the alumni directory at Wharton, but I need to figure out how to approach that whole thing correctly.</p>
<p>Singersmom07: Yeah, I definitely agree, especially in this economy. Networking is unfortunately one of my weakest skills. Even if I look up an alum in an area I want to work in, it seems strange to just contact them out of the blue and ask for advice or help with finding work. I’ve never really gotten into it (either that or I am TOTALLY missing the point of networking). It seems like unless an alum knows you personally, why wouldn’t they say anything else other than “Well if you want to work here, just apply through the website” or something in that vein? But perhaps I am totally missing the point.</p>
<p>It’s a skill that I think would be wise to develop at this time, at any rate. When I think about it, I’m sure this has in some way influenced things in the present. I’m just so used to hearing “no” from my family, so perhaps I just learned that it was useless to ask for help – I don’t know. Either way, I need to really think this through before I make another random decision like I did in choosing to come to Austin in the first place.</p>
<p>A person recently posted on another grad student forum regarding:
smarthinking dot com
an online tutoring situation
The person who pasted said they were doing it, a degree in the needed fields and a computer are apparently the requirements. I think it is $11/hour and could be a way to earn some money from Austin. I don’t have a clue how long it takes to get set up, but check it out.</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestion! The site though seems to be broken at the moment on the individual subjects for tutor openings though, lol. I’ll keep checking back.</p>
<p>Also, is it even considered a valid approach to email an alumnus in the area you wish to work and basically ask for advice in finding work/moving to their city? </p>
<p>I’m sorry if these are super, super-basic questions, but this sort of thing is my weak point.</p>
<p>I have students email me often. I make a point of meeting with them, and when I could I try to help them get some interviews. I just met a young graduate. He moved to NYC without a job. He is using alumni network to get interviews. He is working with someone who is head of fund raising in the area. Of course, she happens to know all the big donors and is making contacts for him.</p>
<p>Did you do the elevator pitch I recommended early on? You need to know what you can do for a business and get it into a couple of sentences. Have you included the web work you did for your relative? Then you email the alum in the area and let them know you recently re-located to the area, have the following skills and are looking for an opportunity. You ask if you can arrange an informational interview to discuss their company, the current market, anything that will give you a intro. Before you go to the interviews you read up on their company/industry so you can have an intelligent 2-way conversation. You are not asking for a job, you are asking for information and maybe a referral to someone who might have an opening. Afterwords you send a thank you note and your resume. </p>
<p>I did this recently for a friend of my son’s after he contacted me. We talked so I knew what he could do. He then sent his resume to me and I sent it on to some folks I knew who might have openings. It did not get him the job, it got him the interview. He got the job from there. It is most likely not going to be the contact you make that gets you a job, but someone they know. Therefore you need to make as many initial contacts as possible to magnify the effect. </p>
<p>Did you join LinkedIn? It is the purpose of LinkedIn to network for opportunities. Alumni and recruiters on that site expect it.</p>