Despite possessing an MBA, Marcial Quinones has faced significant challenges in securing stable employment after submitting over 1,500 job applications. Quinones believes that artificial intelligence, lack of recent experience, and being overqualified may be hindering his job search efforts. Men’s employment rates have notably declined since the 1950s, with higher education now playing a crucial role in obtaining jobs. Marcial Quinones, 48, once found it relatively easy to secure jobs in the 1990s without a high school diploma.
However, since the early 2010s, he has struggled to land a stable job in his field, even with an MBA. Quinones, a father of four living in rural eastern Pennsylvania, has attempted to secure long-term employment in tech or counseling but to no avail. Despite holding part-time positions and creating inventory software to sell to companies, he rarely receives interview calls, even after revamping his résumé multiple times. Quinones cites the overshadowing of traditional job search methods by artificial intelligence and lack of human interaction as significant obstacles.
He feels that his recent lack of work experience further contributes to his application rejections. This struggle is shared by many Americans with traditional work credentials, reflecting the increasing necessity of a college degree for well-paying jobs today. Quinones had a rocky start in life, dealing with challenges like an abusive stepfather and living in various youth shelters. He dropped out of school in the seventh grade and had his first child at 18. Determined to improve his life, he developed an interest in computers and worked on tech-related side jobs. By 18, he was doing contract work during the tech boom of the 1990s and eventually became a head technician for a computer company in Arizona.
He later landed a role at Intel in 1999 as an IT manager but was laid off after a year. To catch up with his peers, Quinones enrolled in a community college in 2002, earning an associate degree in computer programming. While in school, he also worked part-time in the IT department, later earning a bachelor’s degree in the same field. Moving to Arizona to be closer to his wife's family, he found the job market challenging despite his qualifications. In pursuit of career growth, he completed an MBA in technology management and secured a CTO position at an import-export company in New Jersey. Unfortunately, a family issue in 2010 cost him this job, making recovery difficult.
Since then, Quinones has struggled to find relevant employment. Despite removing some educational background to appear less overqualified, he only managed first-round IT interviews. Negative feedback on social media job inquiries and being told he was overqualified for local jobs have added to his frustrations. Quinones has battled alcoholism, now eight years sober, and turned to bodybuilding for therapy, taking part-time jobs to stay afloat. He created an inventory management software program but could not expand it substantively. He pursued various side gigs, including driving for Uber and selling printed merchandise.
Amidst these setbacks, Quinones continued to pursue career advancement, even enrolling in a master’s program in family and marriage counseling. Financial constraints, however, halted his education four classes short of completion. Career counselors advised him to finish his degree, but medical recovery forced further delay. Despite personalized applications and outreach to hiring managers, positive responses have been rare. Over the years, Quinones has faced about 1,500 job rejections, often receiving multiple rejections daily, even after investing in a professionally crafted résumé. Friends in IT reviewed his applications, but his overqualification for entry-level positions and underqualification for advanced roles complicated his search.
Quinones suspects that some rejections result from roles legally required to be posted but internally filled. His ethnicity as a Latino American might have also been a barrier, as evidenced by disparities in application reactions compared to his white wife. Technological advancements have changed job expectations, leaving him struggling to keep up with required skills, particularly involving AI. Living 30 miles from urban centers, Quinones focuses on finding remote work, though these opportunities are becoming scarce and highly competitive. He emphasizes the challenge of addressing employment gaps, recognizing employers’ skepticism about these periods.
Marcial Quinones remains in touch with career coaches and utilizes workshops and reviews to improve his job applications. Despite his best efforts, finding stable employment remains an elusive goal for him.
