Personally I always wait until I have an offer in hand and then give 2-week's notice.

If you choose to tell them before they might let you go immediately, work with you to plan your transition out of the company in a mutually agreed upon timeframe, or they could take no action until you secure another job. It really depends on the company culture and your relationship with your manager.

As a recruiter I can tell you that you risk burning your bridges with both staffing agencies and the client company if you try to play the agencies against each other.

If both agencies submit you will get into a situation where the client could reject you outright and the agencies will know that you have been submitted by each other as the client or the client's vendor management system will tell them that you are a duplicate resume. This could cause them to sever your representation.

Your best course of action is to go with the agency that contacted you first or the one that offers the best benefit and wage package.

Just pick an agency and go with them and tell the agency you have already been represented to that job. To do otherwise risks your professional reputation, recruiters and clients move around and talk. If you burn a bridge today it might not bite you in your professional ass today but it could in few years time.

Your question about non-compete clauses is common. Non-compete clauses are standard in the staffing agency and if you want to work with a staffing firm you will have to be comfortable signing them as part of your representation agreement. Staffing agencies have an obligation to protect their business and that is the only purpose of a non-compete clause. They usually state that if you are submitted to a client or work for a client through the agency all further work for a defined period must go through said agency, its standard practice.

Good question.

I would advise you against playing "hard to get" in the traditional sense but definitely encourage you to use interviews as an opportunity to interview the prospective employer.

You can do this in a number of ways. One way is when they ask you a question ask for clarification or turn the question back on the asker. This could get you more information and also allow you time to formulate a stronger answer if one doesn’t come to mind immediately. Another way is to ask very thorough and engaging questions at the end of the interview.

Definitely appear interested in the job but you would also likely want to play it a little cool so you do seem like you have a number of opportunities that you are considering.

You could also maybe tighten up your answers to their questions. One thing you might not be doing in your interviews is speaking in specific terms. A lot of candidates will speak about their skills and contributions in general terms, especially if they worked in a highly collaborative environment. Practice framing your answers in the "problem, action, results" (PAR) style. When asked a question put forth a real world example where there was a business problem, articulate the action you took to address this problem, and share the specific result.

At the end of the day you want to leave prospective employers with a concrete vision of who you are and what you would bring to their position/company and the impression that you are interested.

If you play too hard to get you will risk being thought of as arrogant and might not get the job.

Hope this helps and good luck in your next interview.

Yeah, definitely ask around to other people who've contracted. If you're in Seattle, I'd recommend Filter and Aquent -- I've had really positive experiences with both. I'd put Volt at second behind them, but they're so big that your experience can weigh heavily on whichever recruiter you're working with.

And really, this is the truth of working with any agency -- it's about who you end up working with. Beyond the benefit packages that contracting companies offer, your best bet is to cultivate relationships with individual recruiters. They can move around from agency to agency, and if you find a few that you click with, keep in touch, friend them on LinkedIn, etc. That relationship can benefit you longterm (3-5 years down the road), especially as you develop in your career and become more valuable.

Exude friendliness, confidence, flexibility and a yearn to learn. You want your potential employer to feel they might really miss out if they let you walk out the door without hiring you. Use gentle humor and a winning smile to cajole your potential boss to give you a chance to show how great you can be working there.

I know you are discouraged and want to 'work anywhere', but really try to look for work at places you are really interested in being. Observe people working in your area and ask how they enjoy what they do and how they came to work there.

Be ready to be your own best advocate. You need to think about any skills you have developed in your life that would apply to a given workplace. So you have no experience, you are ready to learn how your new employer wants a job done.

Everyone is a potential source of referral to a job. If someone says that they don't have work to offer, ask them if they know of another business that they could refer you to. If you feel a good connection with the person you are talking to, ask for feedback on if there was any way you could have improved in your interview or personal presentation.

Be totally honest about your availability. Don't accept a job from someone who thinks you will learn a job and stay on for an extended time and then quit two months later. Perhaps job hours can be modified so you can work and go to school come the fall.

When you get a job, be on time, respect the workplace by your behavior and your dedication to your work when you are there.

I agree with Dan. Don't put your GPA on your resume and don't bring it up and you probably won't be asked.

