I need a hug.

I started working when I was 15, and in every job I have ever had, I stood out to the management and was lauded as a great employee who went above and beyond, worked hard and delivered real value.  I am known to be dependable, reliable, a problem solver and someone who leads from the front.  I am passionate about what I do and I think I am pretty darn good at what I do.  

I got laid off in October, through no fault of my own, the new owners had a marketing department back at HQ. My unemployment runs out at the end of the month and I am no closer to being gainfully employed now than I was in October.  I have done everything, looked everywhere, been open to everything and had a lot of interest...but no offers.  

I am at the point where I am seriously doubting my ability to provide for my family.  I have never made a lot of money, but I have always been dependable. Am I too old to get a job in this market? Are the types of companies that  I specialize in all gone? Am I too ugly? Too sexy?  Too qualified?  Not qualified enough?  I don't know, I am really at a loss right now. 

Tell me it's going to be OK.  Tell me that I wont be living in the Rondo next month.  Tell me the Powerball numbers. Something. 

I have been in this position a couple of times. Something always comes along. I was delivering auto parts with a masters degree so just find SOMETHING that can keep the bills at bay and keep up the search for a job within your career. 

It'll be ok

Manly hug with a good back slap.

Being unemployed sucks, most of us have been there and feel your pain.

edit: you're in a good sized city, have you looked for work with the gubmint?

www.usajobs.gov is the clearinghouse for all things related to joining the empire....er government.

I got laid off once and I used one of those on-line calculators that predicts how long you’ll be out of work as a function of education, experience, pay expectation, willingness to relocate, willingness to change vocations, etc.. The estimate came back at 4.25 months and I got my job at 4.33 months.

I was 40 at the time, it looks like you’re almost 50 now…I image you’re still well below the average time out for someone with your circumstances.

Getting laid off is pretty awful, I've been there.  Getting laid off with a family to worry about is a whole other ball of wax that I didn't have to deal with.  Sounds really tough.  There's really no reason to take an Anything Job while still getting unemployement benefits but it's probably going to be something to consider when you get there.  

Good luck, vent when needed, work your network to the best of your abilities.  

I keep hearing that the US labor market is low on inventory. Is this not a reality? Have you worked with a head-hunter?

No idea what you were doing, but I am guessing marketing? Are you current with the world of digital marketing and all that entails? I ask because my daughter got into digital marketing and I am both amazed and appalled at how much they squeeze out of a banner click on the web! She started making money while she was still in school.

You look at consulting? It does not take much or cost much to hang out a shingle and you ostensibly have a portfolio/track record of success stories from the last job... Not every company needs or wants a full-time marketing guy. So pimp yourself out. I am sure there are agencies out there who will pimp for you if need be, but they eat your cake.

There are a bazzillion startups going on at any given time in any city. Marketing is not always their forte.... Figure how to dress-up as a consultant and work with them to get going.  If they do get  going, you might have a path to a full time job or you could just end up loving the variety of working with different groups/products.

How about a bear hug?

In reply to pinchvalve :

It'll get better. Any chance you can find some temporary contract work where you're at? You did B2B relationship management for manufacturers correct?

Been laid off twice middle of 2015, then January 2016. First time it took me roughly 5 weeks to find a crummy contract job, no benefits and roughly $12k/year less than I was making. But I lived well below my means, so no biggie. 

I kept looking for jobs the entire time I was working the contract job. I had an interview the week before I was laid off from the contract and was thankfully the exact fit for what the new company wanted and was only unemployed for two weeks before starting at the new place. 

And after a few months there, I was looking again. Wasn't laid off, but I found out shortly after I left in Dec of 2016 to take a Tech Writing job in the Software/IT sector, a few of the engineering staff were laid off. 

I can't really give any advice other than keep looking, start delivering pizzas if you have to, wait tables, etc. 

Keep plugging away!!

I just landed a job after being let go at the end of January. It means leaving my kids behind with my soon to be ex-wife, leaving my mom, who is fighting cancer, behind, moving 3 hrs away and taking a $30K cut in pay. I still feel fortunate.

I have a good education, over 20 years experience in my field. I'm 51 and personally I think employers are reluctant to look at people over 50. (Sorry - not trying to discourage you!).

Chin up dude, you got this!

Update your LinkedIn page, add skills, certifications, experience etc. Make sure your status indicates that you are looking for new opportunities. Reach out to any contacts you have (through LinkedIn or otherwise) who work for a company where you have skills or expeeience they could use. Offer to send a resume and let them know if you are willing to commute or relocate if necessary. Follow up with any company that you send a resume to. Work your network, ask your contacts if they can recommed you to someone in their network if their company doesn't have any openings. 

