chango

Ug, I have lost two jobs in the last 6 months through no fault of my own. One was the highest paying job I have ever had. Lasted 3 months. Being unemployed, sitting here with no money, staring at job boards hoping something pops up is driving me crazy. My family is on the edge of desperation. I can't drink. I won't drink. But goddamnit I need some sort of relief. I don't know where to turn or how to get it.

Everything is closing in on me. All those years of work, sobriety, sacrifice will amount to nothing soon. Part of me just wants to call it quits and retreat back into the insanity. 4.5 years sober and I am still dealing with this. Ugh.

24hrsAday

thanks for sharing chango.. it IS Bad out there right now! keep your chin up and keep posting! god bless..

FT

Get out of the house and go volunteer somewhere that desperately needs help. Animal shelters are places that come to mind, if you want to get away from the bull of daily humanity.

It's hard not to become bitter in this economy. When I got laid off last year, I decided to build my own business in the same field I got laid off from. I scrape and struggle, but it is better than being one of 100 people applying for the one opening in my field, especially when everyone else applying is at least 20 years younger than I am.

If you volunteer, you continue to create a resume that makes you more attractive to employers, too. "What have you been doing for the past two years...?" hard to answer in a way that looks good, if the answer is "nothing."

Good luck.

FT

CarolD

I'm so sorry you got caught in the bad economy ..

could you take this time to re train in a different direction?
I know the health care industry is always growing.

I did re train and became a CNA ..tho the pay was short..the hours long...
I stayed employed and learned valuable skills too.

chango

I don't know how to retrain when I am worried about groceries

Kjell

Hi Chango-

Surely, since you lost the jobs with no fault of your own, you're getting unemployement payments, right?

...and I agree with FailedTaper - maybe volunteer somewhere, even if it's just a few hours a week. In the very least, it'll look good on your resume.

God may be giving you this time for something important. Are you doing what you can to determine his will for you? Or are you consumed with your will?

Kjell~

24hrsAday

as much as i hate to suggest it.. i have worked for temp services before and it is (sometimes) the Only thing you can find to make $ honestly.

chango

unfortunately i live in nyc. unemployment covers basically nothing.

Sigh. i am sorry. i just don't know where else to turn right now.

Kjell

Hi Chango-

What are 5 things you're grateful for, right now?

Kjell~

Kjell

I took a temp job once, then got hired on. That experience got me another job, where I received a few promotions. That company was bought by another company and I was hired (and moved) on with the new company. I got 3 more promotions and made a good salary and traveled around the U.S. for 5 years.

Temp jobs can turn into careers.

Kjell~

FT

Depression will immobilize you.

Get outside of the house. Find out where your community center is and go there. Find out who needs help besides yourself.

Many of us have found that helping others has taken our lives in directions we never thought possible.

Sitting in misery accomplishes nothing.

chango

I can't even list them because they are all on the edge of being torn away.

chango

i am also pretty depressed today because I went through all these rounds of interviews with a company and its obvious they wont even email me to tell me i didnt get the job. It's just common courtesy, isn't? Like, "Hey, we know you spent 4+ hours talking to use and at least 2+ hours doing the sample project, almost a full day's worth of work, so the least we can do is tell you that we're not going to hire you." Wtf is wrong with people. Like an email is so hard.

unger894

I've found job postings to be the most difficult way to find a job. The competition is ridiculous. I've landed the last three jobs I've had by simply sending resumes to companies that I think I'm qualified to work at and I catch one of them at the right time. They don't even interview anyone else! You would be amazed at how quickly this can work.

todayjohnson

"Being unemployed" has no meaning! Think, I need a job. Get off the internet, get outside look around and say I need a job, why? to structure my time because I have 4.5 yrs of sobiety and free time is bad. If you live in NYC I bet you could have a job in 4 hours I kid not. Good job who knows but a job none the less. All employment in reality is equal in dignity. Get groomed up, put on clean clotes and start going into stores, temp agencies everywhere with a resume in hand and say Im in a crsis and need a job "stat." People get out of prison on the condition of getting a job fast and most do get a job fast, people come to this country in debt flat broke actually negative financial worth to get jobs fast. So you can too. Just say, believe and take action that shows u need a job and I bet by tonight you will have one or have a dozen open doors and ideas to start with FRI. In employment matters as an aside the early bird does always get the worm, alot is said by being 1st in line. Good luck and god speed!

FT

Hey chango,

The same thing happened to me. I had an interview, didn't "quite" get a no answer, was told the manager would be back the next week. I called the next week, "oh, the manager won't be back til NEXT week." I was told to wait for the answer. Three weeks pass, then I get a call from SOMEONE ELSE telling me I did not get the job..

It was RUDE to leave me hanging for 3 weeks. Geez!

Look, people are rude, life sucks, and the world is a piece of crap right now.

Having said all that, you STILL have to force yourself to get the hell out of the house. If you don't your mental health will suffer worse. Believe me, volunteer jobs can lead to FAR more than just getting out of the house. It's called NETWORKING. The more people who meet you, see you are a good guy, have the integrity to GET OUT THERE and help somebody else -- those are the people who get the jobs.

There are 100's more just like you out there, sitting and waiting, emailing applications. If you don't stand out as different from the crowd, you aren't going to get hired.

PS - I agree with todayjohnson above

Kjell

Maybe if you're willing to at least try, you'll build some foreward momentum?

You might have to take some action before thought.

Do something, anything, everything different.

Why not?

Kjell~

BullDog777

I have a buddy in New Mexico, and he said that the school where his kid goes has a homeless rate of more than 80% right now. it's scary everywhere.

what about driving a taxi? food delivery? waiting tables? subway system, messenger, security, construction? i agree with the temp agencies....i've had alot of friends stay employed that way.

BackToSquareOne

The group that has the hardest time readjusting seems to be the upper middle income earners. I know a few that had 6 figure jobs in finance and real estate that ended up taking low paying jobs just to keep busy. Many of those 6 figure jobs are never comming back so retraining is often the best route.

chango

I am not above working. And I never have really earned that much. Always scraping by. Just scared the scraping is gonna turn to scarring pretty soon. Thanks for listening to me whine though. Just ate sardines for dinner. Not sure where to go from here.