U.S. woman has submitted 1,862 job applications to no avail

this lady has absolutely no idea how to successfully get a job...get off your ass and GO TO the place you want to get hired at...that alone looks good to employers and could even get you the job right away (i've seen it happen)...if not right away you got to follow up with phonecalls (bug the # out of them if you have to, it works too)

reply to post by Nathwa


see nothing unusual in this. i sent out over 2000 just a couple years ago with no reply. had to heel toe it before anything took place an now im working for 7 dollars less an hour than i was. matter of fact i am making what i was as a teen. yes the economy is total crap.

My experience as a new immigrant in the US, and I cannot over emphasize the difficulties of being a new immigrant in the US, I have learned that sending 20 or so job applications for 6 months (and praying while youre not sending anything) works. People do give you a chance.

BUT and thats a big but, I had to change my style of writing, and market my skills and use different CVs for different jobs I've applied for.

Meaning, I used my brain to market myself.

Also, I'm a professional with a college degree and 3 languages under my belt. I mean, it was extremely difficult, is still extremely difficult, and in these days, you have to be able to do the job of 2 people to get yourself a job in the first place. Because every company wants to save money, not lose it.

reply to post by sonofliberty1776


I can't say. I have not met her.

reply to post by here4awhile


With centralized and vended HR, in many, many places there isn't even anywhere to "go to." If you want a job at Home Depot, you can't go to your local Home Depot. All they do is tell you to apply online, and unless you know someone who works for them really well, you're SOL. About the only way to get a job today is to know someone, but even then, if you're of a certain age or credit rating or are currently unemployed, good luck.

reply to post by ~Lucidity


things must be different for her where she lives or where you live because here if you actually show up asking to talk to the person who deals with the hiring process you're odds shoot up...i've helped 4 of my friends get jobs this way...I also know plenty of construction type jobs I can refer friends to...roofing, siding, cement work, gutters you name it...that technique has worked for me plenty of times when I was young as well

Originally posted by ~Lucidity
reply to post by here4awhile

 

With centralized and vended HR, in many, many places there isn't even anywhere to "go to." If you want a job at Home Depot, you can't go to your local Home Depot. All they do is tell you to apply online, and unless you know someone who works for them really well, you're SOL. About the only way to get a job today is to know someone, but even then, if you're of a certain age or credit rating or are currently unemployed, good luck.

edit on 7/9/2011 by ~Lucidity because: fixed messed up reply-to tag...

There is always somewhere to go or someone to call. As someone else mentioned, following up is one of the number one responsibilities of job searching. For every resume sent out, there should be how ever many needed cold calls attached to get in contact with the person who saw it/made decision on it.

You can break through a companies structure by simply calling, asking, talking. Sales jobs are the first place to start, call a rep, pretend you are interested in a sale, and they will hand over the corporate directory.

reply to post by here4awhile

That is the key. Networking with friends, friends of friends, friends of friends of friends ad infinitum. Basically it boils down to "get off of your lazy a$$" if you want a job.

Filling application forms is not looking for a job. It's just a way to find one.
I'd say 75% of jobs, of the job market are found by hear-say, looking in newspaper, or by relatives.

I believe she's doing it in a lousy manner.

Looks like "trickle down" is being proven to be "trickle ceo bonus" or "trickle boat payments" like they truly are.

reply to post by Nathwa


Oh ya it's pretty bad out there, and not even counting that this whole job thing is really dated and crap, not because any job is hard or even complected, all of them are pretty easy once you get used to it, thought usually time consuming for ridiculous reasons, and usually the easier the more money you make. But because the whole system is flawed and jobs will come and go with the winds of society's change, and eventually all of them can be replaced, or become outdated. And eventually they will.

Plus don't forget all the bull# they post out there in terms of jobs, some of them are fake, and I think are just there to mess with people, or to keep the illusion up and alive, oh yes guberment has been busy at work putting up illusions.

And some of the places want you to go there personally to fill out some # that you can do online, but the thing is there is no guarantee whatsoever that you will get hired. And well you do the math, imagine if she had to drive to all the places she sent in her resume and stuff.

