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An ex-girlfriend of mine is 25, graduated college in 2013 with a criminal justice degree, and the only work she was able to find locally in east Tennessee was for the federal minimum wage at a clothing store. She's applied to other stuff locally and has done some waitressing, etc, but nothing serious. She's been pestering me for job hunting tips.
She's got about $80,000 in inheritance from her mother's death and is debt-free to my knowledge. She keeps wanting to apply for jobs remotely, and while there's nothing wrong with that, I can't see her getting much being in such an isolated area without sufficient skills. I've been telling her she needs to move somewhere with low unemployment and low cost of living (like the upper Midwest), get whatever job she can, then work her way up/out to something better.
There doesn't seem t be any reason to think she'll do better in Tennessee in the near future. At what point do you just make a break for it?
That is up to each person to decide for themselves. What did she intend to do with a CJ degree? I am sure the 80K is giving her a reason to delay making any hard decisions. Is she applying for jobs that require a degree, or has she set her sights pretty low? It sounds like she enough enough money to move and survive in the midwest until she gets on her feet. Why doesn't she want to relocate/go to where the jobs are?
Well, her first major mistake was getting a degree in Criminal Justice, a degree with very limited career choices outside the public sector and that field is dead in the water and bleeding jobs like crazy. Also, as has been said numerous times in this forum, "just move!" isn't a cure-all for someone's employment woes and is a serious risk if you don't have a job lined up. First off, this isn't 1994 where if you had a bachelor's degree in anything, you could walk into whatever job you wanted wherever you wanted. Secondly, it's expensive to move somewhere far away where you have no ties to. Plus, even if you have a mountain of cash saved up, it can be months, if not longer, before you find a job and most apartments won't rent to you if you can't supply a paystub or some other form of proof that you will be able to pay your rent anyway. Honestly, I don't know what the answer is because if the above points aren't bad enough, many employers don't consider out of area applicants because they think that either the person in question will get homesick and leave at the earliest opportunity or ask for relocation which they of course aren't willing to provide. It's a lose-lose situation regardless.
Well, her first major mistake was getting a degree in Criminal Justice, a degree with very limited career choices outside the public sector and that field is dead in the water and bleeding jobs like crazy. Also, as has been said numerous times in this forum, "just move!" isn't a cure-all for someone's employment woes and is a serious risk if you don't have a job lined up. First off, this isn't 1994 where if you had a bachelor's degree in anything, you could walk into whatever job you wanted wherever you wanted. Secondly, it's expensive to move somewhere far away where you have no ties to. Plus, even if you have a mountain of cash saved up, it can be months, if not longer, before you find a job and most apartments won't rent to you if you can't supply a paystub or some other form of proof that you will be able to pay your rent anyway. Honestly, I don't know what the answer is because if the above points aren't bad enough, many employers don't consider out of area applicants because they think that either the person in question will get homesick and leave at the earliest opportunity or ask for relocation which they of course aren't willing to provide. It's a lose-lose situation regardless.
Yep, CJ Major is pretty worthless unless you actually want to work in Law Enforcement or Prisons.
The unemployment rate for 1994 was 6.1%, and so far in 2015 it's 5.5%. Better chance at getting a job now than back then.
Jobs are out there. Mobility is one of the biggest factors. Female cop? Good grief, most police departments can't EVER get enough women to even apply. If she has half a brain and the willingness to go throught the lengthy process the streets to being a female police officer are paved with gold.
The OP's girlfriend has $80K. That's good for a year of living just about anywhere without a job except for the largest cities. Anyway, the girl's not looking for tips in any actionable way. She's just venting. I meet a lot of people like that, the talkers. Doers move and get jobs, they don't ask questions about what action they need to take. The take action and fail or succeed based on their own abilities.
Scared people stay put and talk about how they don't like the status quo. Appearing to do something is more important than actually doing something.
The kinds of people the OP is talking about just like to be up on the blocks spinning their wheels in order to appear in motion.
Yep, CJ Major is pretty worthless unless you actually want to work in Law Enforcement or Prisons.
The unemployment rate for 1994 was 6.1%, and so far in 2015 it's 5.5%. Better chance at getting a job now than back then.
Jobs are out there. Mobility is one of the biggest factors. Female cop? Good grief, most police departments can't EVER get enough women to even apply. If she has half a brain and the willingness to go throught the lengthy process the streets to being a female police officer are paved with gold.
The OP's girlfriend has $80K. That's good for a year of living just about anywhere without a job except for the largest cities. Anyway, the girl's not looking for tips in any actionable way. She's just venting. I meet a lot of people like that, the talkers. Doers move and get jobs, they don't ask questions about what action they need to take. The take action and fail or succeed based on their own abilities.
Scared people stay put and talk about how they don't like the status quo. Appearing to do something is more important than actually doing something.
The kinds of people the OP is talking about just like to be up on the blocks spinning their wheels in order to appear in motion.
That inheritance will be the worst thing for her.
The unemployment rate by itself doesn't tell the whole story. When this recession began, many middle class jobs were wiped out and the ones that have been coming back are low paying ones. Plus, many people have dropped out of the workforce causing the rate to go down as well. Last but not least, the unemployment doesn't take into account underemployed people who are trying to break into a better paying field. Bottom line is, things aren't as rosy as they appear.
The unemployment rate by itself doesn't tell the whole story. When this recession began, many middle class jobs were wiped out and the ones that have been coming back are low paying ones. Plus, many people have dropped out of the workforce causing the rate to go down as well. Last but not least, the unemployment doesn't take into account underemployed people who are trying to break into a better paying field. Bottom line is, things aren't as rosy as they appear.
Perhaps you are right, I used actual data to illustrate a point. It's not that "rosy" [sic] today and you know what? That also means it probably wasn't that "rosy" back then either.
The Big Lie: 5.6% Unemployment
"Here's something that many Americans -- including some of the smartest and most educated among us -- don't know: The official unemployment rate, as reported by the U.S. Department of Labor, is extremely misleading.
Right now, we're hearing much celebrating from the media, the White House and Wall Street about how unemployment is "down" to 5.6%. The cheerleading for this number is deafening. The media loves a comeback story, the White House wants to score political points and Wall Street would like you to stay in the market.
None of them will tell you this: If you, a family member or anyone is unemployed and has subsequently given up on finding a job -- if you are so hopelessly out of work that you've stopped looking over the past four weeks -- the Department of Labor doesn't count you as unemployed. That's right. While you are as unemployed as one can possibly be, and tragically may never find work again, you are not counted in the figure we see relentlessly in the news -- currently 5.6%. Right now, as many as 30 million Americans are either out of work or severely underemployed. Trust me, the vast majority of them aren't throwing parties to toast "falling" unemployment.
There's another reason why the official rate is misleading. Say you're an out-of-work engineer or healthcare worker or construction worker or retail manager: If you perform a minimum of one hour of work in a week and are paid at least $20 -- maybe someone pays you to mow their lawn -- you're not officially counted as unemployed in the much-reported 5.6%. Few Americans know this.
Yet another figure of importance that doesn't get much press: those working part time but wanting full-time work. If you have a degree in chemistry or math and are working 10 hours part time because it is all you can find -- in other words, you are severely underemployed -- the government doesn't count you in the 5.6%. Few Americans know this.
There's no other way to say this. The official unemployment rate, which cruelly overlooks the suffering of the long-term and often permanently unemployed as well as the depressingly underemployed, amounts to a Big Lie.
And it's a lie that has consequences, because the great American dream is to have a good job, and in recent years, America has failed to deliver that dream more than it has at any time in recent memory. A good job is an individual's primary identity, their very self-worth, their dignity -- it establishes the relationship they have with their friends, community and country. When we fail to deliver a good job that fits a citizen's talents, training and experience, we are failing the great American dream.
Gallup defines a good job as 30+ hours per week for an organization that provides a regular paycheck. Right now, the U.S. is delivering at a staggeringly low rate of 44%, which is the number of full-time jobs as a percent of the adult population, 18 years and older. We need that to be 50% and a bare minimum of 10 million new, good jobs to replenish America's middle class.
I hear all the time that "unemployment is greatly reduced, but the people aren't feeling it." When the media, talking heads, the White House and Wall Street start reporting the truth -- the percent of Americans in good jobs; jobs that are full time and real -- then we will quit wondering why Americans aren't "feeling" something that doesn't remotely reflect the reality in their lives. And we will also quit wondering what hollowed out the middle class."
An ex-girlfriend of mine is 25, graduated college in 2013 with a criminal justice degree, and the only work she was able to find locally in east Tennessee was for the federal minimum wage at a clothing store. She's applied to other stuff locally and has done some waitressing, etc, but nothing serious. She's been pestering me for job hunting tips.
She's got about $80,000 in inheritance from her mother's death and is debt-free to my knowledge. She keeps wanting to apply for jobs remotely, and while there's nothing wrong with that, I can't see her getting much being in such an isolated area without sufficient skills. I've been telling her she needs to move somewhere with low unemployment and low cost of living (like the upper Midwest), get whatever job she can, then work her way up/out to something better.
There doesn't seem t be any reason to think she'll do better in Tennessee in the near future. At what point do you just make a break for it?
If she is physically fit (or can become physically fit which should be easy for a 25 yr old) she should join the police. Police are looking to hire women, although she will probably have to move where those jobs are.
Prison guard is another option, but that usually doesn't require a college degree.
The Big Lie: 5.6% Unemployment
"Here's something that many Americans -- including some of the smartest and most educated among us -- don't know: The official unemployment rate, as reported by the U.S. Department of Labor, is extremely misleading.
Work for you?
It's been calculated the same way for years- even back in 2001/2002 the recession before the "great recession". So the unemployment number always had that factor in it (people that gave up looking and weren't counting). Saying there's no improvement because the previous numbers were better and current numbers are worse is comparing apples and oranges.
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