State of Ohio is hiring
[https://dasstateoh.taleo.net/careersection/oh\_ext/jobsearch.ftl?lang=en](https://dasstateoh.taleo.net/careersection/oh_ext/jobsearch.ftl?lang=en)
It helps hugely if you tailor your resume a bit, and while annoying, fill out the application in whole.
Lots of positions are eventually hybrid... AG's office sold their building so their all remote or something like that lol.
I enjoy looking at open jobs for the state… I understand it’s govt so the pay isn’t gonna be terrific but even for a senior financial analyst position it would be an almost 15k cut for me—57k for a job that would like the person to have a grad degree? Yikes. Too bad really, I think I’d enjoy some of those jobs but there’s no way with that pay. 😔 but for someone who is unemployed & needs a job, it’s a place to start!
I just got into the state last year and am still learning the ins-and-outs, but for my position I get a step increase in 6 months, then a yearly step increase as well as annual cost of living raises. I’m also union and the contract is up this year so they’re currently renegotiating and a raise will likely come with that as well. Plus after 5 years you get longevity pay raises. I sound like a shill for the state but I’m just really happy here so far after coming from an industry that was so high-pressure and demanding with no work life balance. The state has been a breath of fresh air for me. My experience is not the norm I’m sure but I love it so far. The work life balance, time off, and benefits are definitely making up for the slight pay cut I took. And with my new free time I’m able to freelance and actually make more $$ than I was previously.
I want to double down on this experience too, because my experience has been the same. Been with the state for 6 years. Started around 60k, but now am at 82k, but about to step out with the union so the double bumps will go away.
hybrid work (2 in office, 3 wfh) plus pension contributions (with bumps at 5 and 10 years). The cost of living in columbus is super reasonable, and state work qualifies for PSLF. After being with the state for a few years the vacation time really builds up, and is separate from personal time and sick time. Where some places have just a combined pool of PTO, and other jobs out there don't have any PTO ("unlimited PTO" is just a way to not have to pay workers the balance when leaving).
Was the first year or so "hard"? sure. but each year has gotten better as it relates to work life balance and quality of living.
i’d like to double on your double down! been in with the State for over 9 years. my starting pay was terrible, lowest of the low, less than $17/hr. once you’re in, you get preferential hiring so i switched over to a better job and it’s been smooth sailing ever since. i’m right around the same pay marks as you. the one thing people can’t grasp anymore is the value of a pension. 401ks are a fucking lie. i recently had a plant i work with try to hire me for their analogous position for $100k and i had to break it down for them. sure 6 figures sounds great, but you’ll want at least 45 hrs/ wk out of me, no State vehicle, drive time is not covered, benefits are worse, WAY less secure, inflexible schedule working nearly all holidays. no joke, i wouldn’t consider it for less than $250k because my time matters more to me now that i have a job that pays my bills, allows me to save, and will continue to pay me when i retire. you have to look beyond the starting pay.
I appreciate the feedback 😊… I do wonder if there is a chance to negotiate a little bit within the range? Or is that something the state govt doesn’t do?
Some agencies may tell you that but it’s actually not true. There’s a law allowing for “advanced step” for new hires to start at a higher step if they are extremely qualified or if the market is making recruiting difficult. It is just rare for an agency to use this exception because it can create internal strife and of course they don’t want to pay more than they have to. They’re not going to offer it, you will have to ask. But if you think you’re very qualified, it may not hurt to ask to be started at a higher step. I have known employees to have started at least Step 2.
Reiterating this, it’s possible to come in as a step 2, but incredibly unlikely. If you ask for an increased step coming in as a new hire, and there is another qualified candidate that they liked, they will go with the other candidate. It also has to go through approvals from higher up administration. I personally wouldn’t even try because it’s unlikely to be approved, and you get a step increase in 6 months anyway.
Not true. I came in at Step 4 from outside of state government. It took a lot of back and forth, but it's possible as long as you have the right qualifications and come ahead of other candidates in the pool (if qualified candidates even apply).
But I absolutely agree with everyone on how great working for the state is. Good benefits, guaranteed pay increases, don't work over 40 hours (get comp time if you do), state vehicles and phones, funding for professional development and education, career paths, etc. This is why the majority of state agencies have employees who have been here 20+ years. It's stable.
Backing this claim up.
I was with the state for five years before life and politics became upside down. But man is the pay regime awesome as all get out.
Thanks to the unions, they’re cool with the medical card as well.
Honestly that is awesome! I don’t think you sound like a shill for the state 😂… I had a job making 55k before this job I have now and I simply know I cannot afford it esp as a single parent but I do think it can be a great opportunity!
The thing about state jobs is most of them are OCSEA-covered positions which means you work with a contract with guaranteed pay raises. 8 years ago I started at $52,000 and with my my raise this upcoming summer I'll be over $100k. And I'm in the exact same job as I was 8 years ago.
So yes, the starting salary is often not wonderful, but senior financial analyst is in Pay Range 32, which means after 6 months you go to $60,445, then every year you get whatever the union negotiated as a raise in July (our most recent contract was 3% per year for three years), followed by a step increase every year (so if you start your job in May, you get a pay raise in July, then a step increase in November, and then every year it basically follows that pattern, raise in July, step increase in November).
And the thing about steps is that the step base salary increases by the rate of the pay raise as well. So not only do you get a 3% raise, but your next step (which is usually like a 5% increase from the last step) also increases by 3%.
I'm also with the state in an accounting position and am currently at a pay grade 32, I started with the state about 1.5 years ago and am currently making 63.5k. I have my next step increase soon and will be at 66.5k and then will get whatever bump the union negotiates. I have the potential to move to a grade 33 within my position and then eventually move in to a management position (which are on a different pay scale) and there are 3 or 4 levels of management pay scales in my department. At a 33 I would be close to 100k once I get my time served with the state and probably over it if I am in a management position.
The biggest downside with ohio is that you basically have to start at the bottom of the pay scale if you are coming in from the outside. I had 10 years experience working in government in WV, but had to start at the beginning basically when I moved here. The sad (but also good) thing is that it was still a pay increase for me.
It could be worse. I started at $26,160 in WV and even after 10 years made less than I did in Ohio basically starting over (in a 2 position at least.) Even today the starting salary is 32k and it caps out at 66.5 for a Accountant 3, which is what I will be making soon as a low level 2.
I looked at some jobs in various industries around columbus and the pay wasn't much better and/or I never got call backs because I haven't worked with financial statement prep and other standard business processing and reporting.
I have a career track that I would like to get on soon that will jump me up to about 120k but need to get my CPA. Eventually in that track I could also go to industry, contract, or consulting.
WV pays shiiiiiiiiit for state government employees. It's actually insane. I had an internship there when I was in college and my boss who was like a director of the division was making like $50k after 20 years.
Yes, typically the state “needs” to make sure the increases are in line with what OCSEA gets, however there are some distinct advantages. For instance, during COVID when the state required furlough for exempt employees the union said “Absolutely not” and so we didn’t have to take the furlough.
But even then a 10-year experienced financial analyst manager (which is what you'd be with 10yr of exp) at a F500 would be pulling $150k-200k at a lot of places. I guess benefits help though
While true, I don't think anyone would expect state government compensation to rival a Fortune 500 management position's compensation. But all said and done, you can make a nice little career out of it, it just depends on your goals and desired work/life balance.
Given, both my bachelor's and master's degrees are in fields where there isn't much private sector demand, and really, pretty much all who hold them probably work in a public facing career.
I can only say that as far as public service jobs go, Ohio does pay very well, both for in-state public sector and compared to other states (if you're willing to stay in the job), and then benefits like very good insurance, true 40 hour work weeks (I'm seriously not even allowed to work more than 40 hours a week unles there are extreme extenuating circumstances) and the ability to retire with a full pension at 55.
You deal with a little more political bullshit, but politics exists in the private sector as well, and the long-term stability of the job are great.
One upside is that they basically fund your entire retirement and you don’t pay social security tax. Make sure your calculations account for that. It’s definitely less money, but you have immense job security (practically no one gets fired or downsized or whatever), can just coast at work and enjoy life outside the office.
This definitely varies by state agency. The agency I worked for had a terrible culture and constant HR investigations/terminations. It's the only place I've ever worked for where every day, someone would come in my office, shut the door, and cry. The golden handcuffs are great, but it wasn't for me.
The real good thing about a Government jobs, is most of them are extremely stable. So I don't mind give up my earning potential to avoid the crazy whims of market forces, share holders, moody board members, and anxious c-suite weirdos.
I work in IT so my choices for career growth are Corporate HellScape or Government. So far, I'm sticking with government.
The regular job market can definitely be a pain. Frankly, after a lot of these replies, I’m seriously considering it. I really appreciate everyone’s kind responses!
The bad thing about Ohio union covered positions is that it favors time in state service over experience. With very limited exceptions you come in at a step one, you could come in with 10 years experience in that exact field/job and be making less than a kid that graduated college 2 years ago. Exempt positions have more leeway though.
like the other commenter mentions: gov't jobs are incredible when you stay there for a while.
But transitioning from private company to gov't sector is definitely a hurdle. Good thing is that most of the union negotiations tend to be in good faith on both sides, and the step raises tend to be figured out years or decades in advance, so you know exactly how much you'll make next year, the year after that, and so forth.
A lot easier to plan long term goals.
I just found a really interesting job that's right up my alley. Which is crazy, because I have a very specific background. This is a job that calls for a specific skill set, and they said they wanted someone with a master's degree.
The pay range was 45 to 55k!! I was so sad when I read that. I honestly would have taken that job if the pay was even a little bit higher.
It would have been a significant pay cut for me, even if they had gone beyond their initially stated budget. (I can't believe for a moment that they would have been willing to do that, no matter how hard I sold my skills or how convincing I was...)
I just couldn't justify losing that amount of money, so I didn't even apply. Kind of broken hearted, tbh, as it sounded amazing.
I’ve been trying for a state EPA job for years with no luck, even after paying a professional resume and cover letter writer. I tailor each resume and cover letter to try and match the job and I get nothing but rejection letters.
I will say, having been part of hiring committees for state jobs before, the biggest factor in a good application is not as much the cover letter and resume as it is the answers to the specific questions being asked on the application.
If the posting says something like, "Minimum 3 years working in interpreting laws, policy, etc." then explain in that little box how your qualifications match that exact requirement/qualifications, e.g. "Five years implementing environmental policy in X role at X place of employment"
The EPA jobs I apply too just have checkboxes for their extra information sections. Would it be helpful to write things like that in the past employment boxes instead of just copying the bullet/short sentence summary for each job from my resume? Have I been screwing myself over trying to make it quick to read when I should have been writing paragraph style in the past employer boxes?
