Father-of-four, 48, with MBA claims he cannot get a job despite submitting more than 1,500 applications

A father-of-four is reckoning with more than a decade of disappointment in striving to find steady work despite having an MBA.

Marcial Quinones, 48, remembers when he could find a well-paying full-time gig in tech without even a high-school diploma, he told Business Insider. 

But he's well aware that that those easy-breezy days for job-seekers in the tech industry belong to a bygone era. 

'I wish there was an easier way, but traditional ways of looking for employment have been overshadowed by artificial intelligence and lack of human interaction,' Quinones speculated to the outlet.

Over the years, he's held a variety of part-time jobs as well as built his own inventory software that he sells to companies.

But at this point, he also realizes that, likely thanks at least in part to automated hiring systems, the gaps in his resume are now a major factor holding him back. 

Early on, Quinones seemed to overcome the odds, growing up with an abusive father before dropping out of school in the seventh grade. 

At age 18, finding himself in a transitional independent living facility and suddenly about to become a first-time father, he committed to getting his act together.

'At that point in my life, I was trying to change everything and become better because I knew that I would be a father… I started taking things more seriously and tried to figure out what to do with my life,' he said.  

Sans high-school diploma, he became a head technician for an Arizona computer company.

In 1999, he was hired by Intel as an IT manager and held the position for a year before being laid off amid the dot-com bubble. 

Over the coming years, he went on to get an associate's degree, and later bachelor's degree, in computer programming.

He then enrolled in an MBA program in 'technology management' before landing a New Jersey-based job as a chief technology officer for an import and export company.

But, only two years into the position, in 2010, he lost the job thanks to an unspecified difficult situation within his family that he found it 'extremely difficult to recover from.'

Ever since then, he's been struggling to find steady work - but it's definitely not for lack of effort. 

Quinones started out posting on Facebook in search of jobs and would walk into local businesses to ask about hiring, only to be brushed off time and time again. 

He even created an inventory management software program that he's sold to various clients over the years - though even this original invention hasn't been enough to garner a steady income stream. 

His wife has helped support the family of six through a remote sales job, he added.

All the while, Quinones has picked up work through gigs like printing images on merch and driving for Uber (though only netting $70 daily after expenses) - while doing car and plumbing fixes himself to save on costs.

In 2015, he began a master's program in family and marriage counseling, but was unable to complete it due to his financial aid running out.

When he tried to pick back up where he'd left off in the program a few years later, he found out that many of his credits no longer counted thanks to a change in the curriculum requirements. 

He told BI he's redone his resume in the range of 25 times, even dropping $300 for a professional overhaul that still yielded zero interviews.

The publication also verified that he's received 'five to 10 rejections daily this year,' via screenshots he shared. 

Quinones also surmised he's in an awkward middle ground where he's overqualified for entry-level work in IT but doesn't have the qualifications to get his foot in the door in another industry.

He further noted that his race may be another factor holding him back - as he suddenly began getting more interviews when he changed his first name on his resume to Tony (a shortened version of his middle name).

In an ideal world, given that he's located in rural Pennsylvania 30 miles from any cities, he also needs to land a remote position.

He's also aware that at this point his skillset may likely be behind what a lot of companies are looking for, giving the fast pace of chance in the tech industry.  

'If you haven't been employed in a while, I can't magically snap my fingers and make it happen,' Quinones said.