'I can't even get a minimum wage job': Teen's Reddit post reflects today's hiring reality
A post on Reddit’s r/GetEmployed has captured the specific despair of someone who isn’t even aiming high, and still can't get through the door. The original poster was apparently fired in 2024 at 18, and has been applying to jobs ever since. They’re not chasing a career or a six-figure salary. They want an entry-level, minimum wage, no-skill-required job. They’ve written a cover letter. They’ve secured an employee referral. They’ve still been rejected.
“Stupid 18-year-old me didn’t know how good he had it,” they wrote. “Is my resume hot garbage? Am I off-putting in interviews? What the [expletive]??”
It’s a post that could be dismissed as venting, but it’s describing something real: a market where even minimum wage entry-level roles are generating rejections, where referrals aren’t enough, and where a teenager trying to get back on their feet can’t find a foothold anywhere.
The responses
The thread drew a mix of solidarity, dark humour, practical advice, and one genuine success story.
Someone closing in on 500 applications offered the bluntest commiseration: “I’m coming up on 500 sent resumes. I’ve got a couple of interviews but nothing has panned out yet. It is brutal out there.” No tips, no silver lining, just confirmation that the experience is shared.
One commenter offered a future-dated practical suggestion: “When you turn 21 you could be a truck driver. 55–65k first year based on what type of trailer you pull.” It’s not what the original poster asked for, but at least he got some practical advice and a direction moving forward.
A more immediately useful response pointed toward resources the original poster may not have considered: “Look to see if your county unemployment people do job assistance programs. There might be resources available that will look at your resume, do a mock interview, point you in the right direction. The market sucks, but there are also things you can do to help yourself stand out.”
One commenter skipped the advice entirely and went straight for the gallows humour: “Jobs are now for the well connected and the elites. The rest of us are making mud pies now. We’ll be arranging a pie contest soon if you’re interested.”.
The one success story
The thread’s outlier came from someone with a university degree in electrical engineering who sent out roughly 320 applications, had two interviews most weeks, and eventually landed a job. Their key observation: tailoring every application using AI had the biggest impact they noticed. Interview skills improved through sheer repetition. Eventually, one took.
It’s an encouraging success story, but it also shows the amount of effort required even for someone with a degree in a field with genuine demand. 320 applications. Two interviews a week. Months of practice before anything landed. And they even had to use AI, which, arguably, was one of the reasons why the job market is as bad as it is today, in order to stand out.
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The original poster's question doesn’t really have a satisfying answer in the thread, because the honest answer is that the job market right now is hard at every level, including the bottom. Entry-level minimum wage jobs are not a reliable soft landing for anyone without connections, because they’re competing with people who are overqualified and desperate.
For now, the original poster seems to be doing the right things. The market is just making the right things insufficient.
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