Completely Done with Job Search, I Feel Worthless.

[Dillon]

So as some of you know I have started teaching or rather substitute teacher elementary kids and while it’s been going really great, I am still (or was) looking for full time jobs that are related or closely in line with my degree. I have graduated 5 months ago with a Masters in Marine Resources Management where my main focus is looking at environmental pollution and have a GIS certificate (I conduct geospatial analysis on a variety of projects) and after over 100 job applications and dozens of interviews later I feel so dejected and worthless. At what point does someone see that you are worth something and actually know you can do a freakin full time job, why does a interview have to be life or death with these employers?? To me interviews shouldn’t even exist.
I have the in depth knowledge and skills (hard and soft) that I can bring to the table but no matter how hard I try to be persuasive I get rejection and rejection after rejection. I feel as though going to college was such a waste of time and scam.
Maybe a option would be the military to be enlisted that way I can gain experience thus employers will see how invaluable I am. Maybe it may take losing my home and if it comes down to it so be it.

Yeah I have a job at the moment but it only pays $18 an hour at best and I don’t work everyday of the week teaching only when I’m need so at most I’ll get 3 days a week sometimes 4. I don’t even get my first paycheck until October 20th then another on November 3rd so even that stretch of income with this job is kind of stressful.

I’m just talking a lot cause honestly I don’t know what to do at this point that I’ve been having emotional breakdowns just thinking I’m a huge failure in life.

 

[Jumpinbare]

Sorry you are having this trouble. Clearly, the experience you have described shows you are not "worthless" in the job market. All I can say is hang in there.

 

[Dillon]

Sorry you are having this trouble. Clearly, the experience you have described shows you are not "worthless" in the job market. All I can say is hang in there.

I was also a undergraduate research assistant where my focus was on shark ecology and I had helped tag some sharks out in the Bay. I also did an internship that is known as Black Cat GIS and Biological Services where I was a field technician involved in a marine debris study determining quantity and quality of plastic waste within the Texas coastline. I was also a graduate teaching assistant where during my masters I taught lab students how to code using Rstudio/R programming language while teaching them the environmental properties of the Earth. I am now a substitute teacher for an elementary school….Even with all of that no one wants to see my potential of what I have.

 

[Outdated]

You've chosen a relatively narrow field of study, that doesn't mean you won't get the sort of job you want, just that it might take a while. There's a lot more opportunities available for you if you're prepared to travel. Places where a large portion of the economy relies on eco-tourism for example.

This is just an example, there's a lot of countries dependent on tourism.
https://au.indeed.com/q-marine-resource-management-jobs.html?vjk=e93956eb857a9fb6

 

[Outdated]

Just a funny side note for you. The town of Alice Springs boasts an internationally competitive yacht club and a popular surf life saving club, even though they are 1600 Km from the nearest ocean. Not too much work for you there I would imagine.

 

[Atrapa Almas]

Companies are made of people, so you need social skills to be accepted by those people. Else you would be bullied, ignored, rejected and fired from the company.

Those interviews are done to prevent that happening, because its too expensive for a company to hire and teach you, just to have you bullied-ignored-depressed and fired the next month.

We may think that people group mechanics change over time from what we suffered in schools, but its not the case in the working age range. Humans are apes and behave as apes. There is the alpha, the followers, the excluded, the bullied... thats how humans apes behave. Very much like wolves and dogs.

Autists tend to think "everybody is the same", which is an invisible attack to the group structure and to the leadership position. The natural reaction of the human group is to get rid of that odd "interference".

And thats why many talented autists work as freelancers, offering those companies the product-service they want without entering their social circle. Now we also have remote work.

You cant change human group mechanics, its like becoming angry with gravity because you cant jump to touch the clouds. Its better to learn the "game rules", how human society works, and adapt yourself to that reality.

Best of luck.

 

[lovely_darlingprettybaby]

So as some of you know I have started teaching or rather substitute teacher elementary kids and while it’s been going really great, I am still (or was) looking for full time jobs that are related or closely in line with my degree. I have graduated 5 months ago with a Masters in Marine Resources Management where my main focus is looking at environmental pollution and have a GIS certificate (I conduct geospatial analysis on a variety of projects) and after over 100 job applications and dozens of interviews later I feel so dejected and worthless. At what point does someone see that you are worth something and actually know you can do a freakin full time job, why does a interview have to be life or death with these employers?? To me interviews shouldn’t even exist.
I have the in depth knowledge and skills (hard and soft) that I can bring to the table but no matter how hard I try to be persuasive I get rejection and rejection after rejection. I feel as though going to college was such a waste of time and scam.
Maybe a option would be the military to be enlisted that way I can gain experience thus employers will see how invaluable I am. Maybe it may take losing my home and if it comes down to it so be it.

