Please click on the imbedded youtube video to listen to this inspiring music while you read this article.
You might have seen the movie, or heard the story about Rudy Ruettiger, a working-class kid from Joliet, Illinois with great heart (but little else) who overcame incredible odds to gain admission to Notre Dame, and then even greater odds to become a member of the Fighting Irish football team in the 1970s. It's a true story (with some Hollywood embellishment, of course). If you don't know the story, check out the movie trailer here to get the idea. By sheer will he refused to give up his dream when most anyone else would have quit. And he was rewarded, eventually, by his admission to the University, where he walked on the football team, was allowed the opportunity to suit up and play in the team's final home game, and graduated with the first college degree in his family.
The message of the movie is undeniable. With the right attitude, you can overcome any obstacle that is in the way of achieving your goals.
We all have obstacles. Every last one of us. What separates the successful job-seeker from the unsuccessful one is the extent to which he/she will put in the WORK necessary to overcome it. It's not going to be easy. There is only one place in the world where success comes before work (the dictionary).
You won't be hired because of sympathy for your difficult situation. Nobody ever hired anybody out of a sense of pity. You can get a free bowl of soup sometimes, or maybe a suit of clothes or a night in a homeless shelter. There ARE things you can get from being a victim. But a job will never be one of them.
Instead, be the person who DESERVES to be hired, because of the work and effort you put forth to get the job. ALWAYS be cheerful and positive. ALWAYS be politely persistent and follow up. ALWAYS look at your glass as being half-full. ALWAYS give people the benefit of the doubt. ALWAYS thank people for considering you, even when they say no to your application for a job. ALWAYS have faith in your ability to do the job and to better your life's circumstances.
If you are cheerful, positive, persistent, think the best of others, are grateful and appreciative, and confident in your abilities, and if you "bring it" every day, then SOMEBODY is going to notice it. And they are going to hire you, not because they pity you, but because these positive qualities are what they are looking for. They will trump your obstacles.
Employers are looking to hire more Rudys. Become one of them by setting your goals high and getting up every morning determined to accomplish them.
Good luck and go get 'em.