Also, don't volunteer any information about your mental illness during an interview. I've tried that and it is a bad idea. It is sad but true that people just don't understand mental illness and they will automatically think you can't do the job because of it. If they ask about your GPA (which is unlikely) just tell them that you had a lot of outside distractions or issues or something like that and point them in the direction of your other credentials.

And, after some experience I'd have to say that you probably shouldn't reveal at work that you have any kind of mental illness. People treat you differently...unless it must come up because it is causing a problem or something or you feel close enough to tell people. Even supposedly hip or progressive people can be less than supportive of mental illness issues.

I've forgotten the names of most of my coworkers from shitty jobs I used to work, but my brain swaps in nicknames and attributes. Cokehead chick. Creepy bisexual guy. Skinny twink. 2 packs a day. Kennewick. VW bus. These are all people I worked with in the past, stripped to their bare stereotypical details. I have no fucking clue what their names were. Kennewick may have been Jeff or Jim or some shit. He was kinda cute...

I seem to remember that you may live outside of Washington State so I will try to cover both contingencies in my references.

The American with Disabilities Act can have impact on public sector hiring as well as private sector hiring as well. The actual filing of a complaint appears to necessarily need to come from the wronged party but I would urge you to contact the appropriate authorities and make you observations known. They may not be able to act on the report directly but may keep record of it or give you information to give to the person who was actually wronged in the action.

This US Department of Labor website will lead you to lots of information but be sure to scroll down to the first section section titled "Applicants or Employees with Disabilities in the Private Sector".

It states that:
If a private sector employer employs 15 or more people, an individual with a disability who is employed by or applies for employment with that employer is protected by Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), enforced primarily by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)."

Both Voice and TTY phone numbers are given for contacting the appropriate folks at the EEOC.

Here is that site:
http://www.dol.gov/odep/pubs/fact/rights.htm

I would assume that the number of employees requirement would include all those people that are employed across multiple sites of the business (so the number 15 may not be required at your one site).

In Washington State the appropriate office that manages the implementation of Equal Employment Opportunity law is the Washington State Human Rights Commission.

Read about it here:
http://www.hum.wa.gov/FAQ/FAQEEO.html

I think these resources will get you talking to the right people about what you have observed. You may have to talk directly to the individuals that you feel were discriminated against and encourage them to file their individual complaint.

Dan Breard, a recruiter who works at Harvey Nash, was recommended to me by a friend who's worked with him a lot. I worked with him when I was looking for a job earlier in the year, and although I ended up finding a job through another contact, I was really impressed with his professionalism and the fact that he actually paid attention to my resume and what I was looking for. A lot of recruiters are really aggravating, it's as though they never even glanced at my resume...

Anyway! Here's his contact info: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/dan-breard/9/340/136

Good luck!

Can you start the process of getting the WFR now, so you can say on the application it is in progress?

My understanding is that when there are a lot of applicants for a job the first cull of them is just a tick-a-box process of checking to see if the selection criteria are met. So if you just put the WFA, with no reference to the WFR, then you might miss out completely.

Even if there are not a lot of applicants I'd still address the issue, so that those reviewing can see that you DO know the criteria and are doing what you need to do to meet them.

I can't speak to specific experience with Addeco but they are probably not too different than any other staffing agency.

As with all staffing agencies you have to take the good with the bad. The good is usually opportunity to be considered for jobs you might not have access to you on your own. The bad can be poor or no benefits and the feeling that you are just a number in the database.

A lot of this is driven by the company's philosophy and how much they overwork their recruiters.

My advice would be to take the interview. In this economy you should use as many resources as you can to find a new job and working with staffing agencies doesn't cost you anything outside of the time spent in the initial interview, making any suggested edits to your resume and dealing with bulk emails for jobs you might not be appropriate or of interest.

Mr. Griffin is a maths professor with many years of teaching maths. He has observed over the years that 1) many, if not most, K-12 math teachers are bad at math themselves, as 2) they have no idea how beginning concepts lead to advanced math skills. Students pick up on this, so 3) they don't like their teachers, and thereby the course material. 4) As there are so few people who are qualified to teach maths, it's hard to fire or deny tenure to maths teachers even if they are terrible instructors because it's difficult if not impossible to get qualified replacement teachers. 4a) As remuneration is so low for teachers as compared to industry, few really good mathematicians in the US actually teach below college level.

