Has anyone else been trying to get new employment?

[Rmay635703]

Absolutely. My field is bit unique and extremely competitive, but I think I applied to 80+ job positions and got 17 interviews.

How long ago?
January 2023 is a world away from December 2023 let alone 2024.

My friends average about 1 in person interview per hundred applications and that is with pro help. Teams and Virtual in this area don’t count as those are just the gatekeepers before in person.

Likely a bad industry in a poor area but still getting a job right now is a full time job.

 

[Skippy722]

Manufacturing is STRUGGLING. We have our doors wide open and getting people to even apply is just not happening. Decent pay with fantastic benefits, but even that’s not enough.

 

[edyvw]

How long ago?
January 2023 is a world away from December 2023 let alone 2024.

My friends average about 1 in person interview per hundred applications and that is with pro help. Teams and Virtual in this area don’t count as those are just the gatekeepers before in person.

Likely a bad industry in a poor area but still getting a job right now is a full time job.

Like i said, my field is unique and requires terminal degree.
But it is very competitive today. I just got approval today to hire new person in department I run. I know I will probably have 60-80 applicants, half being from TX and FL. When we hire administrative staff, we have approximately 50-100 applicants and we saw a lot of turnover last few years.
However, for all these jobs what always get someone a job is something they stand out with. Extra education, unusual education, unusual jobs. However, we hypothesize a lot here bcs. we don’t know type of job, field, location. The economy is thrown off the balance bcs. we had extremely low interest rates during Covid. People locked super low interest rates and they don’t move, and our economy depends a lot on mobility of workforce.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Manufacturing is STRUGGLING. We have our doors wide open and getting people to even apply is just not happening. Decent pay with fantastic benefits, but even that’s not enough.

Machine operator or possibly maintenance tech I presume? Been that way for 30 years. No one wants to stand in front of a machine all day.

I could never figure it out. Compared to a lot of other crappy jobs its a great job. You run the machine properly, no one bothers you, no one gives you a hard time, you get all your breaks, probably overtime pretty often also.

 

[methusaleh]

Yeah. I've been at the same security job since last February and desperately want out. Either they want way too many skills or low pay.

I have no idea what competitive security pay is these days; I had a security clearance in college due to my military service so I worked government contracts when I wasn’t in school, but that was 30 years ago.

If you want to work in security but not law enforcement, the state of Vermont hospital system pays so well that I’ve considered leaving sworn LE for it. Great pay, but more physical confrontations than being stuck on patrol.

My young and relatively inexperienced neighbor makes around $32 base pay per hour plus shift differential, one day off earned per pay period plus time off earned per hour worked (he earned 30 days off last year), and a quarterly bonus for working evening, night, or weekend shifts.

I’ve honestly given it quite a lot of thought…

 

[Skippy722]

Machine operator or possibly maintenance tech I presume? Been that way for 30 years. No one wants to stand in front of a machine all day.

I could never figure it out. Compared to a lot of other crappy jobs its a great job. You run the machine properly, no one bothers you, no one gives you a hard time, you get all your breaks, probably overtime pretty often also.

Machinist, surprisingly we *just* started hiring operators and set up machinists.

It’s 72F year round in here, and precisely. I do good work, people leave me alone, I use their WiFi to stream music, life is good.

 

[2009Caraman]

We got slow this year. I drill holes for oil wells. Its picking up but it wont be like last year. Companies are waiting to see US election results probably.

Still lots of good work around here if you have a commercial license and a few safety tickets. If it gets too slow and I decide to go somewhere else well I already have 2 employers asking me to join them, so…

 

[hrv]

Manufacturing is STRUGGLING. We have our doors wide open and getting people to even apply is just not happening. Decent pay with fantastic benefits, but even that’s not enough.

Yup everybody thinks you need to go to college to get a good job.....There are many jobs right now in the trades that are hurting for people.. They will even train you and become skilled....Now for College here in Louisville UPS will pay for school if you work for them...mid shifts....not a bad deal IF you are willing to work instead of hoping for a handout ...

 

[97prizm]

I have no idea what competitive security pay is these days; I had a security clearance in college due to my military service so I worked government contracts when I wasn’t in school, but that was 30 years ago.

If you want to work in security but not law enforcement, the state of Vermont hospital system pays so well that I’ve considered leaving sworn LE for it. Great pay, but more physical confrontations than being stuck on patrol.

