Category: Work & Jobs

I have had a total of 33 jobs in 17 years. This does not include all of the musicals, operas, television and film projects either. I am a professional singer and actor. Did I plan on having 33 jobs in 17 years? Of course not, but life has been a crazy wild ride. There were no drugs, very little alcohol, but WORK has been my drug of choice! I have worked at least 3 jobs or more simultaneously in addition to performing over the years. Each week I will discuss one of my former or current jobs. My ninth and current job is a professional singer and actor.

Memphis Performances

As soon as I graduated college, I auditioned for a musical in Memphis in February 2013. I received a callback, but was not originally cast in the show. In April 2013, I was asked to audition again for the role of Nettie in The Color Purple at Playhouse on the Square. After the second audition, I was cast in the show and this was my first professional musical theatre job.

For the 2014-2015 season, I sang in the chorus with Opera Memphis for Don Giovanni, Dido & Aeneas, and Les Mamelles de Tiresias. Also, I participated in the photo shoot for the season promos shown in the picture above. Lastly, I performed at Hattiloo Theatre in Once on this Island and If Scrooge was a Brother.

https://cornerstonechorale.org/members/dominique-duarte/

Regional Performances

In 2015, I was cast as Little Inez and a Dynamite in Hairspray at Murry’s Dinner Playhouse in Little Rock, Arkansas. Then in 2018, I was cast in the ensemble of Ragtime the Muscial at Midtown Arts Center in Fort Collins, Colorado. In 2023, I performed in a workshop musical presentation of Love is Afoot in Reading Pennsylvania.

In NYC, I have performed in a play in Brooklyn, participated in a couple of new musical readings in Manhattan, and performed at school assemblies in the Bronx with WinceyCo. I have auditioned in Manhattan for Broadway shows, cruise ship contracts, national tours, regional theatres, and NYC plays and musicals. I have submitted for hundreds of projects on Backstage.com over the last couple of years and received over a hundred callbacks.

Most recently, I went on tour with Bruce Vantine’s Cornerstone Chorale & Brass in late 2023. I sang soprano in the choir and we toured 20 cities in 25 days. It was a wonderful experience that I would love to do again. Whenever a contract ends, I usually cry so much because I do not know when I will get to perform again. My college voice teacher told me that performers audition more than they actually perform and she was absolutely correct!

2024

In January of this year, I was cast as a last minute replacement for a children’s theatre company black history tour. Once I arrived in North Carolina and received the three 45-minute scripts, I realized that I was in over my head. When the theatre directors asked me and my partner if we wanted out of the contract with no penalty, I ended the contract. I referred a friend to the company for the job. The contract was meant for her, but, it was devastating to quit a contract and return home. I have never quit a performance contract in my life.

At this point in my life, my goal is to pay off my debt by the time that I am 40 years old. Since singers and actors are always unemployed in-between contracts, I am taking a break from singing and acting full-time for awhile. I will audition for local NYC projects and performances, but only part-time until my debt is paid if full.

Presently, I am singing with the Fire Ensemble in NYC created by Troy Anthony. I performed with Troy Anthony in 2021 at the Shed for The Revival: It is Our Duty. The Fire Ensemble is performing on June 13 at 7PM at New York Live Arts and will be recording an album in June. This will be a way to continue performing, but have some stability in my life too.

https://www.bydominiqueduarte.com/how-to-obtain-33-jobs-in-17-years-8/

I have had a total of 33 jobs in 17 years. This does not include all of the musicals, operas, television and film projects either. I am a professional singer and actor. Did I plan on having 33 jobs in 17 years? Of course not, but life has been a crazy wild ride. There were no drugs, very little alcohol, but WORK has been my drug of choice! I have worked at least 3 jobs or more simultaneously in addition to performing over the years. Each week I will discuss one of my former or current jobs. My 8th job was an insurance sales agent at AFLAC. Yes, the insurance company with the duck!

Post College Job

I moved to NYC on January 2nd, 2013 right after my college graduation in December. This move was supposed to be permanent, but I moved back to Memphis three weeks later. As soon as I returned to Memphis, I began applying for full-time jobs. The only full-time jobs that contacted me for an interview were insurance companies. So, I went to an interview at AFLAC. The manager told me that AFLAC would pay for my certification tests if I took the full-time position. I passed both health and life insurance exams at the end of February and began working at AFLAC in March.

