What we need to have a Job struck all working employees leave your job just walk off your job. And let all the company owners go out and do the job in the rain and snow or what ever

Mary,

Do not lose heart. I have been told that it takes 100 applications to get a single interview and the current job market favors employers. Someone mentioned LinkedIn as a resource but beyond setting up your profile use the advanced search for the company you wish to work for and add the word recruiter. This will give you a list of recruiters for the companies that you can connect with and hopefully leverage getting in front of the hiring managers.

One other tip I can give you is to get the companies names for your rejections then go to Hoovers.com, put in the company name. In the listing you get back you will see their top competitors. Use that list as companies to continue your job search.

So at the end of the day your rejection email become a tool to find other companies to apply to and the upside is there are usually a minimum of three companies listed. So one rejection email equals three new lead for you.

All the best to you as you continue your search and I hope to see you posting soon about the great new job you have landed.

Hi Mary, I suggest you continue to use job boards, community networks, walk-in applications, job fairs, and any other means/tools that will help you land that next career opportunity. I don't believe there is a silver bullet or formula that will make this process any easier. It's different for everyone depending on the level of employment we're individually seeking. Despite the "good" employment numbers you hear in the media there's still a big population of US workers with managing special circumstances an therefore not counted. Use the entire career search arsenal at your disposal until you can better identify what works for you. Stay encouraged, keep at it, and don't loose hope!!

No, it's not. Neither is it worth it to go around looking in person. Employers simply hate job applicants, they don't want to be bothered with hiring people and they don't want anyone who doesn't fit into their petty, prissy little pigeonholes. I was separated from my job in a margarine & butter plant over 16 months ago. Such applications as are issued over the Internet ask questions based on false assumptions and have rectangles too small to type in the truth. (Though one, I noticed, provided a way to enlarge the rectangles. But I've not found that to be common. It has often been necessary to go outside the rectangles. And do you think employers appreciate honesty? Ha HA!!!).

 I have found education to be totally worthless and useless in the job market; I have been to several tech schools in my life and found that 

every time I was trained for a job I didn't get the job. It might not be a good idea, either, to tell employers about having 20 years' experience in anything; if you've been in the job market that long you might be subjected to age discrimination.

If we try long enough, we might find a place that's doing mass hiring and is not in a mood to be too particular. I should (sincerely) recommend that you not try only to get an analyst's job, as you had before. Maybe you might have a better chance if you are willing to do something that isn't as "highfalutin", or doesn't pay as well as the last job you had. Of course, I'm not really in a position to give much advice; I can't get a job my- self and don't really know what would work--although I've had considerable experience with what doesn't. I am getting fed up with the worthless advice I've been getting from job-hunting counselors (some of it contradictory), and VERY MUCH resent the advice I got in my youth from the _____s who insisted on ramming education down my throat.

Ms Mary,I feel sorry for you. I am also a trier like you.I do not think anybody get job applying through these type of sites. If someone is immensely lucky only than he or she may get a call for an interview. Time has come to ask ourselves whether to continue waste time on these sites or not. Someone has suggested to follow up by calling. But whom we should contact nobody knows. . These job sites are only looking at their interest not job seekers needs at all. When you ask a question which is not suitable for their interest, they tend to skip the question. Most inhumane attitude.

Hi Mary, I feel your pain; I too have been submitting my resume through job boards and have encountered the exact same thing you are encountering. I have been unemployed for over a year, I have my resume on just about every job board imaginable. I have a Bachelors of Science "cum laude" in Therapeutic Recreation with a minor in Psychology, followed by many achievement awards and I am experiencing exactly what you are experiencing. I have had my resume redone professionally over half a dozen times. I have customized my resume to provide them with the key words they are looking for and still I am unemployed. I prefer the old way when HR would interview you and then the Administrator or CEO would follow with his interview. This is the first time in my life that I have been unemployed for such a long time, and I am totally frustrated. They need to illuminate job boards and go back to basics. Continue doing what your doing, don't give up and hopefully you as well as myself will be one of the lucky ones.

Boy do I feel you pain. Before I lost my unemployment, I easily applied for 80 jobs over the 5 months I was on it. I've slowed down a bit, because now I'm only looking for the ones I really want, and it was becoming seriously detrimental to my mental health looking through ll those lists and feeling so rejected. Have you looked at usajobs.gov for federal jobs or considered going through a placement agency? I finally got a provisional job offer with the government that I applied for in December. I'm still waiting for the background check to come back, so it will be another few weeks. I"m disjointed it is $6,000 less a yer than I was making, but it is a step in the right direction. I haven't worked in over 8 months, so I really need job. Regardless, I think it will be a good match for me and I will be happy there. Don't give up hope. I have 16 years of HR experience and a Master's degree. If anything, I think it hurt me more than it helped. Companies can buy younger, less experienced, less educated employees or less. Also, do you know that is the official age where employees become a protected class for age discrimination? Just another reason it is difficult to get a job as you get older. Companies are afraid of lawsuits. Sad but true.

I have stopped searching for a job. U have a lot of experience and very surprised you havnt received anything back, I don't know what these companies are looking for anymore.

I understand your frustration. It is likewise in my case, some of them do comeback, but they always ends up of not going through my application. You know what we have one thing in common I also have similar years of experience at 20+ years, some better companies will take you anytime soon. I think companies you mentioned tends to earn from hiring young ones they earn by making their overheads small which guarantees profits to their shareholders. I don't see any reason that they think they hired better people without looking at their experience, they don't respect work experience anymore. Anyway, I suggest you keep on sending out your CV, you can't be noticed if you don't send out anything. Companies who respect age, skills and experience will hire you soon. By the way, I don't like the word "you are not fit for that position" either, those are the words of stupid agents who just earns from people they sell not even knowing the extent of experience of the people they bypass.

I am not sure how long you have been applying to jobs on those Boards but unless its been more than a year, you shouldn't have had reason to submit "hundreds" of applications. Are you sure you have been choosing the ones that you are TRULY a good fit. You also shouldn't be getting 100-emials a day unless you have selected criteria that is not a close match for your specific profile. But even if you send an application for a position that you KNOW (by careful research of the company to learn as much as possible about exactly what they're looking for), you need to remember that they receive, literally, thousands of applications for every opening. You need to consider custom-tailor your resume to make sure that their computer-search routine will result in "hits" when they run it against YOUR resume. Remember that, when it comes to job board response - quality trumps quantity - carefully select the one to apply to and try to make sure your application stands out because it is the best math against THEIR requirements. +You also might want to join one of the social networks (LinkedIn is the best for this particular purpose) and try to grow a network where contacts there might be willing to help you find a job in their organizations. Finally, review your resume and make sure it highlights your ACCOMPLISHMENTS and demonstrated SKILLS, and not be a litany of job descriptions.