You have my sympathy :( Those days were the worst.

It is a misery. I continue to hope it ends swiftly for you and all bunnies.

I am right here with you, hon. Add on that I'm thinking I'm not getting jobs because I am just too damn old. I'm even wondering if I should pull my college graduation year off my resume and pretend to be 35. And my unemployment is up in October, which is coming fast and faster unless by some miracle it gets extended. This sucks.

Ugggh. Good thoughts for all the unemployed people.

I would remove that date, mgl. They can find out your graduation date when you do an application or when they verify info - after an interview. It might be happening on a subconscious level. I suppose you could try going by M.G. Laundry in an attempt to disguise your gender, too.

it's a pain :( hugs and best wishes

Oh man. Some things just suck. There are limits to the power of positive thinking and simply trying harder.
Two thoughts:
- this is not forever. But you do have to make it through this dark patch.
- maybe you can find some succor in some of the things you do have....
Or maybe this just sucks.
Ik leef met je mee.

I wish I had something thoughtful, incisive, and comforting to say.

You're all awesome. Keep the faith.

I am not unemployed, but I do have an end date on my employment. My partner is underemployed and works second shift.

What I hate right now, and especially hated last summer when I had 15 interviews, is the complete lack of professionalism when it comes to communicating with your applicants. I work with our HR person; I know that the numbers are ridiculous and the process opaque. However, it's awfully rude to acknowledge receipt of the application and then never contact me again. (It's been, oh, six weeks.) Or to have two face-to-face interviews and then never contact my partner again.

Jerks.

Here. Have a Scotch. I don't even drink it, but I think I need one now.

"Or to have two face-to-face interviews and then never contact my partner again."

My favorite was the place that sent me an email to tell me they weren't going to hire me, and then, two weeks after that, sent me a second email telling me the same thing, again.

"Or to have two face-to-face interviews and then never contact my partner again."

How about 3? In a row?? Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, all seemed to go well enough and then- NOTHING. Several months later, a different recruiter tried to send me in for a similar position at that place, and I mentioned (foolishly or wisely, I can't decide) what had happened before, and she said, oh, well, let me see if they still want to see you, and then she comes back to me with the lamest story ever about how they're "not allowed" to interview me again since they already interviewed me for that other job or something.

I am not unemployed, but I do have an end date on my employment.

Same. I dislike not being able to make long-term plans. Esp. since I work in a city 200+ mi. from my home and have to stay with family.

Are there any good readable articles on why unemployment is so high? Can someone recommend something? Yes, the economy sucks, but what does that mean? Searching google isn't very helpful. (Personally, I'm not seeing how 260+m (and counting) Americans can keep working as companies continue to automate their processes and/or outsource, but that's just my issue. Thanks!

Sorry for all those are are in this position. It was over five years ago that I was there, but I still remember very clearly the sense of helplessness and impending doom every time the mortgage payment came around or the power bill arrived. It sucks, for sure. I also remember the frustration about not being contacted back after interviews etc - it's not hard to at least fire off a quick e-mail saying 'sorry, you didn't get this one, but thanks for your interest'. You don't even have to mean it, but at least people know where they stand. I try to remember how all that feels when I'm recruiting and make sure all applicants get contacted as soon as possible and provide honest feedback on their application.

MGL, definitely leave out any identifying dates etc where you can. My experience from seeing lots of job applications is that providing any extra detail over that required builds a picture of the applicant and there is no doubt that lots of places want 20-somethings with 20 years work experience. By not giving clues about age, but showing experience, you help to build a picture of someone that fits the job, rather than someone who doesn't fit with what the person assessing the application has in mind (even unconsciously). Same goes for gender - it's very hard to disguise that when you have an obviously feminine name - I don't suppose you have a middle name that's more ambiguous? Using initials only would be an obvious cover-up, but I wonder if it's OK to use a 'known by' name on an initial application?

I know it's small comfort, but know that things will get better. There's no way I could see it at the time, but getting laid off was the best thing that happened to me, professionally, because it got me out of a crappy dead-end job (which I couldn't see when I was in it) and has led to a job I love that pays me more than I deserve. Also know that people are thinking of you and have faith in you.

We do have some jobs going here, but it's a pretty specialised field and, you know, a 13,000 km commute each way for most of you. If anyone's in or around Brisbane, though and interested in quality systems auditing, let me know.