AFLAC

AFLAC was my first full-time job, but I did not make any money during the four months that I worked there. An insurance agent is usually a commission-only position. This means that you only get paid if you make sales. AFLAC is supplemental health insurance, which made it a bit difficult to sell. The life insurance plan could be sold to an individual, but the supplemental health insurance plan had to be sold to businesses for their employees. Memphis is a smaller city compared to most big cities and there are only so many businesses there.

No Income

During my time at AFLAC, I booked a musical at Playhouse on the Square. I would work at AFLAC during the day and go to rehearsals in the evenings. I never made anything at AFLAC, except for $200 that I did not earn. One of the AFLAC sales agents sold a health plan to Kingdom Ministries. Our manager thought some of the sales agents would quit because we were not making sales. So, he decided to split the commission on that sales agent’s Kingdom Ministries account. I did not earn that money, it belonged to that sales agent that sold the account.

Quitting

I quit working at AFLAC in July of 2013. I drove all around town wasting my gas for four months, trying to make sales to no avail. But, I met some cool people at AFLAC, a couple of whom, I still keep in contact with today. If you are thinking of selling insurance, get a part-time job to supplement your income until you begin making sales. Selling insurance can be lucrative, but it takes time to begin making commissions. It is best to work for a company that gives you a base pay at least until you begin making sales.

https://www.bydominiqueduarte.com/how-to-obtain-33-jobs-in-17-years-7/

https://careers.aflac.com/

I have had a total of 33 jobs in 17 years. This does not include all of the musicals, operas, television and film projects either. I am a professional singer and actor. Did I plan on having 33 jobs in 17 years? Of course not, but life has been a crazy wild ride. There were no drugs, very little alcohol, but WORK has been my drug of choice! I have worked at least 3 jobs or more simultaneously in addition to performing over the years. Each week I will discuss one of my former or current jobs. My 7th job was Features Staff Writer for the Murray State News.

Double Major

I studied music and journalism at Murray State. In high school, I was involved in television production, choir and theatre. In 2008, I won two Student Emmy awards for my ENG reports and won reporter of the year in my Production class. Four of my reports aired on the local news in Memphis, Tennessee.

Journalism was supposed to be the backup plan if music performance did not pan out for me. However, I realized that if I truly wanted to be television journalist, I would not be able to be a performer. Both careers are not very lucrative and do not mesh well together. Some journalists make millions of dollars, but most journalists make about the equivalent of a teacher’s salary.

Features Writer

During my final semester of college, I was hired as a staff writer for the Murray State News. Since I wanted to be a television journalist, I never considered writing for the school newspaper. The Features editor would give me weekly assignments to write for the paper. I never chose any of my writing assignments. Recently, I found several of my articles online, but had no memory of writing some of the articles.

Last Article Before Graduation

I wrote about 12 articles for the school newspaper. My final writing assignment was to cover The Suspensions, an a cappella male singing group on campus. This article was significant for me. My friends Daniel Milam and Micheal Martin sang in the group. I interviewed both of them at the same time and recorded the interview.

We laughed and had so much fun. I kept the conversation on the recorder for a few years after the interview. Daniel passed away a few months later in a car accident. It was a devastating loss for the Murray State community. This article was the last article about Daniel before he passed away. I cherish my memories with Daniel especially this article and that interview.

https://thenews.org/2012/12/06/students-form-male-female-a-capella-music-groups/

Conclusion

Writing for the school newspaper was quite the experience. I actually do not remember writing most of the articles because it was so long ago. I was shocked to find some of the articles online. It is a bit surreal that I wrote articles that I have no memory of writing. However, this job gave me an opportunity to use the writing skills that I had learned in my journalism classes during my time at Murray State.

https://murraystatenews.org/10973/features/department-edits-mozart-for-children/

https://www.bydominiqueduarte.com/how-to-obtain-33-jobs-in-17-years/

How many jobs have you held in your life? I have had a total of 33 jobs in 17 years. This does not include all of the musicals, operas, television and film projects either. I am a professional singer and actor. Did I plan on having 33 jobs in 17 years? Of course not, but life has been a crazy wild ride.

There were no drugs, very little alcohol, but my drug of choice has been WORK! Most of my adult life I have worked at least 3 jobs or more simultaneously in addition to performing. Each week I will discuss one of my former or current jobs. Job number 6 was Assistant Office Manger at Camp Thunderbird in Bemidji, Minnesota in the summer of 2012.

Summer of 2012

I would come home to Memphis from college every summer and could never get a summer job. In 2012, I got creative. I decided to apply for several summer camps in different states. Within a few days, I heard back from a camp in Minnesota and interviewed for a position. I signed the contract and left Memphis about a week or so later. Yay for creativity!

