Job hunting is like numbly pulling the lever over and over on a slot machine that's programmed to never pay out.
Why do we keep playing this game, application after application, interview after interview, nothing to show for it, not even a reply. They know they can get away with treating us like shit because we have no other choice. But we'll starve on the street either way, won't we? Is there anything that can be done?
I know this has nothing to do with agnosticism or atheism, but there are a lot of politically active folks on here. Maybe someone here knows something I don't?
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.I feel your pain. I've been looking for a new job for nearly a year and I've all but lost hope
Gypsy31771
Level 6
June 25, 2018
1
The constant rejection is completely demoralizing. The more you need the job the more painful it is, made even worse by lowering yourself and taking a crappy job out of desperation. i would say network, cast a wide net, and get as much advice from all sources as possible. Talk to people in your career field and ask for help. Online job applications are pointless, you need to follow up with contacting people.
NJSnarky
Level 6
June 25, 2018
0
I was told that employers considered calling them after an interview to be harrassment. ?
@memorylikeasieve You can send thank you letters though. That is encouraged and NOT considered harassment.
@demifeministgal I can't believe stroking their egos has become that normalised. ?
@memorylikeasieve I think it is less about stroking their egos and more about leaving a positive impression and helping them remember you? Stand out from the competition, so to speak?
Corporations could not invent a more dehumanizing process if they tried.
TonyMacaroni
Level 6
June 25, 2018
1
Job hunting can be utterly soul destroying. I know things are a little different here in the UK, but your analogy works just as well. I've been looking for full-time work since last October (applying for approximately 150 - 200 jobs per month) yet all I've managed to secure is a low-paid Apprenticeship.
"I was looking for a job and then I found a job
And heaven knows I'm miserable now"
Godless12
Level 5
June 25, 2018
0
More and more is seems that is all about who you know, not what you know.
Flyingsaucesir
Level 8
June 25, 2018
3
I stopped. I am done with the work force. After the newspaper job died i looked and looked good jobs like the paper are not there. And with my handicap and age i found i am not hireable. It is burtal and going from a living wage and benfits to crappy min wage. I am just waiting for ssd. Looking at new thing to do.
DavidAckerman
Level 5
June 25, 2018
0
This might help you laugh.
"This is a Job Hunt poem I threw together for a humorous speech contest."
pixiedust
Level 8
June 25, 2018
0
? I like it!
There's alot one can do by getting active. Corporation tax breaks were for reinvestment in more jobs. Instead it was dvideo up and split between the CEOS as new gains all the while hiring from temp services for temp jobs to report an increase in employment.
MartinG
Level 6
June 25, 2018
0
Get active with whom? I don't even know where to start looking. ?
@memorylikeasieve to start with , Social media. Facebook and Twitter that carry political voices around the world. Study these topics that matter to you most. Find those that also see these things as you and discuss them. Then you debate those that opposes the ideas. These posts and debates are read by the thousands.
Statements posted on YouTube are past on by the hundreds and again seen by thousands. However before using YouTube you definitely want to have your ducks in a row and prepare for the most horrid of comments. Don't get involved with the comments. Viewers will debate each other.
Podcasts are also a good media share that followers can download and listen to at their convenience.
I believe it's a inherent problems in our system that cause this jumble of jobs as well as the ridiculous specialization that employees are looking for. I doesn't seem to me like business value anything other than specialization in their employees. In my view specialization is for ants not for humans.
To talk about the inherent problems in the system first I will speak a little about the federal reserve and our banking system. Firstly as soon as you are born you are held as surety to the debt of the federal reserve which if you don't know is a private entity. When you receive your social security card you are in the financial system. When you are in the financial system you can't get out. Even if you are fantastically rich your income tax money is paying for the interest the federal reserve charges the Treasury to print are money.
Also I think are education system sets people up for failure and has intolerant problems. Firstly I could speak to the vast difference between education in different parts of even a city. Though I want to speak more about competition. Competition is what has made up schooling, competition for the best grades competition in sports, you are set up from the beginning to compete with the person next to you. Though this is done subtlety it still I believe has a profound effect on peoples psyche.
Those are my thoughts on the matter!
msalyards
Level 4
June 25, 2018
1
May I ask what kind of job you're seeking,and where (geographically)?
bigpawbullets
Level 9
June 25, 2018
1
In Tacoma. Right now I'm on medical leave, but my housemate, who is the same age as me, has a biomedical certification and tonnes of tech and office experience cannot get employers to even look at her resume most of the time, even just for a full-time office job. That's with the help of the Dept of Vocational Rehabilitation and an advocate.
@memorylikeasieve
Is she on the job site, LinkedIn?
@bigpawbullets yep. And about half a dozen others.
Ok. So, I've been out of job searching for decades.
But, from what folks (of all ages and experience levels) tell me, you're not going to get a job from simply sending out resumes. Or, at least, the probability is very low. The highest probability of securing a good job is through networking. Networking with hiring managers, Human resources staff, and influencers. Tough for introverts. There are books on how to do this.
