i like how this thread has become how to do the minimum to live off the government.

4/11/2009 11:08:28 PM

that's bullshit, and a typical "fucking welfare queen" stance that people like to take until they get in the position themselves.

I'm sure everyone in this thread who is unemployed would much rather have a secure, full time job. I know I would. My unemployment benefits will only last 6 months, and are basically 1/3rd of my old salary - just enough to keep the mortgage and bills paid for a while, but obviously not enough to maintain anywhere close to the normal lifestyle I've had for 5 years, or enough for any kind of major emergency (big house/car repair, medical, etc)

but we're all being realistic and know that the job market is brutal, and it would be foolish not to take full advantage of the government benefits which were made for just this purpose (benefits we've all been paying into, by the way, in the years that we've been working)

4/11/2009 11:44:40 PM

^ QFT.

4/12/2009 12:02:58 AM

absofuckinglutley

I would gladly claim benefits were I to become unemployed. I would have to foreclose and move back with my parents (albeit not quite as soon under unemployment) in the year in which I am getting married. That would suck.

Losing your job that you worked hard to get is horrible. Even in good times it is hard enough to get a good job. Unemployment is barely adequate to help people who have monthly obligations.

However, if I were not a homeowner, I could sit out and wait for the market to improve over 1-2 years with my savings and not work a day. I would walk away from my house before I would dump my savings into a falling asset. Then I could live in a smaller place for 1-2 years until the job market equilizes.

4/12/2009 12:15:46 AM

Unemployed for two months now. I should have at least a part time job at the NCSU Bookstore on central campus, given that I worked there a lot during the school year and will go back if I can't get a real job elsewhere.

Haven't quite heard back from anything I applied to, but I've used what little I have in the way of contacts to get my resume forwarded on to the appropriate hiring departments of various companies to be considered for open positions. I mean at this point I'm willing to relocate anywhere from maine to texas, so I don't think I'll be unemployed forever.

If I use all of the savings and bonds I have I have enough money to last through October (at which point I will be completely be out of money). I figured out that my previous employer likely made sure to toss me at the 6 month mark so I wouldn't be eligible for any unemployment, so I'm afraid I don't get any sort of parachute in these dark times. I'm hoping to hear back this week or the next about some of the positions, and I'm about to post my resume on one of those vulture websites that recruiters browse looking for fresh meat (in about 2 weeks, once I determine whether my last round of furious job applications got me anything).

4/12/2009 2:46:15 AM

Quote :

"i like how this thread has become how to do the minimum to live off the government."

users that troll threads like this should receive immediate suspension.

4/12/2009 6:08:22 PM

Quote :

"but obviously not enough to maintain anywhere close to the normal lifestyle I've had for 5 years, or enough for any kind of major emergency (big house/car repair, medical, etc)"

And you shouldn't expect it to be (not that i'm saying you do... but if you do, you shouldn't...).

4/12/2009 6:17:15 PM

^ I know. That was exactly my point to skokiaan.

He suggested that people here were doing what we could to "live off the government", and I was saying that I have no desire to live off the government, and I doubt others here do either, because it's not much of a living. At least not compared to how much better I can live off of a full-time job.

4/12/2009 11:52:52 PM

YES!!!!!!1 scored a 2nd interview!

4/13/2009 11:54:06 AM

skokiaan has no idea WTF he is talking about.

4/13/2009 12:36:09 PM

found out my friends dad works at the place i'm about to apply to...so i'm gonna get him to put in a good word fo me

4/13/2009 1:48:14 PM

My friend in Asheville just got 3 weeks' notice at his advertising job. Another one bites the dust.

Any of you unemployed people try to start your own business? If so, how is it going?

4/13/2009 2:18:27 PM

you know its bad when even state employees start worrying about their job security

4/13/2009 3:24:38 PM

I am now employed

4/16/2009 4:30:49 PM

congratulations!

I have a third meeting tomorrow with a potential employer and an interview set up for Monday. Hopefully, between the two of them, something will materialize.

4/16/2009 8:33:47 PM

Congratulations on the jobs. Can you all drop some tips or advice for us less experienced folk?

4/16/2009 8:38:48 PM

I got shot down on the interview I had 2 weeks ago. It was between me and another guy and apparently he had more directly related experience to what they were looking for than I did.

4/16/2009 8:43:05 PM

Sorry to hear that. What types of engineering jobs are you looking for? What area?

4/16/2009 8:52:04 PM

That job was a company called InnerPulse, they are a venture funded startup making implantable defibrillators.

I'm about set on heading back to grad school in some form of electrical/computer engineering, so it wasn't too big a blow, even though the job looked to be pretty much awesome.

4/16/2009 9:01:20 PM

^I dont see a market for that product....maybe as a gag gift.....

4/17/2009 12:11:49 AM

I'm sure it's already covered in this thread, but what do you people used to job search? I'm using careerbuilder, monster, craigslist, worktriangle, and a few temp agencies. I can't get a call back.

4/17/2009 12:31:42 AM

^ thats mostly what i used to land my new job

persistence is key. I probably applied for at least 15-20 jobs before I heard back from one of them

4/17/2009 12:48:23 AM

Quote :

"^I dont see a market for that product....maybe as a gag gift....."

This isn't chit chat you bitch.

4/17/2009 8:14:17 AM

How long has everyone been out of a job? I'm going on 3 months.

4/17/2009 8:40:19 AM

Couple days over 2 months.

4/17/2009 8:52:02 AM

since Feb. 23rd.

