# I've Never Been Employed at 20



## Shonen_Yo (Sep 8, 2006)

I'm almost 21 now and I've never been employed. I have no experience and they won't hire me at jobs where teenagers are my peers simply because I'm too old now, but there is no where else I could work, except maybe a factory. I'd have to struggle with a daily commute then.

I wonder if this is the pinnacle of my life sometimes. I never imagined life like this at 21.
21 painful years with only thoughts of the future to get me through. Maybe I should just let it go now and have another glass of wine.

And I know you guys are going to say that I have many years left, that I can do things righ t now to help myself, but I don't want to hear it anymore. I just want misery as company. So tell me aobut the things you were doing at 21.


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## victoriangirl (Jan 2, 2009)

For me the secret was voluntary jobs. They are an amazing way to start working (again). You don't have this overwhelming feeling that you are constantly being judged or that you have to prove yourself. You are their by choice and any organisation would be happy to have you on board no matter what your qualities are. 

Also think of what kind of work you'd like to do? What are you hobbies, interests? Animals shelters, for example, were for me the best choice because there were not many people around and I got to spend my days with cute animals.

I than started with part-time jobs in offices. Easy jobs through a temp agency. In time you'll notice that from gaining experience, you become less tense and find a way to get over the awkward & scarry moments. 

I now have a fulltime job at an office as an assistant. I have bad days, I have worse days but working is amazing self-confidence booster. Earning your money, spending that money is really something that affected me deep down. (I was on disability for years) 

You should never forget that NOW is never too late to start.


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## Hot Chocolate (Sep 29, 2008)

I got started through an online friend.

He hooked me up with a job and that's how I broke the ice over my fears of getting a job. 

I think the best way to start is to network with people or even your parents and relatives and try to give you some form of work to do and the best thing is that they could also supervise on how you did and everything. That way when you finally came out to the 'real working world', you would be much at ease and perhaps not having so much anxiety over jobs.


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## Smile_Karina (Nov 15, 2008)

Same here. I am almost 21 and I've never been employed. I've applied at about every retail store. ugh I hate this.

I guess the first thing we need to do right now is to volunteer somewhere first, so we can have something to put on applications or resumes.


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## jollybeans (Dec 8, 2008)

Maybe you should colunteer your time to things your interested in. or maybe think about going to school to get a degree, that would help your resume and employers will give you a scond look


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## TheGecko (Nov 26, 2007)

I was 21 before I got my first job too, it's hard when you can't drive so are limited to where you can get to. I had to catch 2 and sometimes 3 buses each way and it was a right pain, but at least it shows it's not too late for you! Voluntary work is a good idea because you can get a reference from them which shows you turn up on time, don't steal etc


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## la brut (Dec 11, 2008)

I know exactly where you are, because I am right there with you. I'm 20 and virtually unemployable do to lack of experiance,and I despreratly need work but no one wants to hire someone at my age whose never worked before.When I was younger the only thing that got me through the day was thinking how much better it would be in future,but here I am and my life is nowhere near where I thought it would be so what the hell am I supposed to do now! God knows,if indeed there is a god.


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## Bad Religion (Dec 14, 2006)

Yep, I'm there too. I'm 20 and have never had a job. Now that I'm actually looking for one it is hard. Between the crappy economy and being 20 years old and not having any experience it's not easy.


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## DeeperUnderstanding (May 19, 2007)

I didn't get my first job until I was 20.


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## sanspants08 (Oct 21, 2008)

I had a friend who got her first job at 26. That's pretty crazy but should give you some hope.


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## KC-Blu-Eyez (May 30, 2008)

I've never had a job either. I know a lot of people who haven't too so I guess we aren't that weird. I don't particularly want one but I have to get one. But what do you put on a resume if you've never worked? Lol.


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## BeNice (Jan 2, 2004)

I'm pretty sure they will hire you at a place where teenagers work. If a place needs employees bad enough, they will usually be pretty lenient. Anyway, age discrimination is against the law.


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## SaGgY (Aug 3, 2005)

I'm also 20, and have never had a job. I cant even get my self to apply because i feel anything would just be too hard for me and i couldn't do it. I don't know what I'm Going to do about it. It's making me really depressed. worst then i already am.


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## shyvr6 (Feb 18, 2008)

It would nice if you did have a job, but I think you're still in that age group where people are most likely not going to have a heart attack if they found out that you haven't had one yet.


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## misscrys1980 (Jan 14, 2009)

I am 28 and I was a stay at home mom for 9 years. I just got a job. It took me several months before someone hired me but I kept on trying. I had a couple jobs before that but there is something out there. I was going to do the same thing and volunteer but before I got everything set up, I got hired as a cashier. Keep trying and apply for jobs you aren't sure about. My first job was a busser at a hotel restaurant and I absolutely loved it. Keep on trying.


