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Many campaign jobs pay nothing. They want almost everyone to volunteer.
There are always some paid positions, but the money and benefits are probably not great. If your candidate wins then you can always angle for a permanent position on the staff.
Honestly most people I know who got Poli Sci degrees want to go to law school at some point. There isn't really much out there for someone with only a bachelor's in that field. You'll probably needs a Masters if you want to real history job. OP probably shouldn't have been that surprised that he's having trouble.
I’ve mainly applied for clerical or costumer service jobs.
First lets consider the fact, that your degrees are in subjects with lots of graduates, and very few jobs. They are what is known as worthless degrees in today's job market, with low pay when hired for those fields. So for all practical purposes they will not help you get a job in the fields you are applying for.
For the jobs you are applying for, those degrees work against you and are no benefit to you. A lot of employers will look at your education and figure that as soon as you can find yourself a job in those fields you are gone, and you are not going to stick around long enough to make it worth their while to hire and train you. If you are emphasizing your education to the employers in the fields you are applying for jobs, they will especially turn you down as they feel you would be a short employee to make it worth their while to hire you. You may find as many have, when applying for the type of jobs you say you are applying for, to not show your college degrees.
I understand what your problems are, as back in my corporate days, I hired a lot of men and women in the fields you say you are applying for. And I was acquainted with and know others in the hiring position. As you say you have these degrees and still cannot get a job, I would bet that you are letting them know about your degrees and feel those degrees should help you get a job. Instead it turns off your interviewer. When a degree is in no way applicable to a job that a smart high school graduate can handle, the employer will not consider it an advantage to have you as an employee, and will feel you are just looking for something to keep food on the table until you can get a real job in the field of your degree. They will reject you every time.
A lot of employers will look at your education and figure that as soon as you can find yourself a job in those fields you are gone, and you are not going to stick around long enough to make it worth their while to hire and train you. If you are emphasizing your education to the employers in the fields you are applying for jobs, they will especially turn you down as they feel you would be a short employee to make it worth their while to hire you. You may find as many have, when applying for the type of jobs you say you are applying for, to not show your college degrees.
This doesn't quite pass the smell test since the type of jobs the OP is applying for (customer service, clerical, etc.) are all high turnover positions anyway. Let's examine this for a moment.
They have a chance to bring in an overqualified candidate at a cheap price and try them out. They get to start them at the bottom, learn the business from the bottom, and if they are a top performer you have now found a solid candidate without having to pay them top wages, move them up in the company and still get their skills at a cheap price while the person is happy they are working, appreciated and well-liked, getting promoted, etc. It's a win-win for everyone involved.
Now, on the flip side, let's say a overqualified candidate bolts after after six months. So what? You already have a ton of turnover anyway from the lower qualified candidates and I would rather turnover overqualified candidates instead of lower qualified candidates. When these people are working for you, the over qualified candidate will accomplish more while there than the lower quality, HS graduate.
This doesn't quite pass the smell test since the type of jobs the OP is applying for (customer service, clerical, etc.) are all high turnover positions anyway. Let's examine this for a moment.
They have a chance to bring in an overqualified candidate at a cheap price and try them out. They get to start them at the bottom, learn the business from the bottom, and if they are good you have now found a top person without having to pay them top wages, move them up in the company and still get their skills at a cheap price while the person is happy they are working, appreciated, continually earning more, getting promoted etc..... It's a win-win.
Now what if they leave after six months. So what? You already have a ton of turnover anyway from the lower qualified candidates and I would rather turnover overqualified candidates instead of lower qualified candidates. When these people are working for you, the over qualified candidate will accomplish more while there than the lower quality, HS graduate.
Response to the bold text-
He's not overqualified, no more qualified than the HS graduate for those positions. Perhaps over-educated? Really, those degrees bring nothing to the position as defined. Maybe he can get in ground floor and work his way up, but law of averages says he'll be out first opportunity.
Labor shortage in low-pay clerical job is real. Our department has been trying to hire typing clerk for many times. Most of the time the applicants either didn't show up or didn't call at all during the time they were supposed to come for interview. Or if she got the job, on the day she was supposed to come for work, she didn't show up.
Many applicants didn't even have an associate degree from Community College. Many did not have relevant experience. One even put her working experience at McDonald in her resume. In fact such shortage has been going on for quite a few years.
So it all depends on where you are.
This is such a huge problem today. Employers have ZERO respect unless you are the perfect candidate.
I will take a hard working, under qualified, fast food worker who wants to learn and move up in the world any day of the week for any job I can train them in. My experience has been these type of people turn out to be the hardest workers, with the best work ethics, who literally will kill themselves for the company they are so loyal. They appreciate the opportunity and stick around for as long you need them.
As a matter of fact, I just recruited a guy who is a felon and his job was an advertising sign holder on a street corner. I have been watching this guy for a couple months. Rain, triple digit temps, it didn't matter, this guy was always out there. Never missed a day.
I walked up to him, talked to him, offered him a job and he jumped at it in a split second. So far so good, this guy is a good worker.
I hired another guy from Subway. I watched this guy for a long time. Super fast worker, always there, worked alone a lot so trusted. He jumped at the chance and has been working out great.
There are plenty of good and willing workers out there, but heaven forbid you might just have to lower your expectations and look at people's potential.
MinivanDriver writes, "Weird. In the Southeast employers are desperate to hire."
I presume that what that person means by the "Southeast" is the southeastern USA. I would be surprised if that region of the USA would be better for workers than others, because historically the southern USA has lagged behind other parts of the USA that are more prosperous and more progressive.
