An intelligent discussion on unemployment

[Big Show 23]

How about it people lets have an intelligent discussion on unemployment. We are all adults on this forum and at least 50% of us are either college grads looking for work or have felt the sting of unemployment before and can offer simple moral support(this might not be bodybuilding but moral support can still be appreciated).A few simple rules for this discussion though to avoid heated flame wars

1)Be civil
2)State your opinion in a way that you are not preaching
3)Respect other people's viewpoints
4)Realize that what may have worked for you might not work for someone else.And that(with some exception)we do what is right for us in accordance with our values

Find a job in 10 stepsthis is a link I found a month or 2 ago.It offers 10 easy to follow job search tips that are simply logical tips for any college graduate to follow.I find it refreshing to find tips that go outside of "Go here,go there" mentality some people have and preach.Myself I'm a college grad with a degree in business managment(an 87.5% GPA which I'm very proud of since I've never had marks that high in my whole academic life) who has been bit by the bug.

The one thing that bugs me is that I'm a victim of the Catch 22 "No experience no job,no job no experience" which is an endless circle.With my Management training and Customer Service experience I couldn't even get an entry level Sales Associate position because of my "lack of experience".With what I know about training,nutrition & supplementation I couldn't even get a job at GNC.But then I see people at GNC who don't know anything except for the common knowledge of eating 6-7 meals a day & etc.Right now I volunteer 20hrs a week at a neighborhood comic store(the owner is a new friend of mine)and he's helped me alot.He doesn't preach to me about being a janitor or a burger cook at McDonalds.He tries to build up my confidence and provide me with moral support and encouragement.Which IMO is the most important thing anyone could provide someone looking for a job.

Also I read in the paper about how it's been proven that the sterotypical good looking people have an easier time getting the breaks then the average looking person,who FYI either has the same or better qualifications then the good looking person.This*pardon my language*is BS,first off who has the right to judge someone by their physical looks and second I bet the person doing the juding isn't that good looking to begin with.

What people fail to grasp is that everyone needs a chance to be able to stray away from the average broom pushing,burger flipping job to be challenged,to grow mentally as a person & to prove themselves.When I finally get to a position where I have decision power in hiring someone that'll be my philosophy "everyone needs a chance".I'll never forget this trying time in my life because I wouldn't want to share this misery with anyone.

So what you're opinions on unemployment?How much do you think it sucks.

Remember this is an intelligent adult discussion

[physio_sport]

personally i hate working. not saying that i can't because since 2000 i had 2 jobs one stacking shelfs, loading trollys and 2nd was telephone market research and also i had full time collage i used to leave the house at 7:00 in the morning and come back at 9:30 every day and on staurday and sunday used to work 10 hours each day. i did this for 1.5 years and thaught fuck it because i used to see white people get promoted before i did and none of them worked as hard as i did. i needed to do all this work to help my dad out in his time of need.

and another thing companies dont care about employees. they expect them to work as slaves.
i dont work anymore because i cant be bothered to and love being unemployed might not have money but i love it.
i will go back to work when i find a decent company which treats it employees as people.

[palme]

I dont like the idea of working for someone else. I want to be my own boss. Why should i make someone else money while i struggle? Im off the the gym now. Peace

[Buddha_Red]

The employment scene around here is terrible. I have an associates degree, 8 years of exp and im a certified technician with electronics education also.

guess what im doing... working at best buy PART TIME!! and its the best i can do.

Its gotten so bad im joining the Army within 4 months simply because im just too old to work my way through retail again.

It may not fix my employment goals forever but atleast its something closer to how i imagined i would be.

Its a strange scene these days, maybe soon it will calm down.

[dacgator]

Hey Big Show great thread I fully understand where you are coming from. I will give you a brief history of my work experience. I was a full time college student in 91 and 92 working as a restaurant asst manager. Pretty hard as you must know asst manager in the restaurant business means "the guy that gets fucked" shitty shifts, shitty tasks, covering anyones shift that does not show ect. A managers position opened up and I decided to take the job and take a year off from school which of course turned into me not going back at all. I worked for this company for a couple of years running a great restaurant great numbers everything the company wanted. In the meantime I was watching college grads get the area manager and director of operations positions over me. The company told me to take a year off from school and when I told them I wanted to go back they said I would have to go back to asst manager level. Finally got promoted to area manager and all my restaurants were doing well and I was told I would never be promoted to a higher level without a college degree, bullshit I out preformed most in my position and unless you read my transcripts you would never know I didn't go to college. Long story short quit that company started my own and we now have a restaurant and a recruiting agency with more to come. Keep the faith and don't settle for anything less than what you want.

