The first one hasn’t given me any response at all. When I call in to follow up–they just say to keep reminding them.
The second one actually called back about a week later and said they had no openings for me.
The third one asked me to leave 10 minutes after I walked in because I had no work experience. (I was pissed at that one. I had an appointment scheduled a day in advance and had spent all morning getting all excited and ready to make a good impression. Besides—work experience? At a job agency?)
This sucks. With each passing day, my chances of finding work are even -less- likely because of my plans to get moving along at the end of December. At this point–I think I can still -afford- to leave, but I’ll have so little money once I do that any tiny obstacle could turn into a financial disaster. I’ve been looking for work since the beginning of summer. Checking classifieds every day. Calling numbers on whims and driving around applying for just about any crap-can job I can find, and It’s always the same story. It’s either already been filled, or they dismiss me and say ‘we’re just screening’. Or they just reject me.
It’s hard -not- to get really disillusioned with the world. Job agencies…College joblines…ads in the newspaper–and nothing.
It’s a very good thing that there are no sleazy porn directors in the city where I live. If some guy took out a camera and waved a $10 bill in front of me, I’d be all over the floor.
It seems like good looks are the only thing people have ever noticed about me. It makes me sick.
Ashley, I just found a job after looking for two fucking months, all the while living in Manhattan and paying Manhattan rent. I used to have savings - now I don’t. How long have you been looking, two weeks? Gimme a break.
About 4 months, my dear. And while your job search may have been in the monthly range, as well–I haven’t even gotten an -interview-.
Believe me when I say it’s rediculous. And I’m not being picky, either. I mentioned in my previous post about being unable to get a job wiping toilets at an amusement park.
Ashley, I’m sorry to hear about your run of bad luck. Getting a job with no experience can be a pain in the ass, I know of what you speak.
I see from your profile that you are a college student. Are there no student jobs? I had work-study in college and held a couple jobs through that program. It paid lousy, but I got a lot of experience, and offered a flexible schedule.
Check out retail to see if they’re hiring seasonal workers. It’s not too early - I work in a bookstore, and we’re already seeing the holiday rush begin, and my boss is talking about hiring high schoolers to help with the wrapping. Again, a shit job, but it’s experience. It’s the ability to put a reference on your resume.
Have you ever done volunteer work? Put this on your resume! That’s experience! Just because you don’t have actual paid work experience doesn’t necessarily mean you aren’t qualified. Clearly, you can use a computer. You have a high school diploma. These two attributes alone (plus some fast talking) can get you a job.
My guess is you’ve tried a lot of this stuff, but I can only encourage you to continue. (I just noticed that you said you’re driving around - if you have a car, pizza delivery places are ALWAYS hiring.)
I don’t know a whole lot about your situation. You say you are planning to move in December. Is there a reason you can’t move earlier than that. What fields are you looking for. Don’t discount temp work for paying the rent, there are lot of companies willing to pay a fair amount for secretarial or data entry work short term.
I have -some- volunteer experience to speak of. Nothing grand or long-term, though. The college job-line didn’t help. There was only one job that I qualified for as a first-time freshman, and it was already outdated and taken.
Anyways…I’m trying. But it’s difficult. I begin to feel like the things the Counselor used to tell me in high school about getting high grades was all a crock.
Just needed to rant somewhere after that agency debacle got me all incensed.
I went to three separate agencies looking for temp work. 2 of them have yielded no hope. 3rd one is still alive, but not yielding any responses yet. I can’t move out any earlier than late December because winter quarter at the college doesn’t get out until then.
Tomorrow will be another day! Maybe things will be more hopeful!
The most important thing to remember is ** don’t give up.** Keep plugging away at all kinds of places. Just because a place doesn’t have an opening today, doesn’t mean they won’t have one tomorrow.
I have to say that a lot of places won’t hire people because they don’t have experience. In most situations that is just plain crap. How do they expect a person to get experience if they won’t hire you so you can get experience? Everybody has to start somewhere, afterall. Jeez.
I once was out of work for 3 months. No unemployment. No nothing. And at Christmas time, no less. I was at my wits end on what to do. I persevered. I kept looking. Finally, my perseverence paid off. The point is, keep on keepin’ on. Good luck.
I was out of work for a whole freaking year. This was 1991, when the unemployment situation was so bad, extensions were granted for people receiving unemployment check. I couldn’t even get a minimum wage job at a retail store. Finally, just as my extension was about to expire, I got a seasonal job at a department store. I had hoped they would keep me on permanently, but they didn’t. Fortunately, I found a permanent job quickly, if you can call it that, I was laid off in two months. It took another week to find a permanent job where I actually worked for two and a half years.
If you’ve ever thought about moving to Las Vegas, downtown casinos are screaming for craps dealers right now. Most of the dealer’s schools have closed, the ones that are left have about half the number of students they did a couple of years ago, and they keep building megaresorts that are sucking up all the dealers. Dealer’s school isn’t all that expensive, and you can learn the game well enough to get into a break-in house in less than two months. A lot of the downtown casinos will also teach you other games while you work there, which will make you a valuable commodity when you’re ready to move up to the Strip.
When I was in college (not all THAT long ago!), food service was always hiring. Yeah, it’s not glamorous, or even that much fun, but a job’s a job. In that vein, have you tried fast food places? All of the ones around here are offering decent starting wages, and will hire almost anyone, experience or no. Again, a sucky job, but it’s experience for your resume. If you are truly desperate to get a job, suck it up and apply at McD’s.
–tygre, who ,yes, HAS worked fast food, and it ain’t nothing grand, but the money spends all the same.
Okay, some people really need to work on their reading comprehension. Ashtar, you have my sincere respect for resisting the urge to tell Alessan where to shove it - especially since we’re in the pit here.
Have you considered waitressing, Ashtar? You probably won’t get a job at a good restaurant without experience, but Shoney’s will hire anyone. Plus, good-looking waitresses always get good tips. If you work at a halfway busy restaurant, you should be able to pull in $10/hour.