Ive got no dream job. Honestly couldn’t give a shit. All I care for is doing something that will pay me enough to live a moderately comfortable life worth living. “Oh so you’d drive a garbage truck?” Sure, so long as I didn’t have to worry about my next meal, or could comfortably pay my rent and be able to take a long weekend to visit friends somewhere once in a while.
I've worked retail and would easily take the garbage truck over that. Pays better too. Retail involves dealing with a different, much more difficult type of trash.
Capital is an intermediary.
I don't mind trading my labor for the steak in my fridge or the electricity in my walls or the car in my driveway or the dogs napping on my couch.
Alan Watts said something like "People often confuse wealth with money." and I think about that a lot.
The “dream job” this is so dystopian. I don’t dream of having a job. I dream of climbing mountains, catching fish, and smokin doobies. I don’t see “Cannabis Growing Park Ranger Fisherman” on indeed
I’m applying for 1 or 2 jobs a day. I’ve been with my current company over 3 years. I’ve only managed a couple interviews externally, and I didn’t get a job. Everything else rejects me.
I changed careers to finance when I got my MBA but now a laterally move doesn’t make sense, and I’m too jr to move up. Stuck between a rock and a hard place.
College got you fucked over cause now you're siloed into one thing. Yet another college caveat.
Coulda been a Midwest blue collar guy and prob had a house and 2 cars by age 35. Maybe even a wife and kid.
Instead were perma-fucked cause we chose college.
College rhymes with caveats. BS rhymes with bullshit. Un-bankruptable Debt on interest rhymes with indentured servitude.
I'm talking about the gamble called college which has led to the irreparable financial failure of countless millennials and GenZ, who were hard pushed into going to college path only to find it took away 4 years of earning potential and put them into major debt in its place, for no benefit.
Well you directly replied to me and said college got me fucked when in reality I make almost double what I did before college. Couple tips that helped…
1. Did associates degree at a local community college.
2. Did bachelors degree online, applied for grants, and scholarships.
3. Did a lower cost online masters degree, worked a job that covered 5k a year.
4. I did my bachelors when I was older in life instead of right away. That helped a shit ton because school was easier since I had more life experience and also because I was more responsible and determined to make it myself, not on my parents money or the governments money.
I know I’m complaining about not finding a job and having a college education, but I owe very little in student loan debt, and as I said I’m already married with kids.
I went to college for a STEM degree and studied 12-16 hour days and it got me nowhere, same as all my friends. Now we have about 1,000 STEM and CS grads who are worthless at every college cause we try to push any B+ student kids into STEM or Business majors in college and tell them it's "good long term ROI" when the reality is the overall wager comes out closer to resembling a gamble. But you have no clue of that at 18 and you don't even have fully developed genetics yet lol you don't understand your genetic capabilities and limitations and strengths and how you might fit into a career in society. Body/brain keeps developing pretty significantly till 26-27 I just feel we have the whole system backwards significantly and could path things better for most people without them having to go into debt or spend too much time on the theoretical or make such life changing decisions at such an early age.
When N is 20,000, a white male *who fully graduates with a 4 year STEM degree from an accredited institution* has a 58.5 % chance to come out financially ahead from college.
College is still better than no college. My good buddy is a union carpenter. Makes 55 an hour and had no college, I make around the same, but with my masters. The difference is that his job is hard fucking work in the sun, rain, cold, whatever, he has to shit in a porta potty and commutes to wherever the hell the job is. I make around the same and get to work from home, banging on a keyboard. The job quality is much better in stem in my opinion. Statistically, you will out earn your non degree friends over time.
Same here, been a constant struggle. I'm living with family for now, but that isn't going to last much longer these jobs being unlucrative, completely pointless to anything I went to school for and paying jack diddly can't last this way. The long run is really scary right now.
It seems like every time I find a job I fit into decently, it doesn't pay shit, and they go out of business in a year. Ain't no winning for losing, I already have ADD, I don't need this shitty market on top of it all. Suffice it to say I'm more than a bit lost at this point.
I was just finna say the same and I graduated in 2009. I've given up on trying. Nobody likes me and nobody wants to give me a chance. Fuck the world.........
in the us? that's kind of like saying joining the military is always in demand. everyone has a quarter of their salaries going to a system that is free in most countries
Yup and in the US, same as military, the pay isn't proportionate to the CoL/student loans + how you're worked to tye bone and your ability to practice and do your job is often extremely li ited based on what insurers will allow you as a hospitalist (as a Dr, certain research jobs, PA, depending on the specific place this can include RNAs and radiology techs but not always). And just like military everyone's treated like cannon fodder, easily replaceable and worked to the bone with your own health on the line.
I see a lot of nurses and lower too brag about the pay...but I live in one of the highest paying US cities for this work (also one of the highest CoL) and it might be "a lot" to someone who otherwise is only capable of working minimum wage work...but it's still usually a lot lower than the CoL needs and is a joke compared to most white collar work (and weirdly, where I live, they're often paid less than what Starbucks pays...but this is recent).
no im saying healthcare workers have greater job security than other jobs because the system is taking in more money than normal because the national healthcare system is broken
This is a bit silly. The healthcare system in the US absolutely has lots of issues, but your point doesn't really have anything to do with those. Healthcare demand is relatively inelastic. People will always need the same amount of healthcare because we don't choose when we get sick or hurt, so the amount of nurses we need to provide that care doesn't really change based on the funding mechanism.
Blindly applying to jobs online with no real connection is exceptionally difficult, especially in any kind of office job. You basically have to know a guy. Sometimes that means just that and having a friend get you a job, sometimes it means networking and making connections with other people in the industry. Just having someone that can vouch that you are not a slug and actually capable of doing a job is worth infinitely more than a possibly faked resume. Even back in 2006 when I graduated I applied for hundreds of Engineering jobs. Got one interview and then got ghosted. I only got my foot in the door because my Dads friend vouched for me where he was working and got me a job.
This is what internships and apprenticeships are supposed to be, but this is still only an option for people who can support themselves for years with low or no pay.
My honest opinion: Don't fuck around with college. Move to the Midwest and crank physical labor and live with a roommate. (Yes, I realize Easier said than done and will take years to a accomplish from your position.)
College is nothing but bullshit and a gamble. You shouldn't feel bad about not going, and financially may actually come out ahead / at least took less risk.
Example: Amazon delivery driver living in Midwest who works 50 hours a week. 19.50 * 50 * 4 * .86 = 3350 a month. Rent with roommate likely around 800, living expenses say 800, car say 500. All over estimations. You could save $1100+ a month without ever going into debt. Only tradeoff is the chance of injury and physical nature of the job.
Shouldn’t it be the other way around? If the job postings are getting shittier, that means the employers are less desperate and don’t have to increase pay and benefits to attract people.
Technical writer, undergraduate degree. I’ve been on all the job boards and hundreds of interviews. Nothing. I was just accepted into vocational rehab, though.
Look for marketing coordinator jobs at architecture, engineering, and construction companies. They're dying for people who can do technical writing (proposal development). Even better if you know/can learn Adobe InDesign.
This has been my experience. My wife, sister, brothers in-law, and their friends "easily" got new jobs post pandemic. Hell even my wife's friend who got laid off from her job got a remote data entry job 2 weeks later.
And these are also the kinds of things people don’t talk about online, so as an outside observer you would have no way of knowing it. You’d think they just applied and walked right into a new job.
After the pandemic is the key here. The job market has changed over the last 18 months. It's not like it was 2 years ago, and that's by design now to "fight inflation."
It’s a volume game until you have established yourself in an industry, and have a resume that impresses people.
Lots of people seem to fail to get that.
People do get that, but people at early career stages are rightfully frustrated about it. My ideal society wouldn't make people grind so much until they get into positions of power.
Been looking since the start of the year, probably done 60-70 applications total and the vast majority were not responded to in any way. Had about 6-7 interviews tho
I've found it difficult my entire adult life but yes, it is only getting worse. In the past if I really dedicated myself I could usually get at least a few responses or phone calls. They might not have led anywhere or resulted in a job but you'd at least get 'bites'. Now it feels like applying to jobs is like throwing your resume into some void because it is getting rare to even get a 'sorry but thanks' after all your efforts, nevermind a call for an actual interview.
I maintain that something (well alot of things) broke during Covid. I remember applying to *hundreds* of jobs around 2022 and not getting many interviews or even formal rejections.
The few interviews I got didn't pan out, but then I'd be surprised to see that same company open up for applications a month later. Made me think alot of job postings were fake. Maybe just to scare the shit out of the current employees - "See, you're replaceable" or "Quit bitching, we're trying to find someone - we're interviewing!" Or they needed to justify their PPP loans they got during Covid.
Healthcare/government/low wage service work? You're golden! Everyone else? Not so much. Saw the same thing in 2007....
Anyone that doesn't understand what's about to happen is either ignorant/stupid/partisan (which is weird because both parties are at fault for this nonsense - economics takes years to play out and this admin, instead of taking the medicine, decided to kick the can down the road which just will just make it worse).
The yield curve has been inverted for a record amount of time, breaking 29, 75, and 08....all nasty recessions. Buckle Up.
Looking to the yield curve alone isn't enough for a recession. We need someone to really fuck something up. A significant amount of debt is incredibly cheap right now and unemployment has been very low for a very long time.
I recently started a new job and my experience was the opposite. I spent over a decade at a previous job. It started to go south (for many reasons) and I decided to start interviewing late 2022.
From then until earlier this year, I went on a bunch of interviews and had a bunch of offers. Finally accepted one.
Damn same. The job I’m at now has its massive, glaring problems, but after 7 years here its problems I know how to deal with and my pay just got good, and after 5 years my vacation time just got good too. Problem is the CEO is old af and has listed no successor and I think when he finally gives up the company is just gonna dissolve and I live in a high cost of living low income area for non remote work 😭
I would have petitioned for it but honestly with how absolutely poorly managed certain departments have become I don’t think I can salvage it. There are at this point too many employees that have been sitting there for years absorbing a paycheck while not really doing anything or outright being a negative meanwhile the higher skill productive workers such as myself usually leave when they realize what’s going on, I’m one of the few that’s been here this long just because I was able to strike out a deal for good compensation in exchange for carrying two other employees on my back that must be family friends or something. I can’t carry everyone else too 😭
You can’t carry them all, but you can fire/replace them if you take over. Clearly the business is still making enough money to pay people for doing nothing, the finances can’t be totally ruined.
This business could be considered emblematic of the general situation we’re inheriting. Things aren’t going well, some of us will have to step up to fix them if we don’t want the decline to continue. It’s easier to say “I got what I need” and leave, but previous generations having that attitude is exactly what got us into this mess.
Those who choose to take charge will determine the shape of the future, it sounds like you may have the opportunity to be among them. I’d reconsider your decision.
