Lets talk unemployment

[ChicagoTed]

As the thread name suggests it's about unemployment. Now i'm sure many people on this forum are not holding down jobs because they attend school or college but myself I do neither of those. I lost my last job in the civil service June of last year due to budget cuts and yeah it sucked pretty bad but I thought i'd be ok for a while. I had little over £2000 in my bank account which was enough to pay my bills and board money *I still live at home* for a while so I wasn't too worried but you would be amazed how fast money goes on those things. A few months ago my money started to run low and I found myself having to collect unemployment benifit and I kinda got depressed with the whole situation.

By now I was hoping to stand on my own two feet and make my own way in the world but that plan has been thrown out of the window, while I have held down several jobs and have a good degree of experiance finding another job has been harder then I thought. Despite the workplace experiance I lack genral qualifications such as NVQ's while I thought my luck would have changed over christmas jobs in my local area were taken up very fast but it didn't stop me trying. I spend my day going to shops, job centre and checking papers for vacancies but there is only so much I can do and recently I tried several employment agencies but I havn't heard anything as yet.

So escapists have you ever been or are currently unemployed and if so how have you been dealing with it?

TL;DR bored, little self worth and wondering how everybody else felt and what they did when they had no job.

 

[7moreDead_v1legacy]

Just come out of a 5 month stint of unemployment...All my savings are gone, 200 quid over my over draft and massive arrears on my loan and card (which I got to repair my car and boiler). Now I am permanently in the red cause of bank charges - Money goes in bank goes we'll have that Back over the od...

 

[Booze Zombie]

I've had no job my entire life so far (I'm 20, almost 21)... it's very boring.
Once I'm done with college (in another year) I'm taking up writing.
I'm not Stephanie Myers, so I've got a bit of hope for writing a few novels.

Self-employment seems the best option in the current climate, so I'm really looking forward to trying.

 

[Napierdalac]

Been unemployed since November.. What i've been doing? Sleeping ALOT. Gets really boring, really fast running around home. Thankfully money haven't been an issue, since we get money thrown at us by the state (We better with almost 70% in taxes)

Thankfully i start school next week, i find it really hard to get up in the morning..

 

[Worgen]

I started going to school again, Ive been out of work for over a year now, I thought I had a sure thing about a year ago that ended up falling tho so instead of a paycheck I get to study.... not sure if thats good or not

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

Well i was out of a job for a good year and a half after the place i worked at went out of business. I did eventually get another job but then lost it again after getting fired for other people stupidity. I now work at a warehouse as a package loader and i'm fairly happy, and i'm also going to school again.

 

[blipblop]

i hated the time when i where unemployed so annyoing to search for 100 jobs before even getting one answer back.
but on the other hand i get 80% of my salary in 300 days if I loose a job so i don´t have to dig in to my savings

 

[Snake Plissken]

I was unemployed for about 2 years. I made about a grand a week doing geotechnical construction, but got laid off (along with my father, who also work for the same company). I collected unemployment for a long fucking time in order to pay rent and bills so I could focus on classes. Found a terrible job at a liquor store in order to scrape enough money together to survive and have been doing that since.

I wasn't really depressed about being on unemployment, but seeing the other people who were on unemployment at the unemployment offices I frequented made me depressed. I was really sad to see an unshaven and rather famished looking father with 2 children collect less than I did on unemployment. Not to say I didn't need the money...I really did. It's just sad that his priorities were FAAAAAAR more important than my own. If I go broke, fuck it, I'll move back home with Mom and Pops. If HE goes broke, his kids don't eat.

I often used a good portion of my money as a supplement for my family. I'd drive to go see them and help them with rent and bills and stuff. My father was the only one working, so they couldn't afford rent or food. Their dryer and oven went out in the same week, so I bought my mom a dryer, too. I didn't keep much of my unemployment money for myself. Usually just enough for my bills and groceries and gas.

 

[Macheteswordgun]

Gun meet head, head meet gun. Unemployment sucks along with a lot of other things.

