Dr. Feel Good
Banned
Not sure on Sweden but used to live in Australia and minimum wage is indeed around the fifteen mark (which the Australian dollar is relatively equal to the US dollar). Problem is everything out there is so incredibly expensive.
anyone else unemployed?
- Thread starter MPW
- Start date
- Status
Not sure on Sweden but used to live in Australia and minimum wage is indeed around the fifteen mark (which the Australian dollar is relatively equal to the US dollar). Problem is everything out there is so incredibly expensive.
It's totally relative, you can make $30,000 a year here in Pittsburgh and live like king compared to somebody making $50,000 a year in NYC.
Freeza Under The Shower
Member
never saw the aussies among us in Steam threads, did ya? Tax rate is higher, labor rate is the same (I guess).
betweenthewheels
Member
I'm 28 and have little experience, passion, idea what I wanna do with my life....this is very depressing. Would you guys recommend getting any job in the interim to raise confidence/get money or wait it out for a "career" job??
As a side note. Anybody here have any luck dating whilst being unemployed? I wanna get in the game after all these years but I feel the lack of job thing is a huge thing going against me.
*sigh* thanks guys
As a side note. Anybody here have any luck dating whilst being unemployed? I wanna get in the game after all these years but I feel the lack of job thing is a huge thing going against me.
*sigh* thanks guys
TheyTookOurJobs
Member
Well, that job I interviewed for on the 5th returned my call and said they found someone more qualified to load trucks in below zero weather. It's just as well, it would have been 60 hours a week and 3rd shift.
I've been working with a voc rehab conselor who said Target near my house is doing mass hiring on Sat. maybe I'd have a chance there. I interviewed there like 8 months ago but didn't get the job. That was an interview I thought went well too.
Sort of. I met a girl on okcupid i correspond with regularly. I've met her once and we talk on the phone often.
I've been working with a voc rehab conselor who said Target near my house is doing mass hiring on Sat. maybe I'd have a chance there. I interviewed there like 8 months ago but didn't get the job. That was an interview I thought went well too.
Sort of. I met a girl on okcupid i correspond with regularly. I've met her once and we talk on the phone often.
April 5, I had a great interview at an appliance repair place. It'd be a basic customer service job setting up appointments over the phone, data entry, etc. Decent pay and bonus schemes considering the work. And I need experience working with the public if the start up I'm involved with is going to go anywhere.
I hit it off very, very well with the owner, we spoke for about an hour. There were two other candidates being interviewed by the managers and both came in after me yet left before I did. So he was interested in me enough to talk for a while.
He tells me there's a part time position open now and a full time position that's opening very soon and asked me which I preferred. I respond that while I'd prefer the full time slot, the company is expanding so quickly that the part time slot could very well become full time and I'd be interested in it as well. Tells me they'll get back to me in 2 to 3 days.
The next day I send an email thanking them for the interview and looking forward to talking again. I receive a reply on 4/10 from a manager. The part time position has been filled but they'd love to bring me in for a second interview and that they'd call me in "two or three weeks." Nothing since. I sent an email over the weekend that has gone unanswered. So that's great.
I feel so fucking worthless. Anyone an exterminator? Is that something I could learn how to do? Get a truck, drive it around. Set your own hours.
I hit it off very, very well with the owner, we spoke for about an hour. There were two other candidates being interviewed by the managers and both came in after me yet left before I did. So he was interested in me enough to talk for a while.
He tells me there's a part time position open now and a full time position that's opening very soon and asked me which I preferred. I respond that while I'd prefer the full time slot, the company is expanding so quickly that the part time slot could very well become full time and I'd be interested in it as well. Tells me they'll get back to me in 2 to 3 days.
The next day I send an email thanking them for the interview and looking forward to talking again. I receive a reply on 4/10 from a manager. The part time position has been filled but they'd love to bring me in for a second interview and that they'd call me in "two or three weeks." Nothing since. I sent an email over the weekend that has gone unanswered. So that's great.
I feel so fucking worthless. Anyone an exterminator? Is that something I could learn how to do? Get a truck, drive it around. Set your own hours.
Sounds like motivation is your problem - you need to fix that before you address the career/relationship problems you're having.
Yeah, after the online job application thread I'm concerned that unnecessary contact will make me look like a "psycho."
Exactly. It seems from my experience that 90% of the time places will never get back to you as to how things are proceeding. It is insanely frustrating. I had a interview a few months back at a place, I was in the final 3 and the interviewer was very nice and told me he would get back to me regardless of what happened with the job. I waited about a week to e-mail my interviewer to thank him and to ask what was happening with the position. No response. The next week I e-mailed again, with no response. And then once again later that week I called and left a message. Eventually the companies' online portal listed the position as closed and I knew for sure I didn't get it. But I wonder if I was a bit too aggressive in that case or not.
