I’m dirt poor right now. I don’t own a car. My workplace has been giving me barely enough hours to feed myself and keep a roof over my head. I’ll only have enough to do those two things this month because I got some Christmas money from my mother. If it weren’t for potatoes, milk, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches I’d be starving to death.
For months I’ve been planning on moving into a new home about 25 miles away with 4 friends. This was part of a larger scheme by me to go back to (community) college and get an education, and to improve my station in life. The new home is within walking distance of the college, and would be ideal for me. But then the Economic Crisis happened. One of the big paper mills in the New City is shutting down, and now job opportunities for unskilled laborers such as myself are as rare as hens teeth. I’ve been scouring the internet and the newspapers for jobs that I could actually do over there, and I’m coming up with zilch. All I’ve found there is is skilled labor and managerial positions, none of which I’m qualified for.
So far the places I’ve walked in on and asked for applications weren’t hiring. “Come back in a couple weeks maybe” was the most optimistic answer I’ve heard so far.
I’ve got one extra pair of contact lenses in addition to the ones in my eyes right now. A scratchy 5 year old pair of glasses as a final failsafe, but if I have to rely on those glasses I’ll be able to see clearly six feet in front of my face instead of six inches.
I don’t know what the fuck I’m going to do. This really sucks.
Are none of the fast food chains hiring? How about the grocery stores, Wal-Mart, Target, etc? How about restaurants…you can make good money as a server.
I was also going to recommend applying with Temp agencies. Be willing to stuff envelopes, answer phones or do warehouse work. Register with several. Call each of them every morning and ask what new work has come in that morning and be dressed and available to head out the door. If nothing’s in yet, ask them to put you on the daily “available” list. There’s a science to actually getting the work these agencies farm out.
If you lived in my neighborhood, I’d pay you to come rake the obnoxious leaves and bulbs from the giant magnolia tree in front of my house. I’ve been seriously considering knocking on neighbors’ doors to see if any kids in the neighborhood want to make some extra cash. So walk around your neighborhood and see if anyone would be willing to pay someone to do odd jobs around their property.
Don’t be ashamed to take advantage of your local church or mission to get a hot meal from time to time. That’s what they’re there for, and it will help you stretch your budget.
Possibly. I haven’t gone through all my options yet. I’m just kind of pissed that I actually have to pound the pavement looking for work… I hate that method of job searching with every fiber of my being. It’s a gigantic pain in the ass for me to go from Old City to the New City, I have to rely on the charity of friends to shuttle me there… which means they have to drive 50 miles roundtrip.
Do your research on how much you can put applications on file online with places like Target, major restaurant chains, etc. It may still be to your advantage to show up in person to show that you’re motivated, etc. but at least you can do it more efficiently.
Also, ask your friends to let you use a local address and phone number for your job search. Way too many employers automatically roundfile applications from people who aren’t local. Don’t let that work against you.
I don’t know about the OP’s area, but in MY area the temp agencies stopped taking on people 8 months ago. I know, because I went to 4 of them. This isn’t a normal downturn in the economy. I have a college degree and 25 years work experience and the temp agencies couldn’t get work for me, much less someone who is an unskilled laborer.
Sometimes the unskilled labor spots are easier to get through an agency. THey’d rather pay an agency to find a person to pick and pack stuff, as opposed to offering benefits to a low-end employee.
Forgot to add that a friend’s daughter is doing this right now at a local med supply joint.
Use the start of a new year to motivate yourself that things will get better.
Start your job search tomorrow, the day after New Years Day. Yeah, some potential employers may be closed but don’t let this deter you. Do it again on Monday. Think positive. Think that practically everyone you see as a potential job link. Ask around. Put out feelers.
I would suggest a two-pronged approach: the first prong is reducing your expenses, and the second prong is increasing your income. There may be things in your life you can reduce further, even if you think you’re living pretty barebones right now - you didn’t mention if you have roommates, but you might be able to move to a cheaper place (rent a room in a house, for example). I don’t know if you have a local food bank, but I hit mine up once in awhile when things were particularly tight (and I donate to them now that things are better).
The second prong is increasing the income, and as everyone else has said, any job will do in a pinch. Cleaning houses, answering phones, gas jockey, dishwashing - those jobs are usually still available when almost everything else has dried up, because no one really wants to do them. There’s lots of good advice here already - network, talk with friends, talk to everyone you meet about how you need a few more hours of work a week.
If your area is chronically depressed, have you considered moving? I know people don’t like to hear the idea of going somewhere else to make a living, but it is a reality. I’m in Calgary because of it; I didn’t leave Saskatchewan because I didn’t like it there; I left because there were no jobs there.
So sorry you have to “pound the pavement,” you poor dear. :rolleyes:
Your current troubles are a direct result of decisions you’ve made. Hopefully the silver lining here is that you will make better decisions in the future.
Your post quoted above makes you look like somewhat of an idiot. If you want to bump that up to “complete idiot” (see, e.g., Acid Lamp, Broomstick), then keep replying to this thread to tell everyone why their suggestions for getting you out of this situation won’t work.
Not everyone finds themself in poverty due to their own decisions. As an example, it certainly wasn’t my decision for my former employer to cut staff and put me out on the street. 13 years of excellent performance reviews meant nothing when it came time to cut costs. It’s condescending at best to tell someone “it’s your fault” when we have no more information than what’s in the OP.
I’m not entirely sure what you mean by that, but cautioning someone that a suggested route is no easy fix hardly classifies one as “complete idiot”. As it happens, I have been hanging on for the past year doing exactly the sort of odd jobs suggested. It has been extremely precarious.
Poverty sucks, as I’ve said before, and anyone in the OP’s predicament needs to vent. Stating such real-life obstacles as “I don’t have a car” is hardly complaining in the normal sense. It’s a real obstacle. It’s no different than when someone a month ago suggested I join the military and I pointed out that they don’t accept people over 40 for basic training. It’s not a complaint so much as a request for another suggestion or a way around an obstacle. But then, since I’ve been where the OP is perhaps I have more empathy and sympathy and can read past the frustration.
Yes, I’ve cut back on expenses, pounded the pavement, submitted resumes, considered moving, appealed to local government and agencies for assistance and so forth. It’s still not enough. What I need is fulltime employment at a living wage (which minimum wage is not) and I don’t give a damn whether it’s skilled or unskilled. Fact is, at least in my area, a lot of the unskilled jobs are going to people who HAVE experience in skilled work, or college degrees, or decades of work experience leaving the young, the inexperienced, and the less educated out in the cold (in some cases, literally). I put in a garden last summer to grow some of my own food. I’ve been selling off my possessions for the last two months. It’s still not enough. If I don’t get something in the next few months I will be homeless, as will my disabled husband.
Monday of this week there was a three block line at the unemployment office as of 8 am in the morning. There are NO, repeat NO want ads in the local papers, not even for crap jobs. It’s been like that for weeks. The expectation is that it will only get worse.
So, when someone shows up with a tale of woe and some of their posts are a little pissy I cut them some slack because in at least some places in the US it is looking pretty hopeless right now. When you’re poor and struggling there really is a lot to be frustrated and angry about, and I am willing to give the poor and struggling some space to let it out. Being able to unload is part of what enables a person to get out of bed on Monday morning and hit the streets again knowing they will hear the word “no” over and over again for the next eight hours, the next week, the next month, until they finally get that yes. The last thing someone struggling needs is a verbal slap in the face because they aren’t all happy and chipper 100% of the time.
I’m confused - we’re in the same area - Northwest Indiana, and I just went to both our local papers - The Times and the Post-Tribune. They have plenty of jobs, both unskilled and skilled.