Job Applications

[Bluish 22]

Getting hired as a 16 year old isn’t easy, I’ve applied for at least 6 jobs and all have turned away. Sucks since I have 4 years of work experience, shouldn’t that make my resume look more appealing? I get dressed real nice, take a shower n put on my favorite cologne but I guess I can never wow the employer. What should I do?

[Clawdeen 12,110]

I feel for you. Since December of last year I had been applying to try to find another job to get out of my toxic work place. I have 7 years of manufacturing experience on complex machinery and I even had an engineer help me fix up my resume. I put in for jobs I was overly qualified for and I would have taken a severe pay cut and nobody got back to me. I didn’t get hired for a new job until May. From December to May of this year I was applying like crazy. So I feel your pain. It’s hard finding jobs right now.

The one thing I changed was my resume. Not sure if you use tiktok but there’s a very basic looking black and white resume format people are really saying you should be using. If you search basic black and white resumes you’ll see what they look like. Mine used to be fancy looking but apparently employers don’t like that lol. The basic ones are so when somebody looks at it they can be done reading it fast. The engineer I talked to actually interviews people and she even told me she doesn’t bother to look at resumes that aren’t straight to the point. The job I have now is the first job that I put in for with my new looking resume and I got called for an interview. 

The second thing is I have people do practice interviews with me. So for this job I have now I had 3 practice interviews beforehand with other people before my actual interview. I also really recommend either looking up interview help TikTok’s or YouTube videos. I say this because how I thought I should answer some questions was actually wrong. 

A tip from the engineer I spoke to. So my interview was 2 hours virtual which I had never done before. All my interviews have always been in person and never 2 hours long. I showed her the room I was going to have my interview in and she told me to sit in this specific seat. She called it the powerhouse seat. Because it gets a nice view of me, with the window and the sun shining outside. It really makes me look good because of the background. If you end up with a virtual interview like I did make sure where you have it you have a nice background. It will really help make you stand out. 

I feel your pain and I wish you the best of luck because I get it. It’s hard to find a job. I didn’t think I was ever going to find a new job. Keep trying though. I’m sure you’ll find one.

[Dreambiscuit 8,024]

Getting a job at 16 isn’t always easy unless you can find an employer willing to pay cash or is legally able to hire someone under 18. That limits your options, unfortunately. You sound like you have a good sense of professionalism; you make an effort to be presentable and you already have a good work record. I’d normally suggest that you pad your resume but considering you already have four years work history under your belt it hardly seems necessary. So a lot of it comes down to age. A friend of mine was 16 when she got a job at Disneyland in one of the few departments that hire people of that age, so it can be done. Call ahead and ask employers if age is an issue. Aside from that, the one thing I see a lot of is the need for availability. Employers want someone they can call anytime of the week and rely on to show up for work. If you show a clear schedule and broad availability, that might help. I think that’s how my aforementioned friend got her foot in the door.

[Bluish 22]

Update: I have a friend (same age) that has referred me to the job he’s working at and he told the manager about me, so I possibly have a chance at landing this one. Ittl get me to the point of where I can buy a nice e-bike to get to and from work, and I can get a car as well in the future, so I’m hopeful for this. 

[Clawdeen 12,110]

Moments ago, Bluish said:

Update: I have a friend (same age) that has referred me to the job he’s working at and he told the manager about me, so I possibly have a chance at landing this one. Ittl get me to the point of where I can buy a nice e-bike to get to and from work, and I can get a car as well in the future, so I’m hopeful for this. 

That’s great! I hope it works out for you!

[Steve Piranha 28,782]

Man, that gave me flashbacks when I was applying to jobs 

[Retro*Derpy 3,081]

I'm currently looking for a job and it super sucks. The job market is terrible and its the employer's fault. "nOboDy WaNtS tO wOrK" yet they blantly lie on job posting and interviews. Ghost you, waste your time (especially with job applications that require you to take an hour long test) and so forth. It's all so tiresome.

[Starlight Serenade 559]

On 2024-02-14 at 1:13 AM, Retro*Derpy said:

I'm currently looking for a job and it super sucks. The job market is terrible and its the employer's fault. "nOboDy WaNtS tO wOrK" yet they blantly lie on job posting and interviews. Ghost you, waste your time (especially with job applications that require you to take an hour long test) and so forth. It's all so tiresome

Oh my Celestia! I recall hearing that stuff while I had my office job during the past year.

I was recently laid off and it's certainly a pain to apply for jobs during this time. I am finding that a lot of roles follow the same process: "fill out the job app, upload your resume, cover letter, school transcripts, more questions, then for the last 5-10 questions write 250-500 word short form essays on questions regarding why you would be a good fit for the job". Then I would get a rejection response within a week or less. That or they ghost you and waste your time. I heard some people don't get a response until a year later stating that they did not get the job.

What I have learned to do and recommend to people is that if you find a job that is asking you to write an essay or anything like that - get an AI program to write responses for you. Just make sure to tailor the prompt with your experience and voila. Using AI saved me a lot of time and the jobs that I did that for recently landed me two interviews.

[ZiggWheelsManning 7,371]

I created a job application 13 years ago.  I still work at the local grocery store  

[Starlight Serenade 559]

2 hours ago, ZiggWheelsManning said:

I created a job application 13 years ago.  I still work at the local grocery store  

That's cool Ziggs! Sometimes I wonder if these jobs that make a lot of money are worth the stress anymore.

[ZiggWheelsManning 7,371]

5 minutes ago, StarlightNyars said:

That's cool Ziggs! Sometimes I wonder if these jobs that make a lot of money are worth the stress anymore.

Don't give up!  Keep at it and you'll land the right job  

[Starlight Serenade 559]

5 minutes ago, ZiggWheelsManning said:

Don't give up!  Keep at it and you'll land the right job  

Thanks buddy, I will try my best!