The Personally Discovered Joys of Being Unemployed

[Auld Phart]

You've got 20+ years experience with computers, and you can't find a job?


Check with Best Buy, other stores that sell computers. Your knowledge in the field would put you on the floor with no problem.

Don't want that?

Start your own company, computer repair, analyst, etc..

Or get in with an established company doing that kind of work.

they pay minimum wage, maybe a dollar more.

and?

 

[Tommy Tainant]

Losing your job can be a nightmare and it can be a while before you get back to where you were. My employer went under a few years ago because they couldnt get credit ahead of our biggest trading period. Took me 6 months to get back into anything and about 4 years to get back to the income level. The depression allowed employers to reduce wage levels and, all in all it worked out nicely for them.
Its still an employers market and I suppose it should be because they have paid for it.

Good luck Jim, dont take notice of a few internet trolls. Remember,they can be anything they want on the net.

 

[koshergrl]

Losing your job can be a nightmare and it can be a while before you get back to where you were. My employer went under a few years ago because they couldnt get credit ahead of our biggest trading period. Took me 6 months to get back into anything and about 4 years to get back to the income level. The depression allowed employers to reduce wage levels and, all in all it worked out nicely for them.
Its still an employers market and I suppose it should be because they have paid for it.

Good luck Jim, dont take notice of a few internet trolls. Remember,they can be anything they want on the net.

Says the socialist "British" internet troll....

 

[charwin95]

I hear you. A while ago I was updating my profile here and I realized I am not really a software engineer any more, since I havent had a job in two years or a nibble for one in about a month. So I am now trying to start my own business, we'll see. Most new businesses fail, about 80-% of them within the first two years. Ijust need to make it till retirement.

If young people are naturally liberals, as Churchill said, and us old farts get abandoned by conservatives, then what is left other than for the conservative movement to lose BOTH the young and the old generations?

Conservatism today does not really stand for anything other than whoring for the corporations. The old social issues have all been losers and most of them admit now that they knew this and just played the game to get the votes.

We need a new opposition party to the Democrats, one that embraces traditional morality and a strong defense posture while at the same time believes in compassionate economic policies for everyone, and not just conservatives.

Believe it or not, your main problem is the gap between now and your last job. Personnel people tend to favor stealing somebody from another company to hiring somebody on the outs. When I've interviewed with a new company, that's the first puzzled look I get...."what about between July and February of last year"? So I invented a company of my own (used alarm system equipment) to cover the employment gaps....total bullshit but I appeared motivated to earn. If they ask about your fake business tell them you sell on Craigslist...No potential employer has ever challenged me on it but I've always had well-rehearsed answers if they had.

Good point. I always ask that *gap* everytime during interviews. I don't run my business anymore but my son is now my CEO. There are times when we are eating lunch or dinner......... and this subject comes up. I interviewed this guy with all the qualification but he has not worked for 1, 2, or 3 years.
I suggest you better comes up with a good explanation and 2 or 3 sentences added to your resume why you were off for 2 years might help.

 

[koshergrl]

What a bum

Lol, I have worked for 42 straight years until I slipped TWO discs in my back.

IF you think that makes me a bum, you are a moron.

Wait, I thought your company downsized or something.

 

[bodecea]

What is conservatism supposed to *offer* you?

Offer me? Conservatism is supposed to be nationalistic, and patriotic, right?

I am a veteran who spent years gfoing to night school so I could get into software engineering, and all that conservatives are SUPPOSED to do is make sure that Americans get top priority in hiring here in America.

Why is that so hard to squeeze through your ideological brain cell?

I dont want you to give me money or even a job. I can find those myself and have for decades.

I just want the LAWS ENFORCED that prevent the importation of CHEAP LABOR.

But no, you morons are throwing the Middle Class under the bus in the pursuit of corporate cash.

So to hell with every damned one of you morons who have no commitment to other Americans being able to provide for themselves, dimwit.

