the Job hunt begins! - and it stinks.....

luvbug00 wrote: well i started the hunting this morning and so far i'm so overwhelmed. since my education is limited but my experience high it's very hard. i mean i've worked as an orthodontic technition but i have no degree to show my knolage of the field and i don't have any childcare degree but i worked for 2 years with infants in a daycare. ( which is now closed and that doesn't help either). and the only thing i have is the stuiped dog walking. arughhhhhh! I'm so confused and not sure if i should even bother apply for thease places.

mummy2girls replied: have you considered home daycare? Maby going back to school? and while in scholl get living expenses to help with the finances?

Calimama replied: I'm sorry hun, job hunting is never fun.

grapfruit replied: Keep trying! Just try to get in and get an interview, and then wow them! If you can get in, you can show them that you ARE the right person, degree or no degree!! Tell them that you are in the works of persuing that degree. That shows that you are willing to work hard and better yourself. I got a job (at like 20) at a place that should of never looked twice at me. But I nailed the interview and finished like 40 min early on their dumb personality test. (total joke, that test).

Point is. Look into an online degree, or a community college close by. Tell your prospective employeers look, I may not HAVE a degree now, BUT I'm willing to go the extra mile. I will be a strong asset to this company! And all that jazz.

luvbug00 replied:

Concidered home daycare, yes, but what is involoved in that? financially and stuff?

I can go back to school online but i need a job until i aquire the dagree.

mummy2girls replied:
well before you start child proof the house. and then get a criminal record check, a child welfare check, first aid training you will need for sure before starting or at least show you are going to be taking the course. I thinks you have 3 months to get it done from the first day of opening dayhome( at least here it is).

Because it is your own business you can claim alot of your expenses on tax time, such as a portion of rent, utilities, and claim all food, items you buy for the dayhome even the nails on the wall...LOL. if you use your vehicle to transport any of the kids you can claim gas and insurance and any repairs done to the car.

You decide your rate of pay and hours. you will need to do up a contract for the parents, policies, and such. If you get approved by an agency then they can help in looking for families, they advertise for you BUT you need to adverstise as well. If you go private i think all you need to do is get a liscence but im not sure because i am not private. sometimes providers start with the agency route but once they get stabilized they go private. The agency get the payments from the parenstf or you so you dont have to worry about that stress when your private you have to deal with that.

There are alot of ups and downs because you get to stay home with your own child and make good money BUT you will probably run into a few bad apple parents and kids. A few of my things got ruined because of bad kids.

Also you need to stuff also. like where are the kids going to sleep and on what, where they eat, depending on how young you may need high chairs and booster seats, toys, craft stuff, etc etc etc

I did up a website for my dayhome if you want an idea. my policies and such are all inthere... http://www.freewebs.com/mydayhome

luvbug00 replied: Casey i'm sure you nailed the interview your a smart sweetheart!
the orthodontic job i had at 16. the other at 18. bu the last round of hunting 2 years ago proved that they wanted degrees everywhere which is why i'm weary.


Shelly. it sounds like a good idea. I'm gonna talk to lars about it. It sounds good to me but he is the voice of logic in this family and he can help me decide if its right for us. I really aprriciate the information!

mummy2girls replied: another added note to the daycare thing... you need to get an old blanket or couch cover because kids liek to (well the bad ones) color on teh couches and other stuff. LOL

luvmykids replied: You could also look into some temp agencies....a lot of times they hire for entry level type positions. They have some advantages, you may get short or long term assignments, and you can usually have some flexibility. If you're getting a lot of short term assignments, you can tell them you won't be available for certain days, etc.

Good luck, job hunting is rough!

punkeemunkee'smom replied: First I think Monica's temp idea is great! They don't require you to have degrees just a willingness and ability to learn and do so quickly. If you don't have one, type up a resume (if you do it in word it will correct all gramatical and spelling errors for you) ,that way you have something concrete to go on and you don't go to interviews with 'well, I worked here some and there some.' Practice what you will say and how you will present yourself...maybe even role play with Lars. Try to eliminate UMM and Like (if you say those words) from your vocabulary for the next few days Go for things that spark your intrest...since you have worked with animals try a vet clinic or a pet store. They are sure to look favorably on your dog experience.

luvbug00 replied: Shelly i just checked out your site. SOO CUTE! and i wish mya still needed daycare! i was surprised at the price i have to admit, at my old daycare they charged $400 every two weeks. but that may have been why they shut down. they were out of control!

momofone replied: I know the schools are always hiring lunch aides that way you can work the same time your daughter is in school. And I think there are benefits too. Just something to think about.

