Struggling to Find a Job? Here’s What You Can Do

Local teens face many new obstacles while trying to find a job. Here’s what you need to know, and here’s what you can do about it.

Twitching in their seat, a teenager with well pressed clothes sits down in their seat. In front of them, the interviewer. Nervous, the anxious teen introduces themself. Similarly, the interviewer does the same. Then, the interview begins. It’s the standard stuff really. What kind of person would you describe yourself as? How will you better our work environment? How well do you work with others? Finally, it’s over, the teen sighs in relief. Optimistic, they return home, a week goes by, then two. Eventually, a whole month has passed. No email, no phone call, no text message. Nothing. Frustrated, they continue their endless scroll through multiple job sites. What could I have done wrong? They wonder. It’s the same thing every time. Why can’t I get a job?

Does this sound familiar to you? If it does, you’re not alone. Recently, job ghosting, when employers abruptly cut off communication with an applicant during the job hiring process, has been plaguing unemployed people everywhere. The reality, unfortunately, is that for many employers, it has become commonplace.  

Often, as detailed by Forbes magazine, job ghosting ends with interviewees feeling lost, disappointed, or doubting themselves. Additionally, interviewing takes a lot of time and preparation, getting your best clothes, doing your make-up, and styling your hair. Once employers don’t respond, applicants feel as if it was a huge waste of their time. Senior Megan Engdahl during her first job hunt, experienced job ghosting herself. For her first ever interview, she felt prepared and believed she did a very good job on her interview, however, it took longer than she expected to get a response.

“The guy I was talking to was nice and I wasn’t 100 percent sure I was going to get the job, but I figured they would at least reach out. It took about a month and a half for me to get a response and it was just, ‘Oh, we went a different way.’ At that point I would’ve preferred them to tell me this at least a week after,” Engdahl said. “Since we were responding through email I also emailed them three weeks after the interview saying, ‘Hey I really appreciated you having me coming in, and for the opportunity, I just wanted to know how it was going.’ but they basically didn’t say anything until then.”

Job ghosting also can deprive applicants of constructive criticism. This can be especially detrimental to teens, as for many, this is likely going to be their first job. They don’t know how to act during an interview, they are anxious, and now, without any response, they become even more confused.

“It was really strange,” Engdahl said. “I mean, I didn’t really have any other experiences with it. I didn’t have anything to compare it to, but I talked to my friends about it, and they said they also had pretty similar experiences.”

Of course, this isn’t the only thing affecting teenagers’ ability to get their first job. It also has come down to job availability and little experience. Clover McGarvey sympathizes with those who struggle to gain a job with no experience.

“I’ve applied to a ton of jobs off of Indeed, and everything I’ve done in person to talk to someone and hand in physical applications have rarely even gotten a response. I think it’s because a lot of other people don’t have jobs because people who are older have much more experience,” McGarvey said.

Additionally, before the covid pandemic, jobs as cashiers, on site receptionists and or customer service, and at places such as movie theaters were a reliable source of jobs for teenagers, but after covid, many innovations and practices stuck around and became popular. Self-checkouts, more reliable robotic customer service and the rise of streaming services all continue to snuff out job availability for those with little experience. Does that mean we should disregard these practices altogether? No. But it’s important to know the impact it’s had on the job market.

So what can teens do to better their chances of getting a job?

Prep Your Resume

Make sure your resume is in order. Although this is pretty obvious, for some teens, this will be their first time prepping a resume so here are some important reminders for what to put on it.

• Previous job experience (if you have any)
• Volunteer experience, time to put it to use
• Sports, employers like to see that you’re dedicated to something
• GPA or, what extracurriculars you are involved in, again it’s important to show you are a dedicated person
• Add references of people who know you. Unfortunately it can’t be a family member, however you can ask teachers, coaches, counselors, etc. to be references on your resume

Do Some Volunteer Work

As mentioned in the resume section above, volunteer work can really help a resume stand out. Currently, there are multiple clubs here at the high school that are focused on volunteer work such as the volunteer club and the monarch club. If you don’t want to do anything connected to the high school, there are plenty of volunteer opportunities around the Cedar Valley you can participate in.

Use Your Network

Even if you don’t have any job experience, you still likely have a network of people who can help you find a job. Have a friend with a job? Ask them if there are any open positions where they work. Counselors also often post job opportunities and volunteer work on schoology so be sure to check your email and schoology often.

Be Open to All Experiences

You aren’t going to get your dream part-time job on the first try. The most important thing is to get that experience. So you need to be open to all sorts of jobs. This doesn’t mean you should be open to a job with little pay or a bad work environment but you should keep your job options diverse. Look at serving jobs, fast food, retail, aides and so much more. Don’t just look at one category and hope for the best if your down on your luck in one industry try another