Unemployed DUers: Chime in ! ....

[Trajan]

Still Unemployed since September 2003 ...

After nearly 23 years with one organization .... to whom I was loyal and faithful ...

My UI benefits were exhausted last month ...

I now own a business: but it is a start up (women's gym), and we are frantically trying to reach the breakeven point; we arent there yet .... we wont be there for a few months, and even then: we wont be able to pull a salary there for a few months after that ...

Im down to my last $150 in my bank account ...

My rent is due in 24 days ... and I dont have it ...

I have three kids: the oldest could not start college, because we cannot afford her modest tuition ...

We are starting to buy basic staples: rice and bean, pasta and flour ... in anticipation of running out of other 'easier' foods ...

My credit cards are saving my life, for the moment, but they will require another payment in 28 days ...

The job search, which should have already ended with a good job, has stalled, and gone stale: I have four outstanding cover letter/resume packages with prospects for decent work, but they are sitting on them, while I start to sweat it ... badly ....

I have sent each of those four a kindly email to find out my current status, and all four say I am in the running .... but: the clock is ticking ....

I have been thinking about looking up the local food bank ... emy thoughts are now floating towards memories of obtaining food stamps, and the shame I felt being in that office, and answering those questions ...

All the while: knowing I have vast technical experience that surpasses nearly anyone else in the local job market, and should have been hired weeks ago .... I think my experience scares prospective employers ... I have been paring it down to the bare bones to try to be more attractive to employers: so far: no dice ....

So as I ponder my near term future: as I fret over how I will feed and house my children and wife, as I wait by the phone, wondering if those whom still consider me a 'viable candidate' for open jobs will actually call, wondering if I should at least find a menial job of ANY kind in the interim: fry cook, janitor, laborer, gas jockey, ANYTHING .... I am resisting making further contect with my 'prospective' future employers, so I dont reveal my ever growing desperation .....

Im going to dig in the phone book: and see if I can find a backdoor into my chosen field ... otherwise: all Im doing is spinning my wheels, waiting for a call that may never come ...

Sighs: dont you wonder how much better this GOP economy can get ? ...

Do you wonder how many jobs 2.4 TRILLION dollars in tax cuts will buy the nation ? ....

Is it trickling down yet ??? ...

Someone tell me if it does: I would hate to miss it ....

[Coventina]

1. Checking in for my friend

She was laid off 3 months ago.
Severance is over now.

Unable to find a job that replaces what she was earning.

Plenty of jobs to be found, but none that pay the bills.

She worked in IT.

Of course, her job went to India. (Thanks IBM!!!)

(I'm currently unemployed, but that was by choice. I quit my job so I could go to grad school. I get to live off student loans for a couple years, then it'll be time to panic!)

[ClintonTyree]

2. Sorry...........

about your situation. There are many others in the same boat but the Bushies want to take care of their base, rich people.
Now you know why personal bankruptcies are at an all time high.
Welcome to Bush America.
I hope your situation improves and soon. Until then, hang in there and don't give up hope. The Kerry administration will do everything it can to help you. Hope is on the way.

[Trajan]

25. Thanks DG ...

Bush America is a bad place ... America needs new leadership ...

DEMOCRATIC leadership ...

Thanks for your kind words ....

[livetohike]

3. Unemployed since Sept. 2000

Yes, for four years. We moved to CA in 2001 with my husband's new job (since he was unemployed in PA for a year). He has had three jobs since moving here due to downsizing. We both have advanced degrees.

Honestly, I haven't been looking for the last year and am now volunteering over 40 hours a week to our local Congressional race (and of course Kerry/Edwards).

I have never been out of work this long in my life.

[mhr]

4. Unemployed 50 Months - That's 4 Years And Two Months In Dallas, TX

Look at what Bush has done to the Dallas, TX economy!

[Trajan]

26. I swear ...

Your case is an outrage ...

NOTHING is more maddening than seeing a worthy, competent individual being wasted by a system that cares not for competency or worth ...

Im sorry for you mhr ....