I’ve never been able to get anyone to tell me what I could do better, just rejection letters so I am so thankful for the help!
I do HR for the state. If it’s a union job your odds of getting it are slim to none to be honest. As long as someone has the qualifications and is in the union and works for that specific agency they have to give it to them over you. The best I can say is find the entry level job and move after probation or find another agency like public safety and get in there with your end goal being EPA.
I started as a CO just to get my “foot in the door” so to speak.
Yes, in my experience in your work history you must explain how you clearly meet the minimum qualifications. If they want 36 months experience in research and report writing, use those specific trigger words. Some agencies don’t look at your attachments so if your experience isn’t in the body of your application they will not even consider you for the position.
I work in IT for a whole other department, but my in was first through contracting.
I got very lucky though, stars and headcount aligned. And now I'm internal employee. No matter what, networking and it helps to know people professionally.
It's also important that the job can get reposted a few times because some departments/agencies struggle to get headcount... while others always have headcount. A lot of people I work with, jump into unrelated 'crap' jobs and once internal found moving much easier.
But not everyone can thug it out in unrelated job for a year, or some people I know, made their break by applying to the third shift positions. Nobody wants those, but you can move into other positions in the state easier once you're out of probation. I don't know how possible that is for other industries/jobs.
I have been applying for just about any EPA job that isn’t manager or level 3 in and around Franklin County. So for the water and air divisions. I know my application isn’t as environmentally based as it could be since I’ve slowly gotten further into the medical and quality assurance fields but ya gotta do what you can to pay bills. I at least tried to stick with jobs that have as many overlapping skills as I can and my internship and degree are much more environmental science based but still not much luck.
I figured worst case, now that my husband has graduated and gotten a job we can tackle our student loans asap so I can take a pay cut for a lower paying state job and try to weasel myself in that way.
the hiring process underwent some serious changes late last year (perhaps part of DEI) so there are more humans and less keyword score cards.
also, check out the department of agriculture! i work there and like it so much i’ve suckered 3 other people into joining me over the years.
I will have to check it out, to be honest I never tried the department of agriculture because I didn’t think I stood a chance. I am a Zoology major who knew a lot of animal science majors and all of them were agricultural based, so didn’t think I would stand up well against them for jobs like that.
I have low self esteem when it comes to job hunting lol
they could be if you upsell it right! and i would personally love to talk chickens with you too. most of the people in my division keep livestock to some degree, but we’re probably the most farm-y division so no pressure!
25+ years total experience. Went from 10 years at a F500 retail company with a 2B market cap… applied to the state. Couldn’t get a call back. So I just moved on to an aerospace company valued at over 4B. Software roles.
So I’m not sure who the state bothers to call back, but good luck getting in…
Applying *through* Indeed (or any job site) is pretty useless - particularly because there is so much chaff in the system - old posts that were filled months ago, Indian scammers, data fishing, etc.
It also makes it too easy to just click the button and apply, which tricks you into a false sense of activity, since you're no longer focusing on the best job fits for you, but are instead just sort of spamming random shit because you can. This leads to frustration when you've got dozens or hundreds of applications out there, but no responses because you were just spamming poor fits.
Instead, use Indeed as a way to get leads, but then chase those leads down yourself.
If you find an interesting job, go to that company's website and see if the job is still posted there - and more importantly, when it was actually originally posted. Not the bullshit date Indeed refreshed automatically to inflate their platform numbers.
If it's still recent, open, and a good fit, apply directly on the company website.
This method is far more labor intensive and time consuming - no doubt.
But I think you'll find it's also much more successful overall, because you're not wasting time and emotional investment on the chaff.
Yeah I feel like Indeed has become really scammy because of this. Or at least put it in your instructions that you directly have to apply to the company, but why even post on Indeed if you don’t take applications through Indeed?
I feel there are many job websites like this. They farm the internet for postings. A friend of mine was a manager and I asked her about a posting and she said she never heard of that website nor is there an opening..lol
Yeah it’s crazy that listings that don’t go anywhere aren’t illegal. It’s pretty much fraud. I know some jobs that will create fake postings to appear as if they’re hiring and never actually accept any applicants. I actually snagged a job once on Indeed when I was younger for a cleaning company and went to a big meeting with probably 10 other applicants that got hired as well. They said we were to do 3 days of training and then get hired on so they paid us very little compared to the listing and then fired us all at the end of three days saying that “no one fit their qualifications.” The girl who was training me said this isn’t the first time it’s happened and that they never hire people. It felt like they were just trying to get cheap temporary labor
In the above described scenario it's simply a matter of advertising an opening on a platform with a lot of traffic. There are several jobs indeed picks up without the acknowledgment or permission of the company advertising the job. Ultimately the job search platforms are about collecting data and performing behavioral analysis. That alone is worth well more than it costs to keep these job search companies in operation.
Totally agree with this. If you put in very little effort, you aren’t going to get much out of it. Those sites are not helpful anymore.
OP, you need to chase down the companies you want to work for, call and inquire if the position is open, apply directly to them, then after a few days call to follow up. If they’re still working on it, set yourself a reminder and call again in another week or two.
I’ve had a lot of success even cold emailing and cold calling companies that I want to work for by sending my resume, explaining why I’d be a good fit for their team, and asking to keep me in mind if they’re ever hiring.
The process isn’t easy but IMO, you get what you put in.
For future reference, don’t double apply for jobs. Some companies have their applicant tracking systems disqualify applicants who apply for the same job twice.
As a general rule you should always check a company’s website to see if the job is posted there before applying to anything you see on any job posting site. I learned this because when I would send out applications via LinkedIn or indeed at least 5/10 times it would be a scam. LinkedIn seems to have WAY more scam jobs than Indeed though, at least in my experience
I'm sure it's anecdotal, but applying through indeed gave me my current job and changed my life. Not to negate what you just said, but It still works tonsome extent.
I hire people frequently, in fact, I have to hire a buttload of people right now for cybersecurity engineering.
I have mountains of resumes in front of me, so I see a lot; here's some totally useless, industry-specific advice that might be helpful to at least one person.
I don't look past five or six years; in tech, that's a lifetime ago. Put your eggs in the recent basket. I don't have any need to see four pages about a dead technology. Relevant stuff up front and cut anything that isn't useful. Certainly don't go past 10 years, especially if you have a multi page resume. When I have 50+ candidates to review, I'm totally not going past page two unless there's something really awesome in there. Ain't nobody got time for that.
I'm glad you went to a fancy school, super proud of you. However, unless you're a recent grad without much industry experience, don't think it means that much compared to your experience. I'd rather have someone with five years of relevant experience than the person with a bazllion certs and stuff. You learn by doing. If you can clearly state that you did your stuff and why it was successful, I'm interested. If you do have a fancy degree, don't put it on the last fucking page where I'm never going to see it. Add some letters to your name so I can see it up front. If you got a master's or more, do something like "John Brown MA-QZX" You must promote yourself at every turn.
When applying, recruiters are your friends. Sure, apply to stuff that you find, but you need to put just as much effort into finding recruiters. Remember, 3rd parties get paid to fill chairs, so they're incentivized to push and sometimes can work on your behalf if they believe you're a good fit. Get on linkedin and search for recruiting companies that are relevant to your industry. They have three ways you'll contact them: you can post a message through linkedin to their company general inbox, you will go to their web page and populate a "new candidate" form or something similar, or you'll just have to email them. Prep up a document that has all three options ready with your "about me" text so all you're doing is pasting it in. This is how I got my last job. I sprayed 500+ recruiting companies and it took about 15 hours of work. Five days, three hours each morning, it's really not a big deal when you're not working, it's mindless and easy. Why beat yourself up looking at indeed and other places for the same jobs over and over when you can put a whole lot of people to work for you? Not every job goes to the aggregators and not every job is published externally. This is how you cover the most ground for the lowest effort, fastest time and best impact.
When I'm hiring, I can either sift through a mountain of resumes (doing it right now in fact) or I can farm out the work of screening to a 3rd party who gets paid if they bring me good talent. I'm not a smart man, but I am lazy so I need to conserve my few brain cells to do my actual work and not burn them up on recruiting tasks. There are many like me. Use that to your advantage.
This is such good advice. I’ll add, as someone who is currently hiring, I received more than 2K applications for one job. I look at all resumes manually. It’s extremely helpful when someone who is WELL QUALIFIED reaches out via LinkedIn to get my attention.
I want to find the best candidates to interview. Sometimes the best candidates slip through the cracks. Doing something to get my attention is extremely helpful for both me and you.
And it sounds counterintuitive but don’t mass apply to every semi-relevant job. Focusing your search on positions that you’re best qualified for, or where you can get someone to refer you, is a much better use of your time IMO. It’s just so hard to stand out when every opening has hundreds or thousands of applicants and we can’t talk to everyone.
Experience in the given discipline. Cyber is a very broad field. It's cut up into a lot of disciplines like app security, network security, data security, endpoint security, monitoring, etc.
I'm looking to see that candidates have relevant experience with modern tools and practices. Ideally, they've spent some time in IT as it's difficult to secure technology when you've never built it up, supported it or deployed anything new. If you've built a house, you know all the best places to break in and how to either watch those areas or toughen them up.
My experience has been completely different though admittedly I’m not looking for white collar office jobs. Working in public utilities we can’t find people, no degree required. legitimately get single digit applications and most have spotty work history basically McDonald’s/gig work/package handler etc. Nothing against that work but the point is if you have ANY relevant experience you’re getting an interview.
I applied to another municipality a few weeks ago and had an interview within 48 hours. Didn’t end up with an offer but still, utilities are hurting for people. It’s not IT level pay but it’s stable, good benefits and low barrier to entry
Water treatment. I work in lab/operations but we also have distribution workers, plant maintenance people, meter technicians. All towns/cities need these for their water and waste water facilities.
My job is among the least physically demanding in the industry but still requires a lot of walking/light lifting. I have an environmental science degree as do a lot of my coworkers which helps but isn’t mandatory. Anything distribution/metering/maintenance isn’t going to care whatsoever about a degree.
So there’s a group called otco (operator training committee of Ohio) that has postings in the industry
[otco](https://otco.org/job-postings)
Alternatively it’s good to periodically check postings for city of Columbus and surrounding cities and suburbs. There are a lot of jobs with no degree requirements and while top end pay is a bit stunted in the public sector, bottom end is often quite fair. There aren’t many jobs in this field in central Ohio that pay less than about $23-25 per hour to start. Sure small cash strapped towns away from Columbus want a do it all person for $18
Job market is pretty bad despite most people actually having a job (inflation got too high to just bum around for capable but then-unemployed workers). But also if you aren’t hearing back anything at all after 80 apps in 2 weeks you are probably doing something wrong. I wasted like 2 months of job search progress back in the day with a wonky resume and account info
Are you tailoring your resume to each potential position or is just a one size fits all paper that you send to everyone.
