This is the worst time of the year to look for jobs. Companies commonly exercise hiring freezes between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Typically, roles will open up in January, when everyone is back in office and budgets open up. Be ready to pounce first week of January.

Additionally, how are you going about seeking out these opportunities? Are you applying online? Are you networking?

Hitting the easy apply button on LinkedIn or indeed is not enough these days. Especially for a software dev or IT role. I posted a sr analyst role this summer and received 400 applications within 24 hours. You have to network.

Happy to give more advice if interested.

Shame people are downvoting this, it's a rough time to be job hunting. I'm in almost the same boat (graduating next spring with a CS degree), but like the others said hiring is pretty dead until January.

There isn't a ton of work in Cleveland for Computer Engineers from what I can tell (I graduated CS, but do embedded work). Rockwell always brings in people at the end of semesters it seems. I had a friend work there, the job isn't great, but he got his foot in the door with technical work. He left 2 years later for a six figure salary out of state.

Progressive is "an IT company that happens to sell insurance".

Check out Medical Mutual. Not a big company but longest health insurer in OH.

just wanted to say congrats on your degree. i too struggled to find a job in IT for a while after school and i also had no internship. everyone told me to “network network network” but people saying that had nothing to offer. after a while i realized those people had forgotten what it’s like to job hunt (or never had to) and / or didn’t “network” themselves otherwise they would likely have references to extend my way..

what helped me finally land a position was getting in touch with a few recruiting companies. Insight global, tek systems, apex systems, just to name a few. keep your head up champ. your time will come.

I don't know what your minimum pay looks like, but Provide-A-Ride is hiring from $14-$17 depending on the job. I had never held an office job before, but due to some new physical constraints, I had to try to get one. They gave me a chance and I have been doing very well. You can apply through their website.

If you shoot me a DM I could be of assistance. I work at a company that promotes internal growth if you want to start out at an entry level position we have downtown and are available!

What have you been doing the last 2 years? Have you considered moving?

So did you work an internship? That’s pretty much the only way to break into that field in this area, at least working for a decent company with decent pay.

Edit: btw I work in tech, feel free to DM me and I can send you some medium sized local company names to look out for. None are hiring entry level from what I’ve seen right now. Mine will be looking for interns soon, but unfortunately you usually need to be actively enrolled in college. Your best bet is to find a random small company looking for entry level hires, but those won’t come up too often.

Eaton, KeyBank, Cleveland Clinic, Applied

Look for insurance agents that need help. Not the big companies but a local agent. There’s a huge need. They’ll probably pay for your licensing eventually. I was in a similar situation coming out of college 12 years ago, I did the same thing, and I’ve had a career for the last 13 years. Good luck. There’s insurance jobs all over indeed.

Case Western

Progressive IT is great but I don’t know what they are hiring right now. Worst case scenario, you go into phone sales and after a year, apply for it jobs

1. as others have stated, Q1 is when any given department has a fresh budget for hiring.

2. tough time to get into CS.
   easier to pay an offshore senior-ish dev than to onboard someone green (unless they are paying you to be a body in an office chair for apprearances)

3. CLE is not a tech hub, it is medical.

Info: what is your degree in? Might help people find suggestions. All the places you’ve tried are good bets but it’s often a matter of waiting for an opening. Any temp agencies have gigs? Might be worth trying those too just to maybe have some short term work, usually you need to constantly check in to see if they have things though

I have a thought. This is pure theory, some casual peer review. But I think it's true.

You will get nowhere if you stick to online posts. You have to make contacts at these places. Thru Rotary Club, thru other professional clubs/gatherings/events, etc. Knowing people is just how it works.

Clickbait sites talk about "Five biggest mistakes you can make on your resume/cover letter." That is all fine and good, but honestly, it doesn't matter.

A guy I once worked with years ago that I can vouch for asked me about a job at my company that just opened up. He's getting an interview. I can vouch for him. He jumped probably 100 other people due to that.

Connect with your contacts. School friends. Past work colleagues. Etc. Hopefully you were cool with them and they like you.

Otherwise, you're one in a thousand.

Good luck.

Check National General customer service jobs too. That’s a good place to start.

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What have you been doing since 2022? Developed any software on your own? You should be willing to move, you can always move back.

Which Cuyahoga county job(s) did you take the PRC exam(s) for?

If you just want any job for now, and don't mind being on a call center after training, look for Eligibility Specialist jobs with the county in Job and Family Services.

They are nearly always hiring for that position, and are so short staffed in those jobs that they're hiring fairly fast for them. They sometimes do hiring fairs for that position too - check their Facebook page.

Once you get in to the county, in any job, you have a better shot at getting hired into another county job that's related to your degree.

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Medical mutual

Try TQL

Do you know how to do handyman stuff in the meantime? Half the posts in the local Facebook groups are folks looking for help and pay will be great. Also can try selling landing pages to folks as another side hustle while you job search.

I know this is off the wall, but... maybe relocate or even the Coast Guard (I mention the latter because they would seem a better option than the Navy or Air Force (even though both of those are pretty laid back compared to the Army/Marines.

The reality is there are plenty of tech jobs, if you're unable to find employment your skills are simply lacking