Current Events > I'm fed up with jobs and applying. I've fell into a deep depression.

(+) Yeah! (+)

I've had so many applications I've filled out. Had so many leads and interviews. When I do get jobs it winds up being temporary/seasonal or either manager eventually gets hostile. I'm an INFP personality and so I can be taken advantage of easily. I don't like conflicts and I would rather stick to a task I can do alone or have freedom doing. I graduated college in a creative field 3 years ago. I've only had 2 interviews within 3 years that were related to that field. One was a phone interview and the other was a video interview.

I'm just getting fed up. I currently work seasonally at one of the crappiest retail stores you could think of. It has a bad reputation and honestly, I just wanted to see how bad it was. So it's just a fluke and will end less than 2 months anyway. It pays minimum wage and not even enough hours lol. In the meantime, I do side gigs that surprisingly have helped a lot. Sometimes it's better doing the side jobs than an actual real job.

Expand side work into your full time job.
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wesastro911 posted...

It has a bad reputation and honestly, I just wanted to see how bad it was.

Sounds like a reasonable course of action.

r4X0r posted...

Expand side work into your full time job.

I'm actually trying to do that. I like merchandise work and flexible hours. I also like work that is project based. For instance, I like gigs that pay a set amount. Hourly wage/salary is futile with my job flow. It makes work feel unrewarding. Also, I hate jobs that will send you home early because you did your job efficiently and timely. Then, they have no more work for you and send you home. You shoot yourself in the foot for being a hard worker or either milk the system.

Which creative field? You never know, someone around here might have some work for you.

That's the thing about this economy going foward. Not so many jobs, but lots of work.

At least you have a job at all.

I started looking when I was 17, I'm 34 now, and I still haven't worked a single day in my life because absolutely nobody will hire me for anything. At first it was because I didn't have a HS diploma or GED, but even after I got one, it was *right after* the recession hit so all of the jobs dried up and now even the most basic, fucking brainless slave wage positions demand 5-10+ years of work experience or tack on other frivolous requirements.

At this point I'm done trying to apply for anything and accepted my fate as a worthless, excess piece of human stock that's going to die in a gutter.
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^geeze how many jobs have you applied for? Why do you think employers aren't hiring you?

Inferno Dive Dragoon posted...

I started looking when I was 17, I'm 34 now, and I still haven't worked a single day in my life because absolutely nobody will hire me for anything. At first it was because I didn't have a HS diploma or GED, but even after I got one, it was *right after* the recession

If you're 34 now, that would have made you about 25 right after the recession. Why the hell did you take eight years after you started looking for jobs to get a GED

wesastro911 posted...

^geeze how many jobs have you applied for? Why do you think employers aren't hiring you?

Hundreds by now.

And like I said, work experience is the biggest killer. Nobody wants to train new people, they want to be able to put you right to task already knowing what they want you to do, and it only got worse as I got older because they expect me to have more experience then someone who is younger. (IE: My bar for entry keeps getting raised.)

The most ridiculous though was the places that wouldn't hire me because I was literally too poor. How do I mean? I was turned down by several Best Buys because I didn't own any of the devices from the departments I was applying for. Apparently, they didn't think I could "believably" sell the newest consoles and smartphones because I did not own them myself.
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Rockies posted...

If you're 34 now, that would have made you about 25 right after the recession. Why the hell did you take eight years after you started looking for jobs to get a GED

Because I was too stupid.

No, seriously, I was home-schooled from 4th grade to junior high level by my mom ...herself a high school drop-out. Suffice to say, she was not a great teacher, and thus when I first went in for my GED I bombed, I bombed fucking hard. Those years I spent getting it was pretty much me having to re-teach myself because I was never getting that GED on the academic skills I had. (And even then it took several tries to finally pass.)

All those years having to play catch-up and it only amounted to absolute shit because a GED is practically worthless these days due to the constant rise in requirements for even the most benign fucking jobs, and it just left me feeling ripped off as opposed to accomplished for even having the damn thing. It's also why I never put much stock in college and the like, because even assuming I could magically afford it, I'm already burned by the notion that I'm too dumb to ever pass in a reasonable amount of time, and there's no guarantee the degree would be worth anything by the time I got it.
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Excuses

All i see are excuses

Some just don't make the grade. The bare minimum grade

Move somewhere where there is work then plebs

Hey, I'm an INFP, too.
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Personally I reckon going for an apprenticeship is the best way to go these days.

All sorts of trades like electrician, painter, plumber, carpenter.... got to get into young though. If I could go back in time I'd drop out of school and be a 16 year old apprentice.
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Conflict posted...

You can't really be blamed for your shitty upbringing

Pretty depressing stuff to read all things considered. Wish I could help you but all I could suggest is seeing a professional that can help you get your life sorted out.

Ha, "shitty" feels like an understatement. I was born and raised lower class, so arguably I never had a chance to begin with. My parent's paranoid and controlling nature simply sealed it when I ended up one of the most stunted and unprepared adults you could imagine.

