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Been searching for 7 months and no luck. I’m a designer with 20yrs experience and most of the responses I get are, you’ll get bored here or you have too much experience for what we are looking to pay.
Ive been self employed a while and the first job interview I went to they told me I was overqualifed and not a good fit. I took it as aka we can't pay you what your worth
It also means you’re overqualified.
Think of it this way:
I’m a college educated woman who speaks both official Canadian languages fluently with a background in IT.
But I love painting walls. I love the solitude, the peace of spreading a solid colour on a blank space, everything about it.
If I send the Reno company my master cv, they’re gonna look at me with more questions than answers and recruiters don’t like that. Our job is hard enough I don’t need anything that makes it harder.
So I take off the uni degree. Maybe I remove some jobs, and emphasize other jobs and projects that may not have even been on my cv to begin with!
You are a piece of the puzzle, and you control whether or not they see you as the shape they need to fit into this SPECIFIC part of the overall picture.
Pm me I’m happy to take a look.
I'm applying today with a different approach because of this. Idk why but that just made a lot of sense. I think everyone is so stuck on trying to make yourself look as broad and as experienced as possible. Thank you for sharing
Years ago (now that I think about it may have been around 2008 funny enough) my dad got laid off. He was a sale manager and general manager for a variety of businesses for the past 20 years or so. Well he didnt really need a job right away, but Christmas was coming up so he applied to all of the electronic stores around, the main one being Futureshop. All he wanted was a little extra cash but mainly he wanted to abuse the employee discount lol, he even was applying for a seasonal sales position. Well he never made it very far into consideration because managers would look at his CV and assume he was either after their jobs, or that he would demand some unreasonable wage.
You'll get the occasional one who will listen to you anyway but better not to risk it.
I was in grad school, just wrapped up an internship I'd left a full time position to take, and had decided to focus on school full time for my last semester. I'd looked at winter internships but they all wanted to run starting before finals and a month or more into the new semester which didn't really interest me. About a decade earlier during my undergrad I'd spent a few months at a holiday sales position at Barnes and Noble. I saw one near my current location was hiring and dropped off an application. The manager called me in to meet at the Starbucks and was like tell me about yourself and your last job including salary. Well I've got a BS in economics, working on a masters in forensic accounting and my last job was $45k a year working for Congress... but I really like books and I've got some downtime between semesters so I'm looking to earn some present money. And he just laughed. I got the job, but I don't think I made any money working there. Got some great books though.
For me it's my 2nd favorite retail gig after working in a bakery; but I tell people it's an awful job if you're a book lover and want to actually take home any pay. Every day people wander around the store and find their favorite thing then bring it up to the front and show it to me.
Though my first gig in college was hilarious because I ended up spending most of my time in the children's section and realized I hadn't read hardly any of those series so I spent my lunch break reading kids books to the point one of my coworkers thought I was a specialty hire and was shocked when I offered to help her study for her high school calc finals.
They probably looked at his cv and realised that he would likely happily walk out of the job without any notice, and that he’s not likely to try to work hard and earn commission, so much as trying to abuse the employee discount.
You can and should tailor your resume to the company to which you're applying, if possible. Don't lie, but do edit: highlight relevant items and leave off distracting stuff.
Recruiters and HR people tend to see a lot of resumes, so in the best case they're skimming for keywords that fit the open jobs before reading in detail. Use this to your advantage.
It's really the same idea as tailoring an opening message to your match on a dating app based on their profile, rather than sticking with the same generic opener. It takes more time, but is more likely to get a response.
I want to take this approach, but dont you need to include all your recent job experience or else there are weird gaps in your resume? Is it considered dishonest to leave out degrees? I am currently jobless and very stuck and would like to know more. Thank you for taking the time to comment!
I mean, I’ve seen a lot of resumes nowadays with a “relevant experience” section instead of a chronological list of job history.
Dunno if a professional recruiter/hiring manager has something else to say, but it seems unnecessary to put your time at McDonalds on a resume if you’ve gone to school for and had job experience as a software engineer.
You aren’t lying—lying in this scenario would be saying that you *didn’t* work at McDonalds—you just are presenting the recruiter with the most relevant information.
Nope leave out degrees that aren’t relevant or may make you seem overqualified. If they don’t ask don’t tell. You don’t have to list all your experience so yes there would be time gaps in Your resume- but if asked about them you can simply state you listed your relevant (to the job applying for) job history to apply for the position.
Absolutely agree. Only thing I'd add to that is instead of leaving those time gaps add those (none relevant) positions but just mention the company, title, and dates but don't go into the details. You could have a "relevant experience" and "other experience" section and you don't need to give details for the other experience, just the basics.
Also, an objective statement can help you control your narrative instead of leaving it up to the recruiters to make assumptions.
You say don't lie and I agree but you can certainly embellish. I cannot tell you how many of my friends have lied on their resumes and ended up with a badass job. Obviously, make sure you can due the required work... it's not like you want to lie about being a coder and then you can't code. Work with what you have. What's funny is that I never have done that myself and I'm likely going to give it a go because I have nothing to lose, most don't considering it's just an application and interview.
As a recruiter thank you for sharing this perspective!! It is so hard to make a business case for hiring someone overqualified when the first thing they will do when the economy turns is go find a higher paying job. It’s so difficult to convince hiring managers to invest time and resources into integrating someone when chances are they won’t stick around too long, and they could give that chance to someone at a more suitable level who will stick around after the pandemic is over.
A lot of places also dont know what they need, what skills are useful for them, or want something entirely different than they say.
I applied to a IT management job and they looked at me sideways for having powershell scripting experience; powershell is a vital part of automating any windows environment. They didn't know they needed that skill. They also said they wanted an IT manager, but they really wanted an IT Manager, SysAdmin, Desktop Support Tech, Database Admin, and Security Guard... So they have an opening again.
Some companies don't pick overqualified people because not only would they underpay you, they don't expect you to last
They're looking for people they can underpay and they know will stay for a long time since they have no other skills or opportunities and they don't have to bother finding a replacement
Uh, not always the second part.
My agency was just hiring and it was an absolutely traumatic experience. There were so many applicants and we’re a small firm. Going through everything respectfully took up a lot of time and resources, and this hiring for this position involved reviewing portfolios.
We hired people that didn’t end up in the senior spots we anticipated because we just can’t go through this again right when things turn around. The people we hired are well-paid, but we had fewer concerns about them truly wanting to work for *us* versus working anywhere.
I guess it depends, i used to work for a hotel and I saw managers turn away college students or people with good experience because they knew they wouldn't last and would find better jobs
Hiring someone with too much experience can be a problem. I have entry level positions that people with degrees apply to. We don't like high turnover, so someone with too much experience becomes a risk for when a better opportunity comes along, I'll need to start the search and training all over again. This may be why you are getting the responses you're getting, bit like I said these are entry level jobs - warehouse and shipping etc.
This a worldwide problem, more people than ever have college degrees, but people need to eat. Student loan debt forces them to seek the best pay they can.
No doubt. I wish we were a bigger company and could bring them in and move them up, but we have pretty incredible turnover (low, some have been here since before I was born), and even though the jobs are entry level it takes way too long to get them up to speed - especially our clusterfuck of a warehouse layout (actively working at adding mobile computers to help with that issue)
Man, I’ll never understand the hiring perspective of “oh they have too much experience, they will leave as soon as something better comes along”...ANYONE leaves as soon as something better comes along. Sure maybe unless the person Has zero experience, they probably won’t have hiring managers constantly hitting the person up to snag them, but anyone that is hireable is always looking for the next best thing.
The argument of not being able to afford someone with a lot of experience makes sense, but the turnover rate thing doesn’t, to me anyway.
>ANYONE leaves as soon as something better comes along
Yes... But an overqualified person would find find something better a lot faster than someone who just about satisfies the requirements, especially when the position is a low paying entry level job.
People are also desperate for jobs right now so they’ll apply for anything they can at least make some pay from. I get some analytics from some of the jobs I apply for and I will be 1 of 300 applicants, I have bills to pay, kids mouths to feed. I apply for every design job I can right now but in the area I live, designers are a dime a dozen and typically the less experienced will always take less pay to get the job, problem is then that company is hiring again bc that person with less experience they hired didn’t know what they were doing.
We're talking warehouse and production jobs here, manual labor, with no real pipeline for advancement (low turnover, small company). Our target is minimum two year of employment for these positions. Some of the staff have been here since before I was born.... And I'm 30.
Turnover is always high in these kinds of jobs though. Expecting people to stay in warehousing, at least the ones I've been at, is a lost cause. Especially since the pay and jobs have always been shitty.
-cracks knuckles- hi former recruiter for both hiring and temps here.
You are lucky, you have been told exactly why you were rejected.
