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I've been desperate for work and a place to stay on a couple of occasions. Fortunately, my sister and her husband let me crash at their house until I could get on back on my feet. The first time I had difficulty finding any kind of work at all, I took a bucket, soap, a squeegee and a rag and walked downtown, offering to wash businesses' front windows for five bucks. Twenty windows was an easy 100 bucks. I did that for about 4 months, until I found a real job. It was enough to pay my bills, though I didn't have a house and a mortgage at the time.
The next time I was out of work for an extended period and desperate for anything, I put a free ad in the neighborhood newspaper at a ritzy, gated subdivision. The ad said, "Experienced paperhanger needs work. Call [phone #]." (I had learned how to hang wallpaper at my first job out of college which was for a large paint and wallcoverings company.) I was amazed at the response I received! For several months, I spent at least 30 hours a week hanging wallcoverings in rich people's houses. After the first few people hired me and loved my work, I got all the other work through word of mouth. I even had to hire someone to assist me on the really big jobs. I had no desire to actually own a business, so I kept searching for another job. Even after I landed a regular, full-time job several months later, I continued to hang paper on weekends and sometimes holidays. I did this for several years. I had a waiting list of customers a mile long. All from that one, free ad and my willingness to bust my hump to earn a living.
What's really surprising is that all those people hired me - a stranger - to enter their homes and hang paper. I was not bonded, so it was a risk for them and for me. I would not hire a stranger not bonded and affiliated with a business to work in my home, but there are people out there who will. It got me through a very rough time and I'm so glad I placed that free ad!
Almost everyone has some skill that they can use to earn some money, somehow. It may not be a lot, but it could be the difference between starving and thriving or being homeless and having your own place to stay. I encourage anyone without work and in a desperate financial situation to think hard about something they can do which is marketable. Heck, you could always nail some boards together, paint ducks on them, and sell them at craft fairs!
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Excellent post.
It took me SEVERAL SEVERAL days to even find someone who would replace the stupid battery on my 11 foot ceiling. INCLUDING electricians FOR $80.00!. All the "handyman" ads never called back.
Ditto window washers for my second floor condo.
Right now I want a carpenter to drill ONE HOLE in my Corian kitchen desk counter to fish the computer lines down to the electrical socket. "What? What kind of hole" "What kind of material is the counter"?
Ditto snow shovelers up north. The days of 8 year olds knocking on your door to shovel are over even if I was willing to pay big bucks nobody was interested where I lived. Except guys with plows if I had a huge driveway which I didn't.
And yes, it is a liability to have someone without bonding but people do it.
And on the flip side, I do own one of those fast food restaurants and have yet to see a single long-term unemployed person apply. And easily half of the applicants are not interested in actually applying. They just need the app to show for UI or welfare.
Additionally, half my 21-24 yo staff live with their mom. 1/4 don't have cars (in a suburb with no public transport). To them it's far better to spend their money on Hennessey and tattoos than on cars and rent. Why not when there are other people willing to bail them out.
And THERE you have it. And you forgot to mention the individuals who feel that they deserve double the wage you offer.
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LOL you people messaging me on "Reputation" about how I don't understand and how everybody is "not lucky or smart like you" are wasting your breath.
Quote:
you think everyone has smarts and good luck that you have, but things aren't always what they seem. people's lives are not black and white and not everyone is qualified to get free government help or jobs that others can easily get.
I started a freaking DOG WALKING PET SITTING business, FFS. It had NOTHING TO DO WITH LUCK. OR FREE anything.
It's NOT rocket science. But yeah. I'm not a slacker, druggie or drunk. And I also OWNED retail stores. I KNOW about people. who "say" they want a job but won't simply agree or carry out the terms. LIke NO ACRYLIC NAILS in a pet shop. Half the "applicants" wanted to debate me on my work rules.
I worked in a grocery store. Overnight cashier. With a night crew from the local prison. TWO people got fired for trying to steal product off my line. And the DAIRY MANAGER tried to steal but the management turned the other way. NONE of the thieves were from the prison, they all had about 12 years SERVICE! But it was either them or me and I'm not getting fired for YOU to be able to steal.
I certainly DO KNOW about "things not being what they seem". LOL
Last edited by runswithscissors; 02-13-2014 at 07:52 AM..
Getting a temp job nowadays is not easy. Most temp agencies are just stockpiling resumes and hoping to poach your contacts especially managerial references. I've had temp agencies send me to interviews even more vigorous than a company would give a direct hire one was all day and I met with 6 different people. I even got rejected from one for HR horse crap I interviewed for several hours and they claim eh he didn't seem ethusiastic enough.
The days of anyone with a pulse getting a temp job are over.
Every retail type job I applied for after my career went south involved a three hour ordeal interview with several managers.
The Walmart interview was the worst, it took place in the employee break room, ffs. With employees constantly coming and going and not making any effort to keep it down because an interview was taking place. I wondered if they did this on purpose, to test your ability to think on your feet under noisy conditions. And the stupid freaking questions they ask you, trying to somehow trip you up... (I was offered a 'team member' position, but I was able to turn them down, thank you lord)
I had a professional job before, my interviews usually were 15 minutes of job related questioning, and then when it was established you might be someone they could work with, another 15 minutes of chit-chat about the industry. Sometimes I'd be asked back for a second interview if they needed to choose between a few candidates, fair enough. This was before the HR zombies took over the work world, btw.
