I have 20 years’ experience as a one-man, full-service, in-house ad agency. I worked nine years as Marketing Director at an Historically Black College (HBCU), and eleven years in the same position at a two-year community college in De Queen that’s part of the University of Arkansas System. In 2010, I was moved into a grant-writing position that was de-funded for the 2011-2012 fiscal year. I managed to avoid losing my De Queen home to foreclosure by borrowing against my retirement, and was lucky enough to get a hardship exemption so I could keep my home in Little Rock, where the real work in my field is. My wife is also unemployed. Our De Queen house has been on the market five months, but there has been little interest and no takers. I want to go back to work!

I have been unemployed since 11/09.. After searching for jobs with no success for 10 months I thought I would go back to school and obtain my associates degree, hoping that it would help. I did the 2 yr degree in 11 months, and graduated with honors.. while doing this I kept applying for jobs, doing whatever I thought I was qualified to do. I had several interviews, but nothing came of it. I volunteered for a 30 day job with possible employment at the end of this period,, I did this to gain experience with scheduling for dr’s etc.. but after 30 days they said I was too far away from my graduation date. Onward, I continued to apply and have had several more interviews but far and few between. I have called places to check on status of applications and no one answers the phone, leave messages and no one calls back. I have gone to places to hand my resume to a person and they tell me everything is done online… where you get lost in cyberspace ..my unemployment ran out last august, I had enough saved to pay rent thru Nov. in which case someone my roommate and I helped out for over a yr, said he would pay my part of the rent b/c he owed us/me. He has since left,(without notice) and now roommate and I are scrambling, b/c I don’t have an income yet and I am unable to pay my portion of rent. Will be homeless in a few wks. I also filed for disability, but that can take up to 2 yrs to get, if you get it .. I am not able to do the jobs I used to do, because of medical problems, which is one reason I went back to school. It would be nice if companies went back to the old way of applying for a job, where you could actually go to the place, fill out the application, and hand in your resume.. I feel that would be a better solution than filling all these unseen applications in on line. It might even create a few jobs.. Its not that I dont want to work.. because nothing would make me happier than to have a job. ITs actually easier working than it is to find a job. The government has to get off their kiesters and start to do something about the unemployment epidemic this nation is facing. Good luck to those that have run out of unemployment benefits, and God bless everyone.

“DIGNITY” is only a word……

The year 2011 started with the same hopes and dreams of every other new year…. It was an ok year not the stellar year that you always hope for. Unfortunately around Thanksgiving my mother’s health began failing rapidly…. It has only been the two of us and I had no one to turn to for help and support… My mother passed away December 10, 2011. Then if that wasn’t bad enough, several days later I ended up in the hospital with a bowel obstruction and C-Diff infection. Couldn’t wait to get back to work to keep my mind busy and get on with my life again. On Monday the pains returned to my stomach and back to the emergency room I went. The doctors took a cat scan and blood tests and assured me that all way healing well. The medication I have been taking for the infection is very hard on the body and was taking it’s toll on me. I was relieved and determined to get through this. Went into work on Tuesday…Missed my job as I had worked for the same company for just over 18 years so was excited to get back. My home was close to my job so I could come home at lunch time to let my dogs out to relieve themselves and grab a sandwich. So, on Tuesday I did just that. When I was approaching my front door I noticed an envelope that was delivered either by UPS or FedEx.. When I picked it up and read the envelope it said “Confidential” but my name and address was written on the envelope. Opened it and to my surprise there was my final check. I was getting laid off… No one had said a word to me at the office I was in a state of shock. Went back to the office with the check in my hand found the boss and asked “Just when I was to be told I no longer had a job.” The boss took me in to his office and told me it was nothing that I had done it was only business…My job had been eliminated. 18 years and all I got was a wham bam thank you ma’am…The check was sent to my home in error. Whoops! The business I worked in uses the word “DIGNITY” to describe the way they treat people, their products and the way they do business. Guess that works only if you are a customer and not an employee…. My experience with them and this situation was humiliating to say the least. I have been around for a while and especially with this economy it is tough on business but employees should be treated with “DIGNITY” not just thrown away like trash…. I was one of the ones chosen to be laid off because I would get a decent severance package? due to my tenure of 18 years and of course my age had nothing to do with the companies decision. No severance package is decent when the rug is pulled out right under your feet. So, now I must work on getting healthy so I can start my new year looking for a new job. Am I scared, yes I am, but I must survive and will because I have my own personal pride and DIGNITY!