Frank "Trashman" Reynolds
Banned
I'm unemployed. This is the hardest I've ever had finding a job. I had an interview last week that went really well, but no dice. Then they call me back for a second interview. Went well again, so I figured it was good to go. This week I received the same exact rejection email from them again lol :S hopefully I find some soon!
Frank "Trashman" Reynolds
Banned
I usually wait about 5 business days and then will send a followup email. Just let them know you're still interested in the position and wanted to check in. Just don't send a billion emails and you'll be fine.
Please tell me, where in Pittsburgh can you live like a king on that much? This is fascinating.
Hey everyone, I need advice.
I might just have a job, but it's the same type of role as my last job and I hated it, primarily because:
Do I go for it for the money, or do I hold out for work I enjoy? The problem is, i'm not sure what career i'm after; it should have
The problem is, I have a business degree. What careers/jobs would suit me that I could do? I'm looking for ledger / low level accounting and finance roles. What else is there? Something I can tolerate whilst I train to do something else, or something where I could start right away and train as I go would be excellent.
I might just have a job, but it's the same type of role as my last job and I hated it, primarily because:
- The volume of work is very high, and I struggle to keep up
- It requires a lot of talking on the phones
- It requires a very outgoing, extroverted and empathetic personality
Do I go for it for the money, or do I hold out for work I enjoy? The problem is, i'm not sure what career i'm after; it should have
- A problem-solving element to the role
- Requires analytical skills
- Where I am primarily working on tasks rather than talking with others
- Less high-volume, more detail-oriented,
The problem is, I have a business degree. What careers/jobs would suit me that I could do? I'm looking for ledger / low level accounting and finance roles. What else is there? Something I can tolerate whilst I train to do something else, or something where I could start right away and train as I go would be excellent.
Zoe
Member
Good way to get a bad reputation if you jump ship too fast though.
TheyTookOurJobs
Member
Well got an interview lined up next week at t mobile. Anybody done work like that? How did you like it.
I got a job 3 months ago. It is an internship with low wage, but they pay us an MBA.
I was quite optimistic first, but after 4 months I'm getting more depressed.
The job itself sucks (its excel + powerpoint + phone calls) for an engineer (it's mostly secretarial work). My boss-mentor is not at the office most of the time, so I have to guess constantly what he needs/wants because we don't speak more than an hour a week.
The MBA is getting tough, and I find myself working 38 hours a week + 12 hours of class + 4-8 hours studying or whatever.
And my hope of getting a contract at the end of the year does not seem so realistic now... out of 30 interns last year, only 5 were contracted after 6 months unemployed.
I'm beginning to think on dumping my engineering professional career and turn into a programmer...
Anyway, I should not be complaining in a place like this, but I wanted to say something: Now that you are unemployed, whilst you are looking for a job, try also to fullfill your dreams. There is probably something you wanted to do but you think you can't, or that it maybe silly, or whatever... you have nothing to lose now.
I might try to develop android games if next year I get unemployed again... it won't probably be enought to live with, but at least I won't feel so miserable.
I was quite optimistic first, but after 4 months I'm getting more depressed.
The job itself sucks (its excel + powerpoint + phone calls) for an engineer (it's mostly secretarial work). My boss-mentor is not at the office most of the time, so I have to guess constantly what he needs/wants because we don't speak more than an hour a week.
The MBA is getting tough, and I find myself working 38 hours a week + 12 hours of class + 4-8 hours studying or whatever.
And my hope of getting a contract at the end of the year does not seem so realistic now... out of 30 interns last year, only 5 were contracted after 6 months unemployed.
I'm beginning to think on dumping my engineering professional career and turn into a programmer...
Anyway, I should not be complaining in a place like this, but I wanted to say something: Now that you are unemployed, whilst you are looking for a job, try also to fullfill your dreams. There is probably something you wanted to do but you think you can't, or that it maybe silly, or whatever... you have nothing to lose now.
I might try to develop android games if next year I get unemployed again... it won't probably be enought to live with, but at least I won't feel so miserable.
EYEL1NER
Member
Got some cool jobs I've been looking at today. Submitted my resume and applied for a job in Afghanistan, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Okinawa, and Charleston, SC. I don't really care about the Charleston job though. Or the Israel job for that matter. The job would be okay and pay would be great but I don't want anything to do with working in or for Israel.
