Write a resume and generic letter of interest.

Make sure that I have clothes appropriate to wear should I get an interview.

Then look in the classified ads and online for the job I want.

Fill in the blanks for the generic letter of interest

("Dear Walmart, I'm interested in the sales position that you had advertised in the City News on March 27th....")

Take copies of resume and interest letter with me and apply in person. (wearing clothes that would be appropriate for an interview.)

Expect to repeat above steps many many times before landing a job......

you can look this up on a ton of online job articles

Thanks, Patti22. Your answer is sure to be helpful to those of us who are looking for a job.

Thanks, Patti22. Your answer is sure to be helpful to those of us who are looking for a job, which includes me.

Here's some food for thought: once you have a job, your job search doesn't end, because you never know when you will need to find another job for a whole variety of possible reasons.

I've discovered, at least in my area, that most of the employer's advertising jobs on our state's job search site, via Indeed.com and Monster.com just to name a couple, advertise their openings online and require us to submit a resume and coverletter ONLINE without being able to contact the potential employer. I've also discovered that many of the employers have added what I call psychological questionaires, to the application to screen those who they "deem for whatever reason", unacceptable. Also, many of us who do not apply with employers in this manner have slowly discovered that the jobs are not really available to those of us on the "outside" trying to get hired because the employers are actually filling jobs from within their company and only advertising them due to State's requirement. This is very discouraging. I know this to be a fact because it has been "revealed" by those inside various companies to me that this is going on, and I have witnessed it first hand when both my brother and Hubby got their jobs; my brother already worked for his employer and was offered an opportunity to take the place of a worker who had quit which is a better position in the company that brother had (now brother is supervisor over the maintenance of the nursing home facility he works and no longer just a maintenance worker, along with better pay and benefits) and Hubby knew the district manager of the Ag Supply Company he got hired with, went through the necessary submitting of resume, application, questionaires, back ground check, all that garb, and was GIVEN the job BEFORE it was advertised to the public as available. The DM even told Hubby that he had to "advertise it first" before Hubby could officially come to the facility to work. When a position with a local home health care facility came available that I wanted, I did all the necessary requirements, i.e. resume, coverletter, yada yada, and I mentioned to my boss that I freelance for that I had applied with the company because he RENTED office space to this facility, so I thought maybe he could "pull" for me to get the job because he knows what a rough time I am having getting job placement, and he did approach the facilities' HR person about me and gave a good reference for me (He was on my resume as my recent job's reference anyway, but I already knew before he went to the facility to talk to them about me that he would give me a good word, because he is a good man and hates my predicament) and you know what he reported back to me? That the HR person said the facility has filled the job from within. I reminded my freelance boss this was the predicament I am running into, and he was astonished this was occurring. He thinks it's misleading to those of us out here needing regular jobs, just like we think it is.

What a mess the unemployed face.

Hope not all are experiencing this, but this is the scene in my neck of the woods.

It have come to conclusion that if the job doesn't appear in my local newspaper or I don't hear about it from word of mouth, that there is a strong likelihood it doesn't really exist. I believe the local newspaper ads are authentic, which there are very few advertised; and that the online ads are only "veils" to fill a job that probably isn't there to start with.

I keep in contact with my friends for openings that they might hear come along; but the job's opportunity here is slim to none.

My sister in law lost her job back in January and when she went to apply for her unemployment the UE WORKER shared with her that the jobs posted on the online websites were likely not there, had been filled from within or already had a worker lined up before the job was posted. Now this came from the UE WORKER's own mouth, so although this confirmed what I had already concluded, you can imagine how discouraging this was to have the UE worker who is to help get people placed in jobs and know where potential employers are, for her to be stating it herself is discouraging. Sister in Law didn't get her unemployment. Her former employer fought against her getting it because she refused to do a job that would cause her to get in trouble with the State. She worked for a child care facility who put over the allotted children in her care that is allowed by the State, every day; 2 of her co-workers were held accountable for this by the State, even though they were only doing what their employer required them to do. These 2 child care workers were labeled as "neglectful and participating in endangerment activities" against youth and had this put on their State record as a child care worker. I believe this is woefully wrong, to hold the worker responsible and have a charge place on their permanent child care worker record because they were only following instruction by their employer. Anyway, Sister in Law insisted she be allowed to comply with the States mandate that only certain amount of children be in her care and the employer bucked her on it, insisting she take the amount they assigned to her. Sister in Law didn't want a negative allegation on her State Certified Child Care Worker record if the State's representatives unexpectedly showed up on the site (which they did and that's how the 2 coworkers got in trouble) so she quit the job. She did find another job in a locally owned deli, but that business was sold and the new employer filled the positions needed with his family, so she got terminated. When she applied for unemployment, her employer at the child care facility objected that she be allowed to draw off them (which would have been the case since she had been with the company for the longest period of time) because she REFUSED to do her job. What a racket!

Is it any wonder that the unemployed are so depressed and discouraged.

Yes, it can be a very tough job market in special job fields, for example construction, and it also varies by geographic area.
Cat is on the money with regard to supposed job openings. As a former state employee, we were required to do a national job search for candidates, even if we already knew that we had someone "in house" who was going to get the job. So we wasted a lot of people's time and effort because we had to fulfill state job opening posting guidelines. WHEW! That was a mouthful!
Contrary to public belief, fewer than 80% of those who get jobs are answering ads for job openings. There is a lot of networking going on, so most upcoming jobs never see the light of day as they are filled from recommendations of other workers and the "good old boy" network.
So the key, in this day and age, is to network. Hook into professional groups, find people in the same field and make friends. it's the way of the world today. So adapt, or be unemployed. Harsh, but true.

Glad to be retired!
Take care~BB