Frustrations with interviewing in this wild job market

In reply to Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) :

Read through this thread and reach out to Phil (PMRacing), if you haven't already. 

Stopping at 15 years makes you sound less old. It also makes your experience sound less outdated. I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying.

In reply to maschinenbau :

Newfies have a rich tradition of traveling right across the country for work.

You'll find a Newfoundlander on every job site in this fair country. 

They're basically Canada's Mexicans. 

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

Wow, no I hadn't seen that.  Funny as I've met Phil, and went to Bollinger and filmed the B4, but didn't know about that thread.  I'll reach out to him again. thx.

I actually worked with that same career coach from that thread and can comment on the experience offline if you're interested.

Maybe important to note that I'm still in the same job I was in well after working with that coach.  I think Phil had the same sort of experience.

In reply to GameboyRMH :

I'll repeat myself: you haven't worked enough E36 M3ty jobs to realize how good Amazon actually is, for a E36 M3ty job. 

Go do precast concrete for a summer for less than federal minimum wage because it's the only place that answered an application in over a year. You'll be begging for a delivery route.

Get out of the GTA if there aren't any jobs there. Go where the jobs are, or where the cost of living is considerably lower. 

You're young, no kids, no wife, no mortgage. Tying yourself to a metropolitan area is the dumbest things you can do. Travel, follow the work if you have to.

The difference with Amazon is that they started paying middle class wages for driver jobs. So people working them were shocked to find that they were hard work. Previously it was all minimum wage workers who are used to crappy jobs with crappy pay that work you to the bone. $18-$25/hour is not big money these days but you can at least pay your bills on it. Used to be minimum wage plus a buck or two was all you could hope for from these throwaway jobs, Amazon rewrote the book on pay then became the villain because the people taking the jobs thought they would be easy. They're definitely not easy.

In reply to dculberson :

Like Ford...

Hard work but paid twice as much as anywhere else.

In reply to RevRico :

It's like Frenchy and Solar. You're wasting your time trying to be logical.

I've seen a few people suggesting I move, I can't afford to move right now or anytime soon, I already moved in 2019. I feel like the main character from Dunkirk running from one sinking ship to another (that character was based on a real person, fun fact). I also don't think there's significant room for improvement in moving anywhere else in the country.

Most of the jobs in Ontario are in the GTA, if there's a problem location-wise it might be that even more of the people are here. The concentration of jobs seems to decrease exponentially as you move further away from the city. In terms of tech jobs, it seems that the programmers are mostly stacked up like bees in a hive in downtown Toronto and Markham but we do get some scraps outside of there. Generally almost all of Canada's tech jobs are in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal (much of it is game dev there which is the coal mines of software development work).

Driving for Amazon doesn't pay middle-class money here. The Amazon driver job I accidentally applied to was paying about $20CAD/hr plus some regular overtime, which in terms of hourly base pay is a bit over minimum wage and equivalent to just under $14US/hr (LOLWUT? Could've sworn that worked out closer to $15US last I checked...). And with a higher cost of living than most anywhere in the US outside of the coastal cities, that doesn't go as far either. I've personally seen them sprinting and driving like asshats in my neighborhood so I know they don't have it easy in this area as it seems to vary by region, although the problem of being pushed to drive dangerously and not take bathroom breaks is fairly widespread. I recently saw news that Amazon is testing AR glasses on drivers' heads to order them around just like in Manna.

Side note, this video made me feel better about getting turned down for a lot of the low-end jobs, it may not be that I'm overqualified, it may just be that they're not hiring anyone at all. This is from someone who was not overqualified in a job market that isn't as bad yet. Warning, NSFW language:

No one is saying move somewhere random then apply for jobs. We're saying apply where the jobs are and move once you get one. Many companies will help pay relocation. That's what happened with me. I didn't love leaving my big southern city for a small rural midwest town but I couldn't fathom being unemployed for that reason.

$20>$0. 

In reply to GameboyRMH :

Amazon drivers average about 22,000 steps per day. Which is exactly the same as FedEx drivers, or UPS, or DTS.  They are a delivery company, and their drivers need to deliver packages. 
 

I strongly suspect that most of the complaints come from individuals that are out of shape, and not physically fit enough to do the requirements of the job.

I am COMPLETELY confidant that Amazon does not actively encourage unsafe driving.  That's a nightmare of a liability. However, out of shape individuals who can't keep up the pace the job requires could easily try to use their trucks as time machines (and should be fired for it).

There are also Amazon driver positions which are subcontractor relationships. It's not uncommon for these positions to earn $1000 per week (and have lots of tax deductions as a business).

Amazon has about 50,000 vehicles on the road.  Some of their drivers are content.  It's crazy to lump every one of them into the same generic little box.

In reply to GameboyRMH :

I get that the video was trying to be funny and entertaining- and it was. But as someone who has hired a lot of people, it was very cringe worthy. Attitude goes a long way, and if even a small percentage of his attitude in the video showed in his interviews, that is likely a huge part of his problem getting a job. Just IHOP, easy job, anyone can do it- The manager doesn't see it that way. He doesn't want just anyone. Running a business, any business, is a stressful, difficult job. You are only as good as your employees, so the manager wants the best they can get. They don't have time for someone who comes across as too good for the job. They leave the impression that they aren't serious or aren't planning on staying long. The guy in the video was late for the interviews in what, half of his examples? That is a disqualifier there, if you can't make it to the interview on time or follow directions, I'd rather hire someone that can instead. 

Tips for getting a job-

Smile. Be friendly and approachable. Make a connection, be someone that they want to share a workplace with.
 

Tell them what you can bring to their company. It needs to be something they want and need. 
 

Don't tell them what you can't do. You are willing to learn anything. You are willing to work any time. You don't get to make schedule demands during an interview unless they are recruiting you. You don't like the shift? Do you want a job? Then work the damn shift that is available. Do a good job, make yourself valuable, then discuss the shift that you would prefer to work. You are in a much better position to negotiate once you have proven your worth. That goes for pay too.