Job Seeker, 21, Kills Herself After She Was Rejected for 200 Jobs.

That is so tragic.

The canned advice just doesn't solve the problem, but makes job seekers more broke. Just buy a suit, well no they're broke, and in bigger cities there are charities to provide interview clothing to people.

Just pay for a resume. No, they're broke. They can't drive back and forth on interviews and applications all day.

Just go to a conference. No, that is like the just do the resume thing. No, they need work, not just some busybody stuff in between work.

Just go to school? With what money exactly? You think it hasn't crossed the applicants minds to pad their image, but they need the job to get that started.

Months later, all the help and counseling to get work has had zero results. So tell me, how valuable is that advice in reality? It's junk advice! The more job-seekers read it the worse they feel. Same with Internet job dreams. Junk busybody stuff!

So with all due respect, the just put a flower in your hair advice, that's for the coffin, NRE.

Temp work. And lots of friends, no matter how broke down they are. Keeps the despair away. Then when it gets uncontrollably bad, the hospital. I hate giving that expensive advice but it's better than ending things.

It's sad yes.. But the bottom line is maybe she couldn't get a job because she was mentally ill, You do not kill yourself over not finding a job you do so because something is wrong in your head.

This is so sad. Nobody really knows what went through her mind, but one thing that we all should be aware of. Situations like this usually, but not always, have some indicator that something is wrong. I can't and won't judge what happened here, but it is important to let your children know you love them, and that no matter what, life is precious, and no setback is worth throwing that away.
On a tangential issue, related to the OP, jobs are disappearing at an alarming rate in the US, due to many factors. However, one of the primary factors is GREED, greed of corporations, greed of business owners, who will sell out their own children for lower wages, and substandard work outside our country. Is life that cheap that they are willing to sell out the entire populace to make a bigger buck? This outsourcing is disgusting on many levels. If you want to put people in jail, why not start with these greedy individuals that have sold out generations for a bigger profit. Furthermore, what the he11 happened to Obama, when he promised to stop outsourcing and bring jobs back here? Don't answer, I already know. He is in bed with these greedy criminals. He cares for the poor? What a joke. They're still poor, but he does throw some crumbs their way in the form of some welfare, designed to keep them poor, and in their ballot column. He cares for blacks? Why do black teens still have a 41% unemployment rate? I'm sure it's not because they don't want work, THERE is NO WORK for them, or other Americans, white, black, red or brown. Politicians- they're all crooks that promise you the world, then steal the world from you. Damn them!

Originally posted by Gargoyle91
It's sad yes.. But the bottom line is maybe she couldn't get a job because she was mentally ill, You do not kill yourself over not finding a job you do so because something is wrong in your head.

Maybe, but the article didn't mention a history of mental illness or behavioral health treatment. It just said she was bummed because she couldn't find a job.

If she was wrong in the head it was most likely the hopelessness from not finding a job made her that way. It really doesn't have to amount to anything more than that.

reply to post by ProfEmeritus


Good job ignoring the original article. This happened in 2010 and in the UK. Obama has nothing to do with it. This has been stated throughout the four pages of replies.

Props for spreading your political agenda at the cost of..... appearing illiterate?

This is all BS sorry about what happened but as far as jobs check out a temp agency they will employ you for 4 months and 28 days for 13 an hour and make 23 off of your labor in the deal and then lay you off without unemployment or other benefits as they have your next slave job lined up for another month or two, personally sounds like jail to me I am not a firm believer in this country or governments ability to bring industry back as a matter of fact the only industry I see is $hitty quality welds to compete with other $hitty countries AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH dont get me started. I feel sorry about what happened to this girl, I can relate Ive been in her shoes before especially after returning home from Iraq and going homeless, it may happen again as I have not been able to secure steady employment its always on and off.

I'm not sure how I feel about this one... I've been in the situation myself, having hundreds of rejections or no callbacks, but suicide? That feels a little extreme.

Her father Tony, 53, said: 'I lost track of the different types of jobs she applied for.

That's fair enough, but was the scope large, or was the number of applications making it appear that way? Did she apply for local farming jobs? Council? Factory? Warehouse? Or just the "clean" jobs like the article indicates?

She asked supermarkets, including Tesco, for work stacking shelves or at check-ins and visited shops such as WH Smith and McDonald's inquiring in vain about sales positions.

This, at the age of 21, isn't a fantastic idea either. I know a manager at a mcdonalds, and I used to be a manager myself at a dominos outlet, and they don't go for staff older than 16. It's too expensive for them. Retail outlets tend to limit themselves to younger staff as well, for exactly the same reason. You can pay a teen minimum wage, as soon as they turn 21, you have to pay them several dollars higher because of their age, not their work ethic.

I for one am not working in a job I enjoy. I'm a forklift driver on a dairy farm that also specialises in chicken/cow manure. Not the ideal situation, but I make do. Was this girl just picky? I'm personally inclined to lean that way.