But a three hour interview for a cashier gig at Wally World? W.T.H....
Although you may have had five years to find a job or income of some kind, I can't entirely blame the OP or the person who the OP is describing. Getting a job now a days is tough, it really is. As that unemployment gap gets bigger it starts to hurt you more than help. Hopefully you would have some kind of contingency but so many people lost their jobs in 2008 and struggled. I would look to family and friends for help, apply to EVERY single job you can, temp agenices, talk to headhunters, talk to social workers, go to your local church, talk to half way houses, maybe even contact local colleges and talk about any connections they may have and how they can tweak your resume and so on, even talk to people who work with felons and see what they do to help get them work. If they can get hired, so can you.
Heaven help you if you are over 45. Age discrimination is in full force out there. I now make half the salary I used to make, and no bennies, either. I absolutely HATE my current gig, but sadly, I think I will have to gut it out until I can collect Social Security. I see no way out of my current situation, I refuse to take on student loan debt at my age, not that anyone would hire me anyway.
I was thinking about that last night. It is a scary reality for me. I have no one in the world to help so I am not sure what would happen to me. All I can do is continue looking for employment and pray. I wish I possessed the ingenuity to be a self starter and start a lucrative company. Unfortunately, I am just an average Joanne and this society is not kind to average folks.
I am in the same boat as you, hon. I wish you the very best.
If you are in reasonably good shape physically, look into becoming a nurse's aid. Nursing homes are always hiring, and there is private duty care as well. You will make enough to keep your head above water and not much else, assuming you don't have a lot of outstanding debt.
Interesting thread because may people are facing this hardship right now!
If I was on the verge of all this happening to me personally, regarding where to live, I do have my parents who I can move back in with. If they weren't around anymore though, I don't know what I'd do. I guess try to move in with my aunt & if not her, then my cousin who I've never been close with. If I didn't have them, I have no idea where I'd live.
Regarding how I'd make money, I'd have to find any & all jobs I could find to stay afloat.
Fortunately, my car is still pretty new & paid for.
Currently, I'm trying to find 2-3 steady-paying, permanent WAH (work at home) jobs that I can do forever. If I can find those & be able to live comfortably, I'll be content & set!
Let's say you've been unemployed, or only marginally employed, since the meltdown of 2008. By now, your emergency unemployment compensation has long since ran out, you've exhausted your savings trying to keep the house while trying to find employment, and your car was repossessed. Maybe you have an older, unreliable but paid-off clunker, maybe not, but you don't have consistent or reliable transportation. Even getting to an interview is a real hassle, assuming you can get one in the first place. With the house gone, you rely on public WiFi and perhaps a Skype or Google Voice number, as you're too poor for a phone.
What do people in this situation do? Do they stay permanently at a shelter or with family and friends? Do they get fed at soup kitchens or simply beg? What would you do in this situation?
Bah.. won't be happening to me.
I was laid off a few weeks back for the 2nd time in a year... but saw it coming and added a couple roommates back in October who are paying ALL the rent and utilities... even the cable/internet bill. (Yes, I am living here for free)
My unemployment is $570 a week. Not quite what I was making on my job but it will do until I find something. In the meantime I will survive on a monthly unemployment income that is twice my monthly expenses without having to touch the $15k I have available on my credit cards or the year or so of non-roommate living expenses I have saved. My current state claim that I reopened from the first layoff runs another 15 weeks till June... then I could file a new state claim for another 26 weeks to get me through December.
So basically I am covered for all of 2014 from the state of Washington unemployment without having to rely on the now cancelled government EUC. (Not that I expect to be out of work that long but it's nice to have something to lean on.)
I definitely won't be taking the first crappy job that falls my way... I have time to search for the best fit and will survive without an issue. I've had a couple interviews that I am waiting to hear back on and have another scheduled for next week.
If anything this layoff is a vacation from my last job which was becoming a nightmare full of stress due to new management and what not... they did me a favor laying me off and now I can job search while getting paid.
I was laid off a few weeks back for the 2nd time in a year... but saw it coming and added a couple roommates back in October who are paying ALL the rent and utilities... even the cable/internet bill. (Yes, I am living here for free)
My unemployment is $570 a week. Not quite what I was making on my job but it will do until I find something. In the meantime I will survive on a monthly unemployment income that is twice my monthly expenses without having to touch the $15k I have available on my credit cards or the year or so of non-roommate living expenses I have saved. My current state claim that I reopened from the first layoff runs another 15 weeks till June... then I could file a new state claim for another 26 weeks to get me through December.
So basically I am covered for all of 2014 from the state of Washington unemployment without having to rely on the now cancelled government EUC. (Not that I expect to be out of work that long but it's nice to have something to lean on.)
I definitely won't be taking the first crappy job that falls my way... I have time to search for the best fit and will survive without an issue. I've had a couple interviews that I am waiting to hear back on and have another scheduled for next week.
If anything this layoff is a vacation from my last job which was becoming a nightmare full of stress due to new management and what not... they did me a favor laying me off and now I can job search while getting paid.
Good thing I didn't quit.
I don't understand how anyone gets $570 a week unemployment benefits. Would you mind telling us what your annual salary was while you were working? For that amount of unemployment, why would anyone, you included, even WANT to go back to work or seek employment? That is certainly enough to enjoy life, travel a bit, eat out, and go drinking with your roommates, for sure. For the majority, this is certainly NOT the case.
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