Personal Announcement

[Kagemusha]

[Askthepizzaguy]

Gah!

Don't know what else to say.

Yeah, that's pretty much how I feel. Regardless, I'm pushing ahead with as much application spam as I can muster.


______________


What's your advice guys, if I fill out an online application to literally a dozen locations in a company (say, Wendy's restaurants) and it sends an auto-reply to my email instructing me that they're reviewing my application and no further communication is necessary, what should I do?

Should I follow that instruction, or should I follow the advice of basically everyone I've spoken to who says call them anyway, talk to the manager personally, make sure they know I am interested?

I don't want to not follow instructions, but I also want to take every avenue of advancement available to me. Would it hurt my chances of getting hired, or help, if I ignored the instruction, or ignored the advice I've been given about follow-up calls?

[TinCow]

If you weren't aware, all Federal Government jobs are posted online at http://www.usajobs.gov/. They're searchable by geographic area, which is useful. Even if there's nothing currently listed that fits your background/education, it's worth putting on your regular search list because new positions are constantly coming open.

[Andres]

I don't have much experience with applying for a job, since I got hired before I finished my studies and haven't been jobless ever since.

That said, I know for a fact that many employers prefer an old-fashioned letter with curriculum vitae in attachement. Maybe it's a Belgian thing, though, but that's how it is here.

[pevergreen]

Should I follow that instruction, or should I follow the advice of basically everyone I've spoken to who says call them anyway, talk to the manager personally, make sure they know I am interested?

My dad has either been running a small business or been in a high-up position in a company for the last...well, at least 25-30 years. At one point he was running 3 service(gas) stations. With that, comes a lot of hiring.

Call. The number of times he has told me that. You show you are keen. If you've got two nameless pieces of paper in front of you, its a 50/50 chance of who you pick, but if you have one nameless paper and one Pizzaguy, the guy that called up, said he was keen, well, you're going to pay attention to that one.

[Diamondeye]

I don't have much experience with applying for a job, since I got hired before I finished my studies and haven't been jobless ever since.

That said, I know for a fact that many employers prefer an old-fashioned letter with curriculum vitae in attachement. Maybe it's a Belgian thing, though, but that's how it is here.

My dad has either been running a small business or been in a high-up position in a company for the last...well, at least 25-30 years. At one point he was running 3 service(gas) stations. With that, comes a lot of hiring.

Call. The number of times he has told me that. You show you are keen. If you've got two nameless pieces of paper in front of you, its a 50/50 chance of who you pick, but if you have one nameless paper and one Pizzaguy, the guy that called up, said he was keen, well, you're going to pay attention to that one.

I agree with this. Showing your face really, really helps.

[ELITEofWARMANGINGERYBREADMEN88]

If you weren't aware, all Federal Government jobs are posted online at http://www.usajobs.gov/. They're searchable by geographic area, which is useful. Even if there's nothing currently listed that fits your background/education, it's worth putting on your regular search list because new positions are constantly coming open.

But to get a Fed. job you kinda have to know someone to pull strings.

[TinCow]

But to get a Fed. job you kinda have to know someone to pull strings.

Uh, no.

[Double A]

Warman, you're confusing "Federal jobs" with "career congressman."

[Crazed Rabbit]

Definitely call, even if the auto-reply says not to. The people who hire view it as a positive attribute.

And good luck man.

CR

[PershsNhpios]

I have only paid attention to things here just today after quite some time, and I was intending to investigate what games are upcoming and if it may be a good time to return for a session or two.
I saw this thread and thought perhaps I had been hanging around a forum too long to have seen the very initial rise of ATPG's prominence in games here and his resignation.

Well now, when I scrolled down the list and saw that my name was even extant in his memory I immediately lost all doubt about his statement that he remembered all with whom he had played. That is remarkable.

But more so it is highly and rarely genuine, especially in any corner of the internet, to find someone who is so good-natured to all, for I certainly have not deserved it here! Indeed, anonymity is wont to make an individual considerably weaker in virtue and more courageous in vice, but I find myself wondering instead if ATPG is as hearty and true in his physical reality as he is manifest here - for if he is - where has he found time to himself with all the support and friends he must have outside this medium?

I admit, I have little respect for the internet, and I am prone to mocking those who take solace and social refuge in it, but this is not something to be found in ATPG, he appears to me to be one who remains honest and fair even in an environment designed to make devils of less disciplined fellows.

Everything you have done here on the fora ATPG amounts to an exemplary display of better humanity, you have my respect and gratitude, and I am certain that you will find a just reward for your merits.

Yes and good luck too..

Glenn.

[pevergreen]

Hard to forget you Glenn.



Glenn!

