The job hunt is really frustrating me right now.

[LuvOrlando]

Ghost Jobs CNBC link

You’ll never know. It’s a crappy thing a lot of companies do “just in case”. Don’t beat yourself up as there is literally nothing you can do to get these jobs since they don’t even exist. There is no way to know if you’re interviewing for one.

This feels like psychological warfare

 

[Southernmiss]

I think you need to broaden your area of job search.

Have you tried UPS, FedEx, and any other major shipping company near you? The ones local to me are always hiring.

How about hospitals, retirement homes, Veterans Admin Homes or in-patient facilities? They often need janitorial/housekeeping/general maintenance/patient transport help and kitchen staff. I would walk in person into these places and ask.

And I agree. Try any temp agency you can think of. There are also in person job fairs there were 2 in my area this week.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I think you need to broaden your area of job search.

Have you tried UPS, FedEx, and any other major shipping company near you? The ones local to me are always hiring. How about hospitals, retirement homes, or in-patient facilities? They often need janitorial/housekeeping/general maintenance/patient transport help and kitchen staff.

And I agree. Try any temp agency you can think of. There are also in person job fairs there were 2 in my area this week.

Exactly where my mind was! Branch out, let go the idea of holiday work. Nobody wants to hire someone they know they’ll have to fire in a potential fit of tears at Xmas, much easier to hire someone only looking for a couple months of cash.

Our area airport has been advertising a job fair next month as they are expanding. And flying recently I know I’ve seen other airports advertising job fairs. Sounds random, but maybe check with your airport too if you have one nearby? Also, do you have an industrial area with large warehouses and companies operating out of them? Take a drive around and note each of them and check their websites for positions.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I am helping someone look and am seeing the exact same thing, people are out of work for months and months and the process is very disheartening. Hopefully knowing it isn't just you helps with the upset

I'm now suspicious of the algorithms people depend on to see jobs. It used to be a newspaper which made it all very fair but now that it is all digital I wonder would it really be tough for an adversary to be disruptive here? Funnel job seeker attention to a short list to drive up negative results. Linked in and indeed have always been fishy for collecting info in people. It is an easy way to do damage and sadly, this is the world we live in now.

What I've been doing is looking at facilities that I know exist and checking their 'careers' page. Also looking at indeed and Linked in etc then opening up another tab and checking the individual business to see if the open position actually exists and sharing the direct link with the person. I am shocked at how many jobsare fake and how often businesses caution against fake job postings in their name, it is a lot.

Grocery stores and such have signs up lately, hospitals and healthcare and many hotels are looking to help with the holiday rush. Try going to their sites one by one.

 

[whiteness]

I really feel for you, OP. I've been there, myself, so I know how it feels.

In my opinion, anyone that is willing to work hard and sacrifice to provide for themselves and their family should have that opportunity.

If I was in a position to offer you a job, I would. I am praying for you and I hope that folks out there who are in a position to help read this thread and PM you to start that discussion.

 

[Southernmiss]

I know 2 degreed people who have been looking for work since May.

They each will start jobs using their degrees in October.

It has been a long process from interview to starting work. So many background and employment history checks.

 

[StarCruzer]

I used to work for UPS corporate and I can tell you, the hiring frenzy for them is nuts. It's hard work but they can never seem to hire enough people. We'd have a 3rd of the corporate workers being called to operations to drive the package cars and help move boxes by the time Black Friday rolled in. I'd say the real hiring for them starts in October, as peak season is Oct-Feb.

If you're looking for remote work, RatRaceRebellion is a great resource; the frequently have jobs which don't require a degree. Remember that the job market is tight and your best bet is to apply within 24 hours especially with remote work since it's in high demand.

Edited to add: When I was in college I did work for Advantage Sales & Marketing and it was pretty good. They do product sales in specific stores (I sold Sony gaming products in Best Buy, and to do a lot of Costo sample work.)

 

[DCLMP]

I just want to know that I will eventually get an offer if I keep trying, but I'm just not so confident about it anymore. You'd think there'd be more openings than applicants during holiday season.