My young and relatively inexperienced neighbor makes around $32 base pay per hour plus shift differential, one day off earned per pay period plus time off earned per hour worked (he earned 30 days off last year), and a quarterly bonus for working evening, night, or weekend shifts.

I’ve honestly given it quite a lot of thought…

Nah I'm trying to get out of security. My degree is in Journalism and aviation management. Security pays squat in Colorado compared to the cost of living.

 

[Delta]

Meanwhile we're struggling HARD to get somewhat qualified people. It's industrial maintenance and there's not much (good) new blood around. All the "trained" guys already have jobs and are set, or they're retiring. We've been getting some less than qualified people and it's starting to go all wrong. There's a couple guys that are going to be retiring soon and it's going to get even worse.

 

[Pew]

Companies are waiting to see US election results probably.

That's what we've noticed with our big clients (eng/env/construction). Most can't get a proper budget approved right now because of the election so a bunch of projects and proposals are on pause until then.

 

[Cheetah-kins]

If you read the Reddit employment subs OP, you'll see you're not alone. Just the way it is right now. Keep your head up and keep trying and you'll land something good soon.

 

[tmorris1]

If you read the Reddit employment subs OP, you'll see you're not alone. Just the way it is right now. Keep your head up and keep trying and you'll land something good soon.

Most of the people on Reddit would be unemployable by me.

 

[Delta]

Most of the people on Reddit would be unemployable by me.

Yea, this. Have you read anything on the Anti-Work subreddit? It's like cancer...

 

[opus1]

...One place sent the form letter with the “add applicant name here” left in...

I received something similar once - only the text of e-mail was addressed to someone named "Girlene" even though it was my e-mail address, and was dated 3 months before I was interviewed. The good part is that a former coworker's husband worked there and I happened to run into her later in the year. She asked how things went and I relayed the outcome to her. She told her husband and he went to HR, which then prompted a somewhat snide e-mail from HR that essentially asked if I had a problem with their interview process.

I sent the e-mail back to the person, who is the one who sent the rejection e-mail, with a reply saying "take a look at your rejection e-mail and call me if you still have questions."

 

[Torrid]

I was in management for 8 years before I started railroading. I'm not sure I can just openly recommend it, because it's such a shift in lifestyle living out of hotels 2-3 times a week and being on call, but I didn't know what to do 8 years ago when the company I was working for was getting bought out and downsized. I originally planned on going from the ground up in railroading like I did with my last company, just because I wanted to understand the job before trying to step into management. I just never made that step because management(trainmaster) in the railroad is a pay cut from actually moving trains. We're paid well, but for inconvenience. I'm not sure if you're really looking to change fields though.

 

[CKN]

Key word here is "trying". I've been at five interviews now, all went extremely well with the interviewer saying they are impressed with my work experience,etc.

Days pass, and along comes the "email" with the regular "thank you for interviewing with us, unfortunately we have other applicants who we are moving forward with at this time".

My confidence level has slowly gotten to the point where I literally don't have the desire to try to better myself.

Here is what I have found during my career. Good jobs always have ultra stiff competition. Didn't read the whole thread- how old are you?

 

[John105]

no different than new cars, I’ve only had 3 jobs my entire career. Never been laid off. A buddy says that is a sign you are underpaid—at your age you’ve never been laid off. Maybe? Maybe not?

What I’m hearing is that one should be “safe” if one is employed, but that it’s gotten much harder to find a job if not employed, or to job hop if employed.

Last time I tried to change jobs was 2016. I got an offer from a Swiss co. It would have been higher pay and better benefits but I would have been laid off subsequently…

Btw as mentioned I was a telephone guy from the Lucent days. That was gone 2015 for me. Today I work in the automation In distribution. New warehouses pop up like weeds and it’s difficult to staff them if not near impossible.

 

[RazorsEdge]

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

I've been on 5 different interviews. The same listings for the jobs I've applied for are posted again in two weeks,even though they told me "they've found their new employees".

I just don't get it, I really don't. I've mainly been using Indeed website for job searching. Not sure where else to try,as they all seem to use the same listings.

 

[Toy4x4]

I talked to an ex co-worker who is currently employed at the place where I applied. He mentioned there was an internal employee who was interested in the job, so that threw a wrench into my chance. Got off the phone and noticed I had an email. "Not selected". I don't know if the email is a cut and paste one, but it was mentioned they'd contact me. I've been stressing all weekend about how the interview went as I am a much better worker and employee than an interviewee. I was really hoping this would pan out considering the past year: https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/what-are-you-doing-right-now.334929/post-7008518 .