Keep hearing it's easier to get a job when you already have one. True? What your experience?

My job has gotten completely stale and as we all know the job market STINKS!! Found a couple great openings online but I'm sure there's only a million applicants.

Thanks, just need to vent, but am interested in hearing other peoples' experiences, thoughts, etc.

I would think it's easier.
First, you're in no real hurry and can be more picky.
Second, from a employers perspective someone already working has experience being employed, obviously has skill sets/motivation to stay employed, and references.

__________________
Hold my beer and watch this!

I spent 15 years in personnel and I agree that it is probably easier when you have a job. There is no sense of desperation and that almost always shows in an interview. Also if someone is unemployed, there is a feeling, right or wrong, that it must be their fault or they did something wrong. When employed your networking is easier and you have contact with more people who might want to hire you.

Yes, I have heard it is easier to get hired if you already have a job. Regarding answering job ads, my rule of thumb is one interview for 300 applications and one job offer for three interviews. Your very best way to land a job is to develop a network and to work it. The man who hired me at GE later left the company. I had a feeling he was glad he hired me and I kept in touch when he left the company. Later, when I was laid off at GE, I called him (VP Engineering) and he got me in at Square D. Something like 5% of the jobs are gotten through job ads. Something like 30% are gotten through placement agencies and a lot more are gotten through contacts inside the company. If you sit and answer ads in the newspaper or online ads like Monster.com you will get a good feeling like you are doing something worthwhile, but you won't get very good results. After I was hired at Square D, I was shown a pile of resumes 4-5 inches high for the job I landed. I was told in the end it boiled down to me and one other applicant and he didn't have the recommendation of the VP Engineering.

Regarding employment agencies, if you're over 40-45, I would avoid them. It is illegal for a company to discriminate against older applicants, so they routinely hire agencies to do that for them.
I was recruited at college for my first job.
I got the second through an agency.
I got the third through my contacts.
I got a temp contract through an advertisement.
I got another temp contract through an advertisement. (I was offered a direct job at this firm).
My last contract work was through a recommendation from the one above.

I am 68 now and have close to zero interest in a direct job. I am still listed on Linkedin. I occasionally get calls from recruiters.

__________________
Luke 22:36

Well, it's nice to have an income while you're looking for a new job!

I would tell you to keep your job until you are able to find another. Why introduce that question if you don't need to? Remember, if you apply someplace, the new employer is much less able to talk to your current employer than if you no longer work there. Even if you leave under good terms recent employers might be more apt to give you a bad reference "just because"!

In reality though, when I talk to someone about a job who is unemployed the response lately has been that they are a "victim of the economy". I don't put that much emphasis on their current employment situation. Their entire work history and references are much more telling.

Hope that's helpful. Good luck!

__________________
paws for friendship

I took a careers course in college and the prof said there was research that showed it was easier to get a new job if you already had one. It's been a long time but if I remember correctly what a researcher had done was send out two fictional resumes that were identical except one said the applicant was employed and one said the person was unemployed. The employed applicant got many more responses from potential employers than the unemployed person. I always thought if I lost my job I would take anything that came along no matter how low paid to show I was a going concern.

BTW, I have an older brother who told people he went to college so he could be out of a better job. He wasn't kidding.

__________________
I like Ike.

Yea but the down side to that is you have to practice law

__________________
Forum consigliere

I was out of work for a while and just landed a job with a stair company last week. Since then almost everyone I've ever sent my resume to has called me so I think the "When it rains it pours" syndrome applies here also.

__________________
sticks-n-stones&hollowpoints

Glad I could help, LOL. Glad it's working for you, lots of out of work lawyers from what I hear. I almost got a JD, wasn't for me though.

Let's hope so.

Definitely. There IS a stigma to being unemployed, at least for a white collar/middle management type. There is a whiff of "You must have done something wrong/you weren't good enough" even when you are a victim of a massive layoff/downsizing, a merger or acquisition, a Chapter 11 filing by a corruptly run company, etc.

I lost my job during the first recession back in mid '83. I found a new job in '84 and worked only three months and lost it again. I found another job in '85 and worked 3 months again and lost it. I found another job in'86 and worked for three months and lost it again. I found myself going from sinking ship to sinking ship. Each new job went out of business after I got all there work out the door. My luck was so bad all I had to do was to put an application in then go back and they were out of business. I finally found a great job and the company makes so much money in the field no one is watching the piggy bank. I was the only one earning his keep and saving them more than my salary. Of course after 20 years of working there they let me go and kept the ones who do more talking than work. I was a blue collar worker in a corporate world, I had the same benefits as corporate white collar workers had. I had the last laugh with my 401k. I was happy to get out of there.

Keep the faith and stay looking. I say interview them the sametime there interviewing you to see if you want to work there. Choose your jobs wisely. Go for the highest paying jobs too. If I'm going to work 24/7 I might as well make the most money I can too.