Camp Thunderbird

I flew to Minneapolis and took a bus with other camp staff members to Bemidji, Minnesota. It was a beautiful city and camp site. There were two camps, one for boys and one for girls. I worked as an assistant office manager at the boys camp. The first week all of the staff members cleaned up the camp site. This included painting, sorting and organizing materials, and thoroughly cleaning the cabins for the incoming campers. During the second week, we had training for all of the staff members at both camp sites. The third week, the campers came!

Summer Camp

The campers came from everywhere around the United States. All of the staff members came from different states as well as different countries. The camp lasted eight weeks for the campers. Some campers only did one of the four week sessions, but most did the entire eight week session. All meals, breakfast, lunch, and dinner were provided. Every staff member went by a nickname. My nickname was “Aria”. No one ever called me Dominique the entire summer.

There was even a snack after the campers went to bed for the adult staff members. We ate together every meal with the campers in the dining hall. The cook was amazing! This job was completely out of my comfort zone, but it was a wonderful experience. I am not an outdoor person, but I think this experience did give me a better appreciation for nature and its beauty. I did not quit this job, but the contract ended after the summer.

https://www.camptbird.com/

https://www.bydominiqueduarte.com/how-to-obtain-33-jobs-in-17-years-5/

How many jobs have you held in your life? I have had a total of 33 jobs in 17 years. This does not include all of the musicals, operas, television and film projects either. I am a professional singer and actor. Did I plan on having 33 jobs in 17 years? Of course not, but life has been a crazy wild ride.

There were no drugs, very little alcohol, but my drug of choice has been WORK! Most of my adult life I have worked at least 3 jobs or more simultaneously in addition to performing. Each week I will discuss one of my former or current jobs. I will reflect on my experience at each job. Job number 5 was Campus Pizza at Murray State.

Campus Pizza

Campus Pizza was a pizza delivery service at Murray State. I worked at Campus Pizza during my senior year of college from fall 2011 until October 2012. This job was a solid job for a college student. It was not as physically challenging as working at Winslow Dining Hall. You would prep cook the pizzas when you arrived to the shift. Then, we would wait for students to call in orders for pizzas, make and cook the pizzas, and delivery the pizzas to the students’ dorms.

Schedule

I worked Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from around 4pm or 5pm until midnight. During the 2011-2012 school year, I did not do any musicals or operas. I just did the Alpha’s Miss Black & Gold Pageant in the fall of 2011. This freed me up to work most weekends at Campus Pizza and get a consistent paycheck. Furthermore, my grades were much better my senior year when I had a job than when I did not have a job during my junior year.

Student Managers

Murray State Dining Services had student managers. The student managers were in charge of the older staff members who had been at the University for years, which was a bit weird. Most student managers were pretty good, but they were college students. It was too much responsibility for a college student. Management is hard for adults in general let alone, 19 to 22 year olds. A student manager is a great idea and concept, but it was poorly executed at times.

Shift Coverage Issues

We did not have the student managers’ cell phone numbers. No one ever answered the dining services phone, especially on the weekends. There was one student manager, who was a former roommate of a close friend. She was amazing at the job and I loved working with her. She knew that I was a music major and had performances sometimes that may conflict with my work schedule.

In the past, if I had a performance, I would place my name on the shift coverage sheet for someone to take my shift ahead of time. I tried to get someone to cover my shift. If no one signed up, I would let this student manager know ahead of the shift, so it was never a “no call, no show”. However, this student manager graduated in the spring of 2012. Unfortunately, I had one more semester of college in the fall to complete my double major in Journalism.

New Manager

One of my former co-workers was promoted to student managers in the fall. I had worked with her the previous school year. This student had taken some of my shifts a few times when I had performances in the past. I was cast in Big River and Little Shop of Horrors at Playhouse in the Park and had performances on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays during the fall of 2012. So, just like in the past, I tried to get someone to cover my shift, but no one signed up for this shift.

Firing

On the day of the shift, I left a message on the Winslow Dining Services phone to no avail because no one received the message. After my performance, I got an email from the new student manager and former co-worker saying that I was fired because I did not show up for work. The job was about to end in a little over a month permanently since I was graduating in December 2012. But it hurt a bit to be fired by someone who I had worked with and who knew that I was a good employee.

Reflection

I worked hard at that job for over a year and was dropped like a hot potato. If there had been an adult with life experience in this situation, it would have been handled much differently. If I had just been able to contact the student manager, everything would have been fine. I sent an email to the student manager explaining that I did call, but I never received a response from her.

