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Applying for jobs is exhausting and soul-crushing

you see. this is why I feel like interviews on most levels are a lie. mostly everything about them. both you and the interviewee know that the process is more about seeing if they are able to fit themselves into a system more-so than actually getting to know them and understanding their talents, skills and seeing how they can share a part of themselves with the company.

the whole corporate-commercial culture I'll never understand. It's bureaucrats talking to people that want to fit in and be bureaucrats.

They write books on how to interview properly; how does that even make sense? the point of the interview is to get to know someone but if you're placing all sorts of unwritten rules and restrictions on the interaction then it's kind of not really an interview anymore, more of a test. That's just the way it's set up in certain professions I suppose.
Bingo.
 

xenist

Member
Dear ItIsOkBro,

Thank you very much for taking the time to meet with us with regard to the Intern position. After careful consideration, we have chosen not to move forward with your application at this time.

We greatly appreciate your interest and wish you the very best in your future endeavours.

Regards,
(redacted)


In my inbox today. ;_;

At least you got a freaking answer. Most of the time over here people don't even bother to reject you. They just ignore you.
 

JoeNut

Member
I'm currently searching for a new job but I suppose at least I am lucky enough to be currently employed. Once you've made up your mind for a change in career it makes working at the current place absolute hell.
 

todd360

Member
I called the company I interviewed at today. I wanted to ask how long until I got a yes or no. I was told that I should be expecting an email job offer. I'm so happy.
 

nampad

Member
I have been there and may be there again soon (doing an unpaid internship right now). After I graduated with good grades but no work experience, I didn't get any job for over a year, not even internships.

There was pressure everywhere and it feels like everyone judges you - family, friends and of course social welfare. They paint a picture of you being a lazy bastard although you actually try to get work all the time. Seeing friends moving on with their lives and talking about their first jobs while being unemployed didn't help so slipping into depression was a certain result.

Had the chance to talk to many other people with similar problems (actually wanting to work but being longterm unemployed) and it felt like everyone had the same experience. Knowing what people are going through changed my view on unemployment a lot.


I have to say it felt great moving back to actually doing something when I started my internship even though I have horrible working hours from time to time. Having landed a fairly good internship I am also quite optimistic for the future :)
 
Is there any drawback from resending applications/resume every month to the same company?

I mean if they have a lot of applicants, do they really care that a single person is sending in the same resume monthly?
 

Koppai

Member
Okay guys,

I applied for an Apple job as an Inventory Specialist and I got an email for a hiring event. Anyone have any ideas about what the first interview is about?

I SUCK AT INTERVIEWS, I often clam up and don't know how to answer any questions. It's not until Sep 4th so I want to be sure I am prepared for whatever they throw at me.

Any tips appreciated, thanks! :<
 

oneils

Member
Someone in another thread said his school had a job lottery where candidates and employers rated each other and were paired by an algorithm. That would be quite a shock to labor markets.

I think that was me.

I can only imagine that the system my school used, back in 1999, is now long gone. Back then the tech sector in Ottawa hadn't quite popped yet. Also, government was booming.

Today is completely different. Apparently, there are quite a few tech start ups in the city but nothing like we had in the 90s. The federal government has cut 35,000 jobs (about 2/3rds of that in Ottawa) over the last 3 years.

If I had to guess, my old school has probably dropped the old rating system as employers probably hold all of the cards now.

It is really tough out there. Best of luck to everyone in this situation.
 

Lonely1

Unconfirmed Member
So, I got a job offer as a developer. The problem is that I'm not actually searching for one atm, as I'm a full time postgrad student with a scholarship that would be withdrawn if I have a position for more than 10 hours a week. However, I'm indeed worried about my future and I would like to have work experience outside of academia.

Dam, that proposal put a lot of doubts on me :S . Which would be the best answer I can give? I don't want to burn bridges and Im insecure myself about what Is better for my future.
 
