Who's unemployed now or was recently? Any tips?

Grafwritah

Just curious who is unemployed and how things are going for people that are (No $75k whining! ) How long? What did you do? What are you doing in the interim? Any prospects?I got laid off from the banking/finance arena a month ago - not a big shocker there. I also knew it was coming. I got an ok departing package relative to what I made (equates out to 8-9 months of my base pay). I have no prospects (other than trolling monster.com).Normally I would look at the time and money as a gift, relax a little bit, and know that I could probably get a new job in 2 or 3 months. But right now amidst the economic implosion, my concern is what if it's next year and I still haven't found a job or some form of income?On the other hand, I'd like to think I can come up with my own thing to do. I'm not really excited about going back to work for a corporation in some office. But I dunno. Seems like a long shot.Right now I think I'm going to dabble with some of those affiliate programs online. I think most likely the best I could do is the equivalent of part time income, but why not?So, what about you guys? How about those that have been unemployed in the past and can share about your experiences then?

Lamont

Barry O' Bee says things will be bad till late 2010.



Sell useless things and travel.

street_muzik

Use the time to shoot for your dream, whatever that is.

That's what I'm doing. Not making quite as much money as before but the trade off of working on my gain, rather than an employers gain is immeasurable.

Sorry, no prospects, though.

Wish you luck.

waxjunky

Take this opportunity to do something you like.

bassie

Take this opportunity to do something you like.

And look into temp agencies - they saved my hide big time when I was out of work and getting no hits off the CVs I had sent out.

ladyday

Same here, and sometimes you can find a temp-to-hire position.

billbradley

Network with everyone you know or talk to. Sending out resumes and applications needs to be done but referrals are the way to go. Concentrate on getting referrals and you'll be back in a job sooner than later.

shawnald_reagan

Don't smoke weed all day.

billbradley

Don't smoke weed all day.

Or at all if the new job is likely to test you before hiring you. It would suck to not get into a new job only because you failed a drug test.

bassie

Same here, and sometimes you can find a temp-to-hire position.

yup - I went from temp to contract to perm gov't employee in less than two years.

The usual tag is that the employers are auditioning temps out for future employment, but temps are as trying out the workplace, or field if it's a new career, just as much.

BigSpliff

Don't listen to them they are girls. Of course they get hired!

BigSpliff

Seriously though, if you don't have a trade or skill, now would be a great time to learn one. Not talking Associate Platform Independent UGC Info Portal Creative Production Marketer skills, but something where if you didn't make it into work one day, people would notice.

hogginthefogg

Temp-to-Hire is the new full-time. Employers are really trying to cut costs (read: your benefits) and cover their asses.

I've applied for about 50 jobs and have been out of work for close to 4 months now. Things could be much worse for me(/us), but I really hope I find something soon. Not working, as it turns out, isn't something I find fulfilling.

parsec

Been unemployed for 6 months now, it feels like FOREVER. I can't wait to get back to work but nobody is hiring. Luckily ebay helps pay the rent/bils, but I wanna be putting money into savings again.

Unherd

Same here, and sometimes you can find a temp-to-hire position.

yup - I went from temp to contract to perm gov't employee in less than two years.

The usual tag is that the employers are auditioning temps out for future employment, but temps are as trying out the workplace, or field if it's a new career, just as much.

Just as a word of warning, I have a friend whose employer has used his temp status to avoid giving him a raise or even decent salary or benefits, for 10 months now. Found out after working for a bit that 95% of the staff is temp, so they don't pay benefits to anyone except the one of two people who they actually hired. Apparently they like his work, but still not trying to hire him, or really anyone.Of course he's not going anywhere cause he needs the job.

Just a heads up for people, Bassie's situation sounds good, but may be an exception as opposed to the rule, esp in this economy...

BigSpliff

Temp-to-Hire is the new full-time. Employers are really trying to cut costs (read: your benefits) and cover their asses.

Kind of. I've been in web dev for 12 years and it was the same during dotcom - fire the staff, bring down the fixed overheads, and then do all the work with contractors because the budget for that can be hidden. It's capitalism baby.

Mr. Casual

READ

I spent the greater part of my 5 unemployed months reading.

I graduated with a political science degree then went right into the music industry... go figure. I spent 3 years at a top talent agency, then left because I couldn't stand a lot of the people. I then worked as a music supervisor for a few months and got picked up to head the music department at an online advertising company. I made great money and had a lot of fun.

Then August 2008 hit, and our company lost funding.

Instead of going to Japan, which was the plan, I joined Generation Obama and got deep into the campaign. While doing that I shot a documentary on Urban Farming in Detroit (a result of reading about it in Deep Economy). I ended up stage-managing the Election Night Gala at the Hyatt (I SEE YOU THES).

All the long I was reading on topics that I gave up years ago. Politics was fun again, and interesting. I now work for an amazing non-profit that focuses on policy building on progressive issues. I also got bumped up to co-chair of Generation Obama LA now that one of our co-chairs is working in the West Wing. We hope to develop Gen Obama into a serious community outreach and activists organization. I love my life right now. I have never been so engaged and focused in my life. I make half of what my salary was in the entertainment industry.



READ... It will lead you down your path.

bassie

Same here, and sometimes you can find a temp-to-hire position.

yup - I went from temp to contract to perm gov't employee in less than two years.

The usual tag is that the employers are auditioning temps out for future employment, but temps are as trying out the workplace, or field if it's a new career, just as much.

Just as a word of warning, I have a friend whose employer has used his temp status to avoid giving him a raise or even decent salary or benefits, for 10 months now. Found out after working for a bit that 95% of the staff is temp, so they don't pay benefits to anyone except the one of two people who they actually hired. Apparently they like his work, but still not trying to hire him, or really anyone.Of course he's not going anywhere cause he needs the job.

Just a heads up for people, Bassie's situation sounds good, but may be an exception as opposed to the rule, esp in this economy...

Definitely. There are rules to prevent that kind of thing from happening where I am, but obviously not the case everywhere, especially in the private sector.

After X number of months, the employer here has to either put the temp on contract (where you get extra pay in lieu of benefits) or run a proper competition for the position....to which the temp can apply. The unions keep a close eye on this process too.

JimBeam

i was laid off around october of last year. i worked govt, and received no severance-- just a payout on accrued vacation time and my last paycheck. my savings is pretty much gone now, and i've got a log of job apps and that would blow your mind. a friend of mine advertised for some basic consulting/data work and said he received nearly 200 responses in about 2 hours. yikes.

i've got myself budgeted right now so that i am getting by ok, but it would be nice to be able to afford to travel more, take the girlie out, etc. with all this non-working time.

as for tips:
quit trolling monster/craigslist, etc. it's a complete waste of time. look on official company/agency/firm sites for the "career" section, it allows you to focus on writing cover letters that address job-specific skills they are looking for, and you can tailor your resume for each app.
also: try not to go crazy in your apartment/home.

Brian

Just as a word of warning, I have a friend whose employer has used his temp status to avoid giving him a raise or even decent salary or benefits, for 10 months now. Found out after working for a bit that 95% of the staff is temp, so they don't pay benefits to anyone except the one of two people who they actually hired. Apparently they like his work, but still not trying to hire him, or really anyone.Of course he's not going anywhere cause he needs the job.

Just a heads up for people, Bassie's situation sounds good, but may be an exception as opposed to the rule, esp in this economy...

Your friend should at least try to leverage his position into something. If they like his work and he requests something reasonable, I don't see why they wouldn't give it to him.