# if you can afford to "stop looking" for a job, get the &#@$ out of the job market!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 19, 2004, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-afford-to-stop-looking-for-a-job-get-the-out-of-the-job-market/260520 "2004-08-19T06:56:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-afford-to-stop-looking-for-a-job-get-the-out-of-the-job-market/260520/1 "2004-08-19T06:56:33Z")
After searching for a job for month after month, nothing makes me piss blood and burp fire like hearing the anecdote of a certain percentage of people each month who have either been unable to find jobs or have given up searching. If you have the luxury of being able to just give up and not **need** a job, get the FUCK out of the job market, because there’s people like me going into debt by the minute because I can’t find a job!!! ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-afford-to-stop-looking-for-a-job-get-the-out-of-the-job-market/260520/2 "2004-08-19T07:44:48Z")
What the fuck are you talking about? If someone’s given up looking for a job, they _are_ out of the job market, no? How does someone’s giving up on finding a job have any bearing on _your_ ability of finding one? I realize being unable to find work is frustrating–I’ve been there–but get a grip already. ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-afford-to-stop-looking-for-a-job-get-the-out-of-the-job-market/260520/3 "2004-08-19T07:55:44Z")
I presume it’s because all of those months/weeks when they _were_ looking for a job, they were taking up time with potential employers that could have been given to the OP. HR can only look at a finite number of resumes, you know. In a job market that is looking more and more like a lottery, the fewer people “playing”, the better for those who can’t afford not to play. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-afford-to-stop-looking-for-a-job-get-the-out-of-the-job-market/260520/4 "2004-08-19T09:59:16Z")
You do realize that “given up searching”, in many cases, means they’re some way along a career path that goes “declare bankruptcy after selling off all worldly possessions, collapse into depression, make repeated unsuccessful suicide attempts, withdraw into long-term psychiatric care, get kicked out of long-term psychiatric care, start living on streets, panhandle for small change, hope forlornly for stroke of luck such as being kidnapped and sold for unethical medical experimentation”, don’t you? Seriously. When someone gives up looking for a job, it’s likely to be because they just can’t cope with the continual rejections, the increasing poverty, and the sense of worthlessness and desperation that this brings. Everyone’s got a breaking point; long-term unemployment is a wonderful way to find out where it is. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-afford-to-stop-looking-for-a-job-get-the-out-of-the-job-market/260520/5 "2004-08-19T10:03:34Z")
I’ve always wondered what a profile of people who have dropped out of the labor market would look like. Are they going back to school? Moving into their parents house? Becoming homeless? a combination of all the above. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-afford-to-stop-looking-for-a-job-get-the-out-of-the-job-market/260520/6 "2004-08-19T10:20:36Z")
What **Steve Wright** said. People ‘give up’ when they realize that their previous efforts have and will continue to be fruitless. It’s a symptom of the despair they feel, not something to be railing against in such a pissy post. ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-afford-to-stop-looking-for-a-job-get-the-out-of-the-job-market/260520/7 "2004-08-19T10:23:20Z")
I stopped looking. I became a “house husband” for a short time. We just cut back on things and watched the budget. It wasn’t an easy choice. I had just became frustrated by sending out 30 resumes in a week and not hearing a single thing back. My thinking, I’ll stop looking now, do the house husband thing for a short time and start looking again when the market picks up. We did save money on postage, nice resume paper and printer ink in the process. ---
**Author:** ![Essured](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Essured](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Essured)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-afford-to-stop-looking-for-a-job-get-the-out-of-the-job-market/260520/8 "2004-08-19T11:01:39Z")
> [@Freejooky](#): > > If you have the luxury of being able to just give up and not **need** a job, get the FUCK out of the job market, because there’s people like me going into debt by the minute because I can’t find a job!!! So, just because you have no job and are running up debt, everyone else in the world who isn’t as desperate as you, has to forget looking for a job? Forget trying to change jobs (since that would also put them in competition with you)? Put their plans, dreams, etc on hold and sit on their arses just so **Freejooky** has a better chance at getting a job? Not fucking likely. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-afford-to-stop-looking-for-a-job-get-the-out-of-the-job-market/260520/9 "2004-08-19T11:13:42Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > I’ve always wondered what a profile of people who have dropped out of the labor market would look like. Are they going back to school? Moving into their parents house? Becoming homeless? a combination of all the above. I was on my way to moving in with my Mom. A few years away, but I was heading in that direction. Got a job now though, hopefully it works out. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-afford-to-stop-looking-for-a-job-get-the-out-of-the-job-market/260520/10 "2004-08-19T11:26:43Z")
