I suck at job interviews/I hate my job and everyone sucks[MEGATHREAD?]

[Shaikar]

Just got word that I'm layed off. Though technically still employed until end of February, I don't need to show up at work starting tomorrow. "Freigestellt" is the technical German term, don't know what the correct English translation is (released?).

It didn't come as a surprise, considering the industry I'm in (tourism) has been hit hard by the pandemic. We were on short work since March, then declared insolvency at the end of August. There were talks with investors and luckily for those who benefit from it, one investor bought the majority of our shops. The staff of the HO though - of which I'm part off, has all been fired.

Anyhow - will have to look for a new job, ofc. Something that I already did over the past couple of years, just that I had the luxury to cherry-pick the ones I applied to. It's a different situation now, of course. Given my age and the current economic climate due to COVID-19, let's see how this turns out...

Sorry to hear that.

Sounds like "garden leave"? You're still getting paid but not expected to turn up - you can spend the time gardening. (Or, you know, trying to find another job. )

Good luck!

[Keckers]

Good luck Hel, I hope you have more luck than I'm currently having!

[Joe Appleby]

Good luck Hel.

Now here comes the plug, take a look at education. Math and IT are highly sought after subjects and allow a bit of cherry picking in terms of which schools you would work at. No need to work in the ghetto's of Frankfurt.

Probably not what you're looking for, but they are definitely hiring, and February is the beginning of the next semester.

Tapapapatalk

[NoirAvlaa]

hey have you thought about learning 2 code? (good luck m8)

[Smegs]

Not cool dude.

Gl finding something else. The world always needs good engineers and trades people, if you are technically minded you can make a good life ... although there is an utter flood of bodgers in the UK.

[Keckers]

The best way to make a good life is siphoning money off productive enterprise as a middle man or financier. Being a useful member of society just means you get walked all over and sneered at. Work may make you free but it won't make you rich.

[Djan Seriy Anaplian]

That's the spirit!

[Lowa [NSN]]

Thats shit mate! Fingers crossed that you get something sorted asap!

[Equium Duo]

Just got word that I'm layed off. Though technically still employed until end of February, I don't need to show up at work starting tomorrow. "Freigestellt" is the technical German term, don't know what the correct English translation is (released?).

It didn't come as a surprise, considering the industry I'm in (tourism) has been hit hard by the pandemic. We were on short work since March, then declared insolvency at the end of August. There were talks with investors and luckily for those who benefit from it, one investor bought the majority of our shops. The staff of the HO though - of which I'm part off, has all been fired.

Anyhow - will have to look for a new job, ofc. Something that I already did over the past couple of years, just that I had the luxury to cherry-pick the ones I applied to. It's a different situation now, of course. Given my age and the current economic climate due to COVID-19, let's see how this turns out...

What is your profession, my company is EU based and looking for people.

[Hel OWeen]

Thanks a lot for all your kind wishes, folks. Much appretiated. As much as a shitfest FHC can be sometimes, it's situations like this that makes it still worthwhile visiting on a regular basis.

Now here comes the plug, take a look at education. Math and IT are highly sought after subjects and allow a bit of cherry picking in terms of which schools you would work at. No need to work in the ghetto's of Frankfurt.

Probably not what you're looking for, but they are definitely hiring, and February is the beginning of the next semester.

Good suggestion, much appreciated. Although I strongly consider switching industries (I don't see tourism recover anytime soon), education hasn't crossed my mind.

What is your profession, my company is EU based and looking for people.

I consider myself to be a programmer (that's what I love to do). But in practice, having spent my whole career in system administration (and support ... I hate it), with programming being my focus in our department, but not a full-time job, I'm the classical jack of all trades, master of nothing. I know a bit AD, Windows servers & workstations, Exchange, MS SQL, IIS, O365, VMWare. Recently I learned to enjoy Linux (Ubuntu server) due to me having set up a Gitlab server for myself (and started to look into its CI/CD features). I do the typical scripting stuff in Batch, VBScript and PowerShell. And I have being programming in all kinds of BASIC dialects since forever aka "the MS-DOS days" (QBasic, PowerBASIC, VB Classic, VB.NET).

