[Drew68]

I've been out of work here in Denver since the first of the year. It really sucks. I never thought I'd be unemployed this long. My severence pay is gone and I can't get unemployment (in the face of cutbacks, I resigned voluntarily after being promised a generous severence package which I now regret doing). My credit cards are maxed and I've had to ask for a loan from my folks. I've lost count of how many resumes I've sent out.

I thought I would be working long before my severence pay ran out. That turned out not to be the case. It's tough out there. It is starting to take it's toll on my self-esteem. I am not used to not having any money. I am not used to not working. I've never been unemployed this long since I started working at 16. It is depressing to not be able to go out with friends to a resturaunt because I am broke. Or be able to go see a movie or enjoy a night on the town. I always had money in my bank account and now I can barely remember my ATM pin number.

Every Sunday I tell myself that something will pan out this week. Today I say the same thing. I hope this is the week. Please wish me luck!

[Da_Shrimp]

Good luck to you, mate and I hope you find something soon.

I'm just about to lose my job (next few days) and I'm not sure what to do next. I've got a mortgage and a wife to support and my car just broke down and needs £1900 worth of repairs. Bugger.

I work(ed) in the internet industry and have ASP, HTML, JavaScript, SQL Server, IIS etc and thought I was OK, but there's been a real downturn in such jobs in the last year. Things ain't looking good, to be honest.

[gcruse]

I do wish you luck. If you are over 40, you will need it. If you are over 50, welcome to Bleak Horizons.

[RightOnGOP]

Question for you: What are you willing to do? Are you willing to work only in your particular field? Have you thought about working in any other industry? If you have considered other fields, what are they? Did you work in the public or private sector? The purpose of my questions is simply to gauge what willingness there is to pursue different fields....among some of my friends and acquaintances, there is an irrational attitude that "they will find something in their field." Don't mean to get personal. On a positive note, there is more to life than money. Having your health, having good family relationships, having good friends (who understand your current situation) are all more important than whether you can go out to dinner with them, $$$, etc. I hope that you have all of these good fortunes, during this time of upheaval and later!!!

[bandlength]

i hear ya. i've been in the same boat. some advice: check to make sure your old job is not giving bad references or sounding suspicious when potential employers call in for a reference. this happened to me during the so called "good economy." i voluntarily resigned from a lucrative gov't. job in 10/98 because of the horrific fraud going on. what i didn't know is that the HR people for almost TWO YEARS were violently hanging up/sounding "suspicious" on any and all potential employers that were calling in for a reference.

needless to say, i was getting mighty discouraged as EVERY job interview i went to (probably about 60 of them that i thought were going extremely well) just dropped off the face of the earth after they started checking references!

until this day (and i am once again unemployed from a temp job), i have not had a "real job" but just sporadic temp jobs.

i had to take my last $89 and get an "agency" to investigate and eventually find out the games my old job was playing.

the post above was correct about continual education! since today's bachelor's is equivalent to the late 70's 10th grade education, you need to get a degree.

keep your chin up!

[Stentor]

i hear ya. i've been in the same boat. some advice: check to make sure your old job is not giving bad references or sounding suspicious when potential employers call in for a reference. this happened to me during the so called "good economy." i voluntarily resigned from a lucrative gov't. job in 10/98 because of the horrific fraud going on. what i didn't know is that the HR people for almost TWO YEARS were violently hanging up/sounding "suspicious" on any and all potential employers that were calling in for a reference.

Did unemployment in the 70's. I was out for three years after the free markets determined that we did not need a steel industry. On the job disputes were settled with yelling and fists. There is a certain clean quality to that.

I hate to say this but I enjoyed it. ( Had a working wife ) At least now, Jimmy f'n Carter is not in the WH. I finally took a government job. Yes, it is as pathetic as everyone suspects. If you have balls, move somewhere warm and hustle. If not, get something "secure" and learn to swallow your own vomit.

[Dave S]

My severence pay is gone and I can't get unemployment (in the face of cutbacks, I resigned voluntarily after being promised a generous severence package which I now regret doing).

I wouldnt be so sure about that. I got the ax back in 75 and I was given the opportunity to make it voluntary. I had to wait four weeks or so but they did pay unemployment. Check it out to make sure.

[Lazamataz]

I've been out of work here in Denver since the first of the year. It really sucks. I never thought I'd be unemployed this long. My severence pay is gone and I can't get unemployment (in the face of cutbacks, I resigned voluntarily after being promised a generous severence package which I now regret doing). My credit cards are maxed and I've had to ask for a loan from my folks. I've lost count of how many resumes I've sent out.

Can you program (efficiently and well) in Java?

[lodwick]

Prayers and good luck to you, and any others! Go get'em. JL

[southern rock]

I've been out of work here in Denver since the first of the year. It really sucks. I never thought I'd be unemployed this long.

I hear ya! It's going on 1 full year in the NYC area for me. The job scene is horrible up here!

[Aarchaeus]

"I've lost count of how many resumes I've sent out."

I strongly recommend for any job hunter the book "What Color Is Your Parachute - 2000" by Richard Nelson Bolles. It is an update done in year 2000 of a book which originally came out about 20 years ago. My wife bought a copy for me when I was unemployed and it was of great value to me. One thing I remember from it is about finding leads. You didn't say how you have been getting your leads, and you might already know this, but I would never have thought of it: Searching through Yellow Pages for companies that would hire for your kind of work is at least as effective (I think more so, but I am not sure I remember that correctly) as looking through newspaper help wanted ads. There are a lot of tips about the entire process of job hunting. You might find it at a library, but if you have to buy, I believe it could be money well spent.