Unemployment Support Group

Recently unemployed or frustrated with the job search? Unemployment can affect more than just the bank account - it has a negative effect on motivation and self-esteem, even sense of identity. This community addresses the challenges associated with unemployment and how to cope.

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/ Unemployment Support Group

I Am Another Passenger On The Titanic

gglaw3
gglaw3
Greetings to my fellow unemployed Americans. I have finaly reached the point of hopelessness to join a support group. Not that a support group is hopeless but that my particular situation, as many of your situations, are dire. A synopsis, if you will of my situation. I finished atemporary position in the public sector close to the same time that my daughter was born. I have been a stay-at-home father/graduate student since that time. My daughter is now, she has autism, but is high functioning. I complet my MA, if all goes well tomorrow. In the interim, my wife is employed, white collar position, but her salary does not cover the expenses. In fact, in iorder to survive the monthly bills, we have now officaly tapped out three credit cards, and burned throughboth of our savings. We do not live a lavish life style in the least, between graduate school costs, the mortgage, et al....we burned through everything to survive. It has been an ordeal tryig to secure work, I have sent out hundreds of resumes, even outside of my field, but to no avail, not a single interview!!!! We have to borrow money occasionaly to simply purchase groceries. I have never lived like this before. Furthermore, back in 2008, I was diagnosed with CA-MRSA, a horrendous flesh eatign bacteria. It has since been eradicated, for 18 months or so now, but the toxic antibotics, such as prolonged utilization of bactrim has decimated my immune system, where I suffer from chronic yeast problems.

Why am I sharng this information? To not feel so inadequate and alone in this game called life. I am not seeking a pity party nor charity but a career again. That is all I am seeking, just a damn interview would be a sign of hope. I have a single public sector position interested i nme, but it is the waiting game with the Federal government. I really don ot know how long we will retain our single family home, as I have been residing here for 19 years. I am starting to Ebay my three decades of collecting rare music memorabilla, and even that has been a shoty gain. How the mighty have fallen, and how low can this go. Rhetorical questions,that I fear I know the answers to. Good luck to you all out there, and thanks for takign some time out to read my ancedotale tale of personal woe.
deleted_user
deleted_user
Welcome to the group. I graduated with my MBA over 3 years ago and have since been unable to use my education. I am technically still employed at the job I was working through grad school, but I have been out on disability due to my anxiety and panic attacks for the last 6 months. I had to sell off damn near everything I owned and move back across the country to stay with my parents. I have been looking for "a real job" for over 3 years.

There are a lot of good, hard working, qualified people who are in all sorts of dire situations due to this terribly terrible economy and ghastly job market. You know what? It isn't our faults that we can't find good, gainful employment. We did everything we were supposed to and everything right. Don't listen to the corporatist media who will try to slant their stories to put you on a guilt trip as if your situation is your own fault. The corporatist media now touts that there are employers in certain fields who cannot fill vacancies because they don't have qualified applicants. There aren't any qualified applicants because either the company doesn't train people to do the job to gain the experience to do the job or they offer an absurdly low salary. Yet, the corporatist media slants it to make us feel bad about ourselves so that we will not feel outraged at the corporations and the greedy elite who caused this debacle in the name of pure, unadulterated, greed in the first place.

All the new jobs are tech jobs. Oh sorry, those went to India.
All the new jobs are green jobs. Oh sorry, those went to China. All the new jobs are in health care. Oh sorry, we'll hire you on as a RN on a per diem basis so we won't have to provide you with benefits. Oh sorry, we pay medical assistants $8/hr. and no benefits. You went to school to be a medical coder? Oh that makes a huge difference! How does $8/hr and no benefits sound? All the new jobs are in education. Oh sorry, we're already laying off teachers left and right. All the new jobs are in road construction. $50 billion worth! Oh, sorry you can't have one of those jobs because you speak English.
loveblue2
loveblue2
So sorry you're in this situation, gglaw3. I totally understand a lot of what you're going through. I worked at AT&T for 18 years (best job of my life and had every intention of retiring there), then was downsized in 2002, along with 10,000 co-workers. I've been struggling both career-wise AND financially ever since. I was downsized from my last position 10 months ago.

