<p>Morrismom, my son is also in Boston. He spent months during an internship doing a creative on-line resume that got picked up by a on-line industry feed which got him some contacts. Was at the right place at the right time by sheer luck, and did a 2-3 week on the job “trial/interview” as an independent contractor. </p>
<p>Most offices of my company have a pretty laid back interview process by the sounds of it, but I work at HQ so it is much more complicated. Phone interview plus 5 more interviews, with about 3-5 individual interviews at each of the 5. All departments sign off, not just the one you will work with-- I interviewed with CFO, CIO, VPs, everybody. Final interview with CEO and I had to write an essay for him afterward to get final seal of approval. This was for a receptionist position, but they eventually moved me to a different entry-level position before they hired me. All told it took about four months to get hired. I had it easy. Current new hires have to come to an “assessment” where they are put into a group and required to give a presentation. I find this a little strange because those skills are not required to do the job, but you must pass to move on to interviews. Nobody asked for test scores, or particularly cared about my GPA. The CEO did tell me the only reason I was there was because I went to Umich-- “you know that, right?.” This is for what I would consider close to bare bones salary for someone with my education even just starting out (especially for industry which usually pays more), technically 40 hours but you’ll be shunned if you don’t put in at least 60. With my student loans, I could not afford to be self-supporting until just recently, about three years into the job-- and with the hours couldn’t get a second job, so it could have been difficult. </p>
<p>I will say my salary increased by almost 30% in those three years so that is incredible. I don’t think that’s typical, but I’ve done really well and been rewarded. We have pretty high turnover so the people that demonstrate an ability to stick it out are valued.</p>
<p>S3 graduated from college this past June. He had worked some excellent substantive internships during college, and he was offered a job doing exactly what he wanted to do for after graduation…except that two weeks before graduation the offer was rescinded because the organization was going through a massive reorganization and had instituted a hiring freeze. HIs manager felt terrible, and the organization created a part time position for him, guaranteeing him about $20/hr for 20-30 hours/week; another previous internship asked him to work for them part time on a flexible basis for about the same pay. He wanted to stay in DC after graduation so he took the positions and was determined to make them work; he also renewed his soccer ref’s license to create another source of income.</p>
<p>A few weeks later, he was contacted by a tech start-up that found him through his LinkedIn profile; they were looking for someone in DC with exactly his experience.</p>
<p>His hiring went crazy fast. After the initial phone contact on a Sunday afternoon (weird, but this is a start up)–which ended up being a 45 minute conversation–they set up a phone interview for later that day, and asked him to shoot them his formal resume, which he did. The phone interview was about an hour; they set up an in-person interview with the DC manager for the next morning. That went very well; he was told that the next step would be a Skype interview with the head honchos in New York, sometime in the next few days. New York called him later that very day; they Skyped, and he felt it went very well. They told him they would make a decision by the end of the week because they had other interviews scheduled.</p>
<p>They didn’t wait that long. Two hours later they called him with the job offer, and asked him to start immediately.</p>
<p>He loves the experience of working for a start up. Every day is something new and different. The company seems to be doing wonderfully; it has received over $12 million in funding, and has expanded into 14 cities. My son has had 3 promotions since August, with increasing responsibilities and getting a wealth of experience. He was permanent employee #14; they now have more than 80 full time employees.</p>
<p>The money is good but not great; but he recently negotiated for a (small) ownership interest. It is enough that he can live independently with roomies in DC and have a life; it looks like he will receive a big bonus this July. Whether he will ever have a chance to spend it is a different issue; his hours and his travel are insane.</p>
<p>Sounds really good boys, with a lot of potential. Also a good plug for LinkedIn!</p>
<p>My first interview at this company was a computer part, . Then an hour of job shadowing, then my interview.</p>
<p>They wound up turning me down for the job but suggested that I’d be better suited for a different position. I then interviewed a week later for the other job and woundoup getting it.</p>
<p>Salary was not that great though livable but the benefits were unheard of and they offered a lot of growth potential. </p>
<p>I’ve been there about nine years and have doubled the salary. </p>
<p>S#1 sat around and played video games after college graduation. Then one day, a total stranger called and offered him a job he’d never applied for, and never trained for, and gave him two hours to decide if he wanted the job–which involved moving 3.5 thousand miles away and started in one week. Since he didn’t have anything better to do, S took the job.
True story.
(I admit S’s “job getting strategy” probably wouldn’t work for everyone.
He got the job through connections with a former classmate and excellent references of a very particular kind. This is a low paying job, which includes insurance and housing/transportation that is somewhat “subsidized” through his employer. Almost 4 years later, S still has the same job, which he loves.)</p>
<p>I graduate in May with a M.S. in Student Affairs & Higher Education. There are twelve of us in my cohort. We’re all planning to work on college campuses in some capacity. Our search process includes looking at hundreds of listings on various web sites (some are job listing sites, some are through various conferences our field holds every year, etc.) A lot of ours is mutual match, especially at conference–if a school likes you, they can request to interview with you–same if you like a particular position. </p>
<p>First round is usually over the phone (unless you’re at a conference.) Second round via Skype or some other similar technology. Then, if they like you, you do a THIRD interview where you actually go to an on-campus interview to meet with students, administrators, sometimes give a presentation. Sometimes the school will pay to fly you out if it’s a wealthy school. Sometimes you pay up front and if you meet certain criteria (ie they make you an offer and you accept or they decide they don’t like you) they reimburse you, and some expect you to pay your own way.</p>
<p>If you do well in the on-campus interview, they MIGHT offer you a job.</p>
<p>Yes, I’m having regular mental breakdowns about this whole process. I’ve had one second-round interview so far and should be hearing about some on-campus offers over the next week or two. This while working on a group budgeting project, our capstone project (which we do in lieu of a thesis), and working basically full time as graduate assistants (to keep the debt at a manageable level.)</p>
<p>“Go to grad school,” they said. “It’ll be fun,” they said. (Okay, no one said that.)</p>
<p>They offered it to me after the internship. </p>
<p>For my internship, they have everyone take a couple of exams before they come out for an interview, then they fly you out if you do well enough and interview you. That’s about it, pretty simple.</p>
<p>I also earn under 600K, 3 months out of college. </p>
<p>My D. is still in school. I hope that she will have a job in a year. She will have to go thru very complicated process though to get her residency position. I have my doubts also about ability of residents to support themselves financially. We told her that she will need to adjust, cut expenses, there are no choices, she will be very happy to get a position after 8 years of school</p>
<p>My older son had a very easy job search. His summer internship offered him a job for the following year. He’d had plenty of exams, and multiple interviews for the internship as well as having been nominated by someone who worked there who he knew from college. Younger son is still job hunting. He took the State Department exam last fall without studying. Squeaked through the first part, but it meant his total score was too low at the end of the second part of the process. He’s not allowed to try again till next October. I know he’s been sending out resumes and cover letters, but I don’t think he’s had any nibbles.</p>