Unemployment

[ErikW]

I just joined the ranks of the unemployed a couple hours ago.

This would be in the What I Like forum, but I recently bought a new truck with a short-term loan (high monthly payments) and a new motorcycle and extras on a credit card.

On the other hand, I have lots of brass, powder, and bullets, and lots of time to practice.

[TDean]

Dammit!,..man.

Is this going to impact your shooting schedule?

[ErikW]

As far as travelling, maybe. I'm entered in the Oregon Sectional July 12-13, which would cost gas, food, and motel. I might still do it as a last hurrah.

The nationals are going to cost several hundred bucks in loding alone, and I'll be broke by then.

[EricW]

Erik,

I'm really sorry to hear that. Now you have a terrific excuse to escape life under the Kaliban.

When I got laid off last year, I hated my job and my boss so much that I actually thanked them. You should have seen their faces.

I vowed to make it the best thing that ever happened to me. Things were looking pretty bleak for a while, but all of the sudden, everything fell into place for me a month ago.

It will for you too.

[Jeeper]

I feel for ya. I have been there and it really sucked

[vluc]

My sympathies...i've been in that boat the last 6 months and it sucks big time. Don't let it get in your head at the matches...happened once to me and I won't let it happen again!!

[Jon Merricks]

Man E, I really hate to hear that. Hope you find something new and better soon. At least you dont have other mouths to feed, or do you?

[a-44978]

i left ford after 6 years(profitable ones),and have bounced twice so far.I'm better for it now(more in my tool box)

I think they like me here and the moneys ok for now .I learned to stay positive and flexible.Looking back i'm glad it happened and you probably will too.

[SiG Lady]

In a nutshell, I can relate. I thought I was doing myself a big favor by finishing college in 1991 and setting off to be more successful. By suddenly becoming "overqualified" I stayed nearly unemployed (or at best, under-employed at times) to the present day. I spent YEARS looking for work. Years! It eats grey cells and erodes one's sense of purpose and momentum. I'm treading water at the moment--just barely. Just don't come to Eugene looking for work... there isn't any. We'd love to have ya' and all, but there'd be nothing for you to do except shoot at the indoor range--which takes money.

ANYWAY... an incurable optimist, I dragged my ass thru these years-of-no-work and am still a happy little cynic. I wish you the best. One's employment is often a strange and challenging psychological compromise anyway. Know that you're not alone and never have been.

[Run n Gun]

Erik,

I’m so sorry to hear about your situation. I read somewhere that (for a man) to loose his job is THE most stressful circumstance that people commonly find themselves in. More stressful than even the loss of a parent or spouse. I’ve been there and I believe that to be true.

Give yourself some time to grieve. Even if you didn’t LIKE the job it wasn’t your choice to leave and (as silly as it sounds) a period of “bereavement” is certainly appropriate.

Try not to make any rash decisions. I know you’re a very bright guy but something like this can knock even the most stable person for a loop.

Seek out and spend time with friends. They know the real you and like you anyway . Their perception of you isn’t linked to employment. They’ll see that what you do for a living is just a small part of what makes you, you.

Look at this as an opportunity. A chance to move where you’ve always wanted to live, do what you’ve always wanted to do and be who you’ve always wanted to be.

Sorry if this is coming off “preachy” or sophomoric… just trying to help and show a little support.

Ed

[Guest Larry Cazes]

Erik, Im not going to sugar coat this at all........Being out of work sucks! I'm an electrical engineer with 16 years of experience and I have been out of work twice in the last 3 years. Before that I had never been out of a job since I started working at 16. The job situation here in the bay area is dismal but lots of people are landing jobs, you just need to tap into your network of friends and professional contacts and be persistent and you will find work. This time I am jobless now for 2 months so far and I have used the time to do some home improvement projects and to practice my shooting. My best advice would be to mix fun in with your job search as much as possible. It will help you to keep a good attitude. What do you do for a living? I have lots of contacts in the high tech industry and may know of an opportunity for you. If you'd like contact me off of the board with particulars at lcazes@earthlink.net.

[Nolan]

Erik,

Are you still having the muscle twitches in your neck and the blurry vision since the accident? wink, wink? I just saw an ad on TV for an ambulance chaser, er accident lawyer.

Shoot me a copy of your resume and I'll give it to my bosses with my commendations.

Best of luck and if you need a practice partner let me know.

[ErikW]

Thanks, everybody. My thing is tech writing, specializing in software. That's kind of bad news right now in the S.F. bay area/silicon valley.