[lovedems]

5. I totally feel for you.

My husband was unemployed for a year from the IT industry. He is a network admin. with a wealth of experience and education. People were afraid of his resume as well. I should say they liked his resume "but couldn't afford him". They wanted to pay him help desk salary with network admin. experience. We had to cash out our savings, cash out his 401k, his benefits ran out before he had a job. We have a mortgage and 4 kids. It was rough. He was fortunate enough last month to finally find a good job but it wasn't without a year of total frustration, panic and stress. Bush's economy sucks for us and the system is set up that when you find yourself digging a hole in order to survive, it is hard to get out of that hole.

The job numbers this month are very discouraging.

Something will come along. Don't give up. I know that is easier said then done because we were there and if you are anything like us, some days are better then others. Don't change your resume, don't give up, do what you have to in order to survive without feeling embarrassed. Believe me, your wait will pay off. When we didn't think we could take it anymore, employment came through. It will happen for you too. :hug: Don't give up! You are not alone! Many people share your story under Bush's america.

[Trajan]

27. A few years ago ... I considered a BSCS ....

It is so unfortunate what has happened to that field ...

SO many have that piece of parchment: and so many are working in menial fields now ...

It is tragic: It is the GOP way ....

[demnan]

6. Currently gainfully employed and thankful

I feel for all of you and wish you well and gainful employment!!!

I would get the food stamps, no shame in being unemployed in this economy.

You didn't say what you did but are there temp agencies available who are hiring in your field? You might get an entry into a good job by just being somewhere and being a temp. It's just a thought.

[seventhson]

7. I can relate

My situation is entirely unique and in many ways just the same.

Due top retaliation against me doing my job properly my contracts were cut back (I am self-employed) and we are right on the edge. Two kids and cut off notices galore.

Lucky that a ferw friends helped bail me out THIS month. But next month is almost here and I am out of heating oil.

So just commiserating.

I believe:

Help is on the way.

GET the foodstamps! Get what you can and what you need. Make sure your kids KNOW it is Bush's fault and not yours and that thiongs WILL change.

Then go top the unemployment office or welfare office and pass out voter regisdtration cards .

Talk to the people and fight the power!

You will feel better.

[mzmolly]

8. So sorry Trajan. The only suggestion I have is perhaps looking

into temp work, just while your seeking something? It's often menial labor, but might keep you afloat until you can land a job?

The economy is improving - my ass!

Again, so sorry :hug:

[Trajan]

24. You are sweet ....

Im doing that right now: ANYTHING: .. I will take ANYTHING ....

I hope for the best ... but it wont happen til the neocon ASSHOLES are dumped off the ship of state ...

Like the tea in Boston harbor ....

[mzmolly]

41. I agree, there are so many suffering under this administration. I am so

sorry you are one of the casualties.

Please keep us posted.

Sending positive thoughts/prayers your way. :hi:

[madinmaryland]

9. What's your background

We do network here.

[Trajan]

16. Hey mad ..

I have a backround in Electronics/Computer technology, hardware ...

Fabrication, assembly, integration, modification, operation, test, fault analysis and repair disposition of electromechanical systems ... primarily those in the aerospace sphere ... also long experience in performing space simulations on those systems: vibration, thermal cycle and thermal vacuum tests ...

I've worked on : DC9, DC10, Space Shuttles (all of them), GPS Satellite, P91 (ARGOS) satellite, inertial navigation systems for various projects ...

[sadiesworld]

10. Unemployed.

To be fair it is partially by choice.

My husband does well enough that I am not yet forced to take a job outside my profession. The Sunday want ads in the local rag (for professional jobs) are fewer than I used to see in the daily paper.

It feels rather hopeless to me and I know I am one of the lucky ones.
I guess I'm one of the "stopped looking" at this point. We may be able to pay our bills but we are NOT plugging $ into the economy the way we were a couple of years ago.

Your situation concerns me. Please keep us updated?!