Edit to add: I am looking at this from an Australian perspective, so I may be biased in some ways.

Oh yea, the clown that responded. I would personally love to have that person and hold them in damp dark isolation that include sleep deprivation, beatings, lack of adequate food/water, and constant rapings. Then I'd say, "Well, I picked you due to your fabulous attire."
just saying

I have made 100s of recommendations to HR and probably conducted close to 500 interviews. Here is the best advice I ever heard about interviewing if you get your foot in the door:

Don't just answer the question. This is where many young (and some older) people make the greatest error. Answer the question, then give a specific example of how you addressed, dealt with, handled a similar situation (so forth).

Something like this:

Interviewer: How would you handle disruptive students in your class?

Typical response: I would call the parents, give detention, talk with the student, etc....

Better response: I would call the parents, give detention, talk with the student, etc.... Once while I was student teaching, I had a young man that was causing disruptions in class. I took the time to pull him aside, only to find out etc......

This is the best advice I can think to give. It may not get you the job, but you will stand out more than any 0ne else dressed a certain way, with pictures on their resume, etc.... With a daughter in Grade 12, I understand and worry about the job situation the youth faces today....

Originally posted by Scaleru
I'm not sure how I feel about this one... I've been in the situation myself, having hundreds of rejections or no callbacks, but suicide? That feels a little extreme.

Her father Tony, 53, said: 'I lost track of the different types of jobs she applied for.

That's fair enough, but was the scope large, or was the number of applications making it appear that way? Did she apply for local farming jobs? Council? Factory? Warehouse? Or just the "clean" jobs like the article indicates?

She asked supermarkets, including Tesco, for work stacking shelves or at check-ins and visited shops such as WH Smith and McDonald's inquiring in vain about sales positions.

This, at the age of 21, isn't a fantastic idea either. I know a manager at a mcdonalds, and I used to be a manager myself at a dominos outlet, and they don't go for staff older than 16. It's too expensive for them. Retail outlets tend to limit themselves to younger staff as well, for exactly the same reason. You can pay a teen minimum wage, as soon as they turn 21, you have to pay them several dollars higher because of their age, not their work ethic.

I for one am not working in a job I enjoy. I'm a forklift driver on a dairy farm that also specialises in chicken/cow manure. Not the ideal situation, but I make do. Was this girl just picky? I'm personally inclined to lean that way.

Edit to add: I am looking at this from an Australian perspective, so I may be biased in some ways.

edit on 5/8/13 by Scaleru because: Added info

You clearly are looking at this from an Australian perspective.

Here in the United States, depending on where you live, you can't just run out and get "farm jobs". Council jobs? Do you mean for the government? A lot of time that depends on who you know. Most of the time in this country, who you know means a lot more than your personal qualifications. This is a system based on cronyism and nepotism.

I was in this girl's shoes once. I also felt at that age, when I could not find work after college, that I was worthless. It's a depressing experience considering the incorrect conditioning that is placed upon younger americans by society and the ignorance of the baby boomer generation that led us down this path.

I thankfully got fed up and instead of doing something extreme like this girl, I went in my own direction.

Do for self, not for a corporation. This will be the only way to survive in the United States. Have a plan, have a passion, and follow it through. Sitting there waiting for corporations to hire you is the way of the older generation...when their pensions are completely wiped out, and things become horrific...they'll see the error of their ways from being drunk with privilege for years on end. Yet, they will turn around and call the millennial kids or the Gen Y adults "spoiled brats". Piss off.

reply to post by supremecommander


She was part of the NINJA generation. No income, no jobs, no assets.

We really have a lot to look forward to...

She didn't kill herself because she couldn't find a job. She killed herself for a bunch of different reasons likely but saying it was because she couldn't find a job is absurd.


Did she own a pet? May as well just of said:

Woman kills herself because she owned a Beagle

Who writes these things?

n March 30 Miss Harrison received yet another rejection, from a nursery, and the next day her father found her dead in the lounge, surrounded by empty pill packets and bottles.

She left three suicide notes - one each for her parents, and one for her boyfriend, Nathan Haworth, 22.
They read: 'Its just that I don't want to be me any more.

Bright future: Vicky at age five
'Please don't be sad. It's not your fault. I want everybody in life to be HAPPY.'

Sadly I have to point out the obvious. The suicide notes read: "I just don't want to be me any more."

Not:

"I'm am killing myself now because I haven't found a job after applying to 200 places. Oh, by the way, I'm not sure why I as rejected at any of them! Forget my drug addiction, the fact that I don't hang out with any of my friends, I'm a hermit and am unwilling to accept anything from anyone because my personality traits are stubborn and childish, which I'm sure had no influence on my job hunting, as most people are looking for selfish, stubborn people with drug problems... What was I saying again? Oh yeah, killing myself. Back to that then."






