[peterburkimsher]

I'm a 29 year old male. I've been trying to get a new job since March, and I've been unemployed since August. I have an MEng in Electronic Systems Engineering, and over 3 years continuous relevant work experience.

I have tried applying through Seek and TradeMe, and got no response. I tried writing custom cover letters and applying on company websites. I've rewritten my résumé several times based on contradictory advice. I updated my LinkedIn, and made a second LinkedIn profile to add strangers. I asked recruiters for help. I put side projects on the web, especially Show HN, to try to get attention. I asked friends who I worked with at Fisher & Paykel Healthcare when I was there before. I found random people on Github and offered to work for free on open-source projects just to get an introduction. I contacted computer repair shops and asked them to put up posters advertising data migration services that I could do with my old Apple II. I've contacted every Apple-certified repair person in NZ/Aus/Can to ask them for help. I've tried praying about it. I've tried spamming the companies that have emails readily available, from the accredited employers list. I posted a desperate plea on Facebook, and followed up on advice (+1 introduction) from friends. None of these methods are working. I've had only two interviews. Most companies don't even send rejections. I've lowered my standards so now I'll accept any kind of job, anywhere.

This is a cry for help. I know I'm doing something totally wrong. I just don't know how to contact companies. Please tell me what to do. Please tell me email addresses of people who care.

[Alex63]

I looked at the résumé linked from your profile, too. I agree with ac29, plus the following suggestions:

* Remove all the logos/links. They're not helping the first impression, and they'll almost certainly confuse the systems that are used to scan/store your résumé.

* Take out the reference to military technology in your objective. If you get an interview you can ask them if they do military work and explain your reservations.

* Simplify your work history. Try to make it as sequential as possible, with as few gaps as possible. If you have a lot of work experience that is not directly relevant to the position you are seeking, consider changing the format and just list "Relevant Experience".

* Make your education section simpler. Just list your most advanced degree, or include your Bachelor's degree if it is in another field. Don't show your GPA, but include any academic honours you received while obtaining your degree.

* Remove all the icons on the second page, including the flags.

* Condense your charity work/hobbies/extra-curricular activities to a short list. Do list any directorships you held/hold. Don't list specific job titles unless they directly relate to the position you seek.

* You might consider just saying "References available upon request."

Your résumé comes across as kind of "all purpose". Maybe that's just because it's the one you include in your profile. If you aren't creating a focused résumé for each opportunity, you might want to consider doing that.

[peterburkimsher]

The problem is not the résumé. The problem is that nobody is receiving it. I have 3 résumés and I'll make another according to your guidelines. I want only one thing from you.

Email addresses. Please tell me somebody who can give me a job if I do this right. I need somebody who can help. Not somebody who will complain. Somebody who cares. Somebody who can give me food and shelter, a minimum wage. Anything.

[nasalgoat]

You appear quite desperate and perhaps this desperation is coming through to the people you talk to and the interviews you do. As a hiring manager I can tell you, desperation is a massive turn-off and red flag.

Change your resume as the others have directed you and keep applying. Perhaps take a look at remote work options as well. But you need to dial back the desperation.

[peterburkimsher]

I am desperate. Please teach me how to write something that isn't desperate. I don't know how.

Keep applying which way? Nothing works! Keep sending emails? Keep using job listing websites? Keep using LinkedIn? Which one will perform differently after I scale up to thousands instead of hundreds? I need email addresses of people who care. I need to be introduced to someone who can provide food and shelter.

[nasalgoat]

Hiring managers aren't interested in feeding and clothing you. They want to hire skilled workers to perform a service. The fact you even bring it up is a huge red flag.

If you're not getting job interviews when you apply, then you need to tailor your resume to what they're looking for. You've gotten good advice on how to do that.

[farmer122345747]

Have you considered WWOOF? You can work on organic farms all around the world in exchange for food and shelter. Many of my friends have done it for fun. Might help you temporarily.

https://www.wwooftaiwan.com/en/wwoof-taiwan-home.html

[ac29]

I took a look at your resume: it looks like from 2008-2014, you didn't hold any job for more than a few months, which is a bit of a red flag. Were you a student at the time? It doesnt say anywhere what years you were in school. Some jobs specifically say contract work, which explains why they are short, some don't say, which makes it unclear if you were just fired or quit after a short period of time.

Your bio also shows you lived in 12 countries in less than 10 years, and possibly worked in many of them: sounds fun, but also doesn't sound like someone who is willing to commit to a job long term.

[peterburkimsher]

Which of the 3 résumés are you looking at? I graduated in 2011, got some Working Holiday visas, then started a PhD in 2013 but dropped out in 2014. I visited many countries because I don't have a home.

I just spent the last 4 years in Taiwan, proving that I can settle down.

[lordnacho]

What do you want to do as a job? What do the people who have this job have on their CVs? Have you found people on LinkedIn who hire for what you want to do?

Also recruiters are a dead end for everyone who isn't already a very close match for a job that's going. It's incredibly frustrating for everyone, but that's their incentive structure.

And what do you mean Apple II? Isn't that ancient?

[peterburkimsher]

I'll take anything as a job now. I can get my own Working Holiday visa. But I've been turned down by farms and construction companies, not only tech companies.

I don't know how to find people on LinkedIn, but I created a new account just to spam that way. I'll keep trying to add lots of strangers and hope I find a friendly one.

Yes, I used an Apple II with ADTPro to migrate data off lots of old 5.25" floppies for archiving purposes. I thought that I could start a business to do that, if I could get computer repair shops to advertise for me. So I asked the repair shops, but most didn't even reply, and the only one that did told me that I should set up the business first and then they'll ask their manager whether they'd be willing to put up a poster. My logic is that older people are rich and powerful, and fondly remember their old computers. So the data migration would put me in contact with people who could give me a real job later.

[lordnacho]

Well you're closer to it than I am, but I would think there's no viable business migrating data off a decades old platform. You'd definitely have to find the right niche community to get any business at all.

> I'll take anything as a job now. I can get my own Working Holiday visa. But I've been turned down by farms and construction companies, not only tech companies.

The problem with this approach is that businesses are after specific skills. Except for minimum wage roles, which are going to be awkward for a guy with a degree. Basically, if I was a hiring manager at a restaurant I would assume you would be looking for something better almost immediately.

So assuming you can't get a fast food or farmhand job, you need to be presenting some useful skill.

I had a look at your CV.

- Those logos, what are they? Did you work there? Did you build those sites?

- When I'm looking at SWE CVs, I have about a minute to form an opinion. First, I look for relevant techs. You have some, but the easiest CVs to scan have a block at the top: C++, Kubernetes, Linux, React, JS, and so on. I might not even look at the rest of the CV if I'm looking for a C++ dev and it doesn't stick out immediately, even if it's in there further down. Looking at your CV, there's a bunch of reasonably current techs like TensorFlow, but I only saw that the 3rd time I had a look.

- You did pretty well at your IB, and you did pretty well in your degrees. You were obviously a conscientious student.

- You've got some really interesting skills under your personal interests. Stick them in the skills block.

No reason why someone wouldn't decide to interview you. What happens when you apply to Google/FB/etc?

[peterburkimsher]

I'll take a fast food or farmhand job! But I need an email address of somebody who can give me that job.

If you tell me the email address of somebody who can offer me food and shelter, I'll rewrite my résumé for them. But I need to know that there is somebody who cares if I do that. Because I've had a lot of résumé advice that was just complaining, and didn't lead to a job. I need a job, an introduction, an interview. At least a rejection letter! I don't need a choice of 20 résumés, I already have 3.

[shagie]

I would really encourage you to get your resume to match a traditional one page format. Something clean, professional and orderly ( https://zety.com/blog/resume-formats is just a search that seems to have some).

If it doesn't look professional, it isn't something that scans well, well, it doesn't get the appropriate information across in a timely manner. That itself is an important skill.

Consider also that France (you list your address as France) has unemployment at about 9% and youth unemployment rate at about 20%. That may not be the best place to be looking for a job.

Even with being some place for 4 years, it doesn't look like you are someone that will stay in one place long enough to recoup the cost of training a person up to the appropriate skill. This applies to everything from the farm hand and fast food (where you're also competing with that youth unemployment rate) to professional jobs. It costs money to onboard someone - even farm hand. If you aren't going to be there for a year, hiring someone who isn't going to stay is likely to lose money.

That "I'm going to go" isn't only communicated with your scattering of locations and durations, but also the volunteer experience listing CouchSurfing weekly as the top item. This is reinforced with the current extracurricular (you're not a student anymore - they're hobbies if that) listing two items... one of which is couch surfing.

If you want a programming job, computer programing isn't a 'personal interest' listed near the end of the second page - it's a first page top item.

Listing "Ideas" and then having it go to a basically empty page... that doesn't inspire any confidence. Note also that ideas are cheap - it's the implementation of those ideas that demonstrate skill. Maybe there are ideas behind the links in the upper right, but as it is, that's a blank white page.

Of these, the most important I would say is make a boring resume - something that follows the form. No, it doesn't make you stand out, but it also is something that is easy to scan and demonstrates professionalism in communication and presentation.

[link_108]

My 2 cents: only have one resume and one LinkedIn profile. Follow the advice the parent post gave. Make it clear what your skills are. Not sure where you live, but the Bay Area is full of places looking for engineers, apply to companies there

[davidzweig]

There are lots of foreign companies/individuals who come to China to develop + manufacture hardware, and need help. With Chinese and electronics experience you are all set. Try hanging out in Shenzhen ('Hardware Massive' events, HAX, Troublemaker hackerspace, etc.), and ask around. Pay can be quite good, $30-$50 USD per hour.

I have spent the last ten years moving from country to country. I work on my own projects, and fortunately do ok.. I'm not sure if someone would hire me. :-)

[davidzweig]

If you're on this side of the globe, we could use some help here in Belgrade for a couple of weeks (at least) adding Chinese, Japanese and Korean language support and tools to our project: http://languagelearningwithnetflix.com/

There's a sofa bed and the occasional friendly cockroach. :-)

[DoreenMichele]

If you are willing to consider gig work:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JfNAbUX_lN9K3MCNHO15...

[peterburkimsher]

I need food and shelter. I don't think that sending applications to hundreds of gigs and getting ignored by most of them is going to provide that. I'm trying to get a bank account now. When that comes, I can try to do things that receive online payments. I'm really trying to bootstrap from zero.

[DoreenMichele]

I did gig work while homeless. I pulled that link off a site I own called pocketputer.com. From there, you can also find the San Diego Homeless Survival Guide and Street Life Solutions, two other sites of mine.

It will also link you to Write Pay, a quick intro to working for Textbroker. You do need a bank account and a PayPal account to make money via Textbroker, but you don't have to apply for gigs. Once you have an account, you select work from a pool of articles. It is possible to make a few hundred a week if you apply yourself. It's not glamorous, but if you need to eat, it can cover that.

[FiveSquared]

Try to rommate simply your rsume and calm down. Tr to appear confident and charming.