Referrals mean two things, Jack and squat. And Jack left town. All corporations absolutely do not say anything more than “Yes, [that person] worked here before” when speaking of former employees. Corporate doctrine absolutely prohibits saying any details about previous employees – positive or negative. They give basic-only responses as outlined in every agreement signed for new hires. Corp’s do this so you say nothing about them and they say nothing about you. This is to avoid all parties from suing each other.

Sending a barrage of resumes makes it look like you’re begging for work. Each additional resume you send will get tossed in the trash instantly. No employer has that kind of patience. Zero. Do it enough times and you’ll get blacklisted by HR themselves for that corporation. Very bad move.

Anyone who has ever played the field knows the following:

DON’T ask when they’ll contact you because you’re begging at that point. They will tell you. If they don’t, guess what? You don’t have the job.

DON’T ask for the job on a first interview. Dumb maneuver. You wait until the second interview (should one occur) because at that point you have confirmation the corporation has more than a passing interest in hiring you.

DON’T pester the corporation. If they don’t call back, they don’t want you, period.

A good recruiter will handle 100% of the follow-up, callbacks and scheduling. And they’ll do it properly instead of you begging for work by sending 1000 resumes, calling the company over and over and being a genuine pain in the ass.

The best way to get is job is referrals. Tell everyone you know you need a job especially mature older adults. They will know if their company is hiring. They might know a valuable contact.

Another way is the law of numbers. Apply for a lot of jobs and don’t give up. Send at least 2 resumes a day.

Study about the company and the job. Be prepared to answer and ask questions.

Be excited. Show initiative. No one wants a worker who needs to be told what to do. YOU SHOULD KNOW WHAT TO DO.

When wrapping up, ask for the job. Ask how soon you will hear from them and call them when they don’t follow-up. This must be done within 2 weeks or they will forget.

BTW, a woman has some advantages in tech via diversity programs. More women are working in tech, but they haven’t caught up. Use this to their advantage.

When looking for the first job, every trick should be used. You don’t want to be unemployed for long or you will become stale. Lots more following you.

I really should write a part 2 to this because there’s more, such as job types, what to expect, truths about corporate life, etc.

For now I’ll just say if you want a good example of what corporate life is like, watch every single video here (I’m not kidding):

http://www.youtube.com/cubefarm

In particular, this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5Fs38iM7yQ

(very, very accurate)

My second post on your website today….i need to get back to work.