Coming out of a long-term job
 

So tomorrow's my last day at the private ESL school I've been working at for nearly the past six years. I'm looking to change what I do, and am having a hard time finding anything that doesn't require "2+ years of [fillintheblank] experience". I've applied to a couple of "no previous experience necessary", jobs, but the one that replied to me said that I was "overexperienced, and we'd be taking a risk bringing you in just to possibly see you out just as quickly. Best of luck in your search."

I don't want to stay in the education industry; I love the job but I hate the politicking and the test-focused bullshit. I'm looking for something like retail sales or call centre or SOMETHING that will get me out. But I'm facing the giant hurdle of having been locked in that job for such a long time, that all my other skills seem old or outdated.

I'm also facing the uphill battle of not having a bachelor's degree. I did 2 years at BCIT for business, but foolishly decided not to keep going and get a degree from that. So I am both over- and under-experienced, over- and under-qualified, and in a quandry on what to do. My personal contacts seem to have no leads as far as work or jobs; what are my best options? Should I go looking at a recruiting company like Manpower? I don't want to end up with an unstable source of income, working 1-2 days every now and again; would they be able to set me up with something more permanent more quickly?

I'm at wit's end and am feeling anxious about having to live off savings. It's not that I can't...it's just that it really bothers me having to eat into it.

what about finishing your degree? find some decent part time job.. hammer out the rest of your schooling

That's the plan.

There are complications as far as the degree goes; long story short since I've been out for so long the paperwork is ridiculous.

As of late, I've been applying for PT and FT jobs; none of which I've had success with of late. I've been applying for the last three weeks, and have tweaked my resume a couple times each time.

I have realized that business management and education are both decent jobs, but the amount of work to make yourself differentiated is just ridiculous; once I go back, it'll be for Engineering, something easily employable (thanks to the multitudes of certificates one can acquire while being educated).


My issue is what to do in the meantime. I'm looking at falling back to labour (which I'd really rather not do; having worked in a warehouse for nearly a year, my vocabulary went from uni-level to dropping f-bombs every second word at the least), but I'd much rather get into something social like sales or customer service. Yet because I've been locked into education for so long and never had solid retail experience (3 years of starbucks ages ago; and yes I've reapplied to them too) I'm having difficulty getting any traction anywhere.

Look at Telus, Shaw, Rogers, Bell, Wireless Wave, etc.

You have a background in education, so you're capable of explaining topics to those who aren't aware. You obviously have good communication skills and patience, or you would've bombed as a teacher from the start.

Not every company needs someone with prior experience. I have heard of people who work for Shaw as installers who have no technical background at all (EG: artists).

Also, this may go without saying, but tailor your resume for each posting. Identify their needs and make every point in your resume as close to an answer to their neeeds as possible.

IMHO, a call center would be the last place I'd want to go to.

Done, will do, no, done, will do.

I can't sell something I don't believe in; no matter how hard I want to, I end up having problems. So finding something I believe in is a challenge.

Tailoring my resume is also something that kind of drives me nuts; I've only got so many things I've done, and it drives me nuts trying to think about how to reword things to focus on sales or admin or whatnot.

Oh, I should also mention that I've applied for a couple of admin jobs; even got an interview. Called back to see how it went...and was transferred to the woman that was hired. Office admin/reception is unfortunately a very challenging place to get into as a guy.

I see a lot of collections call center jobs on craigslist. There is not a lot to go on based on your post. What do you like? Atleast post a few "would love to work there right now" type of companies so we can get an idea.

Check out the top employers of BC and all their openings:
BC's Top Employers

Top employers is where I've looked; Wind, Bell, Flight Centre, Telus, Starbucks. If I can, I'd prefer a structured environment, and something corporate that would allow me an opportunity to learn.

I've had some bad experience with franchisees before and I'd hate to leave a 6-year job for a 2-week one.

What are your takes on a bank teller position?
I assume you did general business at BCIT. With you education background and the ability "dumb things" down for people - you might have a leg up on other candidates..

The thought had crossed my mind, yet every time I'd gone through postings I've forgotten to swing by the big banks. Many thanks for the suggestion/reminder!

"I don't want to stay in the education industry; I love the job but I hate the politicking and the test-focused bullshit."

What do you mean? politics are everywhere in the work environment. Same shit different pile.