I'm finally retired and love it. Bb

Btw, I also changed jobs when I had a job too just because a better came along. Go for the big $$$$

Same thing happened to me. I started looking for work all the way back at the end of November/beginning of December. I didn't find anything until February and I applied at a lot of places. When I did finally hear back for an interview I landed the job, then another interview that paid better I landed, then there was another call, and another, and another. I couldn't believe it. I said the same thing to myself, "when it rains, it pours".

Short easy answer. Always.

Would those be "up" stairs or the more popular "down" stairs. Inquiring minds want to know!

Good on ya for success!!!

They go up and down

__________________
sticks-n-stones&hollowpoints

The term "Practice Law" gave rise to a question in the inquisitive side of my brain.

Why do most of us go to work, work our business or use terms such as gainful employment while Attorneys or Physicians go to their practice?

I'll ask my brother in law. On his best days he is an attorney, other days he is referred to as that lawyer. Does he need more practice?

"The good news is I just picked up a big new client. The bad news is I just picked up a big new client."

I called my solo practice "30 years of gainful unemployment".

I was a welder/pipefitter for most of my working life and I found the large majority of my jobs from personal contacts. All you really need in my line of work is a good work record and of course knowledge or your craft. If you have this along with good work ethics news travels fast about you and it is pretty easy to get hired. Of course you have to be willing to relocate a lot but that's the nature of the beast.

To the OP

I completely understand your situation. Here is the way I see it and some of my experience.

Don't let ANYONE you work with know you are looking for a change. Keep your options open. All the jobs that you apply to and the one you really wanted won't call you until you have a new job that wasn't your first choice.

Stay away from the Temp Agency. Employers will tell you it's temp to perm they just have to try you out for a couple months. The truth is they are just surfing the temp agency and keeping people on for a couple months. Some employers do this so they don't have to pay insurance and benefits on you.

I quit a perfectly good job once to one of these temp agency surfer. Guess I was chasing the bluer sky and greener pasture.


Best of luck to you.

Last three interviews I got were a result of applying for jobs through indeed.com. Two of them resulted in offers. Waiting on the third. But, yes, it's very important to have a network. I recently applied for a state job and got an interview based only on a chance meeting at an American Legion fish fry with a guy whose email I kept and who was nice enough to hand deliver my resume. That got me one of 20 interview spots out of a pool of over 600 applicants. It pays to be nice to people and buy a beer every now and then.

Started working in the 60's for shipyard worked there for about 10 years got laid off collected unemployment until it ran out, working under the table, got another job working for the railroad a week later. Worked for them for about 5 years and got laid off again, collected unemployment until it ran out again, got another job working for the subway system in Md just before benefits ran out. Worked there while I tried to get hired to work for the government for 4 years, then got the government job and quit the subway. Worked for the government research lab for about 25 years until I had to retire with disability a few years ago. I guess I was fortunate that I had a education and good training and skills, or was just lucky. At those tomes you didn’t need high school to get a good job but times have changed. Now they would prefer you have a college degree to work at Mc Donald's. I am also a jinx everyplace I’ve worked at has closed for good. First job grocery store closed about 1969, second shipyard closed about 1980, third WMRR closed about 1976 at Port Covinting Md, Baltimore subway still open but should be closed as it can’t pay it’s own operating expenses at least when I worked there. DTNSRDC in Annapolis Md, closed about 1996, then NSWC in Bethesda Md still holding on. It is always better to look for a job before you need to and the suggestion about not telling anyone you are looking is sound advice until they call for references. You never know who your friends are when you look for another job.
This is based on me at a eailer time in history your results may vary.

I started a new short term (6-8 weeks) contract a couple weeks ago. Got two calls from recruiters today, one for a permanent position.

I think it's definitely easier to get one when you're already employed. If you're unemployed, you open yourself up to the question of why you're unemployed, and unfortunately assumptions will be made.

I've found that when I was job hunting, it was much easier for me to get calls for interviews while I had a job. I didn't get as many calls when I wasn't working.

I always found it was eaiser to get a new girl friend while you had one too.

Ive never understood references... when do you stop using a person as a reference? Do you call and ask them EVERY time you submit your resume somewhere? And what if you dont have any other than people you have worked for?

Im 23 and the only "real" job I have had is the hell hole I work in now that I have been in for the last 3 years.

Lmao women come crawling out of the wood work when you have another one on your arm or waiting at home.

For references right now, I'd use my current supervisor or another supervisor at another location within my company. I've worked there for about 3 years now, but I'm not looking. If I was looking, though, I'd use those people.

I personally wouldn't use a reference from four years ago who I don't have much contact with.

There is some truth to this, although in my case it has not made a lot of difference. My first employer NEVER gave references, only confirming the dates they employed you. My next employer had worked within the same employer so that was easy.

