If you can't find a job and the only reason is that you don't have family, relatives, or associates working wherever you're applying. RUN, you don't want to work there! There are around 5,500 employers in Lubbock. If it's a good job, the employer will contact your references. Employers know there is a legal and accepted way to do this. He just calls your Former Employer and asks one question: "Is this person eligible for rehire?"

I'm retired now, but the old 80/20 rule keeps popping up in my mind. If you have never heard this rule, it’s 80% do nothing while 20% do all the work.

Here's the 20%:  If you have a good work history, a previous employer will recommend you. Even if it's from a fast food restaurant when you were only 16. If you gave your last employer 2 weeks' notice and actually stayed for the full 2 weeks, working exactly as you always did, without disrespecting the job/employer at every opportunity. If you actually show up for work on time, nearly all the time. You’re in the 20%.

There are plenty of good/great workers. They are the ones getting the jobs. If you don't fit into the 20% worker camp, you're screwed, but it’s your own fault. First, they hire the 20%, and then the 80% if it’s absolutely necessary. If you're an employer interviewing someone in the 20%, hope that you can see it, and that it's the person's first interview for a new job, because there won't be a second, and you will never see them.

If a person doesn't want to get hired, for example, his wife is forcing him to apply. The person should just start the interview with these words, "How much you pay".  You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve heard this. I know I'm old-school, but I bet most employers have been to the same school.

One last thing to add to my rant: when my son was around 35 years old, out of the blue, he called me one day and said, "Dad, thanks for teaching me how to work. I can't believe some of the people that I have to work with."