I had an interesting conversation with the agency yesterday. The girl from the agency asked me over and over about why I left my last two positions. The last firm I worked for was run like a sweat shop. They ran the staff into the ground until almost everyone had a serious health problem. After that, Humana decided to cut off coverage of all doctor visits, thus cutting off everyone’s treatment. I was one of the last to leave because I was trying to build tenure and my boss was actually a good guy. It was the blue blood partners and management that sucked. Before that I worked for a lawyer who committed perjury and fraud to the tune of $50,000 and I was subpoenaed over it. Meaning I had to testify against him. It appears that the job description for a legal secretary now includes committing felony perjury to keep your crook boss out of jail and working in sweat shop conditions with no benefits until you die. Working for the 1% sucks! I guess we’ll see if I get any more job calls after this.

I was laid off on December 25 ,2010 and I was told that I made to much money.I was as security guard making ten dollars an hour.The got rid of me and paid the next person miniunm wage. I was able to go to college and support my three kids on ten.I now working at Macdonalds because unemployment ran out.I am still going to college but now get food stamps and medical from state.I do not want to get food stamps just work at a better job.

The reason that I am unemployed is because I trusted someone that has been a friend of my brother’s for over 3 decades. It all began when my husband got ill, in the hospital for a week with 5 specialists working on him. The job that I had at that time did not deal well with me missing work because of my very sick husband, threatening to write me up because of it. Then walks in this person that I will regret ever talking to for the rest of my life. I never asked for a job, he offered me one through my fb page. I explained to him about my husband and how I was looking at getting fired from my other job because of trying to be there when the doctors were there. He said he understood everything. That changed when I accepted his offer. I was treated like I didn’t know anything from day 1. Then he hired someone that I had never met, all the while she was making choices on my employment. When I had to work with her, she was screaming and yelling at me, watching me while I worked with a look on her face that I would have loved to wipe off! The working atmosphere was horrendous but I kept on going, never missing one day! I eventually was “sent home” because my fellow employee went to this person and told him I wasn’t talking to her. So, I was sent home for not standing around and talking. I cried and cried out of embarrassment and making the worst decision of my life! Now this person is killing my chances from gaining employment by speaking ill of me. I was a good worker, NEVER called in, ALWAYS early and went to work as soon as I walked in the building. But I guess hard work doesn’t count these days.

Everyone has heard the cliché, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” Well, there’s one dangerous assumption within that statement – that I actually have access to water and a pitcher.

I experienced my first layoff at the tender age of 19. After having worked at Castle Rock Entertainment part-time for four years, about 100 of us were laid off when Ted Turner’s company bought us out. I landed my next job at NBC within weeks, without even interviewing for it. Talk about amazing grace!

My second layoff was a bit more traditional, and I spent about 3 months pounding the pavement before I landed at E! Entertainment. Still young & full of energy, I handled it all in stride. That was in my mid-20s. I was still relatively debt free, aside from student loans, and living with parents.

But this last layoff. Oh, this last one. This last layoff found me as a 30-something single woman, juggling a full-time job and several part-time ones to maintain my overhead, which included a mortgage, car note, tuition for an MBA program I was one year into, and basic living expenses. Needless to say, the third time was not the charm. This layoff completely devastated my world – my beliefs, my priorities, my sense-of-self. I experienced a gut wrenching sense of despair as I watched all that I had worked for over 15 years vanish. Not only was I grappling with the material losses, but also with the spiritual ones, most noticeably, the dent to my once fearless drive and resilience. I was crushed. I recall telling close friends, in-between crying sessions, that this would be the breaking of me.

But life’s challenges have a way of showing you what you’re made of. About a month and a half after the layoff, I found myself 6,000 miles away from all I knew, teaching English in South Korea. I had never lived outside of California, but here I was in Suwon, South Korea, walking to work, smiling, making an impact. A few months after working in Korea, I re-gained the confidence I once knew, applied to graduate school, and started a different Masters program (still ashamed that I had abandoned the MBA so abruptly). It was in Korea that I regained the confidence that comes with completing an honest day’s work and having enough money to live comfortably.

My transition wasn’t easy. I happened to be single and child-free, so I was able to drop everything and move. Not everyone can do that. But there are things laid-off workers can do to keep their sanity until their next big break happens (see http://yhoo.it/10postlayoff for ideas.) Fast forward 24-months, and am refreshed, re-energized, and re-committed to pursuing my passions. I’m back in sunny California, spending my days volunteering, swimming, taking Zumba, re-writing resumes for frustrated job seekers (no charge), and blogging until I land my next 9 to 5 (which in recruiting can sometimes be 8 to 8). I am convinced, like many other downsized workers, that the layoff was a blessing and not a curse.