:hug:

[ocean girl]

11. I've been unemployed since Bush was in office

and I've given up looking. I have over 30 years of experience in publishing and advertising and I've had many, many interviews in the last 3 years. I've got about 10 versions of my resume - from the reality of my eclectic, fantastic career to the dumbed-down version. The last interview I had was positive - the guy loved me and was going to hire me - and then he got fired the next day!! And I was going to take the job - even though it paid less than half of my previous salary.

I'm a 53-year-old assertive woman - I'm smart, funny and passionate and loved my career, but nobody wants what I have. The worst was when a hiring manager told me that the job that was open required someone with "lots of stamina"! I could have run circles around this arrogant 20-year-old asshole!

I'm in Boca Raton, Florida, and the job market sucks here. IBM is gone, Siemens is practically gone and unless you're in construction, there's nothing happening!

My husband has a good job, so we're surviving, but I miss working and being part of something - solving problems, traveling, kicking ass, pulling off miracles and being part of a team.

I feel your pain, Trajan, and wish I could help you. I wish there was a support group for peeps like us - maybe I'll start one - if only I could make a living at it!!

Hang in there, and don't forget to take care of yourself. I find it very hard to just take some time off - when I don't work I don't feel like I deserve a break. But I find a walk, a swim, some yoga and a great book lifts my spirits to make it through another day.

Peace.

[livetohike]

13. Oceangirl we are in different fields, but

your post could have been my own. I'm 52 and earned my MBA while working full-time when I was 47.

Most of the interviews I have had it seemed clear they were looking for someone younger. However, it would be hard for them to find someone with my energy and passion.

I am channeling it all to overthrow Bush and D. Issa here in CA!

[mhr]

15. I'm 47 And Its Clear That All The Employers I've Spoken With Want Someone

younger than myself.

I believe the cutoff is roughly 40.

Unemployed 4 years and two months.

My CV includes the following:

BSEE
MBA
Honorably Discharged Naval Officer
Commercial Pilot

Close to 2,500 resumes out the door.

So far, NADA!

[Trajan]

19. It is a TRAVESTY that you are not willing and faithfully employed ...

What has happened to our nation ? ...

What is WRONG with them ? ..

Damn ... This does piss me off ...

[amazona]

40. they say they are looking for "energy"

They mean they are looking for someone who won't increase the rates on their health insurance plan, and too many over 40s is bad for that, apparently. My hubby's employer was pressured to fire an employee with brain cancer, even though it's illegal and he could not replace the employee with someone of equivalent experience. He did resist and keep the employee but they have a very difficult time getting a health insurance contract each year.

[Trajan]

17. I dont think I will find work in aerospace ...

Im not sure I want to: it is simply too insecure ...

Im hoping to translate my experience into a health care setting, perhaps testing and calibrating biomedical hardware ... I can only hope ...

But heck: at this point: Im starting to look with envy at McDonald's cooks ...

Im sorry to hear of your travails ... I couldnt ever stop looking: my kids have entered teenhood: it is imperative that I find work, of ANY kind ....

You are very sweet: maybe their IS a future in calming the frayed nerves of goodly DUers ... perhaps ...

[Trajan]

12. I wish I can respond to all of you ...

And really: it isnt about me or mine: It's about ALL of us ...

I am one of millions ....

But I wont sit here and cry in my beer (even though I admit I teared up a bit to a few PM's I received) ...

DUers, liberals, Democrats ALL understand how all this affects us: ...

THEY understand how this affects 'family values' ...

The GOP dont have a clue what 'family values' really means: they have only empty slogans, false claims, flat out lies and self seving rhetoric ....

They REALLY do need to GO ! ....

I love you all: .. time to go on the job prowl ... Ill be back later and respond to each ...

[DebinTx]

14. Have been going through the same thing

My other half has been unemployed for 14 months. He wrote and implemented troubleshooting software (for servers) for the computer company in Texas that was bought out (here's hoping Carly chokes on her new jets) - he was with them for 18 years. Now I don't make bad money but it's not good money like his was. The UI was gone 8 months ago, so we've barely been hanging on. We've cashed in all of our savings and the only thing left is my 401k and/or selling our house.

