I'm fucking tired of explaining to business ghouls that I AM FUCKING DESPERATE. I'M INTERVIEWING WITH YOU BECAUSE I WANT TO SURVIVE. I DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT MY DREAMS OR WHETHER THIS JOB OR YOUR COMPANY LINES UP WITH MY CAREER GOALS. WE ARE HOLY-SHIT PAST THE POINT WHERE I'M ABLE TO BE CHOOSY. ALL YOU FUCKING NEED TO DO IS READ THE FUCKING RESUMÉ THAT'S RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR GOD-DAMNED EYES, ASK ABOUT MY QUALIFICATIONS, AND TELL ME WHETHER OR NOT I'M A GOOD FIT.
NO, your company isn't special to me, and it isn't special to ANYONE but you and your business-ghoul friends. Your company is merely the LABEL that will decorate my paycheck and LITERALLY NOTHING ELSE, AND I'M SICK OF PRETENDING OTHERWISE.
And WHY the FUCK are you calling me to literally REPEAT SHIT YOU'RE TOO FUCKING IGNORANT TO READ ON THE GOD-DAMNED FUCKING RESUMÉ?
I've applied for at least 200 engineering jobs (I recounted the ones on job sites; but even that's nowhere near all of them) this year and gotten zero offers. This job search is LITERALLY DRIVING ME INSANE, because I can no longer fucking afford antidepressants and I'm on the verge of blowing up in people's faces all the goddamn fucking time. I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE.
Try [insert nearby industry here]
Funny story: turns out, there are people who studied for degrees in those nearby industries. No I can't land a software developer, data scientist, IT, etc., job, because (1) I've applied for all those several times and not even gotten an interview and (2) my school produces students who actually studied those topics as a major!
So thank you genuinely to the dozens of people who have recommended that, I really do appreciate the help ... but that only works if you're an appealing candidate in general.
Why are you unhirable?
Bad GPA (~2.8; many firms have hard cutoff > 3 or 3.1), no experience/internships, no support/professional network, recent downward trajectory on transcript, autistic, mentally ill getting more unstable by the day, terrible attitude that's impossible to fully hide, no charisma to accommodate for my deficiencies, no access to a time machine. I KNOW how I got here, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.
At least when I worked in food delivery I managed to make non-trivial money. AT LEAST I WAS HAPPY while being exploited. Now I'm thousands of dollars in debt, literally a hundred pounds heavier, psychologically and emotionally BROKEN, and no closer to getting a real job than I was before.
So, I know this is a rant. I completely understand your frustration. When I started my career in software I was either overqualified (weirdly), or just not interesting enough. Getting in is rough.
I had to face this again recently when I changed countries. Despite tech companies hiring everyone and their mother, no one accepted my application. This was most likely due to the sponsorship requirement. Then one day a head hunter called me up, asked about my qualifications, then sent me a packet of job postings. Within days I was jumping through interview after interview.
My takeaway from that experience: work with (not for) a talent agency. The people posting those jobs are like you and me. Sifting through hundreds of resumes, reading every detail, perfectly recalling those details during the interview... it's exhausting. It's far easier to trust the recommendations of a company that specializes in putting people in front of you.
Do that, and I'm certain you'll find a job offer in no time. This is coming from someone who has ADHD, and suffered from a crippling case of imposter syndrome.
You can do it.
If you don't mind me asking, what talent agency? Besides them asking me directly for money or free labor, how can I differentiate legitimate talent agencies from scams? I was under the impression that talent agencies (or really anyone claiming to want to help me; God that's not healthy) were scams.
The one I worked with was TEKSystems. They were super helpful, and found me a replacement job when I got laid off shortly after starting.
From my limited understanding, a legitimate agency will be looking to satisfy their contract with the businesses they recruit for. They won't ask you for money, and they will work with you to find an employer that fits you. After all, if you're not happy with the position and decide to leave, it'll be bad for both the agency and the employer. They also shouldn't be expecting a cut of your pay or anything from you once the employer hires you.