Trouble Getting Interviews, Any Advice??
 

So I'm somewhat a recent graduate from UBC in mining engineering. I know that the mining industry isn't doing too well and it's kind of tough right now. I'm not expecting to get a job easily but it's pretty frustrating and depressing not getting at least one interview after 70 or so applications.

I started off assuming it was my resume and cover letters that sucked, so I had several friends take a look for comments and help. Nothing still... Then I went out to gain more experience. Started getting a job in a completely unrelated field and starting volunteering with APEGBC. Still nothing... I then went out to obtain a few certificates that I thought would help make my resume look better such as a WorkSafeBC OFA level 3, fire safety and WHMIS certificates. I also contemplated taking H2S alive and Confined space but thought if I'm still not going to get anything I really don't want to waste the money... Keep in mind I'm applying for all sorts of positions from technician jobs, entry level engineering positions and even ones that ask for 3-5 years exp, etc.

Now I'm coming back around to the idea that maybe my resume and cover letters aren't good enough again.

I am wondering if anyone has used any resume/cover letter professionals to help them with their stuff. I've looked some up but they seem quite pricey and it makes me wonder if it's worth the money.

Also if anyone has any other advice I would greatly appreciate it.

Let's have a lil looksy at the ol' resume shall we?

pm me your email address and i can look over your resume.

I talked to a CFO on a mining company and she said anyone with spanish DEFINITELY jumped on top of the queue because of their ability to communicate to people down in south america for mining. just fyi. keep in mind these mining companies in van are extremely small with big offices in s. america

Yeah Spanish is a big plus. I wish I had taken Spanish years ago instead of some other language.

Rosetta Stone.

you're welcome.

Post your full name, mailing address, and social insurance number here. :troll:

+1 need help :okay:

Wow so it isnt just me that's having trouble breaking into the workforce after school.
Trust me I'm there and have been there for the past couple of months.

I've re-written my cover letter and resume plus had them reviewed several times and nothing helped. It's just a matter of timing I guess.

have you tried going through a recruiter? do such services exist for the mining industry?

how about some networking opps to see whats out there? Do you have anything like that available?

how about picking your favourite company, linked in search the HR manager, email/call them out for a 20min coffee meeting. Outline your desires on the email and what you hope to get (should be insights first, then maybe if they are hiring a job). You got nothing to lose.

For me, the best feedback I got was from the HR manager that didn't hire me.

Your cover letter and resume are extremely important. Make sure that they are perfect and tailored for the position you want. Have other people look over them.

Aside from those two documents, reach out and network with people in the industry you are interested in. Ask those people out for coffee as mentioned. Just keep at it and you will eventually get an interview.

My advice to you is to:
a) Stop sending resumes to internet black holes
b) Figure out ways to bypass the gatekeepers (HR)
c) Stop wasting money for certifications.

By applying through careers@company.com or the relevant careers portal, you are throwing in your resume among hundreds if not thousands of other applicants. You have needle in a haystack odds.

Here's what you should do:

1. Make a list of possible industries you can work in. Off the top of my head, as a mining engineer, you can work for the mining companies (e.g. barrick, rio tinto, teck), engineering companies (e.g. amec, stantec, tetratech) and oil and gas companies (this may or may not be a stretch).
2. Figure out what the possible career paths are. At a senior level in an engineering company for example, you might be the p.eng signing off on mining plans for 43-101s.
3. Make a list of good questions that you want to ask people about working in the industry. Demonstrate that you did some research and are going into the finer points of it.
   
   For example
   - I know a typical mining engineer looks at xyz. Is your role pretty comparable or how does it differ?
   - How did you get into this industry (people love talking about themselves)
   - What advice do you have for someone looking to get in?
   
   etc. The point is you want to have a written list of questions that you can refer to.
4. Write a script for e-mail and telephone conversations. Generically,
   
   E-mail
   I'm a recent grad and I want to learn more about the industry. Can I buy you coffee to pick your brain? You can attach your resume if you want or send it later.
   
   Phone
   This is a cold call! Please dont hang up! Hi, I'm so and so, I found your info through [source] and I am very interested in your industry. Is now a good time to talk?
   
5. Get a linkedin premium account and make a proper linkedin profile.
6. Build a list of people in roles 5-10 years more senior than the one you are targeting. You want a list of about 50.
7. Dump those into an excel spreadsheet and start reaching out to them for informational interviews. Your goals during informational interviews are to:
   
   - Make people like you
   - Make people feel good about talking to you
   - Learn as much as you can
   - Get contacts
   - Hopefully get leads on jobs
   
   If the meeting goes very well, then say something like "hey thanks so much for all your great advice. I'd really love to meet more people in the industry and was wondering if you might know other people that I should talk to"
   
   Be polite. Be courteous and don't dress like a bum. Pretend like it's a real interview because sometimes they are.
   
8. Following up every meeting, send a thank you e-mail or card and ask if it's ok to follow-up with them to keep them abreast of how things are going. Put follow-up dates into your spreadsheet.
9. Track everything in excel. Set daily goals for yourself and try to hit them:
   
   - New contacts
   - Meetings
   - Introductions
   - Etc
10. Repeat all of this until someone says "As it so happens, we're looking for someone just like you. Send me your resume (if you haven't already) or (more likely) I'd like you to meet with the rest of the team and do an interview."

While you are doing this, you should also cast a wide net with networking events. Go to young professionals events and just have fun and meet people.

Your resume and cover letter, assuming no grammatical or formatting errors are likely fine. You're just losing out to other people who are networking hard.

tl;dr: Figure out how to bypass HR and talk to the real people doing the hiring.