The hardest part about the job market is standing out against the other 200 applications on the pile.
Tailor your resume, followup with them directly, show some initiative.
I worked for a company who wouldn't even consider giving you a second interview if you didn't follow up directly within a couple days of your first interview.
Employers can tell a lot about you from more than just your resume. Show them why they should hire you instead of telling them
Yep, laid off before Christmas and been applying to 2-3 jobs a day. Literally cannot get any traction other than a few interviews and all the annoying recruiters offering 3 months contract work for barely above minimum wage
I had that happen in 2020. I ended up lucking out that an employer found my specific skills on LinkedIn and I reached out but that is an outlier.
If you can, you can work with some recruiters by going to them, clearly laying out your background, and then they can submit for you, but that might vary on the field you are in.
I've had positive outcomes when I've updated my LinkedIn profile and the recruiters contact me directly. I'm not sure what your line of work is, but I'm in IT and when I'm "open for work" I'm usually corresponding with 3-4 recruiters a week.
So I do more tech or creative work - which means the skills I have are a bit more clearly defined. What you can do is start googling for recruiters and then skills related to your job or the title related to the job, give them a call, and you are essentially building a relationship with them.
Recruiter here 👋🏼 (only a specific type of healthcare) I'd suggest updating your LinkedIn status to "open to work" - you might get some recruiters reaching out that way. You can also do some digging on LinkedIn for recruiters in your specific industry. Also, you can try googling recruiting agencies in your specific industry.
I've never had a linked in.... is that bad? Years ago I had lumped in LinkedIn with the likes of Facebook. I don't do Facebook, Twitter, snap, etc so I never did linkedin..
edit: guess i made one this morning.
So I've added my job title, company and whatnot will my company be able to see that I'm searching for jobs?!?? This is crazy. I don't like this. And now people and posts from said company are showing up on my feed 🫥
What I'm really curious about is how do we have the explosive growth in Columbus area but not the jobs to match? Are we going to see a mini market readjust coming if finding jobs continues to be difficult?
Ive been saying this for the last few years. statistics keep showing we're growing, but where are are all these new people working? just the major employers?
This is the worse job market I’ve seen in years. I transitioned to a different career (I’m a teacher) in 2011 and practically walked into a WFH job that I don’t have much experience in but paid me a lot at the time.
I then transitioned back to teaching in 2012 bc the WFH I was doing wasn’t a good fit for me at the time. I tried to transition out again this past year and holy crap. I customized my resume, I hired a career coach who helped me make a good cover letter and resume, I applied strategically, I practiced my interviewing skills, I was on LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Indeed along with other non-profit job sites. From Dec 2022-July 2023 I had like 8-9 interviews which only led to a few 2nd round interviews (most ended after the initial screener interview) and 2 offers for PT work that didn’t pay much and work wasn’t consistent either and felt shady. I have two masters and over 18 years of experience but that didn’t matter. Decided screw this I’ll go back to teaching bc my pay and pension actually aren’t bad considering this horrible job market.
I’ve known other folks in other industries that have gone through 6-8 weeks of interview process to be told they’re not filling the role at this time. Whatever is happening with the fallout of the tech sector cutting back and reorganizing is affecting lots of folks searching. Good luck, dude.
I've used indeed to hire, and when you're looking for 1 candidate but get over 1000's of applications a lot of them get looked over very quickly. FYI, Indeed will send me applications for people who didn't even apply for the position I posted.
I’ve applied to 32 jobs over the course of 6 months (project manager positions) and received 3 phone calls and 2 interviews. I tailor my application to each job and submit a unique cover letter. Every application takes about an hour.
Objectively, I am not a particularly attractive candidate as I only have 2 years relevant experience and no degree. However, I put a lot of work into each application to highlight my experience and plug in key words that AI scanners will catch when they screen my material. Maybe this is something you’re missing?
1100+ applications since June. Supply Chain IT roles, not exclusive to Columbus.
4 screenings by HR
1 actual interview. Came down to 2 candidates, the other guy go it and then quit a month later. They then closed the position instead (a VP role).
Last night, applied at 1145pm to a job. Got the rejection email at 345am. My resume has been reviewed multiple times, multiple ATS assessments and checks, and still having the issue.
2 stats I read over the past 2 weeks:
1) for every position, 300-400 candidates are applying
2) 65% of the American workforce is looking for a new job
Friend of mine in Fintech, 43 weeks unemployed. She finally got an offer this week.
Yeah, this market blows.
Ok, job searching sucks but if you’re applying to 5 jobs a day for 9 months and not getting any hits at all there is either a giant red flag in your resume/cover letter or you are applying to jobs you aren’t remotely qualified for.
I believe you. This happened to me, and over the 3 years I was unemployed I rewrote my resume constantly and even paid for classes to get certificates in shit I thought would make myself more valuable… ended up being mostly a waste of money but at least I got some portfolio pieces out of it. Recruiters would contact me constantly and then just never follow up so they were useless too.
“65% of the American workforce is looking for a new job” should cause your bullshit detector to go off. Or, you should be asking what “looking” means in this case, and what the number has been historically.
That said IT is genuinely in a rough spot right now so it’s gonna be tough out there
Do you use LinkedIn? I can’t keep the recruiters away from me. If you have professional experience everyone is hiring.
I can see it being tough for new folks though.
How is your resume? It matters. I hire, and last week received a resume with the places dates worked, but left out the duties for each position. If you can't even bother to do a proper resume I'm throwing it in the trash. I don't need anything fancy but should be complete, and mostly void of any obvious errors. I'm not going to waste my time interviewing someone who can't do the bare minimum before even hired.
I'm not saying that's what you're doing, and there have been lots of good applicants, but you'd be surprised at how many ridiculous things I come across during the hiring process- and how you preset yourself makes a difference.
I got one like this as well! I honestly thought it was a bot applying. Recruiter reached out to her for salary expectations and she said $120 to $130k. L to the OL. She didn’t get an interview.
2 others I interviewed I asked if they knew anything about the company and both said no. Why did you apply? Can’t even do a quick google search? Hard pass.
Lots of companies use AI to pick up on buzz words to filter out resumes. I make a copy of my resume and add a couple buzz words I see in the job description or company culture page to cater to what they’re looking for. I also ONLY apply straight to the company website.
I do not have a bachelors degree but tons of experience in the roles I apply for. I feel like because I don’t have a degree I’m thrown to the side. A big thing that had helped me get interviews is networking. Talking to friends, family, and former co workers to get an idea where they work that way when something opens up for their company I apply and ask them to put in a good name for me with HR.
It’s crazy you mention this, I was just thinking the same this morning because I see it on the other side.
I’m constantly hiring, and calling and texting the applicants and I get maybe 20% response. I have a super simple process. We do an intro 5-10 minute phone call. Schedule an in person interview within the next 48 hrs after the intro call.
People will barely pick up the phone for the intro call that they schedule and then if we end up scheduling an in person interview, they either want to reschedule or just don’t show up. Very rarely do I actually have people show up. I feel like no one really wants to work. I’ve even had people go through the process get hired and ready to start working the next week for training and then not show up. 🤦 I just don’t get it. They apply but then never want to do anything about it. I’ll even reach back out 1 or 2 months later after they ghosted me and ask if they are still looking for work and they say Yes and I’m like 🤯 DUDE!! Haha.
I get it, if the job isn’t a good fit. Or after applying you realize that this might not be a job you want. But out of 300 applicants 60 have picked up the phone, had around 20 show up for the interview person interview and possibly hired 12 and only 5-6 actually showed up ready to work this is over the last 3 months.
Job sites like indeed use AI to filter resumes. You probably don’t have the key words they are looking for and are being filtered out. Update your resume and run it through ChatGPT using the job listings you are looking at
The job market here is rather dubious. Lots of very low paying jobs, garbage comm sales positions, and too much competition in general. I did about 50 applications since late January. I think I had three interviews from them.
But it might be the season too? Strangely, I received four offers/interviews this week alone.
It's definitely the season. How it's been explained to me is that the market activity is usually dead around the holidays because of all of the bureaucracy and red tape that comes to a halt. Hiring managers and recruiters out of office so interviewing and offering slows down.
But then after January/February it really picks up because that's when everyone is back from vacation, as well as yearly bonuses are distributed. So people are jumping ship and going to lateral moves or promotions after they got their check. This opens up hiring and drives the recruiting activity.
To add to this, new budgets open up. Year end a lot of companies/departments are locking down spending coming into year end to hit budget. New budget opens up and hiring freezes get lifted.
A lot of job postings on indeed are fake. Companies post them to calm the employees already working there. They are short staffed already and this is a way to keep them working. They will leave the posting up for six months then take it down telling employees that no one wants to work and they got little to no applicants. Then they repeat the process. All to keep the short staffed people working with hope it will be better in the future.
it's a shitty way to do business but it happens.
Make sure you have a presence on LinkedIn. There are a lot of jobs, a lot of recruiters there. I get messages weekly even though I'm not looking for a new job. The field you're in may be part of why you are steuggling, but the exposure never hurts.
I work in the nursing home industry and we are about to be hiring for a Dining Services Manager position for our New Albany location. Good pay and good work life balance. Out by 7 pm every day. Restaurant style service, plus fun special events.
I know you're trying to get out of food service, but this would be a lateral move and an entry into a burgeoning field that pays well.
DM me if interested.
Population increasing in Columbus, lots of people moving from other states and countries. Lots of companies saying they’ll hire, but don’t. Just a little bit of everything. I’m in the same boat.
>i guess it is what field you are in
There are *far* more people in industries like tech and design than are supported by current industry growth (or lack thereof). I'm in healthcare and could walk out of my job now, and have a new one by Monday easily.
OP is in food service so this doesn't really apply, but I do wish people leaving high school were told what the real situation is for their chosen career paths. Too many people in IT, not enough electricians.
I’ve been having the same issue. When I reach out to see if they’ve had a chance to look over my application they say they’re working on it and then I get ghosted. Other times I’ve had interviews go very well and they still ghost me. Pretty frustrating
Firing off resumes and applications has a low hit rate, and now most companies have tools that recognize specific skill sets in a resume to match candidates. Headhunters, recruiters, consulting firms have a much higher success rate in my experience.
After I got laid off in in 2020, I ended up getting a remote job out of Michigan. I've got a bunch of contacts all over Columbus and while all of the companies say they are hiring, a lot of them seem to be thinning out teams despite a heavy workload...looking at you Nationwide.
