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Discussion Unemployment thread: help, support and encouragement

Irene

Irene

Soar long!
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Back on Resetera, there was this thread called "applying for jobs is exhausting and soul-crushing". Personally, I found the thread to be a good source of help, and would like to make one here, but of course one with a more upbeat title and hopefully a more optimistic vibe.

Unemployment has been hitting many people hard in the wake of the pandemic, and I think a lot of people are having trouble in this area of society these days.

I've been unemployed for a little more than a year, and finding something that generates an income is a real pain, especially since I lack so much experience, can only work part-time, and have a paper-thin CV. My work consultant has a bit of a doomsday attitude and says that I should give up, which is hard to hear.

What about you, Fami? Feel free to come here and ask questions, provide tips, or just share a story. Hopefully we can help each other here.
 
I'm not unemployed, and the only times I've ever gone through long periods of not being employed I was a student, but I'm interested to hear the story behind that if you don't mind. Is there a reason your consultant says you should give up? Is it only for jobs in your field, and doesn't include retail hell? I hope this is fine to ask lol.
 
GamerJM said:
I'm not unemployed, and the only times I've ever gone through long periods of not being employed I was a student, but I'm interested to hear the story behind that if you don't mind. Is there a reason your consultant says you should give up? Is it only for jobs in your field, and doesn't include retail hell? I hope this is fine to ask lol.
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It's fine, of course. My biggest roadblock is that I'm only capable of working part-time, 25%, due to problems with mental health, I underwent a work capacity evaluation program to arrive at that conclusion. She says that that finding 25% jobs in the current work climate is "nigh impossible", ("especially in your field", game development) and that I should resort to another work practice place, or study. (I applied for a programming course next year, but it's not exactly optimal, since I need an income.)
 
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"Applying for jobs is exhausting and soul crushing" may well have been one of the most correct thread titles posted on NeoGAF and later Resetera.

Since I graduated Uni with a 1st class Master's in Physics I've been a full time unpaid carer for my disabled mum so I get government benefits sufficient to survive.

But, yeah, a combination of my Autism (literally never succeeded at an interview) and untreated depression/cyclothymia/something (yeah I know, I should get on that) means the only actual "employment" I've had was two weeks school work experience at the company my dad worked for at the time and collating resources related to autism for a webpage for a charity one time lol.

Otherwise I do buy, repair, and sell some games consoles, sell Pokémon event codes, and do all that shitty online survey/other crap that works out well below minimum when I have the chance.

If it were not for my family (including my mum who would allow me to live with her even if I wasn't caring for her) I'd probably be on the streets or dead.

Btw I hate everything about the modern job application process. Hate, hate, hate. I hate that all jobs are advertised online so that every job has hundreds of applicants (thus meaning you must apply to hundreds of jobs to have a chance unless you have connections), I hate the filling in application forms with the exact same info in my CV which I already uploaded, I hate those pseudo-scientific personality tests and the "situational awareness tests" where you have to pretend to be an extraverted corporate boot-licker to pass, and of course I hate fucking interviews.

Thankfully I don't need to apply at the moment but I'm gradually organising adaptations for my Mum's flat with the county council, town council, and landlord (all of whom are taking their sweet ass time getting anything done although tbf covid has certainly slowed things down a lot) so my mum can be more independent again at which point I might need to start applying again. Kinda dreading that lol.
 
The best advice I can give for people coming out of school or just in between things is to register with a few temp agencies. Even if it’s not your main career goal, a lot of places will hire on temps if they prove valuable, and if you’re interviewing for other jobs it’s good to be in a place where you are already employed.

Speaking from personal experience, delivery jobs are also very chill and surprisingly lucrative positions if you can fit it into your schedule. On a decent night I could make $100 cash pretty reliably. I kept delivering while doing temp jobs until I got an acceptable full time position.
 
No guarantees, but my company (fortune 500) is hiring mobile developers and just programmers like wildfire. If anyone has web, java, or mobile development experience feel free to reach out in a PM and I can direct you. Have to be a US citizen though we do not sponsor visas (often).
 
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WestEgg said:
The best advice I can give for people coming out of school or just in between things is to register with a few temp agencies. Even if it’s not your main career goal, a lot of places will hire on temps if they prove valuable, and if you’re interviewing for other jobs it’s good to be in a place where you are already employed.

