How can I recruit job hunters to talk to me for my thesis?

December 22, 2004 10:31 AM

Finding Job Hunters : I need to get 30-50 job hunters to talk to me about their job searches. I've tried recruiting in all the obvious (to me) places, but I'm not having much luck. I need ideas on how/where to find job hunters and what i can do to encourage participation. [MI]
posted by duck to Work & Money (23 answers total)

Well I'm a job hunter...what do you need to know?
posted by yodelingisfun at 10:34 AM on December 22, 2004

I used to be a job hunter - for a good 2 years - and then found my perfect job almost on accident a few months ago. I'd probably be a good interview, too.
posted by u.n. owen at 10:35 AM on December 22, 2004

Oh yeah, and in the middle I had the most varied temping experiences imaginable. Everything from being a secretary to a copywriter for an ad agency to a nanny to a research assistant in a medical research laboratory.
posted by u.n. owen at 10:39 AM on December 22, 2004

Response by poster: This is for my thesis, so if I don't find people I don't graduate and that would make me very sad.

I've posted flyers in employment centres, community centres, libraries, supermarkets, and at bus stops near employment centres. I've posted online on craigslist, the monster.com discussion boards, usenet, meetup, and I've even bought google adwords. I need people looking for entry-level work, so I've also posted flyers at career centres for colleges and universities.

I've also let everyone I know know what I'm looking for. Unfortunately, my social network consists mostly of other grad students who know yet more grad students. Many also live in other places and I need people who accessible to me by public transit (fortunately public transit is good here).

No luck. (well actually, very little luck).

I think my message is probably getting out there, but of course I'm asking people for a favour and they have no reason to go out of their way to help me...I'm paying for interviews, but not enough to make it worth their time (it's my own money, so I can't afford to pay more).

So I'm stuck for ideas, and I could use some fresh perspective... If you were a job hunter, where would you hide and how could I get you to come out?
posted by duck at 10:40 AM on December 22, 2004

Post here? Seriously, there are a lot of us and I'd have no issue with helping you. If you need local hunters then maybe find out if you can put up a flyer at your local unemployment office? Go hang out at those painfully hip bars and coffee shops in your area and ask the patrons...Herein PDX there are an awful lot of unemployed people so it seems like we're tripping over each other.
posted by yodelingisfun at 10:44 AM on December 22, 2004

Or you could offer them job leads or networking opportunities in exchange for helping you out.
posted by pomegranate at 10:50 AM on December 22, 2004

Good idea pomegranate --

Also, as a grad student you probably have wordprocessing, editing, and writing skillz, so maybe offer them an hour of help with their CV, application letters, that sort of thing?
posted by Rumple at 11:33 AM on December 22, 2004

I know a recruiter and am associated with several job sites, so I could probably hook you up. Drop me an email.
posted by dbarefoot at 11:44 AM on December 22, 2004

>>I've posted online on craigslist, the monster.com discussion boards, usenet, meetup, and I've even bought google adwords.

Sweetie, why don't you try METAFILTER TEXT ADS?
posted by naxosaxur at 11:50 AM on December 22, 2004

I'm unemployed. If you want to chat with me, send me an email.
posted by pwb503 at 11:55 AM on December 22, 2004

You're going to have to go to the employment centers in person. Have flyers that say "Get Paid for Your Opinion!" Give them to people. Ask the people for their contact information, don't just give them yours. Then follow up with them.
posted by Sidhedevil at 12:14 PM on December 22, 2004

I am employed now, but from 2001-October of this year I searched and searched for a permanent job, with a lot of temping along the way. I have several friends who are still hunting too. Email me, I'll be happy to talk to you about my search and I will see if my friends will do the same.
posted by SisterHavana at 12:17 PM on December 22, 2004

I'm paying for interviews, but not enough to make it worth their time (it's my own money, so I can't afford to pay more).

Are you paying enough to cover the cost of a meal? Would it be possible to offer to pay for lunch (say) as opposed to (say) handing them a $10 bill? (Somehow, getting a free meal sounds more compatible with doing-a-favor than getting a small dollar amount.) How much of their time are you asking for?
posted by WestCoaster at 12:31 PM on December 22, 2004

Response by poster: Thanks everyone...especially those who are volunteering to talk to me. I actually need people in Toronto only (since the thesis will focus on a single labour market to avoid having to deal with variations between labour markets and since I do need to meet with people in person).

I actually can't offer any sort of job-search related services since this would mess up my data (if i'm studying how people look for work, I can't interfere with how they do it).

Employment/unemployment centres are located on private property (often in malls) and they will not let me "solicit" there. Even putting up flyers is a battle.

Apologies if I sound like I'm responding to all your suggestions with whining. I really do welcome the help and I will check out metafilter textads now.
posted by duck at 12:37 PM on December 22, 2004

Response by poster: I'm paying $10 for about an hour long interview an extra five minutes (3 months from the interview to find out if they got a job -- not in person, on paper or on the web).

Probably not enough for a meal...and since I need to know if they got a job, the payment gets me that last piece of data... I'm not sure a meal would do it.
posted by duck at 12:41 PM on December 22, 2004

What university are you at, Duck?

My brother recently graduated from U of T and spent a good 5 or 6 months looking for a job (he finally got one a couple months ago). He found the job via U of T's employment services for recent graduates, so perhaps you could go through them to solicit participants?

Also, I am pretty sure my bro has friends who are still job hunting. Contact me by e-mail (jkparker at gmail) if you want me to put you in touch with them.

As far as compensation goes, is there any chance you could get a local business to donate some sort of "prize" (e.g. TV, DVD player) and enter all participants into a draw for the prize? I know some university ethics boards will not approve draws like this but yours might.

Shame on your advisor for not offering to pay participants out of his/her research grant! That was how things worked when I did my masters.
posted by sanitycheck at 1:02 PM on December 22, 2004

Many job posting boards allow employers to search resumes. Couldn't you also gain access to these resumes?

Or search google, which turns up a number of Toronto-based job searchers through their MS Word resumes (for example).
posted by croutonsupafreak at 3:17 PM on December 22, 2004

Yeah, I was going to say, not only shold your university have a centre to help students find jobs, but individual professors probably know tons of people who are looking for jobs.

I would try the following:
- Talking to the post-undergrad employment help people. There may be one general department and there may be, in addition, one person in each specialized School who's job is to find jobs for graduates.
- Talking to student organizations that help graduates find jobs. For instance, the Food Industry Leadership Centre at my old school helped one of my friends find a management job with (blech) WalMart. The Supply and Logistics Management Association found one of my other friends a *great* job in Seattle.
- Find out who the most popular professors or the heads of programs are. This should not be hard. These professors typically help their pet students find jobs after graduation by using their personal network. They probably know TONS of freshly graduated students who are looking for jobs.

In summary, you've got a university that's a huge interpersonal network right at your fingertips. Rather than trying to work through hostile employment centres and talk to people who don't know you from a traffic bollard, why not use the network you already have access to (the professors and official school people, not just your friends) to get introductions and meet people?
posted by SpecialK at 3:36 PM on December 22, 2004

Oh, another good reason to talk to those associations is that they often maintian alumni mailing lists. A few of them sending out emails on that mailing list should net you plenty of responses.
posted by SpecialK at 3:37 PM on December 22, 2004

Response by poster: sanitycheck: Just to defend my advisor, he could not pay my participants out of his grant money. Grants are allocated for specific research projects and since my research is in no way related to his he could not spend his grant money on my research.

I think having advisors' grants fund grad student research is more common in fields or departments where students do research closely related to their advisors' or where professors are doing large projects with several grad students getting their own "piece" of the research.
posted by duck at 7:28 PM on December 22, 2004

duck (and sanitycheck):

U of T is closed until January 3rd, so I don't think there'll be much luck in trying to post anything there until then. But if you can wait, why not post an online ad at the U of T Career Centre, rather than a flyer? I imagine that most tech-savvy graduates and others seeking jobs will be checking in online, rather than coming to the campus. I've seen other ads for studies seeking participants, so I doubt you'll have a problem posting. And it's free! www.careers.utoronto.ca.

Also, have you tried advertising or approaching people in or around an HRDC Centre? Lots of people go there for job searching, getting SIN cards, EI matters... I'm sure, as a governmental facility, they might be a little more inclined to be of assistance, or at least let you stand outside with a sandwich sign. :) The one I went to was at Yonge and St. Clair, more info here.

Too bad I didn't know about your study a few months ago.... Graduated in June, and got hired in August. If you forward me a copy of the flyer (greatgefilte at hotmail), I'd be most happy to pass it along to any job seekers I can think of.

Good luck!
posted by greatgefilte at 11:56 PM on December 22, 2004

Have you considered local clergy? they often know who is looking for work
posted by Megafly at 7:21 AM on December 23, 2004

I think my message is probably getting out there, but of course I'm asking people for a favour and they have no reason to go out of their way to help me...I'm paying for interviews, but not enough to make it worth their time (it's my own money, so I can't afford to pay more).

It is possible that offering too little money drives people away. Once you have given them the idea that the time should be worth money they will think about weather all the costs/benefits of helping you add up. I think there isn't any point offering money unless it is enough to impress the people you are targeting. The gauge would be the amount market researchers pay (2-3x what you are offering?).

It is possible that people will respond more if you are asking for their charity.

Employment/unemployment centres are located on private property (often in malls) and they will not let me "solicit" there. Even putting up flyers is a battle.

I think you are worrying too much about the official bureaucracy. If you go when it is really crowded how are they going to know what you are up to? The job bank computers at Dufferin mall are often crawling with people (I think), just go when it is crowded. If they do find out, what is the worst that can happen? Just take it easy, be discreet, be polite, when/if you are confronted be compliant and friendly, and move to another location when you have to. (not something I would be good at, but necessity dictates...)

Of course you can always hang out just outside the door per greatgefilte's suggestion too.

(more Toronto Filter... cool!)
posted by Chuckles at 1:28 AM on December 24, 2004