What do you call millions of illegals crossing from Mexico most of whom want to make a better life for themselves obviously at the expense of those who are already US citizens. These illegals may not be looking to 'steal' your job....whatever the **** that really is, but they are standing on street corners by the dozens willing to take the bread out of the ******* carpet layer's families mouths if they get a chance. That legal carpet layer is just trying to work hard to make an honest living. Maybe he's a relative of yours.
BTW. Which political party is encouraging millions of illegals to flood into the country in the hope that most of them will someday vote LIB?
Which political party is trying to stop this from happening?
You REALLY ought to take your head out of your ass pal.
Like seriously!
It's become very apparent why you are jobless and broke. You're ******* stupid!

What people are hiring illegals under the table to save money? What political party do they support?

 

[Never3ndr]

None ofthem are positive, but only the kind of joys like the joy of discovering that your spare tire is as flat as your new flat on a cold rainy night on the interstate.

I have had the joy of learning how irrelevant I am. Apparently our society does not need 58 year old software engineers with 20+ years of experience if the corrporations can have 23 year old 'geniuses' right out of Hyderabad for half the pay.

I have had the joy of discovering that my cat is losing his little kitty cat mind.

I have had the joy of learning that my conservative friends think I am being lazy because I cannot magically force software companies to hire me.

I have had the joy of learning that 'cabin fever' is not just a movie plot device.

But there are some real good things so far.

My wife and I have learned what is really needed as we slashed our budget of every item and expense we can do without. This is how consumer economies are destroyed.

We have also learned that we could consolidate much of our debt and reduce our monthly bills.

I have learned how to tell myself 'no', to everything from stopping on the way home to grab a bite at a local restaurant after chasing down items on a Honey-Do list to getting that new computer that is so fast. Again, not good for the economy, but it can no longer be helped.

I have also seen a glimpse of our 'jobless economy' in the not too distant future, and it sucks. Royally sucks. I have not been so angry in all my life and let me tell you Republicans something you can take to the bank; the voter rage that is coming if your party continues to push Free Trade idiocy is going to be like a Tsunami.

Sanders is only the ocean receding, not the real wave, trust me on this.

If you really cannot find a job with 20+ years of experience in software engineering...I'm going to go ahead and say you are probably too spoiled. Either you are unwilling to move, unwilling to take a pay cut in whatever your previous salary range was, or unwilling to look outside of the specific software / programming language you are comfortable with to find a job. You literally have a pick of the field in anything from looking both in America and worldwide for one of the highest marketable skills in our modern society. You can do anything from designing applications, working on modules, coding OS's, information security, database / application maintenance, etc. You have fields that desire this ranging from more traditional companies (Microsoft, IBM) to newer companies (Google, Apple...although I can speak from experience that Google is hyper competitive), to startups, to working for the government who is looking to focus more and more on the Cyber component to the DoD and to government agencies in general, to working in-house for bigger corporations that maintain their own tech personnel (like most financial firms for instance) to newer fields like game design / development. To top all of this off, you can even look outside of actually continuing your job and can look towards highly sought after teaching positions anywhere from companies specifically marketing themselves to teach to universities to schools. Literally you have the job skill and experience to have the world as your oyster. If you cannot find a job the problem is with your unwillingness to move outside of your comfort zone (in your unemployment, how many applications have you developed on different platforms to remain relevant, have you increased your programming language knowledge...like learning Python, how many seminars have you attended and how much are you using social media to market yourself, like on linkedin?). I can, 100% guarantee that I can find jobs that you could apply to within 60 seconds of posting this. How many applications have you sent out a week? More than 10? More than 20? I can tell you that your skills are really wanted, in America, and abroad.

You are unemployed out of choice rather than necessity.

 

[koshergrl]

Did he get fired, or did he quit? I thought he just lost his job but now he's saying he slipped discs..in which case, is he capable of doing the job now?

Bet he's applying for disability.

 

[Tommy Tainant]

Did he get fired, or did he quit? I thought he just lost his job but now he's saying he slipped discs..in which case, is he capable of doing the job now?

Bet he's applying for disability.

