Am I doomed to be like this forever? (Boston, Lowell: unemployment rate, bus)

[495neighbor]

Originally Posted by parried

Monday I followed up on an application and the manager was talking to me in a furious tone about how he wasn't hiring anybody. I'll leave it at that.

If you genuinely feel you are a victim of discrimination in some of these situations, why not report this to EEOC and have them investigate.

I looked at your ad on CL. Quite frankly, if I had not heard your entire story here, seeing someone offering to pay to work for me would seem to be too good to be true. For all I know, you might be a burglar looking to get into my home and take things.

[Soldier of FORTRAN]

Parried, have you looked into CompTIA A+ certification? You can study for it on your own time with a $35 book like this one, pay to take the test and then start applying to helpdesk positions or signing up with a temp agency. It's my understanding this is the typical 'Step 1' for a career in IT (in the direction of well paying sys admin type work).

[parried]

Originally Posted by miu

It seems to me that you should be able to hire someone to evaluate your interviewing skills and to help improve them. That would be a worthwhile use of your saved money.

That's not the problem. The interviews I've gone on were always fine. But when there's a bunch of other applications they have to go through and someone else has a car or knows somebody, they get picked first.

Originally Posted by 495neighbor

If you genuinely feel you are a victim of discrimination in some of these situations, why not report this to EEOC and have them investigate.

I looked at your ad on CL. Quite frankly, if I had not heard your entire story here, seeing someone offering to pay to work for me would seem to be too good to be true. For all I know, you might be a burglar looking to get into my home and take things.

The ad is serious. Particularly if I get hired for something part time or full time with a registered company and a W2. Not really side work stuff.

[miu]

Originally Posted by parried

That's not the problem. The interviews I've gone on were always fine.

I disagree. YOU are the problem. YOU are not selling yourself successfully in your face to face interviews. You need advice from someone neutral (who is not an interviewer for a job that you are applying to) to see what it is about you that is unappealing when you are applying for a job.

I have talked my way into many jobs where I didn't have the actual experience for the work, but I was able to convince them that I could do the job well and be a plus for their company... and I've never let an employer down.

Again, even you yourself know that you are lacking in people skills. So you need to work on improving your people skills. It's not only about doing the work, it's also about connecting well with your customers and your co-workers.

But when there's a bunch of other applications they have to go through and someone else has a car or knows somebody, they get picked first.

And it's also your lack of social skills that has put you in the position of NOT having any friends who can put in a good word for you at their place of work. So this is why, while you are not currently working, you really need to become a volunteer somewhere. It will help you make those social connections so that you become that "knows somebody". You need to start making some friends, if not in your own age group, just any group at all. And older people are much more forgiving of personality imperfections than insecure young adults.

[parried]

It's funny talking to people like you, who think they know more about me then I myself do. How about you just stop posting here, if you have nothing good to say. I'm looking for burger flipping jobs. Grunt labor. The lowest of the low. Opportunities here are slim. If I was wrong then I would have gotten more responses to all the full availability applications I filled out. But I haven't. I have to figure out how to get some more education. I can't just stay with a GED. It's not good enough.

[miu]

Originally Posted by parried

It's funny talking to people like you, who think they know more about me then I myself do. How about you just stop posting here, if you have nothing good to say. I'm looking for burger flipping jobs. Grunt labor. The lowest of the low. Opportunities here are slim. If I was wrong then I would have gotten more responses to all the full availability applications I filled out. But I haven't. I have to figure out how to get some more education. I can't just stay with a GED. It's not good enough.

Why don't YOU read all of your posts on C-D from the very beginning and under BOTH of your user names (your other user name was silenthelpreturns). You started off by explaining that you have Aspergers Syndrome and have difficulty making eye contact with others. You admitted that you know people with Aspergers have a harder time getting jobs. You also demanded a workplace where your co-workers would have to compromise and accommodate you.

Well even a grunt job requires passable social skills and teamwork. And no manager wants to babysit all of his employees to make them play nicely with each other.

And YOU are the one that thinks they know everything, but in reality you are the one that can't any sort of job at all and it's been YEARS of total unemployment for you. And now it sounds like you have no friends at all, no one to evaluate your problems with interviewers and to help you interact with future interviewers. And why is it that none of your family members are trying to help you get a job? Could it be that you have shushed them too many times when they were trying to offer you advice?

Maybe your parents or other family members could talk with their neighbors to set you up with some snow shoveling work this winter and later on some yardwork. And try very hard to be friendly with those neighbors so that they can recommend you to their other friends.

And I hope in real life that you aren't complaining so much about your situation to others, like those job interviewers. That sort of talk will upset strangers, because they will worry that you might be one of those crazy people that one day snaps and has a violent episode.

Again, work on your social skills some more and try really hard to make some friends. You need better social skills in order to function in a work environment. Perhaps moreso if it's in a minimum wage environment surrounded by other workers with GEDs. Those sorts of people can be very cliquey and tough on outsiders and those they consider strange.

[parried]

It's because they are just as stumped as I am. Not because of whatever conspiracy you come up with about me. Going by your logic, I guess anybody who has been unemployed for a long time it must be because of social skills or some psychic vibes they are sending out. I already told you it has nothing to do with most of that stuff. Behavior, and personality is not what has caused this, at least not to the extent you are thinking. I even met with employment counselors before that I talked with for hours over what I should or shouldn't be doing. It has more to do with the amount of applicants (and because of this many employers have become egotistical about it), the methods to apply, and the fact that there is limited opportunity here.

I know for a fact one of the places I interviewed with, the manager would have hired me if I had a car at the time. It was an overnight position she had. Right there on the spot it would have been mine. I know this from when I called and asked why I wasn't hired.

One of the local mcdonald's always has a now hiring ad up. I applied and haven't heard anything. The application is good for 6 months. But it keeps getting reposted. It's down the street from my house, so I can work whenever they want me to. But I guess it's not good enough or they would have picked up the phone and rung me.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by parried

One of the local mcdonald's always has a now hiring ad up. I applied and haven't heard anything. The application is good for 6 months. But it keeps getting reposted. It's down the street from my house, so I can work whenever they want me to. But I guess it's not good enough or they would have picked up the phone and rung me.

Have you tried dropping in randomly and asking to speak with the manager about your application?

[horsechick71]

What is your level on the spectrum? Are you of high functioning asperger's or low?

One of my FAVORITE interns was high functioning. He couldn't look anyone in the eyes for the longest time,. With practice and time he was able to. He also went to college and has a degree.

Why can't you go to college? IF you are low income there has to be some grants etc that will pay for it.

[parried]

Originally Posted by massnative71

Have you tried dropping in randomly and asking to speak with the manager about your application?

Yes I do. Either they aren't there, or I'm told they aren't hiring. I also call. I do both. Do you have any leads? Have you talked to anyone? Because there isn't anyone willing to talk to me.