Job Market – Page 4 – Paul's Tech Talk

The Real Struggle to Finding a Job in 2024

PaulFebruary 13, 20243 Replies

laptop, macbook, work, man, working, person, cafe, coffee, home, furniture, room, interior design, developer, programming, programmer, stress, annoyed, stressful, exhausted, struggling, frustrated, php, git, Free Images In PxHere

from PxHere

Why is Finding a Job in the US Really Hard?

I don’t say this lightly because I’ve come across so many people talking about this that isn’t even funny. Most of these people are just trying to find a job and it seems that they aren’t even able to land any real interviews. I’ve had that same problem as of late, no one wants to interview they just go to another qualified applicant and either Ghost me or tell me that I wasn’t selected for the interview.

I’ve personally been dealing with the Stress of looking for a job for over 2 weeks. It can be quite hard not to worry and think about what may come but this is just another example of what it is like to find a job in the year 2024. Even if the US Government says we have all these Jobs that were created, I seriously doubt this is going to help those who have been laid off and the one that may be lay off in the future.

Few Examples:

Linkedin Layoffs Trends By Nicole Roundy

Why Can’t People find a job?

More and More people are asking the same thing. “Why can’t I find a Job?” on Google. That seems more than plausible, if the US economy was so robust and we had all these jobs than it should be easy for everyone who was laid off to find a new job. It however isn’t that way and I hate to say it doesn’t look promising for the future. As I have been doing my research more and more people are having the same issues as I am and if people are not finding jobs and they have more qualifications than me then It just can’t be how I am applying and that I am applying. It has to be deeper than that and I believe it is.

Even now it isn’t clear on what people should do, because more and more people are asking the same thing. Even more “experts” try to give advice. I put quotations around the word to make sure you know that I don’t know if they are right or wrong or if they are actually experts or just people who know how to get a job easier.

I’m not here to tell you who I believe is or isn’t a expert in this field but to at least tell you that even if you do some of the things these people tell you to do to get a job may or may not work in your situation. I’m going to at least talk about what I am doing to try to get a job that may help you in your job search.

My Job Search Activities

What I am about to tell you is what I’ve been going through trying to do to hunt for a Job. However, This doesn’t that this is how you should do it but it is something to consider while you are looking for a job.

Setup Email Alerts on Job openings — This can be quite helpful. I’ve done this for sites like Indeed, Monster, Linkedin, Google, and even Bing to find new jobs around me that I can apply for it and it helps to keep me from spending to much time each day to look for jobs. Each of these are easy to do and you can have each site email you daily or when there is a new job that pops up that you are looking for.
Spend a Maximum of 2 or 3 hours and No more looking for Jobs — I say this because I’ve heard people say they were looking for job as if they have a job Full time and that can’t be good or healthy to the individual. There is no way you can find jobs and apply to them all day. You should spend only a limited amount of time finding jobs. That is the best approach.
Get Resume Help — This can be quite easy for some of you but others might need to search their local community to see if you can get someone to help you write your resume even better. It never hurts to get someone to check it out and give you some advice on how to get the employer to see your resume.
Apply for Jobs that you have excellent Soft Skills for — This is something that seems to be overlooked but you should always apply to jobs that match your soft skills even more. This will get employers more interested in your application. If you can show them you have the soft skills they are searching for they may want to get an interview with you.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help with Friends And Family — This can be really helpful to be able to talk to your friends and family. It can help with your stress also but they may know of jobs that may be able to get your foot in the door. It’s what they call networking which has helped me in the past and this is something I am constantly doing now but still haven’t gotten past the interview stage.

As you can see these are just a few tips that I can give you to better keep you in the know of new jobs and how to deal with the rejections you may get. I’ve seen more and more of those rejections come my way but with all this it helps to keep me from getting depressed and discouraged. You should consider how you can better help yourself from getting that way too.

Are you looking for a Job? If so, we are both in the same boat but you can always subscribe and find out even more tips on Job hunting and just technology industry in general. Remember you’re not alone in this and we are all in this together.

In Depth Investigation of the Job Market and How it looks

PaulFebruary 12, 20244 Replies

job, dream, man, seeker, business, cloud, composition, creative, fresh graduate, hand, imagination, thinking, looking, offer, ads, sign, sky, offer's, symbol, blue, text, cartoon, human behavior, daytime, communication, technology, computer wallpaper, conversation, font, happiness, product, graphics, illustration, graphic design, brand, smile, world, Free Images In PxHere
Photo by mohamed_hassan from PxHere

The Job Market

First and foremost we will at least talk about what I mean by Investigation of the job market. According Websters dictionary, the meaning of investigation is “to observe or study by close examination and systematic inquiry“. Now since we will study this and look into other aspects of this to see how the Job market is looking you can see this will be quite enlightening. First we need to look at the DATA of the whole situation of the Job Market for 2024. Let’s start with looking at trends and see if we see anything that shows us what it’s look like. I am going to look at what people are searching for in Google using the Google Trends that is quite useful for this data.

Recession in 2007 and 2009

According to the Federal Reserve History:

The Great Recession began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009, which makes it the longest recession since World War II.

