What are employers avoiding and why?

[JayJay]

Alright, so I haven't declared BK yet and I am over 6 months delinquent with my CC's. I am 2 months behind car payments and now I just missed my first car insurance payment.

Anyway, I've been looking for a job like crazy for the past 6 months and it seems that no one at all is interested in hiring or calling me. I think I have a pretty good resume and it's never taken me so long to get a job. I am afraid that there is something that employers are looking at and throwing my applications in the trash.

[keepmine]

Whatever the reason, if you've been unemployed for 6 months, you need some sort of work now.
I'd start applying at Target or WalMArt,etc. just to get a paycheck rolling in.
Maybe try 3 rd shift and have days free for the real job search.

As to why you're not getting a callback, it may well be the economy. With slow job creation, it'll just take time as more people are applying for available jobs.
This really reminds me of when I got out of college in 1975. It was just damn slow going. Unemployment rate was 6+% as the economy was still digesting higher gas prices from the year before when we had the first oil embargo.

[JayJay]

Yeah, I'm going to have to bring my level down and apply to high school type jobs. I was mainly looking for entry level I.T. or entry level programming. It seems that all the employers want are experienced seniors. They don't have the time or investment for a novice in the industry.

Also, as you already know, I may be eligible for UE. I've been wanting to start my own little business selling things online so I'm hoping I could save up enough UE to use as capital.

That's awful what happened to you in 75. Looks like you are reliving the day again.

[JollyGG]

Yeah, I'm going to have to bring my level down and apply to high school type jobs. I was mainly looking for entry level I.T. or entry level programming. It seems that all the employers want are experienced seniors. They don't have the time or investment for a novice in the industry.

Also, as you already know, I may be eligible for UE. I've been wanting to start my own little business selling things online so I'm hoping I could save up enough UE to use as capital.

That's awful what happened to you in 75. Looks like you are reliving the day again.

In 2001 when my husband graduated he couldn't find a job at all. It was right around the time of the big IT bust and there were tons of more experiences IT proffesionals out of work and applying to the same entry level jobs my husband was. Finally, he took a job in Phone support, which got his foot in the door so he could more into networking at the same company. Then finally moved into a programing job at a different company just last year.

We worked with some head hunters (If you resume is online I'm surprised you aren't getting calls and emails, at least from head hunters). We never found any jobs through them but they did give some great hint on improving his resume. We talked to absolutely everyone who had a job and asked them to talk about him to their HR (every company needs IT). We asked everyone we knew in the IT field to look at his resume and give suggestions.

I've always been a fan of
1. Send in resume. If you can find out who will be the hiring supervisor send your resume directly to them as well as to HR.
2. Call and verify they got your resume.
3. If you get an interview send a thank you letter after the interview.
4. When they send you the rejection letter send the following thank you letter.

"Thank you for you letter dated XXXX letting me know of your hiring decision. I understand that you had a difficult decision to make and chose the most qualified canidate for the position. If you find that you have a possition that my qualifications match in the future please consider my application. Additionally, if you know of anyone looking for someone with my skills I would appreciate you forwarding my resume along

Sincerelly,

XXXXXXX

enclosed : resume"

Step four has worked fantastically for me in the past. Most employers aren't used to being thanked for rejecting you. It makes you stand out for the next job.

[Flamingo]

Alright, so I haven't declared BK yet and I am over 6 months delinquent with my CC's. I am 2 months behind car payments and now I just missed my first car insurance payment.

Anyway, I've been looking for a job like crazy for the past 6 months and it seems that no one at all is interested in hiring or calling me. I think I have a pretty good resume and it's never taken me so long to get a job. I am afraid that there is something that employers are looking at and throwing my applications in the trash.

It's the economy. Right now even high school kids can't get jobs because the adults out of work have those jobs cause the adults can't find work either. College graduates are moving back to mom and dad cause they just can't find a job and make it on their own. Since you are in the position you are, you need to hopefully find something to tide you over until the market changes for your skills (which I saw are IT related) and just keep flooding the market with your resume and post on Monster.com. There are so many people out of work now and getting laid off each day that you need to realize this market may not change anytime soon. Businesses have to cut back when they are not making any money; eventually they start letting employees go. They will hire back when things improve.

Someone mentioned the Tech Bust of 2001 in their posting. My husband was a Senior Unix Engineer at the time making just under six figures. He basically could write his own ticket and had headhunters for years contacting him. When the Bust hit his entire Department was let go and he could not find a comparable job anywhere in the US in the months following his layoff. He eventually had to let the IT career go and go into the lovely field of retail. He just could not recover at his age at the time (50) and to this day makes only 1/4 of what he used to make at the time of his job loss. We did a serious lifestyle change. I am mentioning this to you because this present market for your career will not change soon as there are many out there in the IT field now as there were in 2001 and many will have to consider career changes since those jobs may not open up soon.

It is not pretty out there and you just have to proactive in your job seeking attempts and survive as best you can in this floundering economy.

[stephenm]

JayJay,

I'm in the process of filing bk and am also in the IT field. My girlfriend is also in the IT field. She was a project manager for IBM and got laid off. She was able to lower her expenses enough that she could meet most of her obligations from unemployment and then went to training for SAP.

She studied 12 hours a day, 7 days a week for more then 12 weeks. She now has a 6 figure job.

My point, there are TONS of IT jobs out there IF you are willing to bust your butt and do what it takes (she'll be doing 100% travel).

Now THAT will not be a good thing for your bk though.

Stephen

[southernbelle]

I'm not in IT, but when my business went bust and I needed to get myself back into the work force after being away for over 6 years in an unrelated field, I polished up my resume (with tips from Monster.com) and flooded the market with it.

I posted it on the local Dept. of Labor website, Monster.com, and anywhere else I could post it for free. I also checked the newspaper twice a week and even made cold calls to firms in the area for leads.

I was prepared to work anywhere to make ends meet and even applied for Walmart, Target and other retail stores. Luckily I found something with the State, but I was almost certain I would be unemployed for a long time or would have to spend time and money going to grad school to make myself more marketable.

Do what you have to in order to make ends meet. Someone will call you back soon. The economy is bad right now and employers are cutting back. Try to be patient and get any job you can to pay the bills until something better comes along. Good luck.

[JayJay]

thank you everyone and southern belle.

I've been submitting my resume left and right. I'm even considering relocation back to my old city of Tampa in Florida. I am near Miami right now and jobs are harder to get here. Most of my family & friends are in Tampa anyway. I'm applying to all kinds of jobs there too.

Southern Belle, I did have a job with the gov't in the county for only 9 months. Then budget cuts came and, because I was not a senior, I was included in the budget cut plan. They had two of my positions but one needed to go. The other person was there for 7 years so she got lucky. Perhaps I can get back in the gov't again but it won't be easy in the I.T. field.