Imagine what you would have to pay in gas to go to 1,862 potential job places. So unless there all close, then you would be spending thousands of dollars just on gas just to get around to all these places, and when you have no job, and no money, well how is that going to work. But anyways, you can always take the bus, but the bus systems here in the US suck balls. But what would you expect from the place that brought you the oil tycoons and monopoly, they wont build anything but these crappy oil guzzling cars that you see everywhere.

But yes all this has been coming down the wire for some time, people didn't listen then but they will when there time comes, so basically the system is flawed there are so many things not thought out its just pathetic and really the best thing that there good at is putting up illusions and false facts and half truths, or just plain lies.

My advice to her or any other job seeker.......Go party, and hit the party's......I know what you all thinking, lazy mofo and bla bla bal like I gave a # what dip#s think.

But nope pretty much all jobs that people get is from in the know, or from friends, and acquaintances, and chances are if you got to party's and ask you buddies or your buddies friends if there place is hiring. You will most likely find a job easier then if you did it the other way, which really does not work all that great, for way to many reasons to write them all down.

Plus you get free bear while your at it.

reply to post by Jessicamsa

Reaping what you sow is biblical.
Karma is new age. Same thing really,
but they come from two different sources.

Actually the concept and precepts of Karma is way way older then the bible, or any religion out there, in fact reaping as you sow is a precept of karma. So they all come from the same source, and are basically recycled over and over every couple of thousands of years into new religions and believes and such.

I know it is hard out there.

I just wonder is her resume displaying her correct contact details?

reply to post by ~Lucidity


To add to this, if youre a convicted felon, youre DEFINITELY out of luck finding a job

reply to post by sonofliberty1776


I stard you for the first half of the post.

So true, getting out in peoples faces is the best way to be noticed. As an employer email resumes to me all seem the same. You need to meet the person and if its the only person you meet coz everyone else is sending them in via email then you got a good shot of gettin the job.

The 2nd half of ur post though probably isnt something most people can relate to and it sounds like you are in a very unique and lucky position. Much respect, just be carefull advertising it as with alot of people on this site out of work and unable to find any it could come across as insensitive

reply to post by ~Lucidity


To add to this, if youre a convicted felon, youre DEFINITELY out of luck finding a job

Out of context, but still relevant.

We have entered a Brave New World.

Originally posted by crazydaisy
I use to teach Employment Skills at
a community college. Sending all those
applications will do absolutely nothing
if you don't follow up with phone calls
and or go to the place with the opening
in person. You just have to do the
calling and leg work. I know that can
be difficult but over the years of helping
find employment for graduates or other
people I have found it works best.

I actually do a LOT of hiring and I can tell you first hand that nothing is more annoying than an applicant who calls and follows up on an application, if I'm interested I'll call YOU.
The face to face follow up is a little more effective if you are well dressed, well groomed and polite. If you just show up in your street clothes your app will probably hit the bottom of the pile pretty quickly.

I'm in a similar situation, but not nearly to such a severe degree. I've probably applied at 50-100 places since I graduated, and I've only gotten 1 interview which got me nowhere.

I'll be honest I'm not trying that hard to find a job though, 4 hours of job-hunting a day is a little much for me. It seems that would interfere too much with my ATS, Black Ops, and Netflix time.

reply to post by kro32


When I was a manager I never thought college degrees showed skill. To me they showed that someone probably came from a good family that supported them, and that they could stick to something to see it to completion. There were some colleges that I preferred, as from my experience their graduates were better prepared. Strangely enough, it was a 2 year college with an associates' program that I preferred to hire from. Their program was intense and demanding and they had a super high pass rate on state boards.

But for me, more important was the applicant's job history. I loved to get applicants that had worked at their old job for 10 or more years. That really was showing the same thing as the college degree was- that someone had staying power and could see something through.

I want to feel sorry for her, but I really can't, especially since I know that she's 60 now. You can start drawing social security at 59 and a half, or so my grandma did a few years back, so she's got a trump card if things get supper dicey.