Heartbreaking (construction work, employees, job application, secretary)

[GaBison2007]

I'm 24...send out about 20-30 applications a week...and unemployed for 8 months

There have been times, where yes, i have been close to the edge...and as a young person it hits extra hard...you bust your a** in college to do well and get a good job, it takes you months to even get callbacks and when they do call they might not even call you back, people don't respond to e-mails, the friends you USED to have don't call or check-up on you anymore, you can't go out anymore because you're broke and people in our age group who have jobs don't really understand that, relationships/dating become strained, you think about your plans for the future and how...well you may not realistically have a house by 30-35 and can't even afford to take care of kids/family, or save as much as you thought you could for retirement.Sometimes jobs that do call are scams.....for instance a 'sales manager" job was actually a job where they were going to pay me 8 bucks an hour to call people all day yet i couldnt afford to live on 8 bucks in D.C and even jobs paying slightly more to scrape by were not calling...if you do get a job, you're FINALLY in an entry level position (which is good and gets your foot in the door) but older people who you want to get advice from and guidance gives the cold shoulder because they see you as a threat...they see you as "that young whippersnapper" whose going to steal their job and you feel isolated from your older and more experienced peers....when you get laid off, you feel worthless...like your worth was tied up into how well you did or how successful the company was...and the company does make you feel easily replaceable........

If you're a kid, esp a kid from a middle class and below background...college is supposed to open doors and noone gives us a chance because of our youth.......sometimes I feel like a pariah when I go for interviews and get the "what do YOU know,Kid?" look...but i'm gonna pray for that girl's family

but like the OP said...people need to truly help the unemployed or inexperienced...either through mentorship, guidance, networking....Our friends,media, news, etc keeps shoving down our throats that the unemployed need to REACH out more to get employment, sometimes you feel like the media/govt makes it seem like you're lazy when in fact we bust our a**es off every day to find decent work...... However when we reach out for so long, whether through neworking, calls, emails...it gets tiresome and we feel unwanted....why even continue reaching for help if we get nothing in return??....either way i try to stay positive but that's just how it is and it's a very sad state of affairs in America which I think deserves way more attention and action...heck the unemployed can't even afford counseling to talk about this...

[bluebelt1234]

Originally Posted by Charles

This case wasn't a social problem. It was more likely a mental illness problem. Healthy people don't kill themselves because they can't find a job.

Unemployment can really get to a person. Even a healthy person can be pushed over the edge. Imagine what would happen if you worked really hard to get through college, get a job, the get laid off, you are frequently rejected for hundreds of jobs, the bank forecloses because you can't pay your mortgage or the landlord evicts because you can't pay the rent, you can't put food on the table, you wonder if you will have enough in the bank account to pay for necessary medications. It is worse if the person has children and has to see them suffer as a result of unemployment.

[charolastra00]

I can relate to the girl. I graduate next month and have applied to over 400 locations. My schoolwork is slipping because I try to apply to at least 10 jobs every day.

My parents have also been hit by the economy. My father has been unemployed for a year, my mother seriously underemployed with no benefits. They live out in the boonies with no public transportation and since I have no car, I can't fall back on them for very long. I would be unable to secure even part time employment at somewhere like McDonalds due to my lack of a car.

So I'm forced to move in with my boyfriend. I'm only 22- moving in with someone is a HORRIBLE idea, but it's my only option. I'm going from being 22 and having my hard work always pay off ($40,000 scholarship to a top university, scholarships for study abroad, accolades at college jobs and internships, leadership roles) to facing the possibility of becoming a 22 year old housewife. Yes, I'm lucky that my boyfriend is willing and able to support me, but it will be the end of our relationship and the end of my dignity and independence. I worked my whole life to get the hell out of Atlanta and move to Boston, and now I'm stuck making plans to move back.

I still have a month before I graduate and I am almost debilitated by the stress of not having a job after looking for 6 months. If I haven't found employment within a month or two after graduation, I could very well be in the same position as the girl in the article.

[WestPhillyDude75]

Originally Posted by Charles

This case wasn't a social problem. It was more likely a mental illness problem. Healthy people don't kill themselves because they can't find a job.

I agree 100%

[tijlover]

The scarey part of the entire human race, is no member knows what their own breaking point really is. Some may, occasionally, get a scarey glimpse of it, and be too horrified to share it with anyone.

Any desperate unemployed people will never be included in the list: suicide by unemployement.

Instead, it will appear unrelated, but it's actually related, and there we are puzzled: why did this person kill himself merely because his car broke down, or the car wouldn't start one morning or he ran out of gas somewhere, or he lost his cellphone or wallet, or something even more puzzling: his television set went on the blink.

The final straw that breaks the camel's back, wouldn't we all like to know what that is?

I have a feeling, one day, when it happens to me, it will not only cause puzzlement but rounds of laughter as well.

[mcb1025]

Thought I'd share this article from USA Today:

Generation Y's steep financial hurdles: Huge debt, no savings - USATODAY.com

Open your eyes, people.

[gardener34]

Yes, I agree there had to be extenuating circumstances. But if you do have mental health problems exaggerated stress levels will be a BAD BAD thing. Unemployment w/ no prospects of it changing is one of the worst things that can happen.
And how you get treated on job interviews does nothing to help out. Seriously, I was in tears in the car on the way home from a few of them. That is how shabbily I was treated.
It is SICK out there. And I do everything I can to help someone who is out of work. I definitely always pass their name around.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by mcb1025

Thought I'd share this article from USA Today:

Generation Y's steep financial hurdles: Huge debt, no savings - USATODAY.com

Open your eyes, people.

In some ways, being a recent college graduate now might be a very good thing - if you can get a job - if you [had] picked the "right" major. Engineering is a "right" major.

Let's say you graduate today with a BS in engineering. You start around $50K (whether you had a 4.0 or a 2.8, from Georgia Tech or from Rinky Dink State: OK maybe maybe that's a slight exaggeration but not much.).

The stock market has just finished a "lost decade". What does that mean? Stocks might be relatively cheap. Nothing is better than maxing out a 401(k) at 23 years old. Nothing - except adding in $5K to a Roth IRA. Start now and be a millionaire by 45 - no kidding.

Want to buy a house? Guess what, 30 mortgage rates are still around 5%. Oh, another thing, housing in just about every part of the country has fallen pretty far in the past three years. Nice to get in on the ground floor on that one too.

So, being a twenty something might not be so bad. When I was 20 (1981) mortgage interest rates were like 15% (not a typo). It was something to think about while I waited in a gas line for an hour on an odd or even license plate day.

[mcb1025]

Originally Posted by Charles

In some ways, being a recent college graduate now might be a very good thing - if you can get a job - if you [had] picked the "right" major. Engineering is a "right" major.

Let's say you graduate today with a BS in engineering. You start around $50K (whether you had a 4.0 or a 2.8, from Georgia Tech or from Rinky Dink State: OK maybe maybe that's a slight exaggeration but not much.).

The stock market has just finished a "lost decade". What does that mean? Stocks might be relatively cheap. Nothing is better than maxing out a 401(k) at 23 years old. Nothing - except adding in $5K to a Roth IRA. Start now and be a millionaire by 45 - no kidding.

Want to buy a house? Guess what, 30 mortgage rates are still around 5%. Oh, another thing, housing in just about every part of the country has fallen pretty far in the past three years. Nice to get in on the ground floor on that one too.

So, being a twenty something might not be so bad. When I was 20 (1981) mortgage interest rates were like 15% (not a typo). It was something to think about while I waited in a gas line for an hour on an odd or even license plate day.

Is it the right major because that's the major you chose? Just like how Huntsville, AL is the greatest place to live because that's where you chose to move. I see a pattern here, Chuck.

So I guess the hell with the rest of society, who decided to follow their passion and went with a dying (or worthless) career choice in the minds of so many arrogant people who literally lucked out. Mind you, when they chose the major four years prior, the market was in a much better state. Yes, people with "worthless" English degrees had opportunity at one time. Yes, people with "worthless" Journalism degrees had opportunity at one time. Yes, people with "worthless" Sociology degrees had opportunity at one time. Yes, people with "worthless" Art History degrees had opportunity at one time. That was the case until the markets crashed. So all these folks, who chose their majors years before the markets crashed, are now SOL. Who cares, right? It's not your problem. Oh, another suicide...must have been some alcohol-dependent, mental case. Just sweep it under the rug.

Also, keep in mind, not everyone has the desire (or aptitude) to be an engineer or a nurse or an accountant. With the exception of engineer, I'd be grossed out by the second field and bored out of my mind with the third career choice. Where does that leave me and others like me? I guess society doesn't need us...maybe we should be exterminated so that a superior society can exist?

People chose a degree based on what they liked. Why? BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT THEY WERE TOLD TO DO BY THEIR MENTORS. I guess they were all too dumb or short sighted or lacked the special ESP skills that would have enabled them to choose the "right" major. Honestly, I fear a world where we have engineers who suck at math and haven't a clue how to use a computer building things just because they want that fat paycheck. And quite frankly, I see us heading that direction very soon because of the mentality people like you perpetuate. Do it for the money, f**k your passion.

Maybe we should start breeding little specialized children like in the book, Brave New World. That way we can program people to fill the demands of our new economy.

Jeez, I love witnessing the effects that capitalism has on human beings.

[collegeguy35]

Lots of engineering is being sent overseas. It cost so much less. You can hire good engineers for next to nothing in India and China. Lots of R&D work is already gone. In the future I think you will see more work visas. Business will use them to undercut US engineering wages.