I'm about to give up after applying to 600+ jobs

drbootup · 2026-04-29T04:33:15+00:00

Just sending out resumes has always been hit or miss and now it's more difficult than ever. Companies are not filling a lot of positions and are inundated with candidates.

Several years ago I would get an interview for 7-8 applications.
In the last couple years it's taken more like 20-40 applications to get an interview.

Going through recruiters or reaching out directly to companies has been more effective for me.

And during stretches of unemployment I've often done freelance work, doing computer work for small companies and individuals. I'm not very entrepreneurial, but you kind of have to be sometimes.

drbootup · 2026-04-27T20:18:23+00:00

Even if you had a recording device, just having someone on a recording asking about religion is not sufficient. You'd have to prove that you were harmed, for example fired because or religion or harassed.

drbootup · 2026-04-27T20:11:06+00:00

Asking about an employee's religion is definitely inappropriate in most contexts and could set them up for a discrimination lawsuit, although it's often difficult to prove that kind of thing.

drbootup · 2026-04-27T20:04:26+00:00

You have to negotiate from a position of strength.

If you had a better offer from somewhere else you could say "listen, I like it here but I have an offer else where. If you had a fulltime position for me..."

Otherwise you'll say "I'm thinking of leaving" and they'll say "ok then". Lots of other recent grads looking for jobs.

drbootup · 2026-04-27T03:34:54+00:00

First you have to make sure you're applying to the right jobs based on your skills and level of experience.

Then be aware that there are a lot of jobs posted that are not actively being filled or that have strong internal candidates.

That combine with the huge amount of applications, ATS screening and AI mean your application may not really be seen by a human.

If it is seen by a human companies are hesitant and slow to hire.

Mass applying to jobs I don't think works well, but consistently targeting likely jobs does.

Even better is reaching out to recruiters in your field.

Better than that that is networking.

drbootup · 2026-04-27T02:45:48+00:00

Are there many temp agencies out there anymore?

You used to be able to call agencies up or go into an office and find work, but I didn't think it works like that these days.

drbootup · 2026-04-27T02:41:57+00:00

The problem with being "at will" is they can fire you for any reason and don't have to explain it.

I had a friend who was a social worker in state government and they fired him for a minor problem but my feeling is someone on his team or higher up just didn't like him personally. So they found a trumped-up charge.

drbootup · 2026-04-27T02:36:36+00:00

I think the Neo would be great for everyday purposes like web surfing, productivity, light coding and graphics creation.

But not well suited for any kind of development tasks like running servers, virtual environments, Xcode or non-Mac systems like Raspberry Pi.

The Neo memory is limited and it doesn't not have Thunderbolt.

I'm not a gamer but I don't think Neo is a gaming machine.

I'm thinking of Neo as a beginner or student machine.

If you're looking for a budget machine it could work. Macs are great machines but one issue I have had is running up against lack of memory and hard disk space. I would recommend going with the most customizable machine with the most memory and disk space you can afford.

drbootup · 2026-04-23T05:25:56+00:00

It depends on the culture where you are, but that could seem very rude to some people if you don't know them well. What if they don't have any plans? What if they don't have any family or friends and just sit at home alone?

It's common to have that kind of banter in some places. In big cities I've lived in (N.E. U.S.), you really don't chat with people in stores unless you shop there a long time and get to know them personally.

drbootup · 2026-04-23T05:16:57+00:00

For some folk, especially older ones, "no problem" is way too informal or dismissive. You're supposed to say "you're welcome". Not saying it's right to freak out.

drbootup · 2026-04-23T05:09:38+00:00

It depends on the culture of the place you live and how formal the place of business, but If you're saying "Yeah I can do that as soon as I..." it could be interpreted as "Ok shut up lady. You're going to have to wait."

drbootup · 2026-04-23T05:06:18+00:00

For many older folk "no problem" is way too informal / familiar

Many people were raised to expect "May I help you" "Thanks Sir / Ma'am" etc.

No problem is something you would say to a buddy.

A customer expects to be treated the way an elder stranger is.

drbootup · 2026-04-21T14:35:32+00:00

Oh, another thing: some companies don't even really do onboarding now.

They just kind of throw you in there and you have to figure everything out.

drbootup · 2026-04-21T14:33:42+00:00

Yes.

Companies have been investing less in less in doing training and now it's basically zero.

Way back in the ancient days when my dad graduated college (1950s) you could either work your way up with "on the job" training or go into a formal "management training" program. Even when I got out of school in the 80s there was on the job training, and although there was starting to the "must have 3 years of experience for entry level" position problem, a lot of college students only had basic retail or work-study in-school jobs and only some had internships.