What a hateful individual you are. You seem to be enjoying his problem. I imagine that you would have been knitting in front of the guillotine.

 

[koshergrl]

Did he get fired, or did he quit? I thought he just lost his job but now he's saying he slipped discs..in which case, is he capable of doing the job now?

Bet he's applying for disability.

What a hateful individual you are. You seem to be enjoying his problem. I imagine that you would have been knitting in front of the guillotine.

No, that would have been you. I would have been smuggling people out and protecting them from the mob.

 

[Tommy Tainant]

Did he get fired, or did he quit? I thought he just lost his job but now he's saying he slipped discs..in which case, is he capable of doing the job now?

Bet he's applying for disability.

What a hateful individual you are. You seem to be enjoying his problem. I imagine that you would have been knitting in front of the guillotine.

No, that would have been you. I would have been smuggling people out and protecting them from the mob.

Lol, you would have left them on the blocks and told them that they should help themselves - not expect handouts from hard working folks.

 

[Care4all]

Have you looked into contracting through a job shop like Volt or Manpower?

I have accounts in about a dozen different employment search sites like Monster and have used head hunters as well.

Theyhave jobs, just not jobs for 58 year olds just coming off of two years of disability and surgery.

Back in the 1990s getting hired was no problem, but then again, we had a huge economy and less than a million H!-Bs here competing with us for jobs and willing to take 75% of average pay.

we've been through a similar situation but 10 years later have now adjusted to living on $100k less a year than we were making when the two of us were both working.... we were down to making zero a year when the hubby lost his job too, with a $1550 dollar a month mortgage payment and $700 a month for our COBRA payment for health care...learned all about cutting back, consolidating, down sizing, no more vacations to the Caribbean or Hawaii, no more eating out like we once did, no more going to the movies, no more new clothes on a whim....you name it, we eventually had to cut it out of our lives....just to survive....but then we made some good moves...we sold our home in Mass at a profit, left expensive Massachusetts, bought a smaller home in Maine on the beautiful coast with the profit from the sale of our home in Mass, owned both cars outright and kept them for 12 years each, so we had a long time with no car payments, hubby took a job in Maine making half what he was making in Massachusetts, primarily for the health care coverage and I started a small internet business to supplement his income.... we are getting 'by' better than we did when it first all happened and truly became aware of how much we wasted of our money when we both had good jobs! Some great changes had to be made, but we are so much happier now with our simpler life in this beautiful region, than what it was like when we both had good jobs and were part of the rat race....it took some struggling periods to truly wake us up to the struggles 'the poor'/'the jobless' go through....we were lucky to be able to buy this home outright or we would still be struggling with what Matt had to settle for in the job arena if it were not for us owning our home.... sigh....

Sit down with your wife and consider what moves you can make that don't necessarily rely on you finding a good job again.... I know that may be hard to swallow, but it probably won't get easier until you make some MAJOR changes, like selling your home and down sizing.... and moving to an area with lower cost of living.

We were never able to have kids, so it was easier for us.

 

[koshergrl]

Did he get fired, or did he quit? I thought he just lost his job but now he's saying he slipped discs..in which case, is he capable of doing the job now?

Bet he's applying for disability.

What a hateful individual you are. You seem to be enjoying his problem. I imagine that you would have been knitting in front of the guillotine.

No, that would have been you. I would have been smuggling people out and protecting them from the mob.

Lol, you would have left them on the blocks and told them that they should help themselves - not expect handouts from hard working folks.

I've never said that hard working folks should deny the needy. Ever.

I've said it isn't the job of the feds to help the needy. There's a difference, but as an entitlement whore, you wouldn't understand that.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

What people are hiring illegals under the table to save money? What political party do they support?