I don’t know for certain, but I also suspect that one of the ‘loss’ factors on those people who are no longer looking for jobs in those statistics are people who have decided to stop looking for seperate work, and now are self-employed through any number of avenues. It may not pay as well as a traditional job would, but it beats the Hell out of continued rejection, and having no income. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-afford-to-stop-looking-for-a-job-get-the-out-of-the-job-market/260520/11 "2004-08-19T12:36:13Z")
So who died and made you supreme judge of who needs a job? When did we become a Marxist state? There are lots of reasons to work - money being one of them. And I know few people who don’t mind having more money. ---
**Author:** ![Greathouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greathouse/32/2992_2.png) [@Greathouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greathouse)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-afford-to-stop-looking-for-a-job-get-the-out-of-the-job-market/260520/12 "2004-08-19T12:44:30Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > And I know few people who don’t mind having more money. I know several people who don’t mind having more money. 😕 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-afford-to-stop-looking-for-a-job-get-the-out-of-the-job-market/260520/13 "2004-08-19T13:28:11Z")
> [@Freejooky](#): > > After searching for a job for month after month, nothing makes me piss blood and burp fire like hearing the anecdote of a certain percentage of people each month who have either been unable to find jobs or have given up searching. > > If you have the luxury of being able to just give up and not **need** a job, get the FUCK out of the job market, because there’s people like me going into debt by the minute because I can’t find a job!!! You do realize that the people you are telling to get the fuck out of the job market, have, in fact, already gotten the fuck out of the job market. What is it you’re complaining about? ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-afford-to-stop-looking-for-a-job-get-the-out-of-the-job-market/260520/14 "2004-08-19T13:35:47Z")
Well, I don’t NEED a job. Our bills are current (minor miracle there) and we have food on the table. When school’s underway, though, I’m going to find a job. A little part-timer so I have a little bit of spending cash - maybe make it easier for me to get to NYC in October. If you want any of the little part-time retail jobs I’m going to be looking at, YOU’D BETTER HURRY! I’M ALMOST OUT THERE! AND I DON’T NEED IT AS MUCH AS YOU! Get ready…set…GO!! ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-afford-to-stop-looking-for-a-job-get-the-out-of-the-job-market/260520/15 "2004-08-19T15:30:30Z")
> [@Greathouse](#): > > I know several people who don’t mind having more money. 😕 > > 😃 Everybody needs money. That’s why they call it money! ---
**Author:** ![Greathouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greathouse/32/2992_2.png) [@Greathouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greathouse)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-afford-to-stop-looking-for-a-job-get-the-out-of-the-job-market/260520/16 "2004-08-19T15:38:53Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Everybody needs money. That’s why they call it money! I was just having a bit of fun with **Dangerosa** over an obviously unintentional mistake. Unless it was intended to be read as stated. Which I would take to mean most of the people **Dangerosa** knows aren’t interested in having more money. Anyway, sorry for the hijack. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-afford-to-stop-looking-for-a-job-get-the-out-of-the-job-market/260520/17 "2004-08-19T15:44:43Z")
I can’t parse a double negative worth shit. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-afford-to-stop-looking-for-a-job-get-the-out-of-the-job-market/260520/18 "2004-08-19T15:46:52Z")
Congrats **Revtim** on the new job. I hope no one thinks I was being snarky, sometimes it’s hard to get a handle on what a statistic thrown around actually means. Nothing like an economy like this to make you hold on to a job you hate, eh? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2004, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-afford-to-stop-looking-for-a-job-get-the-out-of-the-job-market/260520/19 "2004-08-22T02:12:11Z")
Thanks **madmonk28**! ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2004, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-afford-to-stop-looking-for-a-job-get-the-out-of-the-job-market/260520/20 "2004-08-22T21:24:14Z")
I have a job. I do not need a job. Who are you to say who should be looking for jobs. If I want a job, I will get one. If I don’t, then I won’t. It’s MY choice. I have actually chosen to stop working in a few weeks. Next summer, I will probably start again. I like having the extra money. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-can-afford-to-stop-looking-for-a-job-get-the-out-of-the-job-market/260520.md?page=2)