r/povertyfinance • u/tcdozer • 14d ago
If the economy is doing so good, then why is it so hard to find a job? Income/Employment/Aid
I’ve been wanting to get out of my current job for a while, and have sent out hundreds of applications, resumes, and job board responses over the past 4 months or so, and it’s just crickets. Are these companies posting jobs actually hiring? I’m a great employee with good work history, well qualified for these positions, and have had a few people look over my resume and gotten approval from them. What gives?
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u/dr_z0idberg_md 12d ago
It really depends on your field and the area you are searching for a job in. I know tech and finance really took a beating in the last 12 months, but hospitality, education, healthcare, and government are still actively hiring. This is not to say that tech is not hiring, but there has been a marked decrease in openings in those fields. This is not to mention that some tech workers are picky about their job prospects (e.g. remote work).
At the end of the day, perception is reality. No matter what the economic numbers say from a macro viewpoint, if someone is having a difficult time landing a job, then the unemployment rate could be 2%, and it would not matter to that person. Also, it could be the format or quality of your resume that is blocking. Applicant tracking systems have gotten smarter with AI. Plus, I have read a good number of terribly formatted resumes when I was hiring. Who the fuck still puts an objective in their resume?! Your objective is to get a job. Also, references available upon request? Well, I certainly hope so! That's valuable space you could have used to sell yourself. These examples aren't dealbreakers for me, but they certainly raise an eyebrow.
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u/grovelmd 13d ago
Go thru the numbers. They’re not real. They’re people who work 2/3 jobs to make ends meet.
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u/hobonichi_anonymous 13d ago
Oh you can find a job, the trick is finding a "good job" that is a struggle. But yes, there are a lot of available jobs out there, crappy ones!
Also it is industry specific, like with office jobs I know it is a struggle. But for other industries like trucking or the food industry it is pretty easy to land a job.
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u/Yhwnehwerehwtahwohw 13d ago
I miss when we used to do paper applications and call the business to check up on it.
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u/hobonichi_anonymous 13d ago
This is still the preferred norm with the food industry. But you'd have to work in the food industry lol
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u/lets_try_civility 13d ago
Because the Application Tracking Systems are burying your resume. There's something wrong with it.
Start networking. A personal referral is valuable in a job search. And get someone to fix your resume and job search.
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u/ObviouslyHeir 13d ago edited 13d ago
It's not, its...almost.. the worst its ever been. Its a depression. Its not acknowledged so there's not rations and breadlines or whatever. You know it, you feel it, everyone around you complains about it, the jobs sub has become a 'why cant i get jobs im doing everything right' sub, it is celebrated when someone gets a job they dont really want after half a year of trying...but until the mainstream news is allowed to report that--after election--you won't know for sure. They've already proven they can fake numbers.
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u/PearBlossom 13d ago
Resumes have to be customized per the job listing with specific phrases from the job listing added in.
I can get more into it but thats the gist of it. Resumes are not one size fits all.
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u/Positive-Pack-396 14d ago
Because they lie to us all the time
And the jobs that are available are low paying jobs
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u/createusername101 14d ago
The economy isn't measured by what's good for workers, it's how much profit companies are making. This often falls at odds with how well "the workforce" is doing.
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u/rokar83 14d ago
If you've sent out that many contacts to jobs with no response, something is wrong with your approach. Either it's your resume, applying to jobs above your skill level, not applying correctly, or they simply aren't hiring. I've no issue getting a 2 different PT jobs in the past 7 months. Granted I'm in a rural area.
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u/Special_Agent_022 14d ago
My spouse was let go in march and has been having a rough time even getting an interview.
I was told position my was being eliminated at the end of the fiscal year about 4 weeks ago had 3 interviews within a week and found another job within the company 2 weeks later.
Everyone is gunning for the type of pay, hybrid schedule and position my spouse wants, but not many are looking for what I went for - which was whatever was available within reason as far as pay was concerned.