You know that is dumb?...right?...wait...no you don't...never mind.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

we've been through a similar situation but 10 years later have now adjusted to living on $100k less a year than we were making when the two of us were both working.... we were down to making zero a year when the hubby lost his job too, with a $1550 dollar a month mortgage payment and $700 a month for our COBRA payment for health care...learned all about cutting back, consolidating, down sizing, no more vacations to the Caribbean or Hawaii, no more eating out like we once did, no more going to the movies, no more new clothes on a whim....you name it, we eventually had to cut it out of our lives....just to survive....but then we made some good moves...we sold our home in Mass at a profit, left expensive Massachusetts, bought a smaller home in Maine on the beautiful coast with the profit from the sale of our home in Mass, owned both cars outright and kept them for 12 years each, so we had a long time with no car payments, hubby took a job in Maine making half what he was making in Massachusetts, primarily for the health care coverage and I started a small internet business to supplement his income.... we are getting 'by' better than we did when it first all happened and truly became aware of how much we wasted of our money when we both had good jobs! Some great changes had to be made, but we are so much happier now with our simpler life in this beautiful region, than what it was like when we both had good jobs and were part of the rat race....it took some struggling periods to truly wake us up to the struggles 'the poor'/'the jobless' go through....we were lucky to be able to buy this home outright or we would still be struggling with what Matt had to settle for in the job arena if it were not for us owning our home.... sigh....

Sit down with your wife and consider what moves you can make that don't necessarily rely on you finding a good job again.... I know that may be hard to swallow, but it probably won't get easier until you make some MAJOR changes, like selling your home and down sizing.... and moving to an area with lower cost of living.

We were never able to have kids, so it was easier for us.

His story, your story, my story....is the NEW story of America.
It is getting worse every year. Underemployment is a far greater problem than unemployment.
Since 2009, after the crash, the top 7% are making 33% more income in that time period. There was no economic crash for the rich...they are doing BETTER now.
Democrat President...Obama...Hope and Change? Surely he will do something...
Yeah right. They got $4 Trillion in assistance and Trillions more in free loans. Did you get your mortgage paid for you while your hubby lost his job? Any free loans lately? And congressional members doing you favors?
No...but they got all that after 2008. And more.
Welcome to the NEW America. Plutocratic Corporatocracy.
Their newest candidate will be wearing a dress to the White House.

 

[JimBowie1958]

we've been through a similar situation but 10 years later have now adjusted to living on $100k less a year than we were making when the two of us were both working.... we were down to making zero a year when the hubby lost his job too, with a $1550 dollar a month mortgage payment and $700 a month for our COBRA payment for health care...learned all about cutting back, consolidating, down sizing, no more vacations to the Caribbean or Hawaii, no more eating out like we once did, no more going to the movies, no more new clothes on a whim....you name it, we eventually had to cut it out of our lives....just to survive....but then we made some good moves...we sold our home in Mass at a profit, left expensive Massachusetts, bought a smaller home in Maine on the beautiful coast with the profit from the sale of our home in Mass, owned both cars outright and kept them for 12 years each, so we had a long time with no car payments, hubby took a job in Maine making half what he was making in Massachusetts, primarily for the health care coverage and I started a small internet business to supplement his income.... we are getting 'by' better than we did when it first all happened and truly became aware of how much we wasted of our money when we both had good jobs! Some great changes had to be made, but we are so much happier now with our simpler life in this beautiful region, than what it was like when we both had good jobs and were part of the rat race....it took some struggling periods to truly wake us up to the struggles 'the poor'/'the jobless' go through....we were lucky to be able to buy this home outright or we would still be struggling with what Matt had to settle for in the job arena if it were not for us owning our home.... sigh....

Sit down with your wife and consider what moves you can make that don't necessarily rely on you finding a good job again.... I know that may be hard to swallow, but it probably won't get easier until you make some MAJOR changes, like selling your home and down sizing.... and moving to an area with lower cost of living.

We were never able to have kids, so it was easier for us.

Thank you for your kind response.

My wife still has her job and we got everything down to where she can support us with a comfort zone that is acceptable. I am pursuing the new business angle and hopefully something will come of that. I have had two prior LLCs but I may need to open a third, but I am going to see if I can just shift to using the second one, though the name is kind of weird for what this third business will be involving, lol.

But I have learned that a family budget is like a fluid in that it fills and takes on the shape of whatever income holds it. It takes discipline to keep it from expanding along with the income.

