The job listings in Chicago are Sparse! (city hall, employment)

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by Bardot

That said, most recent graduates out there are unemployed...people don't realize it now but this recession is f***ing up an entire generation.

It's really unfortunate that college tuition and student loan indebtedness greatly rose just in time for high unemployment to kick in. Gen Y is loaded down with debt, yet can't find work. It really is terrible. Meanwhile the Baby Boomers drove up real estate prices so high in most nice areas that they can only sell to other Baby Boomers. Is the great 20th Century middle class lifestyle going to be completely extinguished?

[UnderTheLiveOaks]

My favorite part of this thread was imagining the look on Jandur's face when he realized that Avengerfire WASN'T being altogether unreasonable.

Having said that, length of unemployment really depends on your field. Someone close to me works in CAD, Jesse. She got laid off in 2008, sat idle for a year without any success in finding a new job, was brought back for about 6 months, and just got laid off again. This wasn't in Chicago, but this is a really qualified person with few of your special considerations to weigh.

[Lookout Kid]

CAD is not a good field to be in right now with 50% unemployment in the architecture field.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by coldwine

The felony will not make anything simple.

Beyond that, I have never met you in person but I have a sneaking suspicion that you are a disturbed individual. You probably don't cross dress to every interview, but I am sure other personality traits come across.

I say this with as much kindness as possible.

Drover-- you graduated at the worst time possible for law grads. I sincerely wish you the best of luck.

To be honest, I'm not even looking for law jobs right now. I'm not eligible to sit for the Illinois bar for another year anyway (don't ask), and I don't want to sit for the bar in a state whose laws I'm not familiar with; and on top of it all I simply don't have the money for a bar exam prep course anyway. My only saving grace is that I picked up an LLM in employee benefits law along the way. That's a wedge I can use to try to pry my way into non-legal positions in the employee benefits field at places like Deloitte, Mercer, Hewitt, and the like, and/or internal corporate HR departments. And certain government positions too, but of course government hires at the speed of molasses. There are applications I submitted to the IRS and DOL as far back as March that are still under review.

[maybeitsjustme]

People that makes posts with titles like this one should also be required to post their resume.

[Jandur]

Originally Posted by CarolinaBredChicagoan

My favorite part of this thread was imagining the look on Jandur's face when he realized that Avengerfire WASN'T being altogether unreasonable.

[long101]

I have a couple fairly bright friends with degrees who have been out of work for 12+ months. So far they have only been looking for white collar jobs somewhat within their fields. I would find it hard to believe that you can not find some type of job in the city. Retail, warehouse, administrative, ect... Times are tough, find something to get you over for the time being

[cubssoxfan]

Jesse, Aren't you into bicycles? I realize it would possibly result in under-employment, but have you thought of turning wrenches and being a bicycle mechanic?

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by Drover

To be honest, I'm not even looking for law jobs right now. I'm not eligible to sit for the Illinois bar for another year anyway (don't ask), and I don't want to sit for the bar in a state whose laws I'm not familiar with; and on top of it all I simply don't have the money for a bar exam prep course anyway. My only saving grace is that I picked up an LLM in employee benefits law along the way. That's a wedge I can use to try to pry my way into non-legal positions in the employee benefits field at places like Deloitte, Mercer, Hewitt, and the like, and/or internal corporate HR departments. And certain government positions too, but of course government hires at the speed of molasses. There are applications I submitted to the IRS and DOL as far back as March that are still under review.

Ever consider employment in Health Care?

Many departmental administrators ( Cardiology, Orthopaedics, etc) have either MBAs or JDs, and this is certainly the case in big-city teaching hospitals ( including the one where I work), and this could be a potential source of employment...

[Jesse69]

Originally Posted by cubssoxfan

Jesse, Aren't you into bicycles? I realize it would possibly result in under-employment, but have you thought of turning wrenches and being a bicycle mechanic?

Bicycle mechanics are a bit specialized too. I don't know how to spoke and rebuild a wheel. I'd rather do bike sales but they hire for this at the beginning of the season.

I can survive without a job because I get $1095 monthly SSDI. After my Philippines vacation I will do a nationwide jobhunt. But I probably won't want to live in CA.

I don't do architectural CAD; I do product design or mfg related CAD.

The Philippines R/T plane trip ticket cost 1 SSDI check.

I wouldn't change my career; being a CAD / Mech Eng / Mech Designer / Tech Writer is broad enough to find a job...