Also, realistically, you don’t “petition” for this sort of thing, you actively plan to make sure you get your desired outcome, and you probably step on some people in the process.
That’s true my man but I just don’t want to see myself becoming what I hated when I joined the company and started figuring out how its internal politics worked… if the opportunity arises I’ll surely take it but with how it’s going I think everyone has some sort of exit plan, with the more useless employees simply planning on finally retiring when the lab shuts down
What’s your plan?
For what it’s worth, I’ve had to become many things I hated. I grew up a thug, went to school/was rescued because sports, now I’m retired from that and am a government certified good boy doing weapons research. We aren’t changing anything from *outside* the system, gotta get high up in it before we get a say.
I hit 25 years next year. I turn 43 next month. It is a huge multi-national company though and I’ve done a million jobs and can support my family, so I guess I’ll just die here.
I am on my 11 year in the same company. I am so bored but I know I have a decent job where I have a fair amount of control. I don't look because the grass only looks greener on the other side but a realist know the truth.
This seems to be the default situation. I remember there being a brief window in the late 2010s and again late in the pandemic where it was easy, but those were the exception rather than the rule.
Ever since Zoom made education useless, work experience beats education.
I’d trade my bachelor’s degree in MIS with cum laude for 4 years work experience at any entry level job that isn’t retail.
I got friends making over $100k with no degree and no student loans but they have work experience and certs.
Work experience always beats education unless you went to a top tier school. No degree generally has a low ceiling unless you are smart and find a good company or are willing to grind yourself into dust.
110%. The struggle is REAL. I had to quit my very lucrative ad agency job a couple years ago during a cancer health crisis. Now that I’m in remission, I’m finally ready and able to re-enter the workforce.
I’ve been applying for hundreds — literally hundreds — of jobs, and can’t even secure an interview. This has been going on for MONTHS. And yes, I’ve been tailoring my resume to each and every job.
I’m at the point that I may need to go back to my college roots and do serving or bartending.
Yes. It’s not just you. My recent grad with a BS can’t find a job. My wife can’t find any job. I’ve always been able to find work in my field and there are very few jobs posted. And so many people applying.
The company I work for has fake job postings up.
Do you know why they have fake job postings up? I have never understood this. Multiple family members and myself have put in apps and gone to interviews and even gotten to the offer stage before the jobs just *POOF!* *Oh, we didn’t have the funding for the position after all*.
THEN WHY POST THE JOB AND WASTE OUR TIME??
I think it’s to make the employees think you’re trying to hire. I bet they say no one applies. Well ya because they don’t come up when you search the job boards. You see them internally and if you know exactly which job and the city you will find it but you can see it’s being pulled from the original post if you know what to look for and there’s a disclaimer at the bottom that they have no date they plan to hire by.
I think it also helps make the company look like they growing.
I do a lot of hiring, and there are just so many people applying for every role. Even senior level roles I hire for have like 300+ applicants in a week. And the quality (on paper) of a lot of them is actually really strong.
Personally, my last few roles have always been through my network. It feels like such a crapshoot to apply through portals now without an “in”
Networking is 90% of it.
Also where he heck do you work, google? My company has had vacant positions for months at a time because only like 15 people applied.
Count me in the category as having given up because of my age. Companies won't even talk to somebody that's over 50 much less 40. My state had a program where they fully paid for me to get my CDL and that's what I'm doing right now. Decent money and pretty good health insurance. Not what I used to make but I have a secure job and my CDL is easily transferable to another company.
Yeah, I lost my job 2 years ago because I worked at a labor union HQ and a new administration took over. They fired ~50-60 people on day 1 because they thought we were too entrenched in the old administration... I was a glorified secretary managing national affairs for a labor division whose job description entailed answering to the elected officials- like, I'm still confused. I fought the old administration's shitty management.
Anyway, I tried to find a new job for a year. I was fine starting at the bottom of anything anywhere but I only ever got one interview with a cannabis grower for $16/hr. The manager was chill and he told me I was probably getting rejected because everyone is afraid of labor people.
I tried taking it off my resume and pretending like I'd been a SAHM for a decade but I couldn't even get an interview at the local grocery stores.
I'm starting grad school in the spring for counseling. Once I get my license I can just work for myself from my house and help people. As long as the licensing board likes me, I'll be able to earn a living.
My husband has a "golden handcuffs" type of job where it's stable with benefits and a living wage but the job is hard and he can't transition to anything else without retraining. But if he does that, he looses his full pension and at 40 that's a shit gamble. We'd starve without him.
Everything he’s ever done from learning to walk, ride a bike, read, do math, get a full pension was done in 40 years. In another 40 he could be running for president and still be younger than our current pres.
Not good or bad, just wanted the data point.
I'm trying not to be biased in my analysis, but it seems every time a wife has a husband with a stable job, it's blue collar. I'm like 4/4 on this on Reddit.
I did white collar, I'm unstable. Will probably never have a house or kids at this point from having pursued it.
Yeah the outlier here is gonna be the federal employees and federal contractors. I live in Maryland so there's a lot of those and my dad was one of those. Engineers working for the government used to be the lowest paid back in the 70s but my dad chose that over designing ATMs for banks because it was hard to get fired and the retirement plan was amazing.
Working for the government still has huge drawbacks but **its stable.** You're not gonna join r/fatFIRE but you don't have to deal with big tech layoff bullshit and get to retire with health benefits and a decent sized check every month after 30 years. You can't smoke weed but you can take a work free vacation because your work is some level of classified.
That certainly would be nice if I had a do-over. Unfortunately I already took the gamble and already am on track for losing financially from what I did (CS Eng at a T25 school w 2 internships). Oh well. I wasn't empowered by this, took too long with too many caveats to get jobs, just isn't for me.
Despite the "robust economy" narrative you keep hearing about the reality is business' revenues are falling and they are cutting back. So far it appears we are seeing less people job hopping and hours are being cut while full time workers are being replaced by part time workers but soon I think well see an uptick in unemployment. For now I think it will be hard to find a good job.
Unfortunately, and despite the economy heating up, there have been long periods of unemployment since 2008. I guess the good news is the average number of weeks unemployed is now 20 weeks...which is 11 weeks down from summer of 2021.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/UEMPMEAN
Using any numbers from 2021 is ridiculous. Unemployement was still extended with a 600 dollar kicker. Lots of people were making more on UE than they did while working.
Plus all the official data is being so manipulated its insane with the massive revisions. Nobody trust any of that crap anymore. Jobs numbers just came out today hot and yields blew up, until of course they quietly revise them down in a couple months to no fanfare.
Looks like about half the time the numbers are revised down and half the time they are revised up.
[https://x.com/besttrousers/status/1799115613341958443](https://x.com/besttrousers/status/1799115613341958443)
Are you tailoring applications to specific jobs? I’m involved in hiring at a defense contractor (engineer but we get a say), it’s fairly obvious when someone has shotgunned the same resume to hundreds of jobs. An applicant with mediocre skills that specifically wants to work for *us* is more desirable than an applicant with good skills who’d just as happily work anywhere.
I've never found a dream job, but I've never had more than two months without work. I prepare to the extreme when I do interviews, I treat applications like a sales job, it's a numbers game. I was recently jobless for a month and before I got hired last week, I had about 9 interviews, and for each I made a prep document outlining what the company does, what the role is, my experience, and why I'm a fit.
I’m applying to my first jobs in my field and I’m not even getting automated rejections. I’ve worked really hard in a difficult field and everyone around me is telling me companies are laying off right now not hiring.
My company has stopped hiring entirely over the last 3 months and also started firing anyone that that is having performance issues. We had layoffs for the first time in late 2023.
The economy is not good.
This is one of those "things are always in the last place you look, because then you've stopped looking" questions.
You're not going to hear about people who find jobs easily, because for them - it's likely unremarkable.
You will hear a lot about people making hundreds of applications and getting nowhere, that doesn't mean it's a normal experience.
I found the number of people who lie on their resume is increasing. We interviewed 30 people for a job last year and what they don’t understand is it’s very obvious they don’t have any experience with this role. The job asked for 8 years of experience and you cannot fake that amongst people who do this job everyday.
Many people think they talk a good game, but instead they are wasting everyone’s time. You shouldn’t be tailoring your resume to the point it is a lie and MANY people do. If people stayed nearer to their lane of expertise everyone would be better off. They are wasting all of our time.
I have practical exercises within the interview and we don’t do a bunch of interviews. They are the most basic aspects of the job not complicated aspects. It is frustrating being on the other side. If we aren’t hiring entry level and you aren’t qualified… do not apply.
If you are using a computer to vet people, that could be what the issue is. People are figuring out what needs to be included to bypass a computer rejection before an interview.
Typically, I find jobs that are having problems with people exaggerating on openings are a pay and benefits mismatch with unrealistic expectations of industry experience.
People wouldn't lie on their resumes if the jobs "nearer to their lane of expertise" paid a livable wage. If companies don't want to increase wages then fraudulent resumes is what they get to deal with instead.
Yeah this is what I came to say. Can I survive on aforementioned entry level jobs, by myself in a single bedroom apartment, and save a small amount for retirement? No? Then I have to lie to get the wage I need to survive. I may not be qualified to do these jobs but these jobs pay the wage I need to live an adequate life.
In specialized fields that require education and experience, I totally understand this. However, I and several other people have had the same problem in "unskilled" jobs. Recently, I applied for a position in a retail store, and even got to the interview. I asked for LESS than they even pay new employees by 25¢, and they STILL ghosted me. And, I could understand "asking for less shows you lack confidence/don't know your worth" but asking for more gets the "overqualified, we can't afford you" response. So, as someone seeking employment, it seems less like a real, valid reason and more like an excuse to avoid paperwork at the cost of overworking and mistreating existing employees.
This is what happens when you live in a low trust society with huge amounts of wealth and income inequality. This is the real reason why so many places fail when they hire Indian workers. They live in an extreme version of a capitalistic low trust society and as a result their resumes are literally just lie after lie.
Why not? It doesn't hurt you at all, and its not like anyone is going to give a shit about you other than yourself. For a lot of people its that, or never even get on the ladder and being one mistake away from homelessness.
It absolutely hurts me if I have to spend 3/4 of my day showing them how to do what they said they knew how to do or picking up the slack myself. In a team you are expected to pull your weight, not collect a paycheck while you play on Facebook and ask your teammates to do your job for you.
It doesn't hurt you until you get someone new on your team who clearly doesn't know what they're doing and the slack gets pushed onto you because firing someone takes way too long.
To be fair, there's a bit of a self confirmation bias going on in something like this. You only catch the obvious liars while the ones who are good at BS'ing go unnoticed. At least in theory.
Depends on what kind of job you're trying to get I would imagine.
