I have been trying to find an entry-level position for a year with no success. I have tried everything that I can think of:
-Use job boards such as LinkedIn, Indeed, SimpleyHired, WeWorkRemotely, FlexJobs, and other job boards.
-Reach out to my network on LinkedIn asking for assistance.
-Reached out to my career center at my university (they seemed more interested in working with current students).
-Worked with recruiting agencies (had some success, was able to get some interviews, but haven’t contacted me about any recent openings).
-Tried reaching out to my local community and see if they are hiring or looking for part-time workers (they either told me to apply online or they didn’t have anything at this time).
-Taken some online courses to beef up my resume
I have a BA in English and I knew it was already going to be difficult to find something, but I never thought it was going to take this long. I don’t know what to do at this point. I feel I tried everything and I have gotten nowhere. If anyone can provide me some advice, that would be greatly appreciated!
The unfortunate reality is that most jobs linked to humanities are considered “passion jobs” for which there are more applicants than openings by a wide margin. If you don’t have connections that gives you an edge, you’re likely being crowded out by those who do.
This is probably not helped at all by AI/LLM buzz meaning firms are increasingly seeking to automate roles associated with language processing of whatever kind.
So suggestions might be: Widen your net: consider roles like administration, HR, paralegal etc. which generally go to educated people but don’t have specific academic subject requirements.
Retrain in something in demand like a trade, healthcare assistant or similar.
Attempt to leverage your language skills to present yourself as a “prompt engineer”, lean into the AI hype to land a job.
Besides continuing to do what you are already doing, try looking at the career sections of local businesses and applying directly to them/through their career pages. I was in a similar situation recently and noticed a lot of companies were apparently hiring, but didn’t have listings on job sites.
You mention that you have a BA without providing further details as if a BA automatically means your degree is unemployable.
What was your major?
Also what type of jobs are you applying for?
I have a BA in English. As for the jobs that I am applying for, mainly writing & editing jobs, customer support/service, tutoring, and really anything else that I can qualify for.
Good news, you’re not alone! I have a terminal degree and have been unemployed for even longer. It’s rough out there. You are doing literally everything I’ve been told across several years. Do NOT go back for a MA and put yourself in debt just to get the letters — this is not a good time for higher education.
Direct apply is the best advice I can give. If you find a listing on a job board, go to the company itself for the application. Everyone has a different opinion on how to do a résumé and cover letter, and I think the more input you can get the better. Have some more basic text ones you can feed into the applicant tracking systems (the newfangled trendy ones with your picture and skill percentages will get bounced.) Also see if there’s a local “young professionals” group through your chamber of commerce for more networking.
I really do wish you the best. It sounds like you already have a lot of good stuff going on.
Oh that’s rough. I’m sorry that after doing all the same things that I have done, you still aren’t able to get employment. It’s really sad that we do everything that we are told to do and it’s still not enough! Yeah, some people keep telling me to go back and get my masters and no, I’m not going further in debt and find myself in the same scenario. As you said, it’s just not a good time to do that. I’ll take a look and see if there’s a young professionals networking in my area. I kind of just been looking at general networking events. Thank you and I wish you the best of luck as well!
Network in person as much as possible. Not just traditional networking events, but if you can do things around your hobbies and interests, but mention to folks what your career / job targets are that’s a way to find “ins.”
I got a great job in tech strategy because of a public speaking course. I made sure my speech topics leaned towards my career interests and chatted with a fellow student who was an exec assistant which led to the job.
I know it can feel like a crap shoot, but if you speak up around people who feel connected to you, it’s likely at least some of them will want to help.
This is the way. Have a vibrant, diverse social life where you contribute to group efforts and show off the skills you have. Introduce yourself to everyone with a smile. Be nice to old people and make friends with them - they are the ones who know about jobs that will never be posted to job boards.
Yeah, I find professional networking events and conferences and whatnot to be real crapfests. Like I almost never see anybody get hired it’s kinda like public marketing for big companies and they just give you the link to their job applicant page.
My experience has been different, but the professional events I go to are like “Brews and Biotech,” more interest-based, than slick corporate focused. I agree that “job fair” and “recruiting” events are generally not worth it.
Yeah, I’ve learned that job fairs and recruiting events are a waste. They literally tell you to apply online. I think they just go to those events to just look important and that they are hiring. I wish I could find more laid back professional networking events in my area. I think I would have much more success.
Where about do you live?
I just got a new full time job as a canvasser in california almost immediately after signing up for indeed. Granted I have a pretty solid resume, but I was fired from my last two jobs and they swooped me up quick full time with benefits and bonuses.
You the doctors without borders canvasser I saw yesterday?
yeah that was me
what is you major?
Learn how to weld
Ask friends and family to look over your cv. There might be something off about it that you haven’t noticed.
Your degree isn’t my domain but it would help to know what jobs you are applying to. What’s your applying rate? I aim for 15 applications per day and usually get a job within a week or so. Not every sector has that many openings however.
I’ve had my resume looked over dozen of times, but I guess it can’t hurt to look it over one more time. I started applying for maybe 10 jobs a day mainly in mainly writing & editing jobs, customer support/service, and tutoring. Now, because I’ve been doing this so long and haven’t been getting results, I kind of apply for jobs that I can just qualify for, but not so consistent. I kind of got discouraged with applying for jobs.
Based on the comments you seem to be a creative type with some coding experience. I say you should expand your boundaries. Some areas like some administration, administrative assistance, marketing, possibly IT if you wanna go in to tech.
I do have some experience working in IT as I did customer support there for a bit, but finding it difficult to jump back in there. What other career choices are in IT that you would recommend?