Ghosting is the worst. I think you have to be a sociopath to be a recruiter. Sorry any recruiters out there, but maybe you can explain it.

I hope things get better. Just know you are not alone. There are many forums on reddit about this if you need another place to vent.

 

[Foxhound3857]

I used to work for UPS corporate and I can tell you, the hiring frenzy for them is nuts. It's hard work but they can never seem to hire enough people. We'd have a 3rd of the corporate workers being called to operations to drive the package cars and help move boxes by the time Black Friday rolled in. I'd say the real hiring for them starts in October, as peak season is Oct-Feb.

If you're looking for remote work, RatRaceRebellion is a great resource; the frequently have jobs which don't require a degree. Remember that the job market is tight and your best bet is to apply within 24 hours especially with remote work since it's in high demand.

Edited to add: When I was in college I did work for Advantage Sales & Marketing and it was pretty good. They do product sales in specific stores (I sold Sony gaming products in Best Buy, and to do a lot of Costo sample work.)

My experience is in Warehouse Stocking/Receiving, but I was hoping that experience would translate well into a retail job because they often are filling Stocking/Receiving positions, and I'm trying to get a retail position to build upon my skillset, namely to be cross-trained as a Cashier and get some Customer Service experience. I have some via my time volunteering at Lifestream in the past but I'm always looking to expand my skillset and build my resume.

The only thing I can do is keep trying. The Target rejection was pretty disheartening because it came not even 24 hours after I applied. But I've also heard something about them doing most of their hiring via word of mouth by their own employees, and supposedly it's hard to get hired by Target. I don't know if there's any truth to that, it's only what I've heard from others who have worked there.

I could very well be wrong about my resume, but my former Supervisor looked it over when I was still applying for specialist positions at Nordstrom, before we got word of the building closure, and he said it was even better than his own. I'm gonna attach it to this post just to see if anyone has any recommendations to improve it.

This isn't the DocX version I have btw: The one I turn into hiring managers has prettier formatting.

 

[tony67]

My experience is in Warehouse Stocking/Receiving, but I was hoping that experience would translate well into a retail job because they often are filling Stocking/Receiving positions, and I'm trying to get a retail position to build upon my skillset, namely to be cross-trained as a Cashier and get some Customer Service experience. I have some via my time volunteering at Lifestream in the past but I'm always looking to expand my skillset and build my resume.

The only thing I can do is keep trying. The Target rejection was pretty disheartening because it came not even 24 hours after I applied. But I've also heard something about them doing most of their hiring via word of mouth by their own employees, and supposedly it's hard to get hired by Target. I don't know if there's any truth to that, it's only what I've heard from others who have worked there.

I could very well be wrong about my resume, but my former Supervisor looked it over when I was still applying for specialist positions at Nordstrom, before we got word of the building closure, and he said it was even better than his own. I'm gonna attach it to this post just to see if anyone has any recommendations to improve it.

This isn't the DocX version I have btw: The one I turn into hiring managers has prettier formatting.

Did you try Lowes and Home Depot?

 

[Foxhound3857]

Did you try Lowes and Home Depot?

I haven't yet seen any openings for Home Depot on CalJobs or Indeed, otherwise I would have applied.

I had an interview for an Overnight Stocking position at Lowes a little over two weeks ago. I called back the hiring manager a week later, they said they were still deciding. Then last night I got the rejection email. =/

 

[tony67]

.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Go to the location with resume in hand. Ask to speak to the manager. Charm the manager into hiring you. That was that was the way we did it in the old days.

Make sure you are neatly dressed (not overly) and in a positive mood. You need a job. You are willing to do what it takes to move up the ladder. You have one minute to impress the manager.

Practice your short, one minute introduction. Everything you say, how you present yourself, counts. You can do it! Do it in person!

GOOD LUCK!

In most cases, they're going to tell you to apply on their website. The in person hiring strategy doesn't really work anymore.