In history we are most likely going to start looking back and saying yes we are in a recession. If you look at the graph from Google Trends you can tell people stopped searching for the job market after 2009 and it started to decline. We really need to stop denying this and just buckle up and be ready to slow our spending and slow down trying to spend. If you have any debts, it is best to pay them off as quickly as possible and try to not spend to much right now. Here’s another indicator that people are starting to ask the important questions.

Understanding that people are searching for stuff like this can help you see how many people are actually asking these questions. If the Economy is so strong and working properly, then why are people asking these questions, should be your first question?

As you can see people are asking “is the job market Bad” and that is something you should consider when you look at the stats. Why are a lot of people asking the same exact question. I drilled down and looked and I see people are searching for Remote Work, WFH, Work From Home, Job Fairs, and other things that seem to indicate how many are actually looking for a job.

I am sure there are some people who will say this doesn’t mean that we will be in recession but I honestly think we will or we are in a recession right now due to how hard it is for people to find a job. This could also be considering us into a Depression that looks like a recession. I can’t tell right now but I do know Something isn’t quite right.

Biden Economics as some would say would refute this because it’s being the year of the presidential elections and they don’t want you to know this. If you haven’t looked at how it is going down then you should check it out how many people are starting to doubt that this will help them in finding work. Just to clarify what it is:

Biden described his economic philosophy via Twitter in June 2023: “Bidenomics is about growing the economy from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down. Wikipedia

Conclusion and Thoughts

Finally we come to the conclusion of this because it really looks like we are not at stable as the Government is actually telling us and we should be careful to, not repeat their comments, because until you actually do your own research you will not truly understand. I’ve been researching this for the past three weeks due to my layoff. I’ve even researched, what others are saying on video. You should check out the Friday Video Posts to help you see what others are saying. I honestly think we should tighten our belts and stop spending as much as possible and try to find ways to buy food cheaper. You should try to find a job anyway you can, I have yet to find a way to do it but I have been trying and get the dreaded letter that they haven’t selected you for the next step. It can be quite depressing but it is just a matter before I find a job.

Are you jobless and have similar experiences why not leave a comment and tell people your experience so they know they aren’t alone? We are all in this together. We just need to keep encouraging people that are having the same situation and tell them you’re not alone.

Don’t forget to subscribe to my blog for more posts like this and others.

Friday Video Picks: Job Market and You!

PaulFebruary 2, 2024

Why is it so hard to Find a Job in 2024?

Is the job maketing getting worse or better? I don’t know but I suspect we will see in the coming weeks as to why it seems that way. Here are a few youtube videos that will help show you that you aren’t alone in this job searching and applying for jobs.

I personally agree with this video because there seems to be a disconnect between the employer and prospective employees trying to pay as little as they can towards the employee to do simple stuff and keep them from not finding another job down the line. According the the Bureau of Labor Statistics it is sitting at 3.7 right now.

Chart from Bureau of Labor and Statistics

As you can see the job went up doing the covid shutdown and we had a 34% unemployment that went steadily down to where we are now at 3.7% which doesn’t quite make me feel like this is going to get any better but more worse in the coming months due to everyone will eventually need to get unemployment insurance to survive and the number will rise sooner than later this year just by what I am seeing in the job market unless something happens and companies stop being picky.

The Labor Market and Job Applications

I know it has been an interesting few days for me since my lay off last week. I will even say some of this is definitely not something I would want to give to an enemy. I have been applying for jobs and trying to find a job for over a week and it looks like slim pickings right now for where I have been and where I want to go. Not to mention, that we are having so many people trying to find a job and keep a job is something that will help make your job searching any better.

The Job market and Me!

I don’t know what to say about these two videos but they were very well documenting just how hard others are having the same issue as I am and it looks to be something that will last few a while. I might have to find jobs that aren’t related to the tech industry for the time being just keep money coming in. Are you experiencing not finding a job in the the technology industry? How’s it going for you? Have you had the same issues others have had? Why not leave a comment and start a discussion on what it has been like and don’t forget to subscribe to my blog for more blog posts about my journey into finding a job. Happy Friday everyone!

How to deal with Stress after a Job Loss!

PaulFebruary 1, 20242 Replies

Job Searching Stress

Let’s face it, no one can says it is easy to Job search and not be stressed because you need the money or even trying to provide for your family. Stress is the one thing that comes with a Job loss for one reason or another. We will always have stress and concerns and living expenses are always a concern because of not having a job. We can have many reasons why we lost but in the IT industry right now due to hiring to many IT people and seeing they need to rearrange how many people they may need. I know Job searching right now really sucks and it used to be so easy to find another job but now everything is different. People not quitting and the IT market not wanting to hire people because of budgeting. So it is just a matter of time before this all equalizes and IT industry starts to hire people. I just don’t see this being fast as I may need it to be.

Dealing with Stress

So how do you deal with stress while looking for a job? I am sure I am not the only one who has asked that the past few days. I figured I would at least share you how I am dealing with it and maybe it will help with your job searching and how to reduce your stress.

