Been unemployed for a long time and brooding quietly in my room

[SnakeDoctor]

ive always wondered, what happens when a person has not worked like for 5 years and then they try to apply for a job after having that hole in their resume.
are they screwed?

Probably depends on the reason and the job you're applying for. But, no, they're not screwed. I have a Facebook acquaintance -- friend from elementary school that's a genuine moron -- that was released from a three-year prison stint for dealing coke (I think), who had a job within several weeks of being released. If that guy can get a job, anybody can.

Ummm. Thank you for caring and taking the time to write all that but, I don't find it helpful.

I suspected you wouldn't. Some people look for a way, others look for an excuse. You strike me as the latter.

I've been where you are, for the most part ... likely with more people depending on me to man-up and get my **** straight. There were plenty of concrete suggestions in there that you couldn't've possibly tried in the time it took you to merely read the post. I suggested about six or seven books worth reading. Books with wisdom you could use. Books that have helped me deal with a few jobless stints, and come out better off after every one of them ... to the point where I no longer need to pathetically beg somebody to employ me. Books that have taken men I know from abject failure to genuine success ... from failures you couldn't imagine (bankruptcy, crushing debt, divorce, lawsuits, etc.) to success you can't imagine.

Some men grab life by the balls ... some let life grab them. Everybody has the same 24-hours you do. If they can do it, you could too ... if you were willing to do what they did. The opportunities are out there. You're not going to find them moping in your bedroom.

Good luck.

SnakeDoc

 

[crows]

Probably depends on the reason and the job you're applying for. But, no, they're not screwed. I have a Facebook acquaintance -- friend from elementary school that's a genuine moron -- that was released from a three-year prison stint for dealing coke (I think), who had a job within several weeks of being released. If that guy can get a job, anybody can.

I suspected you wouldn't. Some people look for a way, others look for an excuse. You strike me as the latter.

I've been where you are, for the most part ... likely with more people depending on me to man-up and get my **** straight. There were plenty of concrete suggestions in there that you couldn't've possibly tried in the time it took you to merely read the post. I suggested about six or seven books worth reading. Books with wisdom you could use. Books that have helped me deal with a few jobless stints, and come out better off after every one of them ... to the point where I no longer need to pathetically beg somebody to employ me. Books that have taken men I know from abject failure to genuine success ... from failures you couldn't imagine (bankruptcy, crushing debt, divorce, lawsuits, etc.) to success you can't imagine.

Some men grab life by the balls ... some let life grab them. Everybody has the same 24-hours you do. If they can do it, you could too ... if you were willing to do what they did. The opportunities are out there. You're not going to find them moping in your bedroom.

Good luck.

SnakeDoc

wow, how did he manage that?

Do you just have to lie your butt off in the resume and interview? just come up with some story for why there is a gap?

 

[SnakeDoctor]

wow, how did he manage that?

Do you just have to lie your butt off in the resume and interview? just come up with some story for why there is a gap?

I haven't the foggiest. Construction job, I think. I doubt he lied about it, though. He seemed pretty shameless. Only reason I know of his prison stint is he posted on FB about it. "Hey, I'm back on Facebook after 3yrs in Huntsville!! Looking for a job, if anybody knows anything!" (or something to that effect). My understanding is that he made a full-time job of finding a job ... so he was putting in a lot of requests and applications. You only need one 'yes'.

SnakeDoc

 

[Lejuan]

Attitude is important. In a lot of cases, current attitude is more important than current skills. If a prospective employer likes your attitude, you're nearly home.

Might be to late, but the best advice for anyone is to do good throughout high school (or community college) and try to get accepted into a top world university. Gotta work hard from a young age for it to pay out in the future. Get a masters or PhD from there and you can write your ticket to a 60k/70k job coming out of school, which will eventually bump to over 100k and hopefully a job with a pension.

This is my plan.

It depends. Depending on your chosen field, when you consider the typical 8 years of tertiary study required for a PhD, followed by a 100K job, that's not necessarily a great return on your investment. And I'm just talking time investment, 'cause in Australia undergraduate education is relatively inexpensive and PhDs are free.

 

[Mr. Green]

People also have to understand is that life isn't always what they think it is. It is easy to plan things out but control is an illusion. It may or it may not work out. And god forbid, something happen to you, like relationship, accident, etc.. A very small percentage of student, like 6-15%, actually graduate with a bachelor degree. The number is higher if you select an easy degree of course. And even if you graduate, it is still hard to find a job; skills get outdated or circumstances change, for example.

 

[SnakeDoctor]

Might be to late, but the best advice for anyone is to do good throughout high school (or community college) and try to get accepted into a top world university. Gotta work hard from a young age for it to pay out in the future. Get a masters or PhD from there and you can write your ticket to a 60k/70k job coming out of school, which will eventually bump to over 100k and hopefully a job with a pension.

This is my plan.