Everyone is looking for people, until they realize that I'm 50+. And perhaps I am too honest about my (lack of) skills. There have been quite some job ads that looked really interesting. But looking at the requirements, I thought that I didn't qualify. Intellectually I know those are overstated, but as honesty is one of my core traits, I feel like outright lying when applying to those. Yeah - stupid and irrational, but that's who and how I am.

[Equium Duo]

Thanks a lot for all your kind wishes, folks. Much appretiated. As much as a shitfest FHC can be sometimes, it's situations like this that makes it still worthwhile visiting on a regular basis.

Now here comes the plug, take a look at education. Math and IT are highly sought after subjects and allow a bit of cherry picking in terms of which schools you would work at. No need to work in the ghetto's of Frankfurt.

Probably not what you're looking for, but they are definitely hiring, and February is the beginning of the next semester.

Good suggestion, much appreciated. Although I strongly consider switching industries (I don't see tourism recover anytime soon), education hasn't crossed my mind.

What is your profession, my company is EU based and looking for people.

I consider myself to be a programmer (that's what I love to do). But in practice, having spent my whole career in system administration (and support ... I hate it), with programming being my focus in our department, but not a full-time job, I'm the classical jack of all trades, master of nothing. I know a bit AD, Windows servers & workstations, Exchange, MS SQL, IIS, O365, VMWare. Recently I learned to enjoy Linux (Ubuntu server) due to me having set up a Gitlab server for myself (and started to look into its CI/CD features). I do the typical scripting stuff in Batch, VBScript and PowerShell. And I have being programming in all kinds of BASIC dialects since forever aka "the MS-DOS days" (QBasic, PowerBASIC, VB Classic, VB.NET).

Everyone is looking for people, until they realize that I'm 50+. And perhaps I am too honest about my (lack of) skills. There have been quite some job ads that looked really interesting. But looking at the requirements, I thought that I didn't qualify. Intellectually I know those are overstated, but as honesty is one of my core traits, I feel like outright lying when applying to those. Yeah - stupid and irrational, but that's who and how I am.

Whilst an admirable statement, you should really look after yourself. As much as I love working for the company that I work for I would leave if it wasnt a good place for me to support what I do at home/personal developent. I've sent you a PM with my companies hiring page, its EU based but maybe at your age you might not want to relocate.

[NoirAvlaa]

TIL Hel is 50+

[Zeekar]

TIL Hel is 50+

We have been shitting on each other around here for almost 10 years m8.

[NoirAvlaa]

TIL Hel is 50+

We have been shitting on each other around here for almost 10 years m8.

More like 15

[indi]

Everyone is looking for people, until they realize that I'm 50+. And perhaps I am too honest about my (lack of) skills. There have been quite some job ads that looked really interesting. But looking at the requirements, I thought that I didn't qualify. Intellectually I know those are overstated, but as honesty is one of my core traits, I feel like outright lying when applying to those. Yeah - stupid and irrational, but that's who and how I am.

Hel, I think you could benefit from a bit of coaching on the application/resume thing. Maybe it's enough to just spend some time on a discord server with some FHC"ers who are involved in the hiring process - it's not necessarily something grand. I hire new people regularly. The requirements are standard (organisation wide), so I don't deviate from those. Even though I may (hint number 1) sometimes have a different opinion. A large part of the requirements ïs "I would be so happy if someone actually could do this, but I am prepared to work with the right candidate if they don't". I categorically do not want liars. I do like people who know what they can and can't do and who can tell me about their competencies. As in, will you pick up things quickly? Do you see the bigger picture? You get the drift.

TLDR: don't lie, don't be afraid to sell yourself however. Practice with some mates. (I will have time off in a week and a half. I could be persuaded for a Discord session. I do not have a lot of experience in IT stuffz tho.)

[Keckers]

You'll probably find as well that when you write down what you can do/have achieved it looks like more than you would think. Your own achievements often feel less significant to you than to others.