I can understand the "test-focused bullshit"... but the stress entirely is not on you, it's on the student. When it's a sales job, targets are the only thing your boss look at. Also, I think a sales focused job would not generate steady income or offer stability.


Look into banks if you are into sales. Office type environment and relatively regular business hours. Banks don't require any degree or education for entry level jobs.

I got a marketing degree and thought my resume was the tits as I had modelled it from a variety of websites..
turned out it still sucked and I paid for an HR resume pro to rewrite me a couple of different resumes.. sales, marketing, etc.. might be worth trying?
I got better responses from potential employers..

do you have any buddies or other contacts that can get you in at their work?

The private ESL school industry here is a bit more complicated than just your usual office politics.

Let's look at my school.

My school is owned on paper by a guy who runs it independently but is also a shareholder in one of the student agencies here. Each of the owners of the schools owns a piece of this agency, and as such the agency promotes the schools which it owns. A good 20-30% of the tuition students pay go into the agency, and as such the school makes fuck all money, yet we are constantly harped on to work harder, promote the school, and retain students. Oh, and told that there's no money for prep or raises because the students don't want to pay more.

We are also often told to go and promote courses at agency meetings where we are not told who we will be meeting, what we will be doing, or how we will manage this without our commensurate materials. Nobody is kept in the loop with what will happen beyond this current week, hours fluctuate based on student volume, teacher "popularity" and the whims of the management.


I absolutely love being in the classroom. I hate that everything outside of it is in constant attack mode. Lack of communication and openness about procedures, standards, expectations and stability are what has driven me to finally escape.

Any way I can find someone to unfuck my resume?

Tried tapping friends (so to speak) and have come up dry.

i really suggest taking a certificate program at VCC.

Alot of jobs need filling and a simple 1 month certificate can net you a job that pays 20-21 an hour.

it's what I'm doing. I really need a more stimulating job for the next 3 years, and I've desired to long work in a hospital.

I think talking to a career counsellor would help you get going in the right direction since they would be familiar with the challenges someone in your situation would be going through, along with the status of the current job market.

My best advice is to try calling these guys to see if they can help. I believe their services are free. Hopefully, they can also give you cover letter and resume training and feedback.

WorkBC Employment Services Program

Also, try BCIT career advising to see what they offer to alums.

how much did you pay and where did you get it done. rather interesting service...

Keep looking and ask the companies you're interested in if there's any positions. Even if they don't have any listed openings doesn't mean they aren't hiring. It took me 2+ months to find a job and mine came from a random email to the company.

Its not easy finding a job. I'm trying to find just summer work and even thats tough.
I've gone as far as going back to basics, going to the mall and applying at retail stores and most say they arent hiring or to apply online which has already been done.

Alot of people I've talked to said it took them at least 3 months to find work

my gf got laid off from a large global organization as they outsourced her department… everyone got assistance from some "get you back in the workforce" company, and the lady she dealt with did resume redo's on the side.

I think it was like 200 bucks but I feel well worth it as she completely redid my cover letters and resumes and made me a bunch of different resumes for different jobs

i'm sure there are tons of other places that do it.

Sent you PM

Sigh if only you posted this up 3 weeks ago. We were hiring 1 CSR and 1CSR/TSR. Really nice company, nice and friendly ppl you will meet, hours isn't bad and you get to surf RS while at work.......

pm sent

Any luck G?

I've tried applying at many places, and even the most labour intense/security jobs with no luck as a secondary job.

I've decided to just take my temporary under-employement and learn a second language and pre-read courses I have coming up in september.

Thanks for the PMs guys, I'll be replying shortly.

This weekend was hectic with family stuff and trying to calm myself down from being jobless. I've scored a couple tutoring students from my old school, so I'm good for money for now. Talked with the folks and they suggested I do some aptitude testing to help me figure out what to put on a resume and what I should look for better. Employment BC seems to be helpful, we'll see how that turns out later this week.

Hopefully, we can turn this from a "holy shit this sucks for me" thread into a "Hey guys when you need help look at this thread." thread.

sorry but how old are you, i jut want to gauge your age and your experience.

to be honest, if you're still young and before 30, i HIGHLY suggest you gooing back to school and getting something solid cause I can tell you, when you hit 35-40, you wouldn't want to be in retail / hourly wages sector. In order for you to hit the 50k mark, you don't just apply for the job, you have to network.

As of now, i would apply to Manpower which is a temp agency to get by.