It's rarely that easy. Even for people with advanced degrees. Having a doctorate -- which I do -- isn't a ticket to falling ass-backward into $70K or $100K a year. It takes time. You have to prove you're worth it. The education alone isn't enough to prove your value, it's usually just enough to get you past the basic requirements for the job you're applying for. And, if you have an advanced degree -- especially from a prestigious school -- you'll be starting out with six-figures of debt. That's a much heavier weight to carry than you'd think.

Advanced degrees can be valuable. But, they're not the easy ticket some make them out to be.

Also, don't expect a pension. Ever. Pensions mostly a thing of the past, except in a few union professions ... and, even those are on the way out. You should expect to save for your own retirement, not for some company to want to pay you not to work. It doesn't work that way anymore.

SnakeDoc

 

[kryptonianmutie]

It's rarely that easy. Even for people with advanced degrees. Having a doctorate -- which I do -- isn't a ticket to falling ass-backward into $70K or $100K a year. It takes time. You have to prove you're worth it. The education alone isn't enough to prove your value, it's usually just enough to get you past the basic requirements for the job you're applying for. And, if you have an advanced degree -- especially from a prestigious school -- you'll be starting out with six-figures of debt. That's a much heavier weight to carry than you'd think.

Advanced degrees can be valuable. But, they're not the easy ticket some make them out to be.

Also, don't expect a pension. Ever. Pensions mostly a thing of the past, except in a few union professions ... and, even those are on the way out. You should expect to save for your own retirement, not for some company to want to pay you not to work. It doesn't work that way anymore.

SnakeDoc

 

[Lejuan]

SnakeDoctor speaks the truth.

The problem with a PhD as a pathway to income is that projects tend to be necessarily narrow-focused.

Will your niche project be current on award, 4 years after you started?

Will the field in which the project is situated be healthy and robust in 4 years?

Does the outcome contain anything that can be patented or otherwise monetised?

Do you even have the interest, motivation and capability to pull it off? Seriously, the idea of planning a PhD track before you've even started your undergrad is more fantasy than strategy.

 

[The Ween]

People also have to understand is that life isn't always what they think it is. It is easy to plan things out but control is an illusion. It may or it may not work out. And god forbid, something happen to you, like relationship, accident, etc.. A very small percentage of student, like 6-15%, actually graduate with a bachelor degree. The number is higher if you select an easy degree of course. And even if you graduate, it is still hard to find a job; skills get outdated or circumstances change, for example.

My life hasn't worked out the way I've planned since high school. It's still not. Most people aren't that lucky.

 

[crows]

My life hasn't worked out the way I've planned since high school. It's still not. Most people aren't that lucky.

i know that feel

 

[SnakeDoctor]

My life hasn't worked out the way I've planned since high school. It's still not. Most people aren't that lucky.

I'm not sure I'd characterize 'life working according to your plan from high school' as "lucky". Most people's high school plans suck in ways they won't even understand until they're past 30. Priorities rightly change. Plan B (or C, or G, &c.) are typically better than Plan A, anyway. There's a reason the high school prom king is often a pitiful sight come reunion time.

SnakeDoc

 

[GeneralZodLives]

Just getting out of high school and thinking your plan for getting an advanced degree means you'll be set with a career is the epitome of naivete. I know a lot of people that have advanced degrees and can't get jobs in their field. Some that have jobs find that the work they can get pay much less than they expected and they've got quite a bit of debt from their education path dragging them down. There are no guarantees with any degree, four-year or otherwise. Career requirements change. The economy can change. The focus of an advanced degree can disappear from the field you're studying. Some people are better off going into a training institute and getting work as some sort of technician. They don't have anywhere near the debt and often have the institution trying to place them in jobs.

 

[crows]

Just getting out of high school and thinking your plan for getting an advanced degree means you'll be set with a career is the epitome of naivete. I know a lot of people that have advanced degrees and can't get jobs in their field. Some that have jobs find that the work they can get pay much less than they expected and they've got quite a bit of debt from their education path dragging them down. There are no guarantees with any degree, four-year or otherwise. Career requirements change. The economy can change. The focus of an advanced degree can disappear from the field you're studying. Some people are better off going into a training institute and getting work as some sort of technician. They don't have anywhere near the debt and often have the institution trying to place them in jobs.

restaurants are full of people working there with high degrees... i know some of them

 

[GeneralZodLives]

restaurants are full of people working there with high degrees... i know some of them

Absolutely. I know quite a few people that don't have degrees but are making really good money. They got in on a job and worked their way up. The truth is, a lot of people now don't want to put their time in and bust their ***** to earn a good position in a company. They want big money immediately and think they're entitled to it right out of college.

 

[fosing]

restaurants are full of people working there with high degrees... i know some of them

pffft. restaurants??

try the strip club.

 

[evenflow]

I have a doctorate (I do have a full-time job in my field but private practice doesn't get me health insurance) and was looking for weekend work at places that offered health insurance for part-time. I didn't even get any calls back.

While I was working on my first master's degree, I was managing a KB toys because I couldn't find anything with just a bachelor's.

It can be rough out there.