Let's just put it this way HR don't really read your whole resume. They spend maybe 5 seconds on each resume, if it is good they will take a closer look, if not they just delete it.

Now I am not sure about your job field but in mine HR are taught to look for certain things (IE Cert in the fields, what programming language they learn etc etc.....). So the best way is to know someone who works in your industries and ask them what skills or what should you specifically put on your resume to get pass HR. Also, it is better to send your resume from a better E-mail. Sometimes we laugh at the E-mail address (IE halonerd@gmail.com or ipwninCod@hotmail.com) won't get you a job or even have the HR read your resume even if you are the most qualify person. Get a regular E-mail address IE yourname@gmail.com will do.

Also make your resume max 2 pages long. Usually 1.5 pages is enough. Don't put too much info on it. Never ever put in "Reference Upon request" Either include them or omit it.

One last thing is ok to have a follow up E-mail but Never EVER call every single day. We had people who call in like several times a week asking if we got their resume when are we going to schedule them in and wants to talk to HR or the dept manager directly. Not only does that make us feel annoying but also once we learn who you are, even if you might get an interview your chance just got thrown out of the window.

Yeah, there are several recruiting agencies that deal in the engineering side of things. I've gone through some and even visited Aerotek during their career fair.

I recently started trying to network. Maybe a bit over a month ago. One of the reasons why I started volunteering with APEGBC was to network with other engineers. There's also a monthly luncheon that the canadian institute of mining has downtown, but it's pretty pricey at $60 bucks just for lunch. I will probably try to go to the next one and see if I can still get the student discount.

I will try contacting people personally though since I haven't been doing that.

Might be a long shot, but have you considered looking out of province? Figure the oil sands would want people in that field.

1) unless you're a 10-20+ yr veteran, no recruiter will hunt a job for you. your 30k job is going get him 3k in commission; he'll spend his time landing someone that's 100k instead.
2) 90% of the time, your resume just suck. focus on resume 1st
3) ur interview skills suck. period. focus on 2 and 3 and maybe we'll talk about other options.

The only reason his resume "just suck" is because he probably doesnt have much experience. His interview skills probably do suck though as he mentioned he is having trouble landing interviews.

OP honestly it is probably just because there is a bit of a downturn in your field of work. My field is experiencing the exact same thing. The large majority of the small group that got hired from my graduating class already had several years (if not more) experience and can easily transition from school to work. If there isn't much work, companies wont hire fresh graduates/dont want to take a chance on graduates due to needing to invest time and money on training.

I favor working in Canada, so I have applied in Alberta where the oil sands are. I also applied up north and out east as well. I'm also open to working in other countries such as the US, Mexico, South America, Australia, etc. The only places I haven't really looked into are Africa and Asia.

Yeah, I totally understand that. It just sucks when you're in that hole where you can't get any experience because no one wants to give you the experience. Do you mind if I ask what field you're in?

I'd give you a big thanks if I could. I think this will be very helpful to me and any one else who is in the same boat as me. I probably need to be a bit more pro active in my job hunt, rather than doing it from just behind the computer.

6793026 was also very helpful and encouraging.

DaFonz gave some very good tips. I am currently working as a HR intern at a global company. A lot of times I see people applying the the position with a made up title. For example I am hiring for a Office admin, some people will put executive assistant on the email title. The computer program can not match the title and guess what... forget about how nice your resume is, your resume will not be in the system.

Another thing is do research on the company. Tell me how passionate you are in the cover letter. If you can't tell me why you want to work here, there are people out there who are dying to work for my company. That's just some of the things I see working as a HR intern. Hope this would help.

i'll get hated for this, but...

move away from vancouver.

Vancouver is a dead end place for jobs, especially in mining right now. would you have better luck in alberta? if not, then Australia?

you are one of many graduates coming out at a terrible time in vancouver.

as has been said before, online applications go nowhere, either use a recruiter (who are the scum of the earth, by the way, and probably won't look at you if you have no experience), get to meet with ppl somehow, etc. but i'd say your best chance is to open urself up to moving elsewhere.

format your resume so its in comic sans, should help

Look at it from recruiter's point of view.WHY would they help you find a job when you're a fresh grad, you simply won't pay their bills. Even if they DO help you, HOW do you expect them to SELL you when you aren't qualify.

An employer once asked: "I'll give you 3 minutes, tell me about yourself, inspire me enough and I'll hire you." I challenge ANYONE on this thread who can do this effective on the spot during an interview.

You'll soon realize you have NOTHING to show in those 3 minutes. Tinder, mods on your car, online dating, 2048 etc are totally useless.

So yes, ask me again why you're not being considered in your job again...

The more you network the more you can practice your "elevator pitch".

mods on your car show you have a hobby, creativity, and passion for starters.

knowing how to use mods on your car as a metaphor and show it as how it benefits the guy you are talking to is the key.

Vancouver/LML job market sucks ass, like seriously bad. It took me over 7 months and finally after moving to Edmonton after getting countless offers there, I got a call from a company in Vancouver for a job. (I moved back here).

It's hard, its defeating, just keep on trucking on. Expand your job search to other provinces, Sask and Manitoba are big business right now, as is Edmonton, but i'm talking about rapidly expanding markets. You're in a good field and it's great that you're open to all levels of work within your field.

PM me a link to your resume or your email address and I can help you out, I've been sort of helping out friends of mine this stuff as well, hopefully I can be some assistance.

Trust me, I've been there, im sure countless of Vancouverites have been there, the market is just flooded.