[Hel OWeen]

Hel, I think you could benefit from a bit of coaching on the application/resume thing.

You're spot on with the resume thing. I can't into "visuals". And if it were for me, I'd send my CV and resume in plain text. SO if any of you recruitment/hiring guys could point me to decent templates which you guys prefer to see, I'd be grateful. A Google search returns thousands of hits and ofc I don't know which ones are the better ones.

I don't have any problems (other than saying the wrong thing) with actual interview, i.e. I don't suffer from being too nervous or something the like, if that is what you meant.

I'm also not sure about the cultural differences in the hiring process, e.g. I seem to remember that the anglo-saxon CV is similar to, but slightly different than the German "Lebenslauf". So I'm not sure how this would all work out.

TLDR: don't lie, don't be afraid to sell yourself however. Practice with some mates. (I will have time off in a week and a half. I could be persuaded for a Discord session. I do not have a lot of experience in IT stuffz tho.)

Many thanks or the offer. I might come back to you.

You'll probably find as well that when you write down what you can do/have achieved it looks like more than you would think. Your own achievements often feel less significant to you than to others.

I've been through that (writing down) a while ago. TBH, I already have a problem with the term "achievement", which to me sounds like typical markting-speak BS. In my view, I've just done my work, nothing more, nothing less. That included lots of times coming up with and creating a solution for a new problem or improving an old solution. And if I recognized a real (or perceived) problem somewhere else, e.g. a dead link on our website, I pointed that out to the respective person/department.

I didn't feel like "having achieved" something. I simply did my job and expect everyone to do the same as part of their job. Simple as that.

[Keckers]

You'll probably find as well that when you write down what you can do/have achieved it looks like more than you would think. Your own achievements often feel less significant to you than to others.

I've been through that (writing down) a while ago. TBH, I already have a problem with the term "achievement", which to me sounds like typical markting-speak BS. In my view, I've just done my work, nothing more, nothing less. That included lots of times coming up with and creating a solution for a new problem or improving an old solution. And if I recognized a real (or perceived) problem somewhere else, e.g. a dead link on our website, I pointed that out to the respective person/department.

I didn't feel like "having achieved" something. I simply did my job and expect everyone to do the same as part of their job. Simple as that.

Yeah I feel the same way.

I worked in a performance driven role so saw the development of the business as just doing my job. But when I actually wrote down "sales pipeline increased by x as a result of y" I saw that my contribution does mean something and you have something to offer that you need to sell to potential employers.

[helgur]

Just got word that I'm layed off. Though technically still employed until end of February, I don't need to show up at work starting tomorrow. "Freigestellt" is the technical German term, don't know what the correct English translation is (released?).

It didn't come as a surprise, considering the industry I'm in (tourism) has been hit hard by the pandemic. We were on short work since March, then declared insolvency at the end of August. There were talks with investors and luckily for those who benefit from it, one investor bought the majority of our shops. The staff of the HO though - of which I'm part off, has all been fired.

Anyhow - will have to look for a new job, ofc. Something that I already did over the past couple of years, just that I had the luxury to cherry-pick the ones I applied to. It's a different situation now, of course. Given my age and the current economic climate due to COVID-19, let's see how this turns out...

Haven't been paying tabs on all the threads on FHC lately and just read this, not good news and sorry to hear. Fingers crossed for you, hope it works out.

[indi]

I've been through that (writing down) a while ago. TBH, I already have a problem with the term "achievement", which to me sounds like typical markting-speak BS. In my view, I've just done my work, nothing more, nothing less. That included lots of times coming up with and creating a solution for a new problem or improving an old solution. And if I recognized a real (or perceived) problem somewhere else, e.g. a dead link on our website, I pointed that out to the respective person/department.

I didn't feel like "having achieved" something. I simply did my job and expect everyone to do the same as part of their job. Simple as that.

If what you described was in fact the norm and/or easy, this world would look different. No need to write it down as having been the equivalent of inventing the polio vaccine, but there's nothing wrong with writing about results.