I understand your Titanic analogy, but, I would like to point out to you that not every passenger on the Titanic perished; some passengers lived through the experience - and they weren't all 1st class passengers. I guess my point is, because it's so easy to sink into a pit of dispair (Lord knows I know that), it's very important to do everything you can to stay focused on the positive. Believe for positive things and for a positive outcome to the difficulties you're facing. We're human, and we can't go tip-toeing through the tulips about being unemployed every second of the day, but, as much as you can, try to focus on good outcomes in your life. It isn't easy, but, it's a much better place to be than allowing yourself to feel hopeless.

It's scary and frustating and I just get totally pissed about my situation sometimes, but, life will get better for all of us. We just have to tap into our strength and hang in there.

Wishing you the best!
Janice : )
gglaw3
gglaw3
Thank you both, Janice and Bri, for your responses. I concur with you both, I don ot blame myself, nor others, however I need to support my family, and I need it now. My wife's income is not enough to sustain us, we are in series credit card debt, which was used to pay the bills, as I finished graduate school and raised my now four year old autistic daughter. In the interim the recession hit, and now the current double dip ercession. The bill collectors phoning as late as 1030 PM is simply nerve wracking. We are never more tan 2 to 4 weeks behind with any bill, while half are paid on time. We, as many others, are beign bleed dry to survive. I find this situation unique inthat I have never been in need before. Granted, I have never been wealthy, gut always paid my bills on time. I disslike the low down anomie that I feel today. I disslike beign behind on bills, beign rejected from a perpetualy endless strem of job applications. Some of these application in my field, which is Criminal Justice, van take up to at least an hour per application! For naught! I have not given up, as I refuse to give up, but the feeling in the pit of my stomic of beign an inadequate fiscal provider in my family haunts me while both awake and asleep. I am livign that old '70s film, high anxiety, a step away from madness somedays...a sense of beign confused and lost. I also realise there exists tose that are so much worse off than I or you, but ala, we are given the cards we are dealt in life. Not the deep philosophical exit strategy that I seek, but bar room truism. We are dealing with some truly bad hands, the dead mans hand...PS, Janice I worked for over ten years at Raytheon Engineers and recieved the pink slip without warnign back in 1998. Times were a bit easier than however, securig a new position was not as traumatc as today, hang in there yourself, keep trying...Bri...I lived with ym parents u ntil I married, no shame in their temporary assistance , even if runs afew years,t hey love you, as you love them, that is what a tight knit family means to this guiy. You hang i nthere too, keep searchign,write anytime.
deleted_user
deleted_user
Whoever said someone else situation is worse than another is full of it; unless they've walked in someone else shoes. No ones suffering is worse than another, it is according to each own standing in life; therefore, we cannot stand in judgement of others pain and despair. There are no guarantee between birth and death except the two. In between living and dying all we have is hope that we will arrive to our destiny with the least amount of disappointment and regret in the decisions we make a long the way.

Surviving with what you have, organizing your life according to what is most important. Life is the only thing that can not be replaced, everything else is usable goods. I think our pride is what cause us the most stress and pain, not wanting to let go, the fear of losing the stuff we've accumulated and having to start over. As hard as it is we will do what is necessary to keep our families in tact and best for our survival even if we have to go kicking and screaming.

What I fear most for us is that we get so down on self that we can't get up. I know things will get better if you believe that it is possible; I know as long as I believe it will get better I won't give up. I have had and lost and had again better than I ever did the time before and I believe if it's not broken don't fix it, if is broken don't fix it, build something stronger, something granduer, but most of all believe you can...
deleted_user
deleted_user
my story is simular to yours:
my life quickly fell apart as soon as i walked off my last job. i'm still drowning in debt, have to turn to the dept of rehab services for help to get a job and my luck got worse. i did a vocational evaluation. i'm still (against my wishes) in a psycosocial program. i opposed that idea. and my coucilor @ the d.r.s. said i need to do that.