[Askthepizzaguy]

Interview, tomorrow, 2:30 PM at Pizza Hut of all places. (Pizza, you've saved my life again!)

You send off 100 applications and one actually bites. Or should I say cheesy bites? Now I have to figure out where in the heck this one is, because I filled out applications for places I am dead sure I can't even reach.

Okay it is 10 mins away, good. And, I haven't canceled my car insurance just yet, so I should be okay.

I know you wish me luck, so you don't have to say it again. Hopefully I get the job this time. I should, I left Pizza Hut with 2 weeks notice voluntarily so I could start college and I have experience doing everything in the store. If I don't get the job this time I will be convinced there is a God and he's angry with me for saying he's not real.

I'd better get the job this time, dang it!


Also, Glenn, of course I remember you, and you were in more games of mine than just the Treehouse one. I remember everyone, including some of those people that only played a few times, or dropped before finishing, like Flax's friend jillyfae, and Scienter, and even Veronica "Trouble" from the Capo game. I still miss my Quintus.JC and wish he'd come back. And Elite Ferret!

I don't know why, because I usually have such a terrible memory. I guess I've had too much fun to let any of it go.

But that was a very touching post, Glenn. Nobody expects you to be a saint, occasional bad behavior doesn't mean you're a bad person, it just means you have weaknesses just like the rest of us. My weakness is, as Cartman would put it, "Your family's poor, Pizza! Your family's poor! Pizza! You need to put your cardboard box up for a second mortgage!" and sometimes having a bit of a loud mouth which I need to stick my foot in sometimes.

Made my day feel a little better.

[Double A]

Interview, tomorrow, 2:30 PM at Pizza Hut of all places. (Pizza, you've saved my life again!)

You send off 100 applications and one actually bites. Or should I say cheesy bites? Now I have to figure out where in the heck this one is, because I filled out applications for places I am dead sure I can't even reach.

Okay it is 10 mins away, good. And, I haven't canceled my car insurance just yet, so I should be okay.

I know you wish me luck, so you don't have to say it again. Hopefully I get the job this time. I should, I left Pizza Hut with 2 weeks notice voluntarily so I could start college and I have experience doing everything in the store. If I don't get the job this time I will be convinced there is a God and he's angry with me for saying he's not real.

I'd better get the job, dang it!

What? Of course GH is real...

(This is great, good luck Pizzaguy!)

[classical_hero]

Interview, tomorrow, 2:30 PM at Pizza Hut of all places. (Pizza, you've saved my life again!)

You send off 100 applications and one actually bites. Or should I say cheesy bites? Now I have to figure out where in the heck this one is, because I filled out applications for places I am dead sure I can't even reach.

Okay it is 10 mins away, good. And, I haven't canceled my car insurance just yet, so I should be okay.

I know you wish me luck, so you don't have to say it again. Hopefully I get the job this time. I should, I left Pizza Hut with 2 weeks notice voluntarily so I could start college and I have experience doing everything in the store. If I don't get the job this time I will be convinced there is a God and he's angry with me for saying he's not real.

I'd better get the job this time, dang it!

I'm sorry to say this, but it now looks like you won't get that job. Repent of your ways now before it is too late.

[Double A]

I'm sorry to say this, but it now looks like you won't get that job. Repent of your ways now before it is too late.

So they wouldn't want to hire a person who was proven to be a good worker, and at (probably) reduced pay?

[Seon]

Now the pizzaguy will actually be a pizzaguy :p

I will be sure to order some pizza from PizzaHut if you get the job, ATPG :p

[Wishazu]

Good luck with the pizza hut job mate, they rejected me twice, the bastards!

[ULC]

If you get the job at Pizza Hut ATPG, do you get an employee's discount? Pizza every Friday sounds delicious.

[Askthepizzaguy]

It depends on the store. One store I worked at said you could have a personal pan pizza for free.

Those things didn't keep me full when I was a child, and I'm allegedly a full grown man now. I make large pizzas disappear in a single sitting.

But it's better than the zero I'm getting now.

[Double A]

It depends on the store. One store I worked at said you could have a personal pan pizza for free.

Those things didn't keep me full when I was a child, and I'm allegedly a full grown man now. I make large pizzas disappear in a single sitting.

But it's better than the zero I'm getting now.

It's a good thing you don't work at Little Ceasers, then. You'd need like three pizzas a meal.

[Nightbringer]

Hey, I hope you get it ATPizzaG!

As to the pizza's, if you get one free pizza, how many toppings can you put on it? Because if you loaded enough toppings on there you could make quite a meal out of it.
Of course, the management might not be so happy about that...

[pevergreen]

Gentlemen, we'll discuss how he can steal from work once he gets the job.

