Impossible to find a job

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hi

I have applied to at 20 different places online and have not heard back from one. I never have had a job before. Do you think it is easy to apply in store? Has anyone ever had luck applying online?

I have gotten job leads on-line but I always bring my resume in person and check back in a week to see if they have hired yet...many places want you to jump through hoops to prove that you really want the job(because it is expenssive to train someone who may just quit in a week). It is very difficult for me but you have to show some persistence in showing interestto stand out from the 100 other people that applied for the same job.

It is harder to get a job if you have no experience but everyone has to start somewhere to get the experience. Did you fill out the applications on-line? If so, did you make sure to include all your life experiences that might hep you with doing the job? There are some state web-sites that help with knowing the kind of things that a human resources person might be looking for in applications,(to make your stand out from the rest).

All said...I hate looking for work more then most jobs I've done...it's hard work. I wish you luck.

I've sent dozens of applications online just to get 4 or 5 responses, and I have been hired from them. It's discouraging, but hang tough. Some places will appreciate you showing up in person to apply. Call and ask what they prefer - it will make a good impression from the start and set you apart from the others. If they say to come in, ask what you will need to bring.

After an interview ask them how they would prefer your follow-up letter: email, fax or mail. Then write a thank you letter once you get home telling them what you liked about the interview and the company and why you're a good fit for the job. No negative comments.

I hope this helps.

you can ignore email
you can ignore phone calls
you can ignore snail mail
but if someone shows up at your business, you have to deal with them...

I haven't had to apply for a job for 21 years (and hope it's another 21 before I do again), but the personal touch helps.

Ya, anyone can sit at home in their birthday suit... online is not reliable.

Like you, I used to send out dozens of applications every week and never got any replies other than the automated reply emails.


I got a job through a job placement agency (which I had to walk to their office and take computer tests and give them a hard copy of my resume) and they got me a job.

In that job, about a year after, I had the opportunity to do some of the hiring for my department. That's when I knew why my applications never got replied to.

And here's why:

Get to work, turn on my computer. There are 500+ emails. They all contain an attachment (MS WORD resumes).

At the same time, I had about 5 people coming into our office every day with a resume in hand to apply for that job. I did not interview them but ... their resumes were right in front of me.. in paper.

I told myself i'd like to get the BEST applicant for the job and I'd look over the email applicants.

Sadly though, my job was not just 'hiring' I had other duties to do. Being constantly interrupted while browsing an email applicant's email every day and having to wait a day or two for the email applicant to reply back (if they ever did) AND being backed up on my workload...

I ended up ignoring the email applicants and taking in only those that walked into our office, let me see their resumes... and I could give them a short interview on the spot.

In fact, I ended up hiring one of the 2 positions we had open on the spot. His resume was a little better than some of the email applicants but he was there, in person and it made MY life a whole lot easier to hire him than some Einstein whose resume was probably halfway down my unread email list.

So... get yourself decent clothing (business casual), print 20 copies of your resume and burn some gasoline. It pays off.

Yeah, online is easy to apply to, which means hundreds of other people are applying to. The only time I've ever had success applying online was when I had a very specialized skill for a specialized job. You have a little more luck if you apply through a company's website than if you just apply to a job ad posted on monster or hotjobs.com.

Applying in person can be a good idea, especially if you're applying to a store. Sometimes they'll interview you right then, if you go to a smaller store during a slow period. If you can go in the middle of a weekday, say around 2 pm, you're more likely to find the manager around and they're not busy. If you're at school, you can also try 3 or 4 pm. After that, you may as well just drop off your application and wait for them to call.

When I was looking for my first job I dropped off dozens of applications around town. When I looked for my first job after university I emailed hundreds of applications. I think it's just a matter of sending out tons of applications to every place you'd like to work - don't just wait until they place a job ad or put up a "now hiring" sign. Ask your friends with jobs to tell you when the company starts hiring new staff. Also, you might want to review your resume and cover letter - can they be improved in any way? If you haven't already, get your friends, family, teachers, etc, to look over your applications and see if there are any typos or things that you can do to enhance what you send out.

And just be patient. A company may not call you the week after you drop of your application. Often they'll keep it on file for a few weeks or months until they're ready to hire and then you'll get that call. So just keep waitng, keep looking, and don't give up!

I started out as a temp. It's easier to find temporary work, and the temp agency would be helping you with finding it. Sometimes a temp job will turn into a permanent job. And sometimes it's just a way to get some experience so that your resume will look prettier to the HR people at a permanent job you want. Either way, it's not a bad way to start.

i haven't found work in 4 years and every place i've applied at everyone has denied me and i am getting upset that everyone seems to think i am not good enough to work

I can't find a job either, so I decided to start my own business. The CEO can't fire himself, after all. I went to college and technical school only to find that there were no jobs in what I'd trained to be when I got out. I graduated from college a month before 9-11. Then in 2005 I trained to be a computer technician only to find that they CAN offshore it. So, no job. I finally decided to work for myself.