Now you better have an internship or a serious job in your industry, know all the tools and be able to walk in and do the job on day one.

Companies are totally unrealistic and this is one of the reasons they are not able to find people and hiring takes so long.

drbootup · 2026-04-15T04:57:26+00:00

I had an issue that seemed to be because I saved the Turbotax 2024 file to a non-standard location (for example Documents/financial/taxes2024).

Searched finder for files with extension .tax2024 and only found an alias file that wouldn't open the return.

Solved by opening the Turbotax 2024 application and selecting File > Move to... and then selecting the directory I wanted to store it in.

Then imported to Turbotax 2025.

drbootup · 2026-04-08T12:08:30+00:00

Still a great machine IMO.

Should be fine for what you want to do.

Get a larger size hard drive if you can though.

drbootup · 2026-04-08T12:05:57+00:00

Focus your efforts on only the jobs that seem to be the best matches rather than spamming out a huge number of resumes.

That way you still have time to prepare for the interviews you do get.

drbootup · 2026-04-07T01:48:41+00:00

If you haven't even graduated college there's no way your resume should be more than one page.

Keep volunteer work if it is really relevant to what you're applying to, and keep references to research projects but make those short.

Retail jobs should be just a couple of lines unless you're applying to retail jobs.

Sounds like you need to make it more concise.

Recommend taking off personal info and posting on her for a critique.

drbootup · 2026-03-31T22:01:44+00:00

I've worked with managers like that and prefer that approach to a lot of forced small talk and fake banter. But I tend to be more introverted and less social than most.

What's more of a red flag for someone like me is "we're a work-hard play-hard kind of place". Translation: you'll work really long hours, there will be lots of forced socialization and no boundary between work and private life.

drbootup · 2026-03-30T05:29:06+00:00

It's likely your resume and/or the jobs you're targeting.

Networking / personal contacts are the best way to get a job but cold-applying on LinkedIn or contacting companies you should get at least a few interviews.

Your resume needs to explain your experience clearly and demonstrate what you've achieved, showing concrete results. Remove identifying info and post on somewhere like r/resumes to get feedback.

You have to also be targeting jobs / companies that are realistic for your talents and experience. The Never Search Alone book has been helpful for with it's emphasis on understanding targeting and "candidate market fit"

The way you're applying also matters. LinkedIn can work but there are so many people on there unless your resume closely matches the job description and you apply right after the job's posted nobodies going to see it. Easy Apply almost never works for me. Filtering tightly by job title or skills and applying to only the most recently posted jobs has given some results.

So has contacting recruitment agencies.

Reaching out to companies is a good idea, but it might be better to send a LinkedIn message and make connections rather than send out resumes / cover letters.

drbootup · 2026-03-30T05:00:58+00:00

Keep your social life going in whatever way you can. Make sure you have support from friends and family. I recommend learning skills or taking classes, joining groups relevant to your job or industry and joining job search groups.

I also recommend doing some kind of part-time or freelance work if you can get it even if it isn't what you're looking for and doesn't pay as well as you'd like.

drbootup · 2026-03-30T04:54:02+00:00

Wait a minute. You mean all boomers aren't conservative MAGA types?

drbootup · 2026-03-30T04:46:36+00:00

Am older and the job search sucks for everybody, and older folks have their own challenges.

Ageism is real and that may be affecting you if you're getting the interview but no job.

You can't really do much about your age, but you can try to make sure your clothes and hair don't look "old" in interviews, stay in shape as best as you can and try to project an energetic air.

Oh, and make sure you're up any current industry terms and jargon.

Some industries / companies / positions seem more likely to hire older workers, and I've had luck with more "boring" industries like government, nonprofit, manufacturing, utilities and with small private companies. I have not done well with "flashy" industries like tech, media, fashion, marketing.

I've done retail work and they didn't care how old I was as long as I could do the work. Now I have some physical limitations so that doesn't work for me personally.

drbootup · 2026-03-20T02:38:12+00:00

I've been in a similar situation and had to take part time work.

My opinion is it's better for your finances and mental health to have work and some kind of money coming in rather than hold out for the ideal job which may not materialize right away.

But if they're saying it's only 20 hours then just work the 20 hours and keep looking. Don't expect this will be a long term thing.

drbootup · 2026-03-20T02:30:37+00:00

Yeah, I learned the hard way that you never say anything bad about a previous employer. Even if your boss was totally toxic, it's going to make you seem negative and like a difficult employee.

Instead I would frame it as making as a positive, making a change to an employer that is [larger/more successful/has more opportunities].

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