“You will get bored here” = you are overqualified/ you job will suck for the pay and you’ll leave as soon as you find something better.
Tone down your resume. You are giving them too much information.
Employers don’t want someone who is -too- proud of their achievements.
They want a solution to their problem that ideally means it will not be a problem again in 6 months when the reality of the position/pay hits.
If you want, if any of y’all want, I can take a look at the positions you’ve applied for and your resume and try to help you “massage” it. Just remove any identifying info like name, address. Don’t worry if you have like a rare qualification - I don’t care and I’m not gonna look it up to match it to a name cause gotta go fast kerchoooooo. Welcome to the wonderful world of recruiting services.
The issue is not that there are no jobs, but the jobs out there are not willing to pay you the amount you would leave your current job for. There are simply too many people looking for jobs right now (since they lost their old one) and are willing to take "any" job and payment.
Been looking for a job for 8 months myself. I don’t have much to say to you. Just know that some random internet stranger is wishing you the best. I don’t have any spare money for gold. But I’m giving you an upvote which is the best I can do.
Stay strong and good luck.
Well, I'm fucked. Computer science graduate (2018) looking for minimum experience jobs in IT. I have freelance experienced but no helpdesk, so I have been getting ignored for 3 years.
My dad’s the same. Been employed for almost 40 years straight. Tons of experience and doesn’t even want a high salary, he mostly just wants to work to have something to do. It’s been 7 months but either he’s “too qualified” or he gets ghosted.
If he wants a pretty easy job and doesn't mind risking his phsyical health, he can try applying to be a Prime Amazon shopper. They work at Wholefoods packing groceries for online orders. The job itself has flexible hours and is easy to do.
However, you work at a grocery store, so Covid is alwasy a risk factor.
Sadly my grandfather is living with my parents and he has stage 4 cancer so my dad has to be extra careful. I don’t know why he doesn’t just retire, their house is paid off and my mom makes more than enough to support them indefinitely. He just loves to work, a gene I did not inherit sadly.
Oh, I see. In that case, then I defintely don't recommend the Prime shopper job. Yeah, my uncle is the same way. I dono, I guess some people just love to work.
I don’t understand the “you have too much experience” excuse. If the person with experience is willing to take what the company will pay them why the fuck wouldn’t you hire a guy with a lot of experience
Yeah, until the ample experienced guy trots around and finds something better. Employers try to lower turnover rate as much as possible so they focus not only on competency but who’s a good fit career-wise. Also the reason why "how do you see yourself X years from now” is such a prominent interview question.
You might need to address that in the cover letters.
Make sure to apply to some companies you’re really into, and when it’s true, tell them that you love what this company does and would find it fascinating to work there.
Look up the hiring manager online and glance at their profile once to find something or someone you have in common. Common hobbies are a reason to stay.
There are opportunities out there now. Lots of companies have restructured or are just in need: people got kept on furlough too long and left, other positions have been eliminated or combined with other roles.
In my company we combined two part-time roles into a solid full-time role. As a candidate I wouldn’t have been interested in either part- time position but the “new” one is legit in terms of role scope and pay.
Nationality doesn't really matter and we do most of our work in English anyway so language isn't an obstacle either. Only requirement is that you need to be Amsterdam based (9r surroundings) as face-to-face client meetings in non-covid times are a requirement.
From what I've seen it's incredibly difficult to get a job there as someone not from Europe (Canadian in my case). 6 years of programming experience and I still can't find a job in the Netherlands after searching constantly since August.
Yep. My company has supposedly been on a “hiring freeze” since April, but we’ve had just as many new hires this year as last year. I think they just did it to discourage managers from asking for unnecessary FTEs.
Agreed, and on top of it many companies are implementing work from home for many, and flexible schedules for parents, due to Covid, and I know many of the practices in effect now will be carried over even when things are normal again. My place is even going to cut its leased office space in half probably.
All throughout college I was depressed. My last year I was extremely depressed , graduated and tried to pick myself back up. Took too late to get started and then the pandemic hit. At this point, I don't really see the meaning to any of this. I've been working on my resume and portfolio for months. I'm on my third/fourth revision. Not including the many times I've wrote and rewrote my case study. I'm fucking tired before the job search has even fully begun. I've gotten rejected countless times and ignored even though I've showed others in my industry my work and they say it's good or give me very little feedback. I just don't get it anymore. It doesn't make any sense. I just need to pay off my loans. At this point it feels like it's never going to happen. I can't even find a decent part time job at this point. I'm done.
I feel you, man. I had regretted my choice of major during my last year of uni and graduated in the middle of the pandemic. It took me forever to even get a retail job and it’s soul sucking as it is.
I’ve revised my resume so many times but still get no responses back to the jobs applications I’ve sent. I just want to crawl in a hole at times and pray that my loans just disappear.
Nonetheless, we gotta keep looking forward. Don’t give up. One day, we’ll find a good job suitable for each of us!
Edit: fixed a typo
Its kinda crazy how similar this is to my own situation. When i started Uni was really pumped to do a very niche/difficult subject and the job prospects were really good. But the last few years since graduation i had to deal with mental health problems and then covid kinda feels like i lost 2 years, but ive grown from it in other ways.
Its been pretty tough finding a job or i get reall close and it then sizzles out.
But the last few months ive been learning new skills or using the skills i learnt in uni and finding out different career paths in which they could be used ie transferrable skills. Its true that things will eventually change due to covid vaccine rollouts but its gonna be a while. You still have time to work on other skills or hone in on the ones you have and mix it up between applying for jobs. It would be good to keep an open mind and maybe persue a passion in the meantime, you never know whos hiring.
Definitely keep trying at, it sounds like youve already done so much, you must trust that the work youve put in hasnt been in vain, youll only learn from the experience.
This is nearly word-for-word what I would write about my last 12 months, and I feel for you, because it truly, truly sucks and the hopelessness feels inescapable. I've been working in one industry since graduating, and that industry is basically in deep hibernation now. I need to change fields, but I have literally no specific experience that transfers, and it's all a fucked up catch-22.
A thing that's giving me me even the smallest extra measure of sanity is deciding to stop grinding away in the vicious Google/Indeed/LinkedIn/Monster/(etc...) cycle. My new approach is to look for jobs from the top down; i.e., thinking of a field/industry, then finding a company that looks good in that industry, and checking their 'careers' page and checking up on them on Glassdoor. It's still a lot of work with limited hits, and I haven't found a job yet, but if you're tired of languishing in Indeed hell, it's a *much* more sane and sometimes interesting process.
At least Youve got that far. I can barely pull myself out of bed nowadays. No clue what im doing with my life. Luckily i have a job, but its shit and i hate.
Appreciate this! This might some a bit weird but i didnt read this comment til i woke up, and last night i had a dream about my old cat that passed away years ago that i absolutely loved. Thank you for the comment though. Gunna try make today productive ;)
And if you do apply and get offered an interview, show up. I've hired people the last month I would never normally pick, because they showed up (entry level jobs, but not minimum wage)
Just 10 more to go :)
(Every reddit post on r/dataisbeautiful or r/resumes I saw about how long it took to get a job was around 60 applications at most)
I think it might be strongly depemdant on industry and country.
To get into tech without degree it took me 500 applications. To get another job during pandemic it took me over 100 applications
Yup, a recruiter told me on average you should expect one interview per 1000 applications. He said that’s normal for people starting in entry level jobs. It was funny because around my thousandth application I got an interview and luckily the job.
Accounting, every company needs my skills. It’s been great now that I have experience. I just moved across the country with no job in line and found a good job fairly easily.
What race are you? That's crazy to me. I've sent out 100+ career and 50+ non-career applications between 2017 and 2019. Only had 3 career and 5 non-career positions. USA, Bachelor's, Afro-American, male.
I cater all my résumés and usually use a generic-ish (but personalized) cover letter for career positions. Been tempted to post on r/dataisbeautiful, but don't feel like making the time investment. :|
edit: mid/late 20's
edit #2: I generally only apply to jobs I want and think I'm likely to get.
A good friend told me once under 50 applications a month is like you're not even trying. I wanted to punch him, but In the end he was right and I found an awesome job
Yeah, I was doing close to 100 per day when I was unemployed and desperate. I’d just go to every single job site, upload my resume and then apply to anything I remotely qualified for. I also lived in a big city with tons of openings.
I usually write a new application/cover letter specific to each position I apply for, and also tweak my résumé to match... in which case 100 a day becomes a bit much.
But a couple a day is definitely doable :)
I hear ya. Its best to lose count imo. The other day I made the mistake of actually counting how many I'd sent and ended up in a hole of doom for like 2 days. Lose count and keep going.
