I hate this economy

[Mister K]

Let me get this straight. You applied and/or worked at the following places:

grocery store
game store
domino's pizza

That's your problem. You're not motivated enough. Stop blaming your laziness on the economy and your school work. There are people who take way more classes (18 to 21 credits) than you do and still work 30 to 40 hours per week. You can't apply to three places and expect someone to hire you because you're in college / a college graduate.

If you really wanted a job, you would have applied to hundreds (yes, hundreds) of places and instead of sitting here whining you would be working. Stop being lazy and stop blaming it on the economy. It's obvious that you don't really want a job.

EDIT: TYPO

Yes you are right but without doubt the economy is in the shitter and acquiring jobs is 100x harder. I hate this ecenomy too.

---------- Post added 2012-11-22 at 08:09 AM ----------

i disagree. one option is to start a business and give yourself a job.

Depending on what business it can be very risk, someone without a clue what to do should never commit this. Also it also takes some startup money to do this, but again it depends.

[Repefe]

I think it's easier to apply for a job where you are required to know something than not. You pick a field you want to work in. Make a small portfolio of your work and start applying for jobs. Every time you are turned down you work some more on your portfolio, possibly add work related to the next job position you want to apply for or even certification if there is any. That way with every turned down application you are increasing your chances the next one will go through.

If you have one resume to rule them all, no portfolio, no experience ... that's bad. There are even online career portfolio sites that lets you create and manage your own one for free.

[PizzaSHARK]

You need to understand that you have competition for literally every job right now. If your schedule is limited AND your job history is shit, you're gonna have a difficult time until you do something one or the other.

The kind of jobs you're applying for are unskilled labor, the kind of shit you could train a monkey to do. If I'm having to choose between some 40 year old guy with a GED and open schedule and a college student with a very restricted schedule, I'm going for the old guy because I know he'll have better availability and I don't care if he isn't as smart as the college kid.

If that college kid also has a shit work history (your last job was 2.5 years ago? seriously???), that's just another nail in his coffin. If you really need/want a job you're either gonna have to drop some classes or accept having what amounts to an 80 hour work week. Since you're saying classes are basically 0700-1900 Monday through Friday, you're probably gonna have to drop classes unless you want to work third shift... but then, when will you sleep?

[phenix]

I got my degree in general applied science. Took classes to work in the IT field being a junior linux admin. Went back again for general networking and my cisco cert.

i still dont understand why you have those skills and yet still apply to low end, unskilled retail labor position.

[Silhouette of Seraphim]

And there's a reason they're both barely in business too.

Irrelevant to the thread, if it will get him a job and work experience for a while.

My best advice for the OP is to hit every temp agency around you hard. They want to give you a job, since that's how they get paid. They have a vested interest, and that's what you need.

Also, you have uncles who are managers at stores. Worst case see if they're willing to make up some work experience for you that you can put on your resume for semi-recent employment.

---------- Post added 2012-11-22 at 09:41 AM ----------

As for what hours you can work, applying around Christmas can be difficult, because even my store that's hiring 8 new people (one of them the above girl) will only accept people who can work mon-sun because of how busy we'll be. Throughout most of the year though we'd hire someone just as a Saturday/Sunday, or a thursday worker or an evening worker etc. That's only talking about checkout operators though, night fill still hire whoever even if you can only make it one day. Assuming they need someone that day. Then since you said you can't work evenings, alot of the fruit and veg, bakery, dairy, deli, seafood or meat room staff are out by 2pm. Some earlier, because those departments have to come in at around 5am to start setting up

I think flexibility for him is definitely an issue as well. Employers want people there when they want them, and aren't looking to be flexible. They can afford not to be right now with the amount of people looking for work. If someone can't meet their requirements, they have a stack of other people who can.

[Seirith]

I would look for a job on campus. I know my college bookstore hires undergrads and works around their class schedule and breaks. I wiould also suggest going to your school's career department and asking them for help.

