I'm 28, make less than 50k, and have no retirement savings

You have another 32 years on average to make that happen.

Do you think youre worth more than that? If you know what youre worth, then go get what youre worth.

You have to be given a job. You don't take it.

Not entirely true. You take it by working on yourself and making them want to give it to you.

If you cultivate a career correctly, you can reach a point where interviews and recruitment processes are no longer about them deciding if they want you, but you deciding if you want to work for them.

When you send your resume via email and they don't even acknowledge it, that isn't because they saw you and figured you not having "worked on yourself enough." You had no agency in their decision. They know nothing about you as a person when choosing to delete your resume without even opening it.

"Taking" a job would be them giving you an unpaid day or two and seeing if you perform well. That would give you some actual agency over their decision.

Sounds like a privileged position to me. I wasn't born with such capabilities. I'm bottom tier trash so that isn't really an option.

Also, the fact that discrimination is legal doesn't help. It's already too late for me. I was the moment I was born really, but discriminatory factors since then have made it even worse. And I don't mean discrimination as in "picking the better candidate." I mean discrimination on grounds that should not be legal.

No but thats at the start of a career, which is not what I was talking about. Once youre established, major players on your circuit may well know you by name and not even want a CV. They may approach you.

That is how some interviews work, to be fair. Ive had interview processes that have lasted up to three and a half days before.

But they can also base their decision on how you perform before you come to them. As Ive already acknowledged, that does depend on you being well-established and therefore well-known within your sector.

Youre talking shit. I wasnt born into privilege. My position now is privileged, sure, but I had to earn that position from the bottom.

Youre a bit of a broken record on this one but any time I ask you to clarify you just ignore the message, which makes me think youre not entirely sincere.

When have you asked me to clarify on that point about discrimination?

I am legally discriminated against on two grounds - 1. been out of work for a while, and 2. criminal record. Neither of these things I can "change" on the spot any more than someone can change their skin color, which makes them unreasonable (and should be unlawful) grounds. And since employers actively keeping me out of work based on them means the government has to keep paying me welfare, the government should be having a little chat with them about it.

A chat including "stop discriminating and costing us money or we will seize your business, and if you're unlucky, your house too. Starve on the street the way you let so many other people."

I have asked you in multiple other topics, but then you just never post in them again.

While I can understand that your situation is frustrating, I dont think its fair to compare it to racism. Yes, its true that you cant go back and change the past, but can you honestly say that your choices have not played any part whatsoever in both you being out of work for a long time and having a criminal record? Because nobody gets to choose their skin colour.

I can also see that some convictions and some jobs are simply not compatible at all. I have no problem with my employer insisting on none of the staff having a criminal record for instance, as it becomes a safeguarding and liability issue because we work with children.

I tend to post late at night, then go to bed, and since this board moves so quickly the topic could easily be on page 10 by the time I wake up. I simply forget.

Regardless, "you should have thought of that before [x]" is not constructive. And if rehabilitation is to be possible, the past needs to be left there and not allowed to be dredged up against you.

Of course. Workplaces that work with vulnerable people have a right to be wary of that. Warehouse hiring managers on the other hand do not. Unless your record is "stealing from your employer" or something actually relevant, it shouldn't even be legal to ask.

When you send your resume via email and they don't even acknowledge it, that isn't because they saw you and figured you not having "worked on yourself enough." You had no agency in their decision. They know nothing about you as a person when choosing to delete your resume without even opening it.

"Taking" a job would be them giving you an unpaid day or two and seeing if you perform well. That would give you some actual agency over their decision.

Sounds like a privileged position to me. I wasn't born with such capabilities. I'm bottom tier trash so that isn't really an option.

Also, the fact that discrimination is legal doesn't help. It's already too late for me. I was the moment I was born really, but discriminatory factors since then have made it even worse. And I don't mean discrimination as in "picking the better candidate." I mean discrimination on grounds that should not be legal.

The only conclusion I can make, since my problems were ongoing for years even before the criminal record, is that employers just somehow know by reading my name that I'm a waste of space. Which would be fine, but I still need to eat. This is why I get angry at people who say "suicide is never the answer." Speak for yourself. People like me have fucking good and demonstrable reason to just cut things short. Nothing to lose, and no one would care.

Look... I started out stocking shelves at Walmart for $8 an hour, now i make about $130K a year... stocking shelves. What Glob said is exactly what I did: Build myself up within my career field, got a rep for my ability, and then I took the job I have now when it became available,and over the years I stayed consistent and kept building on my success.

I don't want to hear anything about luck, etc., as luck is a factor in *everything* in your life, so that's no excuse. The only "lucky" thing about me is that I was there when the opportunities presented themselves -- but I made sure to be open and available to any opportunities at all times, as well. Hardwork not paying off is a myth, all that matters is how tenacious and ambitious you are. I've failed many a time before where I'm at now, too.

I think the problem is in seeing all convictions in the same way. The nature of the conviction matters, the recency, whether it was an isolated incident or a pattern of behaviour, etc.

As for the later part of the paragraph, you need to get some help dude. See a professional. You are clearly not in a healthy state of mind to be saying such things. There are people who can help.

I can't even begin to replicate anything you've said without being given a job to start out with. My problem isn't a lack of upward mobility. My problem is being a waste product beneath all attention, by birth.

Youve said this twice now in this topic. How is your status from birth any different from mine? You accused me of being privileged earlier. What privilege do you believe I was born with but you werent?

Yeah, people with good (or at least better) lives tend to say this. In my case where I have zero to live for, my words make simple and concise sense. In my case, ending my life wouldn't be that far removed from euthanizing a person with a terminal illness. In both cases we have no future and only a shitty present.

Never too late to start improving things. I'm 34 and currently going back to school to earn a degree and get a better paying job

I said you were speaking from a position of privilege (someone with an established career, so the hard part is behind you), not that you were privileged from the start.

And as I said, I can't begin to replicate "start at the bottom of the ladder, work your way up" when the ladder is 50 feet above me.

But youre moving the goalposts now.

You claimed to always have issues, even before conviction. Which means the situation which you claimed was impossible to navigate clearly wasnt because Ive done it and so have loads of others.

Youre jumping between blaming things on a criminal record and insinuating that you were naturally so disadvantaged that it was impossible to succeed, despite having no reasonable explanation of the latter.

This is why you should seek help mate. Your mindset isnt letting you think straight.

Yeah, people with a reason to live tend not to understand the perspective of someone without. Can you state even a single reason I have to live? That you can tangibly demonstrate.

I left tertiary education having studied software design. I was told in high school that IT was the future. Proceeded into unemployment with employers ignoring me due to lack of experience (which should also be illegal - it's not far removed from NIMBY). A degree is no guarantee of walking into a good job. But you're not me, so you'll probably do better.

Can the "help" give me a job?

I left tertiary education having studied software design. I was told in high school that IT was the future. Proceeded into unemployment with employers ignoring me due to lack of experience (which should also be illegal - it's not far removed from NIMBY). A degree is no guarantee of walking into a good job. But you're not me, so you'll probably do better.

Well this topic got hijacked...

Directly? No.

But it can help address the twisted mindset you have towards the whole situation which isnt going to hurt your chances.

Can the "help" give me a job? If not, it's a waste of time. Psychologists can talk to me about "thinking positively" all the want. GPs can put me on more antidepressants (a scam) all they want. None of that will scoop my brain out and give me a better one. None of that will give me a body with better genes.