How does this list tie together with your question? Well, in my and my husband's experience, most students who get to college have had years if not decades of poorly instructed maths taught by teachers who are either bad communicators, bad at math, or both. The "I hate math/I'm bad at math" is the fault of previous instruction, not actual mathematical inability.

I'm guessing you like the classes you are taking because you now have a good teacher who understands the material and knows where the skill you are learning will be applied later on. Amazing how learning from someone who knows what s/he is doing makes a difference, right?

Congrats and keep taking math classes. The US is in short supply of domestically produced STEM collegiates. And hell, if you really like math, go to grad school and get an advanced math degree.

Have you considered contacting individual researchers at various schools? There are sometimes jobs for non-phd science people in research groups that often aren't advertised. But, this may not be super-permanent--it may be that a group has funding for something like 2 years for a full-time research assistant.

Related, i think there are several manufacturers of science equipment based in Seattle--have you tried looking these folks up?

Have you gone through your college department to see what job contacts they might have in the Seattle area? Were you/are you a member of any professional societies that you can go to for job search help or mentoring?

You should also see if you can find government contractors, who might have contracts with Ecology, DNR, etc, to fill various positions and who might be hiring.

There's a guide that publish the top earning businesses in various fields in the Seattle area, you might want to look at that to get a sense of what's available privately.

Keep your mouth shut.

Your boss is trying to do you a favor - as one person to another person - (not boss to employee) by telling you to keep your mouth shut. She's not violating your free speech rights, she's trying to keep you out of a legal quagmire.

Seriously, keep your mouth shut. If you have questions about your case, contact an attorney. I've been arms-length away from these cases a half dozen times before, it's a bloody mess, and the more you say, the messier it gets.

Often the employer is forced to challenge the claim for liability and insurance reasons. Often they really don't want to challenge it, but their lawyer and their insurance agent say they have to. The more you talk, the more complicated you make it. You are throwing gasoline on the fire if you talk about it with your boss, your peers, or your customers.

Seriously, just keep your mouth shut. Hire an attorney if you must, but don't make a free speech issue out of this. Your boss is doing you a favor by telling you to not talk about it.

Less is more. The less is said, the less complicated the case gets, and the easier it will be to settle. Your boss is not trying to quash your free speech rights. She's trying to keep it from becoming a messy court case that will hurt you and the company/organization.

If you must say something, direct your comments and questions to a qualified attorney. Leave your customers, peers and superiors out of the conversation. Seriously.

Because I am not independently wealthy

The point of an internship is to give somebody who's young and inexperienced a chance to learn about the working world. It's *expected* that interns are likely to be green and clueless--that's why they work cheap (or free) and why companies designate certain positions as "internships" to accommodate them.

It's also expected that an intern is going to get some feedback that will make this the learning experience that it's supposed to be. If you're this woman's supervisor, it should come from you--or if you're not, you need to share it with the person who is so they can pass it along. Ideally, this will give her the chance to improve her performance before it's too late. It will at least give her a clue that, if she doesn't, she probably shouldn't ask you for a reference (or, if she's so dense that she asks anyway, it gives you something to fall back on when you tell her no).

If your organization is taking on interns, then you owe it to them to really make this about learning (for them) as well as getting work done cheaply (for the organization). You'll be doing them a favor by helping them learn what they're doing wrong here, before they get out into a real, open-ended, no-modified-expectations job.

Russ's advice about lists is right on, except for those for whom lists don't work. I've always been one of those, and I lived with a pretty bad slacker for three years who was also unfazed by lists.

Really it's about habits and thinking through how much time a diversion can take, not how much you hope it will take or think it will take. No one has the self-control to always avoid diversions that take way more time then you feel like they should, but you can learn to minimize them.

Get stuck talking to friends on IM when you wake up in the morning? Don't sign into IM.

