March 3, 2010

Job Hunt 2010




Sunset Cliffs looking North…on a slant. Enterprising beach watchers have installed seats between the uprights on the barriers, and in the evening they sit and sip their beer. The city takes down the seats, the watchers put them back up. Note that most of the cliffs are gone right up to the original curb. This barrier is installed out in what was once the street. 2010.




Himself: Swam. Applied for some amusing jobs, walked, dinner, meeting.

Herself: Swam, hacked and slashed, went with G while he ran errands, called doc about coughing, can’t enter writing contests because I post my writings here….that was a disappointment. Dinner was delightful. The “Doomsday Book” is more focused and less scattered than the newest volume.

Reading: Willis.

Gratitude: Sunshine, the pool was warm, some of the poems were good.

I watch G job hunt every day, and I am awfully proud of him.

Some days, like weekends or Mondays, see few jobs posted. In the old days, jobs would be posted in the newspapers on Sunday so job seekers could use them on Mondays. Not now. There’s little in the newspapers on any day now, and only on Monday mornings do the jobs begin to be posted on the internet. They appear all throughout the day….an obvious trickle down employment posting method.

Just before lunch yesterday, several maintenance manager jobs appeared. Assistance maintenance manager jobs too. That’s G. Service advisor jobs are rare, but do appear also. Later in the morning, a Repo Man job showed up. He can do that but would he want to? All these jobs need automotive knowledge, computer skills, and previous job experience. They all offer salary, 401K’s, and medical benefits….we laughed.

The Repo Man job would pay a lot more. But iIt’s a young man’s job.

He’s lowered his sights. No longer looking for that 80K a year job, his main focus is medical, dental, and 401K. He has been unemployed for just over six months, and he has had few interviews. His age is against him. He’s rewritten his resume several times, and has crafted one to suit each of the several types of jobs he’s applied for. I was thinking it might be time to have a pro rewrite them again. His enthusiasm for schooling has sadly vanished to zero, and I know that depression is a factor for he’s always fought this. He spends hours a day isolating and playing Fallout 3, but to balance this, he goes to more meetings.

He has a year and a half of unemployment left while many others have used up all of theirs. One of his co-volunteers at the museum has been hunting for a job for years. He has no computer skills, and he had been at the one job for 30 years when he was laid off. Not only are his age and lack of computer skills against him, but his lack of enthusiasm plus a hefty dose of depression are putting him out of the job market. G helps him often with his computer job searching skills.

A neighbor’s unemployment ended. He too has no computer skills, but though he’s always worked construction, he does have a degree. Construction is also a young man’s game. G’s going over and helping him with his computer job hunting skills.

Did I say I was proud of the Geeezer.

4 comments:

  1. Your good spirit about this amazes me. If that were our situation I would be curled up in a fetal position in some corner. I know that would not help but that would be my reaction. I applaud you.

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  2. I agree that 'G' is a rare gem of a guy. He will survive all that the world throws at him because he has tenacity and intelligence. Can he volunteer at a larger place that might be hiring in the near future so that he has an 'in'?

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  3. I spent a long time being unemployed so I feel G's pain. It's awful out there and yes, ageism is rampant.

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  4. I would be proud of him too. I was laid off long ago and was unemployed about 6 months. It was a devastating thing then, and I was young. I can't imagine.

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