You would think that teaching is one of the few fields that you can go into without having to worry too much about your job. You sign a year contract that states penalties that happen to you if you leave before the year is up, so you think that perhaps they want to keep you around.

/sigh....

22 year old male, recent graduate from college with a double major in computer science and mathematics. I couldnt immediately find a computer programming job in my area and was getting married, so I took the first job that paid more than minimum wage in order not to be seen as slacking off.

Side note: You know those guys who live off their wives? /hate them.

Back on track, I start teaching at a private school. This was the end of the semester here. My kids have gotten farther along in the material at this point than they had even at the end of last year with normal ranges of grades. They enjoy class for the most part.

Anyways, today is the last day of school for the year. Principal calls me into his office and says "Well, I dont have any other way to say this so here: You have been laid off due to lack of money - parents arnt paying their tuition."

How lovely. Right before christmas too? /cooler.

I ask him how long he has known this was coming and he told me that they were planning it for about 2 weeks but "the board of deacons" (private religious school.. /sigh about that too) "forbade him from telling me before the last day."

They tried to get rid of the severance package from the contract but arguing with him and then pulling out a copy of my contract finally fixed that. So much effort... and I enjoyed teaching those kids.

Anyways, here I am. 1 week till christmas, no more income meaning no real christmas spending.

Maybe theres a bright side. Wife has been bugging me to leave the school to get a programming job and I guess I was too... believing in the "1 year contract" to quit... maybe I can find one in this economy.

Anyways, I started a new acnt to post this because I enjoy posting on the DG and didnt want to be seen throwing a pity party on my real account. I just need some support. You could say its a bad day 8..(

I think a lot of people here can relate to your situation. I was laid off a few years ago so I know how emotionally stressful that is. I did not like my job though, so after I got over the initial shock, I welcomed the chance to look at my options. Money is not everything. You can get by if you make adjustments and all you really need to do *right now* is get by. What's important is that you look at this from the aspect that it can lead to new and positive changes for you. If this hadn't happened, you might have gotten comfortable in that job, but not exactly happy, driven or feeling like you were doing everything that you set out to do when you were in college or planning your future with your wife. Now you have the chance to do that.

When I was laid off, I talked to a lot of people: friends, family, old contacts I used to work with and even career advisors from the university I graduated from. That helped me to decide the path I wanted to take from that day forward. I am 100 x happier now than I was before.

So, just stay positive and look at this as an opportunity rather than an earth shattering set back. And don't don't don't burn bridges, even if you want to tell those people to GTH. Also, don't get to involved in gaming while you're laid off. You don't want to waste the days you need to be looking for a new job, fixing up the house, etc. by playing a game instead.

Good luck

P.S. I just wanted to add that It's all about who you know too. Talk to everyone, old friends, family, etc. Tell people you're looking for something new. You never know, your friends mother's sister daughters boyfriend might have a job opening somewhere.

/hugs!!!

Hope this all works out for you!!

i spent 9 months unemployed in 2002. It does suck, and it's hard to get motivated sometimes, but trust me, when you get back to work, if it's in 12 days or 12 months, it's all forgotten.

I just spent i dunno how long typing a long post of encouragement and tips and suggestions and been there-done that.... then deleted it. You're gonna get enough 'you should's' and 'try this' and 'do/don't do's' to make your head spin... especially if you're laid off more than a few weeks.

so none of that, good luck, i feel ya (got laid off 2 weeks after xmas), hope you find something soon!

/big hugs

I won't say I know what you're feeling because I don't, but I will tell you stop by anytime and ask for more hugs...druids like hugging things. =)

Good luck!

Damn *hugs*

I can only begin to imagine how you feel getting laid off, especially at a time like this.
It took me the best part of 2 years to find a job, so I can understand the difficulty.

FWIW I'm probably not far behind, working for a charitable organisation with an "anarchistic?" culture which just can't cope with the discipline required by our funders nowadays. I expect we'll lose our funding within 6 months, and fold within 12.

Hang in there mate.

23, comp sci/math major as well. I was unemployed between graduation (May 2002) and this October. Fortunately I don't have a lot of expenses, so I've had enough money to live off of, but it was starting to run out towards the end. There were jobs in the area, but EVERYONE seemed to want only people that had actual experience. Of course, you have to get a job first to get that experience....

Anyway, suddenly a friend of mine got me a decent web development position (the job he was leaving), and now everything is working out just fine. The company seems very stable, and the project I've been assigned to doesn't look like it'll ever end, heh. Best of all, it's one of the few programming jobs where I'm only expected to work 40 hours a week. My boss tells me not to work so hard. :) There were even a couple other job possibilities that opened up at the same time.

