Okay lil bit of question and rant and needing suggestions all thrown in one.

First off I'm trying to get a job. As you probably know I had to quit my job I had last year because of school and they refused to give me off for school so I had no choice but to quit on their busiest week (labor day week before it). So I been putting in applications all around and I been doing "call backs" and I went back to the one grocery store and K-mart and they both told me they are sorry but they won't be hiring me.... that really got me down!!! Mainly because my neighbor's wife works there and told me they are hiring morning cashiers which is what I applied for. So today we went into Aldi's and they had a bigh sign that says "CASHIERS NEEDED - $10.25 an hr" and I was PISSED when I read that....First of all...I applied for cashier a month ago so as far as I am concerned they need to RIP that dang sign off their freaking door and go look at the apps and hire me. I meet ALL of their requirements, previous cashiering experiance, im 18 and I have my diploma. I cant put in another app until 90 days after I submited mine...This is just so aggrivating, I wanna just say screw it, but I cant because I have a phone bill thats due and if I cant pay for it I gotta come up with 300 dollars to get out of the contract. So I need this job, or im basically screwed and in debt badly.

So I really want this aldi's job mainly because of how much you make an hour...I mean I'll be making more then my friend who has a degree in his job and I kind of would like getting paid more then him just becuase he likes rubbing his degree and stuff in my face, but aside the fact that I would like all that money to sit on my butt all day doing what I did last year but didn't get to sit and had to bag where as at aldis you dont even bag! So I am going to go tomorrow and ask to speak to a manager and see if he can help me because i've learned talking to the people who hire are USELESS they just tell you NO and ask you to leave. Im going to introduce myself politely and then tell him that I applied for a casher job about a month ago and I saw his sign on the door and I would like to know why I wasn't hired. Explain to him why I had to quit my last job and try to persuade him to hire me. Im really gonna try for this job...gee...10.25 an hour is really good pay!!! and I want my first car haha.

So my questions are....

1.) Am I doing the right thing by contacting the manager instead of the person who hires?
2.) I feel like my previous job is giving me a bad rep because my ex-co worker got fired from 3 jobs and still gets hired at the first place she applies too and I cant even get a freakin interview!!! Do you think maybe my previous job is giving me a bad rep?
3.) If I find out they are giving me a bad rep how do I stop this? Should I report them, and report them for how they use to work me double what I should have when I was underage and ask them to check into the new underage workers there? Report them for selling cigs to children 16? They are a BAD company to work for and just nasty, maybe reporting them for everything they did wrong will give the owner a wake up call and i'll stop getting bad reps.
4.) What can I do to get a job, if alid's don't hire me? because im really ready to give up!!!!!!

Oh forgot to add that my parents REFUSE to let me babysit...I've tried that and it ended up in a big huge blow up between us....so I cannot babysit, pet sit, dog walk or anything of that sort.

Well here's what I can tell you....although I failed at getting a regular job because lack of experience, I can tell you what I learned from doing research.

1. Have a resume. Just imagine, you are the manager, you are getting tons of applications in and everyone more or less the same. If you ask to turn in a resume along with the application you will stand out a little more. What you put in your resume is up to you, do some research to find out what might look good.

2. Have letters of recommendations. This is a big plus IMO. If you had someone that you were close to in your previous job, ask them if you could possibly get a letter of recommendation from them. Teachers could also write one for you. Usually family or friends won't count though.

3. Do your research on the company you are going to apply for. You don't know how many times I've been asked "And what do you know about (Insert company name)". And if you don't know what to say, there goes your chances for employment. However if they ask you that and you come out stating a few facts about that company you look so much better! Just go on their website if they have one and look on the "History" page, or something similar to it.

4. Also it might be a good idea to turn in applications every maybe...2-5 weeks? You never know when they drop someone. Which is probably what happened at the one place you applied for. Right now is the best time to start because kids going back to school are stopping their jobs.

I think thats about it, as far as I can remember. It doesn't matter if you talk to the manager or hiring manager, in truth the hiring manager might now more about open positions and stuff rather than the actual manager. But its up to you.