Guys like me are a dime a dozen

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

My last three jobs have lasted 5, 7 and 5 years. Good work history, but nothing to distinuish myself. I’m unemployed since Sept and feel like I’m competing with the entire unemployed world for the few jobs out there. I’m in my low 40’s but don’t have many specific, translatable, marketable skills. I’m applying for jobs along with everybody else and waiting for the phone to ring.

Because of my work history, I’ve successfully applied for jobs twice in the past 13 years. There is so much competition for these jobs that I have had one face to face interview since Sept. With my work history and age I don’t think I can get entry level work. I’m not skilled enough to be anything more than Cust service or Accounting Asst. Do people physically knock on doors anymore??

I’m at a loss. I’m not distinguished professionally in the least. I can’t believe my worklife is over but it feels that way. My wife makes just enough for the both if us so I could afford to work entry level if someone gave me the chance. I feel id really have to dumb down my resume to even get a shot. I just don’t see a future. Going in to see Star Trek now just to get out of house. I’m at a loss. I cant imagine what my wife thinks of me.

2

It sux out there right now.

The main thing is don’t let if mess with your self esteem because there are plenty of people out of work through no fault of their own.

One of my clients has been laid off for over a year and he has called me several times because he thinks he is going back to work and will need me to let his dogs out. Still no job.
On a good note another got laid off and was out of work for almost a year and then got hired back by the same company in a different position and $10,000 a year more.

If your wife is realistic then she doesn’t think any less of you or that there is something wrong with you.
Reality is - right now lots of people are out of work through no fault of their own and it sucks but it is what it is.
So clean the house, do the laundry, cook the meals. Make her life as easy as possible.
The sad thing is, most companies want to hire someone who is already working, which is not fair to all the people out of work. A friend of a friend was accepting resumes for a new company and he was told to trash any resumes of people who weren’t currently working. When you are getting thousands of resumes a day you will use whatever criteria you can to weed people out.

If you can, use this time to go back to school and learn some new skills, or look for something the community needs and start your own business to fill that need.

3

There are temp agencies such as AccounTemps for people with experience in accounting. You might see if there are some locally. It’s not great money, but it’s something and you might get your foot in the door for something better.

4

Man, you are in a REAL tough boat, with a lot of company. No secret answers - only thing to do is keep at it. Try to keep your attitude as positive as possible, and try to meet/expose yourself to as many folk as possible.

As hard as it is, try not to let your job search dominate every aspect of your life - because it is incredibly draining and will take over if you do not work REALLY hard to prevent it. Consider entry levels or temps - especialy in organizations/industries you feel interested in or that you feel may have possibilities for advancement.

I’ve wondered if I became unemployed if I would consider self-employment - landscaping, home repairs, I don’t know. Probably unrealistic, but I can imagine having a day with a couple of lawns to mow looking great after several days of sending out resumes with no responses.

Best of luck.

5

I just got done with 11 weeks with Accountemps, but alas no permanent work to be had. At least I got out there for a short time. Got some other computer experience. Nothing else so far. I was really hoping to work part time at the baseball park, but again nada. I just don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. Star Trek was ok. Only 5 bucks.

6

Door-to-door, face-to-face is good because you can’t sell yourself without interacting with an interviewer. My son found a job opportunity because he walked to school one day and saw a small Help Wanted sign in the window of a vet’s office, something he never would have noticed driving by in the car. Friend-of-a-friend networking is very good. Volunteer for something because it gives you a purpose, looks good in an otherwise gap in your resume and you’ll meet new people which could lead to a job.

Be willing to do things other people don’t want to do. Moving companies are constantly hiring “packers,” the people who wrap your stuff up in paper and stack it into boxes. Meat-packing companies always need somebody to do the dirty jobs that require wearing rubber boots. (Ozzie Osbourn used to slaughter pigs.) Many businesses still need delivery people…furniture stores, drug companies, florists.

Don’t give up—get creative. And remember, it’s only rock & roll. (As in, some things in life are too important to take seriously.)

7

I actually did that for a couple of years while looking for more steady/permanent work. I hitched my wagon to a general contractor/landlord friend I knew to start and get experience and contacts. Wasn’t never much money, not enough to live on, really, but it kept me in a work routine and I could truthfully say I was, in fact, working

The only time I successfully applied for something on-line was for government work (the census). Apparently, my on-line presence isn’t at all impressive. I have always been best at selling myself in person and these days are no exception - the last two permanent, full-time jobs I’ve had I applied in person by yes, knocking on doors.

When I realized that there were 5,000 other people with my exact job skills out there applying for a very limited pool of jobs I sought elsewhere. I wound up learning to be a cobbler, a profession where age does not seem to work against a person (I’ve had shop co-workers in their mid-80’s still working full time in this gig). Demand is limited, but so it competition. I’m not getting rich doing this, either. In fact, I make about 1/4 of what I used to but it’s full time and I can live on it, albeit very frugally.

That said, it was about 3-4 years of hit-or-miss, part-time, and temp jobs before I resumed full time employment, as someone in their mid-to-late 40’s.

It’s rough out there.