Don't give up, the jobs are out there.

I know it's a painful thing. Been through it several times. Lots of times with teachers it's a senority thing. You might be gods gift to your subject, but if someone has been there longer, they stay and you go.

Don't let your pride trap you into a position you shouldn't be in. One reason people partner up is so that they're there to encourage and support one another in the bad times, and the good. So my advice is, look for a good job, don't just rush into something because of your pride about not letting your wife support you.

Good luck to you! Oh, btw with your experience and degrees, you might want to think about looking into teaching at a place that teaches classes to adults professionally. Students usually pay around $2500 for a week long class. I used to do that on the side. Back before the dot com era bust, it paid quite well.

I feel your pain I got laid off the day before thanksgiving last year. took me till october to find work and that job is working me 2 weeks on 2 weeks off until I eventually get hired on permanent. It blows getting laid off especially when you are doing a job you like. I cried like a baby when I got laid off but I waited till I got in my car to drove home to do it. /HUGGLES needsahug

Well want to hear something ironic? Today after being laid off for over 2 months; I got a call from my Union Electrical Apprenticeship that there was a "Short Call" waiting for me. A "Short Call" is a maximum 2 week/80 hour job that I can go out on without forfeiting my number on the out of work books. The irony is I have been off work for 2 months and, this is the holiday season and I finally get work. Of course I took the job but, I'm not too happy that I'm going to be missing some time I would normally take off if I was working full time. Also my sister just arrived from California with her husband and 2 kids. There goes my quality time I can spend with them. I guess it's a little different being in construction you can’t really count on as much job security as in other professions. Sounds like you have the education to find a good job and, it also sound like economists are forecasting some good economic growth in the next year. I hope this is true and, we both can get more permanent jobs soon. Good Luck.

With a husband in construction I feel you pain. He was laid off shortly after 9/11 and was out of work the good part of the next 18 months. Worked for 9 months and at this point has been out of work another 6 weeks. 3rd holiday season in a row that we could not get the kids what they really wanted as holiday presents, but they are both little troopers luckily. Hoping one day this dam economy picks up and they can get what they deserve for a change.

*hugs* Just think it can't get any worse....

An Update:

It is now been over a month that I have been out of work. I have no job, no prospects, and even though I am applying everywhere I can think of in my local area - I have gotten nothing but "sorry, but we are after someone who..."

My wife just found out about 20 minutes ago that she is not being offered a teaching contract for her school next year - so in a very short time we will have nothing.

Going to have to take a minwage job and just look for work when I have a free chance.

Right now I just need someone to say "It will get better" because at this moment - life sucks.

It will get better. Or at least different. I wish I could say it will get better quickly, but I can't. My husband has been looking for work for over 2 years now. So much for the tax cuts spurring the job market.

Heads are rolling in my company atm.
Too fast expansion and some not thoroughly thought out recruiting have put us on a funky $$$ brink and some people have had to be set free. 40 to be more exact.
Decapitations began monday.
I'm still wondering when my time will come, and why it hasn't already.
I'm kinda hoping I'll get the boot, got a better option out there waiting for me and being set free is always better than escaping. Hello compensation cheque (for a nice chunk also).

Still, sorry for semi-derailing.

Hope things look out better for you. Keep those spirits up. :)

Good luck :) I won't say it's not hard... it took me about 1.5 years to find a job. (However I did have the disadvantage of it being my first full time job.) Just hang in there and keep your spirits high. It may take some time, but the important thing is you'll get there in the end.

A min wage job doesn't seem such a bad idea either... at least you can tell prospective employers that you're still doing something useful and not sitting about playing EQ ;) Apart from that there's always the possibility of getting something simple in a decent company and moving up the food chain as you prove yourself to em.

<< HUGGS >>
My husband was out of work for 2 years, while I was going through school. We were pretty well broke, our car was completely written off, our credit cards were maxxed out things looked pretty bad for a while - we even moved in with his mom to save money!

Things always get better when they seem the worst. I ended up getting recruited right out of University BSc. CIS, 2 year contract with IBM but I never would have found the job had I not been willing to keep my eyes open for something that I would have never thought of doing...I ended up having to move cities, but all in all it was worth it. My husband got a job a couple of months ago (finnaly :p) and we are looking better than ever.

Keep your chin up! it WILL get better..you can have as many hugs as you need!

