Dealing with unemployment - anyone else?

[Tuckervill]

I hope some of you all who are being so hard on Ivona take a minute to remember just how confusing it was to learn that everything you knew was wrong. We all go through that, don't we?

Yeah, and there were 27 older people standing around snickering, shaking their heads, and telling me how stupid I was, too!

Karen

[Tuckervill]

I think the thing that seems to have been lost is this thread is the main problem--there are no jobs. The crummy, low level, unskilled ones that students have always counted on for a paycheck are all filled. I might add, the better paying, skilled, white collar ones are disappearing, too.

I just checked the San Francisco Chronicle's website and there are 1,489 jobs currently listed. I didn't look at them all, so I can't judge their quality. However, it's just not true that there are NO JOBS.

11% unemployment means 89% of people are employed. (Not really, though, because that number is derived from weekly jobless claims, and some people do end up falling off the rolls because their benefits run out, and they are still unemployed.)

I worked for the Employment Security Division in Arkansas for a few years, and my mother retired from there after 20. The recession of the early '80s had worse unemployment than now, and that's when I was 18-20, and there were still jobs in every category--for the right candidates, and that's what all of this hoopla is about.

Karen

[ZenSojourner]

Seriously, no one is laughing here.

When I think of this young woman, or ANY person, becoming homeless, I just cringe.

She still has that belief in her own immortality and that makes me worry even more.

Homeless people are more likely to be the victims of crime, particularly of violent crime. Homeless women are 1250 times more likely to be raped. .0056% incidence of rape among the general population rising to 7% among the homeless. Keep in mind that those are REPORTED rates. Many rapes go unreported among the general population, and report rates are even lower among the homeless.

22% of homeless have been assaulted, compared to less than .5% of the general population for ALL violent crimes, not just assault.

Crimes against the homeless have risen 170% from 2005 to 2008. Violent crimes in particular have increased drastically, most of that increase is due to the increase in violent crime. In bad times, bad people look for scapegoats, and homeless are an obvious target. They're considered throw-away people in general. They're weak, they're vulnerable, they have nowhere to turn when they are victimized. People don't see them if they can help it. When people are invisible, crimes committed against them are invisible too. The more outlandish the appearance or behaviour, the more likely someone is to be targeted. The OP may have managed on the streets in the past, but things are much much more dangerous now.

Our economy is in the crapper and things are going to look like they're getting worse before they get better. I say "look like they're getting worse" because we've had 8 years of official government policy that downplayed, minimized, and outright hid the state of our economy, coupled with out-of-control spending for war without accountability or oversight. The amount that has been spent on the Iraq war far outstrips anything even the most liberal government would ever have considered spending on health and education. 10 to 20 billion was just LOST, they have no idea where it went. That's right, there's TEN BILLION in slop in that figure, that's how bad the accounting was for the tons of cash that was shipped to Iraq, some of which happy recipients took away by the helicopter load.

It has been official government policy to downplay the jobless rates since the recession of the Reagan years, when they stopped counting people as unemployed once their unemployment benefits ran out. Things are even worse since underemployment has become a major issue. Actual jobless rates are AT LEAST double the rates reported by government agencies.

From http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...=apllk4murp0I#

"The long-term unemployed, those who have been out of a job for more than six months, constitute 24.2 percent of the unemployed, the largest share during a recession since the Labor Department began recording data in 1948."

Unemployment rates in some European countries are topping 40%. Unemployment is up all around the globe, even in developed countries.

Things are bad now. They're only going to be worse in 5 or 6 months - remember that unemployment lags the economy by up to a year.

So running off now is only going to guarantee MORE problems later, not fewer.

As has been pointed out, CA unemployment rates are among the highest in the nation. The cost of living in the Bay area and CA in general is just astronomical. It makes far better sense for the OP to use her "punk network" contacts and the money from her security deposit to relocate. I'm sure her aunt will hold that safari for later, and if she misses her last bit of eligibility for a youth Europass, oh well. If she can manage to land a job and hold it she'll be in a better position to pay for things later.

