BellaOnline Forums Career Unemployment Where the heck are the jobs at?

Sorry everyone i gotta vent a little here and hope i can maybe get some advice from someone. I have been laid off for almost 7 months and have applied to hundreds of job postings like monster.com,findajobinyourstate.com,craigslist,careerbuilder.com and all others i've found on the net and even went store to store and business to business. Does anyone know anywhere that is hiring in lakeland,fl or anywhere close or know of any other job boards i can try? I'm 35 i lost my house 2 months ago and now living with my family again for the first time since i was 18 years old. I'm really getting fustrated and discouraged and need some advice.

Hi rozroz,

I am so, so sorry to hear about what you're going through. I can imagine how hard it must be in with the folks after all this time. You're not alone though, many...many people are moving in together just to make ends meet.

You know what I think is great? That you used a smiley face on your post even though it's been really tough for you. That means you've still got some hope AND still maintaining a bit of humor. That's great!

Unfortunately, I'm not in Florida and I'm not sure how big Lakeland Florida is or where it's by...mmm...not sounding like I'm much help here, I'm sorry.... Do they have any job fairs? Do you do LinkediN or any other professional organizations? I could be far off since I'm not quite sure what you do. You may want to share so that if something comes up, we can let you know. I know a lot of people at 7 months who are sometimes just looking for anything.
Are you using the same resume for every job or are you tailoring it for each position you're applying for? Even so with 1000's of applicants for every job, your's is going to have to stand out.

If there are zero jobs available where they are, some people have actually moved (not sure if you're by any major cities). I would look at that first (if you're located in a major market) or if your resume isn't working for you.

Either way, it's tough out there and even with a perfect resume it will still be tough...

Hopefully some of our readers can come up with additional suggestions.

Take care!

I'm a big believer in timing. Every job I've had came after my picturing, focussing and feeling the energy of visualizing what I wanted.

For instance, I was laid off twice before I started consulting. I spent hours redoing my resume, searching on line, looking in classifieds, etc. I finally just looked at it in terms of energy. A ton going out, virtually nothing coming back.

I just stopped and tried something different. I went for drives, packed a picnic lunch, went to the lake, etc. When I saw an advertisement for something that moved me, I'd stop in and ask about the service. They would like my energy and one thing led to another and they would say something like, "We can't hire you without an application. If you could please fill this out and return it, we can start the process."

Everyone's on-line. Face it, it's easier and personally, I know it's depressing being without money and work, so you "productively hide." I did...Hide w/minimal guilt. Then you almost start becoming your reality.

Anyway, for me, by turning the negative of not working into an afternoon of enjoyment, your energy rises and though the jobs I found weren't $50,0000 jobs, they ended up being that in a couple years or through that job, someone crossed paths with me and gave me their card and I was on to a comfortable career.

I remember working at a temp agency, if you can believe it, scraping ink spots off of 500 pg. manuals for a large co. I got sick of hearing the people around me complain about their work, saying they were doing this to get on at this one co. I thought, this can't be the only co. So, that afternoon I answered a two sentence add in a college newspaper, I never read. I was called for an interview 3 weeks later and had my own office by the end of that day at a brokerage firm. I went in for my paycheck at the temp agency and the woman snidly handed me my check with a big exhale, leaning back in her chair. She said, actually with a power trip attitude..."Well....hmmmmm, guess you'll just have to come in early tomorrow. See what I have. If you're lucky maybe I'll get you third shift."

I said, "No thank you, I'm here to put my notice in. I'm quitting." The people behind me when from exhausted to hopeful and asked how i did it. I told them and said, "if you believe you have to wait, I promise you'll end up waiting, maybe forever."

_______________________________________

Elleise
Clairvoyance Editor

Nice, Eleise. And what you're saying about the energy level is very true. Things are not just the same for everyone, though. At a very critical time in my life, I found a job looking online (craigslist). But, at the same time, I took advantage of the time off I had and did all the things I have only dreamed of doing when I was trapped at work -I took long walks to beautiful places, spent time with my hubby... It was a very nice time. And even though I applied online, I guess my energy still showed in writing.

So true!

I can't think of one example where my own energy didn't affect something, especially outcomes.

So many opportunities can be missed just by believing they aren't there or something negative is bound to happen. If you can look at as many things as possible with the attitude of it being an open window, I think that puts everything into a differnt type of perspective.

_________________________

Elleise
Clairvoyance Editor

Lakeland is near Tampa, right??

Try this. Hope it helps.

central florida employment

Another thing to try. Get online a look up all the companies in your area. Send all of them your resume, whether they are hiring or not. Make sure your resume is perfect and try to taylor it to each company.

Best of luck!! I'll cross my fingers for you.

[quote=MRS P] Lakeland is near Tampa, right?? Try this. Hope it helps. [url=http://www.cfec.org/]central florida employment[/url] Another thing to try. Get online a look up all the companies in your area. Send all of them your resume, whether they are hiring or not. Make sure your resume is perfect and try to taylor it to each company. Best of luck!! I'll cross my fingers for you. [/quote] Thanks for the tips! Yes, for a resume to be mostly efficient, you have to taylor it to each company. I know that takes a lot of time and can be exhausting, but it is worth the effort. I know it can be really tiring and frustrating to look for jobs, taylor resumes, try to find your best words and best ways to present your experience... I did this many hours a day for more weeks, and it was very frustrating to have applied for I don't know how many tens of positions and not to be called for an interview, but I finally got a job.

Hi there, I live in Jacksonville, Florida. There are few things more draining than a dead-end search. I'm using my 'spare' time trying to help fellow job seekers- and here are some suggestions. I do apologize in advance if I'm telling you what you already know. ;-) Are you effectively using LinkedIN, SimplyHired, Indeed.com? Also, are you only applying to the visible jobs and not tapping the hidden job market where almost 80% of jobs are being created? Are you calling companies after emailing your resume and cover letter-and what about hand-written thank you notes? For jobs that really matter to me, I create a power point presentation and snail mail it ot the HR manager's attention. Best wishes to all of us in weathering this economic storm. Sincerely, Arathi Dar www.myjobsearchhelp.com

Great advice Lila25!!!

I definitely believe in the power of networking. A ton of jobs are found by knowing the right person. Go to every networking event you can in your area and talk about your skills. You never know who will be the magic contact to talk with.