Just this past week, he took a temporary job repairing boards. No bennies and at less than half of his pay. He signed on with several temporary companies to try and find work and finally he got the call from one. I'd suggest you contact a couple of temps in your field. It's not permanent but it's given him back his sense of worth, which helps.

Also, contact your church. Most have access to food banks and reduced health care, child care and some other helpful goodies. Don't worry if the church you contact is not your own, they don't care. They also talk job prospects with their parishoners, so they may know someone that needs you.

It's a very humbling experience, not one that I wish on anyone. Keep your chin up and try not to sweat the small stuff. God bless!

[iconoclastic cat]

31. Welcome to DU, Deb!

This is a great place to unburden yourself. Welcome!
:hi:

[Eurobabe]

18. Jeebus, sorry man...

My hubby hits the dole on 8/25, that'll improve those unemployment numbers end of August!! He's in management in high tech, and barely getting responses to job ads.

Mom got canned in 3/02 about 3 yrs. from retirement, and she has yet to find steady employment. It's a jungle out there, unless you want to stand on your feet all day in retail for a measley $7-8/hr.

I send hope your way that things improve and soon...this is awful for you and your family. :(

[Trajan]

22. Heck: Ive fallen off the Unemployment rolls now ...

I dont exist ....

Im nothing but a needy, sorry assed WRAITH to Georgie boy and his cronies .... I am invisible: except to my hungry kids ...

Im sorry for your spouse and you .... It's tough out here right now ...

The GOP are a bunch of LIARS when it comes to jobs and the economy: they fuck it all up every time ....

Oh:except for their friends: THEY always excel ....

Seen how the Oil Companies are doing lately ? ...

See who is paying those outrageous prices ? ...

See who is pocketing the windfall ? ...

This is no accident .... it is the plan ....

[Dookus]

20. Unemployed for 17 months here...

[Trajan]

23. Im sorry to hear that Dookus ....

It wont be long: Hope is on the way ....

[Trajan]

21. Ok .. Im back ...

I feel better ...

I went to two independent aviation maintenance corps, and both liked what I had to offer, even though they had no openings this moment ...

Also: went to the local hospital, and was warmly received by the HR department reps ... they liked my resume and backround, and liked my attitude ... I guess I did sweettalk them a tad ... I couldnt help it .... chuckles ...

I am REALLY hoping to hear back from them: they seemed positive they could do something for me and my family ....

I want to thank each of you: and I want to extend solace and comfort to those who also are suffering this degrading environment: the GOP have NEVER ran our nation well, they have ALWAYS destroyed it once they have gotten hold of it ....

It wont be long .... for us, and our nation ...

Again: thanks .... I'll be around ...

[Protected]

28. Got my computer science degree in August 2003 but no job yet

I've been living with my parents since and right now it's really grating on all of us. I've had a 'job' at a 3-person startup since September 2003, but so far that has paid only $500 (which paid for a few of my student loan payments, their grace period expired in February.) I'm in Maine and I'm willing to relocate to anywhere on the east coast, but I can't get any response from the resumes that I have sent out.

I haven't felt this depressed or discouraged since high school. I love hearing that * wants to train people so that they can develop skills. Well, I have four years of education and now I'd like to put it to use at a decent job, but I think * wants me to take one of those "hamburger manufacturing" jobs at McDonalds. Hearing in another DU thread that the software engineering industry shed 131,000 US jobs last quarter is not very reassuring news, though.

[Trajan]

29. Man: that is scary ....

It seems such a waste .... all the dedication and hard work: It cannot be wasted: it is just on hold ...

Hope is on the way ....

These fuckers have got to go ....

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

33. Did you go to UMaine?

My husband and I graduated from University of Maine Dec. 2001 with B.S. degreee in Computer Engineering. Neither one of us has been able to get a job in the field we went to school for. My husband is working as a high school teacher. I was working as a high school teacher, but I quit (was working at a bad inner city school). Currently, I'm unemployed and staying at home with my 21-month-old son (and trying to potty train him too). BTW, we're living in central Florida and hate it here. Wish I was back in Maine. It's a great place to live.

