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

Originally Posted by PatrickT

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.

Epic. Too many people with little competancy wanted to act snobbish. Stems from earlier failure in the culture we received since schools times-the value of personal opinion over the hard skills or proper communication skills (respect to others).

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.

Read again:

I have some money from a deceased relative. My savings is about $300,000

Sorry, this guy is an idiot. He's 36 with an advanced degree, yet hasn't completed his CPA yet? That test can be done in a year of solid studying and is typically earned by age 23/24. Anyone with an accounting degree is foolish not to try for one. The financial sector in Boston is booming. There's a constant demand for new people. I'm still two years away from earning my degree and yet I've interviewed twice in the last week for part time work with Financial firms.

Originally Posted by Stay_Focused

Epic. Too many people with little competancy wanted to act snobbish. Stems from earlier failure in the culture we received since schools times-the value of personal opinion over the hard skills or proper communication skills (respect to others).

I think it stems for them believing that when their mother or their teacher or the guru said they were really, really, special it was true. That's what happened, in my opinion, to President Obama. He was pushed along because he such a sweet kid and he never actually had to perform and he began to believe he was special. Ruined him.

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. 290

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."

this letter which you have quoted has to be all sorts of nonsense - it's illogical to buy into this story.

sounds like a story on another forum where the guy claims its so hard for construction guys to get work because of the Mexicans and the home improvement center ... just to find out he doesn't do that type of work at all!

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.

Considering that minimum wage full time pays $290.00 a week and this SCHOOLED person wants to reopen an unemployment claim and get $302.00?

... and he is familiar with financial type book keeping?

Lack of job and bad credit history would only make it more difficult to find a place to live.

So - IF THIS IS A REAL SITUATION ...

we are supposed to feel sorry for a slacker (with 300k cash) who does not care enough to do better on his own AND with an ADVANCED education? Why should people like me care? I don't have that much schooling to play with![INDENT]

Why are so many people up there so hateful?

Hey ... that state is fairly hard core liberal! Liberals don't feel sorry for him?

Originally Posted by BleedingHeadKen

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.

Just to let people know, a Taiwan based company called Foxconn is supplier for a very large portion (probably 50%) of the world's computing hardware. They are probably the only supplier for Apple's Ipods/Ipads. And guess where Foxconn has their factories? Thats right, Mainland China... Each of Foxconn's sprawling manufacturing centers house and employ Hundreds of thousands of people. You may have heard of the term "Ipod/Ipad City". So a big part of the reason why Apple and Steve Jobs was able to implement their "Vision" was due to workers in Asia. Cutting costs and gives Apple a huge advantage against potential competitors. What you call "Vision" , I call smart business. Steve Jobs most likely didn't come up with all the great ideas that went into those consumer electronics.
Regardless of what anyone thinks of China, everyones sourcing their work there, China is even developing domestic Aerospace industry there, I still remember the time when Bill Gates hosted a visit from Hu Jintao.

Originally Posted by Slant Eyed Pirate

So a big part of the reason why Apple and Steve Jobs was able to implement their "Vision" was due to workers in Asia. Cutting costs and gives Apple a huge advantage against potential competitors. What you call "Vision" , I call smart business.

I don't see what the difference is. Smart business, vision, it's all the same. Apparently, consumers are satisfied, and that's the job of the entrepreneur who risks his time and his capital (and convinces others to do the same) to bring his vision to market. Many people have ideas, and some of them are really good. I have a business helping people bring ideas to market and I get inundated with ideas all the time, many of them very good. Few people are willing to risk the time and effort required to monetize their ideas, and fewer still have any idea how to do so (which is where I come in.)

Even when someone does take the time and effort to make their idea into business reality, they frequently fail for lack of foresight about what the market wants. Improvement on a product or service can accomplish far greater success than original thought and being first to market.

Originally Posted by BleedingHeadKen

I don't see what the difference is. Smart business, vision, it's all the same. Apparently, consumers are satisfied, and that's the job of the entrepreneur who risks his time and his capital (and convinces others to do the same) to bring his vision to market. Many people have ideas, and some of them are really good. I have a business helping people bring ideas to market and I get inundated with ideas all the time, many of them very good. Few people are willing to risk the time and effort required to monetize their ideas, and fewer still have any idea how to do so (which is where I come in.)

Even when someone does take the time and effort to make their idea into business reality, they frequently fail for lack of foresight about what the market wants. Improvement on a product or service can accomplish far greater success than original thought and being first to market.

If every job on the planet suddenly came to the U.S., I still wouldn't hire this nitwit. The problem isn't jobs. It's him. It's like someone else who constantly says it's George Bush's fault, or it's Congress's fault, or it's the Republican's fault, or it's American's fault, or it's the fault of those horrible people in Washington. Neither of these two will ever get around to accepting any responsibility.

"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."


I don't believe this is a real thing. Looks like a prank OP, to see how many people he can trick into falling for this ludicrous scenario. Gee, I've only got $300,000 and I can only get $302/week. Yeah right. If this were true, the guy could open up a titty bar, buy a house, and do just about anything he wanted to. For friends, he'd have plenty of dancers from the bar to keep him company on those cold MA nights. False alarm.

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.

I don't care where you live. $7,000 a month in living expenses is not being conservative. Mine are perhaps 1800 to 2200 a month for myself and my wife, and I live in the Seattle area. This guy's an idiot.

If he is having trouble getting a job, he needs to lower his expectations and/or try a new field.