The Greece job sounds awesome though, working in a Tech Control Facility. And the Turkey job seems cool as well. I don't even really remember what it is to be honest, because the main thing that jumped out at me was that a lot of the work would be done in extreme cold. So I'm assuming I would be working in the mountains. And I absolutely love the cold, so I was immediately interested.
I need to get an email address for someone from a buddy though. I had this guy's email but my wife threw away the post-it note while cleaning. He's a Lt Col in the USAF and one of the coolest dudes I've ever met. He told me he would hook me up with some great reference letters. I currently have no reference letters, which has probably been hurting me a bit. So some letters coming from a Lt Col who was pretty much running shit in a Comm Squadron should be pretty good for me. Especially with some of these jobs in the middle east, there is a chance these people could know him. But that could work against me. I said the guy was a cool dude, but I know a lot of higher-ups had a negative opinion of him. That he was lazy and too familiar with the junior enlisted folk. He also did not like to salute and he smoked, which is frowned upon for officers. But myself and all of the other lower-ranked enlisted members? We thought the guy was badass. I need to get some letters from him though. I would try to get reference letters from some of my former supervisors, but the only one I've had who was a good guy and didn't have it out for me was from 5 years ago and I have no clue how to get a hold of him.
I think my wife's pastor could write me some reference letters, but I don't know how much weight letters from people from the community hold.
What are some of your experiences with reference letters? Do you guys just use old bosses or do you do stuff like pastors (I guess not too many of you probably have pastors on second though. I don't either though) or community leaders or anything?
The Greece job sounds awesome though, working in a Tech Control Facility. And the Turkey job seems cool as well. I don't even really remember what it is to be honest, because the main thing that jumped out at me was that a lot of the work would be done in extreme cold. So I'm assuming I would be working in the mountains. And I absolutely love the cold, so I was immediately interested.
I need to get an email address for someone from a buddy though. I had this guy's email but my wife threw away the post-it note while cleaning. He's a Lt Col in the USAF and one of the coolest dudes I've ever met. He told me he would hook me up with some great reference letters. I currently have no reference letters, which has probably been hurting me a bit. So some letters coming from a Lt Col who was pretty much running shit in a Comm Squadron should be pretty good for me. Especially with some of these jobs in the middle east, there is a chance these people could know him. But that could work against me. I said the guy was a cool dude, but I know a lot of higher-ups had a negative opinion of him. That he was lazy and too familiar with the junior enlisted folk. He also did not like to salute and he smoked, which is frowned upon for officers. But myself and all of the other lower-ranked enlisted members? We thought the guy was badass. I need to get some letters from him though. I would try to get reference letters from some of my former supervisors, but the only one I've had who was a good guy and didn't have it out for me was from 5 years ago and I have no clue how to get a hold of him.
I think my wife's pastor could write me some reference letters, but I don't know how much weight letters from people from the community hold.
What are some of your experiences with reference letters? Do you guys just use old bosses or do you do stuff like pastors (I guess not too many of you probably have pastors on second though. I don't either though) or community leaders or anything?
"Ameratsu, thanks for applying for this job, we thought you would be a great fit in the company. We just went with someone who has more relevant job experience, but it was still a tough decision. We will call you if anything else opens up."
The thing is, I actually believe him. lol
The thing is, I actually believe him. lol
Ivan A Nguyen
Member
I'd go with past bosses. Unless you volunteer at the church and the pastor can speak to that.
lunarworks
Member
I'm not officially unemployed, but I may as well be.
I work directly under my boss, so when he's not around, I don't have any work to do. The other boss doesn't want me in the office at those times because I'm not getting paid to do nothing.
So, he had to go on a business trip, and was going to be gone 1 week. He's been gone 5 weeks now. (He's done this so many times over the 12 years I've stupidly been working there.)
Well, I'm in a really shitty financial situation now.
I need to find a new job, one that's stable, but I am the worst job seeker in the world. I don't even know where to begin, and I pretty much have zero confidence in getting a job. (I'm in my mid-30s in a trade, IT, that's dominated by youth fresh out of school.) Plus, I fall into the "jack of all trades but master of none" category. I don't have any particular specialty, and specialties are what employers are looking for.
I work directly under my boss, so when he's not around, I don't have any work to do. The other boss doesn't want me in the office at those times because I'm not getting paid to do nothing.
So, he had to go on a business trip, and was going to be gone 1 week. He's been gone 5 weeks now. (He's done this so many times over the 12 years I've stupidly been working there.)
Well, I'm in a really shitty financial situation now.
