Thread: Can't find a job, horrible work history

Originally Posted by Anders Hoveland

I found this post on another forum, and it was very interesting to me. So I want to share it here:

Nick writes:

After getting fired or pushed out of nearly every job I had or making bad choices which led to burnt bridges what can I do now?? I can barely get temp work which now requires a Resume & interview with the actual client since clients can now pick and choose. These jobs were in back office type operations & accounting for many financial services institutions even some of the TBTF banks

I have some money from a deceased relative. My savings is about $300,000 and I can probably reopen an unemployment claim and get $302 a week for the next 20 weeks.

I am 36 years old. I have no friends because of the Scarlet letter of U from being unemployed. Yes, in this part of the country (Boston MA USA) you are seen as a moron if you are not working (especially if you are white and have a college and advanced degree). Even career coaches tell me I am a lost cause and that the only way I will ever get a a job ever again is out of sure luck.

Look I admit I (*)(*)(*)(*)ed up over the past few years but also feel like I have always been treated like (*)(*)(*)(*) by coworkers & supervisors. Mainly I didn't feel like I ever fit in.

Also, my expenses are pretty high close to $7,000 a month. I am single, no wife, child or even pet to support. I live outside Boston Massachusetts in a Blue collar cheaper area of the North Shore that still costs $1620 a month in rent. Cannot move because of my horrible credit & no job -- 2 things that you need to get an apartment anywhere.
I am looking at either buying an existing business or going to another city and pretty much try to start over with temp work. At this point pay doesn't matter. I have a BA in Accounting, MS in Finance, 2 parts of the CPA passed but willing to accept $15 - $20 an hour. I just came off of a temp job paying $20."


Someone else on the forum suggested,

"$300,000 can be the startup capital for a pretty profitable business. Whether it's legit or not is up to you. If I was sitting on that, I wouldn't be thinking about (*)(*)(*)(*)ing work. I'm surprised you have an MS in Finance and you don't know what to do with $300,000."


To which Nick responded,

"What exactly?? I hear people say this but in what exactly ?? Believe me I would LOVE to work for myself or buy an existing business.

The whole interview 'process' -- being cross examined by some 20 something 'HR Associate Director' or getting fired because of some trivial matter (note: I always was able to get unemployment, no company ever challenged or contested the claim) or being told that a temp agency can't help me because of sinister information in their database from 2005 is complete BS.

School doesn't teach you office politics, how to deal with many of these holier than thou douchbag assclowns that will make your life hell & push you out if you don't walk, talk, dress or act like them. Anyone who has worked for any financial services company in the northeast should know exactly what I mean."


Concluding Thoughts

Basically this man has 300,000 dollars and university degrees that should be valuable in obtaining a good job. But he is not very motivated, and the fact that only low level poorly paid positions are available at this time does not help. The high cost of rent and housing no doubt also takes away from motivation. This man grew up in Boston and that is all he knows. It would be difficult for him to decide to live somewhere else with a lower cost of housing. The regions with the type of jobs he studied for generally have a higher cost of housing. It would not be easy to move. Lack of job and bad credit history would only make it more difficult to find a place to live.

Obviously, Nick needs to reduce his living expenses. Perhaps moving into a smaller apartment, although admittingly anything cheaper than 1600 per month in the Boston region is going to be very small and unpleasant. He needs to find someone else to share an apartment with. If Nick has determined that he is unable to find a job that he is both able to get, and willing to do, then it makes absolutely no sense for him to continue living in Boston for the next few years. He should find somewhere cheaper in another part of the country. Not working and paying 600 dollars per month is better than not working and paying 1620, which is what he is doing now. Nick needs to do his best to find happiness in a difficult employment situation, and begin to develop relationships. But when one is depressed one often alienates other people around them. Being depressed at unfulfilled expectations will only lead to a cycle that can snowball downward.

This puke needs a good smack in the mouth, god(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*). People that (*)(*)(*)(*)(*) and complain when they don't know how lucky they are need a reality check. A 300K gift! $1,700/mo rent! 7K/mo expenses! For what?! My wife and I have been living in a basement for over a year trying to save as much as possible in this down economy, both working full-time + and paying off undergrad and graduate loans and we are (*)(*)(*)(*) grateful for the opportunity to be able to do this. The last we would ever do is (*)(*)(*)(*)(*) and complain and we don't have a quarter of what this dude was "gifted."