[Protected]

36. I went to USM

but I'm currently living in the Midcoast area. I'm sorry to hear that neither of you can find jobs in the industry either. This job market is so disappointing unless you're in India.

I love programming and working in software, but I'm seriously doubting right now whether or not I'm going to be able to make a lifetime career out of this or if I'll be able to get my career started at all.

[yellowjacket]

44. I found that you must do the relocating first.

Esp. here in DC, no one will hire you unless you have a local address or area code and can sit down and talk with them. Sounds scary, but I did it too (I just graduated in December).

[iconoclastic cat]

30. The picture out there is not pretty!

I finished my certification to become a teacher in May, but I am being passed over because I have a master's degree; I know that the degree is the problem because I was told by three principals that they could not afford to pay a teacher who has anything higher than a bachelor's degree.

Where is this country going? Even with Kerry in office, I am afraid that we are headed for a second Great Depression.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

47. Try getting a teaching job in Florida...

I know Orange County Public Schools is always needing lots of teachers. Lots of teachers have master's degrees where my husband works.

Their website is here.
http://www.ocps.net

[iconoclastic cat]

52. Thanks, babyreblin,

I am going to have to consider it. Do they need English/reading teachers in Florida? We're too common for our own good in Chicago.

[medeak]

32. been in business

for 23 years..it's tough. It's called cash flow. When starting new you need a bankroll of one year of savings to get you through.

Cultivate a banker big time...take him to lunch. Also there are fed grants low interest loans out there for small businesses. Is there a college in your area...they usually have someone familiar with them.

[Dogmudgeon]

34. Since 11/1/2001

However, I've had a few short-term jobs since then. I also haven't been actively looking for about a year since I've been taking care of my Mother and Grandmother -- Mom had lung cancer, though it was erroneously diagnosed and wasn't cancer at all, and my Grandmother is probably dying of congestive heart failure. For several months, both of them were functionally helpless; my Mother is back to normal and back to her own job.

I'm looking to start a home-based business soon, probably contract programming. It sucks being poor, but I'm not destitute, fortunately. If I can tough it out a few months longer, things may just turn around.

And if not, I'll try something else.

On Edit:

I almost forgot the best part. I've been active sending out resumes.

At last count, eleven hundred.

Yes, some were duplicates, but they represent about half the phone contacts I made. (Uh-huh, I'm a computer programmer.)

--bkl

[loudsue]

35. Me, too.....unemployed yet again since 9/11.

It just keeps getting worse. This is really scary for people like me, in their mid 50's. Since 9/11, I've only worked a total of about 7 months.

This last time, I contracted out to a major corporation, and they cancelled the project when it was 98% done....and since I didn't finish the last 2%....they don't have to PAY me!!! (According to their contract, which ....if you don't sign THEIR contract AS IS, you don't get the work!!)

So...now I have to go to court and fight for it. Ugh! Like I have enough $$ to do that!

I don't have a CLUE what I'm going to do!!

:kick::kick:

[ilovenicepeople]

37. I don't think of it as unemployed

I like to think of myself as basking in my inopulence.Also I tell people that I'm dyslexic and I read somewhere that you retire at 65,so I have a few years left before I have to start working at 65.:hi:

[sweetheart]

38. The idleness of wealth

You have a moment to enjoy the idleness of victorian wealth, where
any person of substance was "above" a regular job, just like an
unemployed person today.

This is a moment to thank our political brothers for re-designing the
economy so we can enjoy the mid-morning sun. ;-)

Drop your past, just as if you died just now... and pray for a job.

Its beyond human intervention... trust only god.

:-) If you ask in deep sincerity, your prayer will be answered.

God bless you and your family.

[Habibi]

39. I guess I'm not technically "unemployed"

anymore, since my contract ended in Dec. 2002. After a little over a year of unemployment (I was also in IT), I started doing contract work for a technical publisher. The books are written in India, and my job is to edit them. It's a fine "job" and I like it okay, but it's less than a third of what I was making. I am scared about the future.

