To Knock or Not to Knock

Today's blog is being written on one of my major frustrations with being unemployed. I have been unemployed for about 10 months now and I am hating it. Blogging about the subject of unemployment is a very sticky and hard subject to blog about. Mainly due to all the pros and cons that I have been reading from all the other blogs and forums on employment. I have read many forums and blogs where people tell other people to get off their “rears” and just get a job and stop whining about unemployment of or their unemployment benefits. Well let me tell you from one educated man, times are tough and jobs are more scarce than meets the publics eyes.
Us educated people can apply at McDonalds or Burger King just to makes ends meet but these places usually “99.99%” of the time wont hire highly educated people because they are afraid that after all the fast food training, that employee will leave in a heart beat when a better job is offered to them. So they just hire high school people of people that they know wont leave. I have been scanned over on more lower paying jobs than jobs that fit my area of expertise.
Which now leads me to the Blog title – To Knock or Not to Knock. I have heard from many people that we unemployed people just need to go out and “pound the pavement” and knock on potential employers door. Well, I am here to tell you that in today age, this does not work. I cant even begin to count how many potential employers I have been to “in person” and then I hear from the front desk or from Human Resources, “we don't take applications or resumes here, you have to get online with the companies website and enter your application there.”  Not to mention, the gas used to drive all over the North Texas Region and then come home with empty hand and empty hopes. Another wasted day, another wasted tank of gas (which is nearly $3 a gallon).You see, the frustration comes in when you enter it online, you are competing with hundreds of other applicants and you don't know for a fact that your resume or application has even been seen. I have only received less than 10 responses in 10 months telling me that  that my resume was received or that they chose someone else. Again, I say less than 10 out of the 30+ resumes/applications sent out every week. Very frustrating during these hard times during a really bad recession.
I have a family and I WILL prevail but I ask – Do I knock or do I not knock?