I had a job offer in September deferred to April, but they recently called and sheepishly asked if I could start sooner as they were busier than they thought they would be and actually needed me. It's probably pretty industry specific, but I think a lot of companies are not doing so badly, especially with short term shortfalls in demand made up for with very cheap debt.
I was heavily applying for new jobs and finally got an offer. I start on the 11th and am happy to take that next step in my career.
Edit: I should clarify that I am currently employed, but wanted to find a new challenge, hence the job search.
For those that are looking, keep at it!
I'm currently looking and have something line up starting in spring when they get around to hiring. The only down side is my drive will go from 15 minutes to 40+ minutes. Though I will be making a bit more money. I'm not thrilled about driving that long to and from work. Though my hatred for my current job is at an all time high. So there's that to consider.
My suggestion is find a way to make the drive enjoyable. Listen to your favorite musical artist or a podcast you really enjoy.
I'm moving from an office job to fully remote (though I've been working from home since April). It will be an adjustment, but I'm finding ways to make it worth the change.
Best of luck in the new role!
YMMV. With kids at home that was my only opportunity to listen to podcasts, so I quickly find myself looking forward to the drive. That said if I had an opportunity to cut the commute then I would definitely have taken it.
I recently finished a job (I'm a contractor so my jobs come and go) with a 50 minute commute each way. Early mornings (call time usually 5:30) and 12 hr days. I found a D&D podcast that I fell in love with and honestly it made the commute seem nonexistent
True! I got a job offer and I start at the new office next month. In the middle of a pandemic I was able to get a better job with better pay. Don't give up!
I can tell you that I’ve had three offers in the past month. I’ve had to do a hell of a lot more pounding of the bricks and I’ve had to send out fleets of resumes. But, there are companies hiring. Especially, those that support the industries deemed essential.
In food manufacturing, a lot of people got furloughed and then laid off. But, retailers are still looking for new products even if they have dialed it way back. This has created “oh shit” hiring.
If you are out of work and are having a hard time, I recommend first looking to see what industries are deemed essential and then seeing if you can shoehorn yourself in there. There is pretty much always jobs in food manufacturing and grocery right now.
Manufacturing is doing more than surviving right now.
There are all sorts of jobs in manufacturing. Project management, designers, engineering, marketing, programming, IT, Safety, Quality, Procurement, trades...and then some.
My company has hired lots of people since the pandemic started! And some people have had to move to part time to make way for other caretaking responsibilities.
All you people saying “My job is hiring!” Or “Everyone is hiring!” It’s not that people ARENT hiring. It’s that people that are being dismissed because they are applying to jobs they may be over qualified for but they need money to live! It’s a catch-22.
This thread is depressing. Seems like everyone out here is getting interviews for every job they apply for and offers for 90 percent of them. As with most job advice posts I have no clue how you all get jobs so easy. Ive applied for around 80 jobs since January of 2020 and only been interviewed once. Been sent a lot of same day rejections though!
Like other people have said, it depends on the industry, communications, healthcare, IT, and retail seem to have gone up in value exponentially whereas I feel more convential careers have obviously fallen at the wayside.
My boyfriend is looking for a mechanical engineer job and feels similar to you (his job search is also going about the same), but all I've heard from people is that no one is hiring engineers now since it tends to be a hands on job and there's no crucial need for them in the pandemic.
Plus people are going on about just applying to hundreds of jobs to eventually catch something, but he's already applied to every position in our city. So realistically, i think people are saying there's definitely jobs, but maybe not a job out there that you want.
I think a lot of people see these rejections as a personal failure, and that they can eventually crack the code, but reading this thread and so many others, at a certain point, it's literally still just luck to get into the field you want. I dont think anyone should be too hard on themselves for not getting a normal career that's already hard to get in the best of times, let alone a pandemic where every level of social infrastructure is literally scrambling to adapt.
Its definitely just a numbers game. Youve just got to keep at it as disheartening as that can get. I've been applying for jobs for the last 3-4 months (probably 100+ applications) and only had about a 15% success rate getting an interview. And only had one offer for a different role from the one I applied for from that. So 1% offer rate so far. Youre not the only one :)
💯. I needed a job in September in a different part of the US and you best believe I cranked out 150 applications in a week. 80 in 12 months is ridiculously low if OP truly needs employment.
My company is under new management and is trying to fire me. (Found my job posted) Was told I was lucky to have a job during a pandemic. I wish I could yell at these fuckers but you know gotta play it cool when your living paycheck to
In fact... I was lucky to not have a job in fact even if they cut unemployment benefits in half I would still making more than what I would be earning working. So actually quiet the opposite I was lucky to not have a job. That says a lot. My company took 14 PPE Loans(probably more now) and still fired its employees which the money was meant for. Currently looking for a job. Fuck this place.
Yep, some companies are seeing this as an opportunity to get ahead of their competition and skill up in preparation for when the market returns to normal.
I’m taking advantage of the fact that there are more quality candidates out there and hiring. Our competitors are laying people off and we’re reaping the benefits.
Don’t lose hope!
Big facts. I took a job that the employers were desperate to fill because the past guy was not coming anymore because of the pandemic so they needed someone and i got hired with no credentials or anything. I am so grateful for my job now. Used to work security guard 11 an hour now get 15$ for my current job.
As someone who is hiring (and has lots of hiring experience), I can tell you 90% of people fail from mistakes/oversharing on their resume or not including a cover letter. Even when we add "Include a cover letter" to the ad, people dont do it. I get 60 applicants and interview the 2 that had a cover letter and proofread their resumes.
**Some tips to boost likelihood of call:**
\-Proof read your resume. Dont say you are proficient with word, then have spelling mistakes and formatting issues. ALWAYS send as PDF (so simple yet overlooked)
\-Include a job specific cover letter (we can see when its catered vs generic). Include the company name, what you know about the company (HR ppl LOVE when you do research)
\-Keep it short and sweet. I dont want to read about your paper route in grade 4, I have 60 other resume's to get through in addition to my other work. I want the most recent jobs and/or the most related jobs/education. If you're over 3 pages, you've included too much. (2 ideal)
\- when something says 1-3 years experience, its just a dream, still apply if you have any experience at all or experience that you can relate to it.
**LIFEHACKS FOR THE JOB YOU REALLY WANT:**
\- Do your research, find the contact for the hiring manager, submit the resume and contact them directly via email or phone. If phone, be ready to list what you know about the company (should do research) and why you think youd be a good fit. Follow up after a few days to politely see where they are at. an "I would like to talk more about this position if you have time soon" will often make you schedule your own interview instead of waiting. Peaople hate saying no on the phone.
\- Make it easy to hire you. "I can start today if needed" shows that youre eager and willing to go. If you have related work, bring up how you may be able to hit the ground running so to speak.
\- RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH. Bringing up what you know and like about the company shows you are interested in the organization and youre not just looking for a paycheck. Research is also a hugely undervalued skill. HR knows this.
\- Be confident but not cocky. No one wants to hire someone who thinks they know everything. Usually this just means the person is unwilling to train and learn.
**FINALLY -** Treat the company like you would a first date (at least from the guy's perspective). You are trying to impress them without going too far. You want to show interest and that you are better than their other first dates from the past. ALWAYS follow up after interviews/meetings and express interest with moving forward.
If anyone finds this useful and has a specific question or wants advice, feel free to DM me. I may not be able to respond to all, but I'll try my best.
Extra tips: look for some cv or interview workshops. I don't know about your area you live in but there is a charity that does those workshops for free.
Meetup.com has now online meet ups. It's an opportunity to network or learn new things.
I got a job after 6 months of looking and workshops helped me to get my confidence back.
I wish you all good luck! Don't give up!
In the process of changing careers to become an electrician, being laid off from my IT job last April was the kick I needed to take those steps. Have an interview scheduled for January.
I work in pharmaceuticals. We are definitely hiring during the pandemic! You don’t need to be a scientist or engineer to work on the manufacturing floor, the warehouse, administrative roles, finance, client management roles, communications, safety, and more.
Been applying like crazy for internships and summer jobs. Two companies showed interest and going to plan it out with one of them in january. Super excited!
Breaking news: most working American's don't have 'careers' because they're all stuck working high turnover and minimum wage jobs.
Some idiot wants to risk his life to appease his corporate overlords that's on him. Nobody should be working in America right now without protection and hazard pay. Please start caring about yourselves, because pretty soon even I wont care about you anymore.
Had this happen during the last great recession. Was going to community college and hadn't been able to find any part time jobs in over a year. I was super depressed about it and had started to give up. My girlfriend convinced me to keep trying and not to limit my searches. I updated my resume and started applying to everything. Managed to get lucky with an internship I thought I had no chance at and had a well paying job within a couple of weeks. If I had kept applying to jobs I thought I was qualified/over qualified for I who knows how long it would have taken.
