[The_Rambler]

Hi forum! I'm a looooong time lurker and I've got a lot of free time on my hands now so I'm posting for the first time.

I grew up in the Talladega/Calhoun county area and moved up north to a bigger city about 3 years ago for a better paying job in a field that doesn't really exist in central AL. Well, that job went under about 3 months ago (with the company soon to follow) and I was unable to find more work in that city so I'm back in sweet home Alabama and staying with family in the Oxford/Anniston area. All in all, things could be much worse as I am mostly supported here, but I've got bills to pay and things are not looking good. I'm already behind on the car and some other things and I'm getting desperate for work.

I spent 3 years working as a web and graphic design professional for a mid-sized e-commerce company. I didn't have high hopes of being able to find that type of work down here but I kept looking.

Well, I've not had any luck and so I've scaled down my expectations and started looking for any kind of office/data/clerical work that I could find. Still no luck there. Nothing. So I've started looking for ANY job that I can find; retail, factory work, Wal-Mart, telemarketing, anything to pay the bills. I've been searching for a job in earnest and sending out resumes and applying for jobs like crazy for about 2 1/2 months now and haven't even had a phone call. Not one. I have a good looking resume, good experience, and am an intelligent and reliable employee with a lot to offer a company. I have a wide range of marketable skills and abilities, most of which will do me no good answering phones for a living, but a guy has got to eat. I'm not being picky here, I'll take anything I can find, it's just that I can't FIND anything.

A search of online job listings for the area is abysmal. Same goes for the classifieds in the paper. All I can find is AVON! and GET YOUR CDL! The few real job that I've found, I've applied for immediately. No luck. What's the deal? I'm starting to get depressed and think that I'm just unemployable or that there's something wrong with my resume. I'm tempted to take my resume and "dumb it down" because I'm afraid it makes me look hugely over-qualified for a job stocking shelves at a pet store, but if someone offered me that job I'd take it in an instant. Are there really just no jobs to be had in the area? Am I going to have to forsake my talents and skills and find work digging ditches as a day laborer just to make ends meet? A friend of mine signed up with a temp service months ago and has yet to be offered a single job and he's more qualified for the type of factory work that we have around here so I'm disinclined to try that route.

I just had to get this all off of my chest, I'm sure something will come around eventually. Is anyone else finding themselves in a similar position? How are you coping with it? Should I try to sell what few belongings that I have remaining and take my chances in a larger city with more job prospects? I'm not very well "connected" in this town, but I've had a few friends refer me to jobs but none of them have panned out.

I feel like I'm at the end of my rope, and there are sharks circling below...

Thanks for reading.

[CalmingTea]

To find job here you need to know somebody who will give you a recommendation. This is what I learned while I had job hunting. What they call it here? Old boy? Not sure. You have to know right people.

[Charles]

Are you single and renting and fairly unattached? What about looking for work elsewhere? Maybe your talents aren't in demand in Alabama but they are somewhere else. Would you be willing to relocate? This could be beneficial, an adventure, and fun.

Do you have a college degree? Would you consider becoming an officer in the military?

Have you tried USAJOBS for government work?

[The_Rambler]

I'm not single but I have a supportive girlfriend who will go anywhere with me. I do have skills and talents that aren't in demand here, but it's hard to relocate when you're totally broke. It's also hard to land a job in another state when there are 100's of people who already live in that state and have an established life there who are applying for the same position. My primary concern here is the fact that I've been applying for ANY job that I can find and I'm still not having luck.

I'd rather not consider the military as an option but thank you for your suggestion, Charles.

[POhdNcrzy]

Rambler, I know how you feel! I'm tryin' to make a living and doing the best I can, too.

Other things you can try is pick up a phone book/yellow pages and just cold call businesses and try to drum up some job opportunities, or go visit some local businesses in person.

BTW, my father was a gambler down in Georgia, but he wound up on the wrong side of a gun.

Oops, I gotta go. Sure hope you'll understand....

[mimpdaddy]

AIDT - Jobs in Alabama

[Threestep]

I will not give you a lecture about payments ... It is not easy to crawl back home and have no connections. Send me a resume via PM.

[Croye22]

Down here, job market is really horrible. And a lot of places like retail and such will tend to overlook applications that look "overqualified" as such what happened in the retail job I work at.

But yeah, you'll be hard pressed to even find anything here in Anniston/Oxford. Have you looked in the Birmingham area?

Have you tried USAJobs though? It's work with the federal gov't, and not just the military. They have loads of vacancies open. Have nothing to lose by applying.

[marmac]

I don't think your plight is as desparate as it sounds.

Since you are living with family and have worked 3 years, you should be drawing unemployment.

I know your situation is not good, but many people have it a whole lot worse.

-------" I've started looking for ANY job I can find ;retail, factory work--------"

When a recession hits hard ( like this one) retail and factories are also hit hard.
I posted that because I have read in other forums of people laid off and they state they will work a factory job if they can't find anything else.

Many times---factories-- are the first hit during a recession.

[The_Rambler]

I worked for 3 years in another state and I just moved back to AL a few months ago so I'm not eligible to draw unemployment here. I'm just getting frustrated because I've sent out a gazillion resumes and applications in everything from factories, retail, food service, telemarketing, clerical, etc and haven't got a SINGLE call or email in return so far.

My family has been hit hard also so even the food I'm eating and the extra electricity is a bit of a burden on them. Rationally I know there are people out there who have it much worse, I'm just trying to figure out if I should adjust my job hunting strategy if there are just no jobs to be had. I've applied all over the surrounding area and even a bunch of jobs in Birmingham. No dice.