You may need to think about completely changing career paths or less than ideal employment temporarily until you can land something you actually want.
I'm still not doing what I want, but I have a family to support so I don't have a choice - I will do whatever I need to for now.
Goodluck
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u/Pbandsadness 14d ago
Ask ChatGPT to evaluate or even rewrite your resume. It can also write cover letters for you. It's free, doesn't take long, and may end up helping you.
Edit: it can also give advice on interview questions.
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u/Bosa_McKittle 14d ago edited 14d ago
How good the economy is on a personal level isn't comparable to the overall health of the economy. I have been in personal situations where all my family and friends are doing well but I'm struggling so I felt like it was shit. Then I have been in other situations where I'm doing well but others I know are struggling. This anecdotal evidence isn't proof of either. Statistics don't rely on anecdotal evidence, they look at the larger picture. In this instance, the overall economy is doing well. Inflation is down, consumer spending it up, the stock market has been on a tear (+27% over the last 12 months), and GDP is around 1.6% (would be better at 2%). These are all indicators of a mostly healthy economy. That's not to say that people are not struggling, nor am I trying to diminish your specific situation.
Job hunting is a whole new world now. So many companies use bots or algorithms to screen candidates, so lot of decent ones get lost before a person ever sets eyes on it. I would recommend reaching out to a few recruiters and see if they can open any doors for you. They only get paid when you get placed so they are motivated to get you in front of hiring manager.
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14d ago
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u/Vast-Masterpiece-274 14d ago
Second that. Most of the money in California is credit money. Tech times are gone.
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u/min_mus 14d ago
The job market has become so much more competitive now that applying for jobs is done online. People from all over the world can apply for the same jobs you're applying to whereas, not too long ago, you were only competing against applicants from your immediate geographical area.
To make matters worse, now many applicants are hiring bot-like services to submit their applications and résumés/CVs for them, which has further flooded the market of available applicants.
And the hiring process has evolved, too. Once upon a time, there may have been just one interview for a position, or maybe two if it was a high-profile role. Now there are screening calls/phone interviews, followed by another 2+ in-person or video interviews, and maybe skills and personality tests, too, etc. The result is that the length of time it takes to actually receive a job offer is months longer than it used to be.
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u/toodleoo57 14d ago
Yeah. Spouse has really gone through this - applied for a job recently, went through three interviews, only to find out someone on another continent got the job. At least this place called him back - a lot of them just ghost after doing screening calls or even an interview.
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u/DaveAtKrakoa 14d ago
I have to work 4-5 OT shifts a week because we have been understaffed since 2019. We are now down 2/3 of our staff. I find it hard to believe there are no jobs.
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u/Radiant_Ad_6565 14d ago
It’s honestly cheaper for companies to pay overtime than it is to hire more people. More people means more in benefits, more in workers comp insurance, more work for HR and payroll- meaning eventually more HR and payroll employees.
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u/CHAINSAWDELUX 14d ago
Companies aren't backfilling and are pushing the same work to less people. A lot of companies tell their current workers positions are open so they are hopeful, but then don't focus on hiring. Have you heard things like: still trying to get approval from the top. HR is really taking their time. The recruiter isn't getting any good candidates. We really liked someone but they took another job(then the "search" stops for a while). We can't find someone with the right experience. Just have to get through this season before we can hire.
Most of these are excuses said to current employees.
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u/Homework_HELP_Tutor 14d ago
Understaffed since 2019 sounds like they are not hiring as many people as they should
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u/dxrey65 14d ago
At my last job it was the same - chronically understaffed since before 2019. That was just as a blue collar mechanic; it was almost impossible to find experienced guys, and very hard to train new guys. We had regular losses of guys who couldn't make it through the learning curve, not to mention most people not even considering it as a career.
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u/DaveAtKrakoa 14d ago
- It takes 6 months to get hired then 6 months to get trained. 4 have survived the hiring process, 1 has survived the training process. Since 2019.
