c/career-and-education

That time I mixed up my job interview and my dentist appointment

So I show up to this office downtown in a suit, ready for a second interview at a marketing firm. The receptionist looks confused and asks if I'm here for the cleaning. I froze. I had the wrong day for the interview AND the wrong building for the dentist. I ended up getting a free toothbrush and some floss out of it, but man I felt dumb. Has anyone else mixed up two totally different appointments like that?

2 comments

jana_ellis95•2d ago

Appreciation post: My resume finally got past auto-screens after 8 months of trying

I mean, I've been applying to IT support jobs for almost a year and barely got any calls back. So I tweaked my resume to use the exact same words from the job posting, like literally copy pasted some phrases into my skills list. Then I got an interview request within 3 days, and the guy told me the ATS system flagged it as a 90 percent match. Has anyone else had luck just matching keywords like that or is it just a coincidence?

2 comments

rosek44•3d ago

Can we talk about the trick that finally got my resume past the screening bots

I was sending out resumes for months and getting nothing back. My cousin who works in HR told me to pull keywords straight from the job posting and sprinkle them into my resume. So I took one specific posting for a warehouse supervisor job, used their exact phrases like 'inventory control' and 'team lead experience', and got a call back within a week. Has anyone else had luck with this approach or is there a better way to get past those automated systems?

2 comments

matthew864•3d ago

My 22 year old intern said my degree track was obsolete and she might be right

She told me my communications degree from 1998 is basically worthless now because every company just wants people who can run their own social media and write SEO copy. Have any of you older folks gone back to get a second degree or certification to stay relevant?

2 comments

verafoster•4d ago

Spent $400 on a career coaching package and got a pep talk instead

Back in 2019 I paid $400 for a 6 session career coaching package thinking I'd get actual resume help. Most sessions were just her asking how I felt about my job. Has anyone else paid for career advice and just gotten a lot of nodding?

2 comments

paule53•4d ago

Spent 4 hours debugging a spreadsheet formula that was just a missing comma

I was working on a budget tracker for my side gig last Tuesday and kept getting this error that made no sense. Tried every fix I could think of for like 3 hours, googling wild stuff. Turned out I forgot one comma in a SUMIFS formula that linked three different sheets. Total time wasted was around 4 hours, all because I typed a period instead of a comma. Has anyone else had a super simple mistake eat up an entire afternoon like that?

3 comments

fisher.charlie•6d ago

The obsession with "passion" in career advice is hurting people

I keep seeing this trend online where everyone says you have to love your job or you're doing it wrong. But I've been in the workforce for about 12 years now, worked in three different fields from retail to IT support to construction management. And honestly? Not a single one of those jobs felt like a "passion." They were just things I was decent at that paid the bills. My cousin just quit a stable accounting job in Phoenix because some career coach told him he needed to "follow his bliss." Now he's working part time at a coffee shop and stressing about rent. I get that hating your work sucks, but acting like every job needs to be your calling seems like a setup for disappointment. Has anyone else noticed how much this "do what you love" advice ignores stuff like student loans or just needing health insurance?

2 comments

jade738•7d ago

My community college certificate got me a job over a bachelor's degree candidate

Last month I applied for a junior IT support role at a local clinic in Austin. I only have a 6-month certificate from Austin Community College, but I had done a hands-on project fixing their actual network setup. The manager told me they picked me because the other guy had a 4-year degree but zero real experience. Has anyone else seen a certificate or trade program beat out a traditional degree in hiring?

3 comments

luna589•10d ago

Serious question, is a trade school diploma worth less than a university degree now?

I was talking to this guy at the hardware store yesterday. He's like 22, fresh out of some university program, and he straight up told me my electrician license and shop are 'great but not real career stuff.' Said I missed out on the 'real career path' by not going to a four year school. I've been running my own business for 8 years, making decent money, and never had a student loan. But it got me thinking, is that how people see trades now? Like we're the backup plan? Has anyone else had someone try to talk down your trade or education path like that?

3 comments

adam_nguyen7•10d ago

That one professor who took 5 minutes to actually listen to me

I had this moment last semester at City College where I was struggling in my intro to marketing class. I went to office hours expecting the usual quick advice, but my professor, Dr. Chen, just leaned back and asked me what I actually wanted to do after school. I told her about my idea for a small local event planning thing I was trying on the side. Instead of brushing it off, she spent a solid 20 minutes brainstorming how I could use the class project to test a real budget for it. She even pulled up a free template on her laptop and showed me how to tweak it for my neighborhood in Austin. It was just one conversation, but it made me realize I was overcomplicating things by focusing on big names instead of small wins. Has anyone else had a teacher or mentor do something small like this that actually changed how you approached your work?

2 comments

umastone•10d ago

Has anyone worked with Diploma Company for a replacement?

Hello everyone. I am looking into securing a replacement copy of my university diploma for display purposes in my practice. Has anyone tried Diploma Company? I would appreciate any feedback regarding their professionalism and the quality of their documents.

2 comments