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If you are in that position, something is fundamentally wrong with you or your resume, or both. You obviously won't get every call back, but if you are unemployed in perpetuity you need to either move, change fields, or change your approach - quite possibly all of them. While I haven't had the greatest of success, I have never been unemployed for more than a few weeks and routinely get calls for positions from across the country, and I'm certainly not a high skilled worker.
It just seems out here, the bottom doesn't exist. At least not for me. I'm not sure why. I've tried all the fast food/grocery store/restauraunt/retail applying and no call backs after filling out the application. I'm perfectly qualified for the jobs. I'm still willing to clean bathrooms, but those jobs don't seem to exist.
People are always talking about starting out at the bottom, but what do you do when there is no bottom? It just seems like there isn't for me. I just wish I knew why.
I feel like I am in this situation in fresno ca. I'm in the process of moving to the central coast area. I'm hoping that with a larger area to work in will give me a opportunity to start somewhere and I'm hoping ill work my way up in a company.
I wouldn't say there is something fundamentally wrong with the person. I was in the same situation even though I had a BS degree with experience (and I didn't single out my job search to the city I was living in). It's unfortunate, but the best thing a person can do in that situation is move to where there are jobs and just get back in the work force any way they can. I moved to another town that was booming with jobs and now I have a number of options, it's funny because people where I live now seem to have the same opinion that you have, but I think it is very myopic. A city's unemployment figures really doesn't represent the unemployment situation in the city. Another problem is someone that has been long term unemployed is deemed unwanted and an undesirable candidate to most employers. I was long term unemployed and had sent out hundreds and hundreds of applications with maybe 1 or 2 interviews that didn't result in anything. After relocating and being employed (granted below my skill level) for a short time I have sent out 20 applications and had 3 contacts from employers 2 of them willing to pay for me to fly out for an interview. I understand it's hard to see the other side of the fence, but there are plenty of people out there that are simply frozen out of the workforce, it's just hard to explain to someone that hasn't been there.
Yes it is a very myopic and slightly apathetic opinion, especially when youre not experiencing the downside of job searching. And yes, some employer communities do blackball. I have seen it in action as those communities may not be concerned that they are shooting themselves in the foot by negatively shunning legitimately qualified, skilled talent.
It just seems out here, the bottom doesn't exist. At least not for me. I'm not sure why. I've tried all the fast food/grocery store/restauraunt/retail applying and no call backs after filling out the application. I'm perfectly qualified for the jobs. I'm still willing to clean bathrooms, but those jobs don't seem to exist.
People are always talking about starting out at the bottom, but what do you do when there is no bottom? It just seems like there isn't for me. I just wish I knew why.
The problem is that you are applying for the same jobs as everybody else. Sure, you are qualified in that entry-level, no-experience way, but so is the rest of humanity.
Places like that accept applications no matter what. Having run one or two myself, it is easier to hand out an application than to explain that you are not hiring. I have had applicants yell at me for telling them, truthfully, that I did not have any openings.
Getting a job of this nature is a lottery. If your application is one of the 10 most recent it will be reviewed when somebody quits. Otherwise it will never be looked at by a human being.
Then why are people shouting every second.....get a job! stop being lazy! get a job! so and so is ALWAYS hiring! nobody wants to work! How can you explain such a contrast like this?
People are telling you to get a job to support yourself. Rather self-evident. Simply because people tell you to get a job does not mean that there are jobs available.
I can tell you to dig for oil in your back yard. That doesn't mean you will find any.
Nobody is 'always hiring'. The economics of today's job market simply don't allow that, and people who say such things are simply wrong.
Now, none of that means that you should give up. I think you are planning on going back to school? Excellent start. Start applying for jobs on campus a couple of weeks before classes start.
Think about places in your area that employ people, but are not chains. Apply there. Is there a bowling alley? Truck stop? Weird warehouse? Put in applications at those places. The more difficult it is for you to do this, the easier it will be to get a job because of the lack of competition.
Night security guard?
Custodian at a hospital?
Cashier at a gas station?
Small company building fences or cleaning empty lots?
None of these are glorious jobs. I have done them all. They give you experience and stuff to put on your résumé.
There are some of those types of jobs posted once in a while, but many of them say you need 1-2 years of experience, or to be experienced in. I see them on craigslist. There's a security guard position that wants 1-2 years of experience, and the pay is $11 an hour. If they didn't require the experience and trained me, I would do it. But they won't, as won't other employers. Thus I'm stuck in this position.
The other stuff I never see advertised, so I'm assuming it doesn't exist (like cleaning toilets).
Simply because they say they require 1-2 years of experience, that does not mean that they will not hire inexperienced people.
The posted job requirements are a wish list. If the company gets an applicant that meets all of their wants, then that person will get the job and you won't.
But if nobody with experience applies, you have a shot at it simply because they need a warm body to do the work.
Don't let minor discrepancies between your credentials and posted requirements prevent you from applying for entry level stuff. Security guard, cashier, general labor etc don't really need experience, just common sense.
I would avoid more technical jobs. If they say 1-2 years of experience in accounting, programming, or French pastry making, they are probably serious.
I can't even get interviews. Honestly, if I get an interview, I get the job 95% of the time. I only had one where I didn't, and I was told it was going to be a tough sell because the owner wanted someone already in the industry, and already living in Atlanta - I was neither.
Try applying to jobs you don't want so you can get called and get some practice. I applied to part-time jobs which I knew i would not take and it led to a referral to one of their colleagues
So give it a try
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