For those in the know, you know that I have been out of work since April when my department closed down. I have been twice unlucky in having to move three times in six months. The wife and I are living with my parents to conserve money, but we (and they) don’t like the situation.
I need help finding work in the Orlando area in the banking/lending industry. (I am also willing to apply outside the box – and I do mean WAY OUT.)
What job searching I have done has produced little results and is too impersonal. (I even got rejected two hours after a submission – has to be the quickest turnaround in history!)
Can YOU help me?
Even if all you do is give me pointers on my resume (DOWNLOAD HERE) or look at my LinkedIn profile and make recommendations on my skills that would be of tremendous help. I’m even willing to pay a small bit for those willing to work with me to get my resume in tiptop shape.
The best of you would be able to put me in contact with people who might be interested in my resume and job skills.
Please do email me with any questions about me or my resume.
I apologize for taking up your time with this self-serving blog post. It has always been my desire to keep business and pleasure separate on the podium of GFTW, but the truth is that I am getting a bit unsettled and fearful since I cannot even get any interviews at companies. Please help me if you can, in any way you can, even with just a word of encouragement. Three months without work is not a good situation.
Now back to GFTW’s regularly scheduled programming.
Sincerely,
John Ottinger III
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I’m so sorry that you’re in this position – there isn’t anything I can do to help but wish you much luck. It was a great idea to look for help this way – I hope you find something quickly.
I am new to Florida, so as far as knowing where the jobs are and what not, I can only be of so much help. I just moved to Gainesville, but the University of Florida has some jobs listed in finance-related positions (full time). That’s way out of your way, though, so completely useless.
Have you considered tutoring for extra money? You know MLA and APA, and, to be honest, students need to know how the heck to use that stuff. I don’t know if there are opportunities to tutor professionally there, but that might be something to at least do for the time being.
Other than that, I can’t see anything that would be a problem for me, personally. I’m more familiar with CV-style resumes, as I’m in the academic field, but I’ve seen a fair amount of resumes in my day and yours looks okay, but for a few things.
I hope that helps! And I really hope you find a good job. Times are rougher than hell right now.
As for your resume, here are some of my thoughts:
The first sentence (for Objective) seems somewhat like a run-on to me, and might do with either some splitting or reworking. The information is clear, but it reads clunky to me.
Education section is good, though if you have any certificates or educational successes of some sort (degree, whatever), you might want to mention it. Your experience seems to speak for itself, though, or should.
For experience:
On your Lothlorian group item you need to rework that first sentence so it doesn’t read like a fragment. Starting with “provide” leaves it incomplete, particularly since the sentence after is past tense. Might just be a typo.
I would also avoid using numbers except in regards to money. There’s a point where you mention the number of housing units you worked on towards the end of the employment part, and you should really use “nine” instead of “9.” It’s a stylistic choice, but leaving it the other way would alert me to believe you might resort to chatspeak on me.
This may just be me, but I am not so sure about listing all your employment items there. It might seem overwhelming, particularly to a potential employer who may worry that you’ll leave them after a year or two. My personal experience with employers is that they tend to avoid people who seem to move from job to job, especially if the job isn’t something like fast food. They want someone that seems ready to stick it through, especially now (my mother is having problems with this, unfortunately).
Hey John, I’ve only now read the post, so I’m hoping your situation has improved, and even if it hasn’t, hang in there. I was in a similar situation some months back – the bookstore I was working for as a deputy manager (the entire company, in fact) was liquidated, so we weren’t even retrenched; I couldn’t claim unemployment, we all lost whatever paid leave we’d accrued, and basically were left completely in the lurch. Two months later, I started work as a casual bookseller with a nearby branch of SA’s biggest book retailer, and after 4 months, I now have a permanent position with benefits. Just hang in there – I’m pretty damn sure you’re pretty damn good at what you do, so don’t give up. We may not be rubber balls, but we humans have an incredible ability to bounce back!