 

[tony67]

I haven't yet seen any openings for Home Depot on CalJobs or Indeed, otherwise I would have applied.

I had an interview for an Overnight Stocking position at Lowes a little over two weeks ago. I called back the hiring manager a week later, they said they were still deciding. Then last night I got the rejection email. =/

Yeah - they were the ones I was looking at - Lowes - they got me in for a Pro Services job and tried to get me to do part time 5 days a week - middle of the day - not pro services
Id think this would be when they are ramping up for the holidays and if you can do warehouse and want to do customer facing as well they would want that.

 

[Foxhound3857]

Yeah - they were the ones I was looking at - Lowes - they got me in for a Pro Services job and tried to get me to do part time 5 days a week - middle of the day - not pro services
Id think this would be when they are ramping up for the holidays and if you can do warehouse and want to do customer facing as well they would want that.

I always tell the manager I'm eager to learn other skills/departments in the building and fully open to being cross-trained. That was actually one of the first things Burlington asked me, is if they needed to move me to Cashier on certain days if I'd be open to cross training for that area, and I gave them a resounding yes. Learning new skills is always something I'm eager to do.

Just having open availability for any day, any shift, including nights, weekends, and holidays, I thought would go a long way...

 

[ronandannette]

Because they think you are only taking the job temporarily while you look for a better job you are qualified for.

Have you looked at contract/temp companies. I worked for one placing employees in engineering field. Many highly qualified employees were hired by good firms via us (we paid benefits not them). Over time some of these led to permanent employment. Had a friend do it this way as well.

Very good advice, all around. Agencies do all kinds of placements and although some might think it's for executive level personnel only, it's not.

As to the bolded, it's quite a big deal when I'm hiring because my department does not have an automatic career path for anyone and growth opportunities are limited. The training arc is also 6 months long and it's too great an investment of time and money to expend on a candidate who appears to be above it, and therefore likely looking for advancement.

 

[Foxhound3857]

Very good advice, all around. Agencies do all kinds of placements and although some might think it's for executive level personnel only, it's not.

As to the bolded, it's quite a big deal when I'm hiring because my department does not have an automatic career path for anyone and growth opportunities are limited. The training arc is also 6 months long and it's too great an investment of time and money to expend on a candidate who appears to be above it, and therefore likely looking for advancement.

Advancement is something I'm on the fence about; I'm more comfortable being a grunt because it means my job generally doesn't follow me out the door. I come in, do what I'm assigned to do, and when I go home I don't think about it until I come in the next day. Keeps my stress levels down. As long as I'm getting my annual raise, performing well and have a good rapport with my coworkers, I'm pretty happy.

I think I'd be okay going for shift lead at some point or a specialist position, but I can do without being part of management.

But really I'm open to both long-term and seasonal. The thing about seasonal is that it often translates into a permanent position later down the line, particularly if the place has a high turnover rate. That's why I'm so shocked that it's so difficult to find a job anywhere, because turnover rates are at an all-time high for places as well.

 

[fla4fun]

I have been unemployed for three years now, and actively looking. I am running up against overqualification and age bias. I am willing to take anything at this point that doesn’t require standing for the entire shift (bad knee and back). It’s so depressing.

 

[Foxhound3857]

I have been unemployed for three years now, and actively looking. I am running up against overqualification and age bias. I am willing to take anything at this point that doesn’t require standing for the entire shift (bad knee and back). It’s so depressing.

I wonder if that has something to do with my troubles, being 36 years old and passed up for younger applicants. But then it wouldn't make sense why people 60+ who are semi-retired are able to get hired in the same positions, unless they have significant experience in those positions.

It's just strange.

 

[fla4fun]

I wonder if that has something to do with my troubles, being 36 years old and passed up for younger applicants. But then it wouldn't make sense why people 60+ who are semi-retired are able to get hired in the same positions, unless they have significant experience in those positions.

It's just strange.

Trust me, those of us in the late 50s and early 60s are not getting hired either . . .