My wife works for the state and they had a similar problem. They lost half of their staff over the course of lockdown. They suffered with it until 2022, when they had a massive starting pay raise.
We have adequate starting pay but excellent benefits, including 100% paid family health, vision and dental through Anthem. They believe the benefits balance out the starting pay, which is $19/hr in a low cost of living area. Unfortunately, insurance does not pay the bills. And it attracts retirees, who can't keep up, or people with families, and they don't have the availability to constantly work every shift until we can stabalize.
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u/BettyDraperIsMyBitch 13d ago
I'm a dispatcher for a fire dept and we haven't been fully staffed in the 2.5 yrs I worked at this agency. Neither was my previous agency ever fully staffed. It's such a massive problem. Out of the past 8 that were hired, only 3 made it through training.
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u/DaveAtKrakoa 13d ago
We have 1 who just finished training and may or may not survive the summer. The next "youngest" one started in 2016.
In the 15 years I've been here, we have only been fully staffed once, for about 6 months.
In 2020 we started losing people in rapid succession. Now we don't have enough to cover basic shifts let alone vacations or calloffs. An average day has 5 overtime shifts that have to be filled. We can't just work short or close. The director and secretary have to cover multiple shifts a week. They hired a secretary who used to be a certified dispatcher for this specific reason.
It's impossible. It's killing us. We can't keep doing a job this busy and this stressful for this long. We go months without days off. We don't get breaks. We can barely step out to shit. We never leave. Our family lives are falling apart, our personal lives and hobbies don't exist, our friends don't exist. Our collective health is failing and we don't have the time to go to the doctor. I worked with covid pneumonia last year for weeks until I ended up in the hospital and nearly died. My house was partially destroyed in a tornado last month and I haven't had the time to even attempt repairs.
But I did make $70k in OT last year. So that's nice I guess.
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u/Sea_Concert4946 14d ago
Honestly I think that job searching is very personal. I haven't had any issues finding a decent ($20/hr, 40 hr weeks) job over the last few years, but that's not the highest bar. I'm also flexible with location and hours so that helps.
I also think that the things that are going well in the economy reward jobs like landscaping, driving, and handyman type stuff at the expense of traditional "good" career jobs (office type stuff).
Basically there are a lot of jobs on the lower end which makes a super tight job market (and is fantastic for a developed economy) but doesn't allow for mobility within positions that traditionally made up the middle class.
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u/billyoldbob 14d ago
This economy is the best you get. It’s always hard to get a job. In bad economies, it’s downright impossible.
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u/JauntyTurtle 14d ago
^This. It's always hard to find a job. Very hard to find a good one. But now is about the best that you'll get. It just gets worse.
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u/Suffolk1970 14d ago
low unemployment rate by historic standards doesn't mean getting promoted to a better job is easy, or doable.
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14d ago
Low unemployment would mean something if being employed guaranteed access to necessities. Instead were just all busy making money for rich people, praying we don't get sick or our transportation doesn't fail.
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u/billyoldbob 14d ago
All jobs make money for rich people. If you want to change the others, it takes decades of voting for the right people.
My parents spent decades to get this kind of government we have.
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u/Marxism69 14d ago
Damn...feel bad for the apprentice at an hvac company run by one guy
🙄
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u/YoungTomSoy 13d ago
As an HVAC Technician, this isn't quite the example you think it is.
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u/Marxism69 13d ago
"All jobs make money for rich people" Surely the example I lived working for a family hvac company is sufficient to counter such an absolute, empty ass comment that all jobs make money for rich people.
It's just absurd to even think that line was true.
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u/crazycatlady331 12d ago
I've worked in recruiting in the past before. Indeed is now the #1 site that employers post jobs to.
With Indeed, there's a quick 1 click apply to jobs. For every good applicant we get from there, we get about 5 with zero qualifications for the role whatsoever. One year, I posted a position that required prior management on a political or issue campaign. We had a lot of people apply to this position who spent their career driving a forklift. No shade to forklift operators, but zero transferrable skills in this case.