Why is finding a decent job so difficult?

By Sonia Panesar, Contributor

As students, we always have expenses, from textbooks to clothes to the costs of living. Some money might come from parents, but then again, you need your own spending money. This is where having a job is necessary.

I’ve had several jobs in the past, and none of them have been stable, although I’ve tried my best to find a good one. In high school, I needed 30 hours of work experience to graduate, and I ended up splitting this work experience between two jobs. One was volunteer work, and the other was a job delivering newspapers twice a week. That might sound like fun initially, but let me tell you the truth: after a day at school, I would come home and put together all the flyers, which would take about half an hour. Then I had to deliver the newspapers in batches no matter what the weather was like, whether pouring rain or burning sun. With a backpack stuffed with newspapers and my arms supporting as much weight as they could, I would deliver the papers and walk back home when I ran out. It was exhausting, and it was even worse because the pay was $25 every two weeks, while delivering the newspapers required at least five hours of work a week. It didn’t meet the minimum wage because the pay was according to the number of newspapers that were delivered—still, it was definitely not worth it.

Since then, I’ve had trouble finding employment, despite my best efforts. After the 30 hours of work experience were completed, I started looking for jobs online. I applied to as many opportunities as I could, but I didn’t get any feedback. I didn’t want to sit and waste time, so I tried bulking up my resumé with some volunteer work. After adding more experience to my resumé, I applied for jobs again. From McDonalds to clothing stores, there hasn’t been any response. Out of the 50 jobs that I applied to, I got a response from only one, which I interviewed for. I didn’t get the job.

What really surprises me is that I have so much volunteer work, and getting work experience volunteering hasn’t landed me a job yet. I have to wonder why. Working while going to school is often necessary, but for whatever reason, it seems like employers are unwilling to give students a chance—perhaps because of our hectic schedules, our youth, or our supposed lack of experience. Finding a job shouldn’t be so difficult, and yet it is a tedious part of being a student.