Boo&BugsMom replied:
I could have written this myself Nadia! I am in the same boat as you. I will officially be unemployed in September and I am scared. I have a lot of Early Childood Education and experience, but I don't want to stay in the field. But, that is where ALL my education is. Well, that and music and theatre, but that doesn't help much. I'm sorry you are in a rut like I am, but I am glad I am not alone. Job hunting sucks.

Boo&BugsMom replied:
Nadia, if you are really interested all you have to do is call your local Health and Family Services department and they can walk you through the process. It's not hard, it just takes a lot of time. It also depends on what your state requires. Some states are easier, some states are harder. And, some states don't require licensing to be legal, others do. It all depends on where you live.

luvbug00 replied: Of course they have a 3 hr. seminar so you can't find any real information online and the next seminar isn't until october.

and to add to all this just found out i need to scrape up $115 to get mya into soccer.

Hillbilly Housewife replied:
That's how I got my first government job, at 17, the year I dropped out of high school.

(for the record - you get the diploma at the end of grade 12... OAC (grade 13) was optional, and that's what I dropped out of, it was a joke, since I had 4\6 required courses...and since I only had 2 oac level courses, I couldn't have any spares...and each course was in a different semester, so i had to take filler courses, like grade 9 mandarin course, grade 11 music - which was a joke - hello i taught music.... anyways, pointless so i dropped out)

Anyhoo - I got a 2 week contract in the government through an employment agency, making 13$ an hour, and they extended my contract for 1 month, then they hired me on as a temp, I started at a salary of about 21$ an hour. After 3 months, they extended me for 6 months, and I became salaried at the starting salary of 37 500$. After the 6 months, they extended my contract for another year, then another. I changed departments in there a couple times, and by the time I left 2 years ago I was making close to 50 000$, and administrative assistant to the third highest position in the department as a secondary duty, as well as legal assistant to a couple lawyers, one of which was based in DC. Not bad for no post secondary education, and my resume is now FABULOUS.

You never know what you can get from an agency.

grapfruit replied:
Jennie - I was told by a manager (when I was working at a trucking company) that if you have ANY degree, doesn't matter which field, they look more closely at you. Sure it helps if it's in that field of work. But even if you're looking for office work (I don't know what you're looking for) a degree in Early Childhood shows that you were dedicated enough to go through school.

Just something to think about!!!

Also I think if you get to that point in the interview where they ask "What are you goals" or whatever let them know that you're planning on presuing a degree. I think the "going back to school" impresses them too.

Boo&BugsMom replied: Thank you Casey!

C&K*s Mommie replied: I too suggest an employment agency. Around here many (from what I have heard) some companies are using employment agencies to hire in new employees because the health insurance is so low through the agency. And there is less coming out of the employers pocket. Some (maybe most) employees at my work are hired in through an agency.
They do the looking for you, plus a company may not post an opening to the public but may go straight to the employment agency.

Good luck no matter what!

My3LilMonkeys replied:
40 min EARLY?? How long was the freakin test?

My suggestion in addition to all the great ones you've gotten so far is don't be afraid to try a job you think might be "beneath you" if it could lead to a better position.
I started with the company I'm in 5 years ago babysitting the CEO's daughter and working about 10 hrs/week in the office doing clerical work...I've been passed through pretty much every department they have (supplies, shipping, customer service, production, auditing, secretarial, payroll, accounting - not in that order but I can't remember anymore!) before I landed where I am now - managing the whole production department, and with experience in so many things that I could work in many different fields now.

grapfruit replied:
Oh it was a JOKE! I noticed right away they were just asking the same questions over and over, just in a different way. So I just made sure I answered them in the same way. A lot of the questions where "How does this statement fit you: I feel like somebody is out to get me"

The SCARY part is like 20 other people interviewed for the job and took that same test!!

Personally, I think they put too much weight in the test, like I said, it was a joke. But I hope to never have to take it again!

Boo&BugsMom replied:
Troy has interviewed for places that make you take one of those silly things too. They are ridiculous. You can get a better sense of who a person is by talking to them.

luvbug00 replied:

Oh i don't think ANY job is benieth me. People have to work period and i don't think anyone is "too good" for any job.. i do after all pick up dog poo.