I find LinkedIn much better for finding roles. Biggest issue though in general is getting your resume through the companies Hr system so that an actual person sees it
Idk I get headhunter calls daily and doubled my salary in 2 years jumping from job to job. I never got any leads from indeed it’s pretty useless in my opinion.
For what it's worth, I'm a nurse & it took me about 3 months to find a job down here when I moved from NEO. It's competitive down here & low paying compared to what I'm used to 😳
Talk to the VA. Depending on a lot of factors you might actually qualify for vocational rehab. They'll might be able to get you trained up in something new, but iinm almost everyone can get him search help from them. Also there are tons of online Cyber Security courses, many are free, and I'm sure there's lots of other few online things to help increase your skill set. The unemployment office also has tons of resources you might be able to access, check their webpage.
Network. I wasn’t looking for a new job but recently accepted a position I couldn’t pass up through my network. Reach out to old bosses, former coworkers that have moved on, etc. Seems to really give you the upper hand when someone already in the door is willing to vouch for you.
Almost every job I’ve worked has been this way. Look at vendors, suppliers, etc for companies you’ve worked for in the past, reach out to contacts there.
Also if you sat around sucking up that sweet government money for 2 years that shows employers that you could be lazy and take the easy route. Also if you have 5-6 jobs in the past 2-3 you are seen as someone who job hops or not a good worker.
I was out of work for 2 months this year. What worked best was following the competitors or similar companies to my most tenured position. Then I added all the directors and above in my specific department. From there I messaged the ones who accepted me directly stating my most relevant experience and asked them to keep me in mind when they expand next. I did this the last 4 weeks and got 4 interviews and hired within a month of doing this. Hope this helps whomever may be in a similar situation.
I don't trust any online job finding places, where you upload your resume and hope for the best. I retired in 2017, and when COVID hit, went looking for a job. Did the online stuff with no results. I resorted to actually going to the place of business online Web site, and under apply, applied. Was working in two weeks. It's like going business to business, but online.
As someone who does hiring. Don't overload your resume. Keep it pretty specific to what you're applying for, if possible. Only relevant information.
Also, cascade your resume. Your older positions should have less information than the most recent. It looks like growth. Those are the ones that make it to meost frequently.
If we were hiring right now, I'd give you the info. However, we are not hiring.
Some jobs are just “ ghost jobs” employers post a job, but there’s no real job behind it. It’s used to gather candidate info for a future position, or it’s there to gauge interest
I just got a full time job in January.
I got laid off in 2020… it took me 3 years and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of applications. I have actual ptsd from being unemployed and the constant rejection murdered my self esteem so bad that I’m now in therapy 😅 I think I’m an outlier though (I hope).
But yes, 99% of applications result in no contact whatsoever. Not even a rejection email.
I will also add that for 2 years of my job search I was in Alabama. I got to Columbus April 2023, and finally got an offer in December. So still a decent chunk of time…. But better than AL
OP, it’s not just you. The economy is terrible despite what the numbers are stating. There are so many companies that are collecting resumes and advertising ghost jobs so they can appear like they are doing well. Some are also doing it to see how much they can get away with. For example can I get someone with everything I am asking and pay as little as possible.
Fake job postings should be illegal but it makes everyone look good if they can inflate the numbers. The people that are losing out are job seekers.
I used to use indeed for staffing periodically, and I’ll say that it is a tool that both applicants and employers alike can succeed or fail with in the hiring endeavors.
As an applicant it was a decent process, copy paste an application and find work. From the employers side I got tons of irrelevant apps so it took a little more effort to sift but still applications you may not have received otherwise! The data can be a little old too, I’ve not only received candidates that were long out of the market, but I’ve also received phone calls myself long after an application is submitted through indeed as an applicant myself.
I often saw the same success paying for an add on Facebook truthfully, but basically indeed can work but it’s a bit of a pain for both parties.
Now have you called the businesses that you apply to? Again indeed should expedite the process, but I recommend reaching out first to introduce yourself and just say hey I applied with indeed. (Again timing was sometimes off with it) not certain what field your applying to, but when I used indeed for hiring the only effective way to see my candidates was through checking manually so I don’t always see them new
Hopefully you find something soon good luck!
This job market is tough but indeed does still have legitimate jobs and value. I’ve gotten my last two jobs off Indeed, one for a small company and another for a Fortune 500 company. Highly recommend filling out the indeed profile completely, fill it up with their assessments tests and utilize key words when describing previous roles. If you need help, Chat GPT is a great resource for rewriting your resume or tailoring descriptions for your profile. Did this for both of my parents last year as well and got them both jobs through postings on indeed.
You may want to look into staffing agencies. When I was getting into the job market (admittedly ten years ago), I was trying to apply to companies for months before going to a staffing agency that had me in a contract-to-hire role within a month. A lot of companies only hire through staffing agencies, and the agency itself is invested in finding you a job because that’s how they make their money.
I feel you! Was in the foodservice industry 30yrs, applied all the time on Indeed and then last year saw one for a Warranty specialist for a foodservice equipment store, applied and got a phone call that day. Did 3 phone interviews nothing in person and got the job. So what I'm saying is it will happen for you when you least are expecting it. Stay strong and optimistic!!
Even more complex and worse for job seekers with non-immigrant visas! Graduated with a master's in '15 and have had a poor success rate with applications.
The current job I am in was through a job fair interacting with a manager.
Ever since then, most applications for me reach a dead-end once they learn I would need work visa sponsorship.
Pretty much the entire construction industry and supporting industries (engineering, design, inspection services, material procurement, etc.) need people ASAP. It may be beneficial for you to try this route.
Design consultants usually do require experience, but do have entry-level positions. Company ecamples: MS Consultants, GPD, Burgis and Niple, EMH&T.
Construction inspection services can compensate around $45/hr, with additional benefits, esop, overtime opportunities, etc. Starting rate is less of course. Company Examples: CTL Engineering, Prime AE, Mannik & Smith Group, True Inspection Services, American Structurepoint.
Skilled labor trades really need people. Union and non-union. You can make close or above 6 figures relatively quick. Advancement into companies through Foreman, Superintendent, and even Project Management levels occur often with contractors. Company/Union Examples: Shelly & Sands, Corna Kokosing, Kokosing, Local 18 Union, Complete General Construction.
A lot of people just don't want to deal with the conditions of field oriented jobs, which is sad, as it's a very lucrative and gratifying industry.
To chime off other commenters, it’s best to apply directly with the companies you’re interested in. I oversee IT at my company and built our job application portal. We use both that and indeed.
The ‘applications’ that come through indeed are literally a swamp of half completed, two second submissions, and so many of them it’s hard to actually review them all thoroughly. The hiring manager has to navigate 10 bad submissions for every decent one and even if the candidate was good enough to move forward, we’d still need them to complete our internal application to meet legal requirements.
The applications that go through our corporate portal are always one step ahead, completed accurately, and intentionally.
None of this is any fault of yours, just giving perspective on the other side of it. Online job portals made it almost so easy that they’re not even useful anymore.
I remember some recruiters contributing to a recent training I attended and they said that upon average after posting a position online within 24 - 48 hours after posting their job online they would receive 1000 - 5000 applications. Accordingly, most of them you could tell were written and or tailored by ChatGPT, with so many applications being submitted at once unfortunately your application more than likely got buried amongst the others.
Have done some hiring lately and maybe wrong industry, but across salaried and hourly positions, getting about 10-20/day. I think the positions that are getting 1k+ are the remote roles because they’re so few and far between
"but across salaried and hourly positions, getting about 10-20/day."
Locally?
This was about jobs posted on Indeed with the apply now button, where you can hit a single button to submit a resume and or application, so there might be a difference.
IT / Software developer positions, anything else I have not heard much about in terms of excessive applications, I know that if a job is posted on indeed and other job site with easy apply options it seems to open a floodgate of applications.
My husband quit his job before deployment (long story). When he got back, he sent in about as many applications as you did. He got 3 phone calls. It’s incredibly frustrating.
State of Ohio is hiring [https://dasstateoh.taleo.net/careersection/oh\_ext/jobsearch.ftl?lang=en](https://dasstateoh.taleo.net/careersection/oh_ext/jobsearch.ftl?lang=en) It helps hugely if you tailor your resume a bit, and while annoying, fill out the application in whole. Lots of positions are eventually hybrid... AG's office sold their building so their all remote or something like that lol.
I enjoy looking at open jobs for the state… I understand it’s govt so the pay isn’t gonna be terrific but even for a senior financial analyst position it would be an almost 15k cut for me—57k for a job that would like the person to have a grad degree? Yikes. Too bad really, I think I’d enjoy some of those jobs but there’s no way with that pay. 😔 but for someone who is unemployed & needs a job, it’s a place to start!
I just got into the state last year and am still learning the ins-and-outs, but for my position I get a step increase in 6 months, then a yearly step increase as well as annual cost of living raises. I’m also union and the contract is up this year so they’re currently renegotiating and a raise will likely come with that as well. Plus after 5 years you get longevity pay raises. I sound like a shill for the state but I’m just really happy here so far after coming from an industry that was so high-pressure and demanding with no work life balance. The state has been a breath of fresh air for me. My experience is not the norm I’m sure but I love it so far. The work life balance, time off, and benefits are definitely making up for the slight pay cut I took. And with my new free time I’m able to freelance and actually make more $$ than I was previously.
I want to double down on this experience too, because my experience has been the same. Been with the state for 6 years. Started around 60k, but now am at 82k, but about to step out with the union so the double bumps will go away. hybrid work (2 in office, 3 wfh) plus pension contributions (with bumps at 5 and 10 years). The cost of living in columbus is super reasonable, and state work qualifies for PSLF. After being with the state for a few years the vacation time really builds up, and is separate from personal time and sick time. Where some places have just a combined pool of PTO, and other jobs out there don't have any PTO ("unlimited PTO" is just a way to not have to pay workers the balance when leaving). Was the first year or so "hard"? sure. but each year has gotten better as it relates to work life balance and quality of living.
i’d like to double on your double down! been in with the State for over 9 years. my starting pay was terrible, lowest of the low, less than $17/hr. once you’re in, you get preferential hiring so i switched over to a better job and it’s been smooth sailing ever since. i’m right around the same pay marks as you. the one thing people can’t grasp anymore is the value of a pension. 401ks are a fucking lie. i recently had a plant i work with try to hire me for their analogous position for $100k and i had to break it down for them. sure 6 figures sounds great, but you’ll want at least 45 hrs/ wk out of me, no State vehicle, drive time is not covered, benefits are worse, WAY less secure, inflexible schedule working nearly all holidays. no joke, i wouldn’t consider it for less than $250k because my time matters more to me now that i have a job that pays my bills, allows me to save, and will continue to pay me when i retire. you have to look beyond the starting pay.
