Why is it so hard to find a job in Chicago? (Ohio: home, job market)

[OhioState2012]

I've tried countless temp agencies I'm working with 6 so far and I've only gotten 1 job out of them. I also have a masters in business administration with 5+ years as an executive assistant. I just don't get it.

[ToriaT]

If you are going to a fast food place don't emphasis degrees and keep talk about them to a minimum. They think you will leave if you find a good job which you will.... you have to have a good story line of why you want to work there. Did you try groupon??? Did you try other places such as Panera or Chipotle or other more upscale fast food places? Try the Panera on Michigan near Van Buren there are tons of students in that area. Places around there are used to hiring people with a lot of schooling. There is Columbia, DePaul, John Marshall Law school, etc. What about Whole Foods? They hire some quirky people.

[chicago103]

Originally Posted by OhioState2012

Should I just pack up and move to New York or something?,

It depends on your priorities. If your priority is to get a specific job in a specific field then it might make sense for you to look for jobs outside of Chicago. On the other hand if your priority is to stay in Chicago for whatever personal or professional reasons then you need to be more flexible about the type of jobs you apply for, which you seem to be doing. So you have to be flexible either with location or type of job, many don't have the luxury to be particular about both. That being said I think whatever problems there are with getting jobs/careers in Chicago is more indicative of what is happening to people (Millenials especially) all over the country and not due to any issues happening here specifically.

[stephei2000]

Originally Posted by chicago103

It depends on your priorities. If your priority is to get a specific job in a specific field then it might make sense for you to look for jobs outside of Chicago. On the other hand if your priority is to stay in Chicago for whatever personal or professional reasons then you need to be more flexible about the type of jobs you apply for, which you seem to be doing. So you have to be flexible either with location or type of job, many don't have the luxury to be particular about both. That being said I think whatever problems there are with getting jobs/careers in Chicago is more indicative of what is happening to people (Millenials especially) all over the country and not due to any issues happening here specifically.

I not so sure about that. Chicago is very tight knit place where you need to know someone. I believe it can be like this anywhere but it is worse here.

Even if you receive interviews chances are it will go to the person they know or have common interests with.

I understand what the OP is going through.

[rzzzz]

Sounds weird. Anthro undergrad, Chicago grad school, already have MBA, 5 yrs EA, applying to McDonalds, but moving to NYC due to lack of success getting a food service or temp job?

[RememberMee]

Originally Posted by OhioState2012

Okay I've moved to Chicago from Cincinnati Ohio for graduate school at the University of Chicago and I haven't been able to find a job. I've been here since October and I've gone on countless interviews and that's it. I went to an interview at McDonalds and I was told that they would love to have me working there but since I have a degree in forensic anthropology and archaeology anthropology it might not be a good for me. Do I just stop putting my degree on my resume? I've worked in finance marketing, retail, accounting, I've even done an internship with the FBI and nothing. Should I just pack up and move to New York or something?,

Education can be detrimental for your physical survival, especially graduate education. I was cold and starving, 100 dollars away from being homeless. You have to lie, cheat, do whatever it takes to get a job. Low wage employers do not want long term employees anyway, whatever objections to your survival they have are psychological. Keep in mind that McD jobs will look really bad on your resume. So another group of pricks will use that against you having a meal. Wage slavery is not pretty. At the end all my education was waste, I became all around unemployable. I wish you more luck with yours.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by stephei2000

I not so sure about that. Chicago is very tight knit place where you need to know someone. I believe it can be like this anywhere but it is worse here.

Even if you receive interviews chances are it will go to the person they know or have common interests with.

I understand what the OP is going through.

Offers I've received since moving to Chicago:
commodity firm: knew someone
global bank: external recruiter
web-based travel company: external recruiter
non-profit: direct application
software company: internal recruiter
internet gaming company: internal recruiter
web-based broker: knew someone

Additionally, I've had multiple rounds of interviews with:
large insurance company: internal recruiter
proprietary trading company: external recruiter
education company: internal recruiter

So, yes, it helps to know someone, but it's really not how everyone always get jobs since less than 1/3 of my jobs came to me that way.

Originally Posted by OhioState2012

I've tried countless temp agencies I'm working with 6 so far and I've only gotten 1 job out of them. I also have a masters in business administration with 5+ years as an executive assistant. I just don't get it.

If I was reading that resume I'd want to know why someone with an MBA was working as an executive assistant for five years. I'd wonder, "If he's smart and capable, why wasn't he able to get into some sort of internal track toward management or something more business-related than being an executive assistant?" And I'm not the only person who would wonder that. You need to find a way to break that line of thinking at the resume level, because if people are thinking that while reading your resume, you're not going to even get a call. Even if I was hiring for an executive assistant I'd wonder if you were going to come on board and immediately start looking for other jobs. If you want an assistant job as a stepping stone, be clear and direct about that in your cover letter. Some places will toss your app, others may consider you for training opportunities if you appear ambitious.

[Chicago60614]

Originally Posted by stephei2000

I not so sure about that. Chicago is very tight knit place where you need to know someone. I believe it can be like this anywhere but it is worse here.

Even if you receive interviews chances are it will go to the person they know or have common interests with.

Umm......lol. Maybe I guess if you're in a very small and selective industry.

You're talking about a metro with like 4,500,000 jobs and millions of people, there's nothing tight knit about it overall unless like I said you're talking about some very specialized and localized industry and job.

[UKWildcat1981]

I have not heard that problem before about Chicago but I heard its hard to get a high paying job anywhere without connections. Best cities to get a job in for business are in usually in Texas like Houston, Dallas and Austin. I heard Chicago and NYC are hard to get a job in any high paying field. because education people move there from all over the world without degrees from Ivy League schools and top notch universities in Europe. I do not know this to be fact, just what I have heard. Anyhow good job, finding a job in America today is mostly about who you know and not what you know or what degrees you have.. sad but honest truth.

[MannheimMadman]

define 'high paying job'.