Po Wong ⋅ Orlando, FL Johnson & Johnson (retired) ⋅ 40 years experience

Hi Jiles and Kurt,
Thanks for your service!

If you notice my postings, I am quite direct and not very PC. I definitely appreciate your frustration. As Angela and other stated, the job market is very tough. I spend lots of time help my ex-associates to look for jobs. One has a MS in Chemical engineering from Columbia and the other has a MSEE from Stanford with over 15 years job experience. It took them over a year (sent out ~300s resumes) to find a job with 30% pay cut and they are in the job booming Bay Area. One with a law degree and took her two years.

In order to get a job, good resume is only a very small part. It is a combination of specific job skills, education, degree, location; job market demand, networking and luck.....all come together in one moment. I/We don’t know your experience and background but based on employment data, MI and IL does not looks like a job booming area. Have you gentlemen considered moving to different states where more jobs are available?

Most of the advisors on this site can help you to refine your resume, send you link and share process to look for employment. But only you can determine - do you have the right education and skill to get the job you want? Do you need to go back to school or pick up anther trade skills? Flexible enough to move to location with the highest job opportunity, how much effort you want to network and looking for job.

Make no mistake it is tough out there. We are here to help but it is you who control your destiny, job opportunities and your career!

Feel free to send me your resume through “Private message”. More than happy to assist!
Good luck!

Dee Dee Haas ⋅ O Fallon, MO ⋅ 28 years experience

Jiles,
I don't know what your skill set is, but since you are somewhat close to the St. Louis area I thought I would send this opportunity. If you meet the requirements, it may work out for you.
I had to leave out the pictures, but here is the text from the flyer.

Check Out the Boeing Pre-Employment Training Program!
This 10 week training program takes place at the Center for Workforce
Innovation at St. Louis Community College’s Florissant Valley Campus.
FREE tuition if accepted into program!
Skills and qualifications needed to be considered:
• Must pass WorkKeys Assessment Tests (applied math, location information,
reading for information and observation)
• Must be mechanically inclined
To apply, email resume to wcdassemblymechanics@stlcc.edu or FAX to
(314) 513-4604. For more information and schedule call (314) 539-5921.
Upon program completion, participants are eligible to interview for positions
with Boeing.

Yvonne Ibelli ⋅ Valhalla, NY ⋅ 7 years experience

Jiles,

Angela has made some good points to consider when job hunting; feel free to email me your resume and I will review it and make suggestions. My email address is: yvonneib@hotmail.com

Yvonne Ibelli
Assistant Director, Career Development
Hostos Community College

Steven Betts ⋅ Houston, TX Partners Claim Services, Inc. ⋅ 30 years experience

Jiles, at least you are in good company. The number of unemployed / under-employed people in the US is at least 12 million people. The 6.6%-6.8% unemployment rate based on new and existing unemployment claims, and new hires is misleading. You do have an advantage for the right position. Companies seek veterans for the same reason they seek college degrees. These demonstrate your ability to understand, implement, and follow direction, within a given structure. You have proved yourself, but you must continue to reinvent yourself throughout your life, taking advantage of opportunities, and enduring hardships that are often beyond our control.

Make sure you are seeking the right kind of employment for you. If you are excited, and know you can help a company, they will be excited too.

It is a very tight job market, by some standards, the worst since the US started keeping track in the mid-1900s. Remember these times when things are really going well for you in the future. An absolute certainty in life is change. Change can be gut wrenchingly hard, unfair, or fortuitous when all said and done. That does not define you. Your training, ability to act swiftly and discipline are cornerstones that support you for life. The experience can zap you self-confidence and you must make sure that does not happen. Be as proud of yourself as we are, explore things that interest you, take calculated chances, learn from failure, and persevere.

You are no longer on 24 hour duty, perform your job search for 6-8 hours a day, and then take the time to celebrate what you already have positive in your life. Pursue exercise, family, friends, and personal interests. Do not make the mistake of feeling you must continue your job search 24/7 until you have a job you consider suitable. Love the life you served to defend, we, the citizens, are behind you 1,000%!

Fouad Malik ⋅ Los Angeles, CA ⋅ 7 years experience

"It seems everywhere I go I am either over qualified and passed over"

First, If you feel that you are overqualified for certain positions because of education, you may leave the qualifications out of resume that makes your overqualified. If you feel you may be overqualified by the length of your experience then you may consider listing only last 10 years of experience on resume.

Second, over qualification is not necessarily always bad especially if you are able to show high level of interest for a certain position. Some people like to do certain work because they enjoy it and have passion for it. So it is not always about paycheck. So you can always emphasize that your ability to utilize your skill set is a motivation for the position. There can be other reasons that why you want certain job. You can state that in cover letter and during interview. Over qualification can be more of a problem if you are just desperate for a job or do not have a right reason for that job and employer feels that you will move onto another opportunity once you find better opportunity. Employers incur significant replacement costs when they have to replace an employee.

"or since I don't have a criminal background my resume isn't even looked at."

Employers normally have to get written permission from applicants to conduct background check. Backgrounds checks are usually done towards end of selection process when hiring decision is made or about to be made (after assessment tests, interviews and reference check are usually completed). If employer start doing background check on every applicant, then it will be very long and costly process for them. Secondly, absence of criminal background is not a criteria to disqualify (criminal background may disqualify you for some jobs).

There may also be other reasons for not getting interviews. A common reason is usually a mediocre resume.

Kurt Trimas ⋅ Farmington, MI U.S. Air Force, Senior Airman ⋅ 15 years served

Seems like the norm my friend i am in the exact same boat