[Askthepizzaguy]

Oh that's easy. You know all the cheese, toppings, and wastewater that goes into the sink at the restaurant every night? Well, there's a cover over the drain that catches most of the solid waste. No one seems to care when I take that home and after washing it down with some of my own dishwater, mmmmm..... botulism.

[classical_hero]

So they wouldn't want to hire a person who was proven to be a good worker, and at (probably) reduced pay?

Well it was a bit of a tongue in cheek comment.

Also severely reduced pay for all.

[Double A]

Well it was a bit of a tongue in cheek comment.

Also severely reduced pay for all.

It's that time of year, I guess..

[Link]

I hope you get the job, man.

[landlubber]

Yes, good luck. :)

[johnhughthom]

Any news yet, Askthehopefullysoontoberealpizzaguy?

[Askthepizzaguy]

I don't know yet. I should know within a few days.

I know I nailed that second interview. There was someone else being interviewed, though, as is always the case. I think they were being interviewed for answering phones, because they didn't show up in a car and that's all they talked about was phones. Still, I don't know if there have been other interviews. I do know that both the manager and the assistant manager who interviewed me seemed more than moderately impressed by what I came to the table with, but they could have other candidates.... you never know.

They told me they were going to run my motor vehicle history report. I haven't had an accident in 3 years, and because I was only driving when I was going out job hunting, I managed to avoid tickets. The only thing on there should be that I let my registration expire, which I paid for and paid the ticket for, and the only reason I let it expire was because I'm a poor person.

I think there may be one additional ticket for letting my tag expire last year too. I am so glad I was insured both times. I had to let my insurance expire several times as well, but I reinstated it whenever there was a chance to get another driving job. I don't recommend it because if something bad happens that's the end of your happiness for a good long time, but you know, if you're out of money, you're out of money. And it's so easy to get penalized and you have to pay to get your license back after the state takes it away from you for not having mandatory insurance.

I should have no points on my license and no accidents in the past 3 years, so.... I mean.... seriously, if I don't get this job, there will be much weeping and gnashing of teeth and tearing out of hair from my head. Would be a nice Christmas present to get it.

And now some words of wisdom from the bottom of the food chain, to whomever might need such advice:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

If you're ever not happy with your job, just remember.... it can be much, much worse. Much worse. Make dead certain you line up another job before you leave your current one, and give them two weeks notice minimum. It's hard enough to get a job with an impeccable record, but gaps in work history and being let go involuntarily will put you in the poor house so fast it will make your head spin.

Be sure to squirrel away some money for a rainy day, too. I don't know what I would have done without my college savings getting me through a year and a half of this mess. A rainy day can turn into a rainy couple of years in this economy. My advice if you ever get into this situation: Peanut butter and jelly, oatmeal, hot dogs, 69 cent soda if you feel like splurging. Throw in some canned veggies/fruits and you're golden. Cut the budget by 2/3rds this way. Keep bread in the refrigerator so it will last longer. There's also soup. Broth, noodles, and some canned veggies and meats, heat that up, and it doesn't feel like a bad meal, even though it is made out of the cheapest stuff you can eat. If you aren't working, you really only need to eat 1 meal, you can stretch it out with some veggies here and there. If you're used to having an abundance of food, pacing yourself can be hard. Some days you want to have 3-4 sandwiches, but if you run out, that won't do you any good. When you're hungry you tend to eat faster, and the chemical that tells your brain that you're hungry doesn't go away even when you are full, not for a little while. It needs time to get out of your system. Put 1 sandwich on your plate at a time, and add a side, and eat the side halfway through the sandwich. Try to do something while you're eating, so that you can't just gulp it all down. Don't go for another sandwich for a little bit, let it sit in your stomach for a while. You can really cut down on the food budget that way. I think lots of people around the world have had it harder than that for most of their lives, so while it is a pain to get used to, it is not the end of the world. If you only use gas to go to the bank, hit places for applications, and grab groceries on the way back, you can save yourself hundreds of dollars over a few months' time. You don't need to have a cell and a home phone. I prefer a cell so I can be called even when I am out; cutting the phone line is an option.

Watch every dollar; text messages, music downloads, movie rentals, restaurant food, will nickel and dime and dollar your way through your budget faster than your food will sometimes. There's really no need to have any of those things. If you have net access, you have access to social forums, news websites, encyclopedias, humorous websites, lots of stuff to keep your brain active and eat up some time. I find it cheaper per minute than all other forms of entertainment, and keeping your morale up and staving off depression is important. In a tight pinch, it can be cut as well.

I would go into the various ways to find a job, but most people should be aware of them and I can't say my track record has been too good on that, so I'll defer to the experts in that area.