I need to find a new job, one that's stable, but I am the worst job seeker in the world. I don't even know where to begin, and I pretty much have zero confidence in getting a job. (I'm in my mid-30s in a trade, IT, that's dominated by youth fresh out of school.) Plus, I fall into the "jack of all trades but master of none" category. I don't have any particular specialty, and specialties are what employers are looking for.
My seasonal job just ended and now I'm back in the bread line. I had forgotten the misery that is writing cover letters. Honestly, this place I'm applying to wants a cover letter for an admin assistant position. I'm tempted to just send in a joke cover letter because the whole process is so absurd.
Etrian Oddity
Member
Guh. Waiting for corporate to get through this damned background check and drug test. I'm clean on both records, but it's just taking forever. I wanna start making money dammit! @_@
TheNatural
My Member!
Probably because people choose something they have interest in, and the job you just said I recently read has close to 0% unemployment by that niche.
Miggytronz
Member
It hits hard when a company that provided me with my college degree and 7+ years of work experience in Ship Design Industry just flushes you down the toilet. Yesterday i got the news i was to be layed off on the 31st. No severance, No benefits extension, nothing. I bought a house last year, happily married and have a 2 year old daughter. Some serious tough times ahead. 
I just became eligible for another California State job a few days ago, and since then, I've sent out over 70 applications to different departments who are looking to fill that position. I also got the highest score possible on the examination AND got an extra 5% for being a veteran. I'd feel more confident, but over the last month and a half I've sent out nearly as many applications for another CA State job that I earned 110% eligibility for and I haven't heard back from any of them. I tried calling a few of the HR people to get my foot in the door and they were all very surly, as many government workers tend to be.
My wife and I are now looking for jobs in the Austin area because it sounds nice and the cost of living is significantly lower than it is here. It would be great to make roughly the same pay but spend half as much on a house and less on other expenses.
My wife and I are now looking for jobs in the Austin area because it sounds nice and the cost of living is significantly lower than it is here. It would be great to make roughly the same pay but spend half as much on a house and less on other expenses.
Choosing a useless degree just because you are interested in it is probably a bad life choice right? Why get yourself into so much debt for nothing? People treat their degree choice as a purely academic / interest decision, when it's clearly not. If you're going to take some bullshit degree like philosophy don't moan about employers being turned off.
nakedsushi
Member
I dunno about that. I switched from a double CS/EE degree to a "useless" degree in linguistics my 3rd year because I was more interested in language than CS or engineering at the time. What matters is how you can apply the stuff you learned in getting your degree to your current employment environment.
I think the degree is only useful to get your foot in the door for your first career job. Even then, I don't think it matters what the degree is in, as long as it's from a legit 4 year school. Most places I've interviewed and gotten a job (programming), think it's pretty neat that I have a non-CS degree. Once you have that and more experience, no one really looks at your degree. If employers are being turned off by your degree, you either don't have enough experience or relevant skills.
What are you doing with your linguistics degree? That's what my BA is in, but I'm trying to get into programming / software right now. It's tough since I'm starting from scratch.
ThisWreckage
Banned
Recently got a job working PRN at a hospital. I'm glad to be out of retail, but this type of position is irritating and I fear it isn't sustainable. It's not like I'm going to be able to move out because the hours I receive are feast or famine. To top it off, it's stressful. My friend is begging me to go teach in China and he says all I have to do is say yes and I'll be given the green light. It's looking more and more attractive as each month flies by and I'm still not working full time.
Knux-Future
Banned
Been jobless since graduating last May.
Went back for my masters to pass the time.
Send out 3 apps a week.
The few offers I get back are either crazy far, not in my field, I don't actually meet the requirements or I I just flat out don't get them.
Fuck yeah, life is sweet.
The sad/crazy part is that I'm not even sure where I fit.
So it's across the road and not down the street right?
Went back for my masters to pass the time.
Send out 3 apps a week.
The few offers I get back are either crazy far, not in my field, I don't actually meet the requirements or I I just flat out don't get them.
Fuck yeah, life is sweet.
The sad/crazy part is that I'm not even sure where I fit.
So it's across the road and not down the street right?
ToLateToLove
Member
2 days into my new job and I really miss my free time as unemployed.. Turns out I work 4PM-1AM, last shift, hard work. Work every other weekend. So it feels like I have no time for anything. Get home 1-2AM, go to bed, wake up 11-12AM and just a few hours before I need to head to work..
Anyone here who works/used to work terrible hours? I get to hang with my buddies twice a month and it sucks, I really feel terrible right now.
Anyone here who works/used to work terrible hours? I get to hang with my buddies twice a month and it sucks, I really feel terrible right now.
