Whom do you have to kill to get a job these days?

[Brigid]

Is it just me, or is the job market worse than ever these days? Around here, anyway, even fast-food jobs are scarce. If I actually have the audacity to walk into a place to apply, I am either treated as if I had just dropped in from outer space, or as if I'm trying to break into some exclusive club. A lot of good it did for me to go to college. Please excuse my ranting, but I've had a vwery frustrating day of job-hunting. :banghead:

[ET Awful]

1. Well, if you know the right people, killing folks could BE the job

:P

[datasuspect]

2. i feel your pain

ugh

[some guy]

3. Just those better qualified

I read a book (fiction) several years ago about a guy who kept not getting a job, so he posted a want ad for the job he wanted, and after getting resumes from potential applicants, he went around killing those he thought would be better qualified. :)

I think after doing that, he killed the person who actually had the job he wanted so as to create an opening. :woohoo:

I'm sorry the job hunt isn't going well for you; I hope this gave you at least a little smile.

:hug:

[Elidor]

6. The Axe, by Donald Westlake!

Westlake is one of my favorite writers. The Dortmunder books are classics.

[some guy]

19. That sounds right

thanks!

:hi:

[Manifestor_of_Light]

4. I know where you're coming from.

I have three degrees including a doctorate. They all want "recent work experience", but I think it's also age discrimination. We're all supposed to crawl off and die when we hit 40. It really is like beating your head against a wall. You're either overqualified or too expensive or too old or something. I've had enough crappy jobs in the 90s.

Me and my SO (who also has three degrees, his highest is a master's) have decided that if nobody appreciates our skills and talents, we're gonna sell my house and move to the country.

Maybe we should just grow asparagus.

[raccoon]

11. You sure got that right. Age discrimination is alive and well.

If you're over 40, and for sure if you're over 50, that's the way it is. Doesn't matter what your degrees or experience is.

[Ghost in the Machine]

25. Moving to the country isn't a bad option anytime.. it's a totally different world

and hey, my friend has his bait & tackle store/gas station up for sale.

Altogether there's about 2 acres (my guestimate. It's between 1.5 - 2), the store/gas station, another building that he runs as a Carharts store and a nice 2 story barn shaped (gambrel roof) house. It does a great business with an established clientele. 5 miles(give or take a mile) from Watts Bar Lake and the Tennessee River.

I looked at it myself before he even put it on the market. If the bank would have financed me 90% instead of 80%, I'd have it right now instead of my restaurant. Sometimes I kick myself in the butt about it, but hey, life goes on. If I had the money, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. Hell, I'm hoping that a few of my domain names sell for some damned good money so I can buy it!

The asking price for all of this? Only $350,000.00 The bank I deal with wouldn't do a business loan for more than 80%, but I guess I could have checked a couple of banks the next town over. Hindsight: sometimes it's a bitch!

[Manifestor_of_Light]

28. Sorry, I ain't got $350K.

The only reason I'm moving to the country is because I inherited the house up there. I'm gonna sell my city house to have a nest egg to live on. And it will be a few years before I get social security. I have no pension and no health insurance since the SO got canned from his shitty job a year ago.

Looking for a job is like banging your head against the wall. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I think looking for a normal job when you're over fifty is insanity.

I don't fit into the corporate world anyway. They have strange attitudes and can't communicate properly.

[Ghost in the Machine]

30. Corporate world? Dude, my friend wears overalls and t-shirts at his place.

I wear jeans and t-shirts at mine. Thats my uniform for my employees. Their own blue jeans and my company t-shirts. BTW, I live in the 3rd or 4th smallest county in Tennessee. 60 miles north of Chattanooga, 45 miles south of Knoxville....

I understand where you're coming from though. It would only be $70,000 down, 80% finance, unless you could find a better deal. Sell both houses and come on!! You'll have another house here, and you'll never have to worry about a job again. And just think about it... when the economy tanks, you'll be sitting on a goldmine. People are gonna be fishing for food...

[enigmatic]

5. Come up to Alberta

Everybody else is, and we're still in dire need of workers!

[Brigid]

22. Hmmm . . .

what kind of workers? I know my way around a computer fairly well, and have a lot of customer service experience.

And I hear that Alberta is lovely.

[doc03]

7. Around here you need to know a person

in upper management or a Union official, what you know is irrelevant.

[Joe Fields]

8. Hang in there kid. Persistence DOES pay off. I tend to look at it this way...

The right job is lining up for you. It's just taking a little longer than you'd like.

[SarahB]

31. Getting an interview is key I think.

If you know how to market yourself well in an interview (know the company and PROVE yourself to be a long-term asset combined with decent social skills), you're golden.

