Getting a job "back in the day"

[Duronos]

Was it really that easy and why parents think you're not trying hard enough if you don't? In my experience it's just a lot of luck unless you have a friend already working there which makes it a bit easier. You just have to hope someone just quit and you're the first person by pure luck to say you need a job.

Whenever I decide to get a new job after coming back from school on holidays they expect me to have one within a week and are disappointed if I don't. I will take a few days to just drive around to places following up or if they don't do online applications, do it there. Can anyone actually tell me if it really was easier back in the day?

[prwraith]

jobs are fairly easy to land, it's just that people have these long list of places they're allegedly too good to work at.

The difference between a fry cook and a job seeker, ones making money, one's burning gas.

[Deleted]

Back in the day you did what you had to do, not what you wanted. Today, people don't do what they have to, they just wait and wait for what they want.

[Duronos]

Back in the day you did what you had to do, not what you wanted. Today, people don't do what they have to, they just wait and wait for what they want.

There have always been people like that, time period doesn't matter.

[Rucati]

The difference between a fry cook and a job seeker, ones making money, one's burning gas.

True, sort of. The reason people have standards is because otherwise you get stuck doing something with no advancement. I'd rather be unemployed for 2 months and then find a good job with room for promotion and good pay over going out and getting hired as a fry cook in a week. A little while of unemployment is a lot better than getting stuck at a dead end job because you settled for something you don't want.

As for the original question, depends what type of job you're looking for and your education. But I don't think it's particularly hard to find a job currently, to be honest.

[Duronos]

jobs are fairly easy to land, it's just that people have these long list of places they're allegedly too good to work at.

The difference between a fry cook and a job seeker, ones making money, one's burning gas.

I've worked in the service industry, I'd rather be homeless than work in a kitchen again. I'd argue doing cable is better since they pay you decent money for the same amount of stress a kitchen has.

[Deleted]

Was it really that easy and why parents think you're not trying hard enough if you don't? In my experience it's just a lot of luck unless you have a friend already working there which makes it a bit easier. You just have to hope someone just quit and you're the first person by pure luck to say you need a job.

Whenever I decide to get a new job after coming back from school on holidays they expect me to have one within a week and are disappointed if I don't. I will take a few days to just drive around to places following up or if they don't do online applications, do it there. Can anyone actually tell me if it really was easier back in the day?

I think, like most things, it's a bit of everything. It was a bit easier, but not as much as young people make out, though "kids these days" probably arn't trying as hard as they used to, but not as much as old people make out.

The job market has definitely changed, though we are getting back, slowly but surely, to how it was. Whether that's a good thing or not I don't know. Equally though, there are a ton of people who are genuinely just not putting in enough effort to find a job.

We see people coming into work (work in recruitment) or phoning up looking for a job, and like... You get people coming in to register and they're not even bothering to dress up nicely. Or at all. Like, not even smart casual, you know. I can understand like, not coming in wearing a suit when you're just registering at an agency, but you don't come in wearing your addidas jogging bottoms and a sweater that's still covered in... fucking... mom's spaghetti or something. Or they phone up and just sound totally uninterested. Or you get someone come in with no experience or anything, and you manage to get them a temp job shuffling papers somewhere which like, sure it's only for a couple of weeks but at least it's some pay, and it's good experience, and they are like "ohh, well... I wanted soemthing permanent ideally..." or like "Well, it's a bit far to walk and the busses are a bit of a pain, so..."

It's like... Yes it's more difficult, but if anything that should encourage people to try more hard, not less.

[Deleted]

14 years ago I left school and literally walked into a job as a chef. Did that for the summer then went to college (which I sucked at) Dropped out of college and a week later I was a postman. Left the postie job 3 years later to join the army. Got medically discharged during basic with a perforated ear drum. Week later I was working in a call centre. I worked in that call centre for the next 9-10 years till I was made redundant.

I never worried about being made redundant. Id never been unemployed for longer then a couple of weeks I figured that with my wealth of experience and actual willingness to work I would be gainfully employed in no time. Because id been given such a large settlement I decided not to sign on at first because I figured it would be a waste of time given that id be in a new job before they processed the paperwork. What a god damn fool I was. I signed on after the first month. A year and a half I was unemployed. Dozens of applications sent out every week with rarely an acknowledgement. The minimum wage jobs want younger people so they can pay them less, the more demanding jobs wanted uni grads. I lost my flat, I lost my car, all my furniture and most of my belongings gone to try and keep me afloat once the redundancy money dried up.

Every 2 weeks I had to make the trip to the job centre to 'explain myself' to my advisor as to why I was still unemployed. Their 'support' being nothing but a system to weed out the lazy + stupid fecks who couldn't be bothered to look for work. Everytime I went there I was made to feel like my efforts were not good enough. It got to the point I felt physically ill each time I had to go down there.

