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When I was a kid, I needed a job. So I got a paper route. I didn't have to apply online, or get interviewed, it was just "OK, this is your route".
One summer in high school I went to a fruit stand, the person running it said "hey, want a job working?" OK.
As a senior in high school, there was a little mom and pop store that gave music lessons in the back. One day I showed up for my lessons, and my teacher said "hey, the owner is looking to hire someone, want a job?"
At so that continued into my 20's, and people were impressed my resume had so much experience at such a young age. I could walk into a place, or mail a resume and at least get an interview. Maybe I didn't always get every job, but something would come along. When I graduated college, I had a ton of interviews, and I could actually turn down opportunities that I didn't think were a fit.
But in the last 10 years, it's more like, apply for 50 positions online, get 1 or 2 interviews. Walk in a place, "no, we don't accept resumes in person, you have to apply online"
I get calls from recruiters who say they have a perfect position for me, but they're only calling because I came up in keyword search, not because they actually read my resume, as the job they are calling about are vastly different than my education and work experience.
And as I look at my resume, about half of the companies I have worked for no longer exist. I keep in contact with many former bosses who would hire me in a second, if they only still had job where they were the boss.
The will is there, the hunting grounds are very different.
I had an old boss say I would be one of the first people she would call if she had any type of operating budget to hire.
Self employment doesn't have to mean trying to be the next uber-successful entreprenuer, it can mean being a tradesman.
Self employment is scary to anyone who has been conditioned to be a cog in a machine. Those people want an existence assigned to them with clear requirements and expectations. The illusion of security. They don't care much about the how or the why of things, they just want to be rewarded for being obedient.
I feel part of the problem is the game changed since the last big economic downturn in 01-03 when the Dot.coms and 9/11 stalled the economy. That was the time that companies looked to the Monsters, CareerBuilders and a few others and wanted to make online applications their new way of getting hired rather than paper. I agree there's good in that, it allows receptionist/administrative assistants more time to call clients and welcome people rather than dropping off several applications in a batch to hr or to the hm and allows job seekers not to burn up gas money. However it opens to scrutiny such as a longer process, more intrusive screening and a mass of applications.
The issue is the hunt is much different even if someone has the drive. Before you could virtually walk into ten companies and have about five offers, now you walk into the same ten and you may get one offer, the rest say they are either not hiring or they are always taking applications but you must submit them online (maybe one has paper applications.) The hunt philosophies have to change as the hunt has changed.
What you say is true so why don't we hear more of people needing to build a good financial cushion in case they have to flee. It kind of seems crazy to take on a 30 year debt without any job security and the older a person gets the bigger the risk of an economic crisis. Lose that job at 40-50 and good luck finding comparable income.
People need to get back the hunting and survival skills. One thing I was told that had some truth but I didn't understand at the time was if a person learns to sell they are never really unemployable. Someone will need their services and in many cases the sky is the limit.
Although it's possible for someone to supplement their income with a part-time "business", the odds are against someone hoping to make a full-time income from it. The stats say so...
Are you talking about buying yourself a job or building a business? It appears that the richest in America have their own business. The poorest in America are working class. Even the people who don't work get a check and free healthcare which is better than most of the working class.
Well most people are lazy and stupid. Many people think what they see on TV is real and the herd mentally causes people to do what everyone else is doing. Even if it isn't working!
The sad thing is there are many unemployed people in the US. They could take over almost any industry by simply pulling together and starting their own business. Since they would be owners and wanting to see the business succeed they would not sit around waiting to collect a paycheck.
But alas the working class is too stupid to put aside their differences and pull together to change their lives and the lives of their children. Instead they sit on the couch drinking and watching TV because it lets them forget they are scared and not willing to take a chance.
I have a question I've asked in other posts in reply to bootstrapping, How can people bootstrap when their proverbial bootstraps are broken? Too many people don't have the bootstraps to pull themselves up by. To run a business costs money and it is a high risk proposition to do so. I often say it is better to take the money you want to bootstrap with and take it to the casino.
Sure by pooling resources, they MAY be able to but it is still too hard. I don't think there isn't too many differences (like you mentioned) to be honest. It just takes a certain individual to start a business and not just managerial wise but risk wise and money wise. Not everyone unemployed can do it even if they wanted to (either money or skills wise to be a manager.) That and it is very intensive to run a business because you would need office space (even a garage) and all the equipment to do so. Personally people over-simplify how "easy" it is to just wake up and pull yourselves up by your bootstraps.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tommy64
The only way out is self-employment.
Self employment doesn't have to mean trying to be the next uber-successful entreprenuer, it can mean being a tradesman.
Self employment is scary to anyone who has been conditioned to be a cog in a machine. Those people want an existence assigned to them with clear requirements and expectations. The illusion of security. They don't care much about the how or the why of things, they just want to be rewarded for being obedient.
It's scary but not just to "slaves to the grind," but to anyone that has to try and start a business up on limited funds. It's rewarding but there are high risks compared to low rewards.
The tradesman being a self-employed person is a bit misleading. Sure there are plumbers who do their own jobs but there are others that are a part of say Benjamin Franklin and are working for someone else. Tradesmen and self-employed are not mutually exclusive.
This is so silly I don't even know where to start.
Well you could start by looking at what the successful 1%'ers do. Then rethink what you just said because it was not very logical.
You just said that the same environment where a few people start businesses everyday and build them into large corporations with great success will not support unemployed people doing the very same thing!? That makes no sense. There are people doing start ups all over the country. In fact most of the better places to live have thriving start up communities where businesses return 10x the investment within 3-5 years!
The unemployed need to put forth the effort to unify. No one *needs* to do it for them. That is the problem in the US everyone thinks someone else should do everything for them! The whole of the unemployed don't need to network to start a business. Only a few of each need get together to found a business.
You said my post was silly. But your post is ludicrous. It appears you are saying that the very thing people do everyday in this country cannot be done by a mass of unemployed people. Where is the logic in that? If three to five people can get together and start a business that provides paychecks to dozens or hundreds of employees. Why can't dozens or hundreds of people get together and share *all* the profits from that same business?
I have a question I've asked in other posts in reply to bootstrapping, How can people bootstrap when their proverbial bootstraps are broken? Too many people don't have the bootstraps to pull themselves up by. To run a business costs money and it is a high risk proposition to do so. I often say it is better to take the money you want to bootstrap with and take it to the casino.
Sure by pooling resources, they MAY be able to but it is still too hard. I don't think there isn't too many differences (like you mentioned) to be honest. It just takes a certain individual to start a business and not just managerial wise but risk wise and money wise. Not everyone unemployed can do it even if they wanted to (either money or skills wise to be a manager.) That and it is very intensive to run a business because you would need office space (even a garage) and all the equipment to do so. Personally people over-simplify how "easy" it is to just wake up and pull yourselves up by your bootstraps
Not to mention, if everyone started their own business, how would anyone make money? Maybe they would have 1 or 2 customers each?
There's also economies of scale.
My grandmother wonders why I don't build computers for people. Quite simply, I can't compete with the big places like Dell, HP, etc. and the big box stores. Also, you have all the established locally owned places.
And as I look at my resume, about half of the companies I have worked for no longer exist. I keep in contact with many former bosses who would hire me in a second, if they only still had job where they were the boss.
The will is there, the hunting grounds are very different.
Actual experience from someone who is doing it and not just bitching that someone else should do it for them! Thanks.
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Uh, Bootstrapping