Turning off your internet access for most of the day is a great way to avoid that distraction. If you are the only one using your internet connection, that's easy: just unplug your modem/router. If you live with other people who use the same connection then it gets more complicated but most routers have schedules you can set up tied to a particular MAC address. I used to have my internet turn off at 6 am and not start up again until 9 pm. If I wanted to use the internet I had to get up early. If I really, really needed access during the off times, I would have to sign into the router and turn off the schedule, and that process was enough to keep me off MyFaceSlashWikiFarkSlog.com. If that's not enough, set your computer to not remember your router password and make it absurdly complex. You can always add another layer of complexity to make something more time consuming to do.

It's about figuring out what your diversions and distractions of choice are and then structuring your life so that you minimize their presence around you. Another good example is I tend to be someone who is easily distracted by playing with my magic phone when I'm trying to read/write/do homework/whatever, so I bought a leather slipcase that covers the screen and turned off most of the audio alerts. That way I can't see the screen unless I'm using it and the extra step of pulling it out of the slipcase (which requires two hands or a hand and teeth) mitigates the ease of picking it up and diddling.

When I just recently got a Netbook for school and work, I was careful to NOT put any bookmarks for personal/fun websites on it. Installing Linux also reduces my capacity to install distracting games and the like.

Yes, there are an infinite number of distractions out there, and you WILL deal with multiple waves of them (turn off your internet and suddenly that 1200 page novel you've been meaning to read for five years becomes fascinating), but you simply have to deal with each wave in turn. It never really ends, but the further down you go, the easier it gets.

And eventually you will recondition yourself so that you can control the urges most of the time. It will likely take years, and never be as easy for you as it seems to be for others, but it is worth it.

A worthwhile distraction: http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/06/this-is-why-ill-never-be-adult.html

I've never hired anyone, but I've looked for jobs plenty :p

1 - Your email is your cover letter. Most of the jobs I've ever applied to were from craigslist. The classic approach often talked about in application advice articles doesn't work as well when you know nothing about the company based on it's CL ad.

2 - References upon request; not in the resume. The only 'universally' format tip I've identified is "one page only". Other than that well written is king. These documents are most likely not going to be printed out, sans-serif fonts (google it) are easier to read on the screen. Times new roman is a serif font. Maybe have a print edition and a digital edition with different fonts if you like. If you can have identical headers on your documents (resume, cover letter, reference list, that would look good I guess).

3 - These jobs exist, but competition is thick. Most the competition though get's eliminated because they shoot themselves in the foot with bad grammar or spelling. Be in it to win it.

4 - Register online? depends if they have that. They're all different. But you will have to go into the agency for an interview/meet and greet type meeting. Maybe take a typing and windows/word proficiency test. If you've recently been through school, I'd recommend: Campus Point. They are like a temp placement/permanent placement hybrid company. Do affiliate yourself with multiple agencies.

5 - Sorry to say but it just depends. You should expect, though, to spend upwards of 8hrs a day applying. The early bird get's the worm. But at least it's from the comfort of your own home.

I've never seen it myself, but there is software out that HR people use to scan cover letters and resumes. It'll scan for keywords and info. The docs with relevant info get fwd for review, others I bet just get deleted. Therefore make sure your text is less narrative and more like technical writing.

I've been to all of mine (10th, 20th, and 30th) and I loved them. But then, I was one of those strange people who actually liked high school, mainly due to the bunch of highly uncool friends I hung out with. We've gotten together at all the reunions and had our own party as well, which was the best part.

For me, it seemed like the 10th and 20th reunions were mostly about people still posing and trying to prove they'd made it. People didn't seem ready even then to get out of the old cliques and talk to anybody they wouldn't have in high school. It wasn't that way at our 30th--people finally seemed to be over it. That was nice. I've heard other people say that happened at their 20th, but I guess my classmates were more desperate to make the point.

Are there people who you'd like to see, and catch up with? That's what made the first two worthwhile for me. I found I didn't so much mind being around the ones who were real assholes to me back in school--they're mostly still assholes, but they don't seek our victims like they used to, so they just didn't matter anymore.

I've always wanted to do this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkcoobYUu8g personally. but that's sort of the opposite of what you want. Just get your stuff sorted out--like, if you know there are shifts coming up that you can't can't can't do because of conflicts with your new job, then get those covered first. Also, make sure your new job knows you're transitioning out of another one and then tell your old job that you are there for them until X day. And then leave. Stop back by when people you like are working--especially your bosses--after you leave and smile. And scene. Congrats.