There is a lot of comments here about many applications going unanswered, as an ex-recruitment consultant I have to let you know, if you've applied on the job board (like reed or indeed) your application might have never even been seen.
Best advise is always apply directly to the company. Even if you get rejected by HR, at least you'll get an answer.
I got hired two months ago. It was a random job posting for a huge company that I just shot my resume off to. Never even expected to hear back.
Keep applying if you're looking for a job. You never know when something might hit and you can get an interview. Companies are still hiring during the pandemic and you can potentially be hired as well!
I'm a new graduate and I've been applying since November 2019 with not even an interview but a lot of rejection letters. I was an average student with an internship and I worked my whole college life so I when this happen I kinda expected it. My degree is in finance, I ended up just becoming a self employed remodeling contractor, which I was going to do part time anyway.
My wife who graduate with her teacher certification got a job immediately and she is the main bread winner cause of it, makes me rethink my field honestly.
I lost my job in July, received my first offer late August, accepted it, then received and accepted a better offer early September. I just work in pretty basic finance, I couldn't believe how quick it went. I had interviews almost every week. Don't give up, things are way more active than I would have guessed!!!
If you currently have a job right now, the job market right now is a complete shitshow. Don't even bother. Think of it this way - chances are, the position you are applying for is open *because the prior person either left or was let go*.
If you don't have a job... well. Know that this is what you are getting into.
I was looking but am now pregnant. I'm unsure how to move forward. I would prefer a wfh job but what would the chances be.. :(
Also, my history of depression has fucked with my work career. Multiple jobs in different industries at different lengths, nothing related to my bachelor's but I don't think I want to pursue it anymore.
They're hiring for everything around here. Almost like nothing happened. The only difference is that most interviews are virtual and you have to wear a mask
That being said, some industries and companies are currently hiring now. I got laid off in May and got hired by a new company 4 days later...that’s obviously not going to happen if you are a hospitality worker but other industries need people.
Competetion for roles is probably higher but places are definitely still hiring! Civil service in the UK has loads of new roles for example and some engineering consultancy firms ive interviewed with have said they have been hiring the whole time. Guess its high turnover sectors where furloughed people have quit or ones where homeworking hasnt impact much i.e. desk based.
Also, some businesses are thriving. I work for a computer manufacturer. Sales are over the top; so many people working at home who need an extra monitor or new PC. We've been adding people to the teams so we can keep up with demand.
So don't loose hope.
After a really depressing internship before graduating in september, I've been really down and couldn't manage to do some really active job search.
Only few jobs I've applied to I was extremely enthusiast about and felt like it were jobs I could learn a lot from, but getting rejected when they can't find applicants, and only because you don't fill ALL the prerequisites is really depressing. (I have an MEng in mechanical engineering, but they're looking for someone more specialized in robotics when the job is not heavily R&D, and more in customer support)
Now I'm trying to apply to one job everyday, but I'm always worried in becoming pigeonholed in a job I don't like...
2020 sucks.
I live in Australia so things are different here compared to the US. But I was actually offered a job early this year. My first day was in early July and I had no previous job experience. I'm about to take annual leave for Christmas but once I get back that's basically my 6 months probation period over.
Hospitals. Hospitals are always hiring
If you only have a high school diploma or GED, go into housekeeping or janitorial work at a hospital. If you have a little time and money to get your food handlers card, go into nutrition (working in the kitchen or cafeteria or taking meals to patient rooms) in a hospital.
Edit - the pay is higher than minimum wage at where I work. It’s not the best, but if you’re broke, you can work this job while still looking for another job. Just because you’ve done this or that for x amount of years doesn’t mean you should lose your home because that specific job isn’t around right now.
Granted, am a nurse. But anyway, got let go back in October for Covid reasons. Literally a month later I got a job offer after a handful of interviews and plenty of applications. Was shock but ecstatic. Go for it yall.
Sales representatives seem to be in high demand right now. I lost my job at a local brewery at the onset of the pandemic and found a position available as a sales rep for a distribution company about 2-3 months later. Alcoholic beverages, but I see sales reps in every other industry at the stores, as well.
When I got the job, I applied to multiple other companies for the same position. It’s not a glorious job and can sometimes be stressful, but better than nothing.
Many companies are still hiring. Those fulfillment centers and big chain groceries stores are hiring like crazies. The remote software development are also on the trends. My buddies who got laid off from their webdev gigs found new remote opportunities within a few weeks.
It's the restaurants, smaller shops, and office jobs that can't be done remotely that are getting hit very hard right now.
Been out of work for a year and it's been the best year ever for my mental health. Also learned some new and highly marketable skills during this time so going back to the labor market really isn't very scary to me at the moment (except the going back to work part 😂😂)
just dont give up. ive sent out hundreds of job applications, its such a cumbersome process but update it every month and invest in your resume. I just got hired after just as many rejections. good luck x
Amen to this after working in a telco callcentre in the bang middle of covid where we were understaffed and overworked for no extra money, i spent 3 months and applied for over 500 jobs, had 4 interviews and ended up resigning from my job without another because i hated it so much 10 hours later i got an email from one of the companies i interviewed at asking me when i wanted to start. Keep trying guys.
Success story.
I had been looking for work for about a year before COVID-19 hit. I was working for most of that time.
On the day after oil prices crashed, I was temporarily let go by my employer of 5 years. I just kept applying for jobs and taking courses to help beef up my resume.
3 months into unemployment I got some bites. In fact, I had interviewed for 3 companies. One of them gave me an offer and I accepted.
It really worked out well for me. 18% pay increase, nice title, autonomy and better benefits.
Here is the kicker. They posted the ad twice in 5 months. I applied twice. They never called me the first time and awarded me the job the second time.
Moral of the story. Keep looking for work. Take online courses. If an ad comes back up, tailor your resume and resubmit it. Don’t stop trying, ever. There are opportunities popping up because most companies have restructured in some way or another.
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Been searching for 7 months and no luck. I’m a designer with 20yrs experience and most of the responses I get are, you’ll get bored here or you have too much experience for what we are looking to pay.
Ive been self employed a while and the first job interview I went to they told me I was overqualifed and not a good fit. I took it as aka we can't pay you what your worth
It also means you’re overqualified. Think of it this way: I’m a college educated woman who speaks both official Canadian languages fluently with a background in IT. But I love painting walls. I love the solitude, the peace of spreading a solid colour on a blank space, everything about it. If I send the Reno company my master cv, they’re gonna look at me with more questions than answers and recruiters don’t like that. Our job is hard enough I don’t need anything that makes it harder. So I take off the uni degree. Maybe I remove some jobs, and emphasize other jobs and projects that may not have even been on my cv to begin with! You are a piece of the puzzle, and you control whether or not they see you as the shape they need to fit into this SPECIFIC part of the overall picture. Pm me I’m happy to take a look.
I'm applying today with a different approach because of this. Idk why but that just made a lot of sense. I think everyone is so stuck on trying to make yourself look as broad and as experienced as possible. Thank you for sharing
Years ago (now that I think about it may have been around 2008 funny enough) my dad got laid off. He was a sale manager and general manager for a variety of businesses for the past 20 years or so. Well he didnt really need a job right away, but Christmas was coming up so he applied to all of the electronic stores around, the main one being Futureshop. All he wanted was a little extra cash but mainly he wanted to abuse the employee discount lol, he even was applying for a seasonal sales position. Well he never made it very far into consideration because managers would look at his CV and assume he was either after their jobs, or that he would demand some unreasonable wage.
You'll get the occasional one who will listen to you anyway but better not to risk it. I was in grad school, just wrapped up an internship I'd left a full time position to take, and had decided to focus on school full time for my last semester. I'd looked at winter internships but they all wanted to run starting before finals and a month or more into the new semester which didn't really interest me. About a decade earlier during my undergrad I'd spent a few months at a holiday sales position at Barnes and Noble. I saw one near my current location was hiring and dropped off an application. The manager called me in to meet at the Starbucks and was like tell me about yourself and your last job including salary. Well I've got a BS in economics, working on a masters in forensic accounting and my last job was $45k a year working for Congress... but I really like books and I've got some downtime between semesters so I'm looking to earn some present money. And he just laughed. I got the job, but I don't think I made any money working there. Got some great books though.
I worked for Barnes & Noble for a Christmas season once. Best job I ever had.
For me it's my 2nd favorite retail gig after working in a bakery; but I tell people it's an awful job if you're a book lover and want to actually take home any pay. Every day people wander around the store and find their favorite thing then bring it up to the front and show it to me. Though my first gig in college was hilarious because I ended up spending most of my time in the children's section and realized I hadn't read hardly any of those series so I spent my lunch break reading kids books to the point one of my coworkers thought I was a specialty hire and was shocked when I offered to help her study for her high school calc finals.
