Oh no...almost done with Unemployment Benefits

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
It ends in January. I contacted the Empoyment Office and they said that if the Government passes the Economic Infusion Bill (?) that could extend the benefits and I would be elegible. But that is all they would say...management has told the staff to keep mum about it. I would receive a letter indicating more if it passes.



But that's only if they pass it. I have been searching the web for 5 and half months and nothing is out there around here. I had been considering elsewhere but financially it would be really tough for me to move. I have tried to even apply at retail stores and they tell me I'm "over qualified"...for what...being a warm body?



Still I keep looking. Sending resumes. Calling my recuiter...and waiting... <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 15
    alcimedesalcimedes Posts: 5,486member
    lol, dude, if they say you're overqualified, stop putting everything you've done on your resume. i just got a job now after looking for two months. don't let them know everything you have and can do until after they offer you the job.



  • Reply 2 of 15
    You can't get short term X-Mass work?



    I have a stack of five letters and CV right here ready to go. I just set up an interview (not one of the above 5. I told them to pick the date and get back to me).



    Looks like I'm moving though. Now I have to get one or two more out and then wait for the offers to roll in. No low balling on the $$,$$$!
  • Reply 3 of 15
    jrcjrc Posts: 817member
    Wow.



    I wonder how many people, or what percentage, HERE have EVER taken unemployment benefits. (Or whatever term they use in your neck of the handouts)



    I have never.



    Or, ever miss a bill? (not due to forgetting it)



    No for me.



    Or, filed bankruptcy?



    Negative here.



    Wrecked into a car and left without paying?



    Nope here.



    Been on any welfare/govt cheese program?



    We actually had Government cheese growing up. Due to my parents' age, not income.



    Voted for candidates who would allow you to get MORE of the above types of things? (sans car wreck Q)



    Nope.



    (should I start a new Outsider Topic with these instead?)
  • Reply 4 of 15
    tmptmp Posts: 601member
    People getting unemployment are not getting it as a "handout". They had to have worked to pay into the system to receive the benefit. And it is not like they are living high of the hog either. Nor do most people file for bankruptcy casually. Do you think that your parents were freeloading receiving govermnent cheese? Or is age the only criterion for receiving assistance?



    Some would argue that people who had to take government cheese to survive had no business having children.



    I am sometimes stunned by the callousness of remarks on this board.
  • Reply 5 of 15
    [quote]Originally posted by alcimedes:

    <strong>lol, dude, if they say you're overqualified, stop putting everything you've done on your resume. i just got a job now after looking for two months. don't let them know everything you have and can do until after they offer you the job.



    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Ha, ha...funny. You're talking retail right?



    1. I'm 41 years old. That kills the interview right there it seems...The last time I worked in retail was in 1990. You don't think I mentioned my previous retail experience to them? I did. No calls. They will hire a teenager or twenty something before me.



    2. I have been in the graphic Design and web Design fields for over 15 years. That will be what I'm looking for...unless a unique sales position comes down the pike. There are interesting stores and shops here in the city, but no openings.



    3. I haven't given up. I will confess that unemployment compensation sucks. It makes you a slacker. You get the checks and think that everything will be alright. My sentiments immediately changed after Sept. 11. I have saved every check and didn't spend much of it. I'll have a cushion for at least 3-6 months.



    4. I'll find something. Just will have to have the optimism and tenacity to get through all this.
  • Reply 6 of 15
    [quote]Originally posted by Artman @_@:

    <strong>My sentiments immediately changed after Sept. 11. I'll have a cushion for at least 3-6 months.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    WTF? In your first post you made it sound like you were about to be penny less.
  • Reply 7 of 15
    [quote]Originally posted by Scott H.:

    <strong>



    WTF? In your first post you made it sound like you were about to be penny less.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Life does have it's surprises, no?

    I think that if I had to move relocate for a job I'd use it up pretty quick. If not that, then I would stay here and ride it out.