[Skippy88]

In my case, I moved to a new place and I don't know anyone anywhere remotely close to here. My roommate's veiled attempts to "know people" hasn't worked out.

One thing my dad did when he moved up here was he joined the local chapter of the "Optimist" club and joined the local baseball team. Through those two things he met a lot of different people including mayors and business owners among others. Having those contacts comes in handy when looking for work and if you need a favor. Any type of club, organization, or sport should get you into contact with others should help you in the long run and it also helps with the resume as it shows your not just "sitting" at home.

[Laize]

You fail to recognize just how bad it was. I sent in applications to ALL those places and got nothing in return, except one interview which still turned into nothing.

Only just now did I manage to get a full time job and its a fucking seasonal job at a ski resort so guess what I have to do again in March? Find another job . . .

---------- Post added 2012-11-22 at 12:13 AM ----------

It's really frustrating to hear people say "you're not motivated enough" when you search for job after job after job, going to every fast food chain, retail outfit, big boxmart, etc, and can't get hired.

So why does no one try an employment agency like Manpower? They're in business for a reason... they work.

[thunderdragon2]

i feel kind of sorry for the OP when i left school i got a job with my local council, which ended up lasting 2 years after that i was jobless and applying like crazy for 4 YEARS be4 i was finally successful and actually got a replay from a company that i applied i started work last week and loving it btw i like in the uk

---------- Post added 2012-11-22 at 05:08 PM ----------

I'm curious about something, does the OP legally have to include the fact that he has a degree on his CV? I assume if directly questioned he would, but maybe he could omit that fact when applying to places like Dominos.

Not everywhere cares though, one of our dairy staff has a bachelors in science and we're giving an interview soon to a checkout staff who has a degree in chemical engineering or something like that.

if that degree is a necessary qualification for the job he is applying for yes he dose

[Rooflesstoofless]

Its not just the economy....if you've put out that many applications, gotten to the actual interview and been turned down that many times there is something wrong with your interviewing skills. How you think you're projecting yourself and how you are actually coming across can be two very different things.

[Beavis]

I'm curious about something, does the OP legally have to include the fact that he has a degree on his CV? I assume if directly questioned he would, but maybe he could omit that fact when applying to places like Dominos.

Not everywhere cares though, one of our dairy staff has a bachelors in science and we're giving an interview soon to a checkout staff who has a degree in chemical engineering or something like that.

Nah, you can put whatever you want on your resume, though putting on things you haven't actually done is usually ill advised for obvious reasons.

[thunderdragon2]

Its not just the economy....if you've put out that many applications, gotten to the actual interview and been turned down that many times there is something wrong with your interviewing skills. How you think you're projecting yourself and how you are actually coming across can be two very different things.

for 4 years i didn't actually get there

[aztr0]

Funny how I took 18 credit semesters but have like 2 free days within the week. I would even get 4 days weekends. Anyways, you got an associates degree in something so why not go look for something within that field? If you are going to be wasting time looking for crappy jobs, why not go for an internship that is within your field and build up your resume so that you can actually go apply for a job that could potentially be better pay and work? Keep at it, I know how it feels to feel like you're doing nothing. I was unemployed for a year, took time off to study for GMATs. I applied to many jobs after, went on quite a few interviews that didn't pan out, but eventually got a job after being persistent.

[LeahMaurer]

Since you're familiar with technology and computers you can try and set up a blog for something that you like to do, I've heard students making money out of this.

[phred754]

If you have really applied for that many jobs and been turned down, your interview skills must be terrible. It is not that hard to find a low paying job in this country. Work on your interview skills.

[poser765]

If you have really applied for that many jobs and been turned down, your interview skills must be terrible. It is not that hard to find a low paying job in this country. Work on your interview skills.

I still say he doesn't have a problem with communication so much as not being able to actually be scheduled. I believe he said he is not available between 0700-1900. Yeah good luck.

[Gheld]

Move to Canada! We're always hiring!