In the end I had no choice but to go home to the parents who thankfully have supported me as I went back to education. Ive got my college diploma now and I start uni next week on a vocational course that will guarantee me a career if I work hard.

Long story short the job market is not what it was 10 years ago. And not everyone stuck on benefits is a lazy workshy bum.

[Deleted]

I'd honestly say the only difference is competition and manner of application? Since alot is automated and online now, it's not like you can really approach alot of jobs face to face and get them to like you, and with the economy hit there's more competition.

Still, as long as you have the right connections you can slip in a job.

[Deleted]

<snip>

Sounds like you too are at the mercy of Iain Duncan Twatface and the rest of Tory scum party.
You have my condolences.

[Deleted]

You teach kids in schools to aim high in life.
You encourage them to get qualifications, go to college and university and get a really good job.

Then you release them into a world that wants experience over qualifications, give them a debt that (England) could be inexcess of £30k and wonder why the fuck so many people are on benefits.

[Deleted]

Long story short the job market is not what it was 10 years ago. And not everyone stuck on benefits is a lazy workshy bum.

This is true, and there are always gonna be stories of people stuck in a shit place etc, no matter the time period. A lot can depend on location too. That said, there are a bunch of uni graduates etc who are totally able to find work, if they are prepared to do something they might not like very much, but don't. Not that they are workshy exactly I don't think, neccesarily, but that they've gone through uni and probably been made a bunch of false promises before going into uni about what their career prospects would be like when they get out, and then when they DO get out and it's not like that, they're unmotivated etc because of how things are, and as a result don't make the most of the opportunities that they do have.

[Deleted]

This is true, and there are always gonna be stories of people stuck in a shit place etc, no matter the time period. A lot can depend on location too. That said, there are a bunch of uni graduates etc who are totally able to find work, if they are prepared to do something they might not like very much, but don't. Not that they are workshy exactly I don't think, neccesarily, but that they've gone through uni and probably been made a bunch of false promises before going into uni about what their career prospects would be like when they get out, and then when they DO get out and it's not like that, they're unmotivated etc because of how things are, and as a result don't make the most of the opportunities that they do have.

I know exactly what you mean there. My younger brothers best friend was in the same boat. Finished uni with some sorta graphics design degree looking to become an architect. Spent 2 years working at asda before someone took him on. It does seem a bit ass backwards. When yer young they focus on experience not diplomas, when yer older they focus on diplomas not experience. Fingers crossed in 3 years time ill have the perfect combo ^_^

[Deleted]

I know exactly what you mean there. My younger brothers best friend was in the same boat. Finished uni with some sorta graphics design degree looking to become an architect. Spent 2 years working at asda before someone took him on. It does seem a bit ass backwards. When yer young they focus on experience not diplomas, when yer older they focus on diplomas not experience. Fingers crossed in 3 years time ill have the perfect combo ^_^

It's not that they focus on different things, so much as like... Ideally people want experience and a degree for most jobs.

When you are young, lots of people have degrees, not many people have experience. The jobs don't neccesarily need a degree but it can be nice. Since they have a big pool of people with degrees to pick from, they can probably find someone with both a degree and experience in the mix somewhere. By the time you are older, most people have some kind of relevant experience, and you are generally looking for "higher up" jobs. Many jobs of a ceiling at which they won't hire people above that point without a degree (or promote people etc) for whatever reason, so at that point degrees become a little more in demand. That said, experience is usually always a bigger deal than a degree, except for specialist things (like, you can't be a doctor without a medical degree). In most cases degrees are just a way of saying "you are competant to do X" and good, relevant experience shows that, too.

[Deleted]

You need to graft son!

My dad said to me that he never had a job interview in his life. He retired early chills out on the megabucks he earnt. Was some bigwig at Cap gemeni, knows owt about IT got the job networking and grafting like fuck.

I took a safer path but threw a curveball recently. Pal of mine set me up with a job doing something I have no clue about but I'll put my head down and get involved.

Moral is, its not what you know its who you know.

[Collegeguy]

I guess that's a fair point of view. Older people tend to complain about how hard things were in their day, but the reality is that life and careers were handed out on silver platters back then.

Resources were so cheap, expenses were so low, and labor was in such high demand instead of you paying for education, people would pay you just to go to school for a certain job description. Accounting departments didn't even record overhead because it was so damn profitable to be wasteful. Companies would advertise on commercials nonstop to beg people to work for them.

[Sunseeker]

I've been unemployed for 6 months, I'm a professional with years of office experience.

Yeah, I could go get a job stocking shelves or delivery driving in a heartbeat. It would pay minimum wage, barely support me and my wife, make it almost impossible to live on my own (rent starts around 600 for a studio and goes up from there) but hey i'd be employed right?

But that's the thing, at some point you make a conscious decision that there's more to life than JUST being employed. You want stability, long-term gainful employment working in a place where you are at least moderately happy. You won't get that stocking shelves. Shelf-stockers are replaceable, you are no more valuable after 10 years of working for Wal-Mart than you were the first day, any idiot fresh out of highschool is qualified for the job you've been doing for a decade. Eventually you'll reach a point where the company must pay you more and instead they'll fire you and hire some kid fresh out of 12th-grade day-care.