Speaking from personal experience, delivery jobs are also very chill and surprisingly lucrative positions if you can fit it into your schedule. On a decent night I could make $100 cash pretty reliably. I kept delivering while doing temp jobs until I got an acceptable full time position.
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Delivery jobs is a good proposal, and you make good reasoning for it. I had one in middle school, was alright, even if the pay was abysmal.
 
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Let me second Uber Eats or Doordash. They both seem to fit your bill. Plus the rules aren’t as strict as with just being a Uber driver per se.
 
Been unemployed for the past 10 months. My last job was at Amazon, and even if there wasn't strict quotas because of Covid, it was so stressful I had to quit after 2 months for mental health reasons.

Today I'm travelling to work for the first time since. Commercial animation, gaming related. I already did similar things in the past and I loved that. So it should be great, but due to my Amazon experience I'm suffering stress peaks, not good lol. Besides, it's the first time I leave my new girlfriend after being with her for 2 months, so it's a bit... Strange ahah.

Everything should be fine after 1 or 2 days of acclimatization, I hope!
 
Raytro said:
Been unemployed for the past 10 months. My last job was at Amazon, and even if there wasn't strict quotas because of Covid, it was so stressful I had to quit after 2 months for mental health reasons.

Today I'm travelling to work for the first time since. Commercial animation, gaming related. I already did similar things in the past and I loved that. So it should be great, but due to my Amazon experience I'm suffering stress peaks, not good lol. Besides, it's the first time I leave my new girlfriend after being with her for 2 months, so it's a bit... Strange ahah.

Everything should be fine after 1 or 2 days of acclimatization, I hope!
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You'll do allright! Let us know how your first day went :)

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I once quit a job (with nothing lined up) due to a toxic work environment and mental exhaustion. It felt really good to quit, but the job searching period was very stressful. Even with a supportive partner who was able to carry the financial burden during my time off. I don't envy anybody going through the hunt. Sometimes it feels like everything is working against you.

It took me 8 months to find something new, but it's been night and day with my new position. Salary raise, more freedom (wfh options), better work environment in general. Obviously I was very lucky and privileged to take the risk but it did pay off for me in the end. I hope everyone else looking for new work finds themselves in a happier, healthier position. Try to stay positive - I went from virtually zero leads to getting an interview/offer with the span of a week.
 
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I'm an English teacher. I graduated in English Literature and Linguistics this year and I've been unemployed for 9 months or so. I'm 25.

The hardest thing is that I've always dreamed about the moment I'd be free from studying (something that destroys my self-esteem), but I've never been more depressed. I think I put all of my self worth on good grades, so now I'm in the "real" (aka capitalist) world and I don't know what to do, exactly. It sucks.

I AM treating myself, though. It's sad to think that's a privilege. It shouldn't be, but that's how it is. :/ I want to try new things (translation?), but I'm too afraid I'll fail.

Keep posting updates, y'all. We'll go through this together!
 
Raytro said:
Been unemployed for the past 10 months. My last job was at Amazon, and even if there wasn't strict quotas because of Covid, it was so stressful I had to quit after 2 months for mental health reasons.

Today I'm travelling to work for the first time since. Commercial animation, gaming related. I already did similar things in the past and I loved that. So it should be great, but due to my Amazon experience I'm suffering stress peaks, not good lol. Besides, it's the first time I leave my new girlfriend after being with her for 2 months, so it's a bit... Strange ahah.

Everything should be fine after 1 or 2 days of acclimatization, I hope!
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First day was great! Playing and training for tomorrow. I'm happy it went this well ahah.
 
I got a job this August, and so far it is going well. I dunno if it is better here or the mental health ST...buuut it's annoying when you have your mom saying 'you should have not started working'. I am on SSDI, and I just got so tired of the small amount I get paid on it. It's supposed to last you the entire month which is not possible. I am glad my job is from home and have had better experiences at this job than any job I've had on site.
 
I'm currently without a job... I had to leave where I was living for a new place, I hope I can find some retail job but money is rapidly running out :'v

crepuscule said:
Otherwise I do buy, repair, and sell some games consoles, sell Pokémon event codes, and do all that shitty online survey/other crap that works out well below minimum when I have the chance.
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That's awesome! A year ago, with some savings I had back then, I brought to my country (In LatAm) a bunch of Amazon stuff to resell ( For a little margin, I'm no scalper :v )
I mainly bought power tools and PC monitors, it sold well enough.

