I tried applying for retail/food service jobs when I was in my late teens/early twenties, but was never hired. Looking back, there's just too much competition, nepotism, foids and other things that stack the cards against incels. In some ways, this can be a good thing because it forces us to search out more rare and rewarding jobs elsewhere. At the time, I was trying to get a degree in CS, which I never completed because I ran out of the money I got from a small inheritance. I had been teaching myself programming since I had hit puberty.
By the time I was 25, I still never had a real job and had spent nearly a year homeless. An old "friend" from college had started a small business in the trades and I ran into him, I thought he felt sorry for me because he gave me a job. I was making minimum wage, but after a year he stopped paying me regularly, and strung me along with promises, charm, food and the occasional paycheck. I was being taken advantage of, but had no where else to go. After a few months of this, his business went under. I was almost back out on the street.
All this time I had never given up computer programming, so figured I'd try some of the online services that match make programmers looking for work with people needing jobs getting done. Wish I had done this sooner. I managed to work my way up a bit, cover my rent and food, but I was scraping the bottom of the barrel. Did this for a few years. Eventually, I worked up the courage to apply for local software development jobs at smaller companies without much of an HR department. The only reason I had never bothered was because I thought I needed a degree. Turns out work experience is far more valuable. Approaching late 30s, now I'm the promotion track pulling a six figure salary and I enjoy what I do.
But all of the money doesn't make up for being a 3/10 manlet, chinlet, jawlet, dicklet, framelet computer nerd with little social status. At least I can afford my hobbies now.