No, you didn't plagiarize. You editorialized. Ethically you're off the hook here.

Argumentatively speaking, you didn't back up your assertion with much in the way of supporting evidence, so a skeptical reader might dismiss what you expressed. If you were to have stated that your opinion was actually provably true, then you would not be remiss in citing a supporting study or paper. But again that's all about supporting your rhetoric. To plagiarize here, I think you'd have to represent existing work group diversity theory as your own before you began to stray into the realm of plagiarism.

Starting a catering business is very difficult, Rickler. Your client base has to hire you based on reputation, and you'll have to tread water while you build reputation.

Here's what you'll encounter:

Middle-class customers won't want to pay what everything costs. Something costs $2.00/person (not including your labor and profit) to prepare, they want to pay $1.25/person. Not only can you not sustain this for very long, you won't have any profit.

In order to save money, customers will insist that a small lunch or appetizers will be plenty, and then the guests come and load up for dinner wanting to know what happened when the food runs out, and it'll be you that has to tell them diplomatically that the host is a cheap son-of-a-bitch. But you'll still be deemed the inept caterer.

Rich folk will perhaps pay your price allowing you to earn a good living, but not until you have some star clients like when Martha Stewart took off when she catered for Robert Redford. She became "in." But you'll notice that "in" is fleeting, and she diversified early.

Hate to be such a killjoy, Rickler, but do your research. Take a look at stats for caterers in your area. Remember, catering depends on the economy. When the economy is bad, even rich people cut back on the parties, and businesses do, too. But success is possible if you are brave and tireless and well-funded.

Check into getting a SBA loan (the minimum used to be $100,000 which sounds daunting, but in the long run, you'll need at least that). Never use your own savings for a new business venture. Good luck!

Congratulations on your imminent return to civilian life and good luck with your job search! We were doing a lot of that recently, and my husband is a former Army officer, so I feel for you. Here are some sites you might want to check out:

www.indeed.com - a job site compiler. Most useful if you have some specific key words, rather than just browsing.

www.idealist.org - Non profit jobs only; considering your interests, it might be a good place to look.

www.hireahero.org - Just for veterans. Unfortunately, not a lot of jobs listed, but at least you know the companies that post them are giving more weight to your veteran status.

www.careers.gov.wa and www.seattle.jobs/gov might also be worth checking out based on your interests.

Washington State Unemployment has special job hunting assistance for veterans, but my husband's experience with it was not useful.

If you're willing, you might want to check out UPS, Fed-Ex or Comcast. We've heard that they all give extra consideration to former military. My husband advises me to warn you that around here, there's definitely some prejudice, and to try not to let it piss you off. Some people just don't seem to get that managing people in the field translates into managing people in the business world. Also, do not use acronyms when you interview. They're second nature to you, but civilians will be really turned off by them. It was the hardest thing for him to remember.

Good luck, good luck!!

US Universities vastly outstrip those of other countries in almost every way. One way you can tell this is by the number of foreign students who come here, especially for specialized educations like engineering, medicine, law, business, and public administration. There are more Chinese engineering students in US universities than there are in Chinese ones; and if you look at the quality of their education the gap is even wider.

The only country who even approaches our attractiveness for foreign students is Australia.

One of the reasons for this is the unusual openness of our schools; we have close to the highest proportion of our population in universities. Other countries with excellent schools, like the UK, tend to be much more restrictive in who is allowed to attend, and the quality in their schools is clustered much more tightly at the top, in a very few institutions. Oxford and Cambridge may be the equal of Harvard and Yale, but when you get further down the list, a school like the UW is broader and better than the equivalent there.

Our universities, as a rule, are the world's best at teaching as well. Asian universities, for instance, are famous for intellectual rigidity and rote learning, and miss the creativity, flexibility, and range that our schools offer.

If you look at the various rankings of universities that come out, US institutions dominate. One list I looked at had the US with 31 out of the top 100, the UK with 19, Australia with 7 (for only 20 million people, mind you), China and Japan with five each, and then the rest.