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## PrawnConnery (Jan 15, 2009)

Ever thought of being a machinist? You could probably find a shop needing a helper. Machine shops or full of weird people so they wont even notice! It's a good living 50k+ if you stick with it and learn. As mentioned before, machine shops are full of weird people. perfect for SA


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## lyssado707 (Oct 29, 2004)

Well i've never been employed at 21 and won't be by 22 either lol. Luckily, i'm training to be a medical transcriptionist and was told by ppl on the forum at my school that no work experience wouldn't matter a great deal. I like reading threads about others out there w/no work experience. Good luck in whatever you do. Keep trekkin.


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## hyacinth_dragon (Dec 28, 2008)

There are people on this forum who have never had a job and who are in their thirties.


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## SilentLoner (Jan 30, 2006)

I got my first part time job at 20. I'm still amazed I got hired sometimes...

But I had some volunteer experience (mainly working as a student aide in high school).


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## TheVoid (Nov 2, 2008)

My advice for you is, since you are still 20, concentrate on learning something you are interested in and give your full time for it and do your best. Jobs always come to the people who have something to market themselves with. 

I didn't have a job until I was 23. I was worried as you are, kept my expenses to a bare minimum since I was taking from parents, tried to do a few odd jobs here and there but I was really concentrating on my studies. I knew it would payoff oneday and it did. I am 29 now and have a good job. Best part is job security. I know even if I was kicked off from here I would have a good chance somewhere else because what I have studied and later gained from experience are valuable for any employer.


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## TheVoid (Nov 2, 2008)

jollybeans said:


> ... maybe think about going to school to get a degree, that would help your resume and employers will give you a scond look


:ditto


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## InfiniteAnon (Dec 20, 2008)

Look into joining Job Corp, volunteer somewhere, find sponsors for technical training at a school.


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## Bob Slydell (Oct 23, 2008)

Hey man im 22 and ive never had a real job. 

I have worked for my dad but most employers dont count that. 

At least I applied for 2 jobs today so hopefully they dont drug test and hopefully i get some calls.


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## mypasswordneverworks (Dec 12, 2008)

volunteer and go to school. I was in the same position and my GPA in college got me the job (bank)


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## chrisb3428 (Jan 26, 2008)

lol Im turning 20 in a few days and I too have never had a job


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## sanspants08 (Oct 21, 2008)

mypasswordneverworks said:


> volunteer and go to school. I was in the same position and my GPA in college got me the job (bank)


+1. If you volunteer anywhere, for any amount of time, you'll be looked on favorably. You can even use it as an excuse by saying, "I haven't been employed in the past because I've been busy with school and my volunteer work."


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## Natural1 (Apr 7, 2013)

*If I can You can*

Okay, I was just reading this thread and I was not a member. I am trying to help my wife who has been a nanny for 30 years. Now at 54 she wants to get a real job. After reading a few of the post I realized that I have something to offer, so I signed up just to share my experience and to offer some suggestions. I wish I was 22 again. Even with absolutely zero experience and no job. When I was that age I had only had 2 or 3 jobs and I hated going to work. It interfered with my social life and I just wanted to party and have fun. You can't really do that on the job, you can make work fun sure, but you can't party.

I guess what I am trying to say is this, It's normal to be your age and not have a steady, well paying job. I found a job in a steel warehouse one day when I was out driving around and had to go. I couldn't find a restroom so I went behind a building to go on some railroad tracks. I looked up and saw some guys riding a weird truck. I yelled to them and asked if they were hiring. The rest is history. I found a good job with benefits and a decent paycheck. I did that job for over 20 years, but the job was dirty and I was pretty smart. I always felt like I could do more. I worked my way up to operations manager and hit the glass ceiling. I was as high as I could go and I was getting older and wiser, I wanted to be a professional, but how? I didn't go to school when I was younger, I dropped out of high school and didn't even have a high school diploma. Well, the economy helped me figure it out. The steel industry gets hit hard in recession and the company was laying off. I didn't get layed off, I quit. I was tired of being held back just because I didn't have schooling, but the fact is, no matter how smart you are, if you don't have credentials you don't really stand a chance. Hint hint.

Even after I graduated from college with a BA in Computer Science Outsourcing to other countries and recession hurt me. My advice is to learn some simple skills at home while your looking for work. I started teaching myself to type. When I quit my job I had no idea what I was going to do, but I knew I had to do something. The only skills I had were warehouse skill and warehouse management. There are not too many jobs in that area and the one that are don't pay much.

After college I got a job with the railroad. It was my first real professional position. They started me out at 43K and after 3 years I was making well over 50K a year with great benefits. I finally made it, at least I thought so , but along came Y2K and after the world survived the great date crisis companies started laying off American workers and outsourcing good jobs to India where they would work for a third of what I made doing the same job.