[Vegas Kid]

I don't agree with most of you about the availability of jobs. I think there are hundreds of jobs out there for all of you guys IF your'e willing to make some sacrifices. The biggest is location. I understand that those of you who have families may not want to pack up and move, which is cool. Another sacrifice is pay, don't expect to much at the beginning, prove yourself to the owners and they will take care of you, they always have for me. Luckily I"ll be in engineering so there are many jobs out there for me. Don't be afraid to try something new like sales where you make more as you work more.

I don't know if most of this discussion is money motivated or not, but if so swallow your pride and go make some $$.

[jeffylyte]

I agree with Vegas. The jobs are there you just need to be willing to move. Most people arent once they settle down. Ive seen it time and again. OF course they are in more technical fields such as computers and engineering.

and by the way the rules of this discussion should be obeyed for all posts. Its a shame that it has to be spelled out. I have seen more and more posts from peopl having a conniption blasting out anger for some reason or other. Just chill, dont make this board EF.com. Lets all just try and get along.

[maguilagorilla]

i agrre with vegas too, i think there are jobs out there sometimes you just gotta swallow your pride a little, ive personally been working since i was about 7yrsold never had a vacation im over 30yrs now i dont intend to stop working my goal is to retire before i hit 50yrs which i think i can do i dont have a degree,but im a hard worker and always willing to start at the bottom, which is were everyone starts, i own my own home have my own transportation,my wife going to school(im paying for it)always have money in my pocket !yeah sometimes i gotta travel maybe for acuople of weeks and leave home but its all worth it , hey big show i really hatethe situation youre no experience,no job, im ina position to hire and fire in my company and unfortunetly i look at the same thing what kinda of exp. does this guy have? is he gonna think he is untrainable because of his degree? how fast and how much time will i have to invest in him or her to get the results i want? I know it sux but get a job any job and start somewhere anywhere work hard and things come to you im not trying to preach im just saying from my personal exp. 'nuff said.

[Big Show 23]

I'm happy to see that this thread is generating such feedback.I'm even happier that the rules I stated are being adhered to.The reason I made those rules is because from my personal experience when talking about unemployment,the people who are employed are arrogant a-s-s-es who think they know it all,& act like "Hey I'm employed and your not, listen to me" I think that is the wrong attitude to have.And I've gotten some crazy advice,from going back to school to get another degree(meaning I'd have to take out another loan) and just yesterday a friend told me to try playing the stock market instead of searching for a job.What I'm saying is to by all means share thoughts and opinions but "DO NOT PREACH"

FYI this was just a general statement & was not directed at anyone

[jeffylyte]

generating more loans is not such a bad thing. my brother went back to school at 28. He was married and had a kid (cutest lil baby), and went to med school. School costs and living off of loans for 4 years left in $250,000 in debt. Aint no big deal why? cause after residency he will be rolling in it. that will be his yearly income. so if you have the desire shoot for it.

[Buddha_Red]

Hehe pride isnt the issue with me at all or i wouldnt be working retail at 32 years old.

I wear a full suit to every interview including the best buy interviews.
I respect everyones opinion but the "theres jobs if you want one" just doesnt cut it.

Im registered with every temp agency within 50 miles of here and nothing. I apply at gas stations,fast food, construction, ect and nothing.

And its a good idea on paper but its extremely hard to get a job in another town without help from someone. There are many of us that simply have no one to call if we need money or a hand.

I was unemployed for an extreme amount of time because of my skills and experience. many places think you cannot do anything else if your a tech which we all know is BS.

but do we quit and stop trying? hell no. Keep pounding the pavement and someone has to say yes one day.

I suggest having more than one resume. one that doesnt list all your education and exp for the "lower" jobs. it does scare them and who needs that.

[arthurb999]

About the good looking thing... I wouldn't hire a fat, out of shape, ugly person over a good looking fit person with the same qualifications. It;s all about the presentation.

[Vegas Kid]

The uglier the better, at least they will be concentrating on work and not which secretary they can bang.

I'd like to hire the guy from Office Space who worked in the basement.

[jeffylyte]

ill tell you a negative thing i have run across. accents. growing up in So. Louisiana I used to have a not-too-think, but noticable "Cajun" accent. That with the particular colloquialisms from that area combined so that when I went to school everybody thought I was stupid. In my line of work perceptions on your intelligence really matter, so I changed my accent to a more neutral typical southern / mississippi-louisiana-alabama accent. now i have the same problem in NY. My boss even told me to quit using the terms yall and to not to refer to people as maam and sir cause it makes me seem like a country bumpkin.

perceptions matter. thats why dressing nice, being well groomed, and good-looking are important

[jeffylyte]

luckily after spending 5 years in Amherst, Mass, I didnt pick up on any of the Boston R's, but unfortunately did gain the Sox mania. Of course that might also be cause I hate the yankees so much