 

[Continuity]

Well this is a depressing thread. I'm employed but i'm in the civil service and my organisation doesn't have its budget yet... I'm a little nervous about that tbh because I think I would be boned without my current job.

 

[NicolasMarinus]

Everything is temporary, remember that. I was unemployed for almost 2 years after finishing school. I freelanced a lot, but was mostly looking for work (some periods not even - I played a lot of Halo back then!). I did eventually find a great job and have been working steady ever since, jumping from one fun job to the next.

Take heart, you will find something. Maybe not tomorrow or next week. But it'll come round.

 

[2fish]

Finished school, living with parents since no one has hired me. I got out of college in 2010, I have made a little progress but no job yet.

 

[RatRace123]

I'm not in school and can't find a job, everything's already taken or requires advanced degrees that I don't have, or pays like shit for the amount of work done, like a pizza delivery guy.

Like most young people in today's society I'm looking towards the internet, I hope to whore out what skills I have at being an attention whore to make that into a profession, or at least a way to get some money rolling in.

As much as I hate the site and its community Youtube is probably the best place for that. If a quality video series can be made and advertised it can earn a lot of money, also the "quality" aspect seems to not be entirely necessary, you just kinda have to act like a tool on camera for about 5 minutes.

 

[ContemporaryStudent]

I've had no job me entire life so far (I'm 20, almost 21)... it's very boring.

--

Self-employment seems the best option in the current climate, so I'm really looking forward to trying.

This pretty much sums up any contribution I could make to this topic, but lets switch College for a thoroughly useless Bachelor's degree, and a couple of years on the age.. I'm also looking at self employment as a viable alternative to the complete sense of rejection that is the entry level job market.

For time fillers, it seems like obvious advice, but do what you enjoy, as long as it challenges you to stick with it. For example, I studied/practised using the UnrealEd map editor, learned about creating textures for game assets, and generally just tried to keep my mind occupied when I was unemployment benefits. If you don't, it will become thoroughly depressing. In the end I came off it just because I didn't feel any motivation to find work whilst trapesing in fortnite after fortnite.

 

[Dommius]

I have no job as of yet. Haven't for a little over the last month. Have an interview today though. Its not a prestigious job or anything of the sort but a job is a job and money has to be earned somehow if I wish to continue my existence.

 

[Trogdor1138]

I'm turning 19 in 9 days and haven't had an official job yet. It's very, very hard being in the film industry and being stable... Thankfully I still with parents until I sort my shit out, have been working on getting a position somewhere while balancing my independent projects and everything else.

If I can get a decent position as an editor or whatever else is on the table I should be fine. It kind of sucks because I'm more of the Auter film maker type who does his own projects rather than just looking to help out on some corporate gigs. But I can do both luckily and try to remain enthusiastic.

 

[DesiPrinceX09]

I'm gonna be 19 in April and I've had one official job so far but I had to quit since I couldn't go to school in Texas (where I had the job and lived for a while), I had to move back to Florida so I could continue college. Haven't had much luck finding a new job.

 

[MarkDavis94]

I'm 16 and at college and working weekends at McDonalds. Its a terrible job but I'm lucky to have a job and have some money so I'm just sticking with it and hopefully I'll do something with myself after college

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

I have a part time job at a music store whilst I study at university. I've never been out of education and work at the same time. I need more money though, so I might have to find another part-time job.

 

[Zykon TheLich]

Well, I was unemployed for about 18 months before I got my job last Feb. Was fine though, housing benefit covered rent and dole covered food etc. My work is seasonal so I've been unemployed from Nov but I start again in Feb. Been fine, as before housing benefit covers rent and dole covers food and bills. Admittedly I do end up sleeping all day and staying up till 3-4 in the morning and I really am looking forward to getting back to work as I do enjoy my job. My money situation is really very little different when I'm working, I'm probably only about £10-15 a week better off working and that goes on extra food and transport, but the fact that I enjoy my work and that it's building up time with a very reputable organisation makes up for it.