4/17/2009 9:40:39 AM

since Feb. 11th

4/17/2009 10:56:54 AM

A few of my friends are using LinkedIn to get recommendations from former employeers for jobs through mutual networking contacts. So far one of them got a job simply by using his LinkedIn account and establishing some contacts through his references. Not sure if everyone is on LinkedIn, but apparently it's a great way to connect directly with hiring managers and pass along your resume. Good luck.

4/17/2009 11:57:04 AM

since the end of november

4/17/2009 1:41:19 PM

December 12

4/17/2009 1:46:34 PM

February 13.

Been looking for jobs since late November. Wish I had been told before then that they couldn't offer me a permanent position though. :/ Things went absolutely to hell after that it seemed like.

4/17/2009 2:16:20 PM

Anyone know of any Ruby/web developer jobs? I've been doing contract work, but would like to find full-time.

Quote :

"since the end of november"

Dang, what kind of work are you looking for?

4/17/2009 3:30:39 PM

I didn't realize there was such a thing as a ruby job. That would be like a mechanic asking if there were any monkey wrench jobs.

4/17/2009 10:49:47 PM

^ Yeah, I guess I mean to say I'm looking for web developer jobs, but I'm most used to using Ruby.

4/17/2009 11:07:05 PM

im unemployed since Feb 27

i think im gonna go to grad school though

4/17/2009 11:12:02 PM

Quote :

"Dang, what kind of work are you looking for?"

I'd like to be a lab technician/assistant chemist (got my Chem degree in December) but I've also applied to several waitress/food service jobs with no success.

FML

4/17/2009 11:19:07 PM

apparently about 100 people sent resumes to the job i'm hoping to get

4/17/2009 11:22:04 PM

I've been unemployed now for 11 months.

Granted i spent more than half that time in Australia... but yeh this is getting rather old.

4/17/2009 11:22:22 PM

Quote :

""Dang, what kind of work are you looking for?""

yeah, obviously coming from someone who is not looking for a job right now.... or who was extremely lucky, or who happens to be highly qualified for a very specialized job which happened to open up for him

4/17/2009 11:39:40 PM

goodluck to job/career seekers

[Edited on April 17, 2009 at 11:59 PM. Reason : .]

4/17/2009 11:45:34 PM

^^ Are you talking about me or Vix? If me, I've definitely been looking for a job since before I was laid off, to no avail.

^ What job could you get someone?

4/17/2009 11:47:15 PM

nvm

[Edited on April 17, 2009 at 11:58 PM. Reason : figured something out...sorry]

4/17/2009 11:48:21 PM

^^ i thought you were implying that someone looking since November should have found something by now.

i misread your intention. my bad.


actually, re-reading the whole post, i'm not sure how I came to that interpretation in the first place. I must have been thinking of something else....

[Edited on April 18, 2009 at 12:19 AM. Reason : .]

4/18/2009 12:15:21 AM

Ah, okay. I know it's hard to find a job now... I've applied to CVSs, Rite Aids, and coffee shops in addition to more computery jobs. Times is tough.


[Edited on April 18, 2009 at 12:21 AM. Reason : ^ Maybe it was the word "dang", that can throw people off]

4/18/2009 12:20:45 AM

Quote :

"Dang, what kind of work are you looking for?"

Civil or Structural Engineering work. That covers a hell of a lot of fields. Issue was that I was notified my employment was ending in January and that I should look for employment elsewhere right when the holiday season started up, which is usually dry for jobs anyway. I got a two week extension on my employment and went to the NCSU Engineering Career fair and found that an overwhelming number of companies were not hiring entry level candidates at all, even though they were at the fair.

Right now I've got one company stringing me along as a reserve entry-level candidate (even though the job's not in my field, I've got good experience from four internships which is a fairly easy trump card over other entry-level folks), and supposedly I'll hear back from them in about three weeks.

Tonight I just went through and worked my contacts to see if I could circumvent HR a bit at a few companies that I have loose connections to from ex-coworkers. I don't think I will be unemployed that much longer, and I'm luckier than most cause I have sizeable cash savings (enough to last til about september without employment).

Yeah though, most companies in my field are currently trying to snag a seasoned professional with 15 years of experience that just got laid off. If you look for engineering jobs right now you'll see many many job postings with similar punchlines (they all want people with a ton of experience). As a result, us entry-level folks have lousy prospects until they decide to start hiring college kids again.

Edit: I also gave up on applying for part time work because after applying to many many jobs locally (online and in-person) I realized that the competition for those jobs is so fierce that I'm better off trying to find entry-level employment in my field anywhere in this country. Even if it's some shithole of a backwater whose local claim to fame is a taco bell AND a wendy's.

[Edited on April 18, 2009 at 2:55 AM. Reason : words]

4/18/2009 2:54:28 AM

nelopetrunk.com/2009/02/03/dont-try-to-dodge-the-recession-with-grad-school/http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2009/02/03/dont-try-to-dodge-the-recession-with-grad-school/

4/19/2009 8:07:06 AM

Quote :

"nelopetrunk.com/2009/02/03/dont-try-to-dodge-the-recession-with-grad-school/http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2009/02/03/dont-try-to-dodge-the-recession-with-grad-school/"

She's so right. Doctors and lawyers and professors are soo dumb for going to grad school. They should have just worked at a chicken coop. Who needs them anyway!?

4/19/2009 8:40:52 AM

Since you oviously missed the point, grad school and professional school isnt the end all solution. They both have there own sets of problems. Ignoring this is going to set yourself up for disappointment and massively increase your debt load. Just make sure your making enough money on that career path to pay it back.

4/19/2009 8:48:06 AM

I think it's safe to say that most people look at college as an investment and choose a path that will see a return on said investment....

4/19/2009 6:00:01 PM

Wtf is your point?

4/19/2009 6:38:11 PM