Bear hugs for you and your wife. Things will get better. Hang in there and be each other's rocks.

Yet Another Update

I have been doing nothing but waking up at 8am each day, looking through the online newspapers for every major city/state in the US, and applying to jobs I am even halfway qualified for. Have gotten no answers back from the hundreds of applications I have sent off except "Sorry, but you are not quite what..."

Still looking, not giving up hope. It takes a while is all right?

As a side note, if anyone has knowledge of a job for an entry level computer programmer (c++,C, VC++, VC.NET, Oracle 8-9i) - PM it to me! Willing to move anywhere in the US and out even. I havent given up any hope except for the hope that I will find a job in my geographic area.

Well, I wish that I could offer you encouragement. But I can not.

I have seen IT friends with degrees and multiple certifications layed off or doing help desk.

I myself, have switched careers.

Most IT jobs only need a computer, internet connection, and a phone. And there are a million people in India and Pakistan that are willing to do what you do for far far less than what you are charging your employer here in the US.

If you are not handling physical product or custom commercial packages or onsite work, your future outlook is dim in IT. The whole industry's outlook is, that is. That is if you live in the US.

I don't care how smart you are(whether you got just an A+ or a PhD), there is a programmer in India with a PhD(or more) in Computer Science willing to do your work for you, for a fraction of the cost.

Just ask yourself this question, "could I do what I do from home?" If the answer is yes, I suggest changing what you do.

"move anywhere in the US and out even."
I have friends whose families are in India. If your skills are portable, the standard of living is quite nice there, relatively speaking. A person with a school teacher salary(ie educated) can afford a nice home in the country, cars, and servants(yes, that is more than one).

Sure that noone cares but I can't talk to anyone about it except "anonymous" posts here. =P

Its now march 1... about 2.5 months since was laid off. I have yet to find a job. I apply to about 6-10 jobs a day, have gotten 2 callbacks total and those didnt go exactly great.

I have 2 months to find a job, then we have no money and no home... I am going out of my mind....

Of course we care...

Keep trying! Go for anything if it's getting desperate... stack shelves while you're looking for something better. It'll help with the applications anyway, as it proves to them that you're still active and keen to get back to it.
(That's why it took so long to find a job myself.. I was too determined to jump straight into IT work)

Best of luck mate..

I really feel for you. Best you can do is keep trying and hope for the best. Do you have relatives who can help you out in the meantime? And shouldn't unemployment carry you for more than 5 months? Federal extended benefits and all?

Don't pass up lesser jobs just to keep you going until you find something better if need be. IE, maybe flip some burgers, get a job at a gas station, that kind of thing. Its usually relatively easy to get those kinds of jobs. (Unless I am now completely out of touch?)

I spent 6 years getting my first degree (MSci), spent a year and a half searching for a job, gave up and decided to reschool myself. I'll have my second degree (bachelor with option for masters later in a profession study) some months before I turn thirty. Yay.

Ironically, had I lived in the US, I would have had no problem getting a job with my first degree. Over here, my education turned out to be so rare that nobody knows its uses.

Well, I haven't got any particular advice, but I do offer my sympathy. :\

/hug

Sending good thoughts your way, I'm really hoping that you get some good news soon. Keep us posted because we do care.

I got laid off last summer! I couldn't beleive the stress of it. Got myself a nice ulsur out of it too. I was very lucky to have a job lined up before my last day. Company I got laid off from gave us 1 year notice and with my salary/years of service I got 11 months severance. So I was one of the lucky ones. Even at that the stress, panic attacks etc were insane. I had never once been faced with not having a job. I'm a UNIX admin who does very large scale unix systems and sans. (E10k, P/690's etc..). I had the issue of being way way overqualified for everything I applied for. Even my current employer knows that as soon as the job market gets better I lilkely won't stay. I found the job I'm doing now 4 days before my last day of getting laid off. That was after a year of searching and I ended up taking the first job offer that came along at the end.

So here I am now managing a handfull of low end unix boxes in a small EMC. I am bored out of my mind having come from mananging 450+ UNIX hosts and over 300TB of storage between EMC and Shark. So anyway, things do seem to be picking up. I got a call for an interview at M.I.T. that is more my pace. Wish me luck =D.

This outsourcing of America has me really ticked off. Not to mention those left behind (while employed) are expected to work insane hours and deal with an amazing amount of crap from upper management. While we're at least making money I sometimes feel being unemployed would be less stressful =/

EQ has a nice escape. Instead of going into fits of panic in the evenings while trying to watch tv or something lame it occupied my freetime. Spending all day every day for a year looking a job it was nice to pick up eq for a few hours in the evenings.

