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    Dear ZeusHamilton Nolan
    1/28/14 2:51pm

    You can't vent your frustration.

    This so fucking much. You can't say anything without someone spying on you and deciding that acting like a human being is a bad trait in a worker. The worst is when friends and family either can't do anything so they give you hollow words OR when they think they're helping by telling you to "cheer up" or "gosh, why are you so negative all the time?" They just don't get that things aren't going to magically change or that trying harder (as if that's possible at this point) is going to get you that job. Or telling you to go for minimum wage because, "it's something." But that first letter is right- if it's barely enough to pay to get you to/from the job you've not really improved the situation.

    And when you're stuck in a crappy job you can't even leave it and search. Obviously employers don't give two shits about unemployed people so quitting isn't an option. The market's still flooded with long term unemployed people who desperately need something so competition is high. Plus if you're working somewhere where you can't just take time off for interviews what do you do? Both situations are losing ones.

    Ranty rant rant. It's just super frustrating dealing with people who don't think unemployment/bad or underemployment as an issue.

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      sizor_sisterDear Zeus
      1/28/14 3:05pm

      Agree 100% with everything you've said. The worst for me is the unsolicited job advice. I hate telling people that I'm looking for a job because that will invariably lead to that most dreaded phrase "Well, have you tried..." or "You should look into..." I've usually already tried what they're suggesting (multiple times) or it just isn't practical advice. I appreciate their concern, but really I don't want to hear it. I'm dealing with enough crap already.

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      Dear Zeussizor_sister
      1/28/14 3:14pm

      Totally. I've become a bit snippy with people lately which, I feel bad about and apologize for, but you can only reformat your resume so many times. Or everyone's go-to choice, "Why don't you become an accountant?" Is that the new go-to?

      I also hate all the, "Just think positive" and variances. It's easy if you're in a good place but if you're not? Thinking about rainbows and sunshine and the illusive "better tomorrow" is tough when none of that ever seems to be on the horizon. Hell, you can even be positive but one word about how frustrated you are and everyone is on you.

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    SnagglepussHamilton Nolan
    1/28/14 2:47pm

    I saw some quote from a conservative economist about how the draconian unemployment benefits in North Carolina was a good thing because it forced everyone into getting a job at a fast food restaurant quicker than they normally would have. Unemployment? Solved! Middle class? Mmm...mmm...KFC!

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      WallyW0rldSnagglepuss
      1/28/14 3:09pm

      what he was saying is rather than not working and taking unemployment it is better to at least be working doing something to earn a living. being underemployed is better than being unemployed.

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      adnyshernoff4lyfeWallyW0rld
      1/28/14 3:18pm

      It depends. Being trapped in some low grade donkey wage job is nothing to be pleased about.

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    sizor_sisterHamilton Nolan
    1/28/14 2:49pm

    As someone who has been looking for a job for almost 2 years (March 1st will be my 2 year "anniversary"), I can say these stories are spot on. I would say that long-term unemployment is something I wouldn't wish on my biggest enemy; but I've realized that long-term unemployment is my biggest enemy, and my credentials are meaningless now that I've been unemployed for so long. I know things won't be going well when an interviewer asks me "So are you working currently?"

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      FriedHuggababysizor_sister
      1/28/14 2:58pm

      So this is kinda personal but how are you making ends meet? I'm just over six months unemployed and have already used up my 401k. I can't get food stamps and I'm going crazy here.

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      sizor_sisterFriedHuggababy
      1/28/14 3:17pm

      Honestly, I don't want to get into specifics here but I am on food stamps which covers my food, and am signed up with a nonprofit which covers part of my rent, and let's just say I'm doing things for money I'd never thought I'd have to do before to cover the rest. I am fortunate in that I don't have many expenses, but I do have to get "creative" almost every month.

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    APersonaHamilton Nolan
    1/28/14 6:29pm

    How do some HR-types sleep at night?

