Naming Names

In the interest of helping those seeking Fool's Gold behind me, I will now give a full accounting, in terms of company and agency names, of my job search in L.A.

Craigslist and other job boards: I must have applied to 70 plus job ads online. Never received so much as a single response (okay, one, but it was from an employment agency). Can't recommend this route, although my roommate occasionally receives responses for commission-based sales jobs.

Connections: I've passed along my resume to innumerable people. Have lost count. Netted one job offer that way, at Virgin. Resume was submitted by a friend for a job at Showtime, but I didn't get an interview.

Direct applications: Applied to the job listings on the Fox sight. No response. No luck at CBS either. Applied to the agent training program at William Morris. No response. So far have been rejected for openings at Los Angeles Public Library, but I don't know what the positions were (was accepted as a sub but now have to put that on hold).

Employment agencies: Despite the stress of working with employment agencies, I would not have worked a single day in L.A. without them, so my impression is that they are the only way to get your foot in the door. The downside is that your take home pay is minimal because they, of course, take a cut. My average range was $11-$15 an hour, with two outliers of $17 and $25. I signed up with the following agencies, and every one of them presented me with at least *one* decent job possibility (permanent or temporary):

General-- Star Personnel, Office Team, Jason Best
Entertainment-- Comar, Co-op (aka CTS), Friedman
Library-related: AIM, Library Associates

Those agencies brought me the following opportunities:

Temp jobs-- eight jobs. Still not comfortable naming where, but one was at UCLA, two were in advertising, one was for a trade show company, one at a clothing company, one at a tony private school, one at an investment company, and one at a real estate development company.

Also rans-- Was submitted for a job at CAA. Didn't get the interview. Interviewed at Crystal Cruises. Didn't get the job. Didn't get an interview to be a personal assistant to a "well-known songwriter."

Had to turn down the following temp jobs due to scheduling conflicts: Activision, Variety, Warner Records. Ironically, the most appealing ones.

Turned down: A position at the Director's Guild.

Agencies that did not respond to my application: Barrington (general), Elizabeth Rose (nannies/ personal assistants).

Agency that rejected my application: Ultimate Staffing (Fox).

Agency that responded but did not get me any work: The Help Company, a personal assistant placement agency in Santa Monica. Not so helpful after all.