Hey Trevize, sounds like we have similar backgrounds.

Yes, the outsourcing stuff really needs to stop. And I know just the thing for it.... a Global minimum wage.

An interesting idea I heard about the oursourcing idea and stopping it was using the % of people used (contracted or employed) as a bases for determining if a company was US based or foreign based. Imagine if you will "Giant US Corp" that sends 50% or more of the work oversees is no longer considered a "US Company" at that point. Then all it's products are labeled as foreign and are subject to an import tax. =D.

Would be funny to see. Coke! A Chinese Bottling Company. Or Microsoft, an Indian Software Firm. Etc. =P Then slap a big ol' import tax on everything they sell and watch their stock and share plummet thus giving way for new competition to open up with US based companies.

I am sorry to hear about your situation. If you are still willing to move we have 5 different contracting (indeffinet length) here in Madison, WI. We have needs for 2 Java people, 1 Oracle/C person, 1 c/perl person, and one person like me, a jack-of-all-trades (c,php,perl,relational databases, java,...). Send me your resume and I'll get it to my team (kiki99@tds.net).

If you're unemployed and without income contracting is about the only option soemtimes......

But I must take issue with the recent contracting trend. No one HIRES, they all have this "long term contracting deal". No health benefits, no vacation, no moving costs, no commitment. So, now there is no stability in the idea that you "work for a company". You are a temp contractor that they can toss out with the trash without notice with no responsiblity to the people at all.

IMO, if a company wants me to work for them and for me to give it "my all" and commit to the long term betterment of their company, I certainly expect the same in return. If they are unwilling to commit to me why should I commit to them? Big business has taught me a disturbing lesson. That is: I have complete and total faith that the company will do whatever is best for the CEO and stock holders to make more money "IN THE SHORT TERM". They don't care who they screw, lie to, fire, or destroy to do it. They look out for 1 thing and 1 thing only. THEMSELVES. I trust them completely in this reguard. So I have learned from them very well. I do what is BEST for me and only me. If that means taking a contract job for the maximum dollar I can for the short term, so be it. But you bet your ass I'm OUT THE DOOR WITHOUT NOTICE if a higher contract comes my way or *gasp* a full time perm job offer. I'm looking out for #1 (ME!). They can fire me without notice so I can quit without notifce. Screw this 2 week bull****. If they don't like it they can burn in hell with all the other crocked CEO's out there. I really don't care any longer about the long term viability of the companies I work for. They don't! So why the hell should I! I only care about one thing. My pay check in the short term. Everything else is secondary.

Please help me God get me into M.I.T.! =D Education is where it's at! Long term stability, thinking ahead and people that actually care what is happening next month, next year and the next 10 years. My work attitude is so piss poor with coperate America at this point I could care less if the whole thing just gets outsourced to India. Hell they're welcome to this daily crap our directors and CEO's spew out daily.

Yes I had a bad day. I feel much better now! Thanks =D

Yeah, just try getting health insurance on your own these days. If you've ever had any illness, no matter whether or not it is resolved and not an issue any longer, you'll be denied individual coverage.

I had to go into my state's high risk pool and pay $525 per month just for myself. Even though I've got nothing that can't be treated with aspirin. Health insurance companies are just cherry picking individual coverage.

I heard some states are refusing to do business with American companies that are outsourcing. I think that is a brilliant way to get them to stop. Just make sure the Feds and municipalities do it as well.

I dont like leaving things "hanging" so - a final update for me.

I have been out of work since december. Before a week ago, I got called on a phone interview about once every 1.5 months (like a total of 3-4).

In the last week, I have been on 3 real job interviews, have 2 or so new messages each day with people trying to interview me (wants me to come in, stay in hotel, etc), and email messages out the wazoo.

I dont really believe in a god... sometimes things happen that make me question this. I was a few days away of .. doing something my wife and family might regret. I was depressed beyond anything ever, and at this point we had about a week left before me and my wife had nowhere to go. It finally got to the point where about gave up. And right then everything seemed to turn around.

In the last week, I have been driving to interviews sometimes 8+ hours a day. I have also been offered 2 nice positions (making about twice what I was as a teacher) - one in a teaching position, another in the IT field. An honest to god "dot com" company that lived - and is clearing 6-8million in profit a year (with about 10-12 employees).

About 30 minutes ago we got the final problems with the job offer hammered out and they welcomed me (via phone) to their company. Called, emailed, and poked wife until she found out about it. We will be moving there in about a week.