 

[WWEJedi]

It's rarely that easy. Even for people with advanced degrees. Having a doctorate -- which I do -- isn't a ticket to falling ass-backward into $70K or $100K a year. It takes time. You have to prove you're worth it. The education alone isn't enough to prove your value, it's usually just enough to get you past the basic requirements for the job you're applying for. And, if you have an advanced degree -- especially from a prestigious school -- you'll be starting out with six-figures of debt. That's a much heavier weight to carry than you'd think.

Advanced degrees can be valuable. But, they're not the easy ticket some make them out to be.

Also, don't expect a pension. Ever. Pensions mostly a thing of the past, except in a few union professions ... and, even those are on the way out. You should expect to save for your own retirement, not for some company to want to pay you not to work. It doesn't work that way anymore.

SnakeDoc

I won't have any debt coming out, so for me it is worth it right now to try and get a PhD. Of course my opinion could change in the future, but it is worth my time and interest as of now. At the very least, I will get a masters and move on to finding a job.

My college keeps track of some students a few years later. Majority of them are working for banks, the government, international universities, or corporations. After doing some research on the pay of those types of jobs, it seems most are making at least $50,000 only three years out, a lot seem to be making more than that.

SnakeDoctor speaks the truth.

The problem with a PhD as a pathway to income is that projects tend to be necessarily narrow-focused.

Will your niche project be current on award, 4 years after you started?

Will the field in which the project is situated be healthy and robust in 4 years?

Does the outcome contain anything that can be patented or otherwise monetised?

Do you even have the interest, motivation and capability to pull it off? Seriously, the idea of planning a PhD track before you've even started your undergrad is more fantasy than strategy.

Those are all great questions to consider. According to some advisers, it is actually best to plan out a educational path as early as you can. I am interested in a double major as well and was told I needed to start planning that out in high school to be on decent time frame for graduation. Which... I don't necessarily agree with because things can change.

 

[The Ween]

I'm not sure I'd characterize 'life working according to your plan from high school' as "lucky". Most people's high school plans suck in ways they won't even understand until they're past 30. Priorities rightly change. Plan B (or C, or G, &c.) are typically better than Plan A, anyway. There's a reason the high school prom king is often a pitiful sight come reunion time.

SnakeDoc

I understand that, but the point I was making is that no matter how much planning you do, things won't always go according to plan. My plan since JRHS was to be a horse vet. Laid out all my classes I wanted to take in high school only to have the school itself nix them all. Not having the money for college and having to become part of the family business finished off that life plan. Having to be a caregiver of some kind for the last 20 years has me just pretty much existing now.

It's the cards we're dealt.

 

[CAhobbit]

Just getting out of high school and thinking your plan for getting an advanced degree means you'll be set with a career is the epitome of naivete. I know a lot of people that have advanced degrees and can't get jobs in their field. Some that have jobs find that the work they can get pay much less than they expected and they've got quite a bit of debt from their education path dragging them down. There are no guarantees with any degree, four-year or otherwise. Career requirements change. The economy can change. The focus of an advanced degree can disappear from the field you're studying. Some people are better off going into a training institute and getting work as some sort of technician. They don't have anywhere near the debt and often have the institution trying to place them in jobs.

I have a similar opinion. I believe the U.S. is far too sided with the notion that everyone should go to college and get a degree and hardly ever speaks to trade schools, tech schools or other career paths that people can take that doesn't involve potentially putting a person on a path in which they can't use their degree, can't go into the field they wanted to or puts them in terrible debt. I know so many people that are $70K or more in college debt that didn't need the degree in the first place to get a job in their field. And I've known quite a few others that can't find a job in their desired field (after 2+ or more years of looking) because the jobs dried up in those sectors. There HAS to be a better system in place that sets people up for success much earlier on IMO (at least in the U.S.). Not everyone fits the same mould.

 

[GeneralZodLives]

I have a similar opinion. I believe the U.S. is far too sided with the notion that everyone should go to college and get a degree and hardly ever speaks to trade schools, tech schools or other career paths that people can take that doesn't involve potentially putting a person on a path in which they can't use their degree, can't go into the field they wanted to or puts them in terrible debt. I know so many people that are $70K or more in college debt that didn't need the degree in the first place to get a job in their field. And I've known quite a few others that can't find a job in their desired field (after 2+ or more years of looking) because the jobs dried up in those sectors. There HAS to be a better system in place that sets people up for success much earlier on IMO (at least in the U.S.). Not everyone fits the same mould.

I think a lot of people look down on trade schools as if it's not prestigious like going to college. Most of the people I know that skipped college and learned a trade are doing just fine and are generally better off since they don't have a ton of debt. Not to say college isn't worth it, but depending on what you plan to do for a living, it's not for everyone. I'm so disgusted by the college system in America for becoming too much of a business. Everything is about making money. Tuition, housing, books--they're all way overpriced for what you actually get out of them. Getting financial aid for school is an even bigger racket with ridiculous interest rates and fees that guarantee you'll spend a couple decades paying them off. It's starting college kids off behind the 8-ball and not enough is done to make sure those kids will get jobs, much less jobs that will pay them enough to live comfortably and still pay off their debt.