If laid off in last 3 yrs, how long were you unemployed?

[si-am]

Those who have been laid off- Do you wait until a job like your last one opens up or do you look for anything available? Like our mall has tons of openings for associates and managers. Grocery stores are hiring, Target, Walmart, etc. I've noticed around here people tend to try and find the same exact job with the same exact pay. Friends will say how retail jobs are below them or how the unemployment would pay the same as getting a new job. If its a few dollars less per hour they won't even consider it. The one family member who was laid off from a job of $25/hour just found a job within a few weeks(3) for $18 an hour. Same job, less pay.

My husband was laid off in May and then started a new job in July (after about 30 applications and 5 interviews). He wasn't really interested in the hourly retail jobs that paid no more than unemployment benefits. He knew it wouldnt lead to a career and therefore wouldn't the the best choice in the long run. He did apply for low paying, salaried "career" jobs outside his field, but he never got called for those interviews.

 

[tggrbuny]

I am also in accounting. I lost my job in January 2011. Went back to school to get a better degree. That has not helped. I am still out of work. In the last three months, I have had one interview. Just yesterday, got an email from a potential opportunity asking me to schedule an interview. Keep your fingers crossed!

 

[kaytieeldr]

Those who have been laid off- Do you wait until a job like your last one opens up or do you look for anything available? Like our mall has tons of openings for associates and managers. Grocery stores are hiring, Target, Walmart, etc. I've noticed around here people tend to try and find the same exact job with the same exact pay. Friends will say how retail jobs are below them or how the unemployment would pay the same as getting a new job. If its a few dollars less per hour they won't even consider it. The one family member who was laid off from a job of $25/hour just found a job within a few weeks(3) for $18 an hour. Same job, less pay.

Not retail, but a completely different field. I took the first job I was offered - and I was earning about the same as I was getting on unemployment! But someone with whom I'd gotten friendly while job-hunting had been out of work over eighteen months, and I didn't want to find myself in that position.

Beneath me? Hardly. I'm at the same company, but two+ years later in a better position with more hours at higher pay.

 

[Kathi OD]

DH was out of work for just over 2 years. We have a good friend who has been out of work 3.5 years.

Those who have been laid off- Do you wait until a job like your last one opens up or do you look for anything available? Like our mall has tons of openings for associates and managers. Grocery stores are hiring, Target, Walmart, etc. I've noticed around here people tend to try and find the same exact job with the same exact pay. Friends will say how retail jobs are below them or how the unemployment would pay the same as getting a new job. If its a few dollars less per hour they won't even consider it. The one family member who was laid off from a job of $25/hour just found a job within a few weeks(3) for $18 an hour. Same job, less pay.

When DH was unemployed he applied for jobs in and out of his field. He did apply at stores, gas stations, courier positions, almost anything. He didn't get one interview at any stores. He didn't get one interview outside of his field. While we have no proof, we both believe it was because companies don't want to invest time training people they think might leave when something better (in their field) comes along.

Our friend doesn't really have to work. So while she has been applying for positions, she is being very particular. While DH was applying for at least 10 jobs a week, she might be applying for 5 a month. As a result, she hasn't had any luck finding a job.

 

[Ciao Mickey]

My dh was laid off Jan 2009 in a mass layoff (not the first or last for his company) the day we returned from a Disney vacation. He was a computer engineer of 23 years - at that point he was called a design engineer though he did software engineering for 15 years before switching to hardware. While he had contract work about 90% of the time it took him 2 years to find a permanent full time job as an embedded systems engineer in Jan 2011. Most of his contract work was for the same company that laid him off mostly to avoid benefits.

That's another dirty little secret many companies try to hide--getting rid of their most experienced and top earning employees.

So inside of it being a time when you should be coasting along because you have reached the top, you are instead scrambling for a new job.

 

[Ciao Mickey]

Goodness this scares me to death

I find out next Wednesday about the fate of my job. Company is going through a reorganization.

I just hit my 25th anniversary here (started when I was 19) and it is the best job ever.

I'm sick to my stomach. Can't believe my whole world can come crashing down in a week.

I hope everything works out for you.

 

[davmill]

My brother was out of work for three years. Finally got a job with the city outside of his field. But he is a lot happier now then starving on unemployment.

 

[zurgswife]

My hubby was laid off in April 2010 from the banking industry; he is still looking. He did go back to school and get a Masters in a different field that he has been volunteering and present in for the past 9 years.

He does do some consulting in the new industry and has been making lots of connections but no jobs have turned up...

 

[sophie832]

My husband was laid off from a customer service call center job in Jan. 2009. To be fair, those types of jobs had never lasted him longer than a couple of years at a time, but he always found a new job within a few months. It took over 2 years for him to finally find some work through a temp agency, and then in March of this year one of his temp jobs turned permanent! In the meantime, he's one class away from finally having his Bachelor's degree. Hopefully that will help him get an even better job in the future. For now, we're just grateful he has a steady paycheck. I'll keep my fingers crossed for everyone still looking.

 

[KigerKat]

I was laid off three years ago (almost exactly), but my story is a bit different. After a couple of months of not finding a job, my husband and I decided the timing was right for me to go back to school and finish my degree. There are some great re-employment programs out there that might be able to help. I ended up qualifying for a program called Workforce Investment Act that pays my tuition and books, as well as give me a stipend for every day I attend classes.