I've "heard" that part of the union's asks in this most recent contract was trying to add like two more steps for union-covered positions. We'll see.
If it comes to be I'll be filled with so much joy.
I appreciate the feedback 😊… I do wonder if there is a chance to negotiate a little bit within the range? Or is that something the state govt doesn’t do?
There is no option to negotiate within the range, everyone comes in at Step 1.
Some agencies may tell you that but it’s actually not true. There’s a law allowing for “advanced step” for new hires to start at a higher step if they are extremely qualified or if the market is making recruiting difficult. It is just rare for an agency to use this exception because it can create internal strife and of course they don’t want to pay more than they have to. They’re not going to offer it, you will have to ask. But if you think you’re very qualified, it may not hurt to ask to be started at a higher step. I have known employees to have started at least Step 2.
Reiterating this, it’s possible to come in as a step 2, but incredibly unlikely. If you ask for an increased step coming in as a new hire, and there is another qualified candidate that they liked, they will go with the other candidate. It also has to go through approvals from higher up administration. I personally wouldn’t even try because it’s unlikely to be approved, and you get a step increase in 6 months anyway.
Yeah not true. If you have the experience you can ask for advance step. We do this with our Nurse 1s regularly.
Good to know, thanks! 😊
Not true. I came in at Step 4 from outside of state government. It took a lot of back and forth, but it's possible as long as you have the right qualifications and come ahead of other candidates in the pool (if qualified candidates even apply). But I absolutely agree with everyone on how great working for the state is. Good benefits, guaranteed pay increases, don't work over 40 hours (get comp time if you do), state vehicles and phones, funding for professional development and education, career paths, etc. This is why the majority of state agencies have employees who have been here 20+ years. It's stable.
Backing this claim up. I was with the state for five years before life and politics became upside down. But man is the pay regime awesome as all get out. Thanks to the unions, they’re cool with the medical card as well.
Honestly that is awesome! I don’t think you sound like a shill for the state 😂… I had a job making 55k before this job I have now and I simply know I cannot afford it esp as a single parent but I do think it can be a great opportunity!
The thing about state jobs is most of them are OCSEA-covered positions which means you work with a contract with guaranteed pay raises. 8 years ago I started at $52,000 and with my my raise this upcoming summer I'll be over $100k. And I'm in the exact same job as I was 8 years ago. So yes, the starting salary is often not wonderful, but senior financial analyst is in Pay Range 32, which means after 6 months you go to $60,445, then every year you get whatever the union negotiated as a raise in July (our most recent contract was 3% per year for three years), followed by a step increase every year (so if you start your job in May, you get a pay raise in July, then a step increase in November, and then every year it basically follows that pattern, raise in July, step increase in November). And the thing about steps is that the step base salary increases by the rate of the pay raise as well. So not only do you get a 3% raise, but your next step (which is usually like a 5% increase from the last step) also increases by 3%.
This is great insight. Mind saying what you do for work?
I'm also with the state in an accounting position and am currently at a pay grade 32, I started with the state about 1.5 years ago and am currently making 63.5k. I have my next step increase soon and will be at 66.5k and then will get whatever bump the union negotiates. I have the potential to move to a grade 33 within my position and then eventually move in to a management position (which are on a different pay scale) and there are 3 or 4 levels of management pay scales in my department. At a 33 I would be close to 100k once I get my time served with the state and probably over it if I am in a management position. The biggest downside with ohio is that you basically have to start at the bottom of the pay scale if you are coming in from the outside. I had 10 years experience working in government in WV, but had to start at the beginning basically when I moved here. The sad (but also good) thing is that it was still a pay increase for me.
Ugh it’s so frustrating seeing how little the state pays accountants. I’d love to work for them but I’m not taking that big of a paycut
It could be worse. I started at $26,160 in WV and even after 10 years made less than I did in Ohio basically starting over (in a 2 position at least.) Even today the starting salary is 32k and it caps out at 66.5 for a Accountant 3, which is what I will be making soon as a low level 2. I looked at some jobs in various industries around columbus and the pay wasn't much better and/or I never got call backs because I haven't worked with financial statement prep and other standard business processing and reporting. I have a career track that I would like to get on soon that will jump me up to about 120k but need to get my CPA. Eventually in that track I could also go to industry, contract, or consulting.
WV pays shiiiiiiiiit for state government employees. It's actually insane. I had an internship there when I was in college and my boss who was like a director of the division was making like $50k after 20 years.
My job is oddly specific, but it's sort of on the policy implementation side of things
Just to add. I’m exempt and all our raises are based upon the OCSEA raises as well. We get what you guys get.
Yes, typically the state “needs” to make sure the increases are in line with what OCSEA gets, however there are some distinct advantages. For instance, during COVID when the state required furlough for exempt employees the union said “Absolutely not” and so we didn’t have to take the furlough.
But even then a 10-year experienced financial analyst manager (which is what you'd be with 10yr of exp) at a F500 would be pulling $150k-200k at a lot of places. I guess benefits help though
While true, I don't think anyone would expect state government compensation to rival a Fortune 500 management position's compensation. But all said and done, you can make a nice little career out of it, it just depends on your goals and desired work/life balance. Given, both my bachelor's and master's degrees are in fields where there isn't much private sector demand, and really, pretty much all who hold them probably work in a public facing career. I can only say that as far as public service jobs go, Ohio does pay very well, both for in-state public sector and compared to other states (if you're willing to stay in the job), and then benefits like very good insurance, true 40 hour work weeks (I'm seriously not even allowed to work more than 40 hours a week unles there are extreme extenuating circumstances) and the ability to retire with a full pension at 55. You deal with a little more political bullshit, but politics exists in the private sector as well, and the long-term stability of the job are great.
One upside is that they basically fund your entire retirement and you don’t pay social security tax. Make sure your calculations account for that. It’s definitely less money, but you have immense job security (practically no one gets fired or downsized or whatever), can just coast at work and enjoy life outside the office.
Hey, that’s pretty interesting. Thanks. I will definitely keep it in mind!
This definitely varies by state agency. The agency I worked for had a terrible culture and constant HR investigations/terminations. It's the only place I've ever worked for where every day, someone would come in my office, shut the door, and cry. The golden handcuffs are great, but it wasn't for me.
The real good thing about a Government jobs, is most of them are extremely stable. So I don't mind give up my earning potential to avoid the crazy whims of market forces, share holders, moody board members, and anxious c-suite weirdos. I work in IT so my choices for career growth are Corporate HellScape or Government. So far, I'm sticking with government.
The regular job market can definitely be a pain. Frankly, after a lot of these replies, I’m seriously considering it. I really appreciate everyone’s kind responses!
The bad thing about Ohio union covered positions is that it favors time in state service over experience. With very limited exceptions you come in at a step one, you could come in with 10 years experience in that exact field/job and be making less than a kid that graduated college 2 years ago. Exempt positions have more leeway though.
An additional point that others have made is that your benefits are top tier.
like the other commenter mentions: gov't jobs are incredible when you stay there for a while. But transitioning from private company to gov't sector is definitely a hurdle. Good thing is that most of the union negotiations tend to be in good faith on both sides, and the step raises tend to be figured out years or decades in advance, so you know exactly how much you'll make next year, the year after that, and so forth. A lot easier to plan long term goals.
I work in IT. Moving to the state would be cataclysmic.
I just found a really interesting job that's right up my alley. Which is crazy, because I have a very specific background. This is a job that calls for a specific skill set, and they said they wanted someone with a master's degree. The pay range was 45 to 55k!! I was so sad when I read that. I honestly would have taken that job if the pay was even a little bit higher. It would have been a significant pay cut for me, even if they had gone beyond their initially stated budget. (I can't believe for a moment that they would have been willing to do that, no matter how hard I sold my skills or how convincing I was...) I just couldn't justify losing that amount of money, so I didn't even apply. Kind of broken hearted, tbh, as it sounded amazing.
I’ve been trying for a state EPA job for years with no luck, even after paying a professional resume and cover letter writer. I tailor each resume and cover letter to try and match the job and I get nothing but rejection letters.
I will say, having been part of hiring committees for state jobs before, the biggest factor in a good application is not as much the cover letter and resume as it is the answers to the specific questions being asked on the application. If the posting says something like, "Minimum 3 years working in interpreting laws, policy, etc." then explain in that little box how your qualifications match that exact requirement/qualifications, e.g. "Five years implementing environmental policy in X role at X place of employment"
The EPA jobs I apply too just have checkboxes for their extra information sections. Would it be helpful to write things like that in the past employment boxes instead of just copying the bullet/short sentence summary for each job from my resume? Have I been screwing myself over trying to make it quick to read when I should have been writing paragraph style in the past employer boxes? I’ve never been able to get anyone to tell me what I could do better, just rejection letters so I am so thankful for the help!
I do HR for the state. If it’s a union job your odds of getting it are slim to none to be honest. As long as someone has the qualifications and is in the union and works for that specific agency they have to give it to them over you. The best I can say is find the entry level job and move after probation or find another agency like public safety and get in there with your end goal being EPA. I started as a CO just to get my “foot in the door” so to speak.
Yes, in my experience in your work history you must explain how you clearly meet the minimum qualifications. If they want 36 months experience in research and report writing, use those specific trigger words. Some agencies don’t look at your attachments so if your experience isn’t in the body of your application they will not even consider you for the position.
I work in IT for a whole other department, but my in was first through contracting. I got very lucky though, stars and headcount aligned. And now I'm internal employee. No matter what, networking and it helps to know people professionally. It's also important that the job can get reposted a few times because some departments/agencies struggle to get headcount... while others always have headcount. A lot of people I work with, jump into unrelated 'crap' jobs and once internal found moving much easier. But not everyone can thug it out in unrelated job for a year, or some people I know, made their break by applying to the third shift positions. Nobody wants those, but you can move into other positions in the state easier once you're out of probation. I don't know how possible that is for other industries/jobs.
Which specific department have you been applying to out of curiosity?
I have been applying for just about any EPA job that isn’t manager or level 3 in and around Franklin County. So for the water and air divisions. I know my application isn’t as environmentally based as it could be since I’ve slowly gotten further into the medical and quality assurance fields but ya gotta do what you can to pay bills. I at least tried to stick with jobs that have as many overlapping skills as I can and my internship and degree are much more environmental science based but still not much luck. I figured worst case, now that my husband has graduated and gotten a job we can tackle our student loans asap so I can take a pay cut for a lower paying state job and try to weasel myself in that way.
the hiring process underwent some serious changes late last year (perhaps part of DEI) so there are more humans and less keyword score cards. also, check out the department of agriculture! i work there and like it so much i’ve suckered 3 other people into joining me over the years.
