I’m a I.B.E.W. electrian have been off since sept 2011.Would like to go back to work. My tier 2 ran out in Dec.Oklahoma doesn’t have tier 3. I have traveled before to work, but would like to work out of my home local # 1141

Retired military member living in the state with the lowest uneemployment rate in the nation, I have applied to BNSF rejection letter beat me home after interview for conductor job. Haliburton applied for several jobs, rejected. AMTRAK rejected. Deputy Sheriff long shot rejected. WALMART seasonal rejected. I have also applied for jobs in the oil fields in North Dakota and so far no response from any of them. Seems once you hit 50 you are no longer employable.

My father died my freshman year of high school and our household income dropped 80%. I didn’t get discouraged, I got busy. I went to college with two scholarships and then was offered a graduate assistantship. I have worked in social services and education all my life.

In 2000 I was permanently disabled in a horseback riding accident. Once again, I didn’t get discouraged, I got busy and found a position working with disabled high school students, ascertaining what their jobs skills were to help them find employment after high school instead of having to go on SSDI.

In June of last year the funding for the program was cut. Since then I have done project work doing genealogical research, social media for a literacy program, fact-checking and research for pop culture books and fund raising for victims of the Indiana State Fair disaster.

I get up at 3:30 AM to start my job searches.

So when I hear the conservative pundits telling people how the unemployed are lazy and wanting to live on UI, I am enraged.

I want a fighting chance to earn my keep, pay my bills the same month they come in and not have to lie to my son saying that I ate before he got home from school so he doesn’t know there wasn’t enough for all of us.

you no longer have freedom of speech in the work place. After Six years of busting my butt out I go . I am 70 years young and work just as hard as any one 20 years younger. I have lifted things heavier than most people. I have cleaned bathrooms so dirty it makes you sick. Always beat the managers to work. Do the best I can always . Instead of a pat on the back , I get a pink slip . Good old Bealls

I was one of the earliest of those affected by the recession. Long before workers were being laid off in large numbers, or before news articles were examining whether unemployment numbers reflected “discouraged workers” – I had already been looking for a job for at least a year. I struggled through college with a small child and a permanently disabled husband, with high hopes of changing all of our lives for the better if I just hung in there and finished. And, though I did get my B.A in ’04 – that change never came. As a matter of fact, our lives have progressively become more and more tumultuous. My student loan balance has tripled from what I originally borrowed, due to all the deferred payments and consolidations. I never once, since obtaining my degree, have had enough to make a single payment – which would now be at around $700/month, if it were not still being deferred. I invested an initial $29,000 into my education, in order to also invest in a future in which I could provide for my family – an investment that has now become over $70,000. When a $70,000 education investment brings a return that is far, far into the red, I can’t help but feel a college education is over-rated. My sister did years in prison, got a G.E.D. and went to beauty school, and she is making a very comfortable living. I have tried five times harder, with a college education and a great resume – and come up completely empty.
I have applied tirelessly for jobs; everything from entry level marketing jobs (my degree is in English/journalism; I have extensive online and traditional marketing experience), print media positions, small newspaper jobs, advertising, communications jobs – even plenty of jobs that have nothing to do with my degree: administrative assistance, customer service, bartending, restaurant/hospitality mgmt, office personnel, legal assistance – I doubt there are many jobs that I HAVEN’T applied for. I even moved to NYC for a year and a half, to do an internship in hopes it would give me a push. I’ve gone to dozens of interviews, each time with the hope that this could be the one – and each time I got that horrible, formal letter of rejection in the mail, I tried not to cry. It is pretty impossible not to feel as though something is intrinsically wrong with oneself, after years and years – and years -of trying to obtain a professional job, and being a complete failure at it.
Still, that is not the worst of it.
Unlike most unemployed Americans, I never had unemployment benefits to fall back on, because it had run out before all of the extensions. The work I had done was mostly waiting tables, so that unemployment ran out long before the real crisis hit. When you are never given a chance to pay into the system, the system does not pay out, regardless of how hard you’ve tried to work. So while everyone worries about what they will do if their unemployment expires – I’ve had to deal with 4 years of absolutely no income benefits. How do I survive, or get any money? I freelance online for a couple pennies a word; doing the exact same work that most professionals are paid very high salaries for: SEO/SEM, online marketing, copywrite & content managment. I’m usually hired by people with website hobbies or start-up businesses who can’t (or won’t) pay anything substantial, and which doesn’t begin to add up to even most part time job salaries – but anything is better than nothing.
My husband’s disability payments are also pitifully small – not enough for even a single person to live on, much less a family of three. The three of us have had to live with my parents, humiliatingly, for the past 5 years. We’ve never owned a house, nor does it seem like we ever will. At this point, a 2 bedroom apartment sounds great. A job for me, and our own living space, so we can win back whatever small bits of dignity are left – seems like an impossibility, after 5+ years of trying to obtain such a humble goal, and being unsuccessful.
I was in an advanced education program throughout 4 years of high school – I could’ve entered college as a sophmore, had I had the money to go to a normal college. But because I had to figure out my own funding, I had to settle for a community college, followed by commuting to Penn State for the rest. I was nominated for the Creative Achievement Award my senior year, and I was at the top of all my major classes at PSU. My point? I have not been unemployed for over 5 years because I lack motivation, or intelligence, or because I can’t pass a simple drug test, or because I won’t “settle” for something less than my ideal job. I am not unemployed because I expect a hand-out, or that a fantastic job will just fall into my lap. Under normal circumstances, I am a very high achiever; a perfectionist, even. I can’t, for the life of me, figure out why no one, no one at all, has given me a chance.

