Chicago - Business Network

The_Poznan

hi folks,

mature student (30) graduating from smurfit ucd in Aug with an MSc Supply Chain Management. the plan is to get a yr long working visa and head to chicago with the intention of staying long term. Just wondering if there is an equivalent website to the thebluebrick.com for food or pharmaceutical companies? plan is to send out 100's of CV's to companies until I get a favourable response...i know a guy who succeeded in getting a 12month contract by using this method. looking forward to yer positive responses...cheerz

Black Swan

For Big Pharma why don't you consider getting a list of them and then look for jobs on their websites?

The_Poznan

Hey Black Swan,

thanks for your reply...yeah thats wot ive done but looking for a big list of companies together that can identified to a particular city - like you can do on the bluebookbook.com except thats for construction companies only.

Killer Wench

Dude, with a supply chain gig, you need to think strategically because this is an on demand degree. Are you deadset on Chicago?

dave2pvd

Look on Thomasnet.com

Forget about CVs. Tailor your 'CV' into a proper American resume, or risk it getting trashcanned without even a second glance. Don't underestimate this requirement. Same goes for the cover letter.

Killer Wench

dave2pvd wrote: »

Look on Thomasnet.com

Forget about CVs. Tailor your 'CV' into a proper American resume, or risk it getting trashcanned without even a second glance. Don't underestimate this requirement. Same goes for the cover letter.

I do completely agree with this. If the Irish C.V. strongly encourages anything that includes using your photograph, any details about your marital status, or age, then please do not use it. Here in the States, with Affirmative Action policies and Equal Opportunity laws, you risk having your C.V. trashed.

The_Poznan

Killer Wench wrote: »

Dude, with a supply chain gig, you need to think strategically because this is an on demand degree. Are you deadset on Chicago?

Hi Wench

When you say its an on demand agree do you mean there are opportunites in this area in the states?
Not really at all deadset on Chicago but it would be my first choice...although I was chatting to a person whos in the know and she advised me cities in texas or south/south east of US are more prosperous if I was flexible. It just got me thinking and maybe I should aim to try other places rather than the obvious places like NYC, Chicago, Boston etc..:rolleyes:

The_Poznan

dave2pvd wrote: »

Look on Thomasnet.com

Forget about CVs. Tailor your 'CV' into a proper American resume, or risk it getting trashcanned without even a second glance. Don't underestimate this requirement. Same goes for the cover letter.

Thanks Dave very helpful indeed - yeah im getting a professional to tailor my Cv & Cover letter cause it needs to perfect...I just need to a bit of patients and luck after that. It wont be easy but Ill get there just need to be innovative!

dave2pvd

The_Poznan wrote: »

Thanks Dave very helpful indeed - yeah im getting a professional to tailor my Cv & Cover letter cause it needs to perfect...I just need to a bit of patients and luck after that. It wont be easy but Ill get there just need to be innovative!

Good to hear. That will be money well spent.

So, thomasnet: have you tried it yet?

avalon68

The_Poznan wrote: »

Thanks Dave very helpful indeed - yeah im getting a professional to tailor my Cv & Cover letter cause it needs to perfect...I just need to a bit of patients and luck after that. It wont be easy but Ill get there just need to be innovative!

Tell them to make sure its ATS compatible. Almost all of the major companies use some sort of ATS software, so make sure you get lots of keywords into the resume. Its mainly all screened by computer nowadays.....so you have to get past the software before a human ever sees your resume :cool: Its fair annoying as you basically have to submit something with minimal formatting.

Killer Wench

The_Poznan wrote: »

Hi Wench

When you say its an on demand agree do you mean there are opportunites in this area in the states?
Not really at all deadset on Chicago but it would be my first choice...although I was chatting to a person whos in the know and she advised me cities in texas or south/south east of US are more prosperous if I was flexible. It just got me thinking and maybe I should aim to try other places rather than the obvious places like NYC, Chicago, Boston etc..:rolleyes:

Ehh... Having someone do your resume is smart, but you probably wasted money on the cover letter thing. Many jobs today only require resume submissions, and if you are lucky to submit a cover letter, hiring managers and recruiters expect them to be tailored to the job that you are applying for. They don't want to think that you just spammed a whole bunch of companies with the same thing. It would serve as a good template for future modifications, but you could have done it yourself.

Anyway, this indeed.com. I put in "supply chain" and $50,000 and did a basic search with no geographic region. These are the results:

http://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=%22supply+chain%22+%2450%2C000&l=

dave2pvd

Killer Wench wrote: »

Ehh... Having someone do your resume is smart, but you probably wasted money on the cover letter thing. Many jobs today only require resume submissions, and if you are lucky to submit a cover letter, hiring managers and recruiters expect them to be tailored to the job that you are applying for. They don't want to think that you just spammed a whole bunch of companies with the same thing. It would serve as a good template for future modifications, but you could have done it yourself.

Anyway, this indeed.com. I put in "supply chain" and $50,000 and did a basic search with no geographic region. These are the results:

http://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=%22supply+chain%22+%2450%2C000&l=

Good point re the tailoring. Very important. Also: the cover letter may be an email....

I don't agree that it's a waste of time. Small to medium companies will frequently review cover letters. Some applicants I have interviewed had very impressive (unusual, risky, even odd!) cover letters. I've seen a high degree of tailoring with this - it can help you stand out from the crowd.

The_Poznan

dave2pvd wrote: »

Good to hear. That will be money well spent.

So, thomasnet: have you tried it yet?

Yes I did Thanks! its just what i was needed. My background is farming so a Supply Chain role in the Food Industry would be ideal but hey beggers cant be choosers

The_Poznan

avalon68 wrote: »

Tell them to make sure its ATS compatible. Almost all of the major companies use some sort of ATS software, so make sure you get lots of keywords into the resume. Its mainly all screened by computer nowadays.....so you have to get past the software before a human ever sees your resume :cool: Its fair annoying as you basically have to submit something with minimal formatting.

Good point so I passed this on to the lady who is helping me draft the CV...I dont get how it works though? is this software justed used by HR departments in the states...:rolleyes:

avalon68

The_Poznan wrote: »

Good point so I passed this on to the lady who is helping me draft the CV...I dont get how it works though? is this software justed used by HR departments in the states...:rolleyes:

It's applicant tracking software.....basically when they get your resume it goes into the computer system, which searches for keywords. If they require 10 keywords, and you only have 8 , then your cv will not be selected. So you need to tailor the resume as well.....look at job requirements, put the keywords in there. Also, apparently word .doc is preferable to PDF or .docx, as some software will not read PDF or docx. Almost all big companies use some version of this software to sort through applicants