Honestly, I'd be dancing in the streets right now if I hadn't spent my savings on the new truck, taken a big monthly payment short-term loan, then bought the new motorcycle and accessories on a credit card. I needed a kick in the ass, I just wish it wasn't a kick into this cold, harsh world of a job market. I have little to coast on besides the vacation payoff and severance pay. Three months, sure. Six months? A year? That scares me shitless.

I don't have any mouths to feed, but on the other hand I don't have a partner with a second income.

[vluc]

Erik, you'll find - as time goes on, that you will learn more about yourself in this period than at any other time in your life.

Hehe, i have mouths to feed, and SWMBO has income, but when she makes 1/5th of what I did, it does not put much of a dent in the problems!!

I'm in (er, was in) healthcare administration, and healthcare in Western PA is going down the tubes big time. Add to that I'm soon to be 49 with 23 years experience and there are not that many opportunities, not when you can get a 26 yo to work for next to nothing!!

unfortunately moving is not an option, so opportunities become a tad limited. But, I'm still up mentally...all you've lost is a job...not your identity!!

[Ironman]

Hi Erik,

Sorry to hear about your job but... New opportunities will come your way. In my work, Land Surveying, I have hit hard times during every recession but seem to bounce back somehow. I believe it is better to work for several different companies because each employer has things that you can learn from. Gather information from each job and learn as much as you can from each place you work. They can take the job but they cannot take what you have learned from you. Good luck in your hunt for the new job. I am sure you will come out better than you were in the long run.

Jim

[DougBarnes101]

Eric,

Sorry to here about your job loss. I was in the same position right after the first of the year. I was out of work about a month. I work as a construction engineer and the construction business in IN is pretty cyclic. I have been laid off twice in the last 2 1/2 years. Keep your chin up and something will come along. As Jim E said they can take the job but not what you learned. Take Care and Good Luck

[EricW]

....there are not that many opportunities, not when you can get a 26 yo to work for next to nothing!!

You said it! That is my biggest gripe about the economy now. I'm only 33, but in my industry I was literally the old man. Tech companies only want people in their 20's with no family, no home, and no activities and/or responsibilities outside of work. That way, they can demand 60-80 hours a week and/or put one on the road 50% of the time or more. Oh, and by the way, you're expected to conduct all of your travel on the weekend.

Don't like it? You're history.

Being mature or having a family is now literally the kiss of death in the modern job market. If I was married or had kids and was in the market for a job, I would ditch my wedding ring and keep that fact a deep, dark secret. People are being routinely discriminated against for having a family in the hiring process these days.

The thing that really sucks about being in company full of mid-20's wunderkind is, yeah, they have lots of energy, but it's so totally undirected that working with them is just agonizing. I can readily attribute a substantial portion of the latest tech collapse to the stunning ignorance of the wunderkind.

[SiG Lady]

(Erik W--)"Being mature or having a family is now literally the kiss of death in the modern job market." 

AMEN to THAT!! Oh, now there are officially TWO criteria for dismissal-before-hiring: Age AND Family. But wait, there are MORE: Used to be I was discriminated against for not having a "family"; Then I was discriminated against for not being educated "enough" (but I fixed that--big time); then I learned it was disadvantageous to be a FEMALE looking for work (I'm NOT going to 'fix' THAT one, you jerks!); then it was "maturity" that became the all-too-obvious-and-prevalent criteria for dismissal. Cripes, you guys!... That leaves me with virtually NOTHING to offer. I hope they all realized that.

"...company full of mid-20's wunderkind is, yeah, they have lots of energy, but it's so totally undirected that working with them is just agonizing. I can readily attribute a substantial portion of the latest tech collapse to the stunning ignorance of the wunderkind."

Been there, seen THAT one, too!!! Poor little dears can hardly think straight, let alone do business.

(My deepest apologies to the ones who CAN. And, thankfully, I've know a handful. But not many.)

PS--Icazes has some good thoughts.

[Guest Larry Cazes]

Eric, How true this is! 2 months ago, I got laid off when my company closed. They had a huge amount of money, manpower, and technical ability but very little focus and effective management. Well....that's another long story..........

[EricW]

You know, I could write a freakin' book on all the crap we put up with out of the wunderkind during the last tech boom. The shining moment that summarized it for me: Travelling to HP as a vendor for a meeting on cost reduction for a new inkjet product. I was the only working engineer from our company attending the meeting. HP brought 6. On the way to the conference room, I passed a cleanroom where through the window I could plainly see a tech lounging in his chair taking a nap. Two hours later, on the way out of the meeting, he was still there, sleeping in plain view.