Oh, and good luck! 

Keep up the fight. It'll happen. 

NGTD said:

I'm 51 and personally I think employers are reluctant to look at people over 50.

Not in industrial sales - it’s all old dudes as the younger guys can do better in IT.   We have a hard time finding people in sales or the shop.  Making hundreds of hoses a week is brutal compared to working at Costco checking people out.  

I too suggest those headhunters.   

Toyman01 said:

Keep up the fight. It'll happen. 

Friendship is magic

stop rooting for the steelers and i may consider giving you a hug.  

I have had similar experiences on the job front.  It is a real E36 M3 show out there. +1 0n linked in. I didn't have much luck with indeed, but it is practically the only game in town. Eventually, some friends hooked me up with a job well below my skillset, making 1/3 of my previous job. 6 months there and I made an almost lateral move to a state job. The new job is low pay, but excellent benefits. My only points are don't stop believing, try to have an ear to the ground. Ask friends, and acquaintances. 

In response to NOHOME, Yeah, it is a weird situation, wheirin employers claim there is no work pool, and employees claim they can't find work.

My honest opinion is that the HR people are so transfixed bt their facetweets, they wouldn't know a good employee if they were pissing on him/her.

E36 M3 show, indeed.

Are you working now?  Doing something like bartending or the like?  Just something to get yourself out of the house and make a little cash?  Helps mentally...

Pinchvalve looks like he is in Pittsburgh so there should be not shortage of jobs there. That being said, there is also a lot of competition, and the job market is drastically changing there. I think as Pittsburgh draws lots of young people, those same young people will start applying in traditionally non-young people jobs. 

Likewise, when employers in the USA say they can't find workers, what they mean to say is "we can't find people who are cheap and are happy with no paid vacation!" or "we can't find people who are willing to attend an interview tomorrow and who live 5 minutes down the road." 

Nobody wants to do a skype interview, pay decent wages or offer a few weeks of vacation to start. 

In reply to pheller :

I HAVE noticed that in this brave new world we have industries that require wealthy clients and impoverished employees.

Keeps the (decreasing pool of) Shareholders happy and that is all that matters anymore.

Every time I lost my job, the first thing I did was sign up for unemployment insurance. 

I gives you some income while looking for the next.

The office even pointed me to a good job that lasted five years till the company went bust.   I even got an $8500 pension check.

Can you get unemployment insurance after being made unemployed? I thought you had to get that while you WERE employed?

In reply to pheller :

Your employer pays into the fund ..You don't pay anything.  It is for UNEMPLOYMENT insurance.  You sign up for it when you are unemployed .    Just like your car after a crash.   The amount you get is based on your pay,  generally about 50%

The office also supplies job search services.  As I noted .

Dude, I'm making barely above minimum wage at a part time gig that I hate because it's all I can do right now.  Keep your head up. 

I was laid off in December of 08, 11 month old twins, a mountain of debt from there birth and nicu stay and spent the previous 4 years gaining skills that were worthless at the time. It took me 3 years to find a job I enjoyed again. I did everything from general labor for a property cleaning company too part time work in a food truck to pay my bills. It sucks but you can always keep moving of you don't let yourself wallow in self pity. 

Thanks all, I appreciate the hugs.  

I have a good LinkedIn profile and resume and all of that. I have explored every avenue you can think of, and got my name in front of every potential I can think of.  I see a lot of initial interest, but not much follow through. 

I think part of my problem is my age relative to the rise of digital marketing.  I have been at this a while and have done a fair amount of digital marketing, but commercial B2B manufacturers are a bit behind the curve.  So when these companies want to expand their digital activities, they want a young whiz-kids making peanuts. I should be ideally suited to manage these departments, but they want people with a purely digital background and don't seem to care that they know nothing about the products, customers or applications.  

Pittsburgh is a pretty strong market, IF you are in software, chemicals, pharmaceuticals or healthcare.  Manufacturing (my specialty) is pretty dead here.  The biggest names like Alcoa, Bayer, PPG, MSA, Thermo Fisher Scientific, etc are looking for a lot of people, but apparently they want young and cheap only.  

I know it will happen for me...they say 6 months so there is hope.  I am probably going to have to relocate, which I really don't want to because my wife has a good career and my family is here and my daughter goes to school here, but maybe a new start in a new city will be the best thing for me.  Ill keep you posted.