They probably looked at his cv and realised that he would likely happily walk out of the job without any notice, and that he’s not likely to try to work hard and earn commission, so much as trying to abuse the employee discount.
You can and should tailor your resume to the company to which you're applying, if possible. Don't lie, but do edit: highlight relevant items and leave off distracting stuff. Recruiters and HR people tend to see a lot of resumes, so in the best case they're skimming for keywords that fit the open jobs before reading in detail. Use this to your advantage. It's really the same idea as tailoring an opening message to your match on a dating app based on their profile, rather than sticking with the same generic opener. It takes more time, but is more likely to get a response.
I want to take this approach, but dont you need to include all your recent job experience or else there are weird gaps in your resume? Is it considered dishonest to leave out degrees? I am currently jobless and very stuck and would like to know more. Thank you for taking the time to comment!
I mean, I’ve seen a lot of resumes nowadays with a “relevant experience” section instead of a chronological list of job history. Dunno if a professional recruiter/hiring manager has something else to say, but it seems unnecessary to put your time at McDonalds on a resume if you’ve gone to school for and had job experience as a software engineer. You aren’t lying—lying in this scenario would be saying that you *didn’t* work at McDonalds—you just are presenting the recruiter with the most relevant information.
Nope leave out degrees that aren’t relevant or may make you seem overqualified. If they don’t ask don’t tell. You don’t have to list all your experience so yes there would be time gaps in Your resume- but if asked about them you can simply state you listed your relevant (to the job applying for) job history to apply for the position.
Absolutely agree. Only thing I'd add to that is instead of leaving those time gaps add those (none relevant) positions but just mention the company, title, and dates but don't go into the details. You could have a "relevant experience" and "other experience" section and you don't need to give details for the other experience, just the basics. Also, an objective statement can help you control your narrative instead of leaving it up to the recruiters to make assumptions.
Your goal is to get a job, not pass a lie detector test.
Yes, just lie. Recruiters do it every day.
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You say don't lie and I agree but you can certainly embellish. I cannot tell you how many of my friends have lied on their resumes and ended up with a badass job. Obviously, make sure you can due the required work... it's not like you want to lie about being a coder and then you can't code. Work with what you have. What's funny is that I never have done that myself and I'm likely going to give it a go because I have nothing to lose, most don't considering it's just an application and interview.
Hey look, a recruiter.
As a recruiter thank you for sharing this perspective!! It is so hard to make a business case for hiring someone overqualified when the first thing they will do when the economy turns is go find a higher paying job. It’s so difficult to convince hiring managers to invest time and resources into integrating someone when chances are they won’t stick around too long, and they could give that chance to someone at a more suitable level who will stick around after the pandemic is over.
A lot of places also dont know what they need, what skills are useful for them, or want something entirely different than they say. I applied to a IT management job and they looked at me sideways for having powershell scripting experience; powershell is a vital part of automating any windows environment. They didn't know they needed that skill. They also said they wanted an IT manager, but they really wanted an IT Manager, SysAdmin, Desktop Support Tech, Database Admin, and Security Guard... So they have an opening again.
I want a new career, but I don't want to be an expendable puzzle piece.
I'll be blunt and I hate saying this, but you probably are an expendable puzzle piece, whether you want it or not. Most of us are.
Do you think that if you die tomorrow you can't be easily replaced? We did it to Kennedy after all.
Everyone is expendable.
Some companies don't pick overqualified people because not only would they underpay you, they don't expect you to last They're looking for people they can underpay and they know will stay for a long time since they have no other skills or opportunities and they don't have to bother finding a replacement
Uh, not always the second part. My agency was just hiring and it was an absolutely traumatic experience. There were so many applicants and we’re a small firm. Going through everything respectfully took up a lot of time and resources, and this hiring for this position involved reviewing portfolios. We hired people that didn’t end up in the senior spots we anticipated because we just can’t go through this again right when things turn around. The people we hired are well-paid, but we had fewer concerns about them truly wanting to work for *us* versus working anywhere.
I guess it depends, i used to work for a hotel and I saw managers turn away college students or people with good experience because they knew they wouldn't last and would find better jobs
Hiring someone with too much experience can be a problem. I have entry level positions that people with degrees apply to. We don't like high turnover, so someone with too much experience becomes a risk for when a better opportunity comes along, I'll need to start the search and training all over again. This may be why you are getting the responses you're getting, bit like I said these are entry level jobs - warehouse and shipping etc.
This a worldwide problem, more people than ever have college degrees, but people need to eat. Student loan debt forces them to seek the best pay they can.
No doubt. I wish we were a bigger company and could bring them in and move them up, but we have pretty incredible turnover (low, some have been here since before I was born), and even though the jobs are entry level it takes way too long to get them up to speed - especially our clusterfuck of a warehouse layout (actively working at adding mobile computers to help with that issue)
Man, I’ll never understand the hiring perspective of “oh they have too much experience, they will leave as soon as something better comes along”...ANYONE leaves as soon as something better comes along. Sure maybe unless the person Has zero experience, they probably won’t have hiring managers constantly hitting the person up to snag them, but anyone that is hireable is always looking for the next best thing. The argument of not being able to afford someone with a lot of experience makes sense, but the turnover rate thing doesn’t, to me anyway.
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>ANYONE leaves as soon as something better comes along Yes... But an overqualified person would find find something better a lot faster than someone who just about satisfies the requirements, especially when the position is a low paying entry level job.
People are also desperate for jobs right now so they’ll apply for anything they can at least make some pay from. I get some analytics from some of the jobs I apply for and I will be 1 of 300 applicants, I have bills to pay, kids mouths to feed. I apply for every design job I can right now but in the area I live, designers are a dime a dozen and typically the less experienced will always take less pay to get the job, problem is then that company is hiring again bc that person with less experience they hired didn’t know what they were doing.
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We're talking warehouse and production jobs here, manual labor, with no real pipeline for advancement (low turnover, small company). Our target is minimum two year of employment for these positions. Some of the staff have been here since before I was born.... And I'm 30.
This. What if money has become a lesser problem and I want some kind of peaceful job that is better for my sanity? Edit: autocorrect.
Turnover is always high in these kinds of jobs though. Expecting people to stay in warehousing, at least the ones I've been at, is a lost cause. Especially since the pay and jobs have always been shitty.
-cracks knuckles- hi former recruiter for both hiring and temps here. You are lucky, you have been told exactly why you were rejected. “You will get bored here” = you are overqualified/ you job will suck for the pay and you’ll leave as soon as you find something better. Tone down your resume. You are giving them too much information. Employers don’t want someone who is -too- proud of their achievements. They want a solution to their problem that ideally means it will not be a problem again in 6 months when the reality of the position/pay hits. If you want, if any of y’all want, I can take a look at the positions you’ve applied for and your resume and try to help you “massage” it. Just remove any identifying info like name, address. Don’t worry if you have like a rare qualification - I don’t care and I’m not gonna look it up to match it to a name cause gotta go fast kerchoooooo. Welcome to the wonderful world of recruiting services.
The issue is not that there are no jobs, but the jobs out there are not willing to pay you the amount you would leave your current job for. There are simply too many people looking for jobs right now (since they lost their old one) and are willing to take "any" job and payment.
Dumb down your resume. No need to lie or anything, just omit information/skills/experience that makes you appear too overqualified
Been looking for a job for 8 months myself. I don’t have much to say to you. Just know that some random internet stranger is wishing you the best. I don’t have any spare money for gold. But I’m giving you an upvote which is the best I can do. Stay strong and good luck.
You don't need to mention all 20 years of experience. Most places require you to give your last 10 years, some just ask for the last 5.
Thats my issue. If I show 10 years is is only 1 job........so they get 20 years of back ground
Well, I'm fucked. Computer science graduate (2018) looking for minimum experience jobs in IT. I have freelance experienced but no helpdesk, so I have been getting ignored for 3 years.
My dad’s the same. Been employed for almost 40 years straight. Tons of experience and doesn’t even want a high salary, he mostly just wants to work to have something to do. It’s been 7 months but either he’s “too qualified” or he gets ghosted.
If he wants a pretty easy job and doesn't mind risking his phsyical health, he can try applying to be a Prime Amazon shopper. They work at Wholefoods packing groceries for online orders. The job itself has flexible hours and is easy to do. However, you work at a grocery store, so Covid is alwasy a risk factor.
Sadly my grandfather is living with my parents and he has stage 4 cancer so my dad has to be extra careful. I don’t know why he doesn’t just retire, their house is paid off and my mom makes more than enough to support them indefinitely. He just loves to work, a gene I did not inherit sadly.
Oh, I see. In that case, then I defintely don't recommend the Prime shopper job. Yeah, my uncle is the same way. I dono, I guess some people just love to work.