Originally Posted by Irishman

This puke needs a good smack in the mouth, god(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*). People that (*)(*)(*)(*)(*) and complain when they don't know how lucky they are need a reality check. A 300K gift! $1,700/mo rent! 7K/mo expenses! For what?! My wife and I have been living in a basement for over a year trying to save as much as possible in this down economy, both working full-time + and paying off undergrad and graduate loans and we are (*)(*)(*)(*) grateful for the opportunity to be able to do this. The last we would ever do is (*)(*)(*)(*)(*) and complain and we don't have a quarter of what this dude was "gifted."

This guy "Nick" maybe have held decent jobs with good pay over the last decade. But nowhere do i see that the $300k was a gift/inheritance from parents or grandparents. It is possible to save up that much money when you are working over a ten year period. But his $7k per month expense does make me wonder. Has Nick always been spending that much over the years, or is that just a recent thing.

Originally Posted by BleedingHeadKen

Having vision is not the same as being inventive. The people at Xerox had little vision as to how to implement the things they invented. Jobs took ideas and brought them to the public in a big way. Without the "pirates", as you call them and to whom most wise people refer to as "entrepreneurs", humans would still be treating the wheel as a novelty.

As for pancreatic cancer, how was Jobs supposed to "fight that" off? It's not an easy cancer to beat under any circumstances and, with any cancer, no matter the prognosis, things can go from "no sign of cancer" to terminal in a very short time.

Please tell me what was Steve Jobs' vision for consumer computing? And why was it such a great vision.

Originally Posted by Slant Eyed Pirate

This guy "Nick" maybe have held decent jobs with good pay over the last decade. But nowhere do i see that the $300k was a gift/inheritance from parents or grandparents. It is possible to save up that much money when you are working over a ten year period. But his $7k per month expense does make me wonder. Has Nick always been spending that much over the years, or is that just a recent thing.

"I have some money from a deceased relative. My savings is about $300,000 and I can probably reopen an unemployment claim and get $302 a week for the next 20 weeks."

You are right, I did assume the 300K was from the deceased relative, which is might be, but it also might be from saving. Hard to imagine saving that much with 7K/mo expenses.

Originally Posted by Slant Eyed Pirate

Please tell me what was Steve Jobs' vision for consumer computing? And why was it such a great vision.

His vision was for consumer electronics, both the physical components and the software that provides the interface, that would appeal to the masses. What made him "great" is that he actually managed to implement his vision ina significant way that forced everyone else to move in the direction that he was moving and constantly play catch up.

Whether or not you like what he created, does not change the fact that he had a dominating role in the consumer electronics market. As I said before, I have never been a fan of Apple, but that does not blind me to the fact of Jobs' role in the marketplace. One benefit to me, being a software developer and IT entrepreneur, when someone asks me to fix their (*)(*)(*)(*)ed computer I can turn them down easily if it's a Mac.

Originally Posted by Slant Eyed Pirate

This guy "Nick" maybe have held decent jobs with good pay over the last decade. But nowhere do i see that the $300k was a gift/inheritance from parents or grandparents. It is possible to save up that much money when you are working over a ten year period. But his $7k per month expense does make me wonder. Has Nick always been spending that much over the years, or is that just a recent thing.

Certainly some or all of it was from a "deceased relative", which implies inheritance from someone to whom he was related, since that was part of the paragraph in which he mentioned his savings.

The guy has serious attitude problems. He need to go for some good courses to improve himself. That makes the ebst use of the money.

Originally Posted by Slant Eyed Pirate

Please tell me what was Steve Jobs' vision for consumer computing? And why was it such a great vision.

It was a monolithic consumer computing world with Steve Jobs controlling hardware, software, and it's use.

Originally Posted by Stay_Focused

The guy has serious attitude problems. He need to go for some good courses to improve himself. That makes the ebst use of the money.

Agreed. His attitude is likely what got him fired from his jobs.

When I worked I was amazed at the number of people who would sit with a straight face and say their only problem was that they were smarter than everyone else.

One friend of mine stood up in the newsroom and told the managing editor he shouldn't write editorials because he couldn't write. She was shocked when she got fired.