[Child_Of_Isis]

42. same here

Since September of last year, also. Jobs for the educated are mighty thin where I am.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

45. Isn't sad

that people with hard earned college degrees are having trouble finding jobs these days? That seems unamerican to me.

[teryang]

43. I was unemployed for 6.5 months until July 1

Because I am highly educated and highly skilled, this long period of unemployment was very unsettling. I thought this cannot be happening to me. But it was real. Fortunately, I had two prior experiences of long unemployment during earlier repuke administrations to fall back on.

I solved my problem by applying for the most challenging, lowest paying and undesirable jobs in my field. To my surprise I was repeatedly rejected for inexperienced workers straight out of school. I made the direct pitch to a democratic elected official about my age that it was clear that I was being discriminated against because of my age. I did this by quoting the remarks and questions made to me in nearby agencies with whom he is aquainted. He hired me two months later after a couple of tries. I am highly indebted to him as I now make half of what I made before and less that what I earned fifteen years ago. I work day and night every fucking day.
Yet I am indebted to him because my life was falling apart. Now I am only losing my health. So be it.

[takebackourjobs]

46. Thanksgiving 2002

since I've seen a regular paycheck. I had been a contract programmer for eight years when the bottom fell out of the Chicago market. It was bad for a couple years before that, but the jobs weren't flying out of the country at such a dizzying pace back then. I've picked up some work on a hit and miss basis, and even done some bookkeeping for a small business. Most places won't consider my resume or application because the jobs I've been reduced to looking for are so much below my previous earnings.

I mean really, I'll take anything. Floor sweeper, stock boy, I could just use a regular paycheck. My wife has been keeping us afloat with a steady job in nursing, but the bills are all overdue. The credit card debt that looked so manageable with my old salary is all in collections and I have no way to even negotiate repayment plans.

I got into IT as a second career and was the poster boy for job retraining. Went back to school in my thirties and got a job that paid three times my previous salary. Well, now I just have to laugh when the Outsourcing Gurus talk about job retraining. You don't have to retrain for the jobs that are left in this country.

[stevedeshazer]

48. Nineteen months and counting

Customer service manager and supervisor for twelve years. Retail store manager and worker before that.

Developed training programs, hiring criteria, supervised hundreds of employees.

Now, I'm 49. Too long in the tooth for employers, too young for Social Security. I can't even get hired as a delivery driver. They either want someone "retired" who can get Medicare or a young person who doesn't care...yet.

If my wife didn't have a government job, (like the ones these jackasses want to eliminate) we'd really be screwed.

I feel that warm sensation of trickle down, you bet. :grr:

[Behind the Aegis]

49. Still looking!

Yea!! My fist message to DU after months of "lurking!" It is sad that this is the first thread to which I am responding.

I have been unemployed since July 1st, 2003. I have a master's degree and ten years experience in my field. I have been looking for another job since January 2003. I just have to escape Oklahoma!

I have sent out over 200 hundred resumes and had only a few nibbles. Of course this economy doesn't help (I am in higher education). Then I find out one of my references is sabatoging me by giving misleading information about me! As if the market was not bad enough, I get slapped in the face by a supposed friend!

I continue to look to escape and return to the East Coast, and as depressing as having no job is, I am thankful I have a partner who is here for me and the bills get paid.

For those in the same boat, it is OK to feel down, just don't let it get the best of you!! Surround yourself with people who are supportive, but don't tell you "this is what I think you should do." The latter seem to add to the feeling of desperation.

Anyway, I am glad I am here!!! At least now I can post, since I have no job to go to! :)

ON EDIT: I had to try this feature, but it also allows me to say I am looking forward to meeting some of the local "celebs," espcially, WilliamPitt and ScarletWoman!!!!

[VolcanoJen]

50. Welcome to DU, Behind the Ageis!

DU Welcomes You!

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :toast: :toast: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[Behind the Aegis]

51. THANKS!

My first welcome!!! I have been looking for it!!! Thank you VolcanoJen!!! It sounds so silly, but being able to get some things off my chest, espcially in such a conservative area, really helps!! Again, thank you!!!! :) :) :)