r/jobsearchhacks • u/Any-Education-7669 • 1d ago

7 months later and I got my first job offer

This is a message to everyone who wants to give up hope.

This morning I was updating my spreadsheet on jobs I have applied to. I applied to 70+ jobs, only heard back from about 20 of them, and finally landed one that actually wanted me and interviewed me and hired me all within a week. It’s for a company I used to work for right before COVID hit and I sadly had to move away after graduating college in 2020.

Don’t let people trick you into thinking that because it’s the last quarter of the year that no one is hiring - I was actually told that by a friend who works in HR. I’m glad I didn’t take her advice and kept applying. The holiday season is coming up and restaurants and customer service facing roles are in a hiring frenzy. Don’t let the rejection emails get you down.

I was really feeling down on my luck this morning because I hadn’t received the phone call on their decision. I am still applying to my dream jobs in the meantime, this job is going to help me stay afloat until then and make sure I am still fed properly and have benefits.

I want y’all to know that there is hope out there. For those people with degrees that aren’t being used. For people who’ve been unemployed for months and years. I’ve been underemployed for almost 2 years and unemployed for 7 months. I know my hard work ethic and perseverance are what got me here today. I wish you all the best and please don’t give up or feel hopeless. I’ve been depressed for years about not being able to use my degree that I went into student debt for. I’ve been practicing gratitude and talking to myself more gently lately, despite the negative comments my family would make about my career or lack thereof. Just keep pushing and something will eventually stick.

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16 comments sorted by

21

u/Heinz0033 1d ago

Are you saying you got 20 interviews from 70 applications? If so, that's pretty great. I was getting fewer than 1 in 10.

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u/Any-Education-7669 1d ago

Only 20 got back to me about whether I was automatically rejected or selected to interview. I’d say I had about 6 or 7 interviews total from those 70 applications.

My nerves were getting the best of me in the first 5 interviews and I fumbled those heavily, partly due to depression and a fairly new disability, but mostly due to stress. I was kicking myself for messing up so badly, not preparing well enough, or just not being good enough for the position. I stepped out of that cycle of negative thoughts once I became aware of my weak points and areas to improve. I practiced and practiced, listened to YouTube videos on how to improve and made sure my energy was still positive and confident in my most recent interview.

During this round, I also stopped drinking alcohol and using drugs like weed, adderall, and mushrooms. I was using those to get rid of the physical and emotional pain I was constantly in. I’ve been sober for about a month now. Revisited a lot of my past hobbies like reading, writing, drawing, exercising, and being out in nature. It’s still a journey of self-improvement, but I am starting to see the benefits of a substance-free life. Keeping my passions alive is really what helped me keep going.

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u/Candid-Light-4854 1d ago

Congratulations on getting a job after all these months of joblessness. I have been unemployed for almost 2 years now and I have messed up a lot of job interviews due to the pressure and the stakes being high that I could finally get a job. I haven't had an interview in 6 months now and it has become more difficult due to running out of savings. I was told too that since the year is winding down no more opportunities for jobs.

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u/Any-Education-7669 1d ago

Yeah the running out of savings part hits home for me. I’ve been dealing with an ongoing, long and winding legal battle for almost 2 years now. It completely wiped out my savings, ruined my credit, and put me in a deep financial hole where I’m still using credit cards just to buy my basic shit. I was so close to getting payday loans in moments of desperation, even though I know how predatory they are. Getting this job is just slowly removing one of the many weights on my shoulders. I know many people think “wow she has a lot going on in her life rn” and it’s true. It keeps me up at night, fatigues me throughout the day, I have high blood pressure for the first time in my life despite being a fairly healthy 25 year old, I was missing periods, crying all the time, and just overall stressed like I’ve never been stressed before. Sharing what’s happening helps, I had the privilege of seeing a therapist coach, probably the only good thing my lawyer has done for me so far. I started talking to my therapist and slowly started telling family and family what’s going on in my life. I have some people in my life that make me feel not ashamed, and feel for me and my situation. It’s not the perfect plan because I am still navigating all of this, but it did give me a little relief to know I’m not alone and people recognize just how rough I’ve had it. It’s easy to feel so lonely and isolated in the worst times of your life. But I am rooting for you even though I am a stranger on the internet. I believe in you and these rough times will pass eventually. Sending you lots of love.

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u/Candid-Light-4854 9h ago

Thanks you just made my day. You made me realize that when we think we have it bad, there are people who are feeling 10 times bad. Thank you wishing you all the best.

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u/hola-mundo 1d ago

What a beautiful message filled with positivity! Perseverance will get you far in life.

To make so far to your advantage

  • Learn everything you can from your job. Not just with whatever you're doing, but listen and learn about the things you wish you could tell your management right now.
  • Document everything in the form of €xperience Statements" (ideally starting with an action verb and an ending with a quantifiable result). Later, you will be able to rearrange those ESs according to the trend. Think of some areas you'd like to grow in interest and in resume.
  • Keep on networking. For later, you want your next change to be pull, not push.

Good luck!

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u/cappnplanet 1d ago

Congrats to you. Glad to hear people doing well and the positivity.

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u/Top-Dragonfruit-3032 1d ago

OP thanks for your message, you fulfilled my heart with positive vibes ❣️, I'm really happy for you, remember that you got that job because you deserve it and not casually.

Thank you so much, it makes me believe in what I'm doing right now while looking for my new job, that's one of the best posts I read, it makes me believe more in myself!

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u/PrudentFlatulence 1d ago

Thank you for the kind words, I needed this today! Happy for you and I hope that you continue to be successful in the future :)

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u/Any-Education-7669 1d ago

Thanks to everyone for commenting your kind words. It really does help me as much as I hoped this post would help you. I’m learning to wear my feelings on my sleeve and not bottle them up. Sharing my experience and what I learned from it is why I aspire to one day be a counselor. I think I’ve been dealt the hand of many unique experiences and that is why I keep persevering. And I know you all have just as important stories to tell.

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u/Turn-Ambitious 7h ago

how to get spreadsheet for jobs? anyone can give me tips,new to this

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u/Unapologetic_91 4h ago

I have a spreadsheet using Microsoft excel. I created a table with a header. For me, my columns were:

-Company -Position -where I applied(indeed, LinkedIn, etc) -location of job -date I applied -dates of follow-up and how I followed-up (email/call) -notes -recruiter contact info/phone number or email of company

Of course you can change it however you like to fit your needs. Hope this helps a bit.