[wildhorses]

9. all the repukes, would be a good place to start ---

:evilgrin:

[Crazy Dave]

10. I'm not sure what trade your in but for me....

...being a freelance/independent contractor and working part-time or temporary for different clients in different industries has worked well for me. I've found out the companies that are slow need you just as bad as the ones that are busy. They might have just a little extra work but not enough to hire or commit to hiring another full time employee that they might have to let go in a month. I have about six regular clients and then there's occasional one or two day project from a one time only client. Today I'm meeting with someone whose employee will be out three weeks due to surgery. The one thing I like the most is now I buy my own health insurance from a major company for only $88 a month and I don't have to worry about anybody taking it away or changing it on me. Not sure if the same will apply to what you do but it might.

Good luck :hi:

[Connonym]

17. damn! who'd you get that policy from?

I haven't had health insurance for about a year now and it scares the hell out of me.

[Crazy Dave]

18. It's called "Golden Rule" from United Health Care

But be aware it's not one of those typical more expensive "boutique" style policies that most employers make their employees get. There's no vision or routine office visits covered unless you have to see a specialist. It's more like an auto insurance policy, for emergency rooms, heart attacks, cancer, etc. The deductible would be pretty high for most people but I've got it covered.
For now my health is pretty good and I only have a prescription for Zocor (there is a discount but not a co-pay) for that.

[rug]

12. Iraqis.

[Orsino]

13. Beat me to it. n/t

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

16. Yep. See your Army recruiter

They're hiring. All job positions. All shifts.

A bad economy is the recruiter's best friend.

[Brigid]

21. I don't think . . .

the Army is desperate enough to take a 49-year-old, even these days. and I look awful in camoflague! :rofl:

[CBHagman]

14. It certainly has changed over the last few years.

The last time I did informational interviewing was in the mid-90s, before I started my current job. Back then people invited me into their offices to talk about their work. Nowadays it's tricky even to get someone to answer e-mail questions or do a phone interview. I spent six weeks leaving phone messages for someone I've known for years. After that six weeks, I finally got a call back.

I suspect some of this is technology (for example, an office can be flooded with resumes within seconds) and some of it is a shift in the culture.

But do hang in there, and if you need someone to talk to, I'm there. You need all the backers you can find! :hi:

For what it's worth, the director and actress Sarah Polley said she felt like a stalker because she really had to pursue Julie Christie to star in her current film, Away from Her. Thank God for Polley's persistence, because the reviews have been rapturous.

[Connonym]

15. Like I need Secret Service on my ass!

I agree with you that the job market is really awful now. I remember it being like this in the 80's when RayGun was president. I miss the 90s :(

Hang in there Brigid, I think things are bound to look up. And remember it's not you, it's the job market.

[Brigid]

20. Thanks for your support, everyone.

I took the day off from job-hunting today; I wasn't going to get anything done in such a foul mood anyway. And I'm sure that being close to 50 -- even if I don't look it -- doesn't help. But surely I'll be able to shake something loose eventually.

[RogueSpirit]

23. What type of Qualifications do you have? Perhaps you could Freelance.

I went through a period where I couldn't STAND my job but I was able to quit and freelance/do contract work to mostly make ends meet until something permanent came along. I did a lot of work outside my field, but it was better than staring at job boards all day. I did light construction stuff during the day and was able to do freelance web work in the evenings. The construction stuff was pretty good cause it was cash att he end of the day, no questions asked.

Now, I am stuck in a cube farm again, but it's steady and secure.

[leftofthedial]

24. I can't find one

resumes, cover letters, networking . . . nothing works

:shrug:

[Critters2]

26. My brother has two Master's degrees

An MS in recreational therapy and an (admittedly less pragmatic) MA in religious studies. He's finally found a part-time job with a conservation-related non-profit, but not making enough to live on, so still looking. He's also not making enough to pay rent, so I've been helping with that. He has Asperger's and thinks that affects his interviewing skills. But I also think the job market is bad, as you're finding.

So, you're not alone. Education used to be key to landing a good job. Now, employers are looking for lower denominators than that, imo.

I wish you good luck!!

[Oeditpus Rex]

27. I've found your problem

You know the difference between "who" and "whom."

Ergo, you're overqualified for 99.7 percent of Mer'kin jobs.

[SarahB]

29. It depends on the field and marketable skills.

Some fields aren't so bad (medicine). Most people are hurting a lot though. The days are gone where people can just get any job and actually make a living at it. For example, forty years ago a one income family at a factory job could support an entire family. Not any more- few jobs there (and could barely support one person). :(