@bigpawbullets awgawd, it's come to that?
She and I had better start looking for that sticking place to screw our courage to. ?
@memorylikeasieve
I know kiddo.
But in today's "world of work" , that's the reality.
Because of The Reserve Army Of Labour (Engels/Marx).
Capitalist nations deliberately cultivate unemployment to keep inflation low, prevent strikes and to pay low wages.
The unemployed are made to suffer to make them desperate. They are a visual deterrent for all those working - 'don't complain'.
That's why there will always be more people than jobs.
Ellatynemouth
Level 8
June 25, 2018
4
Sounds about right. ?
Glad i am.done with that
Eventually you will reach that plateau where you retire and smile to those that hate you because they have to work and you don't.
GipsyOfNewSpain
Level 9
June 25, 2018
2
And isn't this an interesting place to be? 5+ years for me.
@bigpawbullets Tell me about it, year 3, tried twice to work again, didn't completed 2 weeks. Motivation was vacated. My sister keep asking me, "Don't you want more money?"
@GipsyOfNewSpain
I always laugh at the "money" comments.
No folks, I want more time.
@bigpawbullets Don't you love to be hated for being Rich in a Currency they can't afford? ....Time.
Why don't you become they? Why don't you be the boss? Start your own company.
Anonbene
Level 8
June 25, 2018
1
Because you need money to make money.
She has a point. I'm 50 bucks in the hole with no income prospects at the moment. Starting a business is a good idea, but not feasible with no capital.
Once upon a time you had money. What happened to it?
@Ellatynemouth, @memorylikeasieve
I would say that is when it is most feasable.
Food and bills happened.
Not everyone is middle class!!!!!
I admit I have something of an advantage being a white male but I was broke and about homeless when I made my money and I invented developed and created my thing on my own. Anyone can do what I did. No money no forms no meetings no approvals necessary or penis required.
Its actually easier if you aren't encumbered by a job.
There is nothing more offensive than those who've 'made it' lecturing those who haven't.
Perhaps if you searched for some people who are living on the streets, for whatever reason, and you shared your wisdom with them.
Your dismissal of the reality that defines other people's lives, which doesn't fit your meritocracy propaganda, is the reason I shall dismiss you.
@Ellatynemouth
I can see how that would offend you. Maybe just enough to inspire you to change. Don't blame others for your failures.
@Anonbene You really need to read research on the myth of meritocracy. If hard work and intelligence paid off in its own right, there wouldn't be millions of intelligent/hardworking unemployed or underemployed people. Most businesses started actually end up failing. You are the exception, not the norm.
@Anonbene "it is not the amount of ability and effort an individual puts into their education that determines how well they do, but rather their class background.
The simple reality is that being born into a middle class family means that middle class children benefit from material and cultural capital which give them an advantage in both school, and in the job application process, which gives them an unfair advantage compared to working class children.
As with educational success, what explains high income is family background – the combination of an individual’s class, gender and ethnicity are much better predictors of someone’s income rather than their IQ – educational qualifications are of much more value to the white, middle class male, than to the black, working class female."
@Anonbene Also not everyone can be entrepreneurs. We need labourers to do the actual work. If everyone was an entrepreneur nobody would be successful and society would go to shit. Also this: [forbes.com]
@demifeministgal
Lucky for me I didn't read nor was I influenced by articles saying I couldn't do what I've been doing for 35 years.
@Ellatynemouth
I'll give you the $10 it takes to get started.
@Ellatynemouth, @demifeministgal
Its most likely I succeeded because I didn't read the research. Having read the research and believing it is why you likely won't succeed. You two sound like you spend a lot of time finding research just to back up your lack of trying.
That guy over there said I won't succeed because (something I have in common with it) so I won't even try.
@demifeministgal, @Ellatynemouth
On the myth of meritocracy
So obviously you've learned everything and only respect people that have failed at everything?
Parents teachers bosses older people experienced people are all wrong?
You two are really commited to being victims.
Everything you two think on this subject is wrong. I can't help people that refuse to be helped. Good luck with your "facts"
@Anonbene You sound like closed minded simpleton that thinks your anecdote can be applied to the masses. As I said you are the exception not the norm. And to talk down to people as the exception is kinda gross. Not to mention, I do NOT want to be an entrepreneur. So you saying that I am looking for excuses to why I haven't made it is asinine as I do not want to be self employed. I was trying to educate you but you are a closed mind and lost cause so I should not have wasted my time. Enjoy your closed-minded, judgemental life.
My youngest son has Asperger's. He's been applying for jobs for over 6yrs. These companies don't even give him the courtesy of a "no thank you". The thing is, he's a good worker however no one wants to even take a chance on him. It's heartbreaking when you watch your child being rejected over something he is unable to control.
kiramea
Level 7
June 25, 2018
3
That's awful. One of our most valuable employees has Asperger's. He's brilliant at spotting patterns which is exactly what his position requires.
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