Common questions about the wam and getting a job part!

I have received a ton of msgs about having low wam and getting a job.

Lets get it done once and for all.

1) I recommend anyone who have a bachelors but no job to go to do IT support.

2) 2 unpaid internships max, then graduate job (not graduate program)

3) Societies really do count (source: me, cofounded 3 societies)

4) employers love humour (one said but you have to have good eye sight, looked to the right and found that my societies activity was the fun they were looking for)

5) some companies do psychometrics, don't discount them, Ipsos gave me the selective school exam style questions, Nielsen gave me a 3 hours stats test),

6) I have heard of people applying for high paid jobs and / or complaining they have applied for 100 or more and still no reply. First reduce your pay expectations. Second, apply for more jobs 100 is nothing, centrelink will probably grill you for that effort. Also you should not have any limiting factors in the seek searches, In SQL there is a thing call: Select * from Table, the * will return all the results, there you are, you are meant to apply for all the jobs available not just 100. I setup a jobs reminder for 9am every day so I get about 10 recent jobs in IT everyday, takes about 5mins to complete and that's good for centrelink as well.

7) Seek has a new purple feature that tells you if you are a highly likely candidate.

8) *Personally I like to deliver the company a portfolio, like in design. So I would spend 5 dollars on colour paper per job interview, to show what I can do, where I fit in, and common ground and other stuff interesting. My interviews usually last at least 15mins, with the longest at Nielsen - 3 hour test. The portfolio allows you to remember how much you know the company and gives me time to extend those lame 5 min interviews.

9) Don't be afraid of the market, it is ok to switch jobs or cancel interviews or quit, I made the mistake of accepting the first offer twice, even with 2 other offers, in the same week. It is annoying but its over. I have cancelled interviews before please be careful not to stretch your limits. Work is a marathon and your career will last decades, take it easy.

10) Start low, A lot of banks have a customer service department or call centres after 2 years you can request for other departments, I have two friends who started in customer service now one is an analyst the other HR

n) I will add more later