The job search goes on

I have lists and numbers everywhere as well as online applications with the usual resume bull-shit out in virtual reality .

Today i drove out to one that held some promise . it was for a tow truck dispatching position . I get there and the street looks like a bombed out utility shack section of burbank , dismantled shopping carts and run down Bent and rusted chain link fence . I park on the street 3 long blocks away and walk back only to find a white trailer with an outhouse posed near and a ramp . i thought , this can't be the right place until the door opened . Here we had Kilo , Kent and Karl , these were their real names , nice enough people but since I didn't have a map of the valley burnt into my brain I said this will be the only problem , the rest I can handle . I did not get the job and I'm sort of glad . i came close to loosing my lunch and drove away .

this is now the end of the third month without a job and the unemployment just ran out two weeks ago .

I had a few much more promising jobs suddenly contact me yesterday but the phone was quiet today . All I have got so far is a job beginning tomorrow with a democratic and environmental fund raising call center to begin 5 days of paid training . Hopefully this will work out and I can come close to making ends meet while I wait for something else to come along .

I have to say , on the way home a length of rope was not out of the question . Trying to start a new line of work is difficult , I feel so out of place most of the time but I have no choice . it feels like beginning the first day of school and I was not to thrilled with that .

I am certain I am not the only one having to get through new unfamiliar territory , I just don't know anyone personally who is going down this road .

Share your horror stories so I don't feel so damn alone .

But if it makes you feel better, I have a friend with a masters degree in business. He's about forty and has worked for very good money in administrative positions for most of his adult life. Four years ago he lost his job where he was making about $80K/yr. He and his wife have four small children. He started working for a local lumber company, as a delivery man (first time in uniform). About a year later, his wife lost her long-term job with Coke. She looked for something comparable - she also has an undergraduate degree in business - and ended up at... Home Depot. The first day she came home from work and complained that she hated wearing the orange apron. Her husband countered wearily, "Oh, you'll get used to it." Anyway, while they are both employed they don't make anything near enough to sustain their standard of living. last I heard my friend was $30,000 in debt, not including house payments or anything like that.

I wish you luck. Sometimes it's darkest just before the dawn. And no, a length of rope is not an option. :hug:

trite but true

I'm right there with you. I really don't want to go into the details right now. I'm still too emotional. I don't have the money to pay the rent next week and am in collections for my natural gas and a medical bill. I've worked since I was 15, so that makes 30 years... I have no idea what I'm going to do now.

I just got laid off from one of my three part time jobs last week...the job that was supposed to give me the bulk of my income this summer. Things aren't totally bleak, but I'm preparing for the worst...stashing money in savings, paying extra on my utilities bills to build up a credit, selling unneeded stuff on ebay and in pawn shops, etc. I'm fortunate in that between my other two jobs I bring in $800 a month before taxes and I have a friend renting a room out of my house, but I am still concerned. Applied to two jobs today, hope to get another application out tomorrow. The biggest thing I have going for me- I'm fluent in Spanish. That has given me soooo many job opportunities. If you have spare time, I highly recommend learning some Spanish. I can even recommend books and websites for you. Another thing you might try is donating plasma. Here you can bring in up to $200 a month, more if you have certain allergies.

Best of luck, and if you ever need to vent feel free to PM me!

Didn't get one job I interviewed for. One has been put on hold. And one interview that I was sure I screwed up called me for a followup.

:headbang:
rocknation

I am employed, but right now the stress level is doing an even worse job...

Apart from some boring temp agencies that I couldn't begin to live on, there is precious little out there.

I did have one interview for a state job, but blew it because of my inherent social ineptitude. I did have two other applications for other State divisions, but my resume was rejected - I fear my pitiful oral performance cost me those two as well.

From my observation, one needs to have a silver tongue and lie to get somewhere... or have a unique skill. The problem with the latter is, nobody wants unique anymore. Everyone wants off-the-shelf, pre-boxed mush that a trained chimp on stratera could do; mostly so they wouldn't have to pay a human to do the job.

Hell, even people in training seminars state "Here is the equation to do this, but with _____ software out, you don't need to learn how any of this works. No thinking required. Just point and click." (oh, there is a problem that transcends offshoring... we wilfully dumb ourselves down... not 'we' as the jobhunters. 'we' as those who provide the jobs. They call us stupid and then demand boxed garbage that demands people DON'T think.)