If you have any advice on what you do in your console selling business (Where to buy, what to buy, what to avoid, etc), please if you can I'd appreciate what you can share.
 
Grunge Hamster said:
I'm currently without a job... I had to leave where I was living for a new place, I hope I can find some retail job but money is rapidly running out :'v


That's awesome! A year ago, with some savings I had back then, I brought to my country (In LatAm) a bunch of Amazon stuff to resell ( For a little margin, I'm no scalper :v )
I mainly bought power tools and PC monitors, it sold well enough.

If you have any advice on what you do in your console selling business (Where to buy, what to buy, what to avoid, etc), please if you can I'd appreciate what you can share.
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It's not really a business. Just a bit of side cash. Mostly buy and sell on eBay. My dad occasionally runs a market stall mostly for antiques but I sometimes sell something there as well.

I look for consoles and job lots untested or not working. See what's wrong with them. Surprisingly often it is something really simple like cleaning contacts, reversing a reversible soft brick from someone being an idiot with CFW or replacing parts minor parts (ex. a small board for the power switch on a PSP 2000). Job lots are useful because you can Frankenstein together working consoles by haveresting parts from other ones. Then clean them up as best as I can and resell the working consoles, any I don't have the knowledge/tools/parts to fix and maybe some spare parts if they're worth anything.

I usually end up getting double what I spent averaged over time. Of course it takes enough time that it isn't amazing pay. And it takes effort which I can't always muster but when I do it is honestly pretty relaxing.

I'm sure other people could give you better advice on this lol.
 
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crepuscule said:
It's not really a business. Just a bit of side cash. Mostly buy and sell on eBay. My dad occasionally runs a market stall mostly for antiques but I sometimes sell something there as well.

I look for consoles and job lots untested or not working. See what's wrong with them. Surprisingly often it is something really simple like cleaning contacts, reversing a reversible soft brick from someone being an idiot with CFW or replacing parts minor parts (ex. a small board for the power switch on a PSP 2000). Job lots are useful because you can Frankenstein together working consoles by haveresting parts from other ones. Then clean them up as best as I can and resell the working consoles, any I don't have the knowledge/tools/parts to fix and maybe some spare parts if they're worth anything.

I usually end up getting double what I spent averaged over time. Of course it takes enough time that it isn't amazing pay. And it takes effort which I can't always muster but when I do it is honestly pretty relaxing.

I'm sure other people could give you better advice on this lol.
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Every advice is valuable, thank you!

And it sounds really cool, I once replaced a PSP Go screen as a kid for a replacement I bought online, so that sounds so interesting (To work with consoles and all!)
I hope it keeps going well for you 😁
 
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jz98 said:
Anyone have any advice for a job interview, I am awkward around people and don't know how to stay calm during them.
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I've only applied for IT positions so dunno how useful it will be:

-Always remember that the people talking to you are just doing their job. They're aren't exactly judging you (personally), at that time they're just gathering information to check if you're a good fit for the position / culture of the workplace.

-A lot of people are awkward so they're used to it. You're not the first nor the last person they've met that are shy when someone else is around.

-Be honest about your knowledge but also don't sell yourself short. It's a bit tricky, and it takes a bit of research. If you're good at X, google how much people that know X make from it, and set a reasonable asking price for that skill.
 
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Sorry for the long rant, but I guess this was the place for it, right? 😅
 
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NarohDethan said:
I've only applied for IT positions so dunno how useful it will be:
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I also have been considering an IT career or so myself. I just don't really think college is my thing though. I tried it a few times, and just was not my calling. I actually am working with my local Voc Rehab center due to my disabilities. They offered to help me with some IT stuff such as getting the CompTIA certs etc. I may do it, but need to pay for it and get reimbursed.
 
