Jobs- help and advice

[GLITRES]

Hey guys,
just wanted to get some help regarding work.
In late 2008 I went and got my tickets for excavator, bobcat, backhoe and frontend loader, as I want to get into the earthmoving industry.
I applied for heaps of jobs in late 2008 early 2009 (even jobs that asked for experianced people, expalaining my situation) I even went around to places and handed out my CV and have had no luck.
I then in start of 2009 I got a job with Bridgestone fitting truck tyres, hoping a background in a labours job and with trucks might help me get a job (also the drivers might be able to help me out)
In the last 3-4 months I've once again applied for pretty much every job advertised in sa regarding earthmoving equiptment and been around to more quarrys and dumps handing out my CV, and the drivers can't really help.
Still no luck. Seems to me like you need to know someone in the industry as I'm finding it really hard to get my foot in the door.

Have any of you got any advice for me as to what I could do?
Or even better yet, can you help me out by hooking me up a job?
It's my passion to get in the industry, and I've just about given up hope.
I don't know what else to do, or what I'm doing wrong.
Any help would be great

[Stressball]

Chances are you haven't done anything wrong; there are just better people on paper than you are. Probably a heavily-applied for line of work too, so you're against a lot of competition.

Just don't put things like "Jesus will bless you if you hire me" I'd file you as 'unable to pave own way, expects work to be done by others' if I saw that lol.

[undersuspicion]

maybe start your own business up? not sure what your financial situation is... In WA i have a mate who started his own earthmoving business, just bought a truck and a bobcat and put ads in the local paper and put flyers out. Now he has a few contracts.

[Astranomical]

All you can do is keep trying. I completed an IT degree last year and have been looking for work since Novemberish. I've had quite a few interviews but still no actual job. Unfortunately you're right when you say that you really need to know someone even to get a foot in the door - I've seen people who are nowhere near as good as me walk straight into a job simply because they know the right people. Its not what you know, its who you know really.

Unfortunately regardless of what the politicians will tell you we are still very much in a recession, people (and businesses) are still really just hanging onto their money at the moment and don't really want to spend, which is also making it harder. All I can say is...good luck!

[ssv 08 ute]

We had a guy over here who stood on a main road with a big sign....needless to say it worked and he was offered multiple jobs.
Bit dramatic i know but hell...at least they will know your very keen and willing to go the extra mile !!

[GLITRES]

Thanks guys, you all made some good points.
I'm not religous so I won't be putting any "God" stuff on my cv hahaha

I guess I'll just have to stick with it. Holding up a sign on the side of the road might work, but I work 45+ hours a week, so by the time I get out there and hold up a sign, no-one will be driving past lol

I've also signed up to a few recruitment agencys and they can't help me much either due to lack of experiance :-(

[doms1]

Tough one ,alot of blokes are subbies in this field that i know ie 1 man show

[emir3008]

if you were in victoria could have maybe got you a job driving an excavator and bobcat doing demolition,

Maybe as others have said have a crack at starting your own company,

A guy i know looked up every single electrician in the yellow pages and sent a mail out with his resume and a cover letter saying hes available to start an apprenticeship at any time, he sent a good 40-50 letters out and got a fair few responses.

anyways good luck with it mate, getting a job nowadays is a c**t.

[Cúl-Báire]

Sounds like you could do with a bit of experience mate, I'd be ringing up larger civil / earth moving contractors and try getting some work experience out of them... Machine operators are a dime a dozen, but good ones are worth their weight in gold.
You could also look at starting your own machine hire company, I've even considered buying a few machines and setting up an earth moving business ( I work in commercial construction and know what they charge...)!

[wickann15]

Sounds like you could do with a bit of experience mate, I'd be ringing up larger civil / earth moving contractors and try getting some work experience out of them... Machine operators are a dime a dozen, but good ones are worth their weight in gold.

Good piece of advice! Another thing you could try is offering to do a days work for free so they can see what you are like. I know of a few people who have gotten jobs doing that.

[elemeNtz]

As previously said as for some work experience
You could even speak with company about working for them or offering your services on the weekend; that wouldn't interfere (presumably) with your current job and gives you some experience also

good luck!

[ClairBear]

Could you remove your name/address and inbox me a copy of your resume. I would just like to check the layout and maybe offer some advice.

[2005vzute]

sashyre's good at this stuff

[piston_broke]

! Another thing you could try is offering to do a days work for free so they can see what you are like. I know of a few people who have gotten jobs doing that.

Good bit of advice there as well, just to get your foot in a door somewhere, sometimes even if it means working for a shit of a boss, to get that basic work experience.
Things have changed a bit these days, but all these sort of jobs i used to get having a few beers at the pub, ironically is where you're at now, where i've never so much as filled out a resume or asked for a reference yet, simply cause i've never had to.
Basically it's sort of a matter of being in the right place at the right time, even if it might mean going down to the local now and then to blow the froth off a few coldies.
Then just ask around, talk to people, even the publican etc etc.

[GenReaper]

I know a couple of supervisors, ill give them a hoy and show them this thread.

[gonnaenodathat]

agency work will be your best chance ! get the odd shift here and there to get in the door when they're desperate ! be flexible ! after a while, you'll have a feel for the job and you have a better chance of getting in the door so to speak !