[VanillaBean]

Hi all. Like millions of other people, I am having a heck of a time finding a job. It is beginning to affect my self-esteem, and I find myself growing very frustrated with friends and family when they inquire as to how my search is going.

I'm 30 years old, smart, capable, with a good employment history. I have never been terminated from a job. I have been working, with only a couple of periods of unemployment (each lasting around a month), since I was 16 years old. I do not have a college degree; I did attend a university but had to defer and have yet to go back. But I have never had any difficulty finding, and holding down, a job until fairly recently.

In 2007 I was laid off from my job as a mortgage processor, after two years with the company. Before that I did title examination for three years. After my layoff I promptly found work at a bank as an administrative assistant. After three months there, I was laid off. Desperate to have some sort of income, I filed for unemployment and also did some work part-time for a relative who owned a cleaning company. When she lost a couple of accounts and no longer needed my help, I began working for a family friend who owned a state-licensed daycare. I loved it, but then summertime rolled around, and most of the parents whose kids she took care of were schoolteachers. She didn't need my help anymore.

So I moved to a different part of the country, where the economy isn't quite so poor, and am living with my aunt. I have been looking diligently for work literally since I arrived (it's been 2.5 months). I am not being picky, either - I have applied at restaurants, coffee shops, and even went to the local mall and applied at virtually every store there. I have applied at several fast-food restaurants. When I walk in to these places I always make sure I am dressed professionally and the whole nine yards. I have done the whole networking thing - talking to neighbors and friends. They all know what my qualifications are and some have even given me applications to fill out, or have told me to submit my resume to their manager, and they'd put in a good word for me. And of course, I spend a ton of time on websites like Monster, CareerBuilder, craigslist, etc. I have had several successful family members review my resume and according to them, it is a "good" resume, one that clearly states my qualifications, is free of spelling and grammatical errors, and is "interesting" enough to grab the attention of anyone that matters.

None of this has yielded any results. Sometimes the comments I hear from my family and friends make me think they believe I am not really trying to find a job. It's frustrating and upsetting.

I mostly just wanted to vent but if anyone has any tips at all for me, I'd appreciate it very much!

[Peppermint_Patty]

Hi VanillaBean,

Originally Posted by VanillaBean

Hi all. Like millions of other people, I am having a heck of a time finding a job. It is beginning to affect my self-esteem, and I find myself growing very frustrated with friends and family when they inquire as to how my search is going.

I'm 30 years old, smart, capable, with a good employment history. I have never been terminated from a job. I have been working, with only a couple of periods of unemployment (each lasting around a month), since I was 16 years old. I do not have a college degree; I did attend a university but had to defer and have yet to go back. But I have never had any difficulty finding, and holding down, a job until fairly recently.

In 2007 I was laid off from my job as a mortgage processor, after two years with the company. Before that I did title examination for three years. After my layoff I promptly found work at a bank as an administrative assistant. After three months there, I was laid off. Desperate to have some sort of income, I filed for unemployment and also did some work part-time for a relative who owned a cleaning company. When she lost a couple of accounts and no longer needed my help, I began working for a family friend who owned a state-licensed daycare. I loved it, but then summertime rolled around, and most of the parents whose kids she took care of were schoolteachers. She didn't need my help anymore.

So I moved to a different part of the country, where the economy isn't quite so poor, and am living with my aunt. I have been looking diligently for work literally since I arrived (it's been 2.5 months). I am not being picky, either - I have applied at restaurants, coffee shops, and even went to the local mall and applied at virtually every store there. I have applied at several fast-food restaurants. When I walk in to these places I always make sure I am dressed professionally and the whole nine yards. I have done the whole networking thing - talking to neighbors and friends. They all know what my qualifications are and some have even given me applications to fill out, or have told me to submit my resume to their manager, and they'd put in a good word for me. And of course, I spend a ton of time on websites like Monster, CareerBuilder, craigslist, etc. I have had several successful family members review my resume and according to them, it is a "good" resume, one that clearly states my qualifications, is free of spelling and grammatical errors, and is "interesting" enough to grab the attention of anyone that matters.

None of this has yielded any results. Sometimes the comments I hear from my family and friends make me think they believe I am not really trying to find a job. It's frustrating and upsetting.

I mostly just wanted to vent but if anyone has any tips at all for me, I'd appreciate it very much!

Have you tried signing up with any temporary employment agencies? If you haven't, I would sign up with as many of them (10 or more) as you can find in the yellow pages of your phone book.

While the agencies may not have any jobs at the moment, once you are signed up with them, you want to keep calling each of them twice a week (every Monday and Wednesday morning).