To close with another cliché, hindsight is 20/20. I am grateful for the layoffs. Without them, I may not have been pushed to grow, professionally and personally. I was mistaken when I told my friends that the layoff was the breaking of me. It was, in fact, the making of me. My third layoff taught me that life’s lemons not only can make lemonade, but also one heck of a lemon pie. Tasty!

My name is Louis. I live in Texas. I am 56 years of age. I have a Master’s degree in computer information systems and 30 years of professional work experience in Information Technology Services. I have worked in technical, managerial and leadership roles in higher education, state government and private industry. In my last job I was an Associate Vice President for Information Technology Services. I earned $115,500 annually. I was good at my job and a valuable asset to the organization…at least I thought I was.

My career has been interrupted by corrupt leadership and unfair employment practices. Here is what happened to me. The former CEO I worked under for 10 years retired last year and arranged for one of his lieutenants’ to take his job as the new CEO. The new CEO announces a plan to restructure and reorganize the IT department. Now the new CEO starts to bring in his cronies. My immediate supervisor’s job as Vice President for IT was appealing to his cronies so she stepped aside to make room for another crony. She got a sweet deal on the back end. In the process she sold me out and conspired with the new cronies to set me up for a constructive discharge.

So the saga continues. My position was eliminated under the disguise of “budget cut backs”. It was apparent that they were making room for another crony. To make himself appear compassionate, my new supervisor offered me another position with a 22% reduction in pay grade, a different title but doing the same work as before. In other words, I was being demoted and striped of my status for no-cause, other than he had the power to do it.

I realize that Texas is an At-Will state and the law says an employer can terminate you for any reason or no reason at all. There is just something wrong with that. At any rate, I filed a grievance complaint to the company grievance board at the rest is history. I was eventually harassed, subject to retaliation, sent home on administrative and later terminated.

I’ve been unemployed since July 2011. I have applied for approximately 30 jobs and have only gotten five interviews. I’m drawing unemployment which will run out in a few weeks. I have been making withdrawals from my IRA account to pay the mortgage, utilities and transportation. Each time I make a withdrawal the IRS penalize me 10% for early withdrawal of retirement funds. At the present rate I will be out of unemployment and will have exhausted my IRS account in a few months unless I find a job soon.

I need a break through. I need a job. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Loius

I am a Pharmacist, and was employed 25yrs, for several companies and as a contract Pharmacist. I do have a “discipline” on my license(from 1998) which never was a problem and my license is in good standing, but with the email applications nowadays, they ask this right out if you ever been “disciplined”? So this is already a mark against me when I apply for any job. I have asked the Professional Board to see if this could be expunged or sealed so I can work again, but they “ignore” my request and re-direct me to other government entities.I am a great Pharmacist, but with the “mark” on my record and the “saturation” of Pharmacists in Illinois, there are limited places I can apply and being 50 yrs. old I am competing with the new student coming out of college. I am lost and discouraged! Thanks Ron B.

My skills are more in Property Management/Leasing. I am very good at it and have leased apartments to 100%. But, I thought I would change careers back to my first love, Medical. I have always used my medical skills and knowledge, in various times of my life.
I was in the Medical Services while in the USAF, and stationed in Eglin AFB, Ft Walton, FL. I have many Skill Sets. I am also a good writer. I love working with people, animals- taking care of them and educating them on healthy living.
I am a CNA, went through a 120 hr study at a nearby center. Worked for Nursing Homes-did not like the treatment of the clients, so I did Home Health. I lived with a 93 yr old man, as a roommate, friend. I love my Seniors and I can be a good Companion.
I went to a 1 year Medical Assistant program in 2010, graduated with a 3.5 gpa and on the Dean\’s List.
I haven\’t been able to gain employment with a doctor\’s office, as I am not Certified- I didn\’t have the money for the exam then, and I certainly do not have the money now. I figured I would have a job directly and would be able to save money for the national exam. I really do believe that ageism is alive and well. Several much-younger students graduated at the same time, flooding the market. I am a hard worker, am in my 50\’s, and I ended up having to take more physically demanding jobs and was hired by a Sales and Marketing Co. I was told it would be 31-37 hours a week position. After the background and drug test, the Orientation wasn\’t for 2 weeks. I was surprised that most of the new hires were older workers, like myself. We were also told the job was project work and there was no guarantee of working, we had to accept them on their website. They had about 4 different websites, very confusing. Since I was a leasing consultant for over 10 years, and recently was traveling household data collector for 6 years, I have a lot of experience in regular in-bound sales, but really didn\’t have complete experience with this type of work. I did a few of these project jobs, but haven\’t been working on any more of those \”project\” (stock-person) jobs, lately. I just looking for a regular job, one place, one schedule, not too far from home. Thanks for listening.