Here I was again without work. This time I had skills and I thought I would be able to get another job fairly easy, but there were thousands of programmers out of work due to outsourcing. It was 2 years before I found a job and it was not a good job, not a professional job, not a full time job, it was a school bus driver job. Man was I depressed. Here I was a college graduate with great technical skills and I was driving a school bus and putting up with evil children.

Remember the typing skills I learned and didn't really know why, I just knew I needed to learn how to type. My typing skills and my technical background got me a job as a contractor on a help desk where I learned how to support Human Resources tools. customers would call all upset about the application not working right, or needing help on how to use it.

At first I was new to help desk work and it was kind of intimidating, but after a while I got really good at it. I was old enough to realize that I had to learn something so I could make more money. $15.00 an hour is not enough to have the things you want and need. On that help desk job I learned all of the tools that HR people use every day. There was one application that everyone hated and didn't want to support. It is called LMS Learning Management Systems. It is the tool corporations use to train the workforce with e-learning, online courses.

I went to my boss and I told him that I wanted to learn everything I could about the LMS. I told him I wanted to be the SME (Subject Matter Expert) on his team. He helped me learn by giving me most of the LMS calls. My team loved me for taking those calls and I was learning my new job. I have Management Systems Administrator for nearly 7 years now. I make over 80K a year with benefits and I also get to work from home 2 or 3 days a week. I love my job and there is a great future in LMS and Human Resources.

After all that, here is my advice. If you don't know how to type, learn. If you already know how to type, learn to do something else that might help you down the road. Learn how to build or fix computers. It isn't very hard and you can get free training online. Once you learn it you can get certifications for the things you know and that will get you a job. Your future will be much brighter than you think it can right now. Even very little things that you learn, no matter how small or crazy it seems will serve you well. Try to find a help desk position and learn everything you can about what you are supporting. I got my help desk job through a company called Randstad. The one thing I had to be able to do to get the job was type 35 wpm. I didn't know why, but for some reason, I knew I had to learn to type. My wife is learning to type now, who knows maybe she will be making over 80K in a few years.


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## EmotionlessThug (Oct 4, 2011)

I'm 20 years old and made 30k online, but I never had a job in reality before. 

Applause !!


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## apx24 (Jan 31, 2012)

This thread is depressing for me


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## DreamerInSlumberland (Mar 6, 2013)

The economy is bad, which is probably why you're not being hired. Jobs and positions are limited now. Just keep applying and someone will hire. I doubt your age has little to do with why they won't hire you. The state of the economy is hurting a lot of people, many are lucky to have a job to begin with.


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## LonelyDuckling (Nov 20, 2012)

Didn't get my first job till 22, have gone from part time to full time, about to step into a minor management position in my department. 

Is getting your first job at 20-22 ideal? No it isn't. Is it the end of the world? No, no and no. It may take you longer to find a job, but when someone gives you the chance, you'll be fine.


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## FeistyHeisty (Nov 7, 2011)

23 and never had a job. Go me!


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## EmotionlessThug (Oct 4, 2011)

DreamerInSlumberland said:


> The economy is bad, which is probably why you're not being hired. Jobs and positions are limited now. Just keep applying and someone will hire. I doubt your age has little to do with why they won't hire you. The state of the economy is hurting a lot of people, many are lucky to have a job to begin with.


That is so true.

I've applied for 35 jobs and nobody called me lol. It's better to work online.


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## Sollicitus (Apr 7, 2013)

Shonen_Yo said:


> I'm almost 21 now and I've never been employed. I have no experience and they won't hire me at jobs where teenagers are my peers simply because I'm too old now, but there is no where else I could work, except maybe a factory. I'd have to struggle with a daily commute then.
> 
> I wonder if this is the pinnacle of my life sometimes. I never imagined life like this at 21.
> 21 painful years with only thoughts of the future to get me through. Maybe I should just let it go now and have another glass of wine.
> ...


Why does your profile age say you are 25? :b


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## CopadoMexicano (Aug 21, 2004)

Sollicitus said:


> Why does your profile age say you are 25? :b


The thread was started in 2009.


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## Sollicitus (Apr 7, 2013)

MavenMI6Agent009 said:


> The thread was started in 2009.


You can tell I'm new here! ops


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## Stickman13 (Mar 26, 2013)

EmotionlessThug said:


> I'm 20 years old and made 30k online, but I never had a job in reality before.
> 
> Applause !!


How did you make that money online?


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## EmotionlessThug (Oct 4, 2011)

Stickman13 said:


> How did you make that money online?


HYIP and creating referral websites for GPT/ Marketing. If your good at writing long paragraphs with keywords, your in luck bro!!

Check out my Profile.

I've made 30k in less than 4 months lol.


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