I spent a good portion of Monday and Tuesday applying for work and at least one callback that ticked me off a bit so I hear you. Taking a break from it today because of how bummed it got me.
 
Is there any drawback from resending applications/resume every month to the same company?

I mean if they have a lot of applicants, do they really care that a single person is sending in the same resume monthly?

well, you get blackballed as an idiot who doesn't understand how the job search process works, and will never, ever work there under any circumstances.

other than that, go right ahead. spam the same company with your resume a dozen times.
 

BeforeU

Oft hope is born when all is forlorn.
Is there any drawback from resending applications/resume every month to the same company?

I mean if they have a lot of applicants, do they really care that a single person is sending in the same resume monthly?

Most of the time the software does filtering of the resumes and searches for keywords in your resume. So there is a chance your resume might not even get to the HR person. So its very important to read the job description and try to copy those words in some way in your resume. Because if it was tossed out on first time, then its going to happen again if you submit the same resume.

So I would suggest you not to submit exactly same resume for same job posting. Make few changes even if they are formatting only, this way even if the HR person looking at it by herself, she probably wont remember.
 

MickeyPhree

Member
I can relate to everyone in this thread. Spending hours and hours each day putting in resumes and online applications sucks beyond belief.

After almost a month I got hired and started working again this week. Feels good man.
 
Got a call from a best buy warehouse for a labour job, I think I applied for it in late june or early july. I said no though....

I hope i get something better soon
 

BeforeU

Oft hope is born when all is forlorn.
Got a call from a best buy warehouse for a labour job, I think I applied for it in late june or early july. I said no though....

I hope i get something better soon

So why did you apply for a job you had no intension of doing?
 
Work is now at the stage where its so stressful I almost vomited in work today. Shit would've been embarrassing :/ So yeah, anyone in Dublin Ireland looking for an IT admin, hit me up, cause I cant take this much longer :(
 

BeforeU

Oft hope is born when all is forlorn.
Spray and pray is probably less effective when the job market is so rough. You might be better off sending one or two applications per day, each with a cover letter and resume tailored to the employer and the job.

This.

Sending same resume for all the position in different company will be waste of time. You need to edit resume with their job description and skill set people. And that doesn't mean copy everything, but try make it look like you give a damn.

Same thing goes for cover letter. They don't read it based on my past experience, I mean I had an interview at AMD and I noticed the cover letter the manager had during my interview had BlackBerry written. I forgot to change the company name in one of the paragraph. So I am positive he didn't read shit in there, but you have to include it because again, it shows you give a damn about the job and you are putting an extra effort.
 

Wilsongt

Member
Just finished grad school with a master's... Have been applying since Feb... One interview an haven't heard anything back yet. Lots of rejection letters an no answers, though.

Thankfully I have a lot of money in savings... But yeah. Fuck the job market in this day and age for those who are not nurses or pharmacists...
 
Well GAF I'm down to my last $2000, before I hit serious trouble. I hope something turns around soon, or I will be in deep trouble.
 
just got a call from walmart for a group interview

wow the line was extremely poor and i couldn't hear at all. man, i need more practice with my answers, my voice was shaking and my answers with ho hum
 
The answer you're looking for: job agencies

Srs

A job agency got me $11/hour from Dec-Jun, unfortunately it didnt work out. After being unemployed the last 2 months, looking/applying countless times on indeed.com - nothing. Then 1 day i get a call from my job agency - they called me after finding out I didnt work for the previous company anymore.
Next thing you know - tomorrow I have a job interview $14/hr and 10 minutes away from my house.
If I do good tomorrow and get the job - no more feeling like an unemployed piece of crap and hating my life
Just an update on this: got the awesome paying job (imo it is) and really easy as well and close to my house.
1 week in and couldn't be happier. Please consider job agencies if you guys are having a hard time getting a job. Call them up and tell them what you're looking for and how much of a salary you're looking for - they might find you something.
 