Many temp agencies not only have temp assignments, but a lot of them also offer "temp to perm" assignments where you work several months with a company and if the company likes you, you get hired on. In addition, many temp agencies provide free training on software like Microsoft Excel, Word, Powerpoint, etc.

I have worked with several of them over the years and found a couple of my permanent jobs and even a consulting job this way, so do give them a call. And in the meantime, hang in there, things will get better.

[VanillaBean]

Hi Patty,

Thanks for the suggestion. I actually have gone to a few employment placement agencies as well, but forgot to mention that in my first post. I will definitely call/visit more of these. I'm a little embarrassed to admit I hadn't thought to call them twice a week. Now I will!

[Rmdctc]

I hope you can find a job soon. Sounds like your doing as much as you can. Your not a loser. Lots of people cant find work its not personal just the way things are now. I wish you lots of luck!

[Timgt5]

Originally Posted by VanillaBean

Hi all. Like millions of other people, I am having a heck of a time finding a job. It is beginning to affect my self-esteem, and I find myself growing very frustrated with friends and family when they inquire as to how my search is going.

I'm 30 years old, smart, capable, with a good employment history. I have never been terminated from a job. I have been working, with only a couple of periods of unemployment (each lasting around a month), since I was 16 years old. I do not have a college degree; I did attend a university but had to defer and have yet to go back. But I have never had any difficulty finding, and holding down, a job until fairly recently.

In 2007 I was laid off from my job as a mortgage processor, after two years with the company. Before that I did title examination for three years. After my layoff I promptly found work at a bank as an administrative assistant. After three months there, I was laid off. Desperate to have some sort of income, I filed for unemployment and also did some work part-time for a relative who owned a cleaning company. When she lost a couple of accounts and no longer needed my help, I began working for a family friend who owned a state-licensed daycare. I loved it, but then summertime rolled around, and most of the parents whose kids she took care of were schoolteachers. She didn't need my help anymore.

So I moved to a different part of the country, where the economy isn't quite so poor, and am living with my aunt. I have been looking diligently for work literally since I arrived (it's been 2.5 months). I am not being picky, either - I have applied at restaurants, coffee shops, and even went to the local mall and applied at virtually every store there. I have applied at several fast-food restaurants. When I walk in to these places I always make sure I am dressed professionally and the whole nine yards. I have done the whole networking thing - talking to neighbors and friends. They all know what my qualifications are and some have even given me applications to fill out, or have told me to submit my resume to their manager, and they'd put in a good word for me. And of course, I spend a ton of time on websites like Monster, CareerBuilder, craigslist, etc. I have had several successful family members review my resume and according to them, it is a "good" resume, one that clearly states my qualifications, is free of spelling and grammatical errors, and is "interesting" enough to grab the attention of anyone that matters.

None of this has yielded any results. Sometimes the comments I hear from my family and friends make me think they believe I am not really trying to find a job. It's frustrating and upsetting.

I mostly just wanted to vent but if anyone has any tips at all for me, I'd appreciate it very much!

I have been through this recently, I was laid off from a bank I worked at in June. I managed to get several interviews, but they were for entry level positions that I was over-qualified for, so I was turned down. Ultimatly after mailing out scores of resume's, making lots of phone calls and sifiting through a ton of emails I got lucky at the end of August and found a good job.

So I am definately with you on the the difficulty and frustration this can be especially in this economy. If you have not done this already, set yourself up in "Linkedin" its a free business network that works somewhat like facebook. Once you are on, search for former co-workers and other collegues from your old job, include those who left while you were there. A lot of times they can help you out. Networking is definately a major aid in this process.

Also if you have not thought of it, maybe voluntier in your local community, maybe at the museum, or community center. It is a good way to meet people who could help you later on (often a lot of management folks voluntier to pad their own credentials and resumes)

I wish you the best of luck, do not get discouraged, and keep pushing forward.

[splitimage]

I would definitely second the idea of joining linked-in and putting up a profile. I get a call from headhunters at least every couple of months simply because they've seen and liked my profile. It's passive job hunting but it makes me feel better to know I'm marketable even though I'm not in a position to change jobs now.

You might also enquire at your local employment office if there are any job finding clubs or networking groups. When I lost my last job, I joined one up here, that had weekly meetings with interesting speakers, and it was a good way to expand my network. They also had a website where you could post your profile, and it was through that, that I got my current job. They also did mailings to recruiters quarterly with member profiles.

Good luck - I know how tough the economy is.

--splitimage