I dont wanna think what would have happened if this didnt "come along" but the timing on it was miraculous. Its funny. Now I have to call back 5-6 companies (and email tons) saying that I have accepted a position and am not considering other work now (yet). I can tell you one thing though - I understand fully how bad the job market is right now and 100% appreciate this job.

PS: Before someone posts a warning about "dotcoms" - last month was their best month ever, and they are growing about 50% every 6 months [in profit heh]

I am just happy at the moment. My wife is happy - she can try that whole "do wifely thing while husband works" philosophy (at least for a while). The position doesnt pay well enough to consider this forever (yet) but we already have a budget worked out to make sure that it works for a long long time. So. Grats me. Almost jumping up and down. havent felt this good since I was a kid and I didnt know how the "real world" worked. Having trouble ending this post so sticking on a "WOOWOO" will do it.

Damm that's good to hear. Congratulations and good luck for the future :o

Yay! /hug!

Horray! I'm glad the job market is turning around some. I hope my sister lands a job soon. :\

Big mucho congratulations! My hubby is approaching his 3rd year of unemployment. Thankfully we do fine financially without his income, but as you pointed out, there's more than money which is affected. He has his bouts of not being terribly happy about the situation. I am happy with him being a stay at home 'dad' (we have no children, only dogs), but really, what I would like is for him to be happy. The no job thing is really hard on him.

I'm very glad to hear your luck turned around for you at a critical moment in your emotional state.

My hubby is approaching his 3rd year of unemployment.

What kind of job is your husband looking for? Are there some significant restrictions (ie, only looking for work in a certain location...etc)? What qualifications does he have (experience, schooling...etc)?

He has an MSEE and 3 years experience designing control systems for clean rooms, plus 5 years experience writing drivers for PC system peripherals. The big issue is that we're not willing to move. We live in "Silicon Forest" which has experienced the highest number of layoffs anywhere in the country on a per capita basis. Two months ago, unemployment in the high tech sector topped 11%, which means the few jobs he has seen advertised are being filled by people with far more experience than he has.

Our unwillingness to move stems from a variety of issues, for one, our house is fully paid for (as are both cars). For another, all of both of our families are in this area. And we don't need the money from his income, so he can wait this out. But as needsahug pointed out, often the most damaging part of unemployment is mental/emotional, not just financial. He could never get another job in his life and we'd do okay financially, it's the ego-bashing that's the hardest part for us (which, honestly, makes us pretty lucky compared to most).

He started his own business doing home computer/small office network/computer/peripheral repair/troubleshooting/fixing/setting up etc. He hasn't done any advertising, but he does have some very good repeat clients who have, near as I can tell, simply given up on trying to do anything themselves. One of his best clients has simply resorted to telling him what they want, giving him a price range, telling him to buy whatever it is, install it and make it work. Then they break it by twiddling with it, and he goes back to fix it. *shrug* I'd be willing to pay someone to come troubleshoot my machine, I don't know that much about computers and it beats the heck outta sitting on hold for 5 hours only to be told to do the things I"ve already attempted to do, to no avail. Or worse yet, having to ship the thing back.

But that's off subject. He had a series of interviews for one company recently. At the last interview, the interviewer asked him a series of illegal questions (did he have kids, why not, does he want to, why not, how much money did his home business make in the previous 12 months etc). When hubby asked at interview #2 what the salary range was of the job he was interviewing for, the interviewer told him "A lot more than you're making now, har har". I told hubby screw it, take his name off the list, that he didn't want to work for a company like that (the job was managerial, offering 60k per year, and involved 3-4 months per year of last minute, unplanned travel to the pac rim countries).

The upside is that he's reporting more and more advertisements in the paper and on the boards/usergroups, so hopefully he can find something decent fairly soon. Or at least get a few interviews to help with the ego-busting. We have a lot of friends around here in the same situation, who have been without work long enough that they're no longer on unemployment (and technically don't add into the 'unemployment' statistics...once your benefits run out, you're no longer counted as unemployed).

I do feel for people who are having a hard time finding stuff. I count my blessings everyday that we're lucky enough to not have to worry financially.

Needsahug Congrats, thats awesome news

/big huge welcome back to the grind!! and a paycheque!

Woohoo! Congrats :D

It's really cool to see a happy ending to this saga.

/cheer
/dance

That is wonderful news Needsahug! I'm so happy for you :). Best wishes in the new position. I hope you and your wife enjoy your new city as well.