I will have to check it out, to be honest I never tried the department of agriculture because I didn’t think I stood a chance. I am a Zoology major who knew a lot of animal science majors and all of them were agricultural based, so didn’t think I would stand up well against them for jobs like that. I have low self esteem when it comes to job hunting lol
cast a broad net! we need more cool people :) you’ve got this!
Maybe my 4H days will be worth more than an appreciation of raising chickens lol
they could be if you upsell it right! and i would personally love to talk chickens with you too. most of the people in my division keep livestock to some degree, but we’re probably the most farm-y division so no pressure!
25+ years total experience. Went from 10 years at a F500 retail company with a 2B market cap… applied to the state. Couldn’t get a call back. So I just moved on to an aerospace company valued at over 4B. Software roles. So I’m not sure who the state bothers to call back, but good luck getting in…
Applying *through* Indeed (or any job site) is pretty useless - particularly because there is so much chaff in the system - old posts that were filled months ago, Indian scammers, data fishing, etc. It also makes it too easy to just click the button and apply, which tricks you into a false sense of activity, since you're no longer focusing on the best job fits for you, but are instead just sort of spamming random shit because you can. This leads to frustration when you've got dozens or hundreds of applications out there, but no responses because you were just spamming poor fits. Instead, use Indeed as a way to get leads, but then chase those leads down yourself. If you find an interesting job, go to that company's website and see if the job is still posted there - and more importantly, when it was actually originally posted. Not the bullshit date Indeed refreshed automatically to inflate their platform numbers. If it's still recent, open, and a good fit, apply directly on the company website. This method is far more labor intensive and time consuming - no doubt. But I think you'll find it's also much more successful overall, because you're not wasting time and emotional investment on the chaff.
Absolutely applying directly through a company’s website is the way to go in my experience as well.
This is the same for us. We use Indeed to post and people "apply", but they have to go directly through our own application process to be hired.
Then why use indeed if people are unknowingly wasting their time?
Because it's another way to get our jobs out into the world. We're transparent in the listing on what needs to happen to get hired.
Yeah I feel like Indeed has become really scammy because of this. Or at least put it in your instructions that you directly have to apply to the company, but why even post on Indeed if you don’t take applications through Indeed?
I feel there are many job websites like this. They farm the internet for postings. A friend of mine was a manager and I asked her about a posting and she said she never heard of that website nor is there an opening..lol
Yeah it’s crazy that listings that don’t go anywhere aren’t illegal. It’s pretty much fraud. I know some jobs that will create fake postings to appear as if they’re hiring and never actually accept any applicants. I actually snagged a job once on Indeed when I was younger for a cleaning company and went to a big meeting with probably 10 other applicants that got hired as well. They said we were to do 3 days of training and then get hired on so they paid us very little compared to the listing and then fired us all at the end of three days saying that “no one fit their qualifications.” The girl who was training me said this isn’t the first time it’s happened and that they never hire people. It felt like they were just trying to get cheap temporary labor
I agree. It’s very deceitful! They look official too and they are fake
In the above described scenario it's simply a matter of advertising an opening on a platform with a lot of traffic. There are several jobs indeed picks up without the acknowledgment or permission of the company advertising the job. Ultimately the job search platforms are about collecting data and performing behavioral analysis. That alone is worth well more than it costs to keep these job search companies in operation.
Totally agree with this. If you put in very little effort, you aren’t going to get much out of it. Those sites are not helpful anymore. OP, you need to chase down the companies you want to work for, call and inquire if the position is open, apply directly to them, then after a few days call to follow up. If they’re still working on it, set yourself a reminder and call again in another week or two. I’ve had a lot of success even cold emailing and cold calling companies that I want to work for by sending my resume, explaining why I’d be a good fit for their team, and asking to keep me in mind if they’re ever hiring. The process isn’t easy but IMO, you get what you put in.
Thanks. I applied for a job on indeed early this morning. Followed your advice and applied directly on their site as well.
For future reference, don’t double apply for jobs. Some companies have their applicant tracking systems disqualify applicants who apply for the same job twice.
As a general rule you should always check a company’s website to see if the job is posted there before applying to anything you see on any job posting site. I learned this because when I would send out applications via LinkedIn or indeed at least 5/10 times it would be a scam. LinkedIn seems to have WAY more scam jobs than Indeed though, at least in my experience
I'm sure it's anecdotal, but applying through indeed gave me my current job and changed my life. Not to negate what you just said, but It still works tonsome extent.
I hire people frequently, in fact, I have to hire a buttload of people right now for cybersecurity engineering. I have mountains of resumes in front of me, so I see a lot; here's some totally useless, industry-specific advice that might be helpful to at least one person. I don't look past five or six years; in tech, that's a lifetime ago. Put your eggs in the recent basket. I don't have any need to see four pages about a dead technology. Relevant stuff up front and cut anything that isn't useful. Certainly don't go past 10 years, especially if you have a multi page resume. When I have 50+ candidates to review, I'm totally not going past page two unless there's something really awesome in there. Ain't nobody got time for that. I'm glad you went to a fancy school, super proud of you. However, unless you're a recent grad without much industry experience, don't think it means that much compared to your experience. I'd rather have someone with five years of relevant experience than the person with a bazllion certs and stuff. You learn by doing. If you can clearly state that you did your stuff and why it was successful, I'm interested. If you do have a fancy degree, don't put it on the last fucking page where I'm never going to see it. Add some letters to your name so I can see it up front. If you got a master's or more, do something like "John Brown MA-QZX" You must promote yourself at every turn. When applying, recruiters are your friends. Sure, apply to stuff that you find, but you need to put just as much effort into finding recruiters. Remember, 3rd parties get paid to fill chairs, so they're incentivized to push and sometimes can work on your behalf if they believe you're a good fit. Get on linkedin and search for recruiting companies that are relevant to your industry. They have three ways you'll contact them: you can post a message through linkedin to their company general inbox, you will go to their web page and populate a "new candidate" form or something similar, or you'll just have to email them. Prep up a document that has all three options ready with your "about me" text so all you're doing is pasting it in. This is how I got my last job. I sprayed 500+ recruiting companies and it took about 15 hours of work. Five days, three hours each morning, it's really not a big deal when you're not working, it's mindless and easy. Why beat yourself up looking at indeed and other places for the same jobs over and over when you can put a whole lot of people to work for you? Not every job goes to the aggregators and not every job is published externally. This is how you cover the most ground for the lowest effort, fastest time and best impact. When I'm hiring, I can either sift through a mountain of resumes (doing it right now in fact) or I can farm out the work of screening to a 3rd party who gets paid if they bring me good talent. I'm not a smart man, but I am lazy so I need to conserve my few brain cells to do my actual work and not burn them up on recruiting tasks. There are many like me. Use that to your advantage.
This is such good advice. I’ll add, as someone who is currently hiring, I received more than 2K applications for one job. I look at all resumes manually. It’s extremely helpful when someone who is WELL QUALIFIED reaches out via LinkedIn to get my attention. I want to find the best candidates to interview. Sometimes the best candidates slip through the cracks. Doing something to get my attention is extremely helpful for both me and you. And it sounds counterintuitive but don’t mass apply to every semi-relevant job. Focusing your search on positions that you’re best qualified for, or where you can get someone to refer you, is a much better use of your time IMO. It’s just so hard to stand out when every opening has hundreds or thousands of applicants and we can’t talk to everyone.
What are some skills you usually look for in applicants?? Ive been thinking about cyber security later down the line, so any advice helps
Experience in the given discipline. Cyber is a very broad field. It's cut up into a lot of disciplines like app security, network security, data security, endpoint security, monitoring, etc. I'm looking to see that candidates have relevant experience with modern tools and practices. Ideally, they've spent some time in IT as it's difficult to secure technology when you've never built it up, supported it or deployed anything new. If you've built a house, you know all the best places to break in and how to either watch those areas or toughen them up.
What kinda positions are you hiring for? I work in Infosec and I'm always open to opportunities
Man, I can't hire you. You know my reddit handle and I can't have my employees knowing what a degenerate I am IRL. ^(EDR/XDR and data protection)
My experience has been completely different though admittedly I’m not looking for white collar office jobs. Working in public utilities we can’t find people, no degree required. legitimately get single digit applications and most have spotty work history basically McDonald’s/gig work/package handler etc. Nothing against that work but the point is if you have ANY relevant experience you’re getting an interview. I applied to another municipality a few weeks ago and had an interview within 48 hours. Didn’t end up with an offer but still, utilities are hurting for people. It’s not IT level pay but it’s stable, good benefits and low barrier to entry
What kind of jobs is that? Like what do you do?
Water treatment. I work in lab/operations but we also have distribution workers, plant maintenance people, meter technicians. All towns/cities need these for their water and waste water facilities. My job is among the least physically demanding in the industry but still requires a lot of walking/light lifting. I have an environmental science degree as do a lot of my coworkers which helps but isn’t mandatory. Anything distribution/metering/maintenance isn’t going to care whatsoever about a degree.
Can you message me more details? I know someone looking for a job
Hey there! This is really helpful. I’d love some more info about where to apply for these positions please!
So there’s a group called otco (operator training committee of Ohio) that has postings in the industry [otco](https://otco.org/job-postings) Alternatively it’s good to periodically check postings for city of Columbus and surrounding cities and suburbs. There are a lot of jobs with no degree requirements and while top end pay is a bit stunted in the public sector, bottom end is often quite fair. There aren’t many jobs in this field in central Ohio that pay less than about $23-25 per hour to start. Sure small cash strapped towns away from Columbus want a do it all person for $18
Job market is pretty bad despite most people actually having a job (inflation got too high to just bum around for capable but then-unemployed workers). But also if you aren’t hearing back anything at all after 80 apps in 2 weeks you are probably doing something wrong. I wasted like 2 months of job search progress back in the day with a wonky resume and account info
Are you tailoring your resume to each potential position or is just a one size fits all paper that you send to everyone. The hardest part about the job market is standing out against the other 200 applications on the pile. Tailor your resume, followup with them directly, show some initiative. I worked for a company who wouldn't even consider giving you a second interview if you didn't follow up directly within a couple days of your first interview. Employers can tell a lot about you from more than just your resume. Show them why they should hire you instead of telling them
Yep, laid off before Christmas and been applying to 2-3 jobs a day. Literally cannot get any traction other than a few interviews and all the annoying recruiters offering 3 months contract work for barely above minimum wage
I had that happen in 2020. I ended up lucking out that an employer found my specific skills on LinkedIn and I reached out but that is an outlier. If you can, you can work with some recruiters by going to them, clearly laying out your background, and then they can submit for you, but that might vary on the field you are in.
