When you get an apartment today, there is normally a long approval process. Most people are checked to have a certain income level generally where the cost of the apartment is not any more than half the income as well as a credit check to make sure the individual has a history of paying bills on time. For those who have bad credit and are currently unemployed, this can be a huge barrier to getting into an apartment. There are some strategies that you can consider.
One of the most common ways of getting into an apartment in this scenario is to get someone to cosign on the lease with you. This is common for college students who rent apartments to get their parents to cosign. Most college students do not have much income and rarely have any established credit. If you find a cosigner who is willing to sign with you, then you have a much better chance of getting into the apartment.
You might have bad credit and be unemployed, but this does not mean that you don't have money or assets. Show your assets to the apartment manager and try to work out a deal. Discuss the fact that while you don't currently have income, you can pay for the place. The reason for all these checks on your history is to make sure that you will be able to pay.
One strategy is to simply offer to pay more months in advance than required. If you can afford it, pay three extra months in advance so the apartment manager knows that you can pay and has the money in hand. It's hard to say no to you when you are already paying for the place upfront.
Consider finding a place like a garage apartment where these types of checks aren't done on you. These are typically much easier to get into and you can them have some rental history and a good reference assuming that you do pay your bills on time.