About globalization. (I am from China.) Please don’t blame China or India for the sin of sucking jobs out of America. According to “the great doubling” theory, since 1990s, the global labor supply suddenly doubled and it will take quite a while for the world (either side of the world) to absorb the impact. Corporates are struggling, too. If they are too slow to harness the new cheap labor, they will sink. I don’t know the way out for mid-life middle-class discouraged workers. Just think this as a flood of Noah’s time. It affects us all.

But for native English speakers, you can make a living and travel the world by teaching English. Simple as that. But not so easy for families. Anyway, wish everyone good luck. Keep feith.

I worked in computers for 17 years in the DC area. After 9/11, I couldn’t get a job anywhere in the area because I didn’t have a “current” security clearance. I had held a TS/SCI a long time ago but they expire. You probably don’t know this, but there are “ALMOST” 100,000 jobs available with defense contractors all over the country. Don’t believe me? Then go to http://www.clearancejobs.com and then click on “IT” jobs on http://www.washingtonpost.com. Unfortunately, NO ONE can get these jobs because it’s taking too long to get a clearance. USA Today did a “huge” article about the problem and I WAS IN THE ARTICLE. It was published by Richard Willing on 2-14-07.

I’ve written to everybody and talked to every news media outlet to try to get them to interview me about this problem. I even told Lou Dobbs in person back in 2006 in front of TW Building in Manhattan. I have NO IDEA why NO ONE wants to interview me about this story and help people to get these jobs. It’s “beyond” human understanding!!!!

I can e-mail you the link(the archive is no longer on USA Today but I have the story) if you want.

If you(and anyone at CNN) “REALLY” want to help some people get back to work in this economy, then get back to me. And YES, I’m VERY serious!!! I even told Gerri Willis about it when I met her at a job fair at Rutgers earlier this year and she never called me back. Even after I gave her a copy of the article! What is with CNN?

David
dalstonnj@gmail.com

I worked in what was to be a temp to perm position in London, up to Feb this year, for (oh dear) Lloyds bank! What a terrible career move and yet, how was I to know I would be the first out the minute the merge with HBOS was well under way.

During my career in London, as a PA/Office Manager, I have never had a problem securing interviews or receiving calls from Recruitment agents keen to sign me up on their books. Unfortunately for me, my last three roles (over two years) have been:

a) well known Headge Fund which went under in a blaze of notoriety!

b) fairly well established IT software company which apart from offering me a wonderful salary and exciting position as ops manager, also contained the boss from hell (a man who thought it routine to yell and swear at his staff daily and was so un-PC I was often left wordless in shock!) who not only managed to oust me out, but also the majority of employees I worked with.

c) Lloyds – the rest is history!

So now I am battling with a CV which not only has a four months unemployed gap, but also has, to its detriment, a spate of job hopping. None of this can be helped, but when employees can pick and choose to the finest point, these are two aspects of a CV which will be held against one.

I have gone through the gamut of emotional responses to this dire situation – from A (positive, go getting, organised, networking, proactive, one
the ball, etc) to Z (severely depressed, after 120 plus applications; as this hits not only at my basic ability to earn but also psychologically at my very self worth). This is where unemployment is hazardous to your mental health! Not enough is made of this, but I’m sure prescriptions of anti-depressants are rapidly on the rise world-wide!

I am on unemployment benefits, but as I live alone I have found it extremely difficult just to maintain a semblance of positive thinking and cannot make ends meet…simply. It is demotivating having to sign on every two weeks, for my weekly £64, even if I can amply prove I have been looking left, right and centre for a position (lowering my expectations just to get back in the workplace).

But….I agree that one or two hours a day is enough to look. Anything more and it is just downright discouraging as you end up locating the same roles over different job search engines, and, feel more and more in a no-reply, no hope vacuum. In Sylvia Plath’s infernal “Bel Jar”.

I have rediscovered my love of art (specifically fantasy illustration) and, if I were able to move on into living solely from my creative talents (I sing too), I would.

The problem is this – you are as “empowered” as the information or resources you have AT HAND. Perhaps there are a myriad more ways I could approach this, but without knowing how, or whether self-employment is indeed feasible, one tends to get stuck doing what maybe a couple of years ago WORKED but certainly now, is kind of inappropriate given the Great Wall of China number of people in the same boat, grasping at the same roles.

I’ve just failed an interview for a role 600 (!!!!) applicants applied for – this is soul-destroying stuff. And its at times like this that ones’ friends and family of of extreme importance.

