Job woes....

So I'm done with uni for the year and now have 4 months of complete freedom ....to stare at walls.....mope around the house.....catch up on random t.v. shows and become an even bigger recluse.

I have been looking for a job for over a year and halted my research for a while to focus on my grades which were on a downward spiral. Now I feel like I missed my chance because it seems like all the stores in my small town did their Christmas hiring already. There are 0 jobs available. Even KFC and Mcdonalds are not hiring.

I got to the interview stage at a big retailer but everyone was either younger than me or/and had a lot of experience. I'm not surprised they didn't pick me. And here is another issue. I'm 20 with 0 experience. I feel like that's completely unheard of where I live. Plus coupled with my AVPD, I'm literally an employer's worst nightmare. Whenever an employer asks me if I have any previous experience, I literally freeze with shame and embarrassment. I stutter my way through some mumbled non-nonsensical answer. I don't know what to say to them? I mean I wouldn't hire me so I don't expect someone else to hire me either.

I wouldn't care if I didn't need a job SO bad. Now that I'm out of school I really don't get to talk to many people. University is not like High School where you were forced to interact with others. I feel like I'm forgetting how to talk to people and how to behave in normal social settings. It's been terrible for my language skills too because I don't get to practice my English much. I also need the money really really bad. My current laptop is my mom's and it's pretty much on it's last legs. I need a laptop for a course I'll be studying online during the holidays. Having a car sounds great too. I'm seriously desperate and annoyed.

Volunteer. Couple hours a week. It will get you out of the house, if you maintain a regular schedule it will count as job experience, and you'll still have time to look for a job. Also, the people you work with when you volunteer might know of openings you could apply for.

inverse wrote:Volunteer. Couple hours a week. It will get you out of the house, if you maintain a regular schedule it will count as job experience, and you'll still have time to look for a job. Also, the people you work with when you volunteer might know of openings you could apply for.

The thing is I have tons of volunteering experience esp. since last year I was so bored, I decided to do something about it. I don't think employers take it as seriously as I had hoped they would. If they could hire someone younger w/o experience who'd be paid less Vs. me a 20 YR old with nothing, they'd pick the other guy.

I'm so disheartened right now. Ughhh...!! I'm willing to do anything only if someone gives me the opportunity to do so.

You have to list the volunteer work on your resume like you would a job. Do an internet search on "soft skills" - these are skills that are transferable to almost any job, for instance, are you able to get to work on time, are you adaptable, can you use common computer programs, do you show initiative, things like that.

Back when I was working in a cubicle, the thing that generated the most interest on my resume was that I went through two computer system changes and had no impact on my clients at all. That meant I learned a new system while continuing with my regular work, and did parallel tests on both systems (ie doubled my work), and the switch over was seamless - no one outside my office knew it even happened. That had nothing to do with the actual work, and instead reflected on me as a worker.

Talk about what you did, what skills you used while volunteering, so they don't think you just sat around doing nothing the whole time.

Inverse is exactly right. If you treat the volunteer experience like a job on your resume, then you do not have 0 experience.

I know for a fact that my time with the American Red Cross helped in getting me 2 job offers.

See if you can get a volunteer position with skills related to the "real job" you eventually want to end up with. That helps.

But let's say for the sake of argument that volunteering has no positive impact on your resume. It still acts like "training wheels" for a paying job, and helps you get into a job-type atmosphere where you can develop skills in how to act while on the job.

I strongly agree with somehow being able to highlight the stuff you learned from your volunteer experiences and putting that on your resume. My volunteer experiences when I was younger definitely helped me along the way in terms of getting jobs.

Employers like that about you because it makes you look motivated, ambitious, and have a strong desire and commitment to learning! Seriously.

I have volunteer experience and I listed it on my C.V. as a real job experience after getting it checked out by my campus career adviser.

I guess another issue is that sometimes I just feel like giving up. After KFC has rejected you for the 7th time you don't feel all that great about yourself. It's become a ritual for me to receive a bunch of rejection e-mails every week. After a while I just think why apply?? I did manage to get two interviews which didn't go very well. I guess I just need to stop complaining and keep applying.

Have you tried a staffing service? Then you interview once with them and there's tons and tons of jobs that it counts toward.