Employment

So, I've been looking for a job since last June; I've been unemployed since September.

In December I got a part-time job at Circuit City stocking shelves (a lovely 8 hours a week). I figured it could help pay the bills, but that doesn't work when they decide to cut back hours after 3 weeks and I'm stuck in limbo being employed, but not working. I haven't been there in over a month.

But yesterday my outlook cleared up as I accepted a job as a Program Analyst! I start on Monday with my first job that actually pays a salary instead of hourly and has amazing benefits. So screw you Circuit City; I'll be taking your discount and running.

Oh, and a big F-you to Unicru as well for making it impossible for someone with 2 years experience selling computers to find a job selling computers or anything for that matter in retail. All because I couldn't pass your ridiculous personality test. Meanwhile, I go into Best Buy and the employees think a PCI firewire card is an iPod (true story)!

[/vent]

Congrats dude. Surprised that you didn't score big when you were searching around the Triangle Research area(s)...

And good rant. You eased into that one quite nicely.

congratulations!

sounds like you landed well :)

In the end Nicely done. Congrats and good luck with the new job.

Those personality tests are crap. They've probably turned away alot of good candidates because of them. As you say, Fk 'em!

I'm stuck in unemployment myself. It's boring as hell but I'm being picky about where I work because I don't want to go somewhere where it's crap just for the sake of working. Good luck in the new job!

Congrats man, and all this time you could have gotten me a discount on my TV? Are you working downtown?

Thanks everyone.

CI: the discounts suck at the store, the only good ones are behind the scenes directly through the manufacturers, but only available to employees through long verification processes.

congrats yasu.

I'm in the same boat you were in. However it's only been a week since i've been laid off. Man this sucks. My freelance is getting me through, but damn is it boring not interacting with humans on a regular basis.

It's an odd feeling being laid off. It's like i'm on never ending guilty vacation.

That's the perfect description. I felt as though it would be wrong for me to go out and do something I enjoy.

damn lefty what happened? My lay off (oh hell I got fired) has been nothing but a blessing.

Right on Yasu, time to start making connections and take advantage of your position to step up. And seriously, when you're making games, hit me up if you ever need fresh ideas or 3d production help. :)

the company who i was working for (only 4 months) was in HUGE financial difficulties due to many many factors, so they cut 10-15% of the company, which included my department. I really liked working there. And it was just getting to the point where i was really understanding the industry.

I feel bad for my boss though. She was on maternity leave and got a call at home saying she no longer had a job. :yikes:

Thank god they paid me a lot of money so i was able to save up over the short period of time i was there, and i don't have kids so my expenses are very small.

This is the first time i've gone through a layoff, and man does it suck. Unfortunately, like many of us here, marketing/design/web departments are all the first to go when the finances get tough. I have a feeling i'm going to have to get used to this.

I've never been part of a cutback. Most any business in vegas that caters to gaming/nightlife tends to do well. But because of that, you can end up with a complete amateur d*ck-head who thinks he's channeling the brat pack as your boss.

Congrats on the new job!

Things must have changed. I didn't have to do any tests to get the numerous computer sales jobs I had in college. In fact, if I remember correctly, I pretty much stumbled in at the finale of a good binge and somehow left with a job! ;)

what's a personality test and what do you need to do to not pass it?

Unicru is a company that creates a test for prospective employees to take for the bigger retail stores (Best Buy, Circuit City, Home Depot, Target, WalMart, ... They all have some kind of test).

So if you want to work there, you sit at a computer and fill out all the forms. Work history, education and so on. Then you get a personality test. Here's some of Best Buy's (all answers are multiple choice, strongly disagree, disagree, agree, strongly agree)

Quote:

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You'd rather not compete very much
Other people's feelings are their own business
Most people are easy to get along with
Realistically, some of your projects will never be finished
You are well aware of your inner feelings
When someone criticizes you, you criticize back
You feel bad for a long time after you've made a mistake
You often feel nervous about something
You've had some disappointments that you'll never get over
You hate to give up if you can't solve a hard problem
You think a lot about the worries and stresses you have
You have to give up on some things that you start
You don't care if you offend people
You keep your promises, no matter what
You often tell other people what to do
You don't act polite when you don't want to
You feel tense when someone watches you work
You get mad when the courts let criminals go free

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Mind you, there are nearly 100 questions total. The results are analyzed by Unicru and rated Red, Yellow or Green based on some unknown verification process. If your are considered Red or Yellow, the store never even sees that you applied for the job; even though you are under the impression that all applications are at least looked at by a human at some point.

So no matter your experience and technical aptitude, unless you find the right combination of agrees and disagrees, you won't be hearing from the company. You also receive zero feedback if you failed. You have to call the company and ask a manager to check if the application went through.

And here's what I found out about the verification process. You are graded on how fast you fill out the survey; slow means you score poorly. Also, you have to put strongly agree / strongly disagree to every question or you fail outright. You cannot merely agree or disagree, if you do the question is ignored.

On the plus side, you can take it as many times as you want until you find the right combo of answers that gets your application to the hiring people instead of just being thrown away by the computer the second you push submit.

The people who can do all that are the ones who are employed at these stores. No wonder they seem like they shouldn't work there.

well, all these chains are huge, so I do understand the need for a standardized tests like this and following actions (or lack of them), but on the other hand - this is ridiculous. it's almost like they don't care if you're human or not. yet again, it seems that in US being empathetic is considered a weakness (culturally), so their "I don't care" attitude is only natural. Europe is a lot cozier in this.

So thats why you're getting your new PS3 + Wii!!!

Congrats on the new job!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MechaPiano

yet again, it seems that in US being empathetic is considered a weakness (culturally), so their "I don't care" attitude is only natural. Europe is a lot cozier in this.

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It's true. I don't know about anyone else. But, when I'm hiring someone, the first thing I make sure is that the prospective employee doesn't care about anyone. ;)

im in the process of being cut back. its my own fault... i told em i was leaving, but just kept showing up.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by silverx2

its my own fault... i told em i was leaving, but just kept showing up.

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