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Should I list unemployments gaps on my resume? I graduated high school in 2016, then worked a couple of jobs. First job was from 09/17-02/18, next job was from 09/20-10/20. I have been unemployed since then and this comes from a difficult moving situation that left me with personal struggles. Both jobs were in ecommerce and I am searching for another job in that field
 
jz98 said:
Should I list unemployments gaps on my resume? I graduated high school in 2016, then worked a couple of jobs. First job was from 09/17-02/18, next job was from 09/20-10/20. I have been unemployed since then and this comes from a difficult moving situation that left me with personal struggles. Both jobs were in ecommerce and I am searching for another job in that field
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I've had a couple places require that I fill out a complete activity history, where periods of unemployment are required to be listed (basically for security reasons they wanted to have every day accounted for in the past five years whether I was employed or not), but that was separate from my resume and was only once I was deep in the hiring process. So I'd say don't specifically list out unemployment periods on your resume unless you were doing freelance work (and if so, list as freelance work instead of unemployment), and if the employer wants to know more detail about your specific year-to-year history, they'll ask. And I'm sure employers will be a lot more sympathetic towards unemployment these days considering the state of the world in the last couple years, so don't fret too much about it.
 
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jz98 said:
Should I list unemployments gaps on my resume? I graduated high school in 2016, then worked a couple of jobs. First job was from 09/17-02/18, next job was from 09/20-10/20. I have been unemployed since then and this comes from a difficult moving situation that left me with personal struggles. Both jobs were in ecommerce and I am searching for another job in that field
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I think putting that on your resume could work? I would just say you were dealing with a personal life situation(moving being diffilcult) throughout those months or years making it hard to secure employment anywhere. Perhaps if they ask, say your situation has gotten better and you're ready and willing to work.
 
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Sometimes after a gap it's best to just take whatever, might be too late into the year now, but a Christmas temp job that was fulfilled would have showed any employers that although you'd been not working for periods of time (that you could say were around moving), that you were still able to get to work on time and get yourself back into the workforce while looking for work in your preferred career
 
Posting an update here after applying for jobs for a couple months and still no success. I have not worked since October 2020 due to my social anxiety and personal struggles. I am not sure that I want to continue applying for ecommerce jobs and work in an office environment. Anyone have any job ideas for a person who has social anxiety.
 
jz98 said:
Posting an update here after applying for jobs for a couple months and still no success. I have not worked since October 2020 due to my social anxiety and personal struggles. I am not sure that I want to continue applying for ecommerce jobs and work in an office environment. Anyone have any job ideas for a person who has social anxiety.
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Have you ever thought about construction inspection? There’s still human interaction, but not much. It’s mostly note taking, lab work and testing with the occasional conversation with foremen/site superintendents.

There seems to be pretty big demand right now too, as I get constant unsolicited job offers from everywhere after updating my indeed/LinkedIn with my degree/certifications. And I don’t know what the ideal money situation is like for you, but I make $32/hour (with union pay rates depending on on site time) in West Virginia, so I imagine the pay is better elsewhere. Plus I make an additional $2100 every two weeks untaxed from per Diem when I work out of town.

Just a thought.
 
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Bumping the thread because I want to talk (rant?) a bit about my new job! Well, practice job for the moment at least. It's a part time job at a computer store! I'm psyched. The computer store ships computers by postage, so it's not a real "store" where people come in etc. So my task in the beginning will be printing order confirmations and scanning wares. I had just an introduction today and the task seemed fun, but it was a looot to take in, they use an admin site for their original site, a site called fortnox, as well as the admin site for the post office, and I need to write the computer specs and check and double-check everything. Ngl, a little bit of performance anxiety kicked in. But I'll do fine! I need to allow myself the thought that it will have to take time to learn.

It's gonna be 2 weeks on 10 hr work weeks, and then 2 weeks on 20 hr work weeks, and if it works well, a formal hiring for 20 hr work weeks. That part has me nervous though, I haven't worked 20 hr work weeks since 2014, so I'm afraid that I'm gonna have a cold shower so to say, and feel like I'm not used to it. I think I'll have to prepare myself for that it can take a while to get warm in the clothes, and that I will be tired a lot in the beginning.

The job I got was through a special program from the unemployment office that a rehab coordinator from the psychiatry got me in on, and they've been very kind and efficient. So, yeah. Practice job! Woo. I thought that I'd be the last person on earth to get a job, but I feel very happy I just have to grit my teeth and push through the transition to 50%, as well as get rid of the performance anxiety.
 
Irene said:
Bumping the thread because I want to talk (rant?) a bit about my new job! Well, practice job for the moment at least. It's a part time job at a computer store! I'm psyched. The computer store ships computers by postage, so it's not a real "store" where people come in etc. So my task in the beginning will be printing order confirmations and scanning wares. I had just an introduction today and the task seemed fun, but it was a looot to take in, they use an admin site for their original site, a site called fortnox, as well as the admin site for the post office, and I need to write the computer specs and check and double-check everything. Ngl, a little bit of performance anxiety kicked in. But I'll do fine! I need to allow myself the thought that it will have to take time to learn.