    I want to have as much foresight within the next coming months as I did then.
  • Reply 8 of 15
    jrcjrc Posts: 817member
    [quote]Originally posted by tmp:

    <strong>People getting unemployment are not getting it as a "handout". They had to have worked to pay into the system to receive the benefit. And it is not like they are living high of the hog either. Nor do most people file for bankruptcy casually. Do you think that your parents were freeloading receiving govermnent cheese? Or is age the only criterion for receiving assistance?



    Some would argue that people who had to take government cheese to survive had no business having children.



    I am sometimes stunned by the callousness of remarks on this board.</strong><hr></blockquote>





    I used the term benefits and also handouts so that people could choose whichever they want. Perhaps those two are not agreeable with you.



    I am fully aware of how unemployment (insert word here) works, in general. But not in practice. I'm sure others could shed some light on this, though I am not asking anyone to.



    I was out of work for six months and during that time got married. Also, they state of Illinois paid me nothing for all that money I put into the system. I would have gladly taken the unemployment (insert word here).



    You seem to be taking offense to me wondering the percentage of people that have done these things. I have never asked anyone before. I made no statement of judgement on any of these issues, either.



    While I'm not sure of your definition of freeloading, based on your interesting response to my use of benefits/handouts, I can say that my parents were more than able to buy five pounds of cheese and had no real need to receive it for free. My father might be justified in receiving benefits/handouts/entitlements based on his being blown off of the USS Wasp CV-7, hit by a torpedo while serving on the USS Independence, feeling the first Atomic Bomb, or any number of hazardous things he did during his service over 20 years MORESO than getting a block of cheese for being over 55, I'd say.



    Again, my parent did not need to take government cheese to survive. And most farmers in my area do not need the government to pay them NOT to grow certain crops, either. But, that's a whole other set of circumstances.



    My main point was just wondering how many people have received unemployment (insert word here). And then followed on with other financial-government related items. I have no idea. 40% have? 20%?



    I made no attempt to be callous. I thought an anonymous forum would be easier for honest replies. And, I offered mine.
  • Reply 9 of 15
    tmptmp Posts: 601member
    Are you saying that your parents were morally wrong for accepting the cheese that they could have afforded to buy?



    Do you equate wrecking a car (damaging property, willfully or not) and walking away (not taking responsibility for one's actions) with accepting government assistance?



    Were you terminated for cause by your employers? Did you quit? Were you a temp? Had you been at the job less that 6 weeks? Were you under a contract that expired? If not, then under California law, you should have been able to collect unemployment for 26 weeks. This would max out at about $850 a month, in a city where a one-bedroom apartment in a bad neighborhood goes for that per month. I have no idea about Illinois.



    I believe that you father gets, and deserves, benefits that citizens who did not serve in the military receive. (the VA may suck, but is more health care than most civilians get, and I am really pissed that the VA seems to be renaging on the promise of that care) It certainly sounds like he deserves it more than both our sitting President, and the man who ran against him.



    I have been lucky enough to never have to have taken any assistance at all. In this economy, when I have watched many co-workers facing lay-offs, perhaps I read into your post a certain bitterness and lack of empathy. For that I am sorry.
  • Reply 10 of 15
    nah, i just got a real job, but at the bottom, gonna have to work my way up. the age thing could be a problem though, i have no idea what to do about that. get some hair dye and hope they don't notice the birth date you wrote down. i know a lot of older guy who got canned after putting in a good 15-20 years at a company, and all of them have had a hell of a time finding work.



    best of luck to you. but seriously, if you're applying for jobs and they say you're overqualified, it's two things. either you are overqualified, or for some reason they don't want to hire you and they won't tell you the reason. just send out thank-you's to the people you interviewed with, and let them know you're interested in any future positions they might have. a lot of interviewers are really impressed with thank-you letters.



    and if it's been a while, brush up on cover letter type stuff. (or you might be an expert for all i know, just covering all the bases) don't want to talk down to you, but you can't give up hope either. if the method you're trying isn't working, try something else.



    also, if you felt you had a good interview (i.e. the interviewer liked you) but they still told you no, see if you can get them to tell you why.



    -alcimedes.



    [ 12-18-2001: Message edited by: alcimedes ]</p>
  • Reply 11 of 15
    alcimedes:



    Thanks That was all I was asking for...advice and encoragement.



