Being unemployed.....

[privatelife]

Being unemployed and living with my parents, at 24, makes me not want to even try to meet people at all, and avoid the ones I already know.

 

[kamya]

I was there a little over a year ago. Somehow I got a job, moved out with a roommate, saving money, paying off loans, somewhat happy now. Still gets depressing sometimes but it's a lot better than before.

I have no tips. You just have to put yourself out there and hope to get lucky.

 

[privatelife]

Well, I'm pretty tired of trying to rely on luck. It's been 4 years, maybe more. Though I still think it impractical, and haven't the slightest idea how to, I'm starting to become convinced I'll have to be self-employed. I'm just too **** off-putting to employers, no matter how much I fake it. For me the last straw was having an interviewer saying he liked me, and would recommend me to HR, and still not getting the job. I'm just so ******* tired - especially considering how cut-throat competition is now. When 700 people are applying for one position, I don't have a snowball's chance in hell. More than anything the thought of having to portray (and maintain if hired) a personality 180 degrees opposite - having to pretend to be an extreme extrovert all the time - is incredibly draining, depressing, and infuriating. I know I'd crack. I don't have enough pleasure tipping the other side of the scale not to.

I was there a little over a year ago. Somehow I got a job, moved out with a roommate, saving money, paying off loans, somewhat happy now. Still gets depressing sometimes but it's a lot better than before.

I have no tips. You just have to put yourself out there and hope to get lucky.

 

[ladyforsaken]

I don't know what to say nor do I have any tips. I sympathise, although I do have a job. I foresee myself going through the same crap when I decide to quit my current one and look for another.

Wish the big people would do something about this. Sighs..

 

[Veruca]

I've been in your situation privatelife, and as Kamya has said, at some point it does change. Somehow it does. Hang in there mate

As for faking one's personality, well from personal experience one only needs to fake it until one is hired. After that no one seems to care much as long as you get your job done, so don't worry too much about that one okay

Good luck and don't give up...

 

[kamya]

Well, I'm pretty tired of trying to rely on luck. It's been 4 years, maybe more. Though I still think it impractical, and haven't the slightest idea how to, I'm starting to become convinced I'll have to be self-employed. I'm just too **** off-putting to employers, no matter how much I fake it. For me the last straw was having an interviewer saying he liked me, and would recommend me to HR, and still not getting the job. I'm just so ******* tired - especially considering how cut-throat competition is now. When 700 people are applying for one position, I don't have a snowball's chance in hell. More than anything the thought of having to portray (and maintain if hired) a personality 180 degrees opposite - having to pretend to be an extreme extrovert all the time - is incredibly draining, depressing, and infuriating. I know I'd crack. I don't have enough pleasure tipping the other side of the scale not to.

Do you have a car? (edit- Just looked over your posts and realize that you don't. Skip to the next paragraph.) Where I live, places are constantly hiring delivery drivers. (pizza places, sandwich places, indian places, chinese places, grocery stores) Just search yellowpages.com for "delivery restaurant" . It's how I ended up getting my job. Delivering actually makes a decent wage compared to other low skill jobs. Anywhere from $12-$20 an hour after factoring in gas money. Also, call centers are always hiring too and you don't have to do telemarketing. A lot of them just do customer service. Just look in the phone book to see which businesses do this kind of work and ask them how to apply. Or search yellowpages.com for "call center". They aren't amazing jobs but they are a stepping stone.

There is also merchandising. This is where companies pay you to go into a store and check the stock, move things around, set up promotional displays and stuff like that. There is a lot of merchandising work out there and the jobs are extremely part time so you can do many different merchandising jobs at once. http://www.narms.com/ is a good resource if you are interested in that. Most people that do this kind of work are only temporary workers so once you get into it, if you stick with it, companies will actually start calling you and offering you jobs. You will have to actually turn jobs down often unless you want to work constantly. This is what my parents did to make money when they got laid off a few years ago.

Before this job I used to do a lot of freelance transcription and article writing Also I used to do a lot of surveys for different psychology departments for colleges. It's pretty easy to make $20-30 a day in a few hours doing that kind of stuff. It's not much, but it's something you can do as a last resort. I could go back to doing that and still be able to save and cover my bills. This option becomes a little harder if you live outside of the United States though. HWTF is a good beginner resource for this but to really make consistent money on that site you will either need to become a writer or do transcription. TN is where you go for basic tips and tools to use with the site and it also has sections for learning your way around when it comes to writing and transcription. For now, if you do want to try it, I'd just do HWTF . (edit- It seems like you have some experience with this already too. It didn't work out for you? I never really had much problems with it and I was able to save up quite a bit this way. Is there a reason you can't do this until you find something better?)

