I have a bachelor’s degree in journalism. I’ve never had a job at a newspaper after college because the newspapers are all collapsing. Right now I’m a Jill-of-all-trades, doing what I can for money. I’ve actually considered everything from freelancing to trade school to stripping to pay the bills and keep food on the table–for myself and my friends who are now homeless from their job losses.

We “joke” that the silver lining is that maybe our grandparents will stop telling us stories about how bad the Great Depression was, once I tell them I’ve been in a bread line myself. Say brother, can you spare a food stamp?

I’ll keep my job, thanks, where no matter what I do it won’t cause any major disaster and where I’m not working 24 hours a day year round even on vacation.

That does not include all the “Perks”

Take note of some of our past Presidents net worth before and after they left the Oval Office and the benefits they continue to collect for the remainder of their lives.

Obama only gets 400K a year? to carry all the problems of the nation (and, pretty much the free world) on his shoulders? I’d say he (and anyone who is in that position) is underpaid. Shit, it’s not like he was just given the damned job.

He’ll probably take the shitty job in spite of the company’s reputation. As stressful as the job will be, it still won’t be as stressful as having to live off of savings at a time when we need to be squirreling more away.

FYI: For all those out there who blame poor minorities for the real-estate/mortgage melt down, lots of the people who are in foreclosure had a serious illness which put them in a financial hole. Plenty paid for health insurance which suddenly decided what ever they had was “a pre-existing condition” and wasn’t covered. So a bunch of people wound up being unable to work and in debt up to their earlobes. But socialized medicine is communism and wrong!

I know what you mean about people complaining about their vacations. I hear it enough to wonder if people are really struggling as bad as they claim. For example, my sister and husband claim money is tight but they just bought $2000 in furniture and are debating between Miami/Barbados/Jamaica for their next vacation.

I spent 2 days in Atlanta last year for my first out-of-town trip in years.

A couple of days ago, I was eating with some associates when someone began complaining about their financial situation. When he realized some of us make less than $30K, he was like “I guess I should not complain.”

Suffering is relative, I guess. Some people are living check to check, others think their world is collapsing if they can’t afford $300 jeans.

These past few years have been hell. My partner has a job that pays slightly over minimum wage–and to survive, I had to pull what I had in my retirement funds. Fortunately, the stock market was at 13.000+ when I pulled, but now the IRS wants to take a huge chunk out of what I pulled–all we have to survive on for the rest of our lives, I’m afraid.

I truly have no idea how much longer I can go on with all this worry, fear, and depression. I work as a volunteer in an organization tangentially related to the work I used to do (just to keep my hand in)–and they slip me whatever they are able to afford when they can. But this life is pure hell–and daily, daily, hope diminishes. I’m down to one meal a day–we keep the heat at 50 degrees and bundle up–we’ve moved to a bad (but cheap) neighborhood–we live primarily on pasta and cheap, canned soup.

This is not how my partner and I wanted to live out our lives. And we are in despair.

Sorry, that was actually aimed at Brianna the future high school grad. If you’re and under-grad picking out a college program, nursing and pharmacy will be a career that is always in demand. But hey, as I mentioned before, the pill peddlers are hiring and if you have a college degree you could get a job if is in something related…if you can slant your resume/interview in the right direction. I’d like to think I helped the Brotherhood/Sisterhood out. My company offers great benefits: education assistance, health club reimbursement, great medical insurance, and domestic partner benefits.

http://www.cvscaremark.com/careers
https://sjobs.brassring.com/EN/ASP/TG/cim_home.asp?partnerid=9379&siteid=37

I was making over 100k and now I had to cut back on everything. I don’t go to the movies, I’ve frozen my gym membership, I’ve canceled all my subscriptions, I schedule my appointments and errands so I can walk to where I need to go, I don’t eat out, I’m down to 2 meals and day (and lost about 12 lbs–NOT good) I don’t go out, period. Luckily, I’m debt free, but my severance is gone and I don’t qualify for unemployment, so my priorities have been food, rent and health insurance.

I’m not expecting the stimulus package to improve the economy quickly because recessions take years to cycle. So, I’ve rented my parking space and plan to rent out my spare room. For the last month, I’ve been attending job search seminars and they’ve been helpful for keeping me focused and sane. A career change might be around the corner.

Most of my friends are supportive, but if I hear one more guy complain about his vacation in Miami ending too soon… Anyway, back to the job search.

Yes there is. Stay positive, you can only be disapointed if you expect something that you never should have.

Just be smart about your career path. Things will pick up again in a few years but only if people use this time to get smart about the economy and concept of globalization or free market ideology.

I won’t submit my thesis until 2011 at the earliest. I am hoping that people will be re-hiring, by then.

Right on, Man! You are so right! America will never be the same. We are changing and not for the better. History will show that the 20th century–probably from about 1945-1970 or so, was America’s best time. I see the future of America as that of a third world country–overpopulated, most people poor, working for low wages, a wealthy upper class protected, literally and figuratively, from the hoi-polloi. I’m old now and don’t have long for this world. In my time, I was a college English professor (retired 2002) and worked for a college with a strong union. Always had job security and excellent benefit package–health and retirement incentive. That won’t happen again. Colleges are staffed more and more with part-time people who work for low wages and get no health or retirement benefits.

I go back to the 60s. I’ve always said to my friends, “Call me when the Revolution begins” because we need a lot more change in this country than Obama and stimulus packages for people who should be in prison rather than being financially rewarded.

I have about 25k in student loans as it is, which makes me kinda freak out about the idea of taking more for other types of schools.

Go to nursing school. If you or your parents can’t afford it there’s still a chance you can get grants, scholarships, or financial aid. I’m about to enroll. As someone else previously posted, you lose your job as a nurse, someone somewhere will be desperate for you. There is a wide variety of work environments: if you don’t want to work in a Doctor’s Offices, there’s Hospitals, Hospice, Home Health, Rehab, Schools etc…

I heard about certain departments getting shut down in Hospital and I’m sorry yours lost a huge chunk of staff. It sounds like they’re working with a skeleton crew. I’m in Pharmaceuticals. The drug pushers always make money.

p.s. The url attached is to a job site that my employer posts jobs on. I wanted to give my Queer Brethren (or Sistren) a shot at gainful employment.

1) My position was eliminated due to “company restructuring” 6 months ago. 2) It was the only position eliminated. 3) I made close to $100K/year. 4) I was also pissed off and hated my job, and almost quit a few times. But I held on because there was nothing else out there, and if I was fired or laid off, I would receive a severance package (worked for the company close to 6 years). I did receive a package, and filed a complaint with the government, citing I was illegally terminated. We both agreed to mediation and I received a bigger package.

It’s scary out there, have only have 5 interviews since my “lay-off”, but am less stressed, have lost some weight (which is a good thing) and actually feel good about things. Like I said, I hated going into work, and think the company is being run by a bunch of morons (I felt that way years ago), so I have to look at this as a positive thing. I doubt I’ll get anywhere near the amount of money I was getting previously, but I think that will do me a world of good, as I was living well beyond my means.

In the end, this may be exactly what I needed, to change career paths and do something that I actually love to do. I just have to find that.

Remind me of the last time I took a break for a few months and came back just in time to send out my resumes on September 10th, 2001.

I have a bachelor’s degree and heaping gobs of experience, but I can barely get an interview, even for jobs making half of what I was earning previously. My savings have dwindled away and I have only 13 weeks of unemployment remaining. After that? I’ll be the one holding the cardboard sign.