Necrovex

Member
Work is now at the stage where its so stressful I almost vomited in work today. Shit would've been embarrassing :/ So yeah, anyone in Dublin Ireland looking for an IT admin, hit me up, cause I cant take this much longer :(

I know your feeling. After like a year and a half of not buying cigs, I fell off the wagon and bought them. I can't stand this enviorment for much longer. Fuck warehousing.
 

1cmanny1

Member
It sucks. I graduated in 2009 at the height of the recession and there were no jobs at all. Took me 9 months to find a job. Happy to say that I've had consistent work since then and made big strides in my career. The point is, keep at it. Something has to crack sooner or later.

I graduated and couldn't get anything for around the same time. However just a few days ago I got a paid internship at my perfect job, and a chance at my second perfect job on the same day. Now I am stressing about what one I would rather do!

You just have to stick with it, figure out what job you want and try and do things that can increase your chances of getting it. If you don't give up, you will get something eventually.
 
D

Deleted member 102481

Unconfirmed Member
this topic has to be good luck, I have an interview with two different places same building but each floor is a different company on 45th street in NYC tuesday. Both are career type salary jobs
 
There was this hot girl in my engineering batch (you rarely see good looking girls in engineering). Anyways so she was fucking dumb. Didnt do a single lab by herself. Had different boy toy who helped her and sometimes did the whole shit for her. Barely passed exams. And in short she just made it till the end.

Today I found out she got a job offer from one amazing company, where I did my interview last month and was rejected. The interview was fucking hard, too many technical question. And this company asks you to submit your official transcript before the interview day.

Now I am in a huge shock, how the fuck did she get a job there. Not just me, but all my fellow engineers are wondering about the same thing and more fucked up thing is, she was on Europe trip whole summer after graduation while we were all applying for jobs here. And she comes back last months and lands on this brilliant job. Min 85k Annual package.

Even though I found a job, I still feel fucking terrible. Its no where near as nice as that and I also feel bad for one of my closest friend who did 16month internship in the same company, in the same department and his is topper of my year. And he wasn't even called for the interview.

Seeing some undeserving candidate taking your place is even more soul crushing :( she must have fucked the interviewer. Seriously though, she was too hot, I wont deny that. But a shittest engineering you will ever see.

Skills are ultimately irrelevant in getting jobs, they may come in handy when keeping them, but it ultimately comes down getting lucky and being a people person i.e. the hot girl who is good at convincing people to get other people to do stuff for her, or just knowing a guy who knows a guy...
 

Complex Shadow

Cudi Lame™
Hello Complex,

We have now had an opportunity to carefully review your qualifications, along with those of other applicants, and we regret that we are unable to offer you a position at this time as we are pursuing another candidate whose skills, experience and competencies more closely match the skills and requirements for this opportunity.

i kinda contacted them back politely asking what i did wrong.

Hi Complex,

You did do well and you were at the top of the offer list, but the other applicant was a better fit. If you have any questions regarding any future positions please let me know.

Regards,

like how do i even respond to that? it was my dream job and i almost had it. soul-crushing doesn't even begin to describe the feelings i had yesterday.
 

CrunchyB

Member
I recently had two interviews for a software engineering position. Funny thing, they both asked exactly the same questions:

1. How do you keep your technical knowledge up-to-date?
2. How would one of your former colleagues describe you?

First time I was caught off guard and my answers were awkward, the second time I responded more smoothly. I'm sure I'll get it down perfectly the next time I go in for an interview and get asked the same damn things.
 
i kinda contacted them back politely asking what i did wrong.



like how do i even respond to that? it was my dream job and i almost had it. soul-crushing doesn't even begin to describe the feelings i had yesterday.

Seriously these "Tease" responses are terrible. They give a sense of false hope. They should just say "Thank you for your interest, but we aren't going to hire you."
 