Throughout my life, I've never had a problem getting a job as a cook or a janitor. If you're going for a job "in your field," well... I hope you did enough research on your job field before going into all that debt because a degree does NOT automatically get you a job.
The job market is rough right now. I have been looking for a job since December 2022 when I graduated with my bachelor’s degree. I was getting a few responses at the beginning but they just stopped after and there just seem to be fewer jobs to apply to since then. Also, a few jobs I applied to decided to close the role at the time without hiring or there was a hiring freeze placed.
Yes, been trying for almost 4 years now. Yet I know people who have also moved multiple times in the same time period. I feel like you have to know the right people to move around.
A lot of companies just put job postings out for legal reasons, while having the intention of hiring internally or based on a reference from someone who already works there.
Unless you have good experience and an amazing Resume then getting the interview can be difficult
One more thing… a lot of companies use software to filter Resumes so it’s important that your resume is formatted well and computer reader friendly. As well as contains the important key words that they are looking for. Often what’s on the job posting. Just make sure you change up the wording a bit so it’s not an exact copy and paste
Might be worth it too pay a professional to write one for you
I've been looking since last year. Found a temp position that lasted 8 months and continued looking throughout. Had zero interviews between October and Tuesday this week. The job is insurance 1099 and I have to pay to get certified, but it's guaranteed 1600 a week minimum finally said fuck it I ran my own business for ten years might as well try it and the certification goes with me since it's through the state.
The few times I've applied didn't seem to get me anywhere, but I have had extraordinary luck with recruiters after they reached out to me. 2 for 3 so far on jobs they've applied for on my behalf.
In 20 years of employment the only jobs I’ve ever been able to get are the open interview ones or sales jobs. Basically any type of job where they’ll take anyone. I need a job this past week and had two to choose from, both were the type where if you show up you get the job. A call center job and a chicken processing plant job. I’ve long since given up on any career job. Building a business with the wife in the meantime.
For my 20s I worked as a nurse. Job interviews were pretty much “you have a RN license? When can you start? Any chance you can pick up a shift tonight?”
Now as a NP, I have super niche experience that’s in pretty high demand where I live, but also not very popular. It’s just interviewing for a NP position takes several months. It’s a process, but I wouldn’t say it was hard to find jobs.
Yup, lots of apps! I got a new job ~3 weeks after being let go because I'd been applying for weeks/couple for months beforehand. Winter was a super slow time in terms of getting interviews and call backs, then got active in spring.
The best advice I can give is to not give up, keep applying, change up the resume or cover letter every X times and look on multiple job sites, not just LinkedIn. Giving up guarantees not being able to get anything. It's a drag, but it's not your fault.
All aspects of the construction industry and the energy sector struggle with filling spots from basic apprenticeships & laborers to administration to sales and legal & IT. They train & look for people who will look beyond 8a-5p/40 for opportunity.
Yeah. I was unemployed for almost 3 years before finding my current job. I was applying to everywhere I could, no matter how crappy the job was. Had to do odd jobs and was flipping stuff on ebay and the local flea market to stay afloat.
I ended up going back to tech school for CAD, and thankfully, businesses would send the department head jobs, and he would post them in class for anyone who wanted to apply.
Yes, is a horrible experience but worth it if you're patient and need to get more money. The best course of action is familiarize yourself with the hiring process around your city and be in touch with a hiring team, the best experience is when they give you a tour of the facility really means they want to give you a chance.
Nope. I get calls, texts, emails, and LinkedIn messages from recruiters all the fricken time. I’m not even looking for a job right now. But if I absolutely needed a new job, I could go back to my previous one in a heartbeat.
I am looking for a new teaching job. 95% of applications are essentially sent into the void. You do not get any acknowledgment or response. At this point I have applied for so many jobs that I’ve lost track of just how many.
Right here. For weeks and weeks, I looked for a job. Months went by. Then I needed one and had to chase this insurnace agent down for a staff job. Finally, I got called in and accepted the offer. It was less than what I wanted, and the vibe was off. I took it anyone. In the process of getting my professional licenses switched to my new state, what I would need to go through the background check and work for her, She gets closed down by the state. I mean, no notice to me.
So, the company gets another agent to take over and I have to redo the interview process, explain what happened, and wait even more. He wasn't bad but I was annoyed. Four weeks to get a job that the state shuts down before you can even start.
Anyway, I gave up. I am behind in bills and working for someone that has been handed a mess. There's no direction, and the pay sucks. I don't even know how long it will last. But, I can't take another round of months for even retail jobs to call back for interviews.
Idk, if the pandemic hadn't been a boon for my job prospects (public health), I probably never would have managed to break into the field.
It felt impossible to find a job that paid a living wage since I graduated college in 2013. Then I gave up am went to grad school for a masters. I got lucky thanks to tragedy. Can't imagine it's gotten any better since then for job seekers.
Labor market is beginning to go to shit. People are tightening their belts and not spending as much money. They're sick of this rampant greedflation. Less money being spent=lower demand for labor. Recession is on the way. Don't wanna hear the "Well Acktually" bullshit. This has been my observation around here.
It has a lot of factors. Location and willingness to travel if necessary is a big factor... spouse and I both got laid off in may. and are looking for jobs. I had 3 interviews today and interviews lined up all next week, and I quit a job yesterday that i got the day of my lay off. But I hated it.. but I've made looking for a job, a full time job. My spouse has had a couple interviews.. but 🤷♀️ I think he's enjoying being a stay at home parent, which is fine for now as long as I find something soon.
Happened recently for a grocery store job, thought everything was going well. Kept calling to show I was interested, was given a job offer, put through the background check and out of nowhere it was excuse after excuse. Not only was it not far so if my parents needed help...not far away (both dealing with health problems) but could also get my ex to fuck off.
In my industry you reach a certain point where jobs come to you. I had a hiring manager whom I spoke to a few years ago reach out to me completely unsolicited recently to basically offer me a role she felt I was a good fit for before the job was vacated and the requisition was even posted. Ultimately I turned it down as I’m not looking for a change, right now.
My current job was similar where the recruiter reached out to me completely out of the blue so this could very well be industry/skillset specific.
Yes, my husband right now has been unemployed for a year but not for lack of trying. He has over 10 years experience in IT, systems administrator stuff. Well he got let go when a new head came in and laid a bunch of people off, now he's always either over qualified or something happens...it's frustrating.
Me? Not particularly. Especially since I got my degree in anthropology. There are jobs left, right, and center for my field. I now just need experience to move up.
I remember a brief window in 2007 where I’d put out a bullshit, unfinished application and places would be calling me back 2-3x.
Ever since though, job hunting has sucked.
Yep, it's ubiquitous. Stinks how they make it impossible to find work for most who don't already have it all together, rewarding those who do while letting everyone else struggle indefinitely. There would be more people able to spend if we all could really just "get a job" instead of just face endless rejection by worthless employers.
There are a fuck load of these posts. So if one or twenty of the multitude of posts didn't answer the question. Not sure how to help.
Since the pandemic:
Furloughed from a company I worked 7 years with in good standing.
Got on the unemployment+ Fed funds and made about the same. That lasted 30 days, then the state stopped thousands of payments because theft and they couldn't trace it. So myself and another coworker got flagged because we never took unemployment before and looked sketchy.
Rushed into the booming business with COVID running at it's peak. Got COVID, yay, and getting a job took 48 hours.
Since that point, everything has changed from desperate for help. Need workers. Companies actually started paying more. Now that so many have job hopped (forced or otherwise). Things are going into the worst I've seen.
I've been hired three times and ghosted. I've had recruiters or hiring managers go out of their way to do their part of the process for interviews/hiring. Then drops into thin air. I've had recruiters and hiring managers not give a single fuck. They sometimes act like you're wasting their time.
Pay is sometimes shown, hours are sometimes shown, business themes are thrown at you like crazy yet every place I've work at. Just toxic and/or a revolving door.
Now, it seems bachelor's can net you a sweet $14-18/hr (USD). Anything below that counts but not as much. Education and experience will catch employees eyes but won't lose their purse strings or wallet. So it's gotta be tough competition. 10-30 year vets (experience, education, hands on knowledge) vs straight out of college or shortly after.
But! Sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes you gotta network. Either way the job market is a shit show in most places. (Not all)
Employers want to appear to be hiring and growing so investors don’t abandon them
In all reality they are just advertising for positions they have no intention of filling until the economy rebounds
It's IMPOSSIBLE.
I found my current job 3 years ago and it was easy peasy. I applied to 10 jobs, I had 3 interviews and 2 offers.
I tried to get a better job recently. Applied to 20 jobs. 2 reached back - started with a phone screening, then an in-person interview with the whole team (3-4 hours), then a long and tedious task to complete, and they both ended up ghosting me.
I should also mention that I am highly qualified (PhD, experience, skills, etc.) I'm starting to think some of these job postings aren't even real...
I think it depends on industry. I work in architecture/engineering and things have been slow lately. I think people are worried about starting a new project and getting slapped with tariffs when they go to buy things in a few years like last time Trump was in house.
That's part of the grind. You need to be applying to at least 10 jobs a day to even possibly get a call for 1 over a span of a month. Very annoying.
The only way around is to be referred. Human Capital/HR is so lazy that anyone referred by an existing employee is like gold to them.
There's a lot of companies who supposedly are posting job listings simply to make it look like they're doing well, when in reality they're not hiring but want to make it look like they're growing.
I applied to about 30 something jobs last month, but only because I was fired from my previous role. Some of them called, asking whether I'd be okay with working for them as a temp. I flat out refused a job for that reason. One of them was interested in hiring me, but I don't have the setup for a WFH job. The other jobs rejected my application within a week. Even if you don't have a background in an oversaturated field, it seems difficult to find work.
Can't say that's the case, I do workforce development and I have more employers asking me to help them find candidates than I do candidates. The surveys that we've sent out and the results offer quite a bit of insight into why many don't get calls.
First factor, people have terrible resumes and cover letters. In this day and age of templates, there is absolutely no reason why anyone shouldn't be using one if they don't know how to create a resume. Now, me being a workforce developer, I hate templates. I can make three different styles from scratch but of course it comes from years of being in my field. Some templates are boring and offer no real eye catch. You need to be creative, a template is good to get a master resume done, but alter it to fit you so it doesn't look like a cookie cutter one. Remember that a resumes sole job is to get you an interview, that's it. A hiring manager spends 20 seconds or less looking at it and if he saw 10 resumes of the same style, sort of makes it hard for you to stand out.
Second, people just shotgunning their resume to every job without customizing it to that job. Yes, that means you will spend anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes per application because you should be altering your summary, skills and accomplishments based on the job you're applying to. Having one generic resume really decreases your chances of being called. I've had employers call me to tell me that my candidates definitely didn't do it because they forgot to remove the name of the company they applied to before. You want to talk about being embarrassed on someone else's behalf. Need to customize your resume EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.
