How do you get hired?

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I've been having an awful time trying to get a replacement job since being laid off due to covid.

I've had multiple interviews only to finally receive a generic rejection letter ("we've decided to pursue other candidates.....")

How do you land a job?

It is so exhausting and depressing. I just literally don't have the energy for filling out applications and going to interviews anymore.

But.... I have to pay the rent somehow?

What do you do? I'm so very tired....

Take a deep breath and take one application at a time.

Be kind to yourself.

It's quite challenging. Each time the process is just as frustrating: revising my resume constantly based on exhaustive research, obsessively researching each job and company, spending 1-3 hours on each application, then getting frustrated when I never hear back.

I suppose my advise would be to put a lot of time into ensuring your resume is easy to read, accurate, well formatted, without errors, shows why you're a good fit for the job, and doesn't contain any red flags.

Then once you get an interview do plenty of research on the company/business, prepare at least 5 questions to ask about the job or company (steer clear of questions that could be answered on their website, as this will look like you didn't come prepared), and practice your interview skills with someone.

The rejection over and over again would be tiring.
Obviously they thought other candidates were a better match to the position.
Since you got as far as the interview stage and were then turned down I wonder if there is a particular thing that was putting each employer off.
It's also hard to look at yourself objectively, you can't know what you don't know.

Have you spoken with any of the employers to ask for feedback? It's best to spin this question in a positive light as "what did the other candidates have that makes them better matched?" rather than "why wasn't I good enough?". Ascertain if it's a personal thing or what they perceive as lack of qualification or experience. Spinning the question in a positive way means you're more likely to get an honest answer. Beware though, being criticised as a person by a party you barely know can be quite confronting, but it's also a good learning experience. You can then take the feedback on board and make strategies to work on problem areas - this can only lead to a better chance of success in future interviews.

"You don't know what you don't know."

I wish you well in your search.

I focused on positions that matched my skillset, and did not waste time applying for semi- or un-skilled positions.

Thanks for the advice and encouragement guys

You get hired by using multiple standard strategies and shooting in different directions and also by luck.

You need to keep a Microsoft word document or a Excel file with a JOB SEARCH LOG with name of company position and date applied for.

You also need to ask everyone in your family to let people they know that you are looking for a job and to recommend you for any jobs they know are open or hiring. When you have done that, get back to me and I will give you further instructions. You will hate me but you will find some sort of job! I’ve done this harsh process with several people and they all found jobs. But they hate me because you get out through a harsh process.

could just look to an employment agency, but then that might be setting your standards a bit low, low pay, no hassle with interviews, least thats how i got mine. best look at a sector that is in demand and meets your skillset if any, like retail which looks for anyone.

I am doing these things

Unemployment requires the spreadsheet.

As far as asking everyone I know to recommend me, it just seemed like a good idea

Re: Temp Agencies, this sounded like a really good idea to me, but I can't for the life of me find any true temp agencies in Seattle.

Everything I have found just wants to submit resumes on my behalf, which hasn't been super helpful..... I mean, I still use them, but.... I think the ones that skip the interview process and place you as a secretary for a week don't seem to exist here (at least I have not found them....)

I can coach you to get a job.. but you will hate and resent me afterward because I am harsh and abusive to get the results.. I’m just immature and impatient.

What you said is good, but how come no results.. I know a low functioning aspie who got a 50k a year job through a temp agency ten years ago..

How many jobs have you applied to this week online since this Sunday? I bet the answer is zero. You need to apply to a job this evening through one of the online sites is what I recommend.

Also, put talking to me on this forum into your spreadsheet.. and how come you haven’t asked me, “I am looking for a job as a secretary perhaps a temp position to get the company a chance to get to know me if I am a good fit, do you know any positions in Seattle?”

Blah blah blah.. that is how my coaching goes on.. kind of looking at weaknesses in your approach and forcing you to make attempts to fill those gaps in your strategy through an abusiveish method. But job search is an abusive process that requires you to tolerate anxiety and discomfort and take risk.

Once you apply for a job online this evening, tomorrow put that into your spreadsheet..

Also, try asking for job on Craigslist, but perhaps don’t disclose that you are female because there will be sex scams in addition to identity scams there.. but finding a job through Craigslist is possible as my dad got his through there and so did I.

You take a piece of paper or open a Microsoft word document or write an email to yourself and start brainstorming a list of ways you can look for a job.

Also I recommend you use professional language to present yourself, so from now on say administrative assistant and not secretary.

It sound like I am berating you, but my method of guiding people to look for jobs works.

Also search for Assisted Living and Nursing Home places and hand in your resume for any admin assistant job they may have.. they will tell you to apply online on their website, and that’s fine..

I would stay away from any "job coach" that uses abuse rather than motivation.

this is a should statement without evidence in real life.. you can stay unemployed repeating you should only be fed motivation and told things that will make you feel good, but has that actually worked for people you know?? I have guided people toward jobs and taught them exact steps how to get a job.. the other half they did themselves..

a person who will do everything to get a job would not say what you have said which translates to 'I expect to be pampered and catered to because I demand that the world work I how think it should.'.. good luck, this is not how the business world works.. in fact, your employer and coworkers are likely to use some degree of abuse to both teach and communicate with you and to motivate you..

There is plenty of evidence. Abusive behavior is just to satisfy the abuser, but has no effect on the outcomes. And you certainly don't understand motivation--it is not pampering.

Do you have two accounts? You sound a lot like Citymale.

That's just one step lower than the relative who calls every day to ask if you have found a job yet.

Why would anyone want to hire an abusive coach when a relative can nag them for free?

Again, saying that justifies a person to keep not doing what is required to find a job (although it’s not guaranteed of course) and just shows that the person does not really want to get a job in the first place.

Yes one is on my desktop and the other is on my iPhone and I keep forgetting the password sorry...

Again, you can keep insisting on how job coaching should work.. that will not help a person get a job though.. changing attitudes to be tougher and more consistent with the work world is what I advise... in fact, if a potential employer saw the people complaining about “abuse”, the employer wouldn’t even bother with those people and just take someone who is easier for the employer to have because people who complain about unfair treatment are higher maintenance for the employer.

Bottom line, you need to have a Job Search Log and you need someone making you take the steps you are not currently taking and do not enjoy taking. You need to apply online, ask family to ask their friends and coworkers to recommend you for any open job they know of or give your resume to managers they know or to ask their friends to give your resume to their managers just in case. Until you have done that, complaining about abuse while not ever doing the above just shows the person is not really wanting a job or not at least enough to take those steps.

It requires you to act in a way you are not used and it’s uncomfortable and anxiety provoking and you just have to present yourself this way in order to find a job.

I am speaking from experience and also my college had a course on it taught by professors whose job was to arrange internships with companies for decades.. companies expect you to act a certain way and get tough and not complain and there steps people not in the professional world do not know which keeps them out of the job market. It’s like a secret society of people in the know and the complaining statements about “abuse” above will keep you out of that society.