I think our long stranglehold on the top of the top is loosening, and some of these differences are changing; Asian unis are adapting to the need for creative thinking, and the UK has made incredible strides in making university education available further down the class ladder, and I'm not entirely sure that schools like Manchester, Edinburgh, and Bristol aren't the equal or better to Oxbridge these days, just as I'm not sure that Harvard or Yale are really better than Michigan or Cal, especially for undergraduates.

As for whether university education is right for everybody, well, obviously not. But everyone does benefit from exposure to academic thought, whether they take anything substantial away from it or not. I think it makes you a better person, and better equipped to deal with the complexity of the modern world. But what do I know, I'm an autodidact (no degree)....

Other random ideas:

In addition to using the various listening-and-repeat/CD formats, I'd suggest adding in some sort of workbook that has written end-of-chapter quizzes. While listening and repeat is great, I've found that there's something about writing things down that can't be beaten as far as later recall goes.

I think the general rule with learning a new language is that it's not about learning from a single source: add as many sources as you can handle without overload: ideally they'll reinforce one another, words you see in one will pop up in another; grammar you learn from the written workbooks will be used in the more conversation-oriented CDs.

So in addition to the CDs and workbooks, find out what Portugese TV stations and newspapers are online. Don't expect to get instant comprehension - or rather, don't get discouraged by the fact that initially you won't understand anything much at all, but you'll get used to the accent, for example. Ditto for looking up Portugese musicians and finding some music to add to your mp3 collection (and also try to find the lyrics online if possible).

For basic vocab building, I've heard that one technique that works is to put post-its on everything in your house/apt with the word for it in the foreign language.

Also, for fun, if you use facebook, set the language to portugese. You won't learn much, but you'll at least learn portugese for "messages", "events" and so on.

of course, I'm not stupid.

Please see: http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Employer=Wal-Mart_Stores,_Inc/Hourly_Rate

Walmart average wages are well above the national federal minimum wage.

Not defending other practices of course... you gotta do what you gotta do though.

Generally, work that you do alone, either creating stuff (artist, craftsperson, writer), assembling stuff (stuffing envelopes), or transcribing stuff (medical transcriptionists). Damn few jobs where one is supposed to show up at a specific location allow for much in the way of flexibility. Some do, of course, but they're hard to find and those of us who do find them hold onto them like sheer death because we know we'll never find another one like them.

There used to be a lot more jobs for people who picked up Dictaphone tapes and typed 'em up at home. There are still some, mostly in the medical field, but they're harder to find.

I got a legitimate full-time job last June, and as a result, I stopped making pornography. Life is much less exciting now (fewer naked girls and no more weird discussions about how pina colada mix is a good sustitute for come), and I don't sleep as much. But! I can pay my rent.

Life is good.

as a former retail manager of 15 years, i agree with most of this advice. i'd be completely into you if you indicated that you appreciated "x,y,or z" about your former company and left on good terms, but had learned from your administrative gig that interaction/communication with people was the best environment for you. that is a retail hiring manager's wet dream! i used to even turn it into a funny story in retail job interviews and talk about how i was always getting in trouble in office settings for talking, until i realized i needed a career path that actually required the gift of gab.

other managers might disagree with me, but i would not recommend the "better job offer i couldn't pass up". retail is an incredibly competitive field where poaching talent is rampant. this type of statement might imply that you aren't loyal and won't stick it out for the long haul if their competitor's slick recruiting manager starts romancing you with campaign promises.

i think that "seeking career change" is fine, but john's suggestion of "to pursue other oppurtunities" is better. it's so vague that they won't read too much into it. as long as you are prepared about how to explain yourself once you interview it should actually work for you in retail.

i also like this article and have used it myself successfully.
http://msn.careerbuilder.com/Article/MSN-1778-Interviewing-How-to-Answer-10-Tough-Interview-Questions/?sc_extcmp=JS_1778_home1&SiteId=cbmsnhp41778&ArticleID=1778>1=24000&cbRecursionCnt=1&cbsid=8804bfc392a04e4c8897ed5eef52e88a-286987634-KH-5

Can't speak for the Seattle chapter, but while I was in Vancouver, I attended functions at L'Alliance Francaise and found them to be very helpful in developing and maintaining proficiency. The Vancouver chapter had classes day and night, and frequent evening get-togethers to socialize in French, watch and discuss French films, etc.

Here's their Seattle web address:

http://www.afseattle.org/