    I am not suggesting that all HR people are bad... but the ones that are bad seem to possess an almost superhuman level of disdain for the lowly applicants that seek nothing more than to work hard for their respective companies.

    I don't get it. Especially when you think about the fact that HR people would rather work with recruiters to court & seduce already-employed people instead of giving a job to someone who needs it... and for our intents and purposes, is equally qualified. How did having a job, at that exact moment, become a requirement for getting a job??? It's madness!

    Unemployed people (like me) stress for countless hours to see if a comma is out of place on a resume. But HR can't be bothered to show up for an interview... on multiple occasions. I mean, they could at least call/email to reschedule but nooo... they can't even remember when they scheduled a phone interview, which was later confirmed, but never happened. They'll say "don't call us, we'll call you" but they never do.

    By all means, HR people... sigh and roll your eyes as you lament about the 60 resumes you need to look through this week as I sit in your office. At least you have a job... and if you hated reading resumes so much why the fuck are you in HR? I do so love it when you don't understand what the company does or what my qualifications/certifications mean for the position because you barely have a superficial concept of what the job actually entails. No, you'd rather eliminate someone because they don't have a job. The sad thing is that HR-types like this do have a job... I hope that soon enough, the tables will turn.

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      sillywillyAPersona
      1/28/14 7:06pm

      Oh my gosh THIS times a million.

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      HappyFunDadAPersona
      1/29/14 12:03am

      Its simply cruel statistics. If I am a firm, its more cost effective to poach talent from another company than it is to bring someone new from the ground up. Effectively, I am charging a competitor to train an employee.

      Getting someone who has been unemployed long term is even worse, from a pure employer point of view, than some kid fresh from college. You got a worker who's skill set maybe dated and/or has a lot of bad habits.

      I don't work in HR, but have been in a situation where a long term unemployed person completely lied about their training, education, experience, and work history. Pretty much he nearly bankrupted the company I work for by killing three people on a site with his incompetence.

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    OMG!PONIES!Hamilton Nolan
    1/28/14 2:43pm

    NPR had a piece this morning on the Catch 22 situation that the long term unemployed face.

    Suggestions include lying about how long you've been out of work. I've got several long term unemployed friends who know that they can use me as a fake job and reference.

    Other suggested lies: make yourself look less overqualified. Retail stores don't want someone with a Master's degree.

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      Foxstar loves BashcraftOMG!PONIES!
      1/28/14 3:20pm

      Problem is, if you lie or leave out information, you can be screwed too. Employers don't like that.

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      OMG!PONIES!Foxstar loves Bashcraft
      1/28/14 3:22pm

      Better to lie and get a job than to tell the truth and remain "overqualified" and unemployed.

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    ThisGuyHamilton Nolan
    1/28/14 2:31pm

    Unable to secure any meaningful legislation to help them

    What sort of legislation would have helped them?

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      Flame Princess, Garbage-MongerThisGuy
      1/28/14 2:32pm

      A ban on discriminating against the long-term unemployed? I remember one time reading an HR person online whose company wouldn't hire anyone who was unemployed, whether their company declared bankruptcy yesterday, or whether they'd been unemployed for 6 months or more. This was in 2009. When we pressed her on it, she basically erupted and said that she had to have some way to throw out resumes because there were too many of them.

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      CeeCee1ThisGuy
      1/28/14 2:36pm

      a fuckin jobs bill maybe?

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    WallyW0rldHamilton Nolan
    1/28/14 2:35pm

    Why would Barry want to help these people? When they drop off the ranks of "people looking for a job" then the unemployment rate goes down and poof! Success!

    Unemployment is closer to 10% if you count the people who gave up looking.

    Good luck finding full time employment now that the ACA exists...

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      ARP2WallyW0rld
      1/28/14 2:53pm

      1) What does ACA have to do with job market? The talking point is that its a job killer. How? Bearing in mind that business don't hire people "just in case." They hire when there's a need.
      2) By doing nothing isn't Barry supporting capitalism, free market, etc. After all stocks, profits, etc. are doing great right now. Are you opposed to high stocks, profits, and high executive compensation?