Strax

Member
I applied for job as a "culture" journalist last month. Some days after the deadline I got an E-mail saying that 200 people applied for the job and they wanted to interview me and two others, so far so good. I went to the interview 22nd of July and after two weeks of waiting I sent an E-mail asking about it and got no reply and a week later I did again and got no reply. Now they've updated their website with employee info I can see they've hired for the job. I'm little pissed off but mostly shocked because they've already said that I was one of the top people that applied but treated me shitty despite being in an industry people last maybe 1-2 years and move on and are kinda hiring all year if they are a big newspaper/website.

Of course the person they hired knows the culture editor personally but while she's only written for a fashion website for less then a year I've worked for a major newspaper/website for 3 years, was a copywriter and have a BA in Media Studies and a diploma in Filmmaking. Well, that's life.

So I applied for another job as a "culture" journalist for another newspaper on the 15th of August and got sent "thanks for blablablabla every person will be given notice on the status of the job next week" and today I sent an e-mail just now asking the status of the job and got back "You didn't get the job. Thanks for applying for the job". So I'm a top 3 contender for the same job with one newspaper and don't even get a rejection e-mail from the other with out asking what the status is? Fantastic.

I get that people would not hire someone based on an interview dispite have a great CV but there is no way I shouldn't be able to at least get an interview for that kinda of job with my CV.
 
I spent a summer during law school filling out those goddamned online apps with the long personality tests. Must have done 50-60 different ones. Couldn't even get a callback at Target, McDonald's, anything. Finally a research position opened up at school and I worked with that professor through the rest of school and after graduation. I was literally down to cashing in coins at the Coinstar machine in order to eat when that first paycheck rolled in. It was scary.

Two things helped to change my life after school ended: I had a mentor who had gone solo early in his career that inspired me to do the same, and I read the thread here on working over the Internet. That gave me the knowledge to get work on the online article writing sites, which allows me to make enough to live (albeit in Southeast Asia most of the time) while I grow my fledgling law firm. I'm now a digital nomad who basically travels all of the time while working. I love my life and have never been happier.

I guess what I'm saying here is that you don't have to be beholden to others for a job. For those who are out of work, maybe spend half of your time building a side business using your skills. Even 20 percent can grow something that can either create passive income or freelance work. YOU ARE NOT YOUR JOB!
 

RedSwirl

Junior Member
What are the best job-searching services people here have found? I've tried Monster, the local government site, USAJobs, Washington Post Jobs, Craigslist, several others, and I maintain my LinkedIn profile.
 

todd360

Member
Congrats, Todd. That's terrific!

Congrats!

Nice! Way to go.

Thanks!

I just did the drug test yesterday. Easily passed considering I have never done any drugs lol. I think the 1-3 month background check thing is underway as well. I really hope its more like one month. I really don't want to have to job hunt for a short temporary position somewhere. I can't really complain though. I feel so lucky to finally have a full time job with benefits. I will be making enough to start paying my school loans back and I should be able to move up to a better paying position in the company with some hard work.

Edit: I think my college pamphlet really helped me. It is basically a how to land a job guide. I followed the interview advice as well as I could. I dressed up nice. I smiled a lot and maintained good eye contact. I didn't read stuff online on my phone while waiting for the interviewer (I didn't even know this was an important rule until I read the pamphlet). I pretty much just followed every tip it had.
 

Koppai

Member
Ugh went to the Apple hiring event. I was sitting next to the lady who was writing stuff down and under the skills column or whatever it said she didn't circle anything for me. So it's a safe bet I won't be getting a call back. Fuck them.
 

BeforeU

Oft hope is born when all is forlorn.
I recently had two interviews for a software engineering position. Funny thing, they both asked exactly the same questions:

1. How do you keep your technical knowledge up-to-date?
2. How would one of your former colleagues describe you?

First time I was caught off guard and my answers were awkward, the second time I responded more smoothly. I'm sure I'll get it down perfectly the next time I go in for an interview and get asked the same damn things.