You should always contact your employers if you cannot come in to work and speak to them directly. However, this has never been an issue at any of my jobs before. There was no way to contact my student managers since I did not have their cell phone numbers or email addresses at the time. I graduated college a little over a month after the firing. Lastly, I was still working at the Murray State News during that semester, so comme ci, comme sa. Next post will discuss my time at the Murray State News.

Have you ever been fired? Comment below!

https://www.bydominiqueduarte.com/how-to-obtain-33-jobs-in-17-years/

https://www.murraystate.edu/campus/Dining/index.aspx

How many jobs have you held in your life? I have had a total of 33 jobs in 17 years. This does not include all of the musicals, operas, television and film projects either. I am a professional singer and actor. Did I plan on having 33 jobs in 17 years? Of course not, but life has been a crazy wild ride. There were no drugs, very little alcohol, but my drug of choice has been WORK! Most of my adult life I have worked at least 3 jobs or more simultaneously in addition to performing. Each week I will discuss and reflect on one of my former or current jobs. Here is job number 4!

First United Methodist Chancel Choir

In college, I began singing in the choir at the United Methodist Church in Murray, Kentucky. The chair of the MSU music department was also the choir director at this church at the time. She would hire a few university singers to sing with her church choir. I attended rehearsals on Wednesday nights and sang with the choir every Sunday. It was a wonderful job for a college student and, even better for a music major to work on their sight reading skills.

Cultural Difference

Many predominantly white churches pay some of the singers. Before college, I had no idea that this was a thing because I had only attended black churches. Most predominantly black churches view paying singers as something you should not do. I have received so many mixed messages over the years about singing at church for pay.

Quitting

For me singing at church is not just a job. It has been my way of serving in the church. Well, the paid singers were serving First United Methodist Church in Murray because the university singers helped the elderly singers feel more confident with their singing as well. However, I quit this job because I had mixed feelings about singing at church for money. It was actually a classmate’s comments that convicted me about it.

Conclusion

After I quit the choir, I was often asked to sing at different churches during my time in Kentucky. I was always paid after I sang a solo at a church. So, I could have just kept my regular church job to be honest. One friend recently said something recently that resonated with me. She said that she invested thousands of dollars to be a trained singer.

So, she should be compensated for her singing at a church. It is not just a talent, but something that I have invested so much time and money into. However, I am still on the fence about this topic, even in 2024. As an adult I have been paid several times to sing solos at churches over the years. I am grateful to share my gifts in the church whether I am paid or not. If I am paid it is a nice bonus, but if not that is okay too.

https://www.bydominiqueduarte.com/how-to-obtain-33-jobs-in-17-years/

https://www.murrayfirst.org/

How many jobs have you held in your life? I have had a total of 33 jobs in 17 years. This does not include all of the musicals, operas, television and film projects either. I am a professional singer and actor. Did I plan on having 33 jobs in 17 years? Of course not, but life has been a crazy wild ride.

There were no drugs, very little alcohol, but my drug of choice has been WORK! Most of my adult life I have worked at least 3 jobs or more simultaneously in addition to performing. Each week I will discuss one of my former or current jobs. I will reflect on my experience at each job. Here is job number 3!

First College Job

When I went to college, I debated multiple times whether to work while I was in school. I did not mind working, but music was an extremely time consuming major that required several rehearsals and way too many classes each semester. During my first semester of my sophomore year, I decided to get a job at Winslow Dining Hall at Murray State.

I cannot remember how much I got paid for this job, It was probably minimum wage. Minimum wage in Kentucky at the time was $7.25 an hour. I worked this job for only one school semester August 2009 until December 2009. This job involved some serious back breaking work on top of my crazy music major schedule. I worked Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Winslow Duties

I worked in the dish room for most of my shifts. Working in the dish room is not for the faint of heart. It is hot, wet, and you see some pretty nasty food combos on the dishes. On weekend mornings, I sometimes made omelets for students. I tried flipping an omelet just like my co-worker did, but dropped it on the floor. LOL. Also, I would have to clean all of the tables and there were several tables on both sides of the dining hall. This was a pretty big dining hall.

