I have a job I don’t quite like and I’m shooting applications elsewhere. I work full time and I’m also looking for another job in my city that fits my qualifications. I cannot change states or move to another city, it is what it is.
So far I’ve sent 5 apps for positions that interest me: 2 have answered, one could offer me a different but similar job (position already filled) and the other one, while fitting what I majored in, means constant stress, plans that change constantly, even several times a day, a pay reduction and the last 2 who applied to do this quit in 4 and 6 months respectively.
At least they were honest during the interview, but I now feel depressed. I was hoping to work there and quit my current job.
Your job isn’t your worth or your life. So balance searching with your mental health. If a particular position has burned out two people already you don’t want it unless the money is good enough.
I’d also caution you to be defensive with your time, it takes employers five seconds to send you a test or battery of tests that will take five hours to do, don’t sink an unreasonable amount of time into one or ask for a meeting to get to know the team before committing too much effort - most serious offers will be amenable to that while H1-B fakeouts or “We have an internal candidate in mind” will stone wall you. The job market fucking sucks both because employers are lazy bitches and because the chatgpt resume spam is real - when hiring for a devops our company had hundreds of applications and like three real candidates.
I wish you the best of luck!
I personally have had the best luck finding jobs on indeed. Its a popular job board for a reason but that doesnt mean that there arent a ton of postings from companies that arent actually looking for employees. Its super shitty of them but work with what ya got.
I avoid any job posting that has weird requirements like they want you to take a test or want you to add your resume through thier website instead. I dont reccomend wasting your time with that unless the job posting looks really worth it. Rarely they are. I get the most rejections from those.
What i recommend most is trying to get a job in the same field or company that a friend works at. Much easier to get hired if someone can vouch for you. Thats how i got my current job. Before that, i was stuck in security and constantly job hunting with no return on investment.
Apply for Civil Service jobs.
You won’t get hired quickly, but the jobs come with great benefits and strong unions.
I don’t know where you live, so I can only tell you what worked in my area.
First, the local library. Near me the main branch has a Job Opportunity Center where they have listings for all the civil service jobs.
The Chief-Leader is a New York City website/printed newspaper that has listings of all Civil Service jobs in the area.
You can contact the state/province Department of Labor and see what they have.
5 apps with 2 responses, and locally? You’re doing really well. Seriously. It sounds like you are qualified enough to get what you want, and the number of responses already is a very good sign.
Small rant:
My experience: a Ph.D., two years applying through Indeed/LinkedIn/directly, several rounds of professional development to overhaul networking approaches/resumes, maybe 150 applications, and I maybe hear back in a couple months with a form letter rejection. The few interviews I’ve had were either a company looking for a unicorn (or just lying about a position), something that lead to a task-based assessment, or a goddamn AI-analyzed one-way interview which is the biggest red flag.
Tl;dr it’s really bad out there, and you honestly have great results so far, even if it doesn’t seem like it! All the best to you, and I hope you find something you’ll enjoy.
I sent 4-8 tailored applications every weekend for over 6 months to find my current role. Background is an accredited Bachelors in Engineering with several years experience for context.
It’s a marathon, not a sprint - 2 real leads in 5 apps is incredible.
What you’re asking is how to internalize the reality of living under late stage capitalism. There is no easy answer to be provided here.
Personally, already being in a shit role helped motivate me to keep building my resume, taking on even more projects, and keep hunting.
It makes it even funnier when they see this dedicated incredible profitable hard worker turn in their two weeks out of the blue. Last time I did it, two warehouses had to close because the replacement was not up to par and they lost the account lmfao.