It's gonna be 2 weeks on 10 hr work weeks, and then 2 weeks on 20 hr work weeks, and if it works well, a formal hiring for 20 hr work weeks. That part has me nervous though, I haven't worked 20 hr work weeks since 2014, so I'm afraid that I'm gonna have a cold shower so to say, and feel like I'm not used to it. I think I'll have to prepare myself for that it can take a while to get warm in the clothes, and that I will be tired a lot in the beginning.

The job I got was through a special program from the unemployment office that a rehab coordinator from the psychiatry got me in on, and they've been very kind and efficient. So, yeah. Practice job! Woo. I thought that I'd be the last person on earth to get a job, but I feel very happy I just have to grit my teeth and push through the transition to 50%, as well as get rid of the performance anxiety.
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That's great news to hear!

I've been super nervous since I went back to part-time because work has been super slow since December. I'm in this weird scenario as of Feb 25th my boss had me change his payment system to ADP (which is the largest payment system used in America) and then after that I felt like "Oh good, I guess I'm still sticking around and he might just be eating this months cost) and nope he tells me I'm laid off.

Then he calls Thursday last week and had me come in on Friday to continue some of my jobs I was working on. Then he calls randomly at 8pm Monday asking if I can come in today and I had a ton of work to catch up on. Then he says I'll call if I need you back in just to double take and say, no come in tomorrow we still have work to do.

And I'm here like, am I laid off? Should I be looking for new work? I know he doesn't want to lose me and he & his wife know I'm a really good worker, my co-worker and them are always in awe at my speed, quality and output. But we've been struggling with customers constantly moving things away, or they are quoting multiple places and not moving. And apparently the phone was ringing off the hook yesterday, and it was the same today with multiple customers actually walking in when we had a huge load of workload. I'm scratching my head as to whether things finally picked up and people got their stimulus checks back to start getting their sign work done.

All while emotionally I've been a wreck, with my depressing having me sleep 70% of the day. Luckily I was laid off just the day after I had Elder Ring pre-ordered and early installed on my PS5. So I got to be distracted somewhat, and the day I was laid off I immediately dust off my resume and applied to 3 different workplaces so I could justify focusing on my game and not feeling as though I wasted any time.

I dunno how to feel right now when I have bills to pay.
 
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Irene said:
Bumping the thread because I want to talk (rant?) a bit about my new job! Well, practice job for the moment at least. It's a part time job at a computer store! I'm psyched. The computer store ships computers by postage, so it's not a real "store" where people come in etc. So my task in the beginning will be printing order confirmations and scanning wares. I had just an introduction today and the task seemed fun, but it was a looot to take in, they use an admin site for their original site, a site called fortnox, as well as the admin site for the post office, and I need to write the computer specs and check and double-check everything. Ngl, a little bit of performance anxiety kicked in. But I'll do fine! I need to allow myself the thought that it will have to take time to learn.
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Sounds like a fun job to me. I could likely handle that and would enjoy that sorta job.
 
Zeal543 said:
I'm in the middle of being hired for a second job and I just want to say FUCK PROVIDING REFERENCES
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As someone who was in one job with one boss for years, THANK YOU. My last job before that was in 2012 and there's no chance anyone from back then would remember me. So when I start jobhunting again here soon I'm gonna have a references page that's one damn person long. 😑
 
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WonderLuigi said:
I'm an English teacher. I graduated in English Literature and Linguistics this year and I've been unemployed for 9 months or so. I'm 25.

The hardest thing is that I've always dreamed about the moment I'd be free from studying (something that destroys my self-esteem), but I've never been more depressed. I think I put all of my self worth on good grades, so now I'm in the "real" (aka capitalist) world and I don't know what to do, exactly. It sucks.

I AM treating myself, though. It's sad to think that's a privilege. It shouldn't be, but that's how it is. :/ I want to try new things (translation?), but I'm too afraid I'll fail.

Keep posting updates, y'all. We'll go through this together!
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Post college depression is not talked about enough, it's awful. Did you get to student teach in college? I know there's a lot of teacher jobs out there at least in USA but you'd have to move most likely.
 
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