Aesius
Member
What if I told you that this is the rest of your adult working life?
Better get used to it.
ToLateToLove
Member
Nah man, I've worked 7AM-4PM before, it's totally different. A lot of free time when you come home, normal circadian rhythm etc..
EDIT: Also free time in the evening before a whole night of sleep is soo much better than free time right before work.
Depends what you do.
If you work a 40ish hour week you'll have time to do things.
Sure I've never worked a full-time job before, but I can't imagine it being that bad. The evenings will simply become the time to do things, along with the weekend.
There's a lot I want to do outside of getting a job (which would be full-time), and I'm fed up with the amount of negativity surrounding how much free time I'll have to do it all. I will do what I want to do, and if by some reason I cannot, I'll quit.
I'll make sure I make time to socialise more and get my band going.
Besides, there's always freelance if you want something a bit more flexible.
betweenthewheels
Member
"regular" hours make a huge difference as you said. My last job was 4pm-12:30am, I ended up sleeping longer cus you don't have to get up for work, which was at the expense of my free time. They days feel non-existent and it can grow to be quite depressing.
Keep looking for new work!
PaddyOCanager
Member
I got lucky, I work 4 ten hour shifts at my position. I get 3 days off every week and still log 40 hours of pay, it is AMAZING. Not to mention I get PTO as well.
Aesius
Member
Sounds like this is just wishful thinking on your part, then.
If you strictly work 40 hours a week (no OT), have 0 commitments outside of work, don't have a considerable commute (i.e. fewer than 30 minutes total per day), and can easily get by on 6-7 hours of sleep, then yeah--you'll have a good chunk of free time.
But once you subtract time for driving to work and then back home, your lunch break (which, if you take an hour, you're really at work for 9 hours), working out, running errands, cooking, cleaning, SLEEPING, etc., you quickly realize that your free time is more like 4-5 hours a day instead of 8.
And for those few precious hours of free time you DO get, you're too fucking mentally or physically exhausted to do anything other than sit around and mindlessly consume entertainment.
nakedsushi
Member
I'm a software engineer, so not using my linguistic degree at all, although there are similarities between programming languages and natural languages. My point was, your degree shouldn't limit you in your career. A few of my co-workers, also engineers, have similarly different degrees like philosophy, etc.
The entry point for programming and software is so low right now. If you have a computer, access to the internet, brains, you can teach yourself a lot of what you need to know to land a job in software. Just start doing it and pick things up as you run into them.
Honestly, I don't think that a lot of colleges are that great in teaching real-world programming skills. I was recruiting at a job fair at a top 10 public school in the US and most of the candidates in their 3rd and 4th year of uni didn't have the skills to even land an intern position at my work.
It is partially wishful thinking, but in all honesty I won't really have much commitments since I still live at home (and plan to for a while).
I used to work at college (which was in London) till about 5-6pm, and I had time to do things when I got back. I wouldn't get home till about 7 sometimes, but I always made sure to either spend time doing my own things or going out for a few drinks with friends.
The reason I've yet to have a job a year after graduating is mainly because of the fear I have of a full-time job. Every single day I have the fear of not having time, and it is completely destroying my motivation.
But having said that, I've got to stay positive. If I'm not able to do what I want to do, I'll quit.
I have too many regrets in life, and I'm going to ensure I do what I want to do. Music is important to me so I will ensure I get my band going (and gig), and in a few years I'd like to go traveling (makes more sense if I'm doing contract/freelance work).
for a couple months I worked 12 hour shifts from 6PM-6AM, rotating 3 or 4 nights a week. I actually quite enjoyed it since it meant that management wasn't around and I could dick around when there wasn't much work to do.
GringoLOCOo
Member
I'm supposed to be starting a 10 till 5 work Apprenticeship on Monday through a government agency here in the UK
It's 100 pounds every week which is 2.60 per hour, which to be honest is a downside to me but the up side with this is i well be earning a NVQ qualification with it which i well get at the end of 6 months and the company well then have to give me a permanent Job with full minimum wage.
Now i'm really torn about doing this , its got some upsides but the 2.60 is kinda killing it for me :/
what do you guys think ?
It's 100 pounds every week which is 2.60 per hour, which to be honest is a downside to me but the up side with this is i well be earning a NVQ qualification with it which i well get at the end of 6 months and the company well then have to give me a permanent Job with full minimum wage.
Now i'm really torn about doing this , its got some upsides but the 2.60 is kinda killing it for me :/
what do you guys think ?
PseudoKirby
Banned
No more unemployment for me, going up to Alaska to work, 16 hour days, 7 days a week. I shove off next month.
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked