Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think a lot of people really and truly believe that they have special skills that nobody else has and that they are special. People take these attitudes to justify that belief. Some people really do have acquired special skills, but there are plenty of other people who have skills that others could pick up in no time, especially unemployed persons. Maybe the unemployed person would do a better job, but are sometimes never given a chance.
Can you smash atoms? I can. I think that's a pretty specialized skill set, that has a huge barrier to entry (namely a long stint in the Navy). And the great thing is I don't even have to smash atoms to get a good job, I just had to had smashed them at one point and the head hunters come a calling.
You make your own chances. I was raised section 8 and eventually had food stamps, my parents were clueless about college and my guidance councilor could have given a poo about me.
I wanted out of that, and wanted to do the job the military needed most, while also bolstering my skills, so I gave up all my freedoms from age 17-24, and now I'm recession proof.
Any able bodied person who hasn't made a decision to do drugs or otherwise engage in criminal activity can join the military, and if they've got more than 7 or 8 brain cells they can get a job in a technical field that pays crap in the service but great when they get out.
Seems like a lot of you are unemployed with college degrees and debt, I've got neither (although I have read a great deal of books, I haven't paid a professor to tell me my opinion on the books is wrong) and turn my nose up at jobs that pay less than $70k. Not because I'm too good to work for $69k, but because the demand for my skill sets is so high that taking any less than $70k would be stupid.
You owe a thanks because you very well could be on the unemployed side and be facing all the horrible struggles that unemployment brings. If I had a job right now what would I do to help those struggling? Not much I can do to help them find work other than urge them to keep up the good fight, but one thing I know I would do for sure is NEVER complain a peep about my job and probably thank god I have it every night before I go to bed. My whole point of this thread is that employed people should stop taking their jobs for granted, be truly thankful they are where they are. I see too many employed job complainers, too many employed people who think they got there because they deserved it, or like I said earlier, because they worked harder than anyone else. (And even if you did work hard, saying it as almost to brag about it is arrogant beyond belief). For all the employed person knows, they might ONLY have that job because of being in the right place at the right time, LUCK, NOT because of their skills or hard work. You can't argue luck out as a factor no matter how you look at it, unless of course you are one that just got the job because you know someone.
Seriously (on the bolded)? Wow, you'd do great in the gulag with that attitude. Truth is the people with confidence in themselves inside and outside the workplace are the ones living lives on their own terms and are not lackies to their employers.
I wouldn't question your effort in trying to find work but I might question your life choices that apparently put you in such a tough spot (too much college debt? mortgage too soon? wife and kids too soon? insistance on living in a depressed area?).
Location: In a city within a state where politicians come to get their PHDs in Corruption
2,907 posts, read 2,067,392 times
Reputation: 4478
Quote:
Originally Posted by MDrenter223
Can you smash atoms? I can. I think that's a pretty specialized skill set, that has a huge barrier to entry (namely a long stint in the Navy). And the great thing is I don't even have to smash atoms to get a good job, I just had to had smashed them at one point and the head hunters come a calling.
You make your own chances. I was raised section 8 and eventually had food stamps, my parents were clueless about college and my guidance councilor could have given a poo about me.
I wanted out of that, and wanted to do the job the military needed most, while also bolstering my skills, so I gave up all my freedoms from age 17-24, and now I'm recession proof.
Any able bodied person who hasn't made a decision to do drugs or otherwise engage in criminal activity can join the military, and if they've got more than 7 or 8 brain cells they can get a job in a technical field that pays crap in the service but great when they get out.
Seems like a lot of you are unemployed with college degrees and debt, I've got neither (although I have read a great deal of books, I haven't paid a professor to tell me my opinion on the books is wrong) and turn my nose up at jobs that pay less than $70k. Not because I'm too good to work for $69k, but because the demand for my skill sets is so high that taking any less than $70k would be stupid.
BOOTSTRAPS!
Wow, don't you think you are a hot s**t? It seems to me my friend that you have a big chip on your shoulder-a lot bigger one than any long term unemployed. Any skillset no matter how specialized becomes obsolete after a while.
BTW you gave up your youth to make what $80k at best?
I lost everything one day and guess what I did? I worked hard and took what I could get and built on that, kept building and here seven years later with lots of hard work and discipline I'm finally on my way back up! Imagine that...I was on the other side of the fence and didn't let it beat me! I never gave up and never passed up a job because it was beneath me!
I have been there and am getting back. I believe I'm more qualified to say it was hard work that got me back, than someone who hasn't gotten back and has sour grapes about about it.
At a construction site when I'm present, I'm what most people would call "the boss". We regularly get men walking up to the crew and asking to speak with the boss. They would point them to the foreman, and when I'm there the foreman would point them to me. And trust me, we get a lot of these men looking for a job by walking up to our sites.
Unfortunately, things aren't what they used to. You can no longer just walk up to a site, speak with the boss, and get a temp job. You just can't. Too much liability issues. And too many people in line for that same job. One of my foremen tells me he's got about 300 names on his list waiting for him to call on a daily basis to see if they can come in to work on any given day. So, even if you are hired in the construction industry, you're still going to be on a waiting list.
I know things are tough everywhere. I certainly don't ever look down on unemployed people unless they decided to be unemployed.
Here is a thread I started telling about a couple people I know who sit at home doing nothing by choice because they came across $70k.
I have been unemployed for 6 years now, and if I knew I wouldn't even be able to get a part time job I would have never given up working at Meijer. But I've been sending out resumes for hours every day just like the OP explained. This is so relatable, my dad's 60-something year old girlfriend thinks that I'm not applying myself just because I can't get a job ANYWHERE. Same with my mom. They think that I can find a job online, maybe if you go to a government site they'll accept you somewhere. Yeah, that would be nice. I really don't understand why the economy HAS to be the way it is, but until it gets better I'll just practice living off the land. You never know, I might need those skills someday if inflation or a stock market crash ever occurs!
OK, I readily admit that I may be naive, or maybe I'm extrapolating too much from what you wrote. I am securely employed, and have been for the last 12+ years. I took a job with county government after an unexpected layoff from a manufacturing job that I'd loved. Part of me knew that the government job would be safer, albeit paid less than private sector.
You haven't had a job in 6 years. When I see that, what does immediately come to mind is, are you stil trying for jobs within your chosen field and/or at equivalent pay? Because, poor economy aside, it is difficult for me to believe that you cannot find a job ANYWHERE. I can readily believe that you are having a very difficult time finding a job at a salary/benefit level that you find acceptable.
My next door neighbor, who is in his early 60's, was laid off from his high-level IT job. Employers look at him and no doubt think, he's no longer relevant in a field where things change on a near-daily basis. We like to pretend age discrimination doesn't happen, but know that it does, and rampantly. He was unable to get another job in the same field. After a few years of trying, and when the unemployment ran out, he took a part-time job at Menards. He's now the full-time manager in one particular area of the store and earns a fraction of what he once did ... but he is employed, and able to pay his bills.
Can you smash atoms? I can. I think that's a pretty specialized skill set, that has a huge barrier to entry (namely a long stint in the Navy). And the great thing is I don't even have to smash atoms to get a good job, I just had to had smashed them at one point and the head hunters come a calling.
You make your own chances. I was raised section 8 and eventually had food stamps, my parents were clueless about college and my guidance councilor could have given a poo about me.
I wanted out of that, and wanted to do the job the military needed most, while also bolstering my skills, so I gave up all my freedoms from age 17-24, and now I'm recession proof.
Any able bodied person who hasn't made a decision to do drugs or otherwise engage in criminal activity can join the military, and if they've got more than 7 or 8 brain cells they can get a job in a technical field that pays crap in the service but great when they get out.
Seems like a lot of you are unemployed with college degrees and debt, I've got neither (although I have read a great deal of books, I haven't paid a professor to tell me my opinion on the books is wrong) and turn my nose up at jobs that pay less than $70k. Not because I'm too good to work for $69k, but because the demand for my skill sets is so high that taking any less than $70k would be stupid.
BOOTSTRAPS!
And if you're too old to join the military? Or if they just won't take you - which does happen, believe me. Jeez, what a narrow mind-set! Oh and IT jobs don't all pay great no matter where you learned them. Never mind the fact they are HUGELY over-subscribed. And what if you don't have the mind that can learn IT skills - not everyone gets programming languages? I'm always so stunned by the number of people who have these simplistic, one-size-fits-all answers to the world's problems.
And if you're too old to join the military? Or if they just won't take you - which does happen, believe me. Jeez, what a narrow mind-set! Oh and IT jobs don't all pay great no matter where you learned them. Never mind the fact they are HUGELY over-subscribed. And what if you don't have the mind that can learn IT skills - not everyone gets programming languages? I'm always so stunned by the number of people who have these simplistic, one-size-fits-all answers to the world's problems.
For "not less than $70K" he's not in IT, certainly not with programming languages.
Dude is sitting at the help desk, asking people if they rebooted their computers first before calling him.
I lost everything one day and guess what I did? I worked hard and took what I could get and built on that, kept building and here seven years later with lots of hard work and discipline I'm finally on my way back up! Imagine that...I was on the other side of the fence and didn't let it beat me! I never gave up and never passed up a job because it was beneath me!
I have been there and am getting back. I believe I'm more qualified to say it was hard work that got me back, than someone who hasn't gotten back and has sour grapes about about it.
Glad to hear you're on the way back up, but it took 7 years? This is what I mean, no one should have to suffer that.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
