Finding a Job is Indeed Difficult

I got laid off back in December (2023) and began my search for a new job. I will admit, my first job I got through nepotism (if the rich can do it, so can we). So, it's the first time I had to sign up for various job search sites, and start throwing my application into the void. I know I don't have the most impressive resume; I have a Bachelor's degree and about two years' experience as a content creator for a business (I suppose I'm technically creating more content now?). I don't expect to get a director or executive position, those require far more experience than I have right now (or being related to the CEO). 

I quickly learned even entry-level positions wanted me to have 2+ years of experience in a related field. Despite the name ENTRY-level they wanted me to have been already trained and experienced.  The problem with expecting someone else to train employees, is no one actually trains employees then. It's basically the work-version of a teacher who says "You'll learn about this next year" and the next year the teacher says "You already covered this last year" so the entire class just skips over a potentially important topic. 

I recently learned the job search used to be simpler. My mom (50) told me she used to hand in her resume (printed out and everything) to a physical real-world person at the place of work she was applying for, and verify someone actually held it, and likely got a few glimpses of it. And before then, even simpler. Last week I met an older woman, perhaps in her 70's or 80's, let's call her Mary. Mary mentioned when she was young, she came into an office, claimed she read the entire workbook on computer programming and completed all the exercises. The employer, impressed said "Mary, you're hired." So she went to work in a quiet little cubicle looking through stacks of computer paper, looking for bugs in the code. She didn't need a resume at all. 

She leaned in and told me "I didn't even crack open that programming workbook." 

What a time to be alive, you could walk into a place, claim you have some skills in a particular profession, and potentially work the same day. Of course, you'd need to actually have some talent in that field to keep your job for more than a few days. How refreshing it would be to have an actual face-to-face interaction with an employer. If I could look them in the eye when I have over my less-than-impressive resume and let them know "I'm willing to learn the job, and work for minimum wage." Employers love paying the state-mandated minimum (and sometimes even try to pay less). 

Sadly, I was born in the 90's, an age where technology advanced quickly, so now we all have to throw our resumes into the void online and likely never hear back from any of the employers, who likely just forgot they had that post up and filled the position weeks ago. At least when I was applying for universities, they had the cajones to send me a whole letter to say "Nah". Employers act more like guys on a dating app and vanish without saying anything. 

Employers do better. Hire more Mary's who can learn the skills on the job. Most people aren't born with skills in a particular industry. Also, start updating your job postings more often. If you selected a candidate, let the others know. It's disrespectful to be wasting peoples' time like that, and yes, the working class are people. And if you find yourself saying "No one wants to work anymore" just know it's BS, no one wants to work for you.