Unbelievable the newspaper picked up the story like this and ran with it. I am willing to bet the family is partly to blame. They probably don't want to put any responsibility in there for themselves so they blame her inability to get a job as the reason she's dead.

I assume no one addressed any of her problems while she was alive, or if they did they failed, so I can see why they want to hide that fact.

Some might say, "Hey Boncho, you're a real mean asshat!" And I say, "Yep." And they say, "WTF how could you say she is selfish, she wouldn't take any handouts from anyone."

And I say:

This is counterintuitive, but I see it often, and I see it for what it is. Many people have "Pride." or "Principal." and they claim to be "Blah blah blah" ..."yadda, yadda, yadda." some annoying thing or the other. In fact they are indignant, they look down upon people who do take help from others. They are being asshats, and selfish in my opinion.

Take the help, get on your feet, and pay back the debt. Have some self respect, respect for others, and for yourself. Who are you to be too good to take anything from someone else? You are so afraid of owing something someone you are going to be non-contributing, wallowing around in your own sorrow?

Curious where she got her money for her addictions.

reply to post by boncho


A lot of people find it hard to believe a person would kill themselves over a job situation. Plenty of people do it, and in this case I tend to agree with the conclusions reached in the article. Her parents said this:

Miss Harrison's devastated parents called yesterday for more help for young jobseekers, telling how the never-ending search for work had driven their daughter to despair.

In addition, where are you getting that she was a drug addict? The article says absolutely nothing about an addiction. It says she used pills to kill herself...

Actually nothing you said is "pointing out the obvious" because you just made up a bunch of stuff that actually flies in the face of the information contained in the article and what her parents said. Saying it is "counter intuitive" is putting it mildly.

I really don't understand why you would call her childish, stubborn, drug addict, a hermit shirking responsibilities, etc... You are purposefully trying to paint a young women who killed herself 3 years ago because she couldn't find a job in the worst way possible. You are "seeing" things that I don't see.

I do, however, notice some things about you just by what you wrote and I have extensive experience in health psychology, addictions, and mental health research.

Originally posted by NoRegretsEver
reply to post by LittleBlackEagle

 

Yes, that sounds about right, 400 applicants.

Also I know there are plenty of business owners out there, if you dont have work I am sure that you can ask around, and see if someone will temp hire you on a "learn/experience" basis. This is where you can ask a local employer to let you do side work for experience as opposed for money as long as they let you add them on your resume.

This will widen your experience, help out local business, and can be added to a resume.

Peace, NRE.

ask around? in 2013? that's all it takes to find work?

well color me purple, boy, I better spread the word. somebody may like to hear this!!!

erm, the "gipper" spirit is all good, but..

what world are you living in, and what year?

this is the type of advice one would expect from a h.s. student council rep right after a meeting with a guidance counselor. great on paper...

real world... good luck with that..

how about 5 business owners competing for the same customer just team up, become partners and then all 5 of their families can live together!! that way they all get the customer.. see I can do it too...lol

I remember about 2 years ago I was looking for a job and saw an ad for a part-time position at a little campground store. It said if you go in in between (for example) 12 and 6, that they would give you an interview on the spot, so I went thinking I had a fair chance of getting hired due to the on-the-spot interview. Just in the few minutes I was there, there were probably 30 or 40 other people all being interviewed for the same position. They must have had hundreds of people trying to get that one part-time job at the little campground store.

I had heard jobs were hard to come by, but that was pretty eye-opening.

reply to post by NoRegretsEver


I really find this thread to be in poor taste. This isn't something to use as a platform to talk about your job hunting. This is a tragedy and the young lady deserves more respect. I don't care what your little tips are. Make a thread on that. Don't take a suicide and make it about you.

People who kill themselves should not be pitied, only thanked. They clearly don't want to be around and are saving the world a lot or resources.

reply to post by Domo1


Really??? Making it about me?

Wow, you know besides those that took this completely out of content, the thread was about her, and maybe if some people gave her tips, outside of "you will get a call someday" she would still be alive.

There were quite a few people that gave sound advice, especially in a time where suicide is rampant due to job lose/no medical insurance, etc,.

This was about HOPE, something that if someone gave her more of it, along with some advice that could have actually helped, then maybe the thread wouldnt even had been necessary, btw, you and everyone that thought that this thread was trash, is more than welcome to add whatever thread they choose as well, instead of taking the time to try to put down someone who is trying to help.

Thanks to those that either interviewed or have been through similar circumstances that have added to the thread. Believe me I am sure that this can help someone!

NRE.

Originally posted by InvasiveProbing
People who kill themselves should not be pitied, only thanked. They clearly don't want to be around and are saving the world a lot or resources.

How are they saving the world resources? They are definitely removing their own abilities, potential, creativity, and production...

I suppose suicide is mostly an altruistic act instead of a selfish one from your perspective?