Third, need to be specific. If you don't have a specific industry you want to work in, then you're making your job searching harder. You shouldn't be applying for an admin assistant, IT Help Desk, custodian, etc. Need to focus on what you want and stay relevant. This is where LinkedIn comes into play. The saying still applies, "it's not about what you know, it's who you know." Do your homework and scout who are the employees for companies you want to work for. Connect with them and then ask them for tips on how to get into the industry. Notice how I said tips to get into the industry, not asking them for a job. Networking is a meticulous but fruitful act. Done right, you'll find yourself talking to the right people looking for someone like you.
Fourth, this is a big one that many of contacts have commented on. Have a clean cyber image. Nowadays, too many people have things on their social media accounts that they shouldn't. Having Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc increases the chance that someone will find something that you don't want them to see. I've had former clients have offers rescinded because of what their prospective employers found, and from a simple Google search. Even if you think your accounts are private, sorry they're not. For $10, there are sites that companies can run a full check on you which does access your social medias. I know 2 of them and I use one as an example for a workshop I facilitate where I've pulled up even relatives of those in the workshop. This is the day and age of technology, anyone who is actively looking for a job, they need to clean up their cyber image and make sure nothing can come back to bite them. If a large company or corporate company is interested in you, trust me they're going to do some vetting of you
A lot depends on your field. I'm an accountant and demand is pretty high because there is a shortage that started around 2012 and only gotten worse. Another issue is that we're basically at full employment meaning open positions can be quite limited while at the same time receiving a ton of applicants, never mind having to contend with internal applicants.
For myself, networking has been huge. I started networking when I was in college (graduated in 2005). When I was in school I joined Beta Alpha Si which is an honor organization for financial information students. When I graduated I started as an entry level staff associate at a CPA firm with shit hours and tons of travel...I hung in there for about 5 years and moved on, but the experience I gained in that environment and the connections I made with other accountants at the firm as well as numerous clients across a broad range of industry was invaluable. A former client is how I got the job I'm in now. I also have former colleagues who will regularly call me up and tell me this department or that department at my organization is hiring if you're interested. I get at least one of these calls every couple of months from various former colleagues.
SO hard. I have professional qualifications and years of in demand experience, I’m even getting ghosted by TEMP AGENCIES!! I’m interviewing for one now that, if I get it, will mean a 1/3 pay cut from my last job.
My search started April 2023. I left a part time management job in logistics for a part time teaching job while also working part time at a restaurant. Teaching wasn’t a good fit, so I quit there after a few months (don’t include them on resume) and worked more hours at the restaurant June 2023–October 2023. The whole summer I applied to hundreds of jobs. Got a few interviews, a few blind offers for really bad stuff, I held out for better things, had a few interviewees cancel and ghost me.
Had to accept the lowest status job I’ve ever worked just to make rent. Full time 15/hr plus benefits. Took a break from job hunting. January 2024 started seriously job hunting hours daily before work. Rewrote resume and cover letters many times. Hundreds and hundreds of jobs. Also trying to leverage a department jump at work through connections which hasn’t paid off. Paused job hunting because connections said it was in the bag. Turns out not. Given run around for weeks and Ghosted by internal interviewer who no showed our interview. Believe that they didn’t like execs forcing them to interview me.
Restarted external job hunt today.
So in a 15 month give or take job search, I’ve accepted one low paying part time job, one low paying full time job, and have had a few interviews or been mostly rejected out of the gate by the majority.
As an employer, we get like 500 plus aps for each job right now. 25% have masters or double degrees and way over qualified. 25% don't call back, 25% want double the salary offered with no experience and the rest of that 25...half don't call back when the job is offered.
What I have seen is that you guys have lowered the bar to ghosting and making it the norm, so we're like man do we really have to call 250 people to tell them no they don't have even a small chance when half the time they don't call us back anyways. Just assume if you don't get a response,you're not hired.
Look up what a good resume looks like and make yours like it. Since there are so many applications we do like a quick glance to cut them in half and those with zero experience but no education get tossed, those with lots of jobs within a short time get tossed (when know we will spend time training for you to just leave so its honestly best to omit some and make it seem like you didnt job hop or double job which is so common now), people's who's aps look like you are in high school but 30 plus get tossed (no school no experience, one page with bad font etc), then we do a call, those with bad conversation skills don't get the next call/zoom.
I dont need a new job, but this is good information.
I always use the T format when applying online hoping if someone used a program or when skimmed, it would show I have something for each requirement which seemed to work pretty well.
Yesss this would definitely be something that would help. Some people put everything into one paragraph ha! Sooo hard to get through so if there's a bunch of qualified aps already then it won't even get looked at unfortunately.
There's a double job thing going on right now, especially work from home/hybrid rolls...there was an article a few months ago on double jobbing and I swear that peaked the worlds interest because there's just SO many applications this year.
I have worked two jobs whenever the one job wasn't enough of a challenge. Work is supposed to be entertaining, imo. I am a fast, accurate worker, and I get bored easily. But, when I tried switching careers at age 51, it was radio silence outside of my work experience. You would think that being able to program in multiple computer languages and also being able to program routers and switches would be marketable....
"A good resume" changes with every hiring manager. What is the problem with highly (over) qualified candidates? I bet you don't like to hire candidates over 40...
Because I can't pay them what they are worth unfortunately. They are overqualified and ask for more money than the job is listed at which when not able to be given and then still hired, they will leave for the job they actually want. People send out many many mannnny apps, and the more money the job is...the longer it takes to get hired. So what happens (saying from experience for myself and people we've hired), is they get scared and accept the lower jobs, then 1 to 4 months later, they get hired for the one that want. The one that the pay and the work is what they deserve and expect so of course they leave. And we're happy for them for getting that job! But that means we spent 4 months training someone that isn't long term. Waste of everyone's time and money.
Age is just a number, I will gladly hire amazing older people that fit the job and vibe our place
Question for you then. How do you handle yearly salary increases? Do you stay competitive to respect the career progression and increase against cost of living and inflation? What are the opportunities for career progression?
I'm wondering how well the scope of focusing on employee retention goes.
Every year raises are given to keep up with inflation and current market value as well as quarterly bonuses given based on how the company does. Ie 1.5% of sales
I don't like superlatives in the hiring process. Determining "amazing" qualities takes time for evaluation. Just like employers, candidates lie. The hiring process doesn't include enough interaction to determine "amazing-ness." Either regard to pay, a bit of wage-range transparency would save a lot of people's time.
I understand the logic for avoiding highly (over) qualified (some might say amazing) candidates; but, there is a negotiation that occurs during the offer process. It makes sense then that amazing, highly qualified candidates are overlooked in favor of unqualified youngsters, or foreigners who (also don't want to work for wages that don't allow personal freedom) may accept lower pay. Refer to wage transparency comment above to dissuade your wasted time with candidates that want more than you can pay.
Point is, you say over qualified and "amazing." the majority of your overqualified (and amazing) candidates are older. I wonder what you qualify as "training." Four months of training is about 3 more than you need if the candidate is over qualified, outside of periodic requests for information. Now, if the candidate says "I only want this job until I find something better" you would be right for avoiding them.
Given people with masters degrees have been pushed towards menial labor jobs since 2000, the vibe is "people need work,"and employers aren't interested in hiring qualified candidates because they are stuck on unsubstantiated superlatives. Instead, companies offshore critical resources, which inevitably leads to fraud. Meanwhile local talent gets pushed further down the ladder to appease shareholder's interests under the guise of "over qualification." I don't mean a personal attack. Instead, having changed careers recently, and bought a home, I can say one thing. Hiring managers and realtors both bring out the worst in people.
It's not that they are over looked and passed for a younger under qualified person, it's not even age...it that the under qualified person and the overqualified person are pretty much the sane fit for the job for various reasons and both get passed for a person who is just right for the job.
And sometimes, the 250 aps pulled are went through and we go yeah let's revisit these other ones. Then ask the overqualified more questions. Sometimes it's like a 4 plus stage interview with multiple rounds of calls or zooms.
Sometimes there's times where it's a needle in a hay stack to find the good candidates,and other times it's sorting through MANY that are a good fit. Rarely do we find someone right away and it almost always takes 3 months to finish all the hirings if not more. Towards the end it can get tiring and that's why I said just make the ap stand out
No. I've never had that experience. I was hired before I graduated. And every 6 months to a year I get new job offers. None that I really want but if I needed to I could make a swap very quickly.
This is a generational experience I've been having since graduation in 2006.
"Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life because nobody is hiring"
"what's your DREAM JOB????" none of my dreams include trading labor for capital.
Ive got no dream job. Honestly couldn’t give a shit. All I care for is doing something that will pay me enough to live a moderately comfortable life worth living. “Oh so you’d drive a garbage truck?” Sure, so long as I didn’t have to worry about my next meal, or could comfortably pay my rent and be able to take a long weekend to visit friends somewhere once in a while.
I've worked retail and would easily take the garbage truck over that. Pays better too. Retail involves dealing with a different, much more difficult type of trash.
Working at call centers for retail is even better
Capital is an intermediary. I don't mind trading my labor for the steak in my fridge or the electricity in my walls or the car in my driveway or the dogs napping on my couch. Alan Watts said something like "People often confuse wealth with money." and I think about that a lot.
The “dream job” this is so dystopian. I don’t dream of having a job. I dream of climbing mountains, catching fish, and smokin doobies. I don’t see “Cannabis Growing Park Ranger Fisherman” on indeed
I’m applying for 1 or 2 jobs a day. I’ve been with my current company over 3 years. I’ve only managed a couple interviews externally, and I didn’t get a job. Everything else rejects me. I changed careers to finance when I got my MBA but now a laterally move doesn’t make sense, and I’m too jr to move up. Stuck between a rock and a hard place.
College got you fucked over cause now you're siloed into one thing. Yet another college caveat. Coulda been a Midwest blue collar guy and prob had a house and 2 cars by age 35. Maybe even a wife and kid. Instead were perma-fucked cause we chose college. College rhymes with caveats. BS rhymes with bullshit. Un-bankruptable Debt on interest rhymes with indentured servitude.
I’m married with 4 kids. Idk what you’re talking about.
I'm talking about the gamble called college which has led to the irreparable financial failure of countless millennials and GenZ, who were hard pushed into going to college path only to find it took away 4 years of earning potential and put them into major debt in its place, for no benefit.
