Why is unemployment free?

[Genoobie]

In a similar vein, since everyone believes the jobs are "out there somewhere you just have to look harder..."


Middle class is shrinking and here are the stats to prove it.
http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker...it-520657.html

[mikenold]

It's apparent that none of the posters here have been on unemployment recently.

The company I worked for went under in June of 2009. It took me until July of this year to find a job. I applied for jobs in my field ... out of my field ... even jobs that paid minimum wage. [b]I couldn't even get an interview for almost 6 months. [b]In many cases the jobs that I interviewed for were given to internal candidates who were transferred from one department to another because the position they had was about to be eliminated. In other cases I couldn't even get a call back ... when you have 20 years of experience in the working world many companies figure you won't take or stay in a minimum wage job. And since most companies do everything online, I never got the chance to explain that I was willing to start at the bottom for a career change.

And of course filing for unemployment was one of the most humiliating experiences of my life. I actually had one "career counselor" tell me that even though I had worked over 20 years and was eligible for unemployment compensation, it was not an entitlement program. So I asked ... what's an "entitlement program?" She said "welfare, food stamps, medicaid." I almost fell off my chair. Since when are people "entitled" to those things??

Did you know that for every job out there, there are 6-8 people to fill it? Did you know that some companies have a policy against interviewing unemployed candidates because they think it must be their fault they're unemployed?? I would have taken any job that came my way. I was grateful to find work in my field after a year ... and only found that job because I used to work with people in the company that knew I was available ... so in a sense I became the "internal" candidate. They received about 50 resumes for my position, there were 4 candidates that were actually qualified for the job. All of the people that they interviewed for my job were unemployed ... some of them were willing to drive more than an hour each way just to have job.

I expected my unemployment to run out after 6 months and planned for that. I was relieved that it didn't. I still have a family to take care of and bills to pay.

Being on unemployment was neither fun nor a vacation for me. I spent a year looking, applying and praying for a job. I have NEVER received any sort of government assistance before and hope I never have to again. If the economy were in better shape and companies were hiring, six months might be enough time to find a job. But companies aren't hiring ... in fact most of them are still eliminating positions and doing more with less. I hope none of you ever have to find out what it's like to lose your job and have to look for a new one.

It must be nice to go to work every day and look down your noses at those who are out of work and decide that they must be on a nice extended vacation.

Let me be the first to say that I do not envy anyone that has lost a job for whatever reason. I have been in your situation more times than I care to mention. I have also changed careers because it allowed me to find work. I can tell you first hand that I did not enjoy collecting unemployment or the job search one bit. I have also been without work or unemployment as I have owned a business as was not eligible because of it. I do not look down on anyone that is out of work. I am happy that you were able to finally find a job. I know that you said that most of the jobs you applied for were online. That is a fact of life in the technological age we live in. One way to get yourself noticed is to be unconventional in your search. Don't be afraid to use the online search to your benefit. One way to do this is to fill out the application and then follow up with a visit to the company that you applied to. Go there armed with some knowledge of the company (gleaned online) and talk to someone in the hiring department. Tell them that you have applied online but have some other information about yourself that you believe would enhance your chances to be hired. It is the candidate that stands out from the rest that will usually be the one that is picked in the end. One subtle trick that I use is to wear a red tie to the interview. That way the interviewer has a better chance of "noticing" you. The present job situation is clearly bleak and this is clearly the fault of the Obama policies. The way to fix this is close the border to illegal workers, give small businesses an incentive to expand their business and hire more workers and stop spending money that we do not have. This will expand the job pool and allow those that are looking for a job a better chance of getting back to work.

[yaksplat]

I lost my job in april 2009. My employer denied unemployment, and my wife was on maternity leave. I busted my ass to make sure we pulled through. My wife went back to work early and I started my own computer repair business while looking for work. Two months later I found a job that was a 10% paycut from my previous one. I took it and absolutely hated it. I worked at this crap hole place until I managed to find another job 3-1/2 months later.

I found two jobs in 5-1/2 months without resorting to a minimum wage job, but I was willing to get one if my family needed me to. We never missed paying a bill and never fell behind. So yes, I think that people that can't suck up their pride and go find an available job are lazy. There is plenty of work out there, it just depends on how hard you look. If you can find something, start your own business. It's not that hard to pull in money one way or another.