My real life job hunting experience

[underpants]

I may not have shared this before but I was fired in September 2008 - literally just at the bottom fell out of everything.

Long months of job searches, resumes, and from time to time an interview. There was virtually nothing out there until March of 2009, but I was always able to actually find 2 jobs a week for which I was qualified. I missed a temp job at Bank of America in the summer of 2009 because I was mowing the yard and didn't hear my cell phone- I called back 45 minutes later and all the spots were taken. I was offered a chance working as a bookkeeper at a strip club but my wife said, "No" as I expected.

I was fortunate to get 8 or so interviews. A couple of those garnered second interviews.

One was a prime job for me. They had 79 applications where they usually have 5 to 8. I got into the pool of 54 initial interviews, made it to the top 5, made it to the top TWO,... and didn't get the job.

I did finally get a job last August. Great job, really love it, but it pays 20% less than I was making. For that job I was one of 35 applicants where they usually have 3 or 5. They plucked me out of thin air on Monster.com. I got the job.

So clearly I at least interview well and have a resume to get me into the interview chair. Look at those numbers again- the only "competition" in this economy is the race to lower wages for anything you can get (I hope that doesn't sound too bitter).

All this bullshit about "GET A JOB" is just that bullshit. I even applied at all the bigbox stores (Walmart, Sears, Staples, JCPenney's, etc.) and got no response of any kind. Too much salary in my history most likely, not that I ever made that much.

I feel for all the people out there and a point that isn't made very often - THEY PAID FOR THE INSURANCE that has to be the lowest return on any kind of insurance in the known world. It ain't much but it comes in handy with the food and daycare and electricity and heat and......

[LibDemAlways]

1. Glad to hear that your job search ended happily. A 20%

cut in pay is no fun. After 6 months of searching my husband recently accepted a job that pays about 40% less than what he was previously making, and he feels extremely fortunate to have found it. Employers are taking mean advantage of the economic downturn by paying people considerably less than they are worth knowing that they will take whatever's offered. This is one shitful situation...and no, you don't sound bitter....just realistic.

[The Straight Story]

2. I was off for almost a full year, then got a job and now a side job programming

A few interviews. One was at Wendy's for a burger flipping job. No dice - too qualified.

McD's, Wal Mart, Pizza joints, plus all the programming and data base jobs I could apply for.

I make a ton less than I used to now at my main job, but it is income. The coding job makes up for it.

Tough as hell - and people don't have jobs because they are not looking, it is because there are more people looking than there are jobs.

[Cirque du So-What]

3. I was out of work for eight months

I went to several interviews and came in as a finalist several times until landing the position at which I'm currently working. Some conservatroids are claiming that the unemployed have defects of character of somesuch; asinine statements like that will definitely work against them, as working-class people recognize it as utter bullshit.

[Ignis]

4. K&R

You're so right about "they paid for the insurance." People aren't looking for a hand-out; they're looking for a return on an investment that they're forced to pay out of their paychecks.

Hang in there, underpants. :hi:

[LostinVA]

5. I had to take a job with a 20% pay cut, too

But, it's a decent job with some stability. I am just very poor right now.

[dem mba]

6. I'm on the job search myself

fairly recent, but I've had good responses so far. Been interviewing, been getting calls about my resume. I'm still optimistic, but I'm well aware that 1) there's way more competition than I'm used to and 2) it's always going to be tough to find the right fit (from both the employer and my own perspective).

I'm in NYC so there's lots of opportunities, the problem is that there are so many qualified financial (my industry) professionals out there looking for work.

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

7. Thank you, underpants. :)

[Digit]

8. I took a job paying half of what I last made

Then again I am over 55 and jumped at the chance to be employed once again.

Now they are looking to get rid of me because there was a pre-employment drug test and they questioned me in pvt what I was taking and what it was for since the test results were taking so long.

I am on very strong pain killers through a pain mgmt program that I have to go to every month to even ALLOW me to work. Long story and this is not a fun time for me either. Otherwise, I would be housebound due to the pain. I really would rather work than go on disability but it looks like nobody wants a person on pain meds.

I do have an attorney and may check with him if I get terminated to see what my rights are.
It is a tough market out there and opportunities are limited. For everyone!

[raccoon]

9. Glad you found something, and thanks for the reality check. nt

[drmeow]

10. I was SO LUCKY

I was told I was losing my job in the beginning of February of last year but my contract didn't end till the end of June so they (nicely) gave me 5 months head start on my search (I guess to make up for being complete and utter pricks by letting me go ... long story). I managed to find a job by September. So even though I was actively looking for a job for 7 months, I was only unemployed for 2. Took a 12% pay cut but with the Obama tax cuts, my take home's pretty much exactly the same!

A side note - employees don't pay unemployment insurance, companies do.

[DemReadingDU]

11. I'm glad things have worked out for you

I also worried about Lerkfish who also had been out of work for a long time. But he's been T.S.
Several posters are no longer with us.
:(