Crap employment history, but I need a job

[MajorTomServo]

Summer's coming up, and if I don't get a job, my family will disown me. I haven't really had a job since November 2011, when I worked at Target.

At the time, I was going through terrible depression, and missed a shift because I was going to commit suicide that night. My mom talked me out of it, and I've improved drastically since then, so yay, happy ending. The not-so-happy part is that I got fired from Target for missing a shift without calling in.

My last job before that, I worked in a grocery store, where I was frequently late because I was an irresponsible teenager. It's been so long, in fact, that none of my co-workers or supervisors still work there.

After Target, I did manage to get a job at Dunkin' Donuts late summer 2012 thanks to open interviews, but I quit that job before the training was even finished. I only did so because all my coworkers were gang members, and I really didn't feel safe there. Like, they would show each other videos of the cartel beheading people on their phones. And they were always asking me to drive them home.

Most of my job applications seem to go right in the garbage when they see such a terrible track record. That was a long time ago, I'm not like that anymore (well, except about the unsafe work environment. That's the only one I stand by). I've graduated from community college since then, and transferred to a four-year university, where I have a 3.8 GPA. I have a list of professors a mile long that can vouch for my punctuality and work ethic, but it doesn't seem to matter. I haven't gotten a single call in years. Is there anything I can do other than send out application after application hoping someone will give me a chance?

 

[Albino Boo]

As an employer myself one of things that you look for is the ability to commit to the job. I would suggest trying to get some voluntary work that involves regular timekeeping. Don't go for anything to political but keep it simple with obvious responsibilities. Having that on your CV will help to show that you have changed. The other thing you could do is walk in and ask. I know someone who walked into the lobby of HSBC international investment arm and talked her way into job with no experience in banking whatsoever. She used her ability to speak 4 different languages get a foot in the door. Think what your skill set is and work out where you could sell those skills and literally just turn up and ask. Again that shows that you are willing to make a commitment and put in more effort than anybody else.

 

[Metailurus]

Make sure you emphasise your education achievements on your resume over your work experience (i.e. list education stuff first, and talk more about it). Play off your previous work history as being temporary, or if possible, something you were doing to earn money and gain real work experience while in education.

Randomly Googled site that talks about resume formats: http://www.quintcareers.com/best_resume_format.html

Personally I like to knock off old job roles that aren't necessarily relevant to what I'm going for, but if you haven't been in the job market that long it's no longer an option.

With regards to references: I'd also just put references available upon request.

Depending on what field you are looking to be in, find appropriate sites to create profiles on and apply for jobs through (Personally being in IT, I find linkedin to be great, but mileage may vary based on what you are looking to do). Update your profile frequently as in the backend it's more likely to be at the top of a list for recruitment agencies etc. to look at.

If it's any help, if you are in the US, if I recall correctly all the government jobs are listed at: https://www.usajobs.gov/

 

[Fdzzaigl]

Doing some apolitical volunteer work is great advice. You should also try to turn your weaknesses into strengths in the interview imo. After all, you're bound to have learned a lot by failing and picking yourself up again, much more so than people who have never had to take a fall in their life.

 

[OneCatch]

Most of my job applications seem to go right in the garbage when they see such a terrible track record. That was a long time ago, I'm not like that anymore (well, except about the unsafe work environment. That's the only one I stand by). I've graduated from community college since then, and transferred to a four-year university, where I have a 3.8 GPA. I have a list of professors a mile long that can vouch for my punctuality and work ethic, but it doesn't seem to matter. I haven't gotten a single call in years. Is there anything I can do other than send out application after application hoping someone will give me a chance?

You mention professors being willing to vouch - do you include references from them in all your applications? If your employment history is fairly sparse there should be plenty of room on applications/CVs for references from these people, possibly even direct quotes which show you in a positive light.

As a rule of thumb, the less effort a prospective employer has to go to when considering an application the more likely they are to respond positively. So make sure references are clear and contactable, group different skill areas and show that you understand how they'd apply to the role. So for example, a general admin job might break down thus:
-ICT Skills
-Customer Relations
-Teamwork and interpersonal
-Personal Organisation and Task Management
I'd recommend planning an application by breaking the prospective job down into similar skillsets, then write a short paragraph for each demonstrating how you fulfil them.

Make it easy on the employer with regard to overall length as well. By all means show off a decent vocabulary and structure, but don't be verbose for the sake of it. Brevity makes an application easier to consider.

Do not be tempted to lie about stuff. Speaking as someone who has interviewed people, there's nothing worse than interviewing a seemingly promising candidate, only to have to waste half hour gradually peeling away bullshit.

Other than that, if you're having that little luck then there's no harm in experimenting with writing styles, techniques, what content to include, overall length, etc. Keep track of what you use in each application, so you can determine what works and what doesn't.
It might be worth being completely honest about your mental health history in applications, as an explanation for your rather limited experience. Frame it as "something in the past that you're keen to put behind you by working hard and moving on with your life", that kind of thing.

Also, volunteering and/or work experience of any kind is a really great idea. Would show that you are looking to improve yourself and gain transferable skills. Plus it will genuinely help you to adjust to a pattern of work - I didn't do volunteering work when I was unemployed and it made the transition into work rather more jarring than it needed to be!

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

Do not be tempted to lie about stuff. Speaking as someone who has interviewed people, there's nothing worse than interviewing a seemingly promising candidate, only to have to waste half hour gradually peeling away bullshit.

This is funny. Nearly everyone with whom I have ever discussed prospective employment opportunities and interviews I'm going to have told me to lie and/or exaggerate my qualifications. I've never done so. The closest I've come to doing so was to leave out the reason for my being laid off from a previous job (knee injury acted up and required me to take off from work twice in a month).

In my most recent interview, for a job that I completely lack experience in, I decided to be honest while my friends were telling me to BS my qualifications. They still decided to hire me (they say they did, at any rate, but they have yet to actually call me in to start).