Jobless and Searching (St. Louis, California, Oregon: how much, house, unemployment rate)

[cwolf]

How does one get a job in St. Louis? We came here because of family and I got a job first with a law firm. When my husband came out, he put his resume out there and nothing. It has been 2 years now and still unable to find any kind of work. Either he is too over qualified, not enough and/or the right degree or license needed, he is over the age of 50. In California he was a Supervising Re-recording mixer for sound and also has recorded music. In Oregon he had his own computer store which did really well. Here in Missouri he is a house husband and is getting rather tired of it. If anyone has any suggestions, ideas, contacts, etc. please let me know. We are getting desperate (or at least I am).

[ucfjtm]

Start a company. Anything he's interested in.

Even if he's the only employee and works from the house, there's always room for more business - pick something he knows well and try it. A friend does on-call computer repair, building, & installation in KC, Mo, and after a year he figures his profits after travel expenses and taxes is in the $40-60k range in each of the first two years. He said profits took a large jump when he started offering in-home home theater installation and computer networking. He now has two computer tech employees to help out on house calls, so he's excited to see his company grow in the future. Something like this may not be a lot of money for some people, but being productive in a business that could take off is much better than waiting for a phone to ring for a job offer. If he ran a computer store before, this same business may be an option.

Walk into a Best Buy and look at how much they charge for their services, computers, and components. It's outrageous. You can undercut those high prices and make a good living, especially if you do honest and good work for people to get your reputation out.

Even if the business idea isn't a long-term goal, it should be able to pull in some extra cash to relieve the boredom long enough to land a job he's looking for.

[zoomzoom3]

Best of luck to you, but St. Louis has an extremely high unemployment rate. I know a number of people with master's degrees, many years of work experience, and glowing resumes that can't find anything here.

[STLCardsBlues1989]

It's hard economic times, obviously.

If he just wants to work, then he may need to settle for less than stellar pay. But obviously if he just wants a job to have a job then I'd suggest looking at the post's classified and maybe craigslist.

Does he play music? If so he may be able to go to college and get a job teaching music. Not great salary, but it's if he likes teaching, it's something. See if music stores have an opening. Sometimes they need someone who knows about instruments to sell them.

Just an idea.

[ShadowCaver]

Some good suggestions here - really like ucfjtm's. At this point, he's nothing to lose via starting something that he is passionate about, from his own place, at least to start with. He's the talent, now just unleash it, in his own way. Will be a struggle surely for some more time, but if don't try, want know how successful it might/could be. Of course, while doing that, keep his other options and avenues open - join local/regional clubs, professional societies of interest, as STLCardsBlues1989 mentioned keep eye on the local scene and job potentials. Best to you both, good luck.