It’s hard to get a job these days

In My Humble Opinion
41

Consider volunteering at a food bank. You’ll meet some really great people, all working hard to help others. You’ll feel awesome, (not at all useless), helping others always improves my mood!

But much more Importantly you will interact with people accustomed to looking past issues in others, to see the real talents that lie beneath. You will interact with people who have the connections you need. They know more about accessing available programs and assistance than anyone. And they’re all connected to other great organizations doing great work.

You may find a welcoming home for your gifts there or maybe cross paths with someone who can help you to a path that really suits your talents. They know people and programs inside out, and live to help others.

My point is, people at such organizations really know the inner workings of the system, and may be able to help lift you to the next level of employment you want.

Just a suggestion, wishing you heaps of good luck!

42

solid advice, here!

43

There’s an interesting set of questions under the Miscellaneous and Personal topics group that the Original Poster might find useful. I couldn’t get it to link but it’s called something like ‘I Keep Answering the Same Interview Question Wrong Dammit.’ It’s from this website and serious but also comical in ways too.

44

So you have a basic grasp of current technology; you’re capable of writing coherently; you have the desire to do more/different things than you currently have going on.

That’s the opposite of useless!

My advice is to grab a pen and comfortable walking shoes (since transportation seems to be an issue) and look for “Now Hiring” signs near you.
If something local seems cool - maybe a fast-food joint where you like to eat anyway, so hey, employee discount on snacks you like! - you can just walk in and ask for an application. Absolutely worst thing that can happen is they say, “Naw.” That’s not too bad, is it?

A lot of those places, they may not be hiring today, but tomorrow someone will quit in a huff or no-call/no-show, and hey presto, they have your number on file already!

Most businesses are usually willing to train anyone who wants to learn. Shadow someone for a couple of shifts, learn a few basic tasks, and there ya go.

All that being said, job hunting is no fun and you’ll get a lot of no replies, no callbacks, and interviews that seem to go so well and then you’re left wondering if you, like, had a booger hanging out of your nose or something when they drop you like a hot potato.
That part does indeed suck.

But just keep plugging at it. Let us know how things go; we’re rooting for you!

45

Congrats first of all, for really making major steps. You’ve faced and surmounted more difficulties than many.

I don’t know anything about Walmart, specifically.

But I do know for 100% certain that anyone with a high school degree who can pass a drug test will be hired by Amazon. Maybe not the hours you’d prefer, and it depends on if you’re near a facility they operate, and also the time of the year when they’re actively recruiting many people.

However, they’re always looking for new hires, because not many people, it seems, are quite “down” with not being able to wear headphones, or use their cellphones on the job, or show up to work.

Very few real “rules,” really. They tend to favor employees who show up, you know, close enough to on time. Doesn’t have to be exact! Most days is good enough, even!

Now happens to be the time when they’re dealing with the massive amounts of seasonal employees they hired during their winter “peak” season (not by firing people, but by giving different schedule options and the like), but they’ll be ramping up soon enough for mid-summer, and, certainly mid-late fall this year.

No experience needed, nor especially wanted: they’ll tell you exactly how they want things done, and at the entry level, while the physical labor can be intense, there are no puzzles to solve or hoops to jump through. Just show up to work, and you’re in for as long as you want to be.

46

But sign holder job is the longest I heard in two years with my current company. Most warehouse jobs I stayed until three months because of my anxiety and I didn’t get any feedback didn’t know if I was doing it properly. Luckily most warehouse I worked in was team work and mostly dealing with food and meat. I did have one warehouse job where I lasted two days because one of the tasks I did was cutting something and I didn’t had good motor skills so I got depressed and quit and drank alcohol until I found my current sign holder job a month later and sticked with since now. That’s why I’m useless. As for retail it was all seasonal so it was two months.

47

Thanks. I have an Amazon in my city so I might walk over there and hand in my resume. In Canada they don’t do drug tests unless it’s for law enforcement jobs or military jobs.

48

I’m glad for you!

Full disclosure, I do have a lot of experience with the company, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you’d be making six figures as a salaried L5 or L6 within two months.

Or, at the very least, just stay at T1 for as long as you want.

Pro-tip, make sure your onboarding Learning Ambassador introduces you to the on-site HR if possible. It’s very easy to switch shifts or locations, and that’s the easy way to make it happen.

49

Hi. Could you tell me what L5, L6 and T1 are? I’ve read the whole thread and just quickly browsed through it again and I don’t see it mentioned anywhere. Thanks.

50

Sure. That’s just the internal job classification system Amazon uses. An entry level job is T1, while a T3 job is typically something called a “process assistant,” which is sort of like a supervisor without any real power, and only minimal wage increases, if any. Any job prefaced with T is paid hourly. An entry-level manager job is an L4, with L5 and L6 being slightly more mid-level managerial, and the overall manager of a specific site is likely an L7, with appropriately more pay and more responsibilities. Any “L” job is salaried and comes with an assortment of bonuses tied to various metrics, as well as other benefits and perks.

Specific wages and salaries vary according to region, of course, but I believe in all nations the company operates, there is a specific “step plan” which includes yearly raises not tied to performance (mostly relevant for hourly workers), as well as annual, regional cost-of-living analyses that usually affect hourly wages.

I don’t have handy a specific web page from this company that outlines their structure, but that’s the basics for the average fulfillment center, sortation center, or delivery station.

All I’d say is that it’s likely the easiest job to get that is also easy to perform, and requires not much more than to show up and do as you’re told.

Probably about the equivalent of a construction site “helper,” in that a T1 position is mostly manual labor, but you’d be working indoors and have structured options for paid time off, some degree of matching for indvidual retirement/savings accounts, and some other standard benefits.

51

Thank you for the explanation.

52

Is there a trade you might be interested in – plumbing, machinist, etc? It’s often hard to know if you’d be suited for a type of work you’ve never done, but a job center can probably test you for aptitude & the internet offers lots of sources for seeing what a job is/does.

You should also try signing up with a temp agency (I’m assuming you have those in Canada). It’s a great way to try different jobs & frequently, if you do good work, companies will offer you a job.

53

In most cases, you need to ASK for feedback, not wait passively to receive it. Most supervisors are actually uncomfortable giving feedback, so this is a task they avoid.
Just ask. Casually is fine - “hey, how are you today? Good, good. Say, how am I doing so far? Any suggestions for me for how to improve?”

You don’t have to schedule a formal meeting or anything.