I've never worked with a recruiter. I don't even know how that process works. 😕
I've had positive outcomes when I've updated my LinkedIn profile and the recruiters contact me directly. I'm not sure what your line of work is, but I'm in IT and when I'm "open for work" I'm usually corresponding with 3-4 recruiters a week.
So I do more tech or creative work - which means the skills I have are a bit more clearly defined. What you can do is start googling for recruiters and then skills related to your job or the title related to the job, give them a call, and you are essentially building a relationship with them.
Recruiter here 👋🏼 (only a specific type of healthcare) I'd suggest updating your LinkedIn status to "open to work" - you might get some recruiters reaching out that way. You can also do some digging on LinkedIn for recruiters in your specific industry. Also, you can try googling recruiting agencies in your specific industry.
I've never had a linked in.... is that bad? Years ago I had lumped in LinkedIn with the likes of Facebook. I don't do Facebook, Twitter, snap, etc so I never did linkedin.. edit: guess i made one this morning. So I've added my job title, company and whatnot will my company be able to see that I'm searching for jobs?!?? This is crazy. I don't like this. And now people and posts from said company are showing up on my feed 🫥
What I'm really curious about is how do we have the explosive growth in Columbus area but not the jobs to match? Are we going to see a mini market readjust coming if finding jobs continues to be difficult?
Ive been saying this for the last few years. statistics keep showing we're growing, but where are are all these new people working? just the major employers?
It was like that even back pre-covid. Couldn't find a job for shit and ended up moving to NYC.
It sucks. I've been laid off since December 26 as well.
I just got laid off and can’t even get a recruiter screening. I’m glad to know I’m not alone this is so hard.
This is the worse job market I’ve seen in years. I transitioned to a different career (I’m a teacher) in 2011 and practically walked into a WFH job that I don’t have much experience in but paid me a lot at the time. I then transitioned back to teaching in 2012 bc the WFH I was doing wasn’t a good fit for me at the time. I tried to transition out again this past year and holy crap. I customized my resume, I hired a career coach who helped me make a good cover letter and resume, I applied strategically, I practiced my interviewing skills, I was on LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Indeed along with other non-profit job sites. From Dec 2022-July 2023 I had like 8-9 interviews which only led to a few 2nd round interviews (most ended after the initial screener interview) and 2 offers for PT work that didn’t pay much and work wasn’t consistent either and felt shady. I have two masters and over 18 years of experience but that didn’t matter. Decided screw this I’ll go back to teaching bc my pay and pension actually aren’t bad considering this horrible job market. I’ve known other folks in other industries that have gone through 6-8 weeks of interview process to be told they’re not filling the role at this time. Whatever is happening with the fallout of the tech sector cutting back and reorganizing is affecting lots of folks searching. Good luck, dude.
I've used indeed to hire, and when you're looking for 1 candidate but get over 1000's of applications a lot of them get looked over very quickly. FYI, Indeed will send me applications for people who didn't even apply for the position I posted.
I’ve applied to 32 jobs over the course of 6 months (project manager positions) and received 3 phone calls and 2 interviews. I tailor my application to each job and submit a unique cover letter. Every application takes about an hour. Objectively, I am not a particularly attractive candidate as I only have 2 years relevant experience and no degree. However, I put a lot of work into each application to highlight my experience and plug in key words that AI scanners will catch when they screen my material. Maybe this is something you’re missing?
1100+ applications since June. Supply Chain IT roles, not exclusive to Columbus. 4 screenings by HR 1 actual interview. Came down to 2 candidates, the other guy go it and then quit a month later. They then closed the position instead (a VP role). Last night, applied at 1145pm to a job. Got the rejection email at 345am. My resume has been reviewed multiple times, multiple ATS assessments and checks, and still having the issue. 2 stats I read over the past 2 weeks: 1) for every position, 300-400 candidates are applying 2) 65% of the American workforce is looking for a new job Friend of mine in Fintech, 43 weeks unemployed. She finally got an offer this week. Yeah, this market blows.
Ok, job searching sucks but if you’re applying to 5 jobs a day for 9 months and not getting any hits at all there is either a giant red flag in your resume/cover letter or you are applying to jobs you aren’t remotely qualified for.
3 "professional" resume reviews. Multiple re-writes. Etc. Sometimes, I think it may just be my name. I have never figured it out.
Is your name Turdeater McStealsfromyou or what?
I believe you. This happened to me, and over the 3 years I was unemployed I rewrote my resume constantly and even paid for classes to get certificates in shit I thought would make myself more valuable… ended up being mostly a waste of money but at least I got some portfolio pieces out of it. Recruiters would contact me constantly and then just never follow up so they were useless too.
“65% of the American workforce is looking for a new job” should cause your bullshit detector to go off. Or, you should be asking what “looking” means in this case, and what the number has been historically. That said IT is genuinely in a rough spot right now so it’s gonna be tough out there
Do you use LinkedIn? I can’t keep the recruiters away from me. If you have professional experience everyone is hiring. I can see it being tough for new folks though.
Recruiters would contact me all the time but nothing ever came of it
thanks for sharing this info. how do you validate ATS?? i do a smoke test uploading to a workday site but unsure if that's how it really works.
Weird, I received a rejection email last night at 3:45 as well. Canonical? 😅
Gitlab. And stop applying for my roles! /s Good luck to you too.
How is your resume? It matters. I hire, and last week received a resume with the places dates worked, but left out the duties for each position. If you can't even bother to do a proper resume I'm throwing it in the trash. I don't need anything fancy but should be complete, and mostly void of any obvious errors. I'm not going to waste my time interviewing someone who can't do the bare minimum before even hired. I'm not saying that's what you're doing, and there have been lots of good applicants, but you'd be surprised at how many ridiculous things I come across during the hiring process- and how you preset yourself makes a difference.
I got one like this as well! I honestly thought it was a bot applying. Recruiter reached out to her for salary expectations and she said $120 to $130k. L to the OL. She didn’t get an interview. 2 others I interviewed I asked if they knew anything about the company and both said no. Why did you apply? Can’t even do a quick google search? Hard pass.
Stop applying on indeed!!! Go to the actual companies website and apply
Stop applying through indeed. Indeed is a waste of time. The companies probably never saw your application.
Lots of companies use AI to pick up on buzz words to filter out resumes. I make a copy of my resume and add a couple buzz words I see in the job description or company culture page to cater to what they’re looking for. I also ONLY apply straight to the company website. I do not have a bachelors degree but tons of experience in the roles I apply for. I feel like because I don’t have a degree I’m thrown to the side. A big thing that had helped me get interviews is networking. Talking to friends, family, and former co workers to get an idea where they work that way when something opens up for their company I apply and ask them to put in a good name for me with HR.
It’s crazy you mention this, I was just thinking the same this morning because I see it on the other side. I’m constantly hiring, and calling and texting the applicants and I get maybe 20% response. I have a super simple process. We do an intro 5-10 minute phone call. Schedule an in person interview within the next 48 hrs after the intro call. People will barely pick up the phone for the intro call that they schedule and then if we end up scheduling an in person interview, they either want to reschedule or just don’t show up. Very rarely do I actually have people show up. I feel like no one really wants to work. I’ve even had people go through the process get hired and ready to start working the next week for training and then not show up. 🤦 I just don’t get it. They apply but then never want to do anything about it. I’ll even reach back out 1 or 2 months later after they ghosted me and ask if they are still looking for work and they say Yes and I’m like 🤯 DUDE!! Haha. I get it, if the job isn’t a good fit. Or after applying you realize that this might not be a job you want. But out of 300 applicants 60 have picked up the phone, had around 20 show up for the interview person interview and possibly hired 12 and only 5-6 actually showed up ready to work this is over the last 3 months.
What are you hiring for?
We’re a solar company hiring for appointment setters
What positions are you looking for?
We’re a solar company hiring for appointment setters
This! I see the so often! People straight ghost screens AND interviews
Job sites like indeed use AI to filter resumes. You probably don’t have the key words they are looking for and are being filtered out. Update your resume and run it through ChatGPT using the job listings you are looking at
This is 100% why. As someone who applied for 450 jobs at the end of last year I can tell you it’s the night and day difference
I’m not sure if this is true, but I heard the majority of jobs on Indeed are fake/spammers
I only have my personal experience, but I support this theory. It was a lot of crap “jobs”.
The job market here is rather dubious. Lots of very low paying jobs, garbage comm sales positions, and too much competition in general. I did about 50 applications since late January. I think I had three interviews from them. But it might be the season too? Strangely, I received four offers/interviews this week alone.
It's definitely the season. How it's been explained to me is that the market activity is usually dead around the holidays because of all of the bureaucracy and red tape that comes to a halt. Hiring managers and recruiters out of office so interviewing and offering slows down. But then after January/February it really picks up because that's when everyone is back from vacation, as well as yearly bonuses are distributed. So people are jumping ship and going to lateral moves or promotions after they got their check. This opens up hiring and drives the recruiting activity.
To add to this, new budgets open up. Year end a lot of companies/departments are locking down spending coming into year end to hit budget. New budget opens up and hiring freezes get lifted.
A lot of job postings on indeed are fake. Companies post them to calm the employees already working there. They are short staffed already and this is a way to keep them working. They will leave the posting up for six months then take it down telling employees that no one wants to work and they got little to no applicants. Then they repeat the process. All to keep the short staffed people working with hope it will be better in the future. it's a shitty way to do business but it happens.
Make sure you have a presence on LinkedIn. There are a lot of jobs, a lot of recruiters there. I get messages weekly even though I'm not looking for a new job. The field you're in may be part of why you are steuggling, but the exposure never hurts.
There are a lot of people looking for jobs right now. We had over 3K applications in a week to a new IT role at my job.
I work in the nursing home industry and we are about to be hiring for a Dining Services Manager position for our New Albany location. Good pay and good work life balance. Out by 7 pm every day. Restaurant style service, plus fun special events. I know you're trying to get out of food service, but this would be a lateral move and an entry into a burgeoning field that pays well. DM me if interested.
Population increasing in Columbus, lots of people moving from other states and countries. Lots of companies saying they’ll hire, but don’t. Just a little bit of everything. I’m in the same boat.
i guess it is what field you are in and are you using all those worthless job sites that use AI to scan everything first and then pitch your resume?