I am really tempted to make up a fake resume to look less experienced. I am tired of being turned down after a great interview. YES I really do want this job even if it does pay a lot less than what I used to make.

arse_hat, yeah, I have toyed with leaving my master's degree off of my resume, but then I have no way to account for the 2 years I was in school (I was a RA/TA so I have no outside experience for that time period).

desjardins, I left my masters of my resume until just this last year, when I was recruited (for a position I didn't get, because I was actually under-qualified, for once). You might consider it. You can speak about that time once you get your foot in the door? Jeez. I hope I don't sound insensitive. I really feel for you guys and wish I could help. Seems like shaking up the resumes *might* be worth a shot.

So even though I only make barely enough money to be taxed every year in theatrical pursuits, I usually love the "age range" question. Easy! Add plus or minus five to your actual age! Except that one time that one asshole was like "24??? REALLY? Really. Ok, go ahead. Go. Read." Followed by angry pipe smoking. The notice said 25 - 35. I was, um, 35. Ouch.

Dick.

Are there any good readable articles on why unemployment is so high? Can someone recommend something? Yes, the economy sucks, but what does that mean?

The job machine grinds to a halt

The problem isn't merely the greatest downturn since the Great Depression. It's also that big business has found a way to make big money without restoring the jobs it cut the past two years, or increasing its investments or even its sales, at least domestically.

Sadly, I have seen this coming for over twenty years. "Globalization" was destined to destroy the American Middle Class, but in order to succeed it had to do so very gradually. I like how dhartung's link said "the one economic outlier was wages. Profit, revenue and GDP all increased; only ordinary Americans' incomes lagged behind." Yet, the Economic Scoreboards the media used were designed to tell 200-million-plus Americans that if they weren't getting richer, it wasn't the Economy's fault. And America has taken this program of disinformation fully to heart, which makes it impossible for the government to do anything that would actually reverse the trend.

I first realized what was happening when I was employed by a financial firm deeply dependent on (and ultimately destroyed by) the late '80s Junk Bond Bubble. It was the best paying job I ever had, before or since, and the greatest regret of my life (at one point in the collapse everybody at the home office had to spend time every day answering the thousands of phone calls from people on fixed incomes whose monthly checks had stopped coming - eye-opening and heartbreaking).

But ever-larger "bubbles" were the only way to keep the illusion going ("I'm not making shit at my job, but my 401K is booming!"). At my last regular job, I had an ongoing argument with a co-worker who put his 401K money in all the high fliers while I was 80%+ into interest-bearing (back then about 5%) guaranteed bonds. After the dotcom bust (and right before I left on my way to disability), his investments came back down to earth and I calculated he would have done better with my approach over the previous 10 years. I wasn't all that happy to win that argument (and my 401K profits didn't last long anyway).

In retrospect, my physical disability came at a fortunate time for me; I've learned to live (and enjoy life) on a very low fixed income - which is better than no income at all. I've come to the realization that if I ever want to earn "real money" ever again, it will require abandoning everything I believe in and becoming a servant to the Economic Big Lies (even more than at the Junk Bond job... that company wasn't evil enough to even have short-term success today). I haven't totally ruled it out, but I've decided I won't do it this year.

Lack of liquidity for loans is still a major issue.

A lot of loan money is tied up in firms tied to some sales and manufacturing structure. A firm with money is tied to an automotive firm and loans it's money to people buying cars from that same automotive firm or to firms building parts for that same automotive firm.

Or firms with ties to moneyed folks that needs tax loses who loan money to buy up bankrupt manufacturing plants and warehousing facilities to be bulldozed (empty land is taxed at a low rate) for long term negative income and future capital gains.

These things are not evil but combined with a loss of liquidity due to the housing bubble and the absurd credit default swaps collapse (I call those evil but that's just me) means sometimes you can't borrow money at any cost.

A manufacturing firm in my area just ran into that. They employed 80 some people and recently (in May) got 2 new contracts they expected to bring in 60 more jobs. The hitch is they could not get financing, at any cost, for the expansion. Not only that but the bank, financing their rotating credit facility for inventory, backed out just after that point.

With a lot of scrambling the owners are now self financing but the firm is now down to only 17 employees. The 2 new contracts are gone as are most of the old ones. The owners are saying they hope to hire back 20 or so people in the next 12 months. After 30 years in business they don't want to just walk away.

Thank you, dhartung! Just the kind of thing I was looking for.