Long, but in desperate need of job searching advice, if someone could please help me?
Question:
Hello, everyone. I've come here in hopes that maybe someone could give me some advice to aid in my search for a job. I'm 21 years old & have been looking for a job for the past 3 years without any success. I've had a few potential employers contact me for interviews which I've went to & turned out to be a big waste of time. Here's what I usually do:
I apply & wait about a week & call the place I applied to to check on the status of my application.
I'm either told they're not hiring or I'll be asked to come in for an interview.
If I get an interview, I dress professionally & act appropriate.
My interviews usually go well, I'm often told that I meet their criteria & seems that I would be a good employee for them, & will either receive a call or eMail.
I'm usually asked part-time or full time, hours & such, if I'm a student & how flexible I am.
I am not a high school/college student. I have an associated degree in Culinary Arts. I'm available part-time or full-time, I don't mind working holidays, weekends & I'm available anytime if wherever I'm applying to would need to call someone in if I was hired.
I have applied everywhere in my area (Bristol, Tennessee/Virginia),If I get an interview, & haven't received a call within a week to week & a half, I give a call back to the place I applied, just to show my interest in working for them. I usually ask if they're still hiring for whatever position I applied, that I have an application in & have been interviewed & hope that they consider me.
The past few interviews (about five) I've had the managers usually tell me that they have a lot of high school/college students who are either quitting or they're thinking of letting go because of conflicts in their ability to work.
Yet, no matter how well my interviews go nor how promising they seem, it seems like I never get called for my next interview to even be considered for the job. I have multiple experiences (Ex. cooking, housekeeping, office cleaning, secretary work, serving, computer repair, retail, etc.).
There are kids in my neighborhood that are ages 14 to 17/18 & over half of them have jobs. I'm not trying to sound or be mean, but every manager I have talked to puts emphasis on how important flexibility & availability is to them, & how they don't like working around class schedules, yet all they seems to be hiring is high school kids who are restricted by labor laws, like not working past a certain hour at night, can't work but so many hours a day/week, can't work in a kitchen, with scissors, knives, or meat slicers, & usually don't want to work weekends. I don't mind any of that.
There's not a place in my area that I haven't applied to at least 5 times minimum. Anything from dining, fast food retail, factory, cleaning services, pizza delivery, serving, you name it, I've applied to it. Not even McDonald's has called me back or considered me after 8 applications I've put in, plus calling to see if I can get an interview.
With all of this said, can anyone give me some advice as to what I've been doing wrong, or what I can do to improve my chances? I'm a nice personable person, I'm clean, dress nice and presentable.
I speak 4 languages (Spanish, German, Italian, & French), 5 if you count English. I'm great with computers & a multitude of programs & software, I'm friendly, learn fast, don't mind working long or hard (I'd rather have a job that requires effort), & nothing seems to be helping. I've also tried networking with friends & family with no success.
I really need a job. I have a house of 6 people; myself, grandmother, mother, mother's boyfriend, aunt, & friend that's in the same position I am; & the only person working right now is my grandmother. I also have a car payment. I am in real desperate need of a job.
ANY advice I can get is really appreciated. It really, really, really, is. So, thank you all in advance for taking time to read this & trying to help me.
Take care.
My past work experience includes:
- Housekeeping, running errands & assisting with daily activities. This was for an elderly woman in my neighborhood; I was hired by her son & his wife before she passed away. She just lived a few houses down from me, so I could be there anytime day or night, & usually worked 12 hour days, 7 days a week.
- I have worked for a computer repair shop.
- I have worked at a local Food City (grocery store) as a cashier, cake decorator, hot-bar server, serving food, cook, & meat/cheese slicer. I also did inventory for them as well.
- I worked for a cleaning company that cleaned office building, community colleges, & doctors offices, & any other professional buildings in the area.
- I have worked in retail stores as a cashier.
- I worked in a dental office scheduling appointments and such.
- I served in a couple restaurants.
- The culinary college I went to I served & did catering & banquet events which I was paid for, and also as part of my degree.
All the
Answer:
I wish I knew what to tell you. But you're obviously not doing something right in the interview. I interview lots of people each week and honestly some of them I wonder myself how they are going to get a job in life by the way they interview.
The interviewer has to draw conclusions from the interview about your work ethic and whether or not they think you will be able to handle the job. If you talk too much, they think you'll never get anything done because you'll always be talking to everybody. If you don't talk enough, they think you don't have an outgoing personality. In today's interviews, managers are trained to watch body language, tone of voice, etc. So you may think you're coming across as fun and friendly when you're really sounding silly. You may be sitting back slouched in the chair and the interviewer immediately thinks "lazy".
The fact that you have been on so many interviews with so many people makes it sound like you are unemployable. Out of that many interviews, if nobody has been willing to take a chance on you it may be time to seek some kind of professional assistance like a job counselor. Have you tried an employment agency? They usually give you some interviewing practice before they send you out on an interview. You obviously need some help from someone, and more help than you'll get on Yahoo!.
Good luck. Jobs are very hard to get in this economy and employers have 20 applicants to consider for one job opening in most places, so you really have to stand out to get hired.
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