I've been Looking for Work.

[Dillon]

a few weeks ago I made a post about the struggles of trying to secure full time employment and after that time and several more interviews I have been getting no where and still stuck in a deep hole financially. I had a interview early this morning for a fish hatchery biologist job and I felt that was one of my best interview I have had compared to the last several months. However at the same time I feel iffy as the interviewer seemed uninterested and had cut me off a couple times while I was speaking telling me “I have other candidates to interview”. After the interview I sent her an email thanking her for interviewing for this amazing opportunity and had emailed her a few questions I didn’t get to ask in the interview…dead silence and I figured I was being ghosted ultimately figuring I was not going to get the position.

As stated in the beginning of this post it’s been 7 months since graduating college that I can’t seem to get a full time job. At what point will it take for someone to see for who you are and to just give you a literal chance. I interviewed with two federal jobs and the reason why didn’t get either is because I don’t have experience in agriculture and farming but they are for biological tech positions. I interviewed before that for a maritime shipping industry position something that outside of my degree and I didn’t get that because of poor communication/social skills. I want to say that hey I’m sorry I have autism and I’m not perfect candidate that you want me to be.
I’ve interviewed for 25 jobs and each one I’m greatly improving my interview skills especially since I have been doing speech therapy a few weeks ago but it’s apparently not good enough especially even after applying to over 200 jobs now.

I am just lost at this point. I feel like I’m going into these interviews with 100% of my effort only to be told “no” and feel as though my time was wasted. I thought of going into trade school to actually get me some real world experience since going to college for 7 years was a wasted effort but even taking that route I don’t find is going to prove beneficial as time and time again you rather hire someone whose not just better, has more experience and is not “abnormal”.
I don’t want to give up as I know I am a hard working resilient and passionate individual but the time spent looking for a job feels like full time work and I’m getting really sick of it especially judging me on how I will do a job by only predicting my character for only 30 minutes of an interview.
I know it sounds like I am complaining but I am just tired of all of this.

 

[Aspychata]

It's sounds bad. Housing sales are slowing too. Maybe employers will resume hiring in January. This can be a tough time to get hired unless you are in the hospitality side, like restaurants, hotels, etc. Your struggle is real. My friend has a very capable son, graduated from UCLA, and still has no real job. Just fly-by-night gigs. This is in LA.

 

[Misery]

the interviewer seemed uninterested and had cut me off a couple times while I was speaking telling me “I have other candidates to interview”

Just a suggestion: To me this seems to imply that perhaps you were speaking with far too much detail and such, making an answer that is far too long for the question that was asked... it's something I often struggle with myself, and people react to me in *exactly* that sort of way.

And think about it: when you're being interviewed for a job, they are not looking for JUST the answers to questions. They're looking at way more than that. Your attitude and behavior, for instance. And when it comes to this specific situation, they're looking at efficiency. In their eyes, if you are going to take far too long to say things, you are likely to perform tasks with extreme slowness. This is likely not actually correct, but THEY wont realize that. They can only go off of what they witness during the interview. And implications that they perceive based on that.

So, the longer you go on during one, the more your chances drop.

I would say, try toning down the lengths of responses and detail you give. By a lot.

While I dont work anymore, I have had a LOT of jobs in the past, and while I wasnt any good at any of them, I never had an unsuccessful interview. The #1 thing I learned is that the real trick to it is to simply tell the interviewer exactly what they want to hear. Rather than what you want to tell them. The two are not the same.

Once you're past that, THEN you can show them what you can really do.

 

[Dillon]

It's sounds bad. Housing sales are slowing too. Maybe employers will resume hiring in January. This can be a tough time to get hired unless you are in the hospitality side, like restaurants, hotels, etc. Your struggle is real. My friend has a very capable son, graduated from UCLA, and still has no real job. Just fly-by-night gigs. This is in LA.

Yeah my struggle is really bad that I am currently living in poverty conditions while trying to get by on $11 an hour as a substitute teacher 3-4 days a week. I barely had enough money to pay rent last month that I had to have my mom for the first time help me pay my rent and bills. I’ve been rationing food skipping meals at times just to get me by until my next pay check.
Just like your friend’s son I am much more than capable for a lot of the jobs I am applying and interviewing for but these employers just do not want to give me a chance. I assume they think I’ll screw up or in capable just because I’m not great in interviews. I even tried applying for Home Depot and they rejected me as well.

 

[Dillon]

Just a suggestion: To me this seems to imply that perhaps you were speaking with far too much detail and such, making an answer that is far too long for the question that was asked... it's something I often struggle with myself, and people react to me in *exactly* that sort of way.

And think about it: when you're being interviewed for a job, they are not looking for JUST the answers to questions. They're looking at way more than that. Your attitude and behavior, for instance. And when it comes to this specific situation, they're looking at efficiency. In their eyes, if you are going to take far too long to say things, you are likely to perform tasks with extreme slowness. This is likely not actually correct, but THEY wont realize that. They can only go off of what they witness during the interview. And implications that they perceive based on that.

So, the longer you go on during one, the more your chances drop.

I would say, try toning down the lengths of responses and detail you give. By a lot.

While I dont work anymore, I have had a LOT of jobs in the past, and while I wasnt any good at any of them, I never had an unsuccessful interview. The #1 thing I learned is that the real trick to it is to simply tell the interviewer exactly what they want to hear. Rather than what you want to tell them. The two are not the same.

Once you're past that, THEN you can show them what you can really do.

I noticed I ran into that problem but in the middle I caught myself and dramatically shortened my responses but still I either give out too much information I’m rejected or I don’t give enough detail I am rejected as well. These employers ask these questions expecting you to give a perfect answer but in reality no one is perfect. I try to treat interviews like a casual conversation but lately they just been like interrogations.

 

[Aspychata]

Interviews suck. Alot of us feel that way at this forum. It's not just you.

 

[Dillon]

Interviews suck. Alot of us feel that way at this forum. It's not just you.

Right, especially of the statistic that 85% of autistics in the world are unemployed. I’m just lucky to be the 15% to have a part time but pays below $15 an hour.
The job process reminds me of grade school all over again where I just have trouble fitting In with the crowd or people just push me away.

 

[DaisyRose]

I know the same struggle. It set me off really bad because I had all the tools and knowledge, but no one wanted to hire me because I had no job experience. It really made me feel sad and depressed as if I was doing something wrong. I had to take care of myself. I had to work on my mental health and get out of the funk before I could get a job. After that, I started working at the thrift store. It was the best thing I’ve ever done.

I’m glad I didn’t get that job I interviewed because I was not mentally stable. I’m saying this from my experience and describing how I was in your shoes. You might have to get some work experience before getting a full time job. Even if it means volunteering. You could try to find places that are looking for volunteers in your area. Volunteering can have a lot of benefits and help you gain work and life experiences. Volunteering can also help you improve your communication, skills and social skills.

This is a suggestion, but maybe try that instead and see what happens. Volunteering can also get you perks that you won’t get at other jobs. For example, I get free food and clothing everyday by working at the thrift store. It saves grocery and shopping money. I don’t get paid, but I get other things in return. Life is full of possibilities and limitless opportunities. Don’t give up because this isn’t forever. This is only temporary. I hope this helps in some way for you.

 

[Judge]

You have to just "soldier on". It can take time, especially if or when the economy slips further.

And don't be afraid to reach out to someone who may know someone else who can get you a job. IMO it never changes, that more often than not it's who you know more than what you know.

 

[VictorR]

Just a suggestion: To me this seems to imply that perhaps you were speaking with far too much detail and such, making an answer that is far too long for the question that was asked... it's something I often struggle with myself, and people react to me in *exactly* that sort of way.

And think about it: when you're being interviewed for a job, they are not looking for JUST the answers to questions. They're looking at way more than that. Your attitude and behavior, for instance. And when it comes to this specific situation, they're looking at efficiency. In their eyes, if you are going to take far too long to say things, you are likely to perform tasks with extreme slowness. This is likely not actually correct, but THEY wont realize that. They can only go off of what they witness during the interview. And implications that they perceive based on that.

So, the longer you go on during one, the more your chances drop.

I would say, try toning down the lengths of responses and detail you give. By a lot.

While I dont work anymore, I have had a LOT of jobs in the past, and while I wasnt any good at any of them, I never had an unsuccessful interview. The #1 thing I learned is that the real trick to it is to simply tell the interviewer exactly what they want to hear. Rather than what you want to tell them. The two are not the same.

Once you're past that, THEN you can show them what you can really do.

I recall one interview where the opening question was asking about the courses I'd taken in college. I asked for and was granted time to think about that, and about 2-3 minutes into me jotting down course names onto a piece of paper, the interviewers informed me that the question was intended to be a general icebreaker, and they weren't looking for me to actually give them a list of all the courses I've taken.

A good reminder that not all questions are seeking technical answers. Sometimes, the question is more intended as an assessment of your personality, or how (and how fast) you would approach an unknown.

 

[Fino]

Perhaps you can seek some help with interview skills somewhere.

 

[Dillon]

I know for those who have been following “why is he still on and on about his job search” well I don’t know really all I know is no matter how hard I try over these past 7 months I cannot seem to achieve anything in my never end job prospects.

I had a interview today as a full time elementary school teacher teaching 4th grade math/science students. When I was called in for a interview I thought this was it just finally have a shot in someone acknowledging my worth I mean I have 3 years of teaching experience from the college level (as a lab instructor) to elementary (as a long term substitute teacher). I was more than ready for this interview and along the way I got to meet some really supportive staff members including the principal who interviewed me. I was asked basic questions such as “what would your classroom management style look like”, “how would you integrate technology into the classroom”, and also “how would you communicate with the child’s parent regarding his or her child’s education. I gave some really great examples from past and current experiences and I thought I did great especially by seeing the positive expression on the principals face. At the end of the interview I am told that “we have other candidates to interview and afterwards we will make a decision” then proceeded to say “you actually do not have enough experience” there was not one mention of the timeline as of when I would know…why call me in for an interview if you were already sure if you weren’t going to hire me anyway. Also I was aware I had a bit of a speech impediment and at some parts of the interview I could tell however the principal and the two teachers were kind of uncomfortable with how I talked/communicated but they never addressed the issue. I also felt as I was being rushed in the interview as it literally did not lasted 10-15 minutes.

So there is a teacher shortage but yet we are being picky in who we want to hire. Over 200 applications later and 25 failed interviews thus far I literally calling it quits. I’ve done my best to put a good foot forward for only people to push me away and not giving me a chance. Isn’t that what probationary periods are for to see if you are indeed a “good fit”.

In the end we thought things were getting better but they are just the same at a never ending cycle. I realize know that I went to school for nothing and I no longer have my diplomas hanging on my wall since I realize what a literal failure I am. What is the point of employers saying they want diversity when they don’t even want to give you a chance at all? I have two more interviews this week but afterwards I’m completely done with the job hunting process as my self esteem is just completely crushed.