Hello! at the title suggest im applying for my first job at a petstore, and the application is online (i have a feeling job interviews in general have skewed away from what it used to be because no one ever told me you had to apply through website) right now its smooth sailing except for the fact that I have no idea who to put for references! Im currently in the summer after my first year in college, just FYI i can think of five people to use for personal references (the only thing I can put since i have no job experience) but they all have hang ups 1. My junior year AP environmental science teacher, the hang up being its been 2 years since the class and one year since ive talked to her 2. my last semester studio professor, hang up being my final official grade got changed (for the better btw) and I dont want to ask for another favor on top of all that paper work involved in changing it. And he says i have shit time management skills (which i know of and im working on it, but imo might be best to say that in person than have it found out through a reference) 3. first semester studio professor, hangup being she is the lead professor in last years studio so shes also caught up in the paper work :X 4. last years art history proffesor, hangup being I had/have a bunch of mental stuff on my plate and i nearly failed the second semester (first one got an A) but i talked to her and she helped me bring my grade up to a B and shes really nice 5. first semesters studio TA, hang up being a graduate student? she loves my work but idk ? thanks for what you guys think! and if you have any other tips on job stuff id love to hear it! and if anyone knows where the thing to make a poll is thatd be helpful too
Have you done any part time work of been a paper boy? Is there another adult outside school who knows you well & is a pillar of the community, like a youth leader or a member of the clergy, someone who could give you a good reference, or one of your friends parents who know you & can give you a character reference? One tip I was told when attending an interview, is to imagine the person or people interviewing you as being naked, this is supposed to put you at ease
none of that stuff, and i dont hang out with my friends enough to know their parents well. I mean i have coaches and other stuff, i just feel that these are my best possible references. and that would probably make me want to retch haha :roflmao:
Hard to guess what references would be the best. The ideal is someone who sounds sincerely very enthusiastic about you. Although two look encouraging: the AP teacher (no contact for a year is not a long time), although, as high school, it does sound a little more juvenile than a professor. The TA sounds promising--not an impressive position, but if she loves your work, that is a plus. One thing I will say: don't feel guilty about piles of paperwork. Anyone who teaches is faced with that reality. One of my high school teachers quit teaching early (before retirement age) and changed jobs partly because she was sick to death of paperwork! Also anyone who teaches above a certain level is regularly faced with having to be a reference. One final thought: it may not matter. You can't gamble on this, but there is a chance the potential employer won't even bother checking references.
Is this in the US? And how many references are they actually asking for? if it's a major chain, like a PetSmart, I'd be floored if they expect more than one or two references, and I'd be even more floored if they actually bother to check them. In most cases, large retail chains do little to no reference checking. I had Wal-Mart call me once for a reference on someone that was applying there, and it was a joke. There were exactly two questions, "did you employ this person" and "would he be eligible for rehire" or something. But that's one reference check out of probably 100 instances where someone let me know they'd given me as a reference for a job.
yeah I was thinking the same thing about my old AP teacher, that it being highschool is a little juvenile compared to my other potential references. and thanks for easing my thoughts haha, I'm carbon copied into the email chats between my professors and it looks like the head professor is doing the paperwork. yup, U.S. and they are asking for at least one, but ive been told to have at least two, might look alittle better. and yeah its a major chain (im actually going to check Petsmart after this one) its actually Petco, i didnt know if were allowed to post names here. I was thinking that as well, I think they do it just incase the rest of the application sounds fishy/sketchy or because its standard hiring procedure. I dont think my application has anything that stands out (that's bad at least) so i dont think they will even call but itd be nice to be prepared. to whoever said about some professors being used to being a reference the head professor also does a lot of other stuff so I can assume she has been a refrence once or twice. I want to get cracking on the job app but im inclined to maybe make a decision on who today and email them over the weekend and finish and send it monday
Good luck! Even if you don't get a position with them, this experience will be a good learning experience. This is obvious, but since it's a pet shop...emphasize any strong knowledge you have of pets. And if you have good knowledge of animals, you might even try smaller stores. The plus there is that you can probably wander in and talk to a person who can make hiring decisions. And also if you really shine, that person might hire you on the spot. The thing with smaller stores: they often must have good employees to survive. Chain stores in general can get away hiring idiots whose only qualification is being able to piss a drug free sample in a plastic cup. (Don't laugh. I know of one store in my area that has hired at least one person because he was the only drug free applicant that round.)
I know a lot about pets, save for amphibians, rodents, cats and horses. there is actually a marine fish store maybe a mile or two down the road which i go to for all my saltwater fish needs but i dont think they are hiring oh and if anyone is in for a bit of a laugh, i talked to my dad about it and he said that for all his jobs he just put random people, didnt even give them a heads up, just put friends and family. he told me to do that and i actually might but i think it would be a little better to have one legitimate reference
I was going to suggest the exact same thing. :lol: I used family and friends I haven't talked to in years. It's what I did for both the jobs I've had. Do whatever it takes to get your foot in the door.
I got called as a reference last week. The sole question they asked was "can you confirm that he worked for your organisation from x date to y date?" Shouldn't be a big deal.
Well, it doesn't hurt to check the place where you get fish supplies. Even if they aren't hiring, if they know you now, it'll be an edge when they are hiring. I am impressed that you have saltwater fish. No experience here, but I've heard that saltwater fish are incredibly demanding.
Much easier than keeping a planted freshwater tank (meaning the whole or majority of the tank has live plants in it) What's hard in saltwater is when something goes wrong and half the fish die, so its not really hard just very frustrating at times.