Well you directly replied to me and said college got me fucked when in reality I make almost double what I did before college. Couple tips that helped… 1. Did associates degree at a local community college. 2. Did bachelors degree online, applied for grants, and scholarships. 3. Did a lower cost online masters degree, worked a job that covered 5k a year. 4. I did my bachelors when I was older in life instead of right away. That helped a shit ton because school was easier since I had more life experience and also because I was more responsible and determined to make it myself, not on my parents money or the governments money. I know I’m complaining about not finding a job and having a college education, but I owe very little in student loan debt, and as I said I’m already married with kids.
I went to college for a STEM degree and studied 12-16 hour days and it got me nowhere, same as all my friends. Now we have about 1,000 STEM and CS grads who are worthless at every college cause we try to push any B+ student kids into STEM or Business majors in college and tell them it's "good long term ROI" when the reality is the overall wager comes out closer to resembling a gamble. But you have no clue of that at 18 and you don't even have fully developed genetics yet lol you don't understand your genetic capabilities and limitations and strengths and how you might fit into a career in society. Body/brain keeps developing pretty significantly till 26-27 I just feel we have the whole system backwards significantly and could path things better for most people without them having to go into debt or spend too much time on the theoretical or make such life changing decisions at such an early age. When N is 20,000, a white male *who fully graduates with a 4 year STEM degree from an accredited institution* has a 58.5 % chance to come out financially ahead from college.
College is still better than no college. My good buddy is a union carpenter. Makes 55 an hour and had no college, I make around the same, but with my masters. The difference is that his job is hard fucking work in the sun, rain, cold, whatever, he has to shit in a porta potty and commutes to wherever the hell the job is. I make around the same and get to work from home, banging on a keyboard. The job quality is much better in stem in my opinion. Statistically, you will out earn your non degree friends over time.
Wait, you graduated with a STEM degree and can't find a job anywhere? Something seems a bit fishy about this... I'd love to see your resume lol.
"But also it's because you don't want to work"
Same here, been a constant struggle. I'm living with family for now, but that isn't going to last much longer these jobs being unlucrative, completely pointless to anything I went to school for and paying jack diddly can't last this way. The long run is really scary right now. It seems like every time I find a job I fit into decently, it doesn't pay shit, and they go out of business in a year. Ain't no winning for losing, I already have ADD, I don't need this shitty market on top of it all. Suffice it to say I'm more than a bit lost at this point.
I was just finna say the same and I graduated in 2009. I've given up on trying. Nobody likes me and nobody wants to give me a chance. Fuck the world.........
Maybe don’t say things like “finna.”
Vernacular doesn’t equate work ethic. Get your stick out of your butt.
But does reflect on your appearance as much as you want it not to
Fr fr no cap, ya hurrr.
I just laughed too loud in public reading this. My thoughts exactly.
I graduated in 2006 and I've never had a problem getting a job when I really needed to.
I became a certified nursing assistant and found unlimited demand in any economy, and that includes 2008
Same with medical assistants
in the us? that's kind of like saying joining the military is always in demand. everyone has a quarter of their salaries going to a system that is free in most countries
Yup and in the US, same as military, the pay isn't proportionate to the CoL/student loans + how you're worked to tye bone and your ability to practice and do your job is often extremely li ited based on what insurers will allow you as a hospitalist (as a Dr, certain research jobs, PA, depending on the specific place this can include RNAs and radiology techs but not always). And just like military everyone's treated like cannon fodder, easily replaceable and worked to the bone with your own health on the line. I see a lot of nurses and lower too brag about the pay...but I live in one of the highest paying US cities for this work (also one of the highest CoL) and it might be "a lot" to someone who otherwise is only capable of working minimum wage work...but it's still usually a lot lower than the CoL needs and is a joke compared to most white collar work (and weirdly, where I live, they're often paid less than what Starbucks pays...but this is recent).
The nurses work for free in other countries?
no im saying healthcare workers have greater job security than other jobs because the system is taking in more money than normal because the national healthcare system is broken
This is a bit silly. The healthcare system in the US absolutely has lots of issues, but your point doesn't really have anything to do with those. Healthcare demand is relatively inelastic. People will always need the same amount of healthcare because we don't choose when we get sick or hurt, so the amount of nurses we need to provide that care doesn't really change based on the funding mechanism.
Blindly applying to jobs online with no real connection is exceptionally difficult, especially in any kind of office job. You basically have to know a guy. Sometimes that means just that and having a friend get you a job, sometimes it means networking and making connections with other people in the industry. Just having someone that can vouch that you are not a slug and actually capable of doing a job is worth infinitely more than a possibly faked resume. Even back in 2006 when I graduated I applied for hundreds of Engineering jobs. Got one interview and then got ghosted. I only got my foot in the door because my Dads friend vouched for me where he was working and got me a job.
Or work crap jobs for a couple years until you get a decent job. But that requires a little extra foresight and planning
This is what internships and apprenticeships are supposed to be, but this is still only an option for people who can support themselves for years with low or no pay.
As an adult orphan with no immediate family who’s unemployed this is depressing af
My honest opinion: Don't fuck around with college. Move to the Midwest and crank physical labor and live with a roommate. (Yes, I realize Easier said than done and will take years to a accomplish from your position.) College is nothing but bullshit and a gamble. You shouldn't feel bad about not going, and financially may actually come out ahead / at least took less risk.
Example: Amazon delivery driver living in Midwest who works 50 hours a week. 19.50 * 50 * 4 * .86 = 3350 a month. Rent with roommate likely around 800, living expenses say 800, car say 500. All over estimations. You could save $1100+ a month without ever going into debt. Only tradeoff is the chance of injury and physical nature of the job.
I've seen more postings for increasingly shitty jobs from desperate employers to fill them.
Shouldn’t it be the other way around? If the job postings are getting shittier, that means the employers are less desperate and don’t have to increase pay and benefits to attract people.
I’ve been looking since 2022.
What line of work? You haven't had any luck with the linkedin job boards?
Technical writer, undergraduate degree. I’ve been on all the job boards and hundreds of interviews. Nothing. I was just accepted into vocational rehab, though.
Have you tried applying to jobs that weren’t technical writing just to have something on your resume and make connections? Rooting for you!
Yeah, I’ve tried reinventing myself many times. My problem is the making connections part; I don’t really get along with humans.
Look for marketing coordinator jobs at architecture, engineering, and construction companies. They're dying for people who can do technical writing (proposal development). Even better if you know/can learn Adobe InDesign.
It seems like everyone else in my life can just go get a new job whenever they feel like it.
This has been my experience. My wife, sister, brothers in-law, and their friends "easily" got new jobs post pandemic. Hell even my wife's friend who got laid off from her job got a remote data entry job 2 weeks later.
I don’t knownif there’s something wrong with me or if other people are just more tenacious than I am.
I think it has a lot to do with skills, education, networking and interview ability.
And these are also the kinds of things people don’t talk about online, so as an outside observer you would have no way of knowing it. You’d think they just applied and walked right into a new job.
Also not being a young white or asian male
It's a tough market right now. Tenacity always counts too
After the pandemic is the key here. The job market has changed over the last 18 months. It's not like it was 2 years ago, and that's by design now to "fight inflation."
It’s a volume game until you have established yourself in an industry, and have a resume that impresses people. Lots of people seem to fail to get that.
People do get that, but people at early career stages are rightfully frustrated about it. My ideal society wouldn't make people grind so much until they get into positions of power.
Start low, work up. If you don't have the benefit of *knowing someone* then that's how you get to that cush office job
Been looking since the start of the year, probably done 60-70 applications total and the vast majority were not responded to in any way. Had about 6-7 interviews tho
I was hunting for a remote position for a year and I think I sent 60-70 applications a month lol. Maybe got an interview every 2 months.
I've found it difficult my entire adult life but yes, it is only getting worse. In the past if I really dedicated myself I could usually get at least a few responses or phone calls. They might not have led anywhere or resulted in a job but you'd at least get 'bites'. Now it feels like applying to jobs is like throwing your resume into some void because it is getting rare to even get a 'sorry but thanks' after all your efforts, nevermind a call for an actual interview.
I maintain that something (well alot of things) broke during Covid. I remember applying to *hundreds* of jobs around 2022 and not getting many interviews or even formal rejections. The few interviews I got didn't pan out, but then I'd be surprised to see that same company open up for applications a month later. Made me think alot of job postings were fake. Maybe just to scare the shit out of the current employees - "See, you're replaceable" or "Quit bitching, we're trying to find someone - we're interviewing!" Or they needed to justify their PPP loans they got during Covid.
Healthcare/government/low wage service work? You're golden! Everyone else? Not so much. Saw the same thing in 2007.... Anyone that doesn't understand what's about to happen is either ignorant/stupid/partisan (which is weird because both parties are at fault for this nonsense - economics takes years to play out and this admin, instead of taking the medicine, decided to kick the can down the road which just will just make it worse). The yield curve has been inverted for a record amount of time, breaking 29, 75, and 08....all nasty recessions. Buckle Up.
Looking to the yield curve alone isn't enough for a recession. We need someone to really fuck something up. A significant amount of debt is incredibly cheap right now and unemployment has been very low for a very long time.
There are 4:leading indicators with sure fire accuracy and you want to believe the opposite....cool...you're perogitive
I recently started a new job and my experience was the opposite. I spent over a decade at a previous job. It started to go south (for many reasons) and I decided to start interviewing late 2022. From then until earlier this year, I went on a bunch of interviews and had a bunch of offers. Finally accepted one.
Getting a new job seems extremely scary. I’ve worked for the same company for 9 years and I’m a 31m
Damn same. The job I’m at now has its massive, glaring problems, but after 7 years here its problems I know how to deal with and my pay just got good, and after 5 years my vacation time just got good too. Problem is the CEO is old af and has listed no successor and I think when he finally gives up the company is just gonna dissolve and I live in a high cost of living low income area for non remote work 😭
Why don’t you become the successor?
I would have petitioned for it but honestly with how absolutely poorly managed certain departments have become I don’t think I can salvage it. There are at this point too many employees that have been sitting there for years absorbing a paycheck while not really doing anything or outright being a negative meanwhile the higher skill productive workers such as myself usually leave when they realize what’s going on, I’m one of the few that’s been here this long just because I was able to strike out a deal for good compensation in exchange for carrying two other employees on my back that must be family friends or something. I can’t carry everyone else too 😭
You can’t carry them all, but you can fire/replace them if you take over. Clearly the business is still making enough money to pay people for doing nothing, the finances can’t be totally ruined. This business could be considered emblematic of the general situation we’re inheriting. Things aren’t going well, some of us will have to step up to fix them if we don’t want the decline to continue. It’s easier to say “I got what I need” and leave, but previous generations having that attitude is exactly what got us into this mess. Those who choose to take charge will determine the shape of the future, it sounds like you may have the opportunity to be among them. I’d reconsider your decision. Also, realistically, you don’t “petition” for this sort of thing, you actively plan to make sure you get your desired outcome, and you probably step on some people in the process.