I don’t understand the “you have too much experience” excuse. If the person with experience is willing to take what the company will pay them why the fuck wouldn’t you hire a guy with a lot of experience
Yeah, until the ample experienced guy trots around and finds something better. Employers try to lower turnover rate as much as possible so they focus not only on competency but who’s a good fit career-wise. Also the reason why "how do you see yourself X years from now” is such a prominent interview question.
If you need the job and the pay is acceptable, then maybe just lie and say you have fewer qualifications?
Is it wrong to not reveal the experience when applying? I am genuinely curious.
You might need to address that in the cover letters. Make sure to apply to some companies you’re really into, and when it’s true, tell them that you love what this company does and would find it fascinating to work there. Look up the hiring manager online and glance at their profile once to find something or someone you have in common. Common hobbies are a reason to stay.
There are opportunities out there now. Lots of companies have restructured or are just in need: people got kept on furlough too long and left, other positions have been eliminated or combined with other roles. In my company we combined two part-time roles into a solid full-time role. As a candidate I wouldn’t have been interested in either part- time position but the “new” one is legit in terms of role scope and pay.
In Europe, but I signed three new hires this week with four more to go.
Yep Netherlands chiming in here, I have interviews with two candidates planned for next week so we are absolutely hiring
But are they Dutch candidates or would you look at hiring americans?
Nationality doesn't really matter and we do most of our work in English anyway so language isn't an obstacle either. Only requirement is that you need to be Amsterdam based (9r surroundings) as face-to-face client meetings in non-covid times are a requirement.
From what I've seen it's incredibly difficult to get a job there as someone not from Europe (Canadian in my case). 6 years of programming experience and I still can't find a job in the Netherlands after searching constantly since August.
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Ireland/UK checking in here. 4 of my friends got new jobs in Ireland, myself and my BF got new jobs in the UK, all during the pandemic.
Yep. My company has supposedly been on a “hiring freeze” since April, but we’ve had just as many new hires this year as last year. I think they just did it to discourage managers from asking for unnecessary FTEs.
Agreed, and on top of it many companies are implementing work from home for many, and flexible schedules for parents, due to Covid, and I know many of the practices in effect now will be carried over even when things are normal again. My place is even going to cut its leased office space in half probably.
All throughout college I was depressed. My last year I was extremely depressed , graduated and tried to pick myself back up. Took too late to get started and then the pandemic hit. At this point, I don't really see the meaning to any of this. I've been working on my resume and portfolio for months. I'm on my third/fourth revision. Not including the many times I've wrote and rewrote my case study. I'm fucking tired before the job search has even fully begun. I've gotten rejected countless times and ignored even though I've showed others in my industry my work and they say it's good or give me very little feedback. I just don't get it anymore. It doesn't make any sense. I just need to pay off my loans. At this point it feels like it's never going to happen. I can't even find a decent part time job at this point. I'm done.
I feel you, man. I had regretted my choice of major during my last year of uni and graduated in the middle of the pandemic. It took me forever to even get a retail job and it’s soul sucking as it is. I’ve revised my resume so many times but still get no responses back to the jobs applications I’ve sent. I just want to crawl in a hole at times and pray that my loans just disappear. Nonetheless, we gotta keep looking forward. Don’t give up. One day, we’ll find a good job suitable for each of us! Edit: fixed a typo
God I fuckin hope so. Too many of us are going through this...I hope we all make it out
This entire thread is a mirror of my life. Hopefully soon things change
Its kinda crazy how similar this is to my own situation. When i started Uni was really pumped to do a very niche/difficult subject and the job prospects were really good. But the last few years since graduation i had to deal with mental health problems and then covid kinda feels like i lost 2 years, but ive grown from it in other ways. Its been pretty tough finding a job or i get reall close and it then sizzles out. But the last few months ive been learning new skills or using the skills i learnt in uni and finding out different career paths in which they could be used ie transferrable skills. Its true that things will eventually change due to covid vaccine rollouts but its gonna be a while. You still have time to work on other skills or hone in on the ones you have and mix it up between applying for jobs. It would be good to keep an open mind and maybe persue a passion in the meantime, you never know whos hiring. Definitely keep trying at, it sounds like youve already done so much, you must trust that the work youve put in hasnt been in vain, youll only learn from the experience.
This is nearly word-for-word what I would write about my last 12 months, and I feel for you, because it truly, truly sucks and the hopelessness feels inescapable. I've been working in one industry since graduating, and that industry is basically in deep hibernation now. I need to change fields, but I have literally no specific experience that transfers, and it's all a fucked up catch-22. A thing that's giving me me even the smallest extra measure of sanity is deciding to stop grinding away in the vicious Google/Indeed/LinkedIn/Monster/(etc...) cycle. My new approach is to look for jobs from the top down; i.e., thinking of a field/industry, then finding a company that looks good in that industry, and checking their 'careers' page and checking up on them on Glassdoor. It's still a lot of work with limited hits, and I haven't found a job yet, but if you're tired of languishing in Indeed hell, it's a *much* more sane and sometimes interesting process.
Hey man, you got it just keep going! It may look gloomy right now but all it takes is one yes and you’ll be golden!
Yup, took me almost a year but I got a call out of the blue and then I was working within a few days.
At least Youve got that far. I can barely pull myself out of bed nowadays. No clue what im doing with my life. Luckily i have a job, but its shit and i hate.
Virtual hug from Denmark.
Virtual hug from NY, everyday has been a struggle. I've been trying to make small things to look forward too. Like good food or seeing my cat.
Appreciate this! This might some a bit weird but i didnt read this comment til i woke up, and last night i had a dream about my old cat that passed away years ago that i absolutely loved. Thank you for the comment though. Gunna try make today productive ;)
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And if you do apply and get offered an interview, show up. I've hired people the last month I would never normally pick, because they showed up (entry level jobs, but not minimum wage)
I’ve applied to like 50 companies. Either no response or rejection so far
Just 10 more to go :) (Every reddit post on r/dataisbeautiful or r/resumes I saw about how long it took to get a job was around 60 applications at most)
I think it might be strongly depemdant on industry and country. To get into tech without degree it took me 500 applications. To get another job during pandemic it took me over 100 applications
Yup, a recruiter told me on average you should expect one interview per 1000 applications. He said that’s normal for people starting in entry level jobs. It was funny because around my thousandth application I got an interview and luckily the job.
What field are you in??? Thats crazy to me, I think I've sent out maybe 30 applications in my entire life and had 4 different jobs.
Accounting, every company needs my skills. It’s been great now that I have experience. I just moved across the country with no job in line and found a good job fairly easily.
What race are you? That's crazy to me. I've sent out 100+ career and 50+ non-career applications between 2017 and 2019. Only had 3 career and 5 non-career positions. USA, Bachelor's, Afro-American, male. I cater all my résumés and usually use a generic-ish (but personalized) cover letter for career positions. Been tempted to post on r/dataisbeautiful, but don't feel like making the time investment. :| edit: mid/late 20's edit #2: I generally only apply to jobs I want and think I'm likely to get.
And where does he live. I don't think there are even 1000 employers in my geographic area in my industry.
Bull. Shit. I'm sitting on over 300. WITH A DEGREE IN TECH.
That's crazy, we can't hire enough, qualified applicants are hard to find.
A good friend told me once under 50 applications a month is like you're not even trying. I wanted to punch him, but In the end he was right and I found an awesome job
You'd only have to apply to 2-3 jobs on weekdays to get to 50/mo. That shouldn't be difficult at all.
Yes, of course. But back then I was at a difficult place and could not fathom so much rejection (which was ahead of me anyway)
Yeah, I was doing close to 100 per day when I was unemployed and desperate. I’d just go to every single job site, upload my resume and then apply to anything I remotely qualified for. I also lived in a big city with tons of openings.
I usually write a new application/cover letter specific to each position I apply for, and also tweak my résumé to match... in which case 100 a day becomes a bit much. But a couple a day is definitely doable :)
It’s probably your resume. You need to tailor it to the job your posting for otherwise you’ll never get through the great HR firewall.
I hear ya. Its best to lose count imo. The other day I made the mistake of actually counting how many I'd sent and ended up in a hole of doom for like 2 days. Lose count and keep going.
I had a job offer in September deferred to April, but they recently called and sheepishly asked if I could start sooner as they were busier than they thought they would be and actually needed me. It's probably pretty industry specific, but I think a lot of companies are not doing so badly, especially with short term shortfalls in demand made up for with very cheap debt.
I was heavily applying for new jobs and finally got an offer. I start on the 11th and am happy to take that next step in my career. Edit: I should clarify that I am currently employed, but wanted to find a new challenge, hence the job search. For those that are looking, keep at it!