Exercise – This has helped me tremendously because exercise gets me tired and makes sure I sleep through the night. I find dedicating an hour or two of getting exercise daily helps keeps the stress from creeping up on me and it seems to keep from having sleepless nights. So it is always suggested to get as much exercise as you think you might need per day to help you with your attitude and sleep.
Eat a Balanced Diet – Don’t over do it with any foods and manage your food intake when it’s possible and don’t forget to drink plenty of water instead of drinking anything to much like Soda’s and other caffeine drinks. if you can avoid doing it after Sometime in the afternoon that will prevent you from have a sleepless night.
Hobbies – Find hobbies that will help you deal with the stress. I like to write so this blog is a way for me to keep my stress down by doing something I love to do. If you can find something that you enjoy doing can make your stress get better over the time you are looking for a job. This has helped in many ways if you have some hobbies that can you can do will help you.
Support – Find people who can help you deal with stress like family and friends who know your struggle and will give you words of encouragement to let you know they are there for you. Also they may know of a job or two that you might not know of to apply for.
Sleep – Getting enough sleep is always a good idea to reduce the stress and keep you from having stress. So figure out how to get a good night sleep even if you have to use Melatonin from time to time to keep your sleep regular. I don’t suggest it every night but I’ve used it once or twice a week when I know I need it but I try to avoid caffeine and stimulants as much as possible during the end of the day to help with my sleep.
Limit your Job searching – No matter how much your job searching you shouldn’t dedicate your whole 8 hours a day to job searching because that isn’t going to go over well. Limit your job searching to a maximum, I suggest 1 to 2 hours in the morning and maybe 1 hour in the evening and applying when you see a job.

Networking

Finally to help with your job searching, I suggest asking people if they know of any jobs that you may be able to apply for. This is something that helped me with stress also because they can be looking for a job also for me and may find a job that I didn’t know anything about or may know one from where they are working and I may just need to apply for to get the job.

Nothing is set in stone in these suggestions because no one is the same as me and you should should take these suggestions as to how you will deal with stress and what has worked for you but I am sure these will help you even more in your job searching and stress. What’s something that has helped you in your stress reduction? Why not leave a comment and tells others what has worked for you. I am always curious how people deal with stress and how they also are dealing with the Job Searching. Don’t forget to like this post and also tell people who might need an encouragement that they aren’t alone in this job searching. We’ll all in this together and you aren’t alone in having to find a new job.

Why companies are claiming Entry Level Positions on Job applications!

PaulJanuary 31, 20241 Reply

Job application by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Pix4free

Why Recruiters Try to Trick Applicants?

This is one of the ways that really makes me think this is a RED flag that you shouldn’t go to this company even if you are desperate because you will not last long. In the long run, it is something that I don’t get why they do this other than a few possible reasons. I’m going to break them down for you and try to explain it even more. Here is one Example of that I have seen in the last week:

As you can see when they called for the first level of interviews they were adamant that it was an Entry level position but I had some problems with that comment and pointed it out to the hiring manager. She avoided saying why that was but I know there was more to this than they are willing to talk about.

Cheap Labor – This is the main reason they try to tell people without posting it in their job description is that they want to get the cheapest labor they can. 9 times out of 10 this is the reason they try to get say this to get those who have the experience to go down in their amount they are wanting to get hired. This isn’t the best way to draw in applicants by making the job seem less than it is and it doesn’t help with retaining people in the long run.

Bait and Switch – This is also sometimes why they do this to get you in the door to give you even more work than you thought you would be getting into. I haven’t had this happen to me yet but I am leery of them doing this. I know they are trying to find people for certain roles but I would think they would be honest about it.

Underlying Problems

There are so many underlying problems with this approach but I won’t go into them all. I however think most companies would want the best possible talent they can get. However that isn’t how it is, most companies work for their CEO and their stock holders. They have to make money and paying people what is right to work and even inflation considerations wouldn’t work well for the ones who have the stocks and even CEO wouldn’t get as much money.

Pay for Entry Level

When they told me the pay they are willing which was 17$, I was a bit shocked because the even if they want to pay you the lowest hourly rate out there that just means they don’t value their employees and this just shows it even more. According ZipRecruiter when I looked up the pay range for It Support Specialist Salary it was more than they are willing to pay which means that I shouldn’t count on them calling me back or I should continuing looking for a new job somewhere else because they obviously aren’t looking to pay me what I deserve to be paid.

In the Meantime

Well in the mean time, I’ll apply for other jobs and consider this jobs as loss and try looking for another job that will pay me more than this previous interview. I know there must be companies out there that will value their employees. I’ll start asking more questions and tell them my pay expectations up front. I don’t want to get low balled and trying to find a job that isn’t a good fit. Each time I get an interview I am hesitant to talk about my pay requirements because they will likely trying to undercut me and give me something that isn’t even range that I might need or require to live. Are you having the same issues or problems like I am looking for a new job? Companies trying to pay you less than you deserve or maybe they aren’t even calling you back? Let’s create a discussion about this so others can find out just how hard this can be right now. Don’t forget to subscribe to my blog if you like what you read.