Why can't I find a job???

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Little Mamma

There is no such- thing as just a- cat.

Barked: Wed Jun 10, '09 12:02pm PST


	I am struggling with the fact that no matter how many resumes or applications I put out there, it all just comes to nothing. It is so very hard to maintain a positive outlook. She has signed up with staffing agencies, applied to all kinds of places online.... IS that the way it is done now??? It seems that way but she is really not certain about this. Does anyone have any suggestions?

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Kaci- Sunshine-DG- #3 (away)

Mommy thinks i'm- adorable!

Barked: Wed Jun 10, '09 12:54pm PST


	Meow Little Mama and thank you for starting this group! I could have written your post word for word. It's not you personally although that's how it makes you feel. In the past, I never ever had any trouble finding a job, although I've never been laid off or lost a job before this. When I was laid off in Sept. 2008, I was full of confidence and got right to work looking for a new job. By the end of the second month I began to wonder what was wrong with me. First I tried networking, which has always worked for me in the past. Not this time. Like you, I've spent hours and hours at the computer on all the job boards sending out my resume. I signed up with several job agencies for both permanent and temp jobs. Nothing!!!!!!! The interviews have been few and far between. Have read all the articles on how to write good resumes and tried countless job search tips. Have redone my resume several times. Am teaching myself new computer skills. Always read job postings to see what employers want and then see if I have or can get those skills. Have sent cold resumes to big firms via their online websites. If you go to these companies in person, you can't get in to see anyone and they're downright nasty at times. The modern job search process is impersonal with little to no people contact. Heck, most of the time the companies don't even acknowledge receipt of your resume and I often feel like I'm sending it into a black hole! The whole process destroys confidence and self-worth. Others I know are going through the same thing and feel the same way. I'm now at the point where I feel like I've hit a solid brick wall and don't know how to get over it or around it. Because the economy is so bad, there are 100's and 100's of applicants for each job. Another personal negative for me is my age - I'm 59 - and no one wants to hire older workers. I am now reduced to feeling like a stupid, incompetent idiot that no one wants and will never want and get depressed off and on. Little Mama, it's not you personally. It's the economy and the system. How do we find ways around it? Any ideas are welcome! (sorry for the long post! as you'll find out, I do then to run on and on!)

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Little Mamma

There is no such- thing as just a- cat.

Barked: Wed Jun 10, '09 1:44pm PST


	Run on as much as you need Kaci!!! Mom feels you...oh yeah..... She has been thinking that maybe the best way is to just show up at a place and ask if they are hiring. However, in saying that, at her last job folks would stop by looking for work. They didn't have anything. But she would try to point them in a direction that may offer something. Sometimes she would notice a sign looking for help on the way to work, that kind of thing. Saying that...it is extremely hard to knock on doors that way . . . it is really putting yourself out there. And it also allows people to smell yourdesperation first hand. Networking SHOULD work, but nowadays those with jobs are so freaked out about losing them that it just doesn't seem to do much good anymore. She has now taken the approach that each and every resume or application is personalized for each and every job. No blanket mission statement anymore. She is just being as forthright and honest as she can shen indicating what she offers. She is checking out lots of different types of jobs too. Unconventional type stuff. She applied for a conservation ranger position her first week. Now, 5 weeks later, still nothing. At least she TRIED. It would have been one of the holy grail jobs for her....outside!!! and best of all not working only to put the almight dollar in her bosses pocket, but working with a purpose.

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Elly

It never hurts- to ask - feed me again

Barked: Thu Jun 11, '09 5:11am PST


	Hi guys, My mom doesn't have a job yet either after 9 months. But she has gotten freelance through her networking contacts - and also belongs to a few online networking groups, like Women for Hire and Spin Strategy. And she does volunteer work so she stays busy. She has also tried Elance. Maybe that would help your moms? XOXOX Elly

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Lucy Mae

Booda!!!!

Barked: Thu Jun 11, '09 8:01am PST


	Hey here Elly! Thank you for the suggestions....mom is going to check them out!!! Any and all suggestions are appreciated here!

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Lucy Mae

Booda!!!!

Barked: Thu Jun 11, '09 4:26pm PST


	Today....mom is feeling the desperation. She says she can just see the little depression monkey peering at her from the back of the computer screen... she wants to knock it on its little red butt. (her depression monkey is a bit of a baboon....only smaller, and with really really beady little eyes) she has been thinking...you know how you will say if i could do whatever i wanted, and not have to worry about the money i would do _________? right now it is ANY job, so she is thinking why not really try to find out if there ARE jobs in something that she would leap out of bed to go do every day??? Mom is a bit of a weirdo...she loves animals (thats not the weird part), she also is very interested in history & science, she has been fascinated by archaeology since waaay before indiana jones ( harrison ford just made it look sexy), she is very concerned about the environment (sorry if i offend anyone, but she is not a wack job environmentalist - more of a tree hugger type - she likes to keep it personal ). So, she is now going to spend the evening seeing what kind of things are out there in the areas in which she finds a great deal of joy. She used to say that she would be perfectly happy sitting in the basement of a museum cataloging artifacts. well...surely SOMEONE has to do that. Why not her? go mom!!! . alright then...done rambling for awhile. thank you for listening to the ravings of a middle aged woman

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Sherlock

Me, Me, Me, Me

Barked: Thu Jun 11, '09 6:39pm PST


	I'm owned by 2 indoor and somewhere around 10 outside cats! The plastics shop I worked at closed in Sept. 2007...I just finished 7 months of school that the state paid for and have about 5-6 weeks left of UE. My one teacher told me about this job listing site...it is called Indeed.com You may want to try that. I e-mailed my resume to one of the jobs listed...they actually replied back that they received it! So it is worth a shot...especially if you are going to be looking at several different types of jobs. You can put in a key search word and pick your city and state. Hope this helps!