I have been unemployed since early November 2008! I have an MBA, with a Project Management major, BSIT degree, and a Certificate in Project Management all from fully accredited universities. I graduated near the top of my class in each, and have submitted to 8 to 10 jobs each week since becoming unemployed November 2008. I have 28 years working in a managerial capacity in America’s aerospace industry, and cannot find a suitable job as either a Sr. Project Manager, or what I aspire to become, a Chief Operations Officer (COO). I was the only breadwinner in my household. I lost a ten acre parcel in the mountains due to foreclosure, and had it not been for my father-in-law, I would have lost my home. My entire 401k has been wiped out, which was my life-savings for retirement. I am 55 years old and have few years left to regain what I had spent my entire career building. I still have a government-issued security clearance. I have had just 3 interviews in the past three years, despite having my resume professionally rewritten, and a stellar career record. I know that something is up with our government. Their handling of America’s recovery is on par with how poorly they handled hurricane Katrina recovery. It doesn’t at all look coincidental or misfortune, it looks a lot more like strategy. Who in their right mind thinks they can simply print more fiat currency to save the country is a total moron! I am currently writing a book about the suspicious nature of my government’s lack of decisive action to get America back to work, and reduce the deficit. As Gerald Celente of Trends Research says; “THIS ISNT A RECOVERY, IT’S A COVER-UP!”

I have been out of work since June 2010. Had a brief contract position with the state, but that ended after 5 months. I was the main breadwinner of the family at one point. My husband thankfully has a job, but it is at a non-profit and without health insurance for the family. My son cannot attend college because we cannot afford it. He too is looking for work. I am paying off graduate student loans on my UI, which is about to expire. I too have been working since I was 15.
I went back to school–AGAIN in the summer of 2010 to get a paralegal certification to add to my Masters degree. I taught science for 11 years before losing my position. I have 9 years of education, 19 years of experience, and still cannot find a job.
Over a month ago, I had an interview (these have been few and far between), with 2 twenty somethings. There was obvious age discrimination as one of the interviewer quipped before the interview started…”but, I am old.” I was wondering if she thought she was old, she must have been wondering why I was not interviewing for my cemetery plot. The other 20-something dissed my resume before the interview even began. Clearly, my resume is what got me to the interview in the first place.
I never thought that the country would come to this point, and am angry with Congress for sitting on their hands bringing bills to the floor on gay marriage and the like while saying nothing about a jobs bill! FDR seemed to have had a lot of courage to bring the country out of the Depression. Why won’t anyone act?

I have been unemployed since May. It is 6 months now and my unemployment is soon to run out. I was laid off due to lack of work and I can’t seem to find a job, either I am over qualified of underqualified for the position. I have two children, a house and a husband. We are barely staying afloat because my husband jobs does not pay that much so we are literally living from paycheck to paycheck. Our house is about to be in foreclosure and I NEED A JOB!

I have worked since I was 14 years old. At 40 I went to graduate school at night and worked during the day obtaining my law degree. Because of that degree, I was able to get a job at an insurance company where I worked for over eight years. I worked my way up from claims examiner to management. In mid 2008 my management position was eliminated and I was put back to being a claims examiner. In February 2009, I was laid off. I was 52 years old.

Despite or because I have 20 years of experience, I have been unable to find an insurance position. I also have two law degrees, having obtained a LLM in Insurance Law while working for the insurance company.

Because of these, I have been able to obtain a part time Associate position but I am unable to make enough to support my self, my college aged daughter and my three grandchildren.

I am the guardian for my two oldest grandchildren as my son, their father passed away. My youngest grandson is my daughter’s child, but she is a full time college student without any means of support at all. Everyone lives with me.

I have used up all my savings and my 401 (k) and after two years I am having trouble making my mortgage and paying my daily bills. I have too much to get help and too little to make it without help.

All I want to do is to be able to work full time and make enough to take care of my family. I never thought I’d come to this.

I worked for Carthage College and they don’t have a human resources department, so employees are treated like crap and forced to quit so they don’t have to pay unemployment. I sold my truck to pay bills, have 5 bucks in all my accounts and can’t find a job not only in grounds (because wisconsin sucks) but most companies want you to work nights, weekends and holidays. I am a great worker but I’m not going to lose my relationship on top of everything else just to get a paycheck.