    I've covered most of the things you've mentioned in all the years I've been through this...hair dye? Actually, I look young for my age...



    The last time I got laid off I didn't take unemployment bennies...thinking that the Internet market was still robust...not thinking actually that it was imploding all around me. I lost a lot of time and money.



    I'm happy that I could get the benefits this time. It still bothers me, but I will get something soon I hope and I won't have to extend it.
  • Reply 12 of 15
    pfflampfflam Posts: 5,053member
    Hand out examples of yur work to every business in town, tell them that you will make better than the Co. they use for cheaper as a freelancer.



    Check out exhibit design companies.



    As far as JRC:



    I can't help but see the typical thoughtless reaction of the "anti-government squad" in your responce. Only from peoplle who have never had to have a safety net and have never really known what it is to live from paycheck to paycheck and then to get "layed-off".



    And as was said, you work for your unemployment benefits (that's what they are called) the longer you work the longer you get them.... if you don't work, or were fired because you shot at someone, then you don't get them.



    People are not always poor because they don't work. In fact the working poor tend to have jobs that are far more demanding than people who earn salaries... and of course they are the first to get layed off.
  • Reply 13 of 15
    jrcjrc Posts: 817member
    [quote]Originally posted by pfflam:

    <strong>Hand out examples of yur work to every business in town, tell them that you will make better than the Co. they use for cheaper as a freelancer.



    Check out exhibit design companies.



    As far as JRC:



    I can't help but see the typical thoughtless reaction of the "anti-government squad" in your responce. Only from peoplle who have never had to have a safety net and have never really known what it is to live from paycheck to paycheck and then to get "layed-off".



    And as was said, you work for your unemployment benefits (that's what they are called) the longer you work the longer you get them.... if you don't work, or were fired because you shot at someone, then you don't get them.



    People are not always poor because they don't work. In fact the working poor tend to have jobs that are far more demanding than people who earn salaries... and of course they are the first to get layed off.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    How wanting to know how many people here have used those things thoughtless against the government is beyond me.



    Don't lecture me on this stuff, I'm asking questions not passing judgement.



    And, just because I personally have not squandered my money and resources as do SOME (not ALL, but SOME) people do that put them in certain predicaments, doesn't mean that I have not been there, too. I learned from the mistakes and missteps of those people close to me in many things. Money, drugs, alcohol, adulterous affairs. I don't point my finger and laugh, scorn, or pity them. I just learned from them. It's easier to do that than make the mistakes and pay for it myself. I have been around unemployment and continue to be. I have been around bankruptcy. I have been around welfare in many forms. I am not on the outside looking in on this topic. I personally save and plan for rainy days so that I can be self-supportive. A penny can be pinched in many places. I don't pay for cable/dish tv, don't go to movies, out to eat, sporting events, and other much or at all, etc. etc. That allows me to save and help others out. Today I am donating to a charity to help with vision research, macular degeneration type stuff.



    Anyway, you are jumping to conclusions or I don't understand you.
  • Reply 14 of 15
    janejane Posts: 68member
    Dear Artman:



    You probably made the same mistake as many other people. You only answer ads from many sources and deal with a few recruiters. Actually you should be networking your career meaning you prepare a cover giving a summary of what you can do and telling the person (call companies you interested in and asked them for the director of marketing for example) you would like to meet with him or her and then bring your resume with you and during the meeting sell your skills and qualifications. Often it turns out that you will get a job that way. Also, examine what you do during an interview with a friend. Tell your friend to ask you the same questions that you would be asked during an interview. Videotaped yourself and then ameliorate you weakest points.
  • Reply 15 of 15
    I've been using email rather effectively. But I'm in a small field and everyone knows everyone or they know the guy you work for.



    Yesterday I sent email to someone asking if the two jobs were still open. I sent off the cover letter and CV in the AM. Got email back saying "offers" had been made. Sent email back saying "hold on to my info...always interested" Got message back saying "Will do. Positions open all the time. Give us a URL with your latest info on it." Email rules.



    Sent email to another guy asking if there were any positions open. He said "no but I wont be working here anyway so send it to my new office". Email rules.
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