What field, what kind of job?
I’m at the point where i’m not focusing on any particular field, and i’m finding that even seemingly entry-level jobs are requiring of some level of experience in whichever field it happens to be. Even if it’s just months of experience they’re asking for, that’s not experience I have, and so can’t get. And because the experience asked for is specific, those rather shitty jobs I can apply for (and have, because something’s better than nothing) won’t equip me with the qualifications to apply for them either. It is something of a catch-22.
Offer yourself for unpaid internship, or get voluntary work in your field or a related one.
Neither will pay the bills (though you might get some costs covered at some places), but they really will help with getting work.
I don’t want to turn this into job finding 101 so tell me to stop. Not sure where you live or what your situation is guy/gal, etc. but one way to get moving is to find a job using your best asset right now, your back. Landscaping, mowing lawns, or for a “smaller” back, personal gardening, shopping, stuff like that. Get something going that you can use to earn income and control your own schedule.
Step two, focus on the job that you want. If you need skills, get the training or go to class to get them. If you need the experience, do whatever it takes, literally to get in from of the right person and beg, plead, whatever it takes to get them to take a chance on you. Use your own personal life using your back to finance your job search, to demonstrate the lengths at wich you go to solve problems and attain your goals to get what you want. Someone WILL take notice.
Step three, while all this is going on. Network the shit out of everyone you know. Friend from HS, College, Facebook, the gym, SDMB, whatever. Don’t be afraid of moving to a new opportunity, don’t be ashamed of mooching off of contact to find a gig. Look into temp work, that is a great way to get experience.
I’ve got more but I don’t want to preach. Especially here in the Pit. PM me if you want to chat more.
Quartz, I’ve been there, it’s horrible, beyond description horrible! I lived in a really economically depressed area after I got out of tech school (and the bottom had dropped out of the market/technical area in which I’d trained). Not only was the city of Soldotna (Slow-dotna) and “the Kenai” an awful place to live in general, at the time there was an unofficial unemployment percentage of about 45%. They included not just those collecting actual UE bennies, but those who’d run out of benefits and were struggling to make it doing odd jobs, on public assistance etc.
The weird thing about this area was that it’s a big part of the oil industry in Alaska, so half the people living there were doing well by either working for one of the big oil companies, or one of the oil-supporting industries, such as the environmental company I eventually ended up at, and half (including me at the time) were either, unemployed, way underemployed or on public assistance. This made for a really strange and uncomfortable community atmosphere.
When I was out and about I’d see a lot of those company jackets “Big Oil One” and the like, I’d get so depressed and desperate about being out of work, that I begin to have secret fantasies about going up to the jacket wearers and begging them to (at the very least) help me get my foot in the door.
Here’s the sort of weird/good part of that. When the seasonal “turnarounds” started occurring at the oil companies I wrote a letter to a guy who worked at one of the “big three” and with whom I’d taken a class (just a PE class, but we took a few semesters together and he was a great guy), anyway, I basically said, in business-ese, “hey, remember me? Do you think you could put a good word in for me”? And it worked, the company called me up and I got a few good months out of the deal on a turnaround, pretty decent money as well. It didn’t get me full time work, but the work, (AND some of the certs I got while there) did get me a decent little gem on my resume (I was just then starting in the industry), and eventually sort of helped me get my start in the environmental field (roundabout way, and longer more boring story).
If I missed this I apologize, but you said in your OP that you applied for “ordinary” jobs, did you mean interim jobs outside your normal field? If not, is that something you can consider in your area? There are many times in my life when I’ve been between “real” jobs, that I’ve had 3 or 4 part time interim jobs (and terribly sucky ones at that).
I know they can be awful, but just knowing that most of the bills are paid can give you that confidence to ace an interview (as opposed to that “if I don’t get this I’m going down in flames” feeling).
Best of luck!
Entry level what? Investment banker? Architect? Caterer? You can’t be like “jack-of-all-trades looking to do any job that needs doing”. That’s a recipe for a long and frustrating job search.