No offense but seems like you weren't prepared. These are like the most common question you get asked for a technical jobs. Even if you get it right on the third time, that's still cost of 2 interviews for these common questions. Sorry if I am coming off rude, but just trying to help.

Do you use Glassdoor?

You can find lots of position and company related interview questions. I always count HR questions as a give away. Prepare a lot for those because they are usually same or similar in the most part.

I wouldn't have said all this if you messed up a technical question, because yes those can be hard and we have all been there. But research and try not to mess up HR questions again.

What are the best job-searching services people here have found? I've tried Monster, the local government site, USAJobs, Washington Post Jobs, Craigslist, several others, and I maintain my LinkedIn profile.

Indeed is a great site as well. You should check it out.

Ugh went to the Apple hiring event. I was sitting next to the lady who was writing stuff down and under the skills column or whatever it said she didn't circle anything for me. So it's a safe bet I won't be getting a call back. Fuck them.

What type of job was it?
 
No offense but seems like you weren't prepared. These are like the most common question you get asked for a technical jobs. Even if you get it right on the third time, that's still cost of 2 interviews for these common questions. Sorry if I am coming off rude, but just trying to help.

Do you use Glassdoor?

You can find lots of position and company related interview questions. I always count HR questions as a give away. Prepare a lot for those because they are usually same or similar in the most part.

I wouldn't have said all this if you messed up a technical question, because yes those can be hard and we have all been there. But research and try not to mess up HR questions again.



Indeed is a great site as well. You should check it out.



What type of job was it?

I use indeed but what about craigslist?
 

Voror

Member
Still trying every day, still nothing. I rarely even get rejections.

Well, I have an interview but it's with a Cinemark. At the very least I'm thinking it could replace my job at Culver's, which I don't think I can take for much longer. Not that it places me in any better of a position, but it's better than nothing I guess.
 

jstripes

Banned
Tell me about it.

Haven't had a call back in who knows how long.

Still working for undependable shitheads.

Barely making anything.

Debtors calling, asking for money.

Car needs constant repairs.

Fuck, I dunno what to do.
 

Strax

Member
I applied for job as a "culture" journalist last month. Some days after the deadline I got an E-mail saying that 200 people applied for the job and they wanted to interview me and two others, so far so good. I went to the interview 22nd of July and after two weeks of waiting I sent an E-mail asking about it and got no reply and a week later I did again and got no reply. Now they've updated their website with employee info I can see they've hired for the job. I'm little pissed off but mostly shocked because they've already said that I was one of the top people that applied but treated me shitty despite being in an industry people last maybe 1-2 years and move on and are kinda hiring all year if they are a big newspaper/website.

Of course the person they hired knows the culture editor personally but while she's only written for a fashion website for less then a year I've worked for a major newspaper/website for 3 years, was a copywriter and have a BA in Media Studies and a diploma in Filmmaking. Well, that's life.

So I applied for another job as a "culture" journalist for another newspaper on the 15th of August and got sent "thanks for blablablabla every person will be given notice on the status of the job next week" and today I sent an e-mail just now asking the status of the job and got back "You didn't get the job. Thanks for applying for the job". So I'm a top 3 contender for the same job with one newspaper and don't even get a rejection e-mail from the other with out asking what the status is? Fantastic.

I get that people would not hire someone based on an interview dispite have a great CV but there is no way I shouldn't be able to at least get an interview for that kinda of job with my CV.

Got an interview with a huge ad agency next week as a copywriter.

gamallb4shc.gif
 

Magnus

Member
A recruiter contacted me out of the blue and set an interview up with what seems like a very solid gig that would be a perfect next step in my career. As it turns out, a fellow grad of mine from last year is working there now in the same type of role, so I have a great inside perspective and an existing connection there.

Moreover, knowing my colleague's skillset and comparing mine (I have a great deal more experience and interview well), I think it's really mine to lose. Gotta knock this one out of the park on Monday morning.

Wish me luck!
 
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