I’ve been looking for work since January and starting to think it might not happen. I may be too pessimistic... However, whether this is true or not, what would you do if you were unemployable? How would you make money to live?
What would you do if you couldn’t get a job?
- Thread starter RexImperator
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A Simple Visitor
Pelican
If I were you, I'd look into being self employed.
Why not online? Selling services / goods, without having a boss?
Why not online? Selling services / goods, without having a boss?
I would lower my standard and even accept a near minimum wage job so I dont go crazy. . .as long as it was low stress. And learn to code while continuing to search for work in whatever industry you have experience in. I know people who have gotten job offers with as little as 6 months self taught coding experience
I already know how to “code”. I have a Master’s degree in engineering.
Come to Germany. The country is starved for high IQ professionals.
With the countless experiences you've read from all the elite posters... how about you focus on building something! But honestly Rex... if you're still the same from you failed fitness thread a couple of years back... may God help you!
This $hit ain't easy I know... but we gotta do what we gotta do, and that includes doing whatever it takes to solve our issues, be it they be physical or emotional! Matter of fact, I unfortunately predicted that you might get let go due to your lack of work... and guess who's currently doing nothing @ work... YUP IT'S ME!
Busy season's about to hit for September through December... but after that... it's Bye Bye for me... especially since my Cunt Boss has wanted me Gone for a minute... but I simply never slipped up bad enough to give her the ammo to do so until now!
This $hit ain't easy I know... but we gotta do what we gotta do, and that includes doing whatever it takes to solve our issues, be it they be physical or emotional! Matter of fact, I unfortunately predicted that you might get let go due to your lack of work... and guess who's currently doing nothing @ work... YUP IT'S ME!
Busy season's about to hit for September through December... but after that... it's Bye Bye for me... especially since my Cunt Boss has wanted me Gone for a minute... but I simply never slipped up bad enough to give her the ammo to do so until now!
And since you already know how to code, learning HTML & CSS, if you don't already, will be like picking your nose, and then you can create website for yourself or/and other. Stack this with Google Adwords knowledge, and you at least can make some extra coins soon on top of your unemployment benefits!
RexImperator said:
You need to lower your rate, preferably for a position where you will learn a new "in demand" skill/technology.
I know it's hard, but you have to suck it up and work the shitty/low-paying job while searching for a better one
And you have to be flexible enough to take a contract job in another city if need be
Mig Picante
Woodpecker
I know it's grim out there at the moment. I recently experienced a long employment gap.
You have to keep money coming in to maintain your standard of living and maintain your networks and connections with people that employ others.
Take the view that most positions are not advertised, they are filled through word of mouth, internal appoints and recommendations.
You need to keep money coming in and be prepared to do anything, even it's not related to your long term career.
You also need to build professional networks, going to meetups, like user groups, expo-s and startups. Make sure you become relevant and have interesting information to share to the people you meet.
You have to keep money coming in to maintain your standard of living and maintain your networks and connections with people that employ others.
Take the view that most positions are not advertised, they are filled through word of mouth, internal appoints and recommendations.
You need to keep money coming in and be prepared to do anything, even it's not related to your long term career.
You also need to build professional networks, going to meetups, like user groups, expo-s and startups. Make sure you become relevant and have interesting information to share to the people you meet.
Palo_alto
Woodpecker
RexImperator said:
Do you have any savings?
If you do, rent an apartment in the best place in town, put cool furniture in it. Sub let it through Air B and B per day. Make U$D700 a month. Rinse and repeat.
In the meantime, deliver food via UBER eats in your bike would not hurt. You can make easily U$D2.500 a month, getting exercise everyday.
If you have a good physique, start an online coach training program for fatties. You just state the obvious and follow up with your clients everyday.
Wish you success!
Some outside the box ideas - Dogwalkers can make a killing in London. So can tree sculptors and gardeners in some places. No need for a fancy school or certificate (although they can help).
Worst comes to worse you can always work at McDonald's or Walmart.
Whatever you do, don't let your ego or "prestige" get in your way and don't throw away opportunities because you think they are "beneath you" or not in line with the image you have of yourself.
You may see yourself as a software engineer or a professor or an investment banker that shouldn't have to take the kind of job a Mexican immigrant or ex-con takes, but right now that's bullshit - in the short term you'll need to start earning money.
First get some regular income, it may be shit but accept it as a temporary comprimise then see how to improve your situation.
If you're looking for corporate jobs, do whatever you can to get around the HR gatekeepers - if you can get friends or family (however distant) to recommend you to a team leader / hiring manager and have that request come from inside the firm rather than indeed/monster/linkedin, and as someone mentioned here networking events can be useful (job fairs are useless).
Anyone that tells you to just send your CV through the proper channels (company website, HR email) is likely a waste of time since it gives you no edge over the other 10,000 applicants and the company can take its sweet time to pick and choose, or the algorithm will just filter you out.
Not to mention reduce unnecessary expenses. Yes your social life will take a hit but again, accept it as a temorary phase that will get better.
Worst comes to worse you can always work at McDonald's or Walmart.
Whatever you do, don't let your ego or "prestige" get in your way and don't throw away opportunities because you think they are "beneath you" or not in line with the image you have of yourself.
You may see yourself as a software engineer or a professor or an investment banker that shouldn't have to take the kind of job a Mexican immigrant or ex-con takes, but right now that's bullshit - in the short term you'll need to start earning money.
First get some regular income, it may be shit but accept it as a temporary comprimise then see how to improve your situation.