I found keeping a schedule to be useful - at 9 am I’d “start work”, whether I was officially employed or not. I’d have a full day scheduled, be it chores, temp work, looking for work, or whatever. The point is, I kept busy 9 to 5, keep to a typical work schedule, and gave myself evening and weekends off. It kept me from stressing out and in the habit of a work schedule so when I did go back to work the transition was minimal.

Good luck.

8

I’m still on unemployment and will be, with extensions, to at least year end. I make more cash this way than low paying PT work, so I just don’t want to take anything. I just see absolutely no progress. Definition of insane is to keep doing same thing and expect different result. That’s what I feel right now. Looking for work by submitting a resume is getting me nowhere but somehow I need to keep doing it everyday, even though I’m pretty sure of the outcome.

It seems like its tougher for me due to depression, self esteem issues and a remarkable lack of social skills. I’ve actually been compared to “Sheldon” at times. This is really hard and I have no hope other than dumb Fuck luck of getting out of it.

I’m being very supportive of my wife and trying to make her life as easy as possible. House and yard work doesn’t really take that much time. Sure as hell not full time. I keep it together for her, but its tough not to have an attitude. I actually was celebrating my job loss in Sept, shitty place to work. I misunderestimated how woefully unprepared for the real working world I really am.

9

Sounds reminiscent of what my wife experienced, trying to rejoin the legal profession after staying home with the kids. During that time she had continualy worked part-time teaching business law at a community college. But a year-plus of doing something jobsearch-related every day, with a whopping 2 interviews and no offers to show, she decided to take a completely different tack. She is now finishing her 1st year of a 3-year program in violin-making.

One thing the OP has in his favor is that he is part of a team with a supportive spouse with an income. You really need to sit down together and be creative, trying to figure out what will make the two of you most happy now and in the future.

But you are right - just sending off resumes is soul-sucking and - IMO&E - has limited likelihood of success. Everyone else is doing exactly that same thing. I’d suggest your best chances would be from doing something different.

Best of luck. Keep the attitude up and keep showing your wife how much you appreciate her. Hell, maybe if you make things nice enough for her she’ll decide she prefers you as her “kept man”! (Just trying to inject a little humor.)

10

Is there anything you actually want to do? As in, if you could have any reasonable job you wanted, what would it be?

Now’s the time when you can make that change. It sounds crazy, I’m sure, but it’s not like you have to figure out how to learn/do that job while keeping your day job. You’re freed of that day job (in a sense), and now you can do something different. You may have to start out low, but you do have the luxury of being able to rely on your wife to keep the lights on in the meantime until you can contribute your share.

In a lot of ways, you’re in an enviable position; it sounds like you don’t have kids, and nor do you absolutely have to have a job, any job, in order to make ends meet. With that in mind, you’re well positioned for a major career change, or in your case, to choose something to do that you want to do.

11

Maybe you can get some help ,maybe on the SDMB, to spruce up your resume?
(I’m not really at home in the american job market, so I’m disqualified. )

Recently I went though mine with a friend and the results were better than I could ever have hoped for. (finally found a new job)

Reading your OP ( “nothing to distinguish myself”, “don’t have many specific, translatable, marketable skills” ) I get the feeling your selling yourself short.
I experienced that its hard for me to really sell my work experience, It helps if someone else highlights the more marketable skill you doubtlessly have after 13 years of experience in any field and adapts it to the job your applying for.

12

I would encourage you to look into getting certified as a lab technician or something similar in the medical profession. That type of training doesn’t take forever to complete, and if I remember correctly from my time on unemployment eons ago, as long as you’re in a training program for a specific skill you can continue to collect unemployment. You may also be able to take out a relatively small amount of student loans to do it through your local community college.

This is an old link (I can’t find the one I was looking for) but it shows that there is a real need and training funding for healthcare related jobs.

http://www.healthcare.gov/news/factsheets/2010/06/creating-jobs-and-increasing-primary-care-providers.html

This link from the Bureau of Laborious lists healthcare related careers, the educational level needed and average salary : http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/mobile/home.htm

13

Another fairly in-demand job that doesn’t take a ton of education is court reporting - you know, the people who record the testimony at a trial? Being incredibly detail oriented and fairly unemotional is actually a huge plus, as one generally hears lots of terrible shit in courtrooms. I know my local court system has not been hiring in the past year, except for court reporters. In my area it’s a 2-year practical training program.

The same license and training lets you work as a simultaneous captioner, which is also a growing area.

I think you should also consider “competitive” class of civil service, where you take an exam and receive a priority based on your score, not based on an interview or soft skills. If you don’t live near a major metro with government offices, this may be difficult, but federal jobs can be found in the most unlikely places. Usajobs.gov.

14

Well, if she’s anything like me (I’m the employed one in our house at the current time) then she loves you very much, understands how hard this is for you, and appreciates l like hell everything you do around the house that she doesn’t have to. Seriously - us wives of guys who are currently unemployed know it hurts - and knows how hard it is. And we support you 100% and will through whatever happens. Don’t be so hard on yourself - job searching is hard enough. Remember - she LOVES YOU!! She’s your PARTNER! :slight_smile: