Am I doomed to be like this forever? (Boston, Haverhill: unemployment, movie theater)

[miu]

Boston, Worcester and Springfield will have the strongest job markets and also access to public transportation... however you won't be able to compete with job applicants who are more educated than you and also with pertinent job experience. How can you with only a G.E.D. and no solid work experience have any edge over the many college graduates who have work experience and good work references?

Go back to school. Since you previously got SSI, surely you qualify for tuition assistance such as scholarship, grant or loan help. Find yourself a community college or trade school to take some practical courses at.

[miu]

Originally Posted by parried

Worcester has public transportation. I've never been there before though so I have no idea how it is.

So go visit Worcester firsthand. No one here can explain a new location to you as thoroughly as just YOU visiting it yourself. You have money saved. You can get there through connections by bus and train.

[495neighbor]

Originally Posted by parried

Worcester has public transportation. I've never been there before though so I have no idea how it is.

I was in Worcester not too long ago. They seem to have a pretty intensive bus system.

Worcester Regional Transit Authority

[495neighbor]

Parried, you should be able to rent a room either in a boarding house or with roommates in Worcester. Be aware many landlords will ask if you have a job or require a background check of your credit before renting to you.

Lowell may be a better option than Worcester or Springfield as the unemployment is not as high around there as those other two towns. I believe UMass Lowell has educational programs funded by the labor division for people in your situation. It might also be less of an adjustment to be a little less far from home.

[parried]

What would you say has a better job market (or at least some kind of opportunities to work) between lowell and worcester?

[elhelmete]

Lowell.

[Serious Conversation]

A common thread on all your posts is that the world is out to get you - that somehow you're the special snowflake that gets singled out for all the bad stuff in the world. Even though I too agree that unemployment is too high and things need to go differently, hundreds of millions of people are still employed. The vast majority of your town and state are employed. I feel sorry for those who are unemployed, but most of life is still plugging along.

You aren't unemployed just cyclically, as the result of a layoff, move, or some temporary thing. You have been out of work for YEARS with no real employment history and little to no verifiable skills. The longer you remain out of work, the harder it is for you to catch up.

Many people have barely held one job or maybe had no jobs at 19 when this whole thing started for you, so at this point, you were on a relatively even playing field with everyone. Most of them got jobs and you didn't.

The thing that is extremely frustrating to me is that you are in a state that has fairly generous social assistance, an overall decent job market, and doesn't have the entrenched, grinding poverty that the worst urban areas, reservations, deep South, and Appalachia have. You are reasonably close to major job centers. You have some advantages and can't seem to leverage these.

The first thing you need is a car. Do you have any family or friends that could assist in getting a $2,000 beater? If you don't have a car, you can't get to where jobs are, should you get an interview. You also can't get to a better location.

If I were in MA and unemployed for four years with no income but SSI, I would buy a one way bus ticket to TX or FL for the warmer weather. Staying put isn't an option because it's not working. Taking a risk may very well be the only ticket to find a solution that does work.

[dravogadro]

I think the OP is applying to jobs that he can manage to get to on his bicycle. I don't see why his mode of transportation matters. White collar companies bend head-over-heels to get more of their employees using alternative transportation but he is being seen as a liability?

And unless you luck out with a well-cared for Toyota Corolla, I don't know that you can get a decent, reliable car for $2000 without having to put in some extra money into it, sooner rather then later.

OP: Have you checked out Waltham at all? I have seen a lot of hiring signs up around town and there are some places you can rent a room.

[parried]

Originally Posted by elhelmete

Lowell.

Ok, but is it really any different from where I am now? It's not that far, so I really don't see what a difference it would make. Lots of jobs yes, but many skilled and no way to acquire those skills, and even if you did you can't get over the experience requirements. But I'm not concerned on that too much just yet, just wondering what the difference is because it's close.

------------

Yes, the car. I want one really bad too. But remember without working how do I pay the insurance on it? There's very little general labor jobs out here that require just a high school diploma or GED. Everything just says "must have 3-5 years experience", blah blah. Even the forklift stuff. Then it's like these weird staffing agency places that post ads on different websites and you can't get in touch with them or they hide the company name or their own phone number. I've been telling you all this for a long time.

I've come close a few times - but either the manager doesn't call me back (after telling me they would in my face), or they aren't hiring or the current employees make sure you don't get to a manager. Or they keep posting "now hiring!" but for some reason they won't pull up my application. For instance, mcdonald's, I even put that I could work whenever needed, but I guess it's not good enough. Following up on applications just gets chewed out with "no we're not hiring, goodbye". Same thing in person, or the manager is never there.

The market is screwed up here, or else employers wouldn't be this disorganized or asking for so much, would they? I even took a merchant asessment test for a food production company, and the guy told me I failed it and couldn't try for another year. This test had questions about substance abuse and violence - something I was never and never will be apart of. Apparently they are looking for people to answer 'yes' to that stuff. Many people at labor ready have also failed this test, if you do a google search for tescor or merchant solutions you will hear from normal people who couldn't even fill out an application. That's what happened to me, I couldn't even fill out an application to the place unless I passed that test. I've been to job centers, I've spoken with rehabilitation counselors (who were more focused on what I supposedly couldn't do and not on what I can do). I've spoken with staffing agencies that refuse to even let me fill out an application because I don't have a year of work history. Also when I mentioned I ride a bike they dropped communication.
This has been going on for years, as you said. Many things have been tried and failed. Believe me it shocks me too, but I appear to be a legitimate case of being held back by the way things are with no easy way to get out of it. Or is the universe trying to tell me something? There is a lack of serious employers around here that are hiring, don't have unrealistic demands and are actually serious about putting people to work.

My parents and close family is in no position to help me nor is there anything they can do. My father can't put away money to help me get a car, he just wants me to give up on life and accept defeat. Accept whatever scraps I can get from the government (at the expense of taxpayers) and don't do anything with my life. We already have 47 million and growing of those people (or forms of them). I just can't do that. I couldn't even get him to take me to a staffing agency, unless I paid him gas money, and then he told me I'm better off not working and just collecting a check because it's easier.

Even after looking at all the mistakes or wrong steps I made in the last few years, there's one thing that hurts me the most of all. It's being born with nothing, and trying to make something out of it, because you can't make something from nothing

I figure if anything, getting out of here will only give me something to do, and things to discover.

[elhelmete]

This really doesn't belong in the Mass forum. Just sayin.