Mind you *we*, the vendor, was the one getting pounded on for cost reduction in the meeting.

[Jeeper]

I used to do IT work for a rather large consulting company(actually the biggest). I worked on some dot-coms in the boom of that era and was amazed at this same phenomenon. I remember working at one that had a game room for the employees. I would guess that at least a quarter of all employees were down there at anytime. It was ridiculous. No wonder their stock went into the gutter. The salaries that they were paying these recent college grads was ridiculous. These kids were totally useless. They were good programers but the perks the company gave were promoting lazyness. The managers were all young and didnt want to be slave drivers so everyone slacked.

On the opposite side of this I can understand why the companies want younger employees sometimes. They dont bitch about working 80 hours and they really have no excuse not to. It is different when someone has to go pick up their kids or stuff like that. Also when there is a lot of travel the younger people like to do it to go party in a new city. Honestly a lot of times I have seen where the older employees are more content to go slowly. When I switched from consulting to straight engineering I was amazed at the difference in work ethic. As a consultant most of us were under 30. People worked hard until it was done and then moved on. As an engineer the older engineers were really content with just ignoring deadlines and such. It really amazed me. This could be just the difference between the two fields and nothing to do with age though. It could also just be the place I worked too.

[SiG Lady]

Jeez, why should anyone HAVE to (or WANT to!!) work 80 hours a week??!! Gah! Ever hear the phrase "Get a life!!!"...? All work and no play (or whatever you do to relax) makes you-know-who a frickin', burnout loony!! Take a break!!! Before your life is OVER with!

Most of the middle-aged engineers I've ever worked with were/are pretty good about meeting deadlines.

Perhaps the REALLY older ones no longer give a damn, I dunno.

[Scooter]

I would take 80 hour work week over not having a job.

I just graduated with a second B.S. in mechanical engineering and I can't find a job. Our career advisor basically told us we're f*cked except she spent an hour doing so. So it looks like I'll be going to grad school. I might as well become a professional student.

Anyone know any companies looking for an entry level mechanical engineer in NorCal???

[EricW]

I would take 80 hour work week over not having a job.

Careful what you ask for.

I thought that's what I wanted out of school. I worked ungodly hours and made an insane level of commitment to my job for years. I was a total basket case by the time I was 30. And...I got nothing in return for it. No fortune, no job-security, not so much as a Thank You. In the end, my commitment didn't matter one iota. Unless you're making $150-200K/yr or more, you'll realize it's not worth it. You can't bank enough money to retire early or for any other meaningful reward. And money -- I'm talking wheelbarrow loads of it -- is the only worthwhile compensation for those kind of hours and lost time. It's the only way you can buy yourself time on the back-end of a high-powered career.

I'm now in my mid-thirties, unmarried with no sign of a stable relationship in sight, no kids, no house, nada. I'm starting over from scratch. And there are a boat load of regrets in-between: time lost with my family, several super-duper women one of which I should have just grabbed, loved and married (Katie, Bess, Sue....sigh...), higher-education that I should have pursued. All pushed aside for the almighty job.

It finally took the death of my father to make me realize that living a decent life and devotion to family are far more important than a job or money. 80 hours a week for a lousy salary is NOT a decent life. Your priorities will change. Trust me.

[/End of Sermon]

[SiG Lady]

ErikW said it all... And I reiterate MY post about "80 hours??!! Get a life!!!" When you get older (and baby, you WILL) and find yourself nursing a variety of nagging disabilities that tire you out, you won't even want to THINK of an 80-hour work week--let alone DO one.

I did the non-stop stuff (on into middle age at that!) in broadcast media and the early days (daze) were fun, but it got real old really fast. It can happen with ANY vocational calling that you jump into head first and are seduced by (money or no money) or are successful at. Being good at the broadcast game, I proceeded to lose virtually 15 years of my adult life... with nothing--nothing!--to show for it but a handful of names to drop and a couple or so typical radio personality's tales to tell. It was as though I put my whole life on hold while I pursued this... this WHATEVER thing in the name of a living and what I thought was cool. [There was also the issue of the Glass Ceiling, but that's another level and degree of difficulty.]

So, don't let anyone--anyone!--talk you into an "80-hour week." It's dumb-ass (and unhealthy).