Now that job has gone away the folk that wish to employ me now are being frustrated by a government "job's-worth" who will not accept the proof of previous employment that already exists in the US. He/she wants it out of the UK for some reason. As a result I've seen a lot of soccer, Olympics, tennis and Star Trek reruns over the last few months.

as a carpenter i have had good success with the "walk on" approach, find someone in charge and sell your skills. my reputation is pretty solid in the kamloops area ,so if i can make myself available at the right time, i will often land the job.
trouble is i have grown to hate what im best at, which is layout carpenter/foreman for commercial/residential concrete and framing.
im not really kidding when i say i think i have developed PTSD from the long hours and stressful enviroment . some mornings i was nearly in tears at the thought of "entering the breech" again.
i was in charge of idiots and knownothings usually friends or relatives of the employer. always given unrealistic deadlines ,which i almost always met. which just encouraged tighter deadlines...i told my employer of 12+ years that it was taking a toll on me,that i was planning to land a govt job to save my sanity. he said he understood and fired me shortly thereafter thinking that my apprentice could take the helm in my place...he couldnt hack it.
that ex-employer has tried to rehire me several times to no avail, he has had to strap his belt back on and do the job himself.
i just do renovations now, with a good friend and shooting buddy. i dont make the same dough as i used to ,but now if schedule permits we will take a range day or family day or soon a boating day .
most of our work is by referal, and we have several long term clients that keep having us back.
im still after that govt job though, third year in a row that i wasnt even granted an interview, always next year i guess .
short answer is networking i guess, people will often go with the name they know over the one they dont. probably why i havent heard from the municipality .

__________________
the rules? there are no rules

I never wrote a resume. I wouldnt know how. I just always knocked on doors and walked in. I guess it was a different day and age. I would be in deep trouble nowdays if I had to get a job. Years ago I had a job as a foreman treating old utility poles for groundline decay. The job was usualy a month or three at locations all over the states. I was expected to arrive at a location, hire a crew of two to four guys and be on the job the next morning! Not once did I ever hire someone out of a employment office. On top of that, the guys were paid minimum wages for a hard dirty job of digging. I never had a problem putting a crew together. My usual method I most used was to go to a filling station, talk to the owner, tell him I would be buying my gas there etc if he would give me a small space to have my supplys delivered to. I would start out by asking him if he knew anyone that wanted a hard, dirty job that didnt pay much for a month or two. They always had a son, nephew or someone they knew that needed work. Once I would get that young man he almost always had a couple buddys that also needed a job. I did that job for about 3 1/2 years and probley hired a 100 guys or so in that time. I NEVER had a problem putting a crew together.

every once in a while i run across a guy who was crazy enough to do that job for a season, pretty rare to find someone who made a "career" of that thankless job for 3+ years -WE are in a"special" club you and i BC Hydro test&treat program 89-92 i quit that job to go shingling ...thats how bad it was haha

__________________
the rules? there are no rules

Wow! It sure was a rough one wasnt it! Osmose wood preserving co. out of buffalo N.Y. 1962 to december 1964. What it did for me was make me not afraid of any other job for a few years, but then I got soft!

yep, worst job i ever had but funny how i have so many good stories from it.
saw a lot of the province .met a lot of people .learned how to handle a shovel ,which is good i guess
went through a lot of helpers for sure...used em for backfill and kept going

__________________
the rules? there are no rules

I have always heard it is true and especially with long term unemployed. The comment I saw used in a couple of articles was "if nobody else wants this person then why would I?". That was especially true if the person had not worked for a year or more.

Same thing goes for getting a girlfriend.

as a freelance renovator, if a perspective client asks me if im busy i always say "YES-but i can probably fit you in somewhere". image is important, you dont want to come off like they are your only client. even if they are.

__________________
the rules? there are no rules

Kamloops67, you been there! Did your outfit use "osmoplastic"? I enjoyed the traveling, meeting all types etc. The work sucked, but my company pretty much left me alone to my own methods on handeling the guys etc, just wanted the production. A thousand storys and memories. Most my counterparts were charactors. About the time I met a girl the company would ship me off. If nothing else that job would make or break you quick.
I remember getting $2.30 a hour plus a bonus for the poles that would vary depending on the "norm". The more poles I treated the more I got for each pole. Thats how the company would try to get you to push your crew.
I traveled some. They would give me $6.00s a day for travel pay. That was suppose to pay my motel and eats while driveing across country to my next contract! The result was I would sleep on the truck seat, and I am huge. There was no retirement, 401K, medical or vacations. I met a guy from my old outfit working in the field here about 5 months ago. I didnt ask him about his pay. Sometimes I have missed "the life" but I sure havent missed the job!

Already got that covered by being married to a gorgeous woman.