Yeah I have a job at the moment but it only pays $18 an hour at best and I don’t work everyday of the week teaching only when I’m need so at most I’ll get 3 days a week sometimes 4. I don’t even get my first paycheck until October 20th then another on November 3rd so even that stretch of income with this job is kind of stressful.

I’m just talking a lot cause honestly I don’t know what to do at this point that I’ve been having emotional breakdowns just thinking I’m a huge failure in life.

You are not a failure

It is a measure of experience often people will not take you without that.
So it can seem hard if they will not take you before you gain that and rubbish too
Have you thought of..
Doing some volunteer work with some marine conservation organization if you can fit that in the side of your work to put it on your resume?
That is all I can think of you need to find a way to gain experience so they know you will do well on the job.
And if you work part-time you could look at volunteering the other days.

 

[Rodafina]

@Dillon
Maybe you can try to disconnect your sense of self-worth from your experience with jobseeking and interviews.

I can understand the exhaustion and frustration that you are facing, but the lessons and sense of self-worth that could be learned from this are that you persevere, you find creative solutions to problems, and you know your own value.

If you have the time and the ability, I think @lovely_darlingprettybaby’s suggestion to volunteer somewhere is good advice. This can help you get worthy experience and a good reference, too. It can also help you determine where your own strengths are so that you can really sell yourself when you have to (like in an interview).

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

I feel for you, I graduated in molecular genetics when research funding was collapsing and commercial application was just a dream.

 

[Ken]

At what point does someone see that you are worth something and actually know you can do a freakin full time job

Well, there are a lot of variables in life, so I guess it can be either quick or slow. It may take a while, but that doesn't mean it will never happen. It finally happened for me, but it wasn't until I was 57 years old. While that may seem like a lifetime, that job was so perfect it made up for all the poverty, depression and disappointments leading up to that point. I didn't even have a teaching job. - My crippling social anxiety made that impossible. College was also not an option for me, also due to social anxiety in addition to no money. (did I mention poverty?)

You still have a long way to go. Be patient, Try not to despair; your time is coming. I'm sure not as fast as you would like, mine didn't, but it was all good in the end. As I look back on my life (I'm now 71) I'm OK with how it all evolved, hardships and all. Just makes my final success all the more profound and satisfying.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

So as some of you know I have started teaching or rather substitute teacher elementary kids and while it’s been going really great, I am still (or was) looking for full time jobs that are related or closely in line with my degree. I have graduated 5 months ago with a Masters in Marine Resources Management where my main focus is looking at environmental pollution and have a GIS certificate (I conduct geospatial analysis on a variety of projects) and after over 100 job applications and dozens of interviews later I feel so dejected and worthless. At what point does someone see that you are worth something and actually know you can do a freakin full time job, why does a interview have to be life or death with these employers?? To me interviews shouldn’t even exist.
I have the in depth knowledge and skills (hard and soft) that I can bring to the table but no matter how hard I try to be persuasive I get rejection and rejection after rejection. I feel as though going to college was such a waste of time and scam.
Maybe a option would be the military to be enlisted that way I can gain experience thus employers will see how invaluable I am. Maybe it may take losing my home and if it comes down to it so be it.

Yeah I have a job at the moment but it only pays $18 an hour at best and I don’t work everyday of the week teaching only when I’m need so at most I’ll get 3 days a week sometimes 4. I don’t even get my first paycheck until October 20th then another on November 3rd so even that stretch of income with this job is kind of stressful.

I’m just talking a lot cause honestly I don’t know what to do at this point that I’ve been having emotional breakdowns just thinking I’m a huge failure in life.

Niche jobs like you are trying for are few and far between.

Sometimes you might have to settle for the "right now" job instead of the "right" job. Many of the trades are knocking down hourly wages and salaries that far exceed jobs requiring degrees. Someone working the assembly line at an automobile factory is getting $40-60/hr now, and they're on strike wanting more. I have a nice house in the suburbs, 2 Teslas, a few million in investments, and neither my wife nor I make $40/hr in degreed professions where we make life and death decisions. So, (1) we would have been better off NOT going to school and (2) what the heck are these autoworkers thinking, "not a livable wage"? Give me a break.

 

[Tom]

Giving up on teaching after a few weeks of subbing is kinda like giving up in a basketball game after 3 minutes.

If you were totally unsuited it might make sense, but on the contrary you sound like you think yourself well equipped and able to establish a good rapport with the kids.

So how long does the average person seeking a full time position have to sub first?

I don't know. Do you?

But from watching my wife go thru it and learning about some of her colleagues I would think it closer to a year then couple of weeks. Typically you watch for the full time openings and then apply for them. If you work there as a sub they have personal experience of your skills.