Friend moved here, can't find a job anywhere, Help! (Phoenix: real estate, school districts)

[PheenixJobless]

A friend of mine moved here 8 months ago. He has been searching high and low for a job, and he hasn't been able to find anything worthwhile. He has been offered part time hours at a gas station for $7.75 an hour.

He has a Bachelor's degree and three years of teaching experience. School districts continue to lay off, so there are no options there.

My friend is running out of all his money. Does anyone have any advice? He is about to move back.

[Finger Laker]

There are a lot of options with the schools - there is a lot of turnover and still open positions being filled .... the main problem was he moved out here 8 months ago, which would line up to be about right after the positions were filled

he should start looking in april for long term teaching positions and try to get in on a sub list (although sub work out here generally isn't plentiful and definitely not well paying ... it's good networking)

the market definitely isn't as robust for teachers right now, but things can be found .... there are still districts opening new schools .... will need to be flexible in his location though - canvass the city and if he's remotely qualified he'll find something

until then, take any job you can .... when I moved out I did a combination of temp jobs, including banquet serving, conference setups, etc ...... look for walgreens or other drug stores that are set to open ... my brother worked there for over $8/hr .... the temp jobs I did were around $10-$12/hr

better than $0/hr

[phxgreenfire]

Originally Posted by PheenixJobless

A friend of mine moved here 8 months ago. He has been searching high and low for a job, and he hasn't been able to find anything worthwhile. He has been offered part time hours at a gas station for $7.75 an hour.

Welcome to Phoenix.

[Bondurant]

He should look into security. That's what I've been doing since my arrival in Phoenix. It's not what I want to do but it pays the bills. The sites my company is with generally pay $10-12 per hour. If your background is clean and you can urinate in a cup and not test positive for drugs you can get hired. But if your friend is really in a bad jam he shouldn't turn down anything regardless of what degree he has. That degree is nothing but a useless piece of paper in this economy.

Whenever I hear someone say "there are no jobs out there" I always say "there are no jobs you want out out there". Big difference.

[keninaz]

Yes, 3 of my 4 kids and their spouses lost their jobs in this mess.
Most were out of work for a long time and when they got jobs they did not pay much.
People that were making $200K and more in real estate were begging for any job that would pay medical and the like.
My daughter and her husband and kids gave up and moved up state with us. They lived with us for 7 months while they found work and got established again and they are not making near what they made in Phoenix before she lost her good paying job in RE admin.
She was out of work for nearly 2 years and could not find a job making enough to pay child care for 1 child anywhere. The job she lost was $65K per year.
Anyone moving to AZ had better have a job lined up, it's tough out there.
Good Luck

[EnicAZ]

Sadly your friend's case is not unusual, as Arizona has one of the highest U-6 unemployment rates in the nation. This data can be found on the Bureau of Labor Statistic's webpage:

Alternative Measures of Labor Underutilization for States

[PheenixJobless]

Originally Posted by EnicAZ

Sadly your friend's case is not unusual, as Arizona has one of the highest U-6 unemployment rates in the nation. This data can be found on the Bureau of Labor Statistic's webpage:

Alternative Measures of Labor Underutilization for States

Thanks. This coincides with what I have been seeing on an area wide basis. I just wish more people know about this before making bad decisions to move here like my friend.

[Ritchie_az]

Um, something smells fishy about this thread.
In any event, over the last 18 months over 30,000 jobs have been added in Phoenix metro (that's net job growth). Phoenix metro has been one of the absolute top cities for job growth in America and the short-term job forcast predicts that the growth will continue.
If your friend can't find a job, he needs to consider a different approach. There is something wrong with his resume, his interviewing skills, he's applying for the wrong jobs (not qualified), or not applying enough. Teaching jobs are still tough right now, he should certainly look for other job fields.
If he can't find a job in Phoenix right now, there's a pretty good chance he would not find a job anywhere in America.

[Finger Laker]

teaching jobs really aren't that tough compared to the bulk of the country

it's just not the abundant situation it was a few years back where they were recruiting nation wide in a desparate attempt to fill teachers

I know a lot of people who have changed districts, found jobs or left the state (or planning to move) who are going to be replaced.

Just keep in mind that school ends at labor day out here and many teachers are looking at their contracts in April

[observer53]

Originally Posted by Bondurant

f your friend is really in a bad jam he shouldn't turn down anything regardless of what degree he has. That degree is nothing but a useless piece of paper in this economy.

[i]Whenever I hear someone say "there are no jobs out there" I always say "there are no jobs you want out out there". Big difference.

Despite the posts from the gloom and doomers about U-6 rates, I think the above is in fact part of the problem, not just with the OP's friend, but with some others as well.

Originally Posted by PheenixJobless

Thanks. This coincides with what I have been seeing on an area wide basis. I just wish more people know about this before making bad decisions to move here like my friend.

Was this friend your friend before he moved here? If so, what advice did YOU give him?

Teaching jobs do take some work to find. We've had lots of threads from people coming here looking for them, there's a lot of competition. And, with those jobs, TIMING is important, it's not like other jobs, where vacancies open up at any time of year. Your friend needs to expand his horizons to jobs he may not have thought of, make looking for work a full time job, AND do whatever he needs to do to get in the mix for a teaching job later on.