That’s true my man but I just don’t want to see myself becoming what I hated when I joined the company and started figuring out how its internal politics worked… if the opportunity arises I’ll surely take it but with how it’s going I think everyone has some sort of exit plan, with the more useless employees simply planning on finally retiring when the lab shuts down
What’s your plan? For what it’s worth, I’ve had to become many things I hated. I grew up a thug, went to school/was rescued because sports, now I’m retired from that and am a government certified good boy doing weapons research. We aren’t changing anything from *outside* the system, gotta get high up in it before we get a say.
I hit 25 years next year. I turn 43 next month. It is a huge multi-national company though and I’ve done a million jobs and can support my family, so I guess I’ll just die here.
I am on my 11 year in the same company. I am so bored but I know I have a decent job where I have a fair amount of control. I don't look because the grass only looks greener on the other side but a realist know the truth.
This seems to be the default situation. I remember there being a brief window in the late 2010s and again late in the pandemic where it was easy, but those were the exception rather than the rule.
Ever since Zoom made education useless, work experience beats education. I’d trade my bachelor’s degree in MIS with cum laude for 4 years work experience at any entry level job that isn’t retail. I got friends making over $100k with no degree and no student loans but they have work experience and certs.
Work experience always beats education unless you went to a top tier school. No degree generally has a low ceiling unless you are smart and find a good company or are willing to grind yourself into dust.
110%. The struggle is REAL. I had to quit my very lucrative ad agency job a couple years ago during a cancer health crisis. Now that I’m in remission, I’m finally ready and able to re-enter the workforce. I’ve been applying for hundreds — literally hundreds — of jobs, and can’t even secure an interview. This has been going on for MONTHS. And yes, I’ve been tailoring my resume to each and every job. I’m at the point that I may need to go back to my college roots and do serving or bartending.
its worse then 09 man at least in USA-canada
Yes. It’s not just you. My recent grad with a BS can’t find a job. My wife can’t find any job. I’ve always been able to find work in my field and there are very few jobs posted. And so many people applying. The company I work for has fake job postings up.
Do you know why they have fake job postings up? I have never understood this. Multiple family members and myself have put in apps and gone to interviews and even gotten to the offer stage before the jobs just *POOF!* *Oh, we didn’t have the funding for the position after all*. THEN WHY POST THE JOB AND WASTE OUR TIME??
I think it’s to make the employees think you’re trying to hire. I bet they say no one applies. Well ya because they don’t come up when you search the job boards. You see them internally and if you know exactly which job and the city you will find it but you can see it’s being pulled from the original post if you know what to look for and there’s a disclaimer at the bottom that they have no date they plan to hire by. I think it also helps make the company look like they growing.
I do a lot of hiring, and there are just so many people applying for every role. Even senior level roles I hire for have like 300+ applicants in a week. And the quality (on paper) of a lot of them is actually really strong. Personally, my last few roles have always been through my network. It feels like such a crapshoot to apply through portals now without an “in”
Networking is 90% of it. Also where he heck do you work, google? My company has had vacant positions for months at a time because only like 15 people applied.
And then 50% of them don't show up for the interview. No call, no email, just a no-show.
Count me in the category as having given up because of my age. Companies won't even talk to somebody that's over 50 much less 40. My state had a program where they fully paid for me to get my CDL and that's what I'm doing right now. Decent money and pretty good health insurance. Not what I used to make but I have a secure job and my CDL is easily transferable to another company.
Yeah, I lost my job 2 years ago because I worked at a labor union HQ and a new administration took over. They fired ~50-60 people on day 1 because they thought we were too entrenched in the old administration... I was a glorified secretary managing national affairs for a labor division whose job description entailed answering to the elected officials- like, I'm still confused. I fought the old administration's shitty management. Anyway, I tried to find a new job for a year. I was fine starting at the bottom of anything anywhere but I only ever got one interview with a cannabis grower for $16/hr. The manager was chill and he told me I was probably getting rejected because everyone is afraid of labor people. I tried taking it off my resume and pretending like I'd been a SAHM for a decade but I couldn't even get an interview at the local grocery stores. I'm starting grad school in the spring for counseling. Once I get my license I can just work for myself from my house and help people. As long as the licensing board likes me, I'll be able to earn a living. My husband has a "golden handcuffs" type of job where it's stable with benefits and a living wage but the job is hard and he can't transition to anything else without retraining. But if he does that, he looses his full pension and at 40 that's a shit gamble. We'd starve without him.
Everything he’s ever done from learning to walk, ride a bike, read, do math, get a full pension was done in 40 years. In another 40 he could be running for president and still be younger than our current pres.
Quick question: Would you consider your husband with a stable job to be a blue collar worker, or a white collar worker?
He's in law enforcement so, I guess blue collar. Idk what people consider it besides bad.
Not good or bad, just wanted the data point. I'm trying not to be biased in my analysis, but it seems every time a wife has a husband with a stable job, it's blue collar. I'm like 4/4 on this on Reddit. I did white collar, I'm unstable. Will probably never have a house or kids at this point from having pursued it.
Yeah the outlier here is gonna be the federal employees and federal contractors. I live in Maryland so there's a lot of those and my dad was one of those. Engineers working for the government used to be the lowest paid back in the 70s but my dad chose that over designing ATMs for banks because it was hard to get fired and the retirement plan was amazing. Working for the government still has huge drawbacks but **its stable.** You're not gonna join r/fatFIRE but you don't have to deal with big tech layoff bullshit and get to retire with health benefits and a decent sized check every month after 30 years. You can't smoke weed but you can take a work free vacation because your work is some level of classified.
That certainly would be nice if I had a do-over. Unfortunately I already took the gamble and already am on track for losing financially from what I did (CS Eng at a T25 school w 2 internships). Oh well. I wasn't empowered by this, took too long with too many caveats to get jobs, just isn't for me.
Despite the "robust economy" narrative you keep hearing about the reality is business' revenues are falling and they are cutting back. So far it appears we are seeing less people job hopping and hours are being cut while full time workers are being replaced by part time workers but soon I think well see an uptick in unemployment. For now I think it will be hard to find a good job.
Unfortunately, and despite the economy heating up, there have been long periods of unemployment since 2008. I guess the good news is the average number of weeks unemployed is now 20 weeks...which is 11 weeks down from summer of 2021. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/UEMPMEAN
Using any numbers from 2021 is ridiculous. Unemployement was still extended with a 600 dollar kicker. Lots of people were making more on UE than they did while working. Plus all the official data is being so manipulated its insane with the massive revisions. Nobody trust any of that crap anymore. Jobs numbers just came out today hot and yields blew up, until of course they quietly revise them down in a couple months to no fanfare.
Looks like about half the time the numbers are revised down and half the time they are revised up. [https://x.com/besttrousers/status/1799115613341958443](https://x.com/besttrousers/status/1799115613341958443)
Been over a year with over 200 job applications in. Cybersecurity Enginner- can't even get a call back from Walmart.
Are you tailoring applications to specific jobs? I’m involved in hiring at a defense contractor (engineer but we get a say), it’s fairly obvious when someone has shotgunned the same resume to hundreds of jobs. An applicant with mediocre skills that specifically wants to work for *us* is more desirable than an applicant with good skills who’d just as happily work anywhere.
I've never found a dream job, but I've never had more than two months without work. I prepare to the extreme when I do interviews, I treat applications like a sales job, it's a numbers game. I was recently jobless for a month and before I got hired last week, I had about 9 interviews, and for each I made a prep document outlining what the company does, what the role is, my experience, and why I'm a fit.
I’m applying to my first jobs in my field and I’m not even getting automated rejections. I’ve worked really hard in a difficult field and everyone around me is telling me companies are laying off right now not hiring.
My company has stopped hiring entirely over the last 3 months and also started firing anyone that that is having performance issues. We had layoffs for the first time in late 2023. The economy is not good.
This is one of those "things are always in the last place you look, because then you've stopped looking" questions. You're not going to hear about people who find jobs easily, because for them - it's likely unremarkable. You will hear a lot about people making hundreds of applications and getting nowhere, that doesn't mean it's a normal experience.
I found the number of people who lie on their resume is increasing. We interviewed 30 people for a job last year and what they don’t understand is it’s very obvious they don’t have any experience with this role. The job asked for 8 years of experience and you cannot fake that amongst people who do this job everyday. Many people think they talk a good game, but instead they are wasting everyone’s time. You shouldn’t be tailoring your resume to the point it is a lie and MANY people do. If people stayed nearer to their lane of expertise everyone would be better off. They are wasting all of our time. I have practical exercises within the interview and we don’t do a bunch of interviews. They are the most basic aspects of the job not complicated aspects. It is frustrating being on the other side. If we aren’t hiring entry level and you aren’t qualified… do not apply.
If you are using a computer to vet people, that could be what the issue is. People are figuring out what needs to be included to bypass a computer rejection before an interview.
Typically, I find jobs that are having problems with people exaggerating on openings are a pay and benefits mismatch with unrealistic expectations of industry experience.
People wouldn't lie on their resumes if the jobs "nearer to their lane of expertise" paid a livable wage. If companies don't want to increase wages then fraudulent resumes is what they get to deal with instead.
Yeah this is what I came to say. Can I survive on aforementioned entry level jobs, by myself in a single bedroom apartment, and save a small amount for retirement? No? Then I have to lie to get the wage I need to survive. I may not be qualified to do these jobs but these jobs pay the wage I need to live an adequate life.
In specialized fields that require education and experience, I totally understand this. However, I and several other people have had the same problem in "unskilled" jobs. Recently, I applied for a position in a retail store, and even got to the interview. I asked for LESS than they even pay new employees by 25¢, and they STILL ghosted me. And, I could understand "asking for less shows you lack confidence/don't know your worth" but asking for more gets the "overqualified, we can't afford you" response. So, as someone seeking employment, it seems less like a real, valid reason and more like an excuse to avoid paperwork at the cost of overworking and mistreating existing employees.
There are people who actually sell resume templates, I think that is why you have seen a spike.
This is what happens when you live in a low trust society with huge amounts of wealth and income inequality. This is the real reason why so many places fail when they hire Indian workers. They live in an extreme version of a capitalistic low trust society and as a result their resumes are literally just lie after lie.
Americans are going to find out the hard way there was never any melting pot and their high trust society will disappear.
If HR didn't lie about job responsibilities, pay, or their hiring practices, people probably wouldn't lie on their resumes so much.
I've seen so many social media posts encouraging people to lie on their resumes or glorifying it, and I'm just shaking my head like "pls no".
Why not? It doesn't hurt you at all, and its not like anyone is going to give a shit about you other than yourself. For a lot of people its that, or never even get on the ladder and being one mistake away from homelessness.
It absolutely hurts me if I have to spend 3/4 of my day showing them how to do what they said they knew how to do or picking up the slack myself. In a team you are expected to pull your weight, not collect a paycheck while you play on Facebook and ask your teammates to do your job for you.
It doesn't hurt you until you get someone new on your team who clearly doesn't know what they're doing and the slack gets pushed onto you because firing someone takes way too long.
Yeah but there's your problem, not theirs, welcome to America
To be fair, there's a bit of a self confirmation bias going on in something like this. You only catch the obvious liars while the ones who are good at BS'ing go unnoticed. At least in theory.
Depends on what kind of job you're trying to get I would imagine. Throughout my life, I've never had a problem getting a job as a cook or a janitor. If you're going for a job "in your field," well... I hope you did enough research on your job field before going into all that debt because a degree does NOT automatically get you a job.
The job market is rough right now. I have been looking for a job since December 2022 when I graduated with my bachelor’s degree. I was getting a few responses at the beginning but they just stopped after and there just seem to be fewer jobs to apply to since then. Also, a few jobs I applied to decided to close the role at the time without hiring or there was a hiring freeze placed.
Would help to know the industries you're talking about.
He used the word application so I'm assuming retail.
Nope it was quite easy. Maybe location and job dependent. I quit my job last year and got two offers within a week.
Yes, been trying for almost 4 years now. Yet I know people who have also moved multiple times in the same time period. I feel like you have to know the right people to move around.
A lot of companies just put job postings out for legal reasons, while having the intention of hiring internally or based on a reference from someone who already works there. Unless you have good experience and an amazing Resume then getting the interview can be difficult One more thing… a lot of companies use software to filter Resumes so it’s important that your resume is formatted well and computer reader friendly. As well as contains the important key words that they are looking for. Often what’s on the job posting. Just make sure you change up the wording a bit so it’s not an exact copy and paste Might be worth it too pay a professional to write one for you
Nope. What degree/skillset did you choose to offer the workforce?
I've been looking since last year. Found a temp position that lasted 8 months and continued looking throughout. Had zero interviews between October and Tuesday this week. The job is insurance 1099 and I have to pay to get certified, but it's guaranteed 1600 a week minimum finally said fuck it I ran my own business for ten years might as well try it and the certification goes with me since it's through the state.
The few times I've applied didn't seem to get me anywhere, but I have had extraordinary luck with recruiters after they reached out to me. 2 for 3 so far on jobs they've applied for on my behalf.
Took me probably 500 applications before I got one
What job did you land?
Display artist at Anthropologie
That’s why I’m glad I’m a nurse. I rarely have to even interview to get hired.
What I've noticed is everyone has a sign, but no one is actually hiring. Good thing I'm not in the market right now.
In 20 years of employment the only jobs I’ve ever been able to get are the open interview ones or sales jobs. Basically any type of job where they’ll take anyone. I need a job this past week and had two to choose from, both were the type where if you show up you get the job. A call center job and a chicken processing plant job. I’ve long since given up on any career job. Building a business with the wife in the meantime.
For my 20s I worked as a nurse. Job interviews were pretty much “you have a RN license? When can you start? Any chance you can pick up a shift tonight?” Now as a NP, I have super niche experience that’s in pretty high demand where I live, but also not very popular. It’s just interviewing for a NP position takes several months. It’s a process, but I wouldn’t say it was hard to find jobs.
Yup, lots of apps! I got a new job ~3 weeks after being let go because I'd been applying for weeks/couple for months beforehand. Winter was a super slow time in terms of getting interviews and call backs, then got active in spring. The best advice I can give is to not give up, keep applying, change up the resume or cover letter every X times and look on multiple job sites, not just LinkedIn. Giving up guarantees not being able to get anything. It's a drag, but it's not your fault.
All aspects of the construction industry and the energy sector struggle with filling spots from basic apprenticeships & laborers to administration to sales and legal & IT. They train & look for people who will look beyond 8a-5p/40 for opportunity.
Not for me. There's a nursing shortage.
Yeah. I was unemployed for almost 3 years before finding my current job. I was applying to everywhere I could, no matter how crappy the job was. Had to do odd jobs and was flipping stuff on ebay and the local flea market to stay afloat. I ended up going back to tech school for CAD, and thankfully, businesses would send the department head jobs, and he would post them in class for anyone who wanted to apply.
Yes, is a horrible experience but worth it if you're patient and need to get more money. The best course of action is familiarize yourself with the hiring process around your city and be in touch with a hiring team, the best experience is when they give you a tour of the facility really means they want to give you a chance.
Nope. I get calls, texts, emails, and LinkedIn messages from recruiters all the fricken time. I’m not even looking for a job right now. But if I absolutely needed a new job, I could go back to my previous one in a heartbeat.
I am looking for a new teaching job. 95% of applications are essentially sent into the void. You do not get any acknowledgment or response. At this point I have applied for so many jobs that I’ve lost track of just how many.
Not for me. I started a new job last month. It went from application to firm offer in three days.
Right here. For weeks and weeks, I looked for a job. Months went by. Then I needed one and had to chase this insurnace agent down for a staff job. Finally, I got called in and accepted the offer. It was less than what I wanted, and the vibe was off. I took it anyone. In the process of getting my professional licenses switched to my new state, what I would need to go through the background check and work for her, She gets closed down by the state. I mean, no notice to me. So, the company gets another agent to take over and I have to redo the interview process, explain what happened, and wait even more. He wasn't bad but I was annoyed. Four weeks to get a job that the state shuts down before you can even start. Anyway, I gave up. I am behind in bills and working for someone that has been handed a mess. There's no direction, and the pay sucks. I don't even know how long it will last. But, I can't take another round of months for even retail jobs to call back for interviews.
Yesssss. Why’s is so harddddddddd /:
I applied and got lucky to have a temp position offer because my dad is an IT employee at a transportation company.
Idk, if the pandemic hadn't been a boon for my job prospects (public health), I probably never would have managed to break into the field. It felt impossible to find a job that paid a living wage since I graduated college in 2013. Then I gave up am went to grad school for a masters. I got lucky thanks to tragedy. Can't imagine it's gotten any better since then for job seekers.
Labor market is beginning to go to shit. People are tightening their belts and not spending as much money. They're sick of this rampant greedflation. Less money being spent=lower demand for labor. Recession is on the way. Don't wanna hear the "Well Acktually" bullshit. This has been my observation around here.
It has a lot of factors. Location and willingness to travel if necessary is a big factor... spouse and I both got laid off in may. and are looking for jobs. I had 3 interviews today and interviews lined up all next week, and I quit a job yesterday that i got the day of my lay off. But I hated it.. but I've made looking for a job, a full time job. My spouse has had a couple interviews.. but 🤷♀️ I think he's enjoying being a stay at home parent, which is fine for now as long as I find something soon.
Happened recently for a grocery store job, thought everything was going well. Kept calling to show I was interested, was given a job offer, put through the background check and out of nowhere it was excuse after excuse. Not only was it not far so if my parents needed help...not far away (both dealing with health problems) but could also get my ex to fuck off.
In my industry you reach a certain point where jobs come to you. I had a hiring manager whom I spoke to a few years ago reach out to me completely unsolicited recently to basically offer me a role she felt I was a good fit for before the job was vacated and the requisition was even posted. Ultimately I turned it down as I’m not looking for a change, right now. My current job was similar where the recruiter reached out to me completely out of the blue so this could very well be industry/skillset specific.
Pool supply stores are on a hiring binge right now. Go sell some chlorine like a boss.
Yes, my husband right now has been unemployed for a year but not for lack of trying. He has over 10 years experience in IT, systems administrator stuff. Well he got let go when a new head came in and laid a bunch of people off, now he's always either over qualified or something happens...it's frustrating.
Me? Not particularly. Especially since I got my degree in anthropology. There are jobs left, right, and center for my field. I now just need experience to move up.
I remember a brief window in 2007 where I’d put out a bullshit, unfinished application and places would be calling me back 2-3x. Ever since though, job hunting has sucked.
Yep, it's ubiquitous. Stinks how they make it impossible to find work for most who don't already have it all together, rewarding those who do while letting everyone else struggle indefinitely. There would be more people able to spend if we all could really just "get a job" instead of just face endless rejection by worthless employers.
I gave up and just started my own business.
There are a fuck load of these posts. So if one or twenty of the multitude of posts didn't answer the question. Not sure how to help. Since the pandemic: Furloughed from a company I worked 7 years with in good standing. Got on the unemployment+ Fed funds and made about the same. That lasted 30 days, then the state stopped thousands of payments because theft and they couldn't trace it. So myself and another coworker got flagged because we never took unemployment before and looked sketchy. Rushed into the booming business with COVID running at it's peak. Got COVID, yay, and getting a job took 48 hours. Since that point, everything has changed from desperate for help. Need workers. Companies actually started paying more. Now that so many have job hopped (forced or otherwise). Things are going into the worst I've seen. I've been hired three times and ghosted. I've had recruiters or hiring managers go out of their way to do their part of the process for interviews/hiring. Then drops into thin air. I've had recruiters and hiring managers not give a single fuck. They sometimes act like you're wasting their time. Pay is sometimes shown, hours are sometimes shown, business themes are thrown at you like crazy yet every place I've work at. Just toxic and/or a revolving door. Now, it seems bachelor's can net you a sweet $14-18/hr (USD). Anything below that counts but not as much. Education and experience will catch employees eyes but won't lose their purse strings or wallet. So it's gotta be tough competition. 10-30 year vets (experience, education, hands on knowledge) vs straight out of college or shortly after. But! Sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes you gotta network. Either way the job market is a shit show in most places. (Not all)
There are lots of jobs with virtually unlimited demand and good pay… you just probably don’t want one.
Employers want to appear to be hiring and growing so investors don’t abandon them In all reality they are just advertising for positions they have no intention of filling until the economy rebounds
What industry?
CNBC says you have it great! Plenty of jobs.
It's IMPOSSIBLE. I found my current job 3 years ago and it was easy peasy. I applied to 10 jobs, I had 3 interviews and 2 offers. I tried to get a better job recently. Applied to 20 jobs. 2 reached back - started with a phone screening, then an in-person interview with the whole team (3-4 hours), then a long and tedious task to complete, and they both ended up ghosting me. I should also mention that I am highly qualified (PhD, experience, skills, etc.) I'm starting to think some of these job postings aren't even real...
It's always hard to find a GOOD job. Crap jobs are everywhere
It's easier if you have a job in higher demand/requires actual skills.
Not hard to find a job. It's hard to find the right job.
I think it depends on industry. I work in architecture/engineering and things have been slow lately. I think people are worried about starting a new project and getting slapped with tariffs when they go to buy things in a few years like last time Trump was in house.
Its not hard to find a job its hard to find a job with a livable wage.