Quitting

If I had a normal major that did not require so many outside rehearsals, I would have continued working this job. Yes it was hard work, but it was similar to the work that I did at Ryan’s Grill Buffet & Bakery. Furthermore, I made straight A’s the semester that I worked at Winslow Dining Hall. The only time in my college career that I did that. This part-time job kept me more focused with my schoolwork because I had less time to complete it. So, maybe, I should have kept this job after all. If you are a college student, consider getting a part-time job. It actually may keep you more focused on your schoolwork than you think.

https://www.bydominiqueduarte.com/how-to-obtain-33-jobs-in-17-years/

https://www.murraystate.edu/campus/Dining/index.aspx

How many jobs have you held in your life? I have had a total of 33 jobs in 17 years. This does not include all of the musicals, operas, and television and film projects either. I am a professional singer and actor. Did I plan on having 33 jobs in 17 years? Of course not, but life has been a crazy wild ride.

There were no drugs, very little alcohol, but my drug of choice has been WORK! Most of my adult life I have worked at least 3 jobs or more simultaneously in addition to performing. Each week I will discuss one of my former or current jobs. I will reflect on my experience at each job. Here is job number two!

My Second Job

In the summer of 2008 before I went off to college, I worked as a server at Ryan’s Grill Buffet & Bakery. This job may have been one of my worst job experiences to date. Ryan’s Grill & Buffet on Riverdale Road in Memphis, Tennessee was a very popular restaurant for years. I remember going there often to eat with my family on several occassions. However, it was much cleaner and well managed back then.

Bug Problem

When I worked at this restaurant, there was a significant roach problem. It was terrible. One day, a customer told me that a roach went into the salad on the buffet line. This was mortifying. When I would go to the stock room there were always roaches in there too. The Riverdale location closed not long after I left. I was not surprised when the location closed because I am sure they failed the health inspections.

Money Woes

Since Ryan’s servers received tips, the hourly wage was only $2.14 an hour! I had checks that were $14! My total tips for two months was only about $350 dollars. This was enough to pay for my college textbooks only. It is tricky when you are a server at a buffet restaurant because people do not think tipping is necessary since the server does not deliver the food to the guests. But at Ryan’s, I took all of the drink orders with unlimited refills, gave guests multiple baskets of buttered rolls, and bussed the tables.

Quitting for College

I quit this job when I went to Murray State in the fall of 2008. Ironically, there was a Ryan’s in Murray, Kentucky so I could have tranferred! Who Knew! This was my only restaurant server job to date. After this experience, I never wanted to serve again due to the super sporadic tips and low hourly wage. Furthermore, I was not the best server, even at a buffet style restaurant.

Yes, I was friendly, but moving quickly has never been my strength in life. A server has to work fast and swift especially at a non-buffet style restaurant. I struggled to be fast at the buffet style restaurant so there would be no serving for me in my future, not in this lifetime. Serving is a very challenging job that requires significant muli-tasking and strong customer service skills.

Food for Thought

I encourage everyone to appreciate their servers when they go out to eat. If the food is messed up, it is not the server’s fault unless the server took your order incorrectly. If the food is taking too long, this is usually not the server’s fault either. The cooks are probably behind on the orders. If you have ever been in a restaurant kitchen, it is chaotic back there, especially during rush hours.

Your server has between six to eight tables at a time. At the end of the day, most servers want you to have a positive experience and they are not trying to ruin your day. Servers have been some of the kindest people that I have worked with most times. Servers extremely hard working, even the grumpy ones, lol. Please give your servers some grace the next time you go out to eat. Empathy goes a long way.

Dominique Duarte

https://www.bydominiqueduarte.com/how-to-obtain-33-jobs-in-17-years/

Looking for a Job? Try Indeed: https://www.indeed.com/

How many jobs have you held in your life? I have had a total of 33 jobs in 17 years. This does not include all of the musicals, operas, and television and film projects either. I am a professional singer and actor. Did I plan on having 33 jobs in 17 years? Of course not, but life has been a crazy wild ride. There were no drugs, very little alcohol, but my drug of choice has been WORK!

Most of my adult life I have worked at least 3 jobs or more simultaneously in addition to performing. So I will be doing a series on my 33 Jobs. Each week I will discuss one of my jobs and reflect on what I learned. Maybe you can apply for one of these jobs. Let’s start with my first job!

https://www.ghstv.org/

https://www.ppp.org/

My First Job

My first job was working for GHS-TV and Poplar Pike Playhouse as an intern for the summer of 2007. It was actually a full-time position that paid minimum wage which was $6.50 an hour at the time. In high school, I was enrolled in a class called “Production”. We were known as the “production students” by faculty and classmates.