So I was unemployed for 6 months because I focused my efforts on finding a job that I would enjoy. A job that would pay well. A job that would be stable. And a month before my UE benefits ran out, I found one. Boss even says he wants a minimum 2-year commitment out of me, pays almost double minimum wage with lots of room for advancement and the option for commission. I have to move towns and that's a pain in the ass. My credit is ruined and that sucks too. But i've got a job where I'm going to be happy and well-fed. That's far more important than just bringing in a few bucks just to keep me off the unemployment ranks.

[poser765]

I've been unemployed for 6 months, I'm a professional with years of office experience.

Yeah, I could go get a job stocking shelves or delivery driving in a heartbeat. It would pay minimum wage, barely support me and my wife, make it almost impossible to live on my own (rent starts around 600 for a studio and goes up from there) but hey i'd be employed right?

But that's the thing, at some point you make a conscious decision that there's more to life than JUST being employed. You want stability, long-term gainful employment working in a place where you are at least moderately happy. You won't get that stocking shelves. Shelf-stockers are replaceable, you are no more valuable after 10 years of working for Wal-Mart than you were the first day, any idiot fresh out of highschool is qualified for the job you've been doing for a decade. Eventually you'll reach a point where the company must pay you more and instead they'll fire you and hire some kid fresh out of 12th-grade day-care.

So I was unemployed for 6 months because I focused my efforts on finding a job that I would enjoy. A job that would pay well. A job that would be stable. And a month before my UE benefits ran out, I found one. Boss even says he wants a minimum 2-year commitment out of me, pays almost double minimum wage with lots of room for advancement and the option for commission. I have to move towns and that's a pain in the ass. My credit is ruined and that sucks too. But i've got a job where I'm going to be happy and well-fed. That's far more important than just bringing in a few bucks just to keep me off the unemployment ranks.

The thing is that job stocking shelves are delivering pizza doesn't have to be permanent. It's money in...that's it. When people suggest people take any job they can get they are not advocating you picking up a career in grocery stocking...just picking up something to help feed your family.

As soon as something better comes along leave. Hell, that was kind of understood with people we hired in pizza delivery. Turnover there was like monthly. Not because it sucked, or was shit money, because it didn't and the money was great, but people would get to the point where they didn't need the job any more.

[Reeve]

The thing is that job stocking shelves are delivering pizza doesn't have to be permanent. It's money in...that's it. When people suggest people take any job they can get they are not advocating you picking up a career in grocery stocking...just picking up something to help feed your family.

As soon as something better comes along leave. Hell, that was kind of understood with people we hired in pizza delivery. Turnover there was like monthly. Not because it sucked, or was shit money, because it didn't and the money was great, but people would get to the point where they didn't need the job any more.

Unemployment benefits scale with the amount of money you were making before you lost your job. So if I were to lose my job today, where I make $80k, taking unemployment benefits would be a lot more money than taking a job stocking shelves, and it would allow me more time to look for a better job that I'm qualified for. I might take a fry cook job if my unemployment benefits were about to run out, but it certainly wouldn't be the first thing I did.

[poser765]

Unemployment benefits scale with the amount of money you were making before you lost your job. So if I were to lose my job today, where I make $80k, taking unemployment benefits would be a lot more money than taking a job stocking shelves, and it would allow me more time to look for a better job that I'm qualified for. I might take a fry cook job if my unemployment benefits were about to run out, but it certainly wouldn't be the first thing I did.

This being an example of when it makes sense not to seek low wage employment.

Those benifits do not apply to all situations however. Nor are they permanent. In my case i worked for a company that closed it's doors. I immediately got a job for a different company doing the exact same thing. That other company was really shifty and I didn't feel comfortable working there. So I quit...without notice. With no regrets. So to get something to keep money coming in I delivered pizzas. With plenty of time to look for other avenues of employment.

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Unemployment benefits scale with the amount of money you were making before you lost your job. So if I were to lose my job today, where I make $80k, taking unemployment benefits would be a lot more money than taking a job stocking shelves, and it would allow me more time to look for a better job that I'm qualified for. I might take a fry cook job if my unemployment benefits were about to run out, but it certainly wouldn't be the first thing I did.

This being an example of when it makes sense not to seek low wage employment.

Those benifits do not apply to all situations however. Nor are they permanent. In my case i worked for a company that closed it's doors. I immediately got a job for a different company doing the exact same thing. That other company was really shifty and I didn't feel comfortable working there. So I quit...without notice. With no regrets. So to get something to keep money coming in I delivered pizzas. With plenty of time to look for other avenues of employment.

My point is if you have ZERO income, shitty income is still better than nothing, and in no way bars you from continuing to search for employment elsewhere.