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kaya skye

not fighting my- demons-we joined- forces

Barked: Fri Jun 12, '09 3:24pm PST


	i used to be a cook, but now that's out...can't physically do it after a series of strokes last year. not trained in anything else, and it's been years since i even did that-my own depression monkey comes with an agoraphobia ape. i was actually looking for a job as a cook, having gotten past the agoraphobia (as past it as i ever get) when i started getting chest pain and then numbness in my left arm... i'm on disability, have been for years, but i want to work and god knows i need the money...i'm allowed to work part-time and still keep my disability. it's not likely i'll ever work a full-time 40 hours a week or more job...my health doesn't allow it. but my mental health and quality of life demands i do...something. with a part-time job i would feel like a person again. i would maybe be able to afford to live somewhere that doesn't get bimonthly visits from SWAT. i could get all my cats caught up on all of their relevant shots. (they're indoor cats, so i don't necessarily get them everything...FIV, for example. but i'd like for them to be up to date on their distemper shots, for example, and they're not.) i could get my cats better toys, and maybe more cat furniture-all they have right now is a three-foot tall perch/post/cave combo. i could get them better food, too-they love their purina one, but i'd like to go to say, wellness or dick van patten. i could replace my six-year-old tennis shoes. i could get a phone line or a cell phone. i could have some self-respect. and there is a path i can take. go to michigan rehab services and get trained for a job that i can physically and emotionally handle. but to do that i need to be able to afford the unlimited ride bus pass, and i literally can't afford that expense every month. now, if i could get food stamps, i could. i'm eligible. but, in order to apply i need verification of benefits from social security--and after months of badgering them all they've done is send me a record of my earnings (when i worked) instead of a verification of the disability benefits i am now receiving. they've sent me a record of my earnings TWICE now, after multiple phone calls and online requests. it's funny in a way--but also very, very frustrating. so that's why i can't even START to get a job...yet.

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Angel Sandy

Always an Angel

Barked: Fri Jun 12, '09 4:30pm PST


	We're in the same position too. Mistress (my owner, I call her Mistress cuz she's not my first mommy) lost a job that she had for over 3 years, in November. She didn't really like it, but she stayed at it cuz she didn't want to join the line of growing unemployed people, then one day. .. BOOM! Shot down. But she didn't let it get her too down, because she didn't like the job anyway, and she really didn't like her supervisor, she misses some of her coworkers though. She's visually impaired so she's on SSI and Medicare, but of course she still has to watch the spending. Then, because she loves animals so much, she decided to go back to school at age 36! She's taking a correspondance course from Penn Foster. It's so nice she can study at home and take exams online. She's studying to be a veterinary assistant (NOT a tech, there is a difference) and she's doing really well, but she is also volunteering for Feline Rescue, a local no-kill shelter just for cats, to get experience. she's also working with Goodwill. They have job coaches that help find jobs and prepare people, esp. disabled, minorities, etc. for work. Hopefully by the time she finishes school (it's about a year, years and a half course, she's been going at it for six months) there will be a better market for Vet Assistants. A lot of people are going to staffings and temp agencies, but she has to be concerned about transportation, accomodations, etc. because of her disablility. Goodwill has been great help though, she's applied for many jobs in just the six weeks that she reopened her account! We also live in subsidized housing so the rent actually went down when she lost her job.

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Kaci- Sunshine-DG- #3 (away)

Mommy thinks i'm- adorable!

Barked: Mon Jun 15, '09 2:05pm PST


	Little Mama, have you read What Color is Your Parachute?-2009 edition? A very kind Catster friend sent me the book. In addition to the usual job hunting tips and advice, it's loaded with evaluations, charts, exercises, etc. which you do to help you find out what you really love and want to do with your life. Thanks for the info Elly! I have been to Women for Hire but not the other two websites and will check them out. Women for Hire seems to be set up for professional women, which I'm not. As a legal assistant/secretary, I fall under the radar. Sherlock, I use Indeed.com all the time. It's a megasite that searches all the national and local jobs postings and puts them in one place. Good luck with your job application! Kaya Skye, does your township or city have those senior citizen buses which transport elderly and disabled residents to places for a token fee? Is there any state aid at all available or is it a mess of red tape like the SSI? Although I know you desperately need the money, could you do volunteer work until things get straightened out with SSI? It would give you something to do . . . http://www.volunteermatch.org is a great website to start with to find out what's available in your area. In fact, I'm going to check into volunteer work myself just to keep busy! Miss Sandy Kittywhiskers (love the name!) you seem to be on the right track studying to be a veterinary assistant. You'll get to work with animals and do something you love! Good luck with your school and finding a job in your new field. I also have vision problems brought on by a torn retina (repaired) and cataract surgery in my right eye and my vision has never been the same. Now I have a cataract in my left eye too but don't want to have surgery now. Even though I have to wear glasses now, my vision is not what it used to be and it's slowed me down as far as reading and typing and sometimes I don't see the right word on first glance. This is very worrisome because I'm a legal secretary and all I do is read and type when on the job! There were all of THREE job postings for legal secretaries in my area today and I personalized my resumes and cover letters and sent them off. I'm a little underqualified for two of the jobs and way, way overqualified for the other one but keeping my fingers crossed anyway. One firm did send an email saying they received my resume. It also had the name of the human resources person and phone number which means they won't mind if I call them.