Production Class

Most students thought we were insane and had no life outside of the theatre or televison studio. Well, they were not wrong. We basically worked full-time as students at GHS-TV and Poplar Pike Playhouse during the school year. The actual Production Class was during fourth period. We all had different positions in the class for both GHS-TV and Poplar Pike Playhouse.

Production Jobs

For the Poplar Pike Playhouse, I was an assistant box office manager my junior year and then box office manager my senior year. I was also a producer for Wake Up, Germantown and student reporter for GHS-TV. Our fourth period Production Class was a daily meeting between the fine arts faculty and all of the production students. After the meeting, we would get to work on whatever projects that we needed to do for either GHS-TV or Poplar Pike Playhouse.

A Small Misunderstanding

This job was a great first job. I just continued doing the work that I had been doing during the school year. But this time I got a paycheck, which was amazing. However, once the summer was over, the fine arts chairperson told be that I was expected to take Production Class for both fourth and fifth period during my senior year.

If I had know that I was expected to do fourth and fifth period for Production Class, I would not have done the summer internship. 4th Period Production Class and Chamber Choir were my only electives that year. All of my other classes were required in order to graduate. I could not have another elective and I did not want to drop choir.

The department chairperson was not happy, but there was nothing that he could do. I am so glad that I stayed in choir because I made the All-West Tennessee Honor Choir that year, which was a cool experience. Lastly, I became a music major in college. I may not have been accepted into the music department at Murray State if I had not remained in choir during my senior year.

Conclusion

Compared to most people’s first jobs, this was a cool first job. During the internship, I got to work with my classmates and prepare for my Production Class jobs for the following school year. Production Class responsibilities were extremely difficult to balance during the school year. The summer internship was a relief because I had no homework or classes in the summer.

During the school year, I stayed after-school quite late almost daily for Production related projects. Sometimes, I would get up at 3am just to complete my homework. The paid summer internship was probably one of the calmest times in my life. Furthermore, at the end of my senior, I won two regional Emmys for my news reports at GHS-TV and won best reporter in my production class. Internships are a nice way to expose yourself to the workforce. So if you are in high school or college, I would encourage you to apply to internships as soon as possible.

Dominique Duarte

https://www.bydominiqueduarte.com/how-to-live-life-one-day-at-a-time/

Job hunting can be quite the experience for everyone. It can be arduous, time consuming, and exhausting. The job market is super competitive right now, so you need to be prepared with your best resume and cover letter to stand out from the other candidates. Assess your skill sets, apply for hundreds of jobs, and prepare for your job interviews in order to find a job.

Assess Your Skill Sets

What are your talents? What skills have you acquired thus far? Analyze your work experience and the skills that you have acquired from past work. If you do not have much work experience, then list any volunteer work or internships on your resume. Your resume can make or break you from getting a job interview. Your resume should be a summary of your past jobs and highlight your skill sets within each position that you held.

Apply for Hundreds of Jobs

Applying for jobs is a numbers game so you should apply for as many jobs as possible. Apply for hundreds of jobs at a time. Use https://www.indeed.com/ to apply for a massive amount of jobs in a short period of time by uploading a resume to the website. When you apply for jobs make sure these are jobs that conincide with your past work experience and skill sets. Please make sure the resume looks professional with no typos or errors.

Prepare for Interviews

You got called in for an interview! Congrats! Now this is where you need to shine bright like a diamond. Please bring your best personality, your resume, and your best business casual attire. Practice possible interview questions with a friend if you get nervous during interviews.

The most challenging questions tend to be the following: What are your weaknesses and why? Why did you leave your last position? Why should we hire you? Tell me about a time when you had a conflict at work and how did you handle it? Be prepared to answer these questions because at least one of these questions will probably come up in an interview.

Conclusion

Assessing your skill sets, preparing for your job interviews, and applying for hundreds of jobs should get you a job as soon as possible. Remember to apply for jobs within your skill sets and past work experience. Furthermore, you can create more than one resume to fit into different job types. For example, I have three resumes, one for customer service applications, one for teaching applications, and one for performing applications. Each resume serves its purpose and I submit the appropriate resume for whatever job type that I am applying for at the moment.

SIDENOTE

Lastly, there are many more job opportunities in certain cities and areas than others. If you are struggling to find work in your current area, consider applying for jobs in other areas and possibly relocating. Yes, relocating can be costly, but if you end up accepting a full-time job that pays well, you can afford to relocate and make up the financial difference once you begin working.

https://www.bydominiqueduarte.com/how-to-be-a-good-employee/

Hope this helps,

Dominique Duarte

How do you prepare for job interviews? Comment below!