I have read quite a few articles since joblessness started to skyrocket which assert that many will never be able to find work again in their chosen fields, especially those workers over 40. When should someone give up? Is it any different if they are a part of a dying industry, like newspapers seem to be, or are the same indicators good for everyone? Does it vary with age or career level?
I’d definitely start looking outside of my field before unemployment benefits run out.
In this environment those of us out of work should just focus on looking for work that
[LIST=A]
[li]We qualify for.[/li][li]Pays enough so we can afford to pay the bills.[/li][/LIST]
Then I guess a related question would be, how far afield should one go, and at what point? E.g. if you’ve been a white collar worker your entire life (especially at, say, 30+ years of age), when should you start applying to be a garbage man or truck driver?
What makes you think that a white collar worker would be qualified to be a garbage man or truck driver without any training or prior experience in those jobs?
96 weeks? That is about 2 years.
Of course, Congress and obama also might extend unemployment benefits far beyond the current 96 weeks.
…especially a white collar person over 40 years old.
I also do not see to many older females picking up my garbage cans.
I am in my mid-40’s. About 2 months after I was laid off in 2007 I started looking outside my “chosen field” (which, frankly, I never really liked at all, it was strictly a means to an end for me, although for 20+ years a highly profitable means to an end). That was what I did - your (and others’) mileage may vary.
I concur.
Really, there’s no reason you can’t pursue leads in multiple areas simultaneously
Because many people who have only white collar experience erroneously assume that blue collar positions don’t require training, experience, or skill. Some do, some don’t.
I’ve never looked into garbage man, but for truck driver you have to be able to pass a physical (eliminating throse with poor health, eyesight problems, etc) and also have a commercial driver’s license, which does take a bit of study and a test. I’m not saying Leaper would fall into the group, but I’ve met a disturbing number of office workers who aren’t aware of even those two basic facts about truck driving.
Sorry, I should have explained that there are some pieces of advice that say the unemployed should be searching for (very literally) any job, at least at a certain point. I was trying to see if that was actually smart or not.
Well, even if **Leaper **gave bad examples I still understand the spirit of his question.
My answer is to start looking for blue-collar type jobs, or jobs that you normally otherwise wouldn’t consider, if you put in a good effort to find white-collar work, or work in your own specialty, and nothing turns up. I’d say probably up-to the halfway point of your unemployment benefits.
That’s kind of what I’m doing, well, except for jobs where I wouldn’t make enough to pay the bills. I was a production worker who, after the plant shut down, got a degree in a field that doesn’t seem to be hiring entry level positions. I also can’t seem to get into clerical or office work*, which is my second choice, so I’ve put in for positions in grocery stores and call centers for example. But I’m not going to apply to a fast-food place for example.
Something else to consider is that applying for what most people consider low level jobs won’t get you anywhere if the employer considers you over-qualified or feels that you’ll leave the moment your preferred career field starts getting openings. So if you were a middle manager at a mid or large sized company, McDonald’s isn’t going to hire you as a burger-flipper.
*I have an interview tomorrow for a part-time office position. Wish me luck.
Given what you said, what’s the difference between a grocery store job and a fast food job, really?
Okay.
Good Luck!
I am not looking for personal advice, I am trying to suss out opinion about what people are thinking about the long term unemployed. I see these articles which so bloodlessly state that many workers over 40 who have lost their jobs are likely to be permanently unemployed, and then read comments that blame the unemployed for not looking hard enough or being too choosy, and wonder really, when are they supposed to draw the line? If you are out of work 6 months? 9? a full year?
And at that point, what do you do? There used to be lots of signs advertising “Help Wanted”, but not so much now. Not too many years ago they were scrambling to find teachers and even trying to lure people away from other professions to teach, but now teachers are being laid off. I see that some have this idea that white collar workers can easily pick up blue collar jobs, but to me that seems absurd. With a glut of labor, it seems like moving to a different area would be more difficult than ever.
No, it’s not very smart advice. If you aren’t focusing your job search on jobs that match your skills and experience to work people need doing, you are wasting your time.
Why would you think it would be easier to find a job in a new career field than in a field you have 20+ years of experience?
I always thought that extended unemployment should come with at least a few string attached. There is a good argument for keeping a teacher on the payrolls rather than collecting half a paycheck in unemployment for two years. Firing a teacher only saves you half her paycheck. Firing a private sector employee saves you the entire paycheck.
No, it’s a bad idea; you are wasting time and energy applying for jobs for which you will not be considered. In a labor surplus, employers are quite simply not going to consider hiring someone with no experience when there are plenty of people with experience out there looking for work, and even less likely to hire someone who has mismatched experience or is overqualified as such a candidate will “just leave as soon as something better comes along”. Remember that most positions today have dozens, if not hundreds, of applicants; employers rarely have to settle for a “fair match” to the position requirements.
If you want to change fields, and you are on unemployment, absolutely talk to the unemployment people about retraining. There is a lot of money available for entry-level training for people on unemployment benefits, and having that training will make finding a position that much easier since you will not be entirely unqualified.
There is quite a bit difference to me. I think the smell of fast food would make me nauseated before very long. Also I see quite a bit less turnover on grocery store personnel than I do in fast food places. In the grocery store I patronize the cashiers, baggers, etc. seem generally alert and helpful and seem reasonably intelligent, but that is not my impression of the people I encounter in fast food establishments. This leads me to believe that being a fast food worker is unpleasant, mind numbing, and probably physically wearing in ways that working in a grocery store is not.
When I was in my teens I worked at a Taco Bell. I liked the work. It was the first “real” job I had.
Oh, really? When I was on unemployment and asked about retraining I was told those programs weren’t open to me because I had a college degree. If that is universal it’s going to hurt a lot of white collar types.
There was also some retraining for those over 55, but in that case I was a decade too young. Obviously, I have to find a means to support myself somehow during the intervening decade until I"m old enough to be retrained!
The “have to pay rent and buy food” circumstance is why people, at some point, start looking outside their “career area”. This is difficult even in the best of times, but right now there really are a lot of people who just can not find paying work no matter how hard they try.