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      WallyW0rldARP2
      1/28/14 3:00pm

      Well, you asked.

      Why would a grocery store hire a full time worker when they can hire 2 part time workers for half the price? Hire them full time and you are required to provide health care benefits. So now we have 2 part time employees without healthcare. Brilliant!

      Barry has not supported capitalism in any way shape or form. Giving money to people to buy houses.... fail.... giving people money for their clunker cars to help the environment and the economy... fail. Providing massive barriers to entry in the energy industry unless you have a horrible green idea that will be out of business in a year, in that case just ask and you'll get millions. I love high stocks, profits, and high executive compensation, to answer your question.

      But poverty has gone up by the millions and so has the number of people depending on the gov't for food stamps. So yes, he has failed miserably.

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    mishellie3088Hamilton Nolan
    1/28/14 2:47pm

    I can't read these. My dad's been off for 18 months, because his company shut down the plant he worked at (and... lo and behold he now freelances for them, basically they didn't want to pay his benefits...) and a year before he got that job (after he was laid off after working there my whole life and actually heard his new boss say "anyone who works at a place more than 5 years is a slug." - but no paper evidence, and HEY, IL is fire at will. He is also an art director. When he started working in graphic design, a degree wasn't required. He has over 30 years experience, but no degree and is long term unemployed. He can't even get a job at portillos. He's currently freelancing, but my parents are about to lose both of their cars, despite that.

    Its so. so. sad. to see my father, who worked his WHOLE LIFE for me, so sad and hopeless. I can't take it. It breaks my heart.

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      FeraldineGerraromishellie3088
      1/28/14 3:50pm

      Where do you live? My boyfriend is an art director at a big agency in New York, and we have a good number of friends, former employers, and colleagues in graphic design who are older (30s-50s) and who I think must have an innate understanding of what your father is going through. I can't bear these stories either and would like to help someone out if at all possible.

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      mishellie3088FeraldineGerraro
      1/28/14 4:54pm

      We live in Chicago actually/unfortunately. IDK if you know anyone here, but anything would help. Thank you for being a kind soul... it's super rough right now. My poor mother is balding out of stress. :/ I wish I could help them, but I'm drowning in student debt myself ha.

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    AssFault on the Highway to HellHamilton Nolan
    1/28/14 3:36pm

    Like most long-term unemployeds, I stayed more damn busy than I did when I was employed just to stay sane. I volunteered some, but mostly I MADE STUFF. I made lots of stuff with my hands (because I am blessed with skill, and thank the gods for it), and I put it on Etsy and even made myself into a human retail display and sold my handmade stuff in the tourism districts. When I wasn't making stuff or volunteering, I was using the phone at Kinkos to call companies to which I owed money to make payment arrangements or going over to a friend's house to use his wifi to apply for every job listing ever posted. There was never an idle moment. As this was in 2008-09, I was able to build a support network of other unemployeds, whereas today that's not as feasible I'd venture. Within that support network, it became obvious that *everyone* was hustling 24/7. Some were even busking, because playing music gigs for tips was better than nothing. No one stood still. In fact, most of us were losing weight from not sitting still at a desk anymore, well, and not affording as much food. I eventually had to move into my war deployed brother's house across the country, and strangely enough, found work instantly. That was a lucky, lucky break. I wish that for all of you still out there trying to find decent work— here's to getting that lucky break and here's to hoping it sticks for a long time. At least others who have been through it, and there are legions of us, know you're not sitting still just hoping for it.

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      NGHHamilton Nolan
      1/28/14 2:39pm

      Minimum income would help everyone. There aren't enough jobs for everyone. But everyone has the right to live.

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        hayesmpNGH
        1/28/14 3:05pm

        Only if you're a fetus, apparently.

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