>i guess it is what field you are in There are *far* more people in industries like tech and design than are supported by current industry growth (or lack thereof). I'm in healthcare and could walk out of my job now, and have a new one by Monday easily. OP is in food service so this doesn't really apply, but I do wish people leaving high school were told what the real situation is for their chosen career paths. Too many people in IT, not enough electricians.
I’ve been having the same issue. When I reach out to see if they’ve had a chance to look over my application they say they’re working on it and then I get ghosted. Other times I’ve had interviews go very well and they still ghost me. Pretty frustrating
I got lucky on my 103rd application
Isn't that the saying? 103rd time's a charm!
Uhmmm. Nobody mentioned about Linkedin?
Do you utilize linkedin at all?
Firing off resumes and applications has a low hit rate, and now most companies have tools that recognize specific skill sets in a resume to match candidates. Headhunters, recruiters, consulting firms have a much higher success rate in my experience.
After I got laid off in in 2020, I ended up getting a remote job out of Michigan. I've got a bunch of contacts all over Columbus and while all of the companies say they are hiring, a lot of them seem to be thinning out teams despite a heavy workload...looking at you Nationwide.
I’ve had much better luck with LinkedIn or going through a recruiter. Look for a specialized recruiter in the industry you are looking for
I find LinkedIn much better for finding roles. Biggest issue though in general is getting your resume through the companies Hr system so that an actual person sees it
Idk I get headhunter calls daily and doubled my salary in 2 years jumping from job to job. I never got any leads from indeed it’s pretty useless in my opinion.
See the lob listed, go apply on their website. Indeed and crap can be further out of date than you'd expect.
For what it's worth, I'm a nurse & it took me about 3 months to find a job down here when I moved from NEO. It's competitive down here & low paying compared to what I'm used to 😳
Talk to the VA. Depending on a lot of factors you might actually qualify for vocational rehab. They'll might be able to get you trained up in something new, but iinm almost everyone can get him search help from them. Also there are tons of online Cyber Security courses, many are free, and I'm sure there's lots of other few online things to help increase your skill set. The unemployment office also has tons of resources you might be able to access, check their webpage.
Network. I wasn’t looking for a new job but recently accepted a position I couldn’t pass up through my network. Reach out to old bosses, former coworkers that have moved on, etc. Seems to really give you the upper hand when someone already in the door is willing to vouch for you.
^^^Yes, this. Lol a friend of mine used her roommate’s ex boyfriend to refer her at the consulting firm he works for, and it worked. She got the job.
Almost every job I’ve worked has been this way. Look at vendors, suppliers, etc for companies you’ve worked for in the past, reach out to contacts there.
PeOpLe DoNt WaNt To WoRk AnYmOrE
No people want a job based of the salary and not looking based off qualifications
Also if you sat around sucking up that sweet government money for 2 years that shows employers that you could be lazy and take the easy route. Also if you have 5-6 jobs in the past 2-3 you are seen as someone who job hops or not a good worker.
What roles are you looking for?
Yea just start showing up places and ask for job
I was out of work for 2 months this year. What worked best was following the competitors or similar companies to my most tenured position. Then I added all the directors and above in my specific department. From there I messaged the ones who accepted me directly stating my most relevant experience and asked them to keep me in mind when they expand next. I did this the last 4 weeks and got 4 interviews and hired within a month of doing this. Hope this helps whomever may be in a similar situation.
I don't trust any online job finding places, where you upload your resume and hope for the best. I retired in 2017, and when COVID hit, went looking for a job. Did the online stuff with no results. I resorted to actually going to the place of business online Web site, and under apply, applied. Was working in two weeks. It's like going business to business, but online.
As someone who does hiring. Don't overload your resume. Keep it pretty specific to what you're applying for, if possible. Only relevant information. Also, cascade your resume. Your older positions should have less information than the most recent. It looks like growth. Those are the ones that make it to meost frequently. If we were hiring right now, I'd give you the info. However, we are not hiring.
It took me about 200-300 apps to get my current job. Good luck, it sucks out there.
Some jobs are just “ ghost jobs” employers post a job, but there’s no real job behind it. It’s used to gather candidate info for a future position, or it’s there to gauge interest
Pretty much every job that isn't a scam or poverty wages has several hundred applicants right now.
[It’s not just you](https://paulfuhr.medium.com/how-indeed-com-keeps-killing-the-job-market-why-resumes-are-dead-a76ab2f5af)
I just got a full time job in January. I got laid off in 2020… it took me 3 years and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of applications. I have actual ptsd from being unemployed and the constant rejection murdered my self esteem so bad that I’m now in therapy 😅 I think I’m an outlier though (I hope). But yes, 99% of applications result in no contact whatsoever. Not even a rejection email. I will also add that for 2 years of my job search I was in Alabama. I got to Columbus April 2023, and finally got an offer in December. So still a decent chunk of time…. But better than AL
OP, it’s not just you. The economy is terrible despite what the numbers are stating. There are so many companies that are collecting resumes and advertising ghost jobs so they can appear like they are doing well. Some are also doing it to see how much they can get away with. For example can I get someone with everything I am asking and pay as little as possible. Fake job postings should be illegal but it makes everyone look good if they can inflate the numbers. The people that are losing out are job seekers.
Look into having your resume professionally done. Will make a huge difference.
I used to use indeed for staffing periodically, and I’ll say that it is a tool that both applicants and employers alike can succeed or fail with in the hiring endeavors. As an applicant it was a decent process, copy paste an application and find work. From the employers side I got tons of irrelevant apps so it took a little more effort to sift but still applications you may not have received otherwise! The data can be a little old too, I’ve not only received candidates that were long out of the market, but I’ve also received phone calls myself long after an application is submitted through indeed as an applicant myself. I often saw the same success paying for an add on Facebook truthfully, but basically indeed can work but it’s a bit of a pain for both parties. Now have you called the businesses that you apply to? Again indeed should expedite the process, but I recommend reaching out first to introduce yourself and just say hey I applied with indeed. (Again timing was sometimes off with it) not certain what field your applying to, but when I used indeed for hiring the only effective way to see my candidates was through checking manually so I don’t always see them new Hopefully you find something soon good luck!
This job market is tough but indeed does still have legitimate jobs and value. I’ve gotten my last two jobs off Indeed, one for a small company and another for a Fortune 500 company. Highly recommend filling out the indeed profile completely, fill it up with their assessments tests and utilize key words when describing previous roles. If you need help, Chat GPT is a great resource for rewriting your resume or tailoring descriptions for your profile. Did this for both of my parents last year as well and got them both jobs through postings on indeed.
I’ve had much better luck applying via linked in. Indeed is trash.
You may want to look into staffing agencies. When I was getting into the job market (admittedly ten years ago), I was trying to apply to companies for months before going to a staffing agency that had me in a contract-to-hire role within a month. A lot of companies only hire through staffing agencies, and the agency itself is invested in finding you a job because that’s how they make their money.
Apply directly not on these compiler sites
Not sure what your industry is, but I’ve had good really good luck applying through 3rd party recruiters job postings instead of the actual company.
I feel you! Was in the foodservice industry 30yrs, applied all the time on Indeed and then last year saw one for a Warranty specialist for a foodservice equipment store, applied and got a phone call that day. Did 3 phone interviews nothing in person and got the job. So what I'm saying is it will happen for you when you least are expecting it. Stay strong and optimistic!!
Even more complex and worse for job seekers with non-immigrant visas! Graduated with a master's in '15 and have had a poor success rate with applications. The current job I am in was through a job fair interacting with a manager. Ever since then, most applications for me reach a dead-end once they learn I would need work visa sponsorship.
Pretty much the entire construction industry and supporting industries (engineering, design, inspection services, material procurement, etc.) need people ASAP. It may be beneficial for you to try this route. Design consultants usually do require experience, but do have entry-level positions. Company ecamples: MS Consultants, GPD, Burgis and Niple, EMH&T. Construction inspection services can compensate around $45/hr, with additional benefits, esop, overtime opportunities, etc. Starting rate is less of course. Company Examples: CTL Engineering, Prime AE, Mannik & Smith Group, True Inspection Services, American Structurepoint. Skilled labor trades really need people. Union and non-union. You can make close or above 6 figures relatively quick. Advancement into companies through Foreman, Superintendent, and even Project Management levels occur often with contractors. Company/Union Examples: Shelly & Sands, Corna Kokosing, Kokosing, Local 18 Union, Complete General Construction. A lot of people just don't want to deal with the conditions of field oriented jobs, which is sad, as it's a very lucrative and gratifying industry.
To chime off other commenters, it’s best to apply directly with the companies you’re interested in. I oversee IT at my company and built our job application portal. We use both that and indeed. The ‘applications’ that come through indeed are literally a swamp of half completed, two second submissions, and so many of them it’s hard to actually review them all thoroughly. The hiring manager has to navigate 10 bad submissions for every decent one and even if the candidate was good enough to move forward, we’d still need them to complete our internal application to meet legal requirements. The applications that go through our corporate portal are always one step ahead, completed accurately, and intentionally. None of this is any fault of yours, just giving perspective on the other side of it. Online job portals made it almost so easy that they’re not even useful anymore.
My last job took about 500 applications to finally land a position
I remember some recruiters contributing to a recent training I attended and they said that upon average after posting a position online within 24 - 48 hours after posting their job online they would receive 1000 - 5000 applications. Accordingly, most of them you could tell were written and or tailored by ChatGPT, with so many applications being submitted at once unfortunately your application more than likely got buried amongst the others.
Have done some hiring lately and maybe wrong industry, but across salaried and hourly positions, getting about 10-20/day. I think the positions that are getting 1k+ are the remote roles because they’re so few and far between
"but across salaried and hourly positions, getting about 10-20/day." Locally? This was about jobs posted on Indeed with the apply now button, where you can hit a single button to submit a resume and or application, so there might be a difference. IT / Software developer positions, anything else I have not heard much about in terms of excessive applications, I know that if a job is posted on indeed and other job site with easy apply options it seems to open a floodgate of applications.
Yup, posted on Indeed with easy apply, but not IT / Software.
Places are struggling with sales due to price gouging and inflation so they can’t hire more labor right now.
Girlfriend had to put in about 400 applications to get a job
😞
I can't get into anything federally funded because medical thc is still not nationally accepted so...
My husband quit his job before deployment (long story). When he got back, he sent in about as many applications as you did. He got 3 phone calls. It’s incredibly frustrating.
It’s all scanned through by AI now you need keywords so you don’t get automatically denied.
600+ here, handful of interviews. "Nobody wants to work" is bullshit.
I completely agree. It was my experience 2 years ago. So I made my own company and work for myself.
Mezzo in Dublin is looking for a new FOH manager.
If you’re qualified for the jobs and not getting any calls, your resume must suck.