Dunno if you've heard this kind of advice before from others or not, but it's what worked out for me in the end.

 

[MadMonkè]

I have been job searching more often in the last few years than I care to count. And sometimes, at some point, you just have to settle for something... anything... it just kills the time while paying for living expenses - esp if there are debts to pay... and somewhere along the lines, a better opportunity pops up - through regular interactions at work or just being outside of the house...

As others have mentioned, things change and its just the game of life. and theres many ways to play.

 

[Regumika]

very very few people enjoy their job. and a lot enjoy their career. a job to one person may be a career to another. - just some food for thought.

as mentioned, you have to do things you dont want to do to get by for the time being.

 

[CAS]

I've nothing positive to say on this matter. I'm a similar age to you, been unemployed for a looong time now and to be honest I don't see that changing any time soon.

There are hardly any jobs out there for the likes of you and me!

 

[edgecrusher]

im unemployed as well... again. i am not living with my parents but it still sucks. i feel kind of worthless. and what makes it the worst is that i have NO IDEA what to do with myself and i never have. always felt out of place. i just want to keep to myself for the most part which makes it hard for me to find something.

 

[Gutted]

It's harsh times. Gotta think economically. I still live at home. It's a crappy old council house and I wont even invite my friends round, let alone potential partners. But it saves me something like £60 rent PER WEEK, as a place of my own would cost me double to live in and that's before utilities and other costs. In these times, I think it's common for people to stay at home later then usual.

 

[Smokey]

I used to be like that when I was living at home, but when i lost my mother i realized how much i miss her...

 

[Poguesy]

I have never been and never could be long-term unemployed.

Even when I got sacked and ended up with police record (dodgy when ya work in care) I banged on every door and sent letters everywhere. Ten weeks later I had a job.

Its there if you look hard enough.

 

[ladyforsaken]

I used to be like that when I was living at home, but when i lost my mother i realized how much i miss her...

Smokey *hugs*

 

[RB46]

About 6 years ago I started working in pubs. It's easy to get a start with no experience and the money is poor at first but it is easy to move on as it is not a career people take seriously. If you really crack on and do your best you could probably be managing your own pub in 3-5 years. That's pretty fast progression. I guess its the same with Mcdonalds and all other jobs that people generally dont take seriously as a career option.

Working behind the bar has REALLY helped me with my social skills and self confidence when meeting new people. I still go red a lot but I deal with these situations much better now.

 

[blackdot]

If you think being unemployed and living with the parents is bad, try being unemployed and living alone.
I had to do that for a period of time. That was a nightmare.

 

[RB46]

About 6 years ago I started working in pubs. It's easy to get a start with no experience and the money is poor at first but it is easy to move on as it is not a career people take seriously. If you really crack on and do your best you could probably be managing your own pub in 3-5 years. That's pretty fast progression. I guess its the same with Mcdonalds and all other jobs that people generally dont take seriously as a career option.

Working behind the bar has REALLY helped me with my social skills and self confidence when meeting new people. I still go red a lot but I deal with these situations much better now.

Also... (sorry to quote myself, bit up my own *** i know) It is quite common in the hospitality industry to get a live-in job. I know its not ideal but if you want the feeling of independence enough to sacrifice having your friends round. Perhaps there are other similar "compromises" that I can't think of.

 

[Dove]

I've been unemployed for far longer than I'm willing to admit. I'm 21 and everyone else my age (and younger) seems to be zooming past me in terms of life progression! It's pretty depressing. I let my anxiety disorder rule my life, hence being where I am now. It's my own fault really, I blame my upbringing blah blah blah etc but in the end (or hopefully, before it!), I've got to just push myself.

It's gotten to that point where being inside the house all the time annoys me as much as it makes me feel safe. And I think that's been a catalyst for change, recently. I've realised living in fear is the biggest inconvenience in my life, rather than a safe happy bubble.

 

[Poguesy]

I've been unemployed for far longer than I'm willing to admit. I'm 21 and everyone else my age (and younger) seems to be zooming past me in terms of life progression! It's pretty depressing. I let my anxiety disorder rule my life, hence being where I am now. It's my own fault really, I blame my upbringing blah blah blah etc but in the end (or hopefully, before it!), I've got to just push myself.

It's gotten to that point where being inside the house all the time annoys me as much as it makes me feel safe. And I think that's been a catalyst for change, recently. I've realised living in fear is the biggest inconvenience in my life, rather than a safe happy bubble.

Leave the house and get a job?

 

[kamya]

****, sometimes I forget what a genius you are Poguesy.