If you're looking for corporate jobs, do whatever you can to get around the HR gatekeepers - if you can get friends or family (however distant) to recommend you to a team leader / hiring manager and have that request come from inside the firm rather than indeed/monster/linkedin, and as someone mentioned here networking events can be useful (job fairs are useless).
Anyone that tells you to just send your CV through the proper channels (company website, HR email) is likely a waste of time since it gives you no edge over the other 10,000 applicants and the company can take its sweet time to pick and choose, or the algorithm will just filter you out.
Not to mention reduce unnecessary expenses. Yes your social life will take a hit but again, accept it as a temorary phase that will get better.
RexImperator said:
Ok, you didnt state this in your OP, which asked what we would do.
Sounds like it might be a problem in how you market yourself, because people I know who have no degrees and just a few months self taught coding are getting competing job offers while you arent getting any. Sorry I cant provide you anything more actionable other than to try to connect with people who may be able to help you look better on paper so you can get a foot in the door. Also, people in my industry (banking) frequently look for engineers who have no relevant experience simply because we know they are smart. . . So maybe a change in industry may be a path. . . Not sure what industry you are in. I'll butt out since coding isnt my area of specialty.
I was there last year, from January until June.
Good advice is to take whatever. Work on construction sites, do part-time jobs... everything is better, than sitting at home. For your finance and psychical health.
As I think back, I was accepted to some jobs (there´s extremely low unemployment rate now). But corporates like banks or whatever pay real shit in Eastern Europe. I just couldn´t survive with that pocket money.
Ask your friends, if they don´t know about something or they don´t need someone. I spread word around and I got offered to work as a bouncer in a disco club. Then my friends needed one more guy to do some manual labour with them. It was difficult, because I was in a club until morning hours, took short nap and went work with my friends.
As I look back, I enjoyed this times, because both jobs I was just with my friends, not dealing with some idiot boss. And especially excellent life lesson. I was officially unemployed during this 5 months period.
Just do something.
EDIT: I don´t know about unemployment rates in USA, but as I said, I live in Europe in a country with critically low unemployment rate. Companies are crazy about hiring new people, because there just are not any. There are also a lot of international corporates with English spoken environment, because they are hiring a lot of foreigners. I bet you wouldn´t have any problem finding a job here, as an USA citizen with diploma.
Good advice is to take whatever. Work on construction sites, do part-time jobs... everything is better, than sitting at home. For your finance and psychical health.
As I think back, I was accepted to some jobs (there´s extremely low unemployment rate now). But corporates like banks or whatever pay real shit in Eastern Europe. I just couldn´t survive with that pocket money.
Ask your friends, if they don´t know about something or they don´t need someone. I spread word around and I got offered to work as a bouncer in a disco club. Then my friends needed one more guy to do some manual labour with them. It was difficult, because I was in a club until morning hours, took short nap and went work with my friends.
As I look back, I enjoyed this times, because both jobs I was just with my friends, not dealing with some idiot boss. And especially excellent life lesson. I was officially unemployed during this 5 months period.
Just do something.
EDIT: I don´t know about unemployment rates in USA, but as I said, I live in Europe in a country with critically low unemployment rate. Companies are crazy about hiring new people, because there just are not any. There are also a lot of international corporates with English spoken environment, because they are hiring a lot of foreigners. I bet you wouldn´t have any problem finding a job here, as an USA citizen with diploma.
Here in Australia it is nearly impossible to find any decent job without connections.
Since the end of the mining boom, Australia’s economy has not fared well and as a consequence many people have lost their jobs or had their hours reduced. About 1.8 million Australians are looking for more work or some work. And they’re not able to find it.
The most common type of work used to be full-time work. However, a changing economy, deregulation and globalisation have seen the nature of the Australian labour force adapt drastically in a very short time. In the late 1970s, eight in 10 workers had full-time jobs. Today, only about 65 per cent of workers are classified as being in full-time roles.
Since the end of the mining boom, Australia’s economy has not fared well and as a consequence many people have lost their jobs or had their hours reduced. About 1.8 million Australians are looking for more work or some work. And they’re not able to find it.
The most common type of work used to be full-time work. However, a changing economy, deregulation and globalisation have seen the nature of the Australian labour force adapt drastically in a very short time. In the late 1970s, eight in 10 workers had full-time jobs. Today, only about 65 per cent of workers are classified as being in full-time roles.
Move back home to the small Acadian (Canadian Cajun) fishing village I grew up in on Canada’s east coast, surrounded by friends and family and engage in the traditional work (fisheries and forestry) that people have been doing there for the past 300 years or so. Cleaning fish and delimbing trees isn’t easy and the pay is low but people back home don’t let their own kind fall into dire straights, there’s a lot of helping and sharing in the community, much of it centred around the Catholic church and the hockey rink, it’s been like that for a long time.
I used to do static websites 20 years ago. Hated that stuff. So boring. I went into science and engineering so I could get away from it.
I was self-employed a few years ago. That business failed. (Also, it’s not good not having health insurance.) I went back to school and got the engineering masters degree in order to get back into the job market, which I successfully did for a few months, but then I was let go.
Yes, I think I’ll need it.
Why were you let go from your last job that you had for a few months?
How many interview have you gone on?
How many second interviews/call backs?
Did you get any offers at all?
Were you applying for similar jobs?
Looking from the outside, why do you think you didn't get a call back/response/or hired?
When was the last time you got your resume reviewed by a head hunter/recruiter or a friend who might be in the industry?
How many interview have you gone on?
How many second interviews/call backs?
Did you get any offers at all?
Were you applying for similar jobs?
Looking from the outside, why do you think you didn't get a call back/response/or hired?
When was the last time you got your resume reviewed by a head hunter/recruiter or a friend who might be in the industry?