I feel like I’m grasping at thin air.
I’ve applied to countless jobs and I’m not even getting to the interview stage on anything. Even on things I feel I’m beyond qualified for. My background is in desktop support. If no one will hire me I thought of trying to wing it myself and put fliers up offering tech support.
I never finished college. So I don’t have any degree aside from highschool. My prospects are looking and feeling bleak.
What would you do if you were me Lemmy?
Near term: you may be able to find some temp administration n or even light tech work over the summer. Pays not great, but better than zero.
Resumes: resumes are a numbers game, like 500+. It sucks. You may be able to up your odds by running your resume and the job posting through AI (like Gemini or copilot) to ensure a more custom application.
Networking: I often refer former colleagues to others for roles or informational interviews. Considered reaching out to an old coworker or two to see if they have heard of anything. There are also networking groups (city chamber, industry, etc.) that could help to extend your reach.
Best of luck!
It’s absolutely not a job for everyone, but assuming you’re in the US, damn-near every 911 dispatch center in the country is always short-staffed and hiring, and usually only require a high school diploma or GED.
Since you have a computer background, I think it’s safe to assume that you can type at a halfway decent WPM, that’s a pretty big chunk of our aptitude test that a lot of people fail on.
A lot about this job varies from one jurisdiction to another, but in general pay is livable but not amazing and the hours are usually weird, but the benefits and job security are pretty solid.
Background checks, drug testing, etc. are of course usually part of the hiring process, and again it’s just not a job everyone is cut out for.
And the pay?
As I said
pay is livable but not amazing
I personally came up just a hair short of 69k last year, I’m paying my bills, treating myself to some luxuries, and usually manage to save a bit, but I’m not rolling in it by a longshot.
But like I said that varies a lot around the country, I believe that’s a decent bit above the national average, but not a ridiculous outlier either, it’s fairly average for my area.
For context, I’ve been there about 6 years, so I have some seniority, but I’ve also elected not to pursue some training and certifications and such that could have given me a bit of a pay bump. I rarely come in for overtime, but that’s always available if you want it (there have been a couple years where one of our supervisors ended up being one of if not the highest paid county employee here because the man is an overtime machine, he’s a supervisor so he of course makes more than me to begin with but not so much more that you’d expect him to be in the running for that without the insane amount of overtime he does)
On average the county I work for is fairly wealthy and we’re not hurting for funding. We’re not union (although every few years someone starts talking about it, hasn’t gotten off the ground yet but we’ve gotten close a few times) but most of our surrounding counties are so that helps keep our pay competitive.
Are you currently working? If not, register as a sole proprietor and become “self employed”. Even if only for the sake of having a job on your resume.
Good luck. It’s tough out there ❤️
I’m not. I have a huge work gap now, and it’s probably part of the problem, you’re right.
I spoke with a career coach after I was laid off and she would end her sessions with, “there’s a place for you somewhere, and whoever gets you wins.”
If it doesn’t resonate, feel free to ignore… I wanted to share what felt comforting to me, but we all have different journeys ❤️