My eyes have been opened however about my 'friends' and that alone is invaluable.

Glad you like Maine!

 

[JimBowie1958]

What a bum

Lol, I have worked for 42 straight years until I slipped TWO discs in my back.

IF you think that makes me a bum, you are a moron.

Wait, I thought your company downsized or something.

No, I slipped a disc the T7-T8 and couldnt sit up at a desk for any length of time before my back would cramp and cause considerable pain. Then I got run off the road a year later and hit a curb and that ruptured my L4-L5. The pain in my back was intolerable if I sat for any length of time, more than half an hour or so, so I was taking pain killers which kept me from focusing much.

After the back surgery in September I have very little pain any more, just muscle cramping from an injury I got while I was in the US Army.

Now I *can* work, but no one apparently wants to hire a 58 year old engineer with a questionable back coming off of 2 years of disability.

thank you for pausing long enough to get the facts now.

 

[JimBowie1958]

Did he get fired, or did he quit? I thought he just lost his job but now he's saying he slipped discs..in which case, is he capable of doing the job now?

Bet he's applying for disability.

I was on disability for about 19 months, and now I am off disability. No, I am not applying for more.

And while I am capable of doing software still, I am not getting any nibbles to about 150 resumes sent out.

 

[JimBowie1958]

If you really cannot find a job with 20+ years of experience in software engineering...I'm going to go ahead and say you are probably too spoiled. Either you are unwilling to move, unwilling to take a pay cut in whatever your previous salary range was, or unwilling to look outside of the specific software / programming language you are comfortable with to find a job. ...
You are unemployed out of choice rather than necessity.

You really are a complete and irredeemable fool.

Age Discrimination against older software engineers is rampant and well known.

Silicon Valley’s Dark Secret: It’s All About Age

The harsh reality is that in the tech world, companies prefer to hire young, inexperienced, engineers.

And engineering is an “up or out” profession: you either move up the ladder or face unemployment. This is not something that tech executives publicly admit, because they fear being sued for age discrimination, but everyone knows that this is the way things are. Why would any company hire a computer programmer with the wrong skills for a salary of $150,000, when it can hire a fresh graduate—with no skills—for around $60,000? Even if it spends a month training the younger worker, the company is still far ahead. The young understand new technologies better than the old do, and are like a clean slate: they will rapidly learn the latest coding methods and techniques, and they don’t carry any “technology baggage”. As well, the older worker likely has a family and needs to leave by 6 pm, whereas the young can pull all-nighters.

Age discrimination: engineering’s dirty secret

Florida man sues Google for being too old to work

Median age at Google is 29, says age discrimination lawsuit

Tech industry job ads: Older workers need not apply

Critics have long accused the technology industry of ageism. Public comments by top Silicon Valley executives and investors help fuel to the perception. “Young people are just smarter,” Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, said on a conference stage in 2007 when he was 22. (He’s now 30). Vinod Khosla, a prominent venture capitalist, once said “people over 45 basically die in terms of new ideas,” although, like many in Silicon Valley who make such statements, he’s since rejected that view.


Age Discrimination?
Indeed, the case, that older software engineers continue to remain unemployed while businesses claim a shortage of tech workers. In a recent article atTech Crunch the claim is made that tech companies will only hire youth. The idea being that young means cheap labor, willing to work long hours and able to be more quickly trained.

I’ll give you the first two—younger workers are cheap and more easily pressed into service, but while a younger worker may learn quicker, the older worker has years of experience to rely on to make that learning easier. In the end, the time difference will be statistically insignificant and the older engineer’s background will lead to a deeper understanding of the new material.

Which professions are less prone to age discrimination than software engineering? - Quora
About 2% of software engineers are over the age of 50.

 

[JimBowie1958]

What people are hiring illegals under the table to save money? What political party do they support?

You know that is dumb?...right?...wait...no you don't...never mind.

The Great Tag Team on the American Middle Class; Republicans selling us out to get corporate donations and the Dems selling us out to get more minority voters.