For example, I live in the Puget Sound region of Washington, considered to be one the best regions of the USA where the economy is booming and many people are moving to this area for economic opportunities and to enjoy a superior quality of life. However, I must conclude that there is something wrong with me, because I am unable to secure a good job in the greater Seattle area.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hemlock140
You have identified the reason for your trouble, and it's not you. There is a tremendous amount of competition. When I have interviewed in the last few years many of my applicants have just moved here from other states. The last one is from here, but the two before that came from Alaska and Southern California, both with more than double the required experience. Much like the competition for rent or home buying, the influx of transplants is putting the squeeze on longtime residents.
I know that there is much competition in this region, but I feel I should not blame others for my lack of success and inability to get a job. I feel that people who are not successful need to take full responsibility for their lack of success, and that is what I am seeking to do.
This doesn't quite pass the smell test since the type of jobs the OP is applying for (customer service, clerical, etc.) are all high turnover positions anyway. Let's examine this for a moment.
They have a chance to bring in an overqualified candidate at a cheap price and try them out. They get to start them at the bottom, learn the business from the bottom, and if they are a top performer you have now found a solid candidate without having to pay them top wages, move them up in the company and still get their skills at a cheap price while the person is happy they are working, appreciated and well-liked, getting promoted, etc. It's a win-win for everyone involved.
Now, on the flip side, let's say a overqualified candidate bolts after after six months. So what? You already have a ton of turnover anyway from the lower qualified candidates and I would rather turnover overqualified candidates instead of lower qualified candidates. When these people are working for you, the over qualified candidate will accomplish more while there than the lower quality, HS graduate.
I have not seen anyone as wrong as you are. An over qualified person is one that has held a similar type job, at a higher level and would be qualified to be a supervisor over the position they applied for. Someone that has what is considered a worthless degree today with no relationship to the job they applied for, are not only not over qualified, but not as desirable as an employee than a high school graduate with a c average, who will work hard to prove to you how good a worker they are.
Employers are not hiring the OP for that exact reason.when they
It is not the employers fault that like a lot of other young people have done, he took degrees with low pay and very few jobs. He may have to what many with worthless degrees have done, which is to get a job at McDonald's, Subway, or even Walmart. You don"t even ned a high school diploma to get a job there.
There are plenty of good and willing workers out there, but heaven forbid you might just have to lower your expectations and look at people's potential.
I have not seen anyone as wrong as you are. An over qualified person is one that has held a similar type job, at a higher level and would be qualified to be a supervisor over the position they applied for. Someone that has what is considered a worthless degree today with no relationship to the job they applied for, are not only not over qualified, but not as desirable as an employee than a high school graduate with a c average, who will work hard to prove to you how good a worker they are.
Employers are not hiring the OP for that exact reason.when they
It is not the employers fault that like a lot of other young people have done, he took degrees with low pay and very few jobs. He may have to what many with worthless degrees have done, which is to get a job at McDonald's, Subway, or even Walmart. You don"t even ned a high school diploma to get a job there.
First off, you don't have a clue as to why employers are rejecting the OP. All you're doing is providing patchy guesswork and rambling on about "useless degrees" being the sole factor for rejection. What you fail to realize is that there could be multiple causes for this -- perhaps the resume is the biggest problem here. He may have a poorly-formatted resume with a lack of awards and achievements. He may be highlighting irrelevant work experience to certain job postings. Maybe he has too many questionable gaps. And maybe he just doesn't interview well. There are a whole host of reasons here and you are speculating based on how you hired people back in 1987. As someone who works in the now, let me educate you and bring you up to speed for a moment. Being that people with unrelated degrees get hired across a variety of industries all the time, even at my company, I am quite confident in saying that the OP's education is the least of concern here. Also, you conveniently left out the fact that he is currently making $12/hr right now and is interviewing for positions which happen to pay a dollar, or more, less. Finding out his answer as to why he is willing to take a pay cut is something worth exploring.
Also, in your little fantasy land, you are more than welcome to hire the "c average" students while I roll the dice with the over-educated ones. Then we'll compare and see how productive your organization is with the mediocre high school talent -- if they even bother to show up, that is.
First off, you don't have a clue as to why employers are rejecting the OP. All you're doing is providing patchy guesswork and rambling on about "useless degrees" being the sole factor for rejection. What you fail to realize is that there could be multiple causes for this -- perhaps the resume is the biggest problem here. He may have a poorly-formatted resume with a lack of awards and achievements. He may be highlighting irrelevant work experience to certain job postings. Maybe he has too many questionable gaps. And maybe he just doesn't interview well. There are a whole host of reasons here and you are speculating based on how you hired people back in 1987. As someone who works in the now, let me educate you and bring you up to speed for a moment. Being that people with unrelated degrees get hired across a variety of industries all the time, even at my company, I am quite confident in saying that the OP's education is the least of concern here. Also, you conveniently left out the fact that he is currently making $12/hr right now and is interviewing for positions which happen to pay a dollar, or more, less. Finding out his answer as to why he is willing to take a pay cut is something worth exploring.
Also, in your little fantasy land, you are more than welcome to hire the "c average" students while I roll the dice with the over-educated ones. Then we'll compare and see how productive your organization is with the mediocre high school talent -- if they even bother to show up, that is.
OldTrader responded directly to what you posted, which was relevant. You attacked his response for other reasons not in your original post.
So basically he didn't "have a clue" because he failed to consult his Magic 8-Ball and respond to your unpublished future excuses?
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