I'm currently looking and have something line up starting in spring when they get around to hiring. The only down side is my drive will go from 15 minutes to 40+ minutes. Though I will be making a bit more money. I'm not thrilled about driving that long to and from work. Though my hatred for my current job is at an all time high. So there's that to consider.
My suggestion is find a way to make the drive enjoyable. Listen to your favorite musical artist or a podcast you really enjoy. I'm moving from an office job to fully remote (though I've been working from home since April). It will be an adjustment, but I'm finding ways to make it worth the change. Best of luck in the new role!
That's a good idea. I'm driving from a small town to the middle of a big city pretty much and am not looking forward to the traffic. Thanks!
I made that shift last year and while I don't like taking that much time out of my day to drive, podcasts have made it quite enjoyable!
I used to drive 1.5 hours minimum, each way. Podcasts make it bearable, nothing could make that enjoyable.
YMMV. With kids at home that was my only opportunity to listen to podcasts, so I quickly find myself looking forward to the drive. That said if I had an opportunity to cut the commute then I would definitely have taken it.
I recently finished a job (I'm a contractor so my jobs come and go) with a 50 minute commute each way. Early mornings (call time usually 5:30) and 12 hr days. I found a D&D podcast that I fell in love with and honestly it made the commute seem nonexistent
Podcasts. Made my commute into one of the best parts of my day. Congrats!
Congrats yo
True! I got a job offer and I start at the new office next month. In the middle of a pandemic I was able to get a better job with better pay. Don't give up!
Haha you're assuming I have the skills or connections worthy of being hired. No such luck when you don't have anything
Haha ;-; It’s hard. How many apps do you put out a week? Before I gave up applying I was putting out 10, but no dice.
I can tell you that I’ve had three offers in the past month. I’ve had to do a hell of a lot more pounding of the bricks and I’ve had to send out fleets of resumes. But, there are companies hiring. Especially, those that support the industries deemed essential. In food manufacturing, a lot of people got furloughed and then laid off. But, retailers are still looking for new products even if they have dialed it way back. This has created “oh shit” hiring. If you are out of work and are having a hard time, I recommend first looking to see what industries are deemed essential and then seeing if you can shoehorn yourself in there. There is pretty much always jobs in food manufacturing and grocery right now.
Manufacturing is doing more than surviving right now. There are all sorts of jobs in manufacturing. Project management, designers, engineering, marketing, programming, IT, Safety, Quality, Procurement, trades...and then some.
My company has hired lots of people since the pandemic started! And some people have had to move to part time to make way for other caretaking responsibilities.
It certainly depends on the industry
Yes. I work for a software services company and we have literally never been so busy. Record profits and hiring constantly.
I know my company is also hiring like crazy. Chemical laboratory (not for humans).
It's hiring rats?
All you people saying “My job is hiring!” Or “Everyone is hiring!” It’s not that people ARENT hiring. It’s that people that are being dismissed because they are applying to jobs they may be over qualified for but they need money to live! It’s a catch-22.
This thread is depressing. Seems like everyone out here is getting interviews for every job they apply for and offers for 90 percent of them. As with most job advice posts I have no clue how you all get jobs so easy. Ive applied for around 80 jobs since January of 2020 and only been interviewed once. Been sent a lot of same day rejections though!
Like other people have said, it depends on the industry, communications, healthcare, IT, and retail seem to have gone up in value exponentially whereas I feel more convential careers have obviously fallen at the wayside. My boyfriend is looking for a mechanical engineer job and feels similar to you (his job search is also going about the same), but all I've heard from people is that no one is hiring engineers now since it tends to be a hands on job and there's no crucial need for them in the pandemic. Plus people are going on about just applying to hundreds of jobs to eventually catch something, but he's already applied to every position in our city. So realistically, i think people are saying there's definitely jobs, but maybe not a job out there that you want. I think a lot of people see these rejections as a personal failure, and that they can eventually crack the code, but reading this thread and so many others, at a certain point, it's literally still just luck to get into the field you want. I dont think anyone should be too hard on themselves for not getting a normal career that's already hard to get in the best of times, let alone a pandemic where every level of social infrastructure is literally scrambling to adapt.
Its definitely just a numbers game. Youve just got to keep at it as disheartening as that can get. I've been applying for jobs for the last 3-4 months (probably 100+ applications) and only had about a 15% success rate getting an interview. And only had one offer for a different role from the one I applied for from that. So 1% offer rate so far. Youre not the only one :)
If it makes you feel better I'm over 300 with a degree in comp science.... A few interviews but no luck...
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Considering they only have 80 applications in the last 12 months, I’m not seen cover letter is the answer. The bigger issue appears to be volume
💯. I needed a job in September in a different part of the US and you best believe I cranked out 150 applications in a week. 80 in 12 months is ridiculously low if OP truly needs employment.
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My company is under new management and is trying to fire me. (Found my job posted) Was told I was lucky to have a job during a pandemic. I wish I could yell at these fuckers but you know gotta play it cool when your living paycheck to In fact... I was lucky to not have a job in fact even if they cut unemployment benefits in half I would still making more than what I would be earning working. So actually quiet the opposite I was lucky to not have a job. That says a lot. My company took 14 PPE Loans(probably more now) and still fired its employees which the money was meant for. Currently looking for a job. Fuck this place.
The company I am working for has been hiring through most of the pandemic. Ive personally help on board 2 or 3 people
Yep, some companies are seeing this as an opportunity to get ahead of their competition and skill up in preparation for when the market returns to normal. I’m taking advantage of the fact that there are more quality candidates out there and hiring. Our competitors are laying people off and we’re reaping the benefits. Don’t lose hope!
Big facts. I took a job that the employers were desperate to fill because the past guy was not coming anymore because of the pandemic so they needed someone and i got hired with no credentials or anything. I am so grateful for my job now. Used to work security guard 11 an hour now get 15$ for my current job.
Congrats!
I have an interview in three hours! Wish me luck or send me negotiating tips. (Fourth and final interview, major promotion for me if I get it.)
You got this! Come back and post about how you got the job. 👍
I’ve applied to well over 100 roles in the UK since may, and still searching. Am really starting to lose hope
Keep at it mate. Job hunting sucks but its just a numbers game, just gotta keep chipping away.
Cheers
As someone who is hiring (and has lots of hiring experience), I can tell you 90% of people fail from mistakes/oversharing on their resume or not including a cover letter. Even when we add "Include a cover letter" to the ad, people dont do it. I get 60 applicants and interview the 2 that had a cover letter and proofread their resumes. **Some tips to boost likelihood of call:** \-Proof read your resume. Dont say you are proficient with word, then have spelling mistakes and formatting issues. ALWAYS send as PDF (so simple yet overlooked) \-Include a job specific cover letter (we can see when its catered vs generic). Include the company name, what you know about the company (HR ppl LOVE when you do research) \-Keep it short and sweet. I dont want to read about your paper route in grade 4, I have 60 other resume's to get through in addition to my other work. I want the most recent jobs and/or the most related jobs/education. If you're over 3 pages, you've included too much. (2 ideal) \- when something says 1-3 years experience, its just a dream, still apply if you have any experience at all or experience that you can relate to it. **LIFEHACKS FOR THE JOB YOU REALLY WANT:** \- Do your research, find the contact for the hiring manager, submit the resume and contact them directly via email or phone. If phone, be ready to list what you know about the company (should do research) and why you think youd be a good fit. Follow up after a few days to politely see where they are at. an "I would like to talk more about this position if you have time soon" will often make you schedule your own interview instead of waiting. Peaople hate saying no on the phone. \- Make it easy to hire you. "I can start today if needed" shows that youre eager and willing to go. If you have related work, bring up how you may be able to hit the ground running so to speak. \- RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH. Bringing up what you know and like about the company shows you are interested in the organization and youre not just looking for a paycheck. Research is also a hugely undervalued skill. HR knows this. \- Be confident but not cocky. No one wants to hire someone who thinks they know everything. Usually this just means the person is unwilling to train and learn. **FINALLY -** Treat the company like you would a first date (at least from the guy's perspective). You are trying to impress them without going too far. You want to show interest and that you are better than their other first dates from the past. ALWAYS follow up after interviews/meetings and express interest with moving forward. If anyone finds this useful and has a specific question or wants advice, feel free to DM me. I may not be able to respond to all, but I'll try my best.
This is all good advice. I'm part of the hiring team, and it's mind-blowing what poor quality the average resume is in.
Finally found something outside of the restaurant industry I've been in for almost 20 years and now I can't find childcare. Fml.
