Geez, sorry to see so many new members – I wish I had something other than sympathy to offer.
Recently celebrated the first anniversary of my layoff. Due to extensions of unemployment benefits, I’m good for another 11 weeks, but who knows what the fuck will happen after that.
My one regular freelance gig is a monthly thing on higher education. May’s topic: “Career placement: tips on lining up the first job.” The irony, it burns.
(Will post some of the tips later, once I’m done working on the motherfucker, just in case some of it is news to any of you.)
Well, I haven’t been following this thread at all but I guess I better start. I just got laid off today after 10 1/2 years at my job. It wasn’t unexpected as we had been slow for quite some time now. Luckily my wife and I had been planning for this to happen, so we have our bills under control and some money set aside. Still it’s going to be weird not having to work for a while.
So the same bitch that I have had in the past was/is just renewed…
I found a job online that is basically a glorified internship, applied for it, then called the company as a followup. I never heard a word. I probably called twice a week, every week for a good 3 weeks or so. I go on Monster today, click the link, and only then does the site tell me the job was taken away. God knows how long this job was up there, much less how long I was calling them while the job was gone…but did I get the courtesy of an E-mail? No. Nothing.
How does a company not even have the fucking courtesy to mail someone and tell them the job they want is gone. It was even a crappy job, but still! E-mail: Dear applicant…While we appreciate your continued followup on the position we regret to inform you it has been fillied. You no longer need to contact us about it. Thanks and good luck…Holy shit that took me all of 45 seconds, and most of that was me typo-ing.
Why in the hell doesn’t a company do anything to acknowledge someone who is so clearly working hard to get something done in this process? How hard is it to send a 45 second long E-mail saying “Yes we hear you, go away and let us work”; and if that’s not done how hard is it to say “We have our applicants, thank you”. I don’t want excuses or formalities, I just want to know that I am heard. What the hell else am I supposed to do? Send my resume off and hope for the best? No. I am going to do what I was told. I am going to send my resume off and follow up on this thing like a motherfucker because that’s how jobs are awarded, that’s how interviews are given.
Why am I being punished for doing everything right?
In fear of sounding like a 4 year old…It’s just not fair. There is nothing more that I can do aside from send and call. It’s not fair that I don’t hear anything, It’s not fair that a crappy entry-level, go-for, bitch job, that I am actually qualified for and decently want is taken from me without so much a chance to plead my case about it. It’s not fair that of all the jobs I see of things that I am not qualified for, or just plain don’t want (door-to-door salesman my ass) that there is one small job that I can see myself doing…and I do everything in my power to get the thing done, and to make it mine…and I hear nothing about it from anybody.
Could I gripe just a little about working multiple part time jobs and getting nowhere fast?
Fortunately they’re all on the same campus. I teach a couple of classes, the occasional workshop, and read as many assessment test essays as they will let me do. I also get paid to attend some faculty meetings as a rep. All of this is hourly. And I finished getting my degrees by 1991. I also do some online work and sell stuff on eBay, sometimes brokering for others.
The last time I got a FT interview was in 2001. Some colleagues and I have all but given up on applying (not that there is anything to apply for these days), because they seem partial to folks who are younger than we are and fresh out of grad school. Apparently, years of experience, good evaluations, and lots of publishing don’t count for squat.
If I weren’t living with a family member, I’d have to move in with a friend.
I cannot retire. Ever.
Is it too late for me to go into health occupations?
Sir and others, your situations truly suck (which you know already) and I do sympathize greatly. I sincerely wish you all the best and I hope someone hires you ASAP.
God, this is all so depressing. What on earth is going to happen to us, people?
My shrink suggested I apply for SSI disability benefits while at the same time saying that most people are denied the first time and that it can take up to a year. My parents are really trying but are losing it with me after only a few months of financial help. I haven’t been able to even think about filing for bankruptcy due to lack of funds and I get upwards of (I’ve counted them) 2 calls per hour regarding my debt. I still haven’t had but the one interview in 6 months and I didn’t get that shit job. And I, too, have noticed that the ads for jobs are getting fewer and fewer and on those that are out there the pay is getting lower and lower. I went to DES on Monday for any benefits that I can get and I’ve got to tell you that was a very degrading experience but I have nothing left to do.
I never in a million years thought I would find myself in this position. The absolute helplessness is playing havoc with my mental health, too.
So many of us are in the same boat, it’s very, very scary.
As mentioned above, I’ve just completed an assignment on job-hunting. I posted some tips over here – feel free to comment, ask questions, or add your own.
Good for you, fachverwirrt!! I have great admiration for teachers!
Not too long ago I got in touch with a guy that I went to high school with on a whim (let’s call him Horatio). I just had fond memories of him and wondered if he was still in the area. Well, it turns out that he is very involved in the local gay and lesbian community, was thrilled to hear from me and has contacts up the ass. I emailed him my resume and he said I would be “perfect” for an office administrator’s gig at the local gay and lesbian chamber of commerce, of which he is a board member. He, in turn, emailed my resume to the hiring exec (let’s call him Hamlet.)
In the couple of telephone conversations I’ve had with Horatio I have learned that he is a daily toker. I’m a huge pothead myself and it has been ages since I’ve smoked. (This is relevant shortly.)
So I sent off my resume to Hamlet with a nice cover letter and Horatio (who I have not had any contact with since high school over 25 years ago) and are having lunch tomorrow. He had dinner with the Hamlet on Sunday and I was discussed!!! Horatio indicated that there were only 7 applicants since they did not advertise for this position…YAY!!! He also said that he will see to it that I not only get an interview but that I’m at the top of the list!
Horatio is not only a daily toker, but he just so happens to co-own a mortgage business. Lunch tomorrow will be a write off for him, he’s taking me somewhere very nice, he’s sharing with me (gratis) some green stuff and he thinks he can also help me with my mortgage.
Sometimes the stars are in alignment. Horatio is my new hero…even if I don’t get the job he has already done so much to lift my spirits and I feel hope. If this job doesn’t come through (which is just HAS TO, oh pleeeeeeeze) then I’m hoping he can circulate my resume throughout the GLBT community and give me some contacts, at least.
And just so you know just how above and beyond Horatio has gone for me, I’m straight.
Congrats, facher – I remember when you posted as you were trying to sort out your options. I’m glad you’re putting together a way to stay in the biz and support yourself as well.
And Peace – good work on networking, which, all the pros agree, is the key to finding a job. (See the job-hunting tips thread I started a couple of days ago.)