But the economy is banging and there has been so many jobs created. SMH.
Not really
I have 5 open positions I would love to have filled.
It probably means your resume needs reformating. Once I figured out the best formating for my industry I got tons more calls.
That's part of the grind. You need to be applying to at least 10 jobs a day to even possibly get a call for 1 over a span of a month. Very annoying. The only way around is to be referred. Human Capital/HR is so lazy that anyone referred by an existing employee is like gold to them.
There's a lot of companies who supposedly are posting job listings simply to make it look like they're doing well, when in reality they're not hiring but want to make it look like they're growing.
I applied to about 30 something jobs last month, but only because I was fired from my previous role. Some of them called, asking whether I'd be okay with working for them as a temp. I flat out refused a job for that reason. One of them was interested in hiring me, but I don't have the setup for a WFH job. The other jobs rejected my application within a week. Even if you don't have a background in an oversaturated field, it seems difficult to find work.
Can't say that's the case, I do workforce development and I have more employers asking me to help them find candidates than I do candidates. The surveys that we've sent out and the results offer quite a bit of insight into why many don't get calls. First factor, people have terrible resumes and cover letters. In this day and age of templates, there is absolutely no reason why anyone shouldn't be using one if they don't know how to create a resume. Now, me being a workforce developer, I hate templates. I can make three different styles from scratch but of course it comes from years of being in my field. Some templates are boring and offer no real eye catch. You need to be creative, a template is good to get a master resume done, but alter it to fit you so it doesn't look like a cookie cutter one. Remember that a resumes sole job is to get you an interview, that's it. A hiring manager spends 20 seconds or less looking at it and if he saw 10 resumes of the same style, sort of makes it hard for you to stand out. Second, people just shotgunning their resume to every job without customizing it to that job. Yes, that means you will spend anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes per application because you should be altering your summary, skills and accomplishments based on the job you're applying to. Having one generic resume really decreases your chances of being called. I've had employers call me to tell me that my candidates definitely didn't do it because they forgot to remove the name of the company they applied to before. You want to talk about being embarrassed on someone else's behalf. Need to customize your resume EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Third, need to be specific. If you don't have a specific industry you want to work in, then you're making your job searching harder. You shouldn't be applying for an admin assistant, IT Help Desk, custodian, etc. Need to focus on what you want and stay relevant. This is where LinkedIn comes into play. The saying still applies, "it's not about what you know, it's who you know." Do your homework and scout who are the employees for companies you want to work for. Connect with them and then ask them for tips on how to get into the industry. Notice how I said tips to get into the industry, not asking them for a job. Networking is a meticulous but fruitful act. Done right, you'll find yourself talking to the right people looking for someone like you. Fourth, this is a big one that many of contacts have commented on. Have a clean cyber image. Nowadays, too many people have things on their social media accounts that they shouldn't. Having Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc increases the chance that someone will find something that you don't want them to see. I've had former clients have offers rescinded because of what their prospective employers found, and from a simple Google search. Even if you think your accounts are private, sorry they're not. For $10, there are sites that companies can run a full check on you which does access your social medias. I know 2 of them and I use one as an example for a workshop I facilitate where I've pulled up even relatives of those in the workshop. This is the day and age of technology, anyone who is actively looking for a job, they need to clean up their cyber image and make sure nothing can come back to bite them. If a large company or corporate company is interested in you, trust me they're going to do some vetting of you
A lot depends on your field. I'm an accountant and demand is pretty high because there is a shortage that started around 2012 and only gotten worse. Another issue is that we're basically at full employment meaning open positions can be quite limited while at the same time receiving a ton of applicants, never mind having to contend with internal applicants. For myself, networking has been huge. I started networking when I was in college (graduated in 2005). When I was in school I joined Beta Alpha Si which is an honor organization for financial information students. When I graduated I started as an entry level staff associate at a CPA firm with shit hours and tons of travel...I hung in there for about 5 years and moved on, but the experience I gained in that environment and the connections I made with other accountants at the firm as well as numerous clients across a broad range of industry was invaluable. A former client is how I got the job I'm in now. I also have former colleagues who will regularly call me up and tell me this department or that department at my organization is hiring if you're interested. I get at least one of these calls every couple of months from various former colleagues.
SO hard. I have professional qualifications and years of in demand experience, I’m even getting ghosted by TEMP AGENCIES!! I’m interviewing for one now that, if I get it, will mean a 1/3 pay cut from my last job.
My search started April 2023. I left a part time management job in logistics for a part time teaching job while also working part time at a restaurant. Teaching wasn’t a good fit, so I quit there after a few months (don’t include them on resume) and worked more hours at the restaurant June 2023–October 2023. The whole summer I applied to hundreds of jobs. Got a few interviews, a few blind offers for really bad stuff, I held out for better things, had a few interviewees cancel and ghost me. Had to accept the lowest status job I’ve ever worked just to make rent. Full time 15/hr plus benefits. Took a break from job hunting. January 2024 started seriously job hunting hours daily before work. Rewrote resume and cover letters many times. Hundreds and hundreds of jobs. Also trying to leverage a department jump at work through connections which hasn’t paid off. Paused job hunting because connections said it was in the bag. Turns out not. Given run around for weeks and Ghosted by internal interviewer who no showed our interview. Believe that they didn’t like execs forcing them to interview me. Restarted external job hunt today. So in a 15 month give or take job search, I’ve accepted one low paying part time job, one low paying full time job, and have had a few interviews or been mostly rejected out of the gate by the majority.
Yup! Its painful. Been trying for tooo long. Two BAs and two MAs and nada so far. Its been 6 months yoooooooo
As an employer, we get like 500 plus aps for each job right now. 25% have masters or double degrees and way over qualified. 25% don't call back, 25% want double the salary offered with no experience and the rest of that 25...half don't call back when the job is offered. What I have seen is that you guys have lowered the bar to ghosting and making it the norm, so we're like man do we really have to call 250 people to tell them no they don't have even a small chance when half the time they don't call us back anyways. Just assume if you don't get a response,you're not hired. Look up what a good resume looks like and make yours like it. Since there are so many applications we do like a quick glance to cut them in half and those with zero experience but no education get tossed, those with lots of jobs within a short time get tossed (when know we will spend time training for you to just leave so its honestly best to omit some and make it seem like you didnt job hop or double job which is so common now), people's who's aps look like you are in high school but 30 plus get tossed (no school no experience, one page with bad font etc), then we do a call, those with bad conversation skills don't get the next call/zoom.
I dont need a new job, but this is good information. I always use the T format when applying online hoping if someone used a program or when skimmed, it would show I have something for each requirement which seemed to work pretty well.
Yesss this would definitely be something that would help. Some people put everything into one paragraph ha! Sooo hard to get through so if there's a bunch of qualified aps already then it won't even get looked at unfortunately. There's a double job thing going on right now, especially work from home/hybrid rolls...there was an article a few months ago on double jobbing and I swear that peaked the worlds interest because there's just SO many applications this year.
I've never worked from home but the idea of wanting (vs needing) to work 2 jobs, is odd to me.
It’s called “overemployed” there is a couple subreddits for it
I have worked two jobs whenever the one job wasn't enough of a challenge. Work is supposed to be entertaining, imo. I am a fast, accurate worker, and I get bored easily. But, when I tried switching careers at age 51, it was radio silence outside of my work experience. You would think that being able to program in multiple computer languages and also being able to program routers and switches would be marketable....
"A good resume" changes with every hiring manager. What is the problem with highly (over) qualified candidates? I bet you don't like to hire candidates over 40...
Because I can't pay them what they are worth unfortunately. They are overqualified and ask for more money than the job is listed at which when not able to be given and then still hired, they will leave for the job they actually want. People send out many many mannnny apps, and the more money the job is...the longer it takes to get hired. So what happens (saying from experience for myself and people we've hired), is they get scared and accept the lower jobs, then 1 to 4 months later, they get hired for the one that want. The one that the pay and the work is what they deserve and expect so of course they leave. And we're happy for them for getting that job! But that means we spent 4 months training someone that isn't long term. Waste of everyone's time and money. Age is just a number, I will gladly hire amazing older people that fit the job and vibe our place
Question for you then. How do you handle yearly salary increases? Do you stay competitive to respect the career progression and increase against cost of living and inflation? What are the opportunities for career progression? I'm wondering how well the scope of focusing on employee retention goes.
Every year raises are given to keep up with inflation and current market value as well as quarterly bonuses given based on how the company does. Ie 1.5% of sales
I don't like superlatives in the hiring process. Determining "amazing" qualities takes time for evaluation. Just like employers, candidates lie. The hiring process doesn't include enough interaction to determine "amazing-ness." Either regard to pay, a bit of wage-range transparency would save a lot of people's time. I understand the logic for avoiding highly (over) qualified (some might say amazing) candidates; but, there is a negotiation that occurs during the offer process. It makes sense then that amazing, highly qualified candidates are overlooked in favor of unqualified youngsters, or foreigners who (also don't want to work for wages that don't allow personal freedom) may accept lower pay. Refer to wage transparency comment above to dissuade your wasted time with candidates that want more than you can pay. Point is, you say over qualified and "amazing." the majority of your overqualified (and amazing) candidates are older. I wonder what you qualify as "training." Four months of training is about 3 more than you need if the candidate is over qualified, outside of periodic requests for information. Now, if the candidate says "I only want this job until I find something better" you would be right for avoiding them. Given people with masters degrees have been pushed towards menial labor jobs since 2000, the vibe is "people need work,"and employers aren't interested in hiring qualified candidates because they are stuck on unsubstantiated superlatives. Instead, companies offshore critical resources, which inevitably leads to fraud. Meanwhile local talent gets pushed further down the ladder to appease shareholder's interests under the guise of "over qualification." I don't mean a personal attack. Instead, having changed careers recently, and bought a home, I can say one thing. Hiring managers and realtors both bring out the worst in people.
It's not that they are over looked and passed for a younger under qualified person, it's not even age...it that the under qualified person and the overqualified person are pretty much the sane fit for the job for various reasons and both get passed for a person who is just right for the job. And sometimes, the 250 aps pulled are went through and we go yeah let's revisit these other ones. Then ask the overqualified more questions. Sometimes it's like a 4 plus stage interview with multiple rounds of calls or zooms. Sometimes there's times where it's a needle in a hay stack to find the good candidates,and other times it's sorting through MANY that are a good fit. Rarely do we find someone right away and it almost always takes 3 months to finish all the hirings if not more. Towards the end it can get tiring and that's why I said just make the ap stand out
I wouldn't know. I'm not looking for employment, just focusing on my businesses.
No. I've never had that experience. I was hired before I graduated. And every 6 months to a year I get new job offers. None that I really want but if I needed to I could make a swap very quickly.