The point being that NOW rather than later is the time to get a job, save as much as possible (which you don't get by paying $100 more for union-made shoes made in the 3rd world - when you can get union-made shoes made in the US for under $50 - http://www.buyamericanmart.com/wosomo.html).

A stint in the Peace Corp would give you a job, living expenses, relief from student loans, AND the best kind of cultural and travel opportunity - living WITH the people you are working to help.

Moving elsewhere within the US (and making the necessary modifications to your appearance - heck, wear a wig to make yourself more presentable and less extreme in your appearance, then you can keep the pink hair for off hours) is another very viable option.

People have listed LOTS of options here. Of all the suggestions made thus far, your plan - to travel to Europe on a one way ticket, which is frankly unlikely to even be possible with more countries clamping down on immigration, every one I know of requires a ROUND TRIP ticket as evidence that you aren't planning to stay - is the least likely to result in a good outcome for you.

I hope things start looking up for you soon.

[ZenSojourner]

BTW, for anyone who is interested:

http://www.peacecorps.gov/

I'm going. I'm not sure when, but I'm going. I had planned to go out of college but my ex was against it. Then I had a kid to raise, then I was in grad school, now I'm caring for an elderly parent and I'm STILL in grad school.

But eventually all that will clear away and I'm going.

[indigoiis]

The job market does suck right now.
Which makes it all the more important for anyone without a job to network, get their face out there, shake some hands, show their stuff.

Creative self marketing.
If it means a trip to develop the self some more, then go for it. Just make sure you keep a blog and send that blog address out to each and every contact on your potential employer list, so that they can check it out and see what you're up to when you're traveling.

[IvonaDestroi]

The job market does suck right now.
Which makes it all the more important for anyone without a job to network, get their face out there, shake some hands, show their stuff.

Creative self marketing.
If it means a trip to develop the self some more, then go for it. Just make sure you keep a blog and send that blog address out to each and every contact on your potential employer list, so that they can check it out and see what you're up to when you're traveling.

Wow, you know that's a really great idea. I just might do that... thanks!

[tulip]

Peace Corps: I'm fairly certain that PC folks require at least a Bachelor degree, often a Master's. Great idea if you meet those requirements, but it's also a rather long process

Farm work is a possibility, especially with the spring season. As someone else mentioned, lots of people are getting their clothes repaired instead of buying new, so you could start taking in that kind of work (I assume you sew well given your field). That would keep you in your field and keep your skills sharp.

As a dual US-EU citizen, I would advise you to get your Polish citizenship question answered definitively before you leave (if you leave). You'll need to gather up some paperwork, and that can take some time. Passports take a long time to get, and if you know anything about the EU system, there can be lots of bureaucratic hurdles to jump over. There might even be a language competency component (there was for me), so you might need to bone up on your Polish if it's rusty.

Best of luck, Ivona.

[sfa]

Peace Corps: I'm fairly certain that PC folks require at least a Bachelor degree, often a Master's. Great idea if you meet those requirements, but it's also a rather long process

A bachelors degree or masters degree will help, but isn't necessarily required. A lot depends on what your skills are and what the Peace Corps needs. These days they are looking for a lot of people with experience or skills in engineering, agriculture, construction, health care and other similar fields.

But there are a lot of other "corps" out there looking for volunteers--Americorps, Jesuit Volunteer Corps, Lutheran Volunteer Corps, etc. They all have different requirements, but most are significantly less difficult to get into than the Peace Corps, and all will give volunteers some good skills for almost any career.

[Trek420]

But there are a lot of other "corps" out there looking for volunteers--Americorps, Jesuit Volunteer Corps, Lutheran Volunteer Corps, etc. They all have different requirements, but most are significantly less difficult to get into than the Peace Corps, and all will give volunteers some good skills for almost any career.

Looking for work? New on the job market? Need work experience but also need a break from school? Take a volunteer vacation, just a few examples:

http://www.sierraclub.org/outings/national/service.asp

http://www.charityguide.org/volunteer/vacations.htm

http://www.wta.org/volunteer/vacations