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and heard back from only 1. That 1 was a rejection email, of course.
What's worrying me is that I was getting a lot more replies when I first started searching 5 months ago. I think I've passed the threshold for what companies consider reasonable time out of work. My job search has been more focused and I've written a much better resume, but the number of calls I've been getting has flattened out to zero. This is the first time in the past 5 months that I've had no prospects. It's terrifying. Previously I had always had, at any given time, at least one prospect, one recruiter who had talked to me recently and was supposed to get back to me. Now there's nothing on the horizon.
It's a real struggle, not even being able to get a fast food job and hearing some blowhard talk about how nobody wants to work for minimum wage. Yeah right.
I'm also of the party who usually cast a wide net, but you know what, looking back that never seems to have helped me. I only ever got interviews (and then jobs) from places that really "spoke" to me and my interests and fit my resume/experience. Not to say you shouldn't try for something higher up or something outside of your comfort zone, but in my own experience vying for jobs in this market, it's always what you would MOST expect. I'm not sure if it's because your real passion appears in the cover letter or if it is merely the precise experience shown in the resume, or a combination of the two. But also don't listen to people who say this or that (cover letter) doesn't matter - every piece matters to certain companies. If you think you are perfect for a job, go for it and do good work on the application packet. If you like that company, keep trying for jobs there. Saying you're expecting a future within that industry helps too. I've worked for companies that were really interested in my background, even the weird things I chose to study in school - yes you know what I'm talking about! Don't ever feel like your background or experience is worthless, and just the same, there is no real purpose to shooting out resumes en masse to random companies who will show you just as little care.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,662 posts, read 81,421,151 times
Reputation: 57922
Quote:
Originally Posted by Novila
Don't ever feel like your background or experience is worthless, and just the same, there is no real purpose to shooting out resumes en masse to random companies who will show you just as little care.
I agree, that is like playing the lottery. Someone wins but your chances are very low. I find it hard to imagine that anyone will find 30 openings to apply for in a week that they are really well qualified for
and that suit them as to salary and location. When I was in this situation I spent many hours a day looking but applied to maybe 1-2 a week, and got interviews for most of them. The one I got was about 6 months later but it was worth the wait. I knew my chances were better because the requirements matched the rather unusual combination of experience and skills from my previous two careers. It was the only such position in the organization and the prior two incumbents had bombed out, so my experience stood out.
Have you tried temp agencies? Take whatever they give you, don't say no, and then from there you can continue to keep looking and you'll at least be employed
Let me share my story. I'm 3.5 years into my career. I've been searching for FTE work pretty much that entire time. I've been fortunate enough to hold temp full-time contract work the last 3.5 years, but regardless the search has always gone on.
So over 3.5 years, I've applied to around 150 open AND listed positions, made about another 120 applications to positions I've heard about through word of mouth in my network, and finally over 750 "general interest' job applications to companies I would like to work out. (I generally would send a resume to about 250 companies once a year). Let's just round it up and say I applied to 1000 positions over the last 3.5 years.
My results? About a 4% chance to have just an initial phone interview, usually with Human Resources. My chances of a second interview (either phone or in person) is 1%. Chances of getting a final interview is about 0.85% (usually if I get a second interview, I grab a final one), and finally chances of getting a job offer is about 0.5%. Oh, and a 20% chance to get some sort of rejection response back from a company. 16% were automated rejections, 4% were written rejections. Ok, So for me personally:
1 out of every 25 applications got me an initial interview with HR
1 out of every 100 applications got me a second interview, usually with a team member in the department you are applying for or a hiring manager.
1 out of every ~125 or so (too late to do this math...) got me a final interview with multiple team members.
1 out of every 200 applications gets me a job offer.
and 1 out of 5 applications would get some rejection response back, the rest never a single word.
So yep, a tough job market out there. And yes, I've been personally tracking all the applications I've sent over the last 3 years. Statistics is fun.
Keep in mind all my job offers have obviously been for contract work too. Some interviews though were for FTE work.
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Anyway.... sorry for the long story. I feel ya on the feeling out of luck part. I've definitely had better luck getting callbacks from companies WHILE employed compared to times when I'm currently out of work. Like so others have said as well, temp agencies can be a great help, especially if you have a good education and some professional work experience. You might even find a temp to hire job that can turn full time. At the very least it would be a way to make income while searching for a better job.
and heard back from only 1. That 1 was a rejection email, of course.
What's worrying me is that I was getting a lot more replies when I first started searching 5 months ago. I think I've passed the threshold for what companies consider reasonable time out of work. My job search has been more focused and I've written a much better resume, but the number of calls I've been getting has flattened out to zero. This is the first time in the past 5 months that I've had no prospects. It's terrifying. Previously I had always had, at any given time, at least one prospect, one recruiter who had talked to me recently and was supposed to get back to me. Now there's nothing on the horizon.
Well, you said your search is more focused, maybe thats why you're getting fewer replies. Perhaps you should branch back out again. I have 4 completely different versions of my resume, depending on what job I'm going for. Funny the one that works is the most "dumbed down" version of my education and experience, but its tinkered with in wording to bring out the highlights of what qualifies me for the job. In this case less is more. And power wording. And its all true.
It's a real struggle, not even being able to get a fast food job and hearing some blowhard talk about how nobody wants to work for minimum wage. Yeah right.
Wow... Plenty of time to flood CD with the story of your "struggle". How did the visit at labor ready go? Someone offered to assist you with your resume. That was nice. Did you take them up on their offer? Did you even bother to thank them? When are you are gonna start that certification? Seems the answer is always next month. And then next month comes, and you're still flooding CD with your whining and talking about that certification you're going to pursue.
Must not want to work for any wage! After all, a job might interfere with the hours of whining on CD. Some things are just too important
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,662 posts, read 81,421,151 times
Reputation: 57922
Quote:
Originally Posted by wireyourworld
Well, you said your search is more focused, maybe thats why you're getting fewer replies. Perhaps you should branch back out again. I have 4 completely different versions of my resume, depending on what job I'm going for. Funny the one that works is the most "dumbed down" version of my education and experience, but its tinkered with in wording to bring out the highlights of what qualifies me for the job. In this case less is more. And power wording. And its all true.
This is something that hurts a lot of people, sending out the same resume for every job. Your 4 versions is better, however when reviewing resumes we can tell whether someone is just sending out resumes or has taken the time to tailor their resume to our position. It does make a big difference in whether you will get an interview. i'm a hiring manager now, but when I was looking for a job I took the time to include information on my resume that addressed every aspect of the job requirements. yes, I started with a basic "boilerplate" resume but every one I sent out was customized to that position.
One week really isn't a lot of time turn around time to expect a response.
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