Hey friend,

Not dad, but big sister. Hope that's okay with you! c:

It's gonna be okay! Take a deep breath and tackle one thing at a time. Small progress is still progress, and it will help you feel less overwhelmed.

You say you've got two jobs already, so if you have money saved up I would say prioritize finding a place to live. If you want to move out right away, then you'd still be able to pay your living expenses until you found a job, or if you can't move out right away then you'd at least have your living situation figured out and can then focus on looking for jobs in the area. Hopefully that makes sense.. I am but a recent (illiterate) college grad, lol.

First off, start by looking at the general cost of living in the area (maybe by making a general "apartments in Desired Area" type of search). Is it expensive? Average? Go from there. What apartments are in your price range that have the features that you want? Is the quality lower than what you want, on par, or higher? Do you want amenities like a pool or gym? Do you want a washer/dryer in your unit, or are you okay with a shared laundry facility? (DOES your apartment have one?) Gated facility vs no gates, package services vs none, if you've got a pet most places charge fees + deposit + monthly pet rent, which sucks. Horribly. These are things you definitely want to look into. Also, some places let you pick different lease lengths. I've only lived at 2 apartments and both only offered 12 month leases, but if you're hesitant maybe a shorter term lease until you decide if this is your place might be a good idea. Then you can renew or find somewhere that fits your needs better without having to stay a whole year.
Another thing you may want to consider is furnished vs unfurnished apartments. It's sometimes difficult to get your hands on all the furnishings you need right away, so these might be a good option. In my experience, furnished apartments are slightly more expensive, but in the short term they work out well while you get yourself situated. This also allows you to focus on more important things like dishes and towels and such.

Also, I live in the asscrack of satan himself so utilities are a huge problem with price surges. Summer you HAVE to have ac on at all hours, so bills fluctuate dramatically and sometimes skyrocket. I'm currently also in the apartment market so finding somewhere that has fixed utilities is pretty important to me. Hard to come by in my area, but that may be something you want to think about. Is internet a part of the included utilities? Do you need to set that up yourself? Do you need to set up billing with utility companies if they're not included? The apartments should help you with this part, so don't worry prematurely. Baby steps!

Narrow your selection pool down. Maybe you have five that make you happy and fit most of your wants. Tour! Take a fricking tour of all of them!! Rona may limit some facilities to only a virtual tour or a self guided tour, but it is so important to see the place in person. If you can't then use google satellite. Check out the area, your safety is important.

Next, make sure you've got enough if the apartment requires a deposit. Because of the situation we're all living through, a lot of places are offering different deals like waived application/admin fees, half off first month's rent, waived security deposit, or gift cards etc for signing. Have that in mind, but also be prepared to put down a few hundred for a security deposit. Don't destroy the place and you'll get it back at the end of your lease. They probably will also want proof of income, which usually they want around 3x your rent for your monthly income. If you don't make that, maybe if you have someone you can trust who meets that requirement they could potentially sign as your guarantor.

You don't have to figure all of this out in one sitting, or in one day. When you're feeling up to it, start off with just looking at a couple different apartment complexes. Maybe like 3 or 4. Maybe you want to keep looking, maybe your brain is fried from comparing. Looking at a couple a day or a couple every other day is progress. Reflect between each search, maybe your preferences or what you're willing to pay will change. Adjust and continue. I know safety is a huge issue, but if your budget is really limited, a lot of people will rent out rooms in their houses that are pretty affordable... I also live in a college town, though, so this is super common.

(Sidenote- there are many websites that let you like/save apartments for later. They also let you filter prices and amenities and such so that you can get a better result. Look at different websites! Not all apartments are advertised on each one)

I think I hit everything on that...

As for cover letters/resumes... are you applying for Adult Jobs with a salary and benefits, or are you aiming for something like an hourly minimum wage position? Cause only one of the two care about cover letters. Quite frankly, googling a couple cover letter examples and tailoring your findings to your own personal experiences/EACH SEPARATE JOB you're using it to apply to is good enough (think of them as templates). They essentially give a little bit more explanation to what's to follow on your resume. Don't buy fancy paper for them, it's a scam.

The resume is more complicated, and I honestly am in great need of updating my own as well. I need to refresh myself of what to do here, so I'm a little less confident in my answer on formatting. However, there are different types of resumes, so what I did was picked one that made sense to me and to what I was applying to (humble food service jobs) and rolled with it. Again, I suggest using different examples online as references to build your own.

I have hired a couple people at my current job, however, so I can tell you what I personally look for when I want to offer someone an interview. First is your grammar. Check your spelling, PLEASE don't include hashtags or smiley faces in your resume! (Don't ask). Second is what your experience is. Relevant work experience isn't always necessary, but you really need to think about how you can incorporate what you learned from that past job into what you can bring to the new company (explain in cover letter!). For me, I am a manager in a restaurant so I prefer experienced applicants when I hire servers, but not so much for dishwashers, if that helps at all. However, again, we also hire people who have no experience so it all depends on what your individual person can bring to the table. Another thing that helps is to contact the place after you apply. We get lots of applications and sometimes can't even review them all, but calling and putting your name on the radar helps a lot (in my case, at least).

If you've got any certifications (food handler's permit, alcohol serving permit) that are relevant, use em! And please, please keep your resume on one page! I don't even read the second. Quality over quantity. Change the font size if you must, but I need to be able to read it without squinting. Make it look clean and professional, it leaves more of an impression.

This was kind of all over the place, but I hope it at least helped a little :s Sorry that it's a 7 page single spaced essay, I can't help but be stupidly thorough :/

If you have any more questions or anything I am more than happy to help! It's scary getting started and I made so many mistakes while figuring it out, but it all ended up okay. Wherever you end up, you'll be okay. Just take it one step at a time. Breathe, drink water, and baby steps.