My advice is – keep active, DON’T isolate yourself, seek opportunities no matter how outlandish, meditate (this DOES help ones’s mental framework MORE than anti-depressants), and look to what this dip in your life is secretly telling you – i.e. is it time for a complete overhaul?

Good luck to everyone!!

Two stories I can share. The only time I had been unemployed during the last 40 years, was the short time when I was leaving one job for a better one. You can imagine the shock when, a few years short of 60, I got the same message that so many others are now.

I had always been one of the top performers, some described as “golden” but I had forgotten in a large organization it is not how much money you make for the company, it is more a matter of “have you made the person in the corner office look good, lately.” Over time, my many powerful patrons had died off or retired and I had neglected to cultivate many new ones while I was more focused on the bottom line.

At the time things were bleak with a mortgage, car payments and 3 kids in college. I had been wishing for more time to pursue some private interests, (careful what you wish for, you just might get it.)

After having myself a private pity party, I went back to work full time … working on a project of securing that next job. I networked; I attended outplacement clinics on modern methods of job searches, resume writing, etc., etc, etc. I also got coaching from 20-something HR types that advised me to color my hair and shave my mustache so I wouldn’t look too old. In short, this turned out to be a dry hole for me.

While I started working 8 hour days on the conventional job search, I changed directions and decided that self employment was a better route for me. Soon my work schedule expanded to 10 and 12 hour days as well as weekends. I had always worked in a way that bridged blue collar and white collar roles, troubleshooting complex equipment systems. Now I was doing it as a company of one.

Five years later, my mortgage and cars are paid off and all 3 kids were able to complete college and have good jobs. That awful event of 5 years ago was the best thing that happened to me.

A short while ago my brother got the same news. He was optimistic at first but after nearly a year of job searching he was depressed and ready to throw in the towel. I told him it was a lot like shooting baskets in basketball, only this time you are shooting from mid court; you have to take lots of shots to eventually get one in.

In order to refresh his skills and acquire new ones, he attended some college classes. This got him out of the house interacting with people again. It was a long road with more resumes written and submitted than either of us could count.

On a lark he attended a jobs fair at the college, even though he was told it was a waste of time for him, they were looking for new grads that would be available in the spring. Quite by accident he was talking with one hiring manager who had a need for someone with experience. In short, they arranged to meet after the “kids” left; they had a long talk; he was invited to the regional office for a series of interviews, he was called back for interviews with home office staff and was offered a good paying job that would not require him to relocate his family. While it is modestly less than he was making before, his reduced commuting costs make it close to a wash.

After several hundred shots, he sunk one from center court and that’s all it takes to win in this game.

Sincerely:

Irma Tenoiro

I thank the readers for contributing real information that will actually be of benefit. Moving onto the job search:

I’ve found that in submitting 15-20 online resumes every single day, and even following up by phone three days later has not done any good.

Out of the 70 or so applications I have submitted within the last week, only three places have called back, and these were for shady commission based jobs. No, thank you.

I work in my State’s Capitol, where there are nothing but jobs to be had.

All I can think to say is, ‘I used to supervise 200 plus employees. You’ve got to be kidding me.’

McDonalds here I come. I refuse to fail the biggest fight of my life. I will succeed. I hope the rest of my fellow job-seekers are as hopeful.

Taking a job “lower on the totem pole” is a reality we are facing, and I realize I will most likely need to go back to work, as well. I did have solid skills in more than one area,and have kept up my skills through volunteer/hoome office work, so it may be easier for me to find employment more quickly in an entry level field than it will be for him to find a position as a Project/Program Manager. He’s said he would accept anything that will pay more than unemployment, and that’s a good start!

We were never wealthy, but we’ve been careful to prepare for straightened circumstances. I know my garden this summer will be more than just a hobby, and the wild blackberries my kids picked for fun in summers past will be harvested for canning this year. Continued frugality should see us through, I learned a lot from my Grandparents Depression experiences. Thank you Annie, and everyone, for the ideas and comments.

I’m a career consultant and have 2 comments:

First, I understood the part about “bypassing HR” and go straight to the manager, but be cautious, as that strategy may also be hazardous. Most HR people like to control and contain the hiring process and do not like it when candidates, or their managers, “go behind their backs”. I’ve learned, in my recruiting practice, to embrace and communicate with HR, if not, it could possibly disqualify a person from consideration or strain a possible business relationship.

My second comment is an “add on” to the great advice provided:

Another approach to the job search process is to volunteer their expertise to say a City function or sub committee. This gets the person out, exposes them to new and possibly influential people, who in time, may be interested in hiring them. This suggestion provides the candidate a forum in which to share their expertise and stay sharp. In essence, free advertising!