It's sort of why despite my current financial situation, I loathe the idea of having to use whatever hand-out systems the US has and keep racking myself over my inability to find a job, because I'm fucking sick and tired of being forced into dependency on someone or something else. Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against these systems existing for anyone else to use, I just don't want it for me (though to be fair, I probably don't qualify for anything anyway).
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Just keep your head up, TC, that's life. Even if you were work dead end jobs, you can make up for it by being extremely healthy and getting a great sex life going. Possibly find a girlfriend with a great job already.
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Godnorgosh posted...

When college graduates are competing for part-time, minimum-wage jobs, you know we're fucked.

This has generally been the case since the mid 2000s
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What creative field did you study for? I hope it's not some liberal arts bullshit. They've got everyone brainwashed these days.

Personalities are not fixed. I was an introvert and the last time I took a personality test, I was a ENTJ. Things change over time and your personality will change as you get more ambitious and confident.

There are a lot of skills that you can learn on your own. Want to learn how to do well in an interview? Look at up in YouTube. Want to learn a new skill, look it up on YouTube. The answers are all there... all you have to do is back away from the gaming machine and seek knowledge.
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Inferno Dive Dragoon posted...

No, seriously, I was home-schooled from 4th grade to junior high level by my mom ... Suffice to say, she was not a great teacher...

I know what that's like. I'm so sorry.
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I graduated this year with a computer science degree working as a steward, still, i havent found that software development job yet
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BigTee66 posted...

I graduated this year with a computer science degree working as a steward, still, i havent found that software development job yet

try upwork that's how I ended up getting my current job
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whats your major TC?
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My major was music composition. Not the best degree to pursue if you want a career. So I've finally lowered my expectations and now would accept being a music/piano teacher. I may go back to college to get a certification.

Inferno Dive Dragoon I really hope you get something. I didn't have first job until 27. I was sheltered with crazy parents as well. I would suggest lying/exaggerating on resumes and interviews. Don't tell them you lack experience. Experience doesn't have to be from a typical job. My situation doesn't seem so bad after reading about yours.d

I think people who easily say get a job or stop making excuses don't realize how much depression, anxiety, and a strange upbringing can stunt someone's initial career in our society.

It took me about a year to find a job after I graduated college. I can understand your frustration and it is quite depressing. Don't let it get you down.

I was a substitute teacher before I got my full time gig. If your degree is in music composition then it seems like it's something that's flexible. If you play the keys or the organ then there are a lot of churches looking for musicians. My buddy pulls in $600 weekly by playing at church for a few hours out of his week and he does weddings and funerals when he can, then he has a full time gig on a regular 7-3PM job during the weekdays, he makes a killing.
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I'd gladly play music for a church. I'm not religious but money is money.

wesastro911 posted...

I'd gladly play music for a church. I'm not religious but money is money.

My buddy is an atheist lol. I wish I could play the piano, there are plenty of ways to make money by putting your talent to use.
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I also have a degree in music theory/composition. I was unemployed for 18 months after college, but that was because I refused to apply for minimum wage positions. I spent a lot of time volunteering at the downtown library, which was surprisingly helpful in building connections. Eventually I met a guy who knew an attorney at a firm that was looking to fill some staff openings, got a couple interviews, and was hired to a stable job.

Really, for music and art in general, your options are pretty much

Teach (requires certs unless you can build a sustainable private studio)

Get another degree, and then teach at a university (probably as a side gig unless you are actively pursuing a doctorate or are really good)

Make a ton of connections with people who are willing to pay for your art (extremely difficult)

Gig a lot. This option by itself is unsustainable in most cities unless you are creme de la creme.

Do a combination of all of the above (typical successful musician career)

Do something unrelated to your major (what usually happens)
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Apply for civil service jobs. I couldn't land a single job(not even minimum wage) for 2 years until I got hired here, so take lots of civil service tests.
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Alkaloid posted...

I also have a degree in music theory/composition. I was unemployed for 18 months after college, but that was because I refused to apply for minimum wage positions. I spent a lot of time volunteering at the downtown library, which was surprisingly helpful in building connections. Eventually I met a guy who knew an attorney at a firm that was looking to fill some staff openings, got a couple interviews, and was hired to a stable job.

Really, for music and art in general, your options are pretty much

Teach (requires certs unless you can build a sustainable private studio)

Get another degree, and then teach at a university (probably as a side gig unless you are actively pursuing a doctorate or are really good)

Make a ton of connections with people who are willing to pay for your art (extremely difficult)

Gig a lot. This option by itself is unsustainable in most cities unless you are creme de la creme.

Do a combination of all of the above (typical successful musician career)

Do something unrelated to your major (what usually happens)

Nice to know I'm not the only music comp major on CE that had a hard time. The one thing that steers me away from teaching at college level is music theory. Music theory in general was my menace. Also, the school I went to was too uppity about academic music. We had a competition to write an orchestra piece that would be performed. No one won that year, whereas year before some boring piece by a popular kid did. It literally made me stop writing music in the traditional way and just totally go into electronic music.

I never want to waste my time again writing music for instruments and performers that will never be played in a live setting. I'd rather get the data and convert midi into game style music or whatever the case. The music composition degree left a sour taste in my mouth in that regards. It gives you more freedom not having to think if the pianist has enough dexterity to make that run of crazy notes. Or if a french horn player can play in that range. I don't want to write orchestra pieces anyways.