Not asking for advice, I'm giving it This thread is for

Some background, I've been through some hardship and this is what I've learnt
I just turned 20, I moved out at 17 and went from being a homeless stoner dipshit from a dysfunctional family to getting my life on track and winning a 10,000$ scholarship, paying off a vehicle and getting out of debt in 3 years

>>17496756
I have been working really, really hard over the last two years to try and get somewhere. I've worked unpaid internships, a lot of shitty customer service jobs and I'm a few days away from submitting my masters thesis. I'm really proud of myself for all the work I've put in but I'm starting to get frustrated with job prospects.

How does someone like me get started? How do I get a big-boy job? I've been doing the education thing and working all the shitty jobs, but I can't seem to get that next one that takes me somewhere.

Three biggest things I learnt where:

1: your parents and family never figure out life any more than you will,
When you where young they where scared, stressed and confused. Don't hold this against them.
>love them in spite of their mistakes. Take the good and leave the bad out of your life.

My father failed as miserably as a father could have, but I still awnser his monthly call from jail
He cried the first time I didn't hang up on him because he said he loved me.

People need a reason to change, and if you don't give them a reason when you could you are part of the problem. You have to help others to truly help yourself


2:don't drink or smoke
Don't form habits like this
Ciggarettes, weed, alcahol and any other drug may seem harmless but if you use any chemical like that to cope you are training your mind to reach for something to deal with hard times.
Once and a while is okay, but watch yourself very closely.

I went through alcahol withdrawal once at 18 after drinking about 12 beers a day for 5 months, don't go down that road. It's not worth it.

Try and channel it to something productive
Some things I did when I was feeling discouraged:
>Work on my truck
>Apply to better jobs than the one I had
>Apply for scholarships
>Study
>Exercise


3: work hard, kiss ass, be nice to everybody
You will never win if you try and coast
Work hard, put in more hours than you need and put away 100$/paycheque.

>always put some ammount of money towards your debt, no matter how small, don't ignore it

>don't live outside your means, find cheap hobbies like going on hikes and riding bikes

>Friends are important, but learn to be happy on your own. Going for a walk or bike ride alone is not wrong or anti social, don't base your happiness on other people

File: 1472099371514.jpg (144KB, 1921x1280px) Image search: [Google]

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Thanks for making this. I just want to celebrate finally getting a job after 2 months of no call backs. I was invited to interview on Tuesday and when I arrived one of my former classmates was also waiting to interview. He was always needlessly cunty to me when we were in school together, but I was still friendly and asked about how he was doing. He was just like his old self, so I talked to the secretaries instead because they're the angels who guard the gates of heaven when it comes to this line of work.

My interview went well enough, I used lots of examples of my prior work and I had an extremely detailed portfolio that went above and beyond what they originally asked for (plus x4 copies). One interviewer said he would call me the next day. I pretty much took this as a rejection, because they need to fill the position like yesterday.

Got a call a few hours later with an invitation to go to a second interview the next day. I was excited but scared because I've never been on a second interview (always offered after the first) so I researched and prepared even more stuff. Usually second interviews are when they can't decide between a couple strong candidates, so I mentally pictured my classmate as my rival since, although he was always a jerk, he was on par with me in school and has more extensive experience in the field than I (though I have other qualities that make up for direct experience).

So I get there and it's a one on one with the boss. I pretty much go into more detail, provide data on my achievements, and basically try to sell myself for 30 minutes. Eventually she just smiles and says that she just wanted to get to know me and I was the only person invited to the second "interview."

Sorry for the blog post, but I don't really have anyone else to share this with. I also hope that people who are feeling hopeless like me can get some benefit. On a side note, I was invited to 3 other interviews since I accepted this position. You guys can do it.

>>17496769
In today's job market it really is hard. There's no denying the fact that making the next stop l step is tough. I got my foot in the door after applying outside the town I was living in

>if there's multiple universities in the city, the positions that have common area of study-job openings will be swamped with applications, maybe look in smaller towns near by (or even far away if you're brave enough)

Look for places that are far away from education

>>17496816
Effort and perseverance shows, sounds like you went the extra mile (and made sure you showed how hard you try) and they saw it