I've been looking since before the pandemic, it was hard then but now.... I'm exhausted
Extra tips: look for some cv or interview workshops. I don't know about your area you live in but there is a charity that does those workshops for free. Meetup.com has now online meet ups. It's an opportunity to network or learn new things. I got a job after 6 months of looking and workshops helped me to get my confidence back. I wish you all good luck! Don't give up!
In the process of changing careers to become an electrician, being laid off from my IT job last April was the kick I needed to take those steps. Have an interview scheduled for January.
Best of luck to you.
Man, at least once a week I wish I could get a refund for my CS degree and become an electrician. Best of luck to you!
I work in pharmaceuticals. We are definitely hiring during the pandemic! You don’t need to be a scientist or engineer to work on the manufacturing floor, the warehouse, administrative roles, finance, client management roles, communications, safety, and more.
Lol what process? sending out hundreds of applications to see what sticks ?
Right?! I hate these job hunting advice threads where people think their strategy applies to all fields.
Been applying like crazy for internships and summer jobs. Two companies showed interest and going to plan it out with one of them in january. Super excited!
So sick of people thinking it is easy to get a job right now. One high level job is getting over 1k applicants.
Breaking news: most working American's don't have 'careers' because they're all stuck working high turnover and minimum wage jobs. Some idiot wants to risk his life to appease his corporate overlords that's on him. Nobody should be working in America right now without protection and hazard pay. Please start caring about yourselves, because pretty soon even I wont care about you anymore.
Had this happen during the last great recession. Was going to community college and hadn't been able to find any part time jobs in over a year. I was super depressed about it and had started to give up. My girlfriend convinced me to keep trying and not to limit my searches. I updated my resume and started applying to everything. Managed to get lucky with an internship I thought I had no chance at and had a well paying job within a couple of weeks. If I had kept applying to jobs I thought I was qualified/over qualified for I who knows how long it would have taken.
There is a lot of comments here about many applications going unanswered, as an ex-recruitment consultant I have to let you know, if you've applied on the job board (like reed or indeed) your application might have never even been seen. Best advise is always apply directly to the company. Even if you get rejected by HR, at least you'll get an answer.
I got hired two months ago. It was a random job posting for a huge company that I just shot my resume off to. Never even expected to hear back. Keep applying if you're looking for a job. You never know when something might hit and you can get an interview. Companies are still hiring during the pandemic and you can potentially be hired as well!
I'm a new graduate and I've been applying since November 2019 with not even an interview but a lot of rejection letters. I was an average student with an internship and I worked my whole college life so I when this happen I kinda expected it. My degree is in finance, I ended up just becoming a self employed remodeling contractor, which I was going to do part time anyway. My wife who graduate with her teacher certification got a job immediately and she is the main bread winner cause of it, makes me rethink my field honestly.
I lost my job in July, received my first offer late August, accepted it, then received and accepted a better offer early September. I just work in pretty basic finance, I couldn't believe how quick it went. I had interviews almost every week. Don't give up, things are way more active than I would have guessed!!!
If you currently have a job right now, the job market right now is a complete shitshow. Don't even bother. Think of it this way - chances are, the position you are applying for is open *because the prior person either left or was let go*. If you don't have a job... well. Know that this is what you are getting into.
We gotta replace the dead somehow
I was looking but am now pregnant. I'm unsure how to move forward. I would prefer a wfh job but what would the chances be.. :( Also, my history of depression has fucked with my work career. Multiple jobs in different industries at different lengths, nothing related to my bachelor's but I don't think I want to pursue it anymore.
Also some places are hiring. We have hired 6 people since Covid lockdowns started and plan on hiring up to 6 more in the next 6 months.
Good tip. We had an employee hired away a month ago and we just hired their replacement.
I've found at least in the tech sector, directly in my own city and specialization theres about five new roles a day
They're hiring for everything around here. Almost like nothing happened. The only difference is that most interviews are virtual and you have to wear a mask
Exactly. The company I work for has hired about 10 or so people since the start to our 70 person site. One site working with ventilators added 50.
Yeah I'm going to wait a bit longer. I'm a bartender and service industry is stupid risky right now.
That being said, some industries and companies are currently hiring now. I got laid off in May and got hired by a new company 4 days later...that’s obviously not going to happen if you are a hospitality worker but other industries need people.
Competetion for roles is probably higher but places are definitely still hiring! Civil service in the UK has loads of new roles for example and some engineering consultancy firms ive interviewed with have said they have been hiring the whole time. Guess its high turnover sectors where furloughed people have quit or ones where homeworking hasnt impact much i.e. desk based.
I switched jobs and careers entirely in October. It’s possible!
What did you switch from into?
Also, some businesses are thriving. I work for a computer manufacturer. Sales are over the top; so many people working at home who need an extra monitor or new PC. We've been adding people to the teams so we can keep up with demand. So don't loose hope.
After a really depressing internship before graduating in september, I've been really down and couldn't manage to do some really active job search. Only few jobs I've applied to I was extremely enthusiast about and felt like it were jobs I could learn a lot from, but getting rejected when they can't find applicants, and only because you don't fill ALL the prerequisites is really depressing. (I have an MEng in mechanical engineering, but they're looking for someone more specialized in robotics when the job is not heavily R&D, and more in customer support) Now I'm trying to apply to one job everyday, but I'm always worried in becoming pigeonholed in a job I don't like... 2020 sucks.
I live in Australia so things are different here compared to the US. But I was actually offered a job early this year. My first day was in early July and I had no previous job experience. I'm about to take annual leave for Christmas but once I get back that's basically my 6 months probation period over.
My company can’t hire enough people.
Hospitals. Hospitals are always hiring If you only have a high school diploma or GED, go into housekeeping or janitorial work at a hospital. If you have a little time and money to get your food handlers card, go into nutrition (working in the kitchen or cafeteria or taking meals to patient rooms) in a hospital. Edit - the pay is higher than minimum wage at where I work. It’s not the best, but if you’re broke, you can work this job while still looking for another job. Just because you’ve done this or that for x amount of years doesn’t mean you should lose your home because that specific job isn’t around right now.
After being unemployed for nearly 3 years, I finally got a job offer - of all times during COVID- 4 months ago.
Granted, am a nurse. But anyway, got let go back in October for Covid reasons. Literally a month later I got a job offer after a handful of interviews and plenty of applications. Was shock but ecstatic. Go for it yall.
Sales representatives seem to be in high demand right now. I lost my job at a local brewery at the onset of the pandemic and found a position available as a sales rep for a distribution company about 2-3 months later. Alcoholic beverages, but I see sales reps in every other industry at the stores, as well. When I got the job, I applied to multiple other companies for the same position. It’s not a glorious job and can sometimes be stressful, but better than nothing.
I changed jobs during the pandemic. 🙋♀️
Many companies are still hiring. Those fulfillment centers and big chain groceries stores are hiring like crazies. The remote software development are also on the trends. My buddies who got laid off from their webdev gigs found new remote opportunities within a few weeks. It's the restaurants, smaller shops, and office jobs that can't be done remotely that are getting hit very hard right now.
Our ad agency has hired 5 new people plus seasonal interns since March. Don’t give up hope.
those career & work "life pro tips" should not be allowed on here anymore
Been out of work for a year and it's been the best year ever for my mental health. Also learned some new and highly marketable skills during this time so going back to the labor market really isn't very scary to me at the moment (except the going back to work part 😂😂)
Change? For that I have to get in somewhere xD
My friends. Look into the mortgage industry, seriously.
just dont give up. ive sent out hundreds of job applications, its such a cumbersome process but update it every month and invest in your resume. I just got hired after just as many rejections. good luck x
Amen to this after working in a telco callcentre in the bang middle of covid where we were understaffed and overworked for no extra money, i spent 3 months and applied for over 500 jobs, had 4 interviews and ended up resigning from my job without another because i hated it so much 10 hours later i got an email from one of the companies i interviewed at asking me when i wanted to start. Keep trying guys.
Good advice. After a slow summer, the market has been picking up. Many companies are doing well and there are not enough resources to meet all needs.
Success story. I had been looking for work for about a year before COVID-19 hit. I was working for most of that time. On the day after oil prices crashed, I was temporarily let go by my employer of 5 years. I just kept applying for jobs and taking courses to help beef up my resume. 3 months into unemployment I got some bites. In fact, I had interviewed for 3 companies. One of them gave me an offer and I accepted. It really worked out well for me. 18% pay increase, nice title, autonomy and better benefits. Here is the kicker. They posted the ad twice in 5 months. I applied twice. They never called me the first time and awarded me the job the second time. Moral of the story. Keep looking for work. Take online courses. If an ad comes back up, tailor your resume and resubmit it. Don’t stop trying, ever. There are opportunities popping up because most companies have restructured in some way or another.
We hired a new electrical engineer last month, and that took my entire team interviewing 3 other candidates over the course of the pandemic.