 

[NJtoATL]

My husband started working again last year 2011(February). Prior to that he was laid off for 3 years. Those were some lean years. We still went to Disney and had other vacations. Just couldn't buy a 5 day passes, meals dining out, or the usual extras. But we made it work.
Keep the faith. Things will work out.

 

[DebMcDonald]

For my husband it was 9 months, but he also took a huge salary decrease, but it was a salary we could afford to live on (not as comfortably as before) and it was more than unemployment. During that 9 months he did alot of phone interviews and then he was untouchable once they found out the salary he had been making. He doesn't regret his decision about taking the decrease and mentally he was much better off doing that.

 

[4forMe]

Well, I finally voted in the poll. My brother was out of work for just under 18 months. He finally got a job through a temp agency. His assignment will be for at least 6 months with a possibility of leading to full time employment. The assignment is with a very good company. The difficult issue is that he has taken a 55% pay cut and has no benefits with this job; however, we are all thrilled that he is back at work (he's pretty happy about it too)!

Hugs to all of you that are looking for a job. The unemployment situation is still terrible, especially in our state.

 

[southlakejr]

I was laid off on a Friday in March of 2009- I started working again at my old company on the following Monday. It was a pay increase (yay!) but involved living 3.5 hours away from DH for over two years until we could both find jobs in the same area. It was a pay increase, but it was also a move to a very high COL area (SF Bay Area)

DH was let go at the end of August in 2011, he returned to work the following February. He was fairly selective about his search though- he works in the mental health field which is plagued with awful, awful employers. As it was, he ended up leaving less than two months later for another job with a former employer.

Before the layoffs and changes, DH and I were living in Tahoe where he had a fantastic job with great hours and pay. (not something his field is known for either!) Now, he is still making about 15k less than he was before, in an area where it is notoriously expensive. Luckily, I am making more and we've managed well. We both have long commutes (think hour or so each way) but recently purchased a home. Perhaps most importantly, we are both in very stable companies now.

 

[angierae]

Those who have been laid off- Do you wait until a job like your last one opens up or do you look for anything available? Like our mall has tons of openings for associates and managers. Grocery stores are hiring, Target, Walmart, etc. I've noticed around here people tend to try and find the same exact job with the same exact pay. Friends will say how retail jobs are below them or how the unemployment would pay the same as getting a new job. If its a few dollars less per hour they won't even consider it. The one family member who was laid off from a job of $25/hour just found a job within a few weeks(3) for $18 an hour. Same job, less pay.

If I were to find myself out of work, I wouldn't be looking for jobs outside my field until my unemployment/savings were about to run out. I'm very good at what I do, I enjoy what I do, and I would be absolutely miserable doing something else (retail, food service, whatever.)

however, if it got to the point that my family needed the income, I'd do whatever I could find. But I'd have to be to that point before I'd accept something outside of my field.

 

[crazelion]

Update I have at my job a year and five months. I am much happier and I got flexible schedule. I only have five minute commute.

 

[pixiewings71]

I had a really great job until June of 2010, I was let go for no reason and collected unemployment for 10 months until I found another position and took a large pay cut. I worked for that company for 2 years and was let go again when they moved our facility to So Cal, I've know been out of work for about 7 months and unemployment has run out. I have been applying for jobs daily and getting very few interviews. I need a job.....but I have to find something, it's not about taking what I can find, it's about being hired for anything I'm applying for.

 

[pandamom]

After surviving years of huge layoffs, I was laid off last December from my job of 16 years. I had a 1 year non compete clause but it didn't matter because there haven't been openings in what I was doing anyway (advanced technical computer support for Doctor's offices and hospitals -- mainly Linux and UNIX.) I have a professionally created resume and had 2 months job search assistance that I received as part of my severance package. I have applied to anything I am qualified for in my area: technical, clerical, food service, warehouse, hospitality, retail, etc. and don't even get contacted for interviews. I knew I wouldn't get anything close to the salary or benefits I had prior to the lay off but I never expected not to even be considered as a candidate for minimum wage jobs... It has been a very humbling experience.

 

[Colleen27]

DH was laid off in Dec '12 from a job he gave up a whole lot to take (closed his own business because the offer was too good to pass up ). He found something part time at about 60% the hourly wage in Aug '13, but fortunately in the mean time he was able to start booking jobs on his own again and the combination of a part-time steady job with higher-paying but variable self-employment is working out well. We're not back to where we were in the "good old days" before '08 but we're not doing terribly either.

 

[pigletto]

Dh left where he was working to go back to school in a 3.5 year co-operative program. He did 3 work terms that were paid. He has just graduated (end of last month). I'm telling you, reading this is not helping me feel good about the job search.
He graduated top of his class, has had one interview, several leads provided to him, and we are willing to look at a long commute, or a move. Whatever it takes. We're only one month in, but there is going to come a time very soon where he absolutely has to work. It's a very technical position, so his skills put him in a good place. I can't say I am not worried though. Every day that the phone doesn't ring makes me a little more nervous. He feels I am worrying too much and is fairly confident that something will come along shortly. Time will tell I suppose.
Sorry this was a little off topic, I can just relate to the unemployed and searching aspect.