I had a job. The company didn’t realize that they actually had to sell product to stay in business. Almost all of the workforce was let go or furloughed. I’ve been unemployed for over a month now.

I’ve filled out dozens upon dozens of job apps, starting even before I lost my job. I have my resume public on job listings sites for employers and hiring agencies to find, and I’ve sent my resume to employers and hiring agencies directly. I look through the listings on job boards for each day, mostly limiting my search to a wage that would allow me to make ends meet at home. I’ve solicited and implemented advice from resume design experts. I’ve had one in-person interview, a few preliminary phone interviews, and a couple of message conversations between recruiters and myself. The one in-person interview I had would not have paid enough for my monthly expenses and I was overqualified for the position; they decided against hiring me. I had another interview scheduled and confirmed via a hiring agency’s AI text bot and a human agent’s text; I drove to the scheduled interview place and time and they had no idea that I was supposed to be interviewed. All other communication has either been flat-out rejection or just left me hanging.

I have a Bachelor’s of Science degree from a top 25 ranked university in the US. I have no criminal record. I do have multiple disabilities but they are generally mitigable enough to not affect my work. I have references of my (now) former boss and a (now) former coworker who both praise my impact and aptitude in the factory and office workplace. I’m evidently overqualified for positions that don’t require higher experiences and I’m underqualified for nearly everything else; I can’t get experience in most niche or broad fields because nearly every position requires these experiences to have already been met. I try to follow all the invisible rules of applying and social etiquette. I am too physically ugly to sell my body. It feels like there’s always been a magical aura about me that makes people dislike me no matter how much I try to do the ethically or socially right thing. How am I supposed to get an income to survive?

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    4323 hours ago

    I recently ended my job hunt not too long ago. You need throughput in putting out resumes and cover letters. Use ChatGPT and have it generate cover letters for each job posting. Edit it so it doesn’t obviously read like it was generated from an LLM and get rid of any experiences it hallucinates on your behalf. It works better if your template resume is similar to the job posting in wording.

    Generating matching resumes and cover letters used to take up about an hour for me per application before ChatGPT. Now it takes about 15 minutes per application. Use that speed (and decreased mental labor) to your advantage. More jobs applied to means more potential hits.

    Applying for jobs is the suck, so use whatever tools you can to lessen the suck.

    • @SquorlpleOP
      link
      English
      1823 hours ago

      Thanks. My natural verbiage is commonly mistaken for an LLM, whether that would be a good thing or a bad thing for that approach.

      • @cheese_greater
        link
        112 hours ago

        Ur a natural, you’ll be fine. Watch a tutorial on it to get the hang of it and off to races

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        921 hours ago

        I don’t think it’s a very big issue anymore. Most modern companies know that you’re using gpt to help you write you letters. If you manage to sound more authentic, that would probably be helpful. But a gpt letter is better than no letter. Quantity over quality in this case.