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I don't want this post to come off the wrong way since there are literally millions of folks out there who would be happy to have a job, therefore I'll start by saying that my wife has been unemployed for over six months with nothing on the foreseeable horizon. Me on the other hand, I'm still in the same position I was in when I graduated from college nearly seven years ago. I'm lucky because it's steady employment with decent benefits, but the pay is low and I'm in a very different place than I thought I'd be when I started just out of college, unattached, and living at home. The hours are long and sometimes require nights and weekends, plus I'm a slave to my Blackberry whenever the boss wants something whether it's at 11:00 p.m. on a weeknight or 9:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning. I hardly ever see my 15 month old unless you count when I stand over her crib watching her sleeping either before I leave or after I get home. I've literally sent out hundreds of resumes, networked like crazy, and applied for all types of jobs over the past two years and gotten nowhere. They say it's easier to find a job when you already have one, so I feel for the folks (my wife included) who have been out of work for months or years.
There is zero future in this job, no room for advancement, and I'm basically being paid as much as I could ever expect to make (about $45K-which is not exactly a lot of money in NJ), but the benefits are literally my wife and daughter's lifeline. Without them I don't know what we'd do. I feel as though this is an untold side of the unemployment crisis in this country. Not only can folks not find work who don't have it, but others are literally trapped on whatever rung of the ladder they happened to be on when things went south in 2008 and there is nowhere to go but down. Anyone else here in this situation?
It'll get better just sit down and have a plan. My brother is in the same position. He is stuck at his job and work endless hours, and he knows if he applys some where else they will stack more work on him. and also I am in the same position and would luv to switch places. I have ahouse payment and single can't walk out.
Sorry to hear man. Yea, I should say you should be thankful to have a job. Before I lost my job about three months ago, I felt "trapped" in my job too. As a young attorney, in this legal job market, I took whatever I could get, and it was a job that paid a little north of $50K (living in the Bay area), which left me with little to nothing after living and basic life enjoyment expenses, not to mention school loans.
F'in hated it, hated my boss, and was embarrassed to tell others how much I made. Very little prospect for income growth as well. And it was a niche law practice, so the longer I worked there, the more I felt I was pigeonholing myself into a niche that I didn't want to be in.
Now I'm freed from that, but also unemployed. And being unemployed, I can't believe I'd actually go back there if it was an option.
Now I feel trapped in the sense that, whenever I do get a job again, if that happens in the legal field, it'll be at another **** job I won't enjoy.
Sorry to hear man. Yea, I should say you should be thankful to have a job. Before I lost my job about three months ago, I felt "trapped" in my job too. As a young attorney, in this legal job market, I took whatever I could get, and it was a job that paid a little north of $50K (living in the Bay area), which left me with little to nothing after living and basic life enjoyment expenses, not to mention school loans.
F'in hated it, hated my boss, and was embarrassed to tell others how much I made. Very little prospect for income growth as well. And it was a niche law practice, so the longer I worked there, the more I felt I was pigeonholing myself into a niche that I didn't want to be in.
Now I'm freed from that, but also unemployed. And being unemployed, I can't believe I'd actually go back there if it was an option.
Now I feel trapped in the sense that, whenever I do get a job again, if that happens in the legal field, it'll be at another **** job I won't enjoy.
Why tell other people how much money you make? If someone asked me that, I would say it was none of their business. Also, your value as a person is not determined by how much money you make. People who think that is aren't worth being friends with.
I don't know many people who don't feel trapped by their jobs.
Some are worse than others, but we work because we have to and not usually because we want to.
Why tell other people how much money you make? If someone asked me that, I would say it was none of their business. Also, your value as a person is not determined by how much money you make. People who think that is aren't worth being friends with.
No one asked me, as most young professionals living in the South Bay and SF can attest to, people talk about their salaries a lot, not to mention signing bonuses, other bonuses, etc etc. The thing is, most people I know have no idea what the legal profession is like - they just assume all lawyers make a boatload of money, whereas in reality, that's so far from the truth. So they assumed as much of me (I think), and I guess I was too insecure to shed light on the truth.
Look, I don't mean to be harsh here, but what have you done to deserve advancement? I've known many people (friends, family, my own employees) who believe that they deserve promotions and raises because they put in a lot of hours and do a great job.
From a manager perspective, doing great at the job for which I hired you is what I pay you to do. I pay you for a certain statement of work, and I expect you to knock it out of the park. If it takes you additional hours to do it, then it takes you additional hours to do it. I will certainly appreciate you and tell you that you are great, but this alone doesn't mean promotion or advancement. That means you keep your job.
If I am going to promote someone, I look at what extra that person has done. What person has come to me showing me the new processes they streamlined? What person always asks "what more can I do"? What person comes to me with new and innovative ideas and presentations to show how they can be implemented? These are the people who get advancement. Those who know that it's not just doing a great job in your current role, it's those who also take on an advanced role, even before they area asked to do so.
(And for those who may think I am a bureaucratic tyrant, of my current team 80% do not work over 40 hours a week (ever), and the other 20% occasionally work more hours due to their project management roles, but rarely over 50 hours a week. )
Interesting. I was offerred a work Blackberry, and a laptop. I turned them down. Never take a job that offers you a "free" cell phone and laptop.
Where do you want to be in five years? How much money do you want to be making? You are not "trapped", you just have not decided your pathway. Call it a career "rut".
I knew I was making zero money, and wanted more. I went to night school for a Masters degree. It was worth it. But for three years, my life was major bad. My family toughed it out.
I got into retail after doing bad one semester at college and I quickly found my niche and got promotion after promotion. I was a store manager by 22, making $45,000 in 2003, I was overjoyed.
Now here we are at 31, still a Store Manager for another company and I feel trapped. Wife is pregnant with our first child, we have our first home and even though I am starting to think about getting out of retail I have now idea how to do it.
We don't have money for me to go to school, certainly not with the mortgage and child coming, let alone where would I find time to go?
Are there even any other fields that I could apply within without a degree? I have 10+ years of Management experience but I'm not sure how much that translates/counts outside of retail.
Not sure what to do.
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