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I have been applying for jobs for a year. I am still unemployed. I have 25+ years experience in various industries, 3 degrees, no criminal history, excellent credit and references. I have applied to 203 jobs since March 2016, I have been on 24 interviews. Only one job offer, for a part-time job, $13/hr. I turned it down last July, because I thought I had enough experience and education to warrant $15/hr and I need full-time work in order to survive and live.
What a fool I was...
Fast forward to March 2017 and I am still unemployed and facing homelessness.
So I have decided to apply for part-time minimum wage jobs, entry level jobs. You know what many employed people say to the unemployed "Clean toilets! Why be so picky?"
OK. So this morning I decide to apply to Hotel Housekeeping jobs on Indeed. Wow. Just Wow. Over 300 people applied to one hotel housekeeping job, part-time, minimum wage. What are the chances I get *that* job? Are they going to peruse my resume and decide to hire some egg-head with 3 degrees, over the other 300 people who applied? I doubt it.
I also saw a part-time minimum wage job for a data entry person at a produce market. The hours were 3 am - 7 am. Over 175 people applied to that position, even with the crappy hours. The job market is in the toilet, and I don't see Trump doing anything to make it better.
It is NOT easy to settle for a minimum wage job, as even minimum wage part-time toilet cleaning jobs are few and far between with hundreds of people applying for one job opening.
Wow, I am so sorry and wish I could help. What has your experiences been in and where are you located? Have you tried recruiting agencies, reaching out to your network, etc?
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,553 posts, read 81,067,970 times
Reputation: 57723
I don't know where you live, but it sounds like there must be a large number of unemployed people there. We are getting only 20-30 applicants these days for jobs paying $25-30 hour with our unemployment rate down to 3%. Moving, however, is hard when you have been unemployed for a long time. If you were willing to do custodial work part time for minimum wage, you might try looking in an industry that typically has openings and a shortage, often for better pay. Here, for example, there is a big shortage of transit system bus drivers, starting at over $20 with paid training. There are also always openings at the local school districts for substitute bus drivers at $24/hour, classroom instructional aids at $16/hr, special education para-professionals at $18/hr, and substitute custodians at $17/hr. I don't know if this applies to your area, however. Have you asked someone with either HR or hiring manager experience to review your resume, and make suggestions? I hope you find something soon.
^ Yeah, I'm curious to know where the OP is located.. must *not* be in a big metro area? Here in NYC, I am actually seeing a good amount of all sort of job openings. Retail, restaurant work, typical 9-5, etc.
^ Yeah, I'm curious to know where the OP is located.. must *not* be in a big metro area? Here in NYC, I am actually seeing a good amount of all sort of job openings. Retail, restaurant work, typical 9-5, etc.
I am in upstate NY. I relocated to the Dallas Texas area two months ago, as I heard there were tons and tons of jobs. I didn't get one response to the 30 job applications that I applied to while in the Dallas area. I am now back in upstate NY looking for jobs once again.
I am also 50 years old. And regardless of what people say - ageism is rampant especially for part-time minimum wage jobs.
I am tired of people telling me where the jobs are, your resume sucks, network with others who could care less about your unemployment, there is no ageism in the workplace, etc., etc. Moving the goal posts is not working out for me.
After 203 applications and 24 interviews, I need someone to tell me here is a job for you - you are hired!
Also, as I have mentioned many times on C-D, many of the jobs I interviewed for, went back up on the job boards months later. There may be tons of jobs openings, but are there really tons of real jobs? There is a difference between job openings and actual jobs that people get hired for.
Again must be God's will that I remain unemployed. Strange as it may seem, some people really are unlucky in life.
I have been applying for jobs for a year. I am still unemployed. I have 25+ years experience in various industries, 3 degrees, no criminal history, excellent credit and references. I have applied to 203 jobs since March 2016, I have been on 24 interviews. Only one job offer, for a part-time job, $13/hr. I turned it down last July, because I thought I had enough experience and education to warrant $15/hr and I need full-time work in order to survive and live.
What a fool I was...
Fast forward to March 2017 and I am still unemployed and facing homelessness.
So I have decided to apply for part-time minimum wage jobs, entry level jobs. You know what many employed people say to the unemployed "Clean toilets! Why be so picky?"
OK. So this morning I decide to apply to Hotel Housekeeping jobs on Indeed. Wow. Just Wow. Over 300 people applied to one hotel housekeeping job, part-time, minimum wage. What are the chances I get *that* job? Are they going to peruse my resume and decide to hire some egg-head with 3 degrees, over the other 300 people who applied? I doubt it.
I also saw a part-time minimum wage job for a data entry person at a produce market. The hours were 3 am - 7 am. Over 175 people applied to that position, even with the crappy hours. The job market is in the toilet, and I don't see Trump doing anything to make it better.
It is NOT easy to settle for a minimum wage job, as even minimum wage part-time toilet cleaning jobs are few and far between with hundreds of people applying for one job opening.
[snip]
Mod cut.
I'm in a similar predicament. I've been homeless for about two years. There just don't seem to be any jobs. Everythings been offshored to Asia.
Last edited by PJSaturn; 03-08-2017 at 10:52 AM..
Reason: Reply to comment which has been deleted.
my advice to you. Is pack up your car and move. Go to a city that has jobs. Some parts of the country got hit hard back in 08 and they never fully recovered.
When I lived in Illinois. It was hard as hell to get a job. In Texas. I landed multiple interviews in one week.
Have you even looked for work from home jobs?!! I'm sorry but you need to expand your job search.There are LOTS of jobs you can do from home AND some of them require a person to have degrees and I know that you would be able to find one in no time.
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
11,974 posts, read 25,460,386 times
Reputation: 12187
In my experience the US economy never recovered from the 9/11 recession. There was a fake recovery after 2002 and a fake recovery after the Great Recession. I had an easier time getting a job in 2000 than I have getting an interview in 2017.
In my experience the US economy never recovered from the 9/11 recession. There was a fake recovery after 2002 and a fake recovery after the Great Recession. I had an easier time getting a job in 2000 than I have getting an interview in 2017.
No kidding. What recovery?
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