Officially unemployed

[TrainNut]

Sorry to hear the news Kevin. On the plus side, I look forward to seeing more pictures of your modeling skills.

[ezdays]

thanks for the good wishes, everyone. You all are absolutely right - this could be another door opening for me and land me a better job with better pay. There are a few interesting opportunities out there.

As for the state keeping the longest tenured - that is actually state law. I don't know how the law got in there, but my guess is that it was through lobbying by the state employees union. The governor and the legislature had the option of suspending the law in a time of crisis, but they decided not to do that.

Yeah, funny how "the law" works. Right now there's no law favoring in-state vendors for Arizona. That means that if a $1,000,000 contract comes in at a dollar less from an out-of-state supplier, they get the job, even if it means that the state now has to pay unemployment to those that lost out, they collect less taxes and fewer dollars are spent locally since the money is all going somewhere else. Doesn't make a lot of sense, especially for a long time I was an in-state manufacturer of equipment, and I lost contracts to people in other states who had inside contacts with those issuing those contracts. I complained at the time to the governor's office, the controlling state procurement offices and to my legislators and all I got is a call from one legislator with the response, "sure stinks, doesn't it?"... And now you know some of the reasons why we're a billion dollars short on our budget.

[MountainMan]

Maybe there was a reason why you got laid off right at this time...a reason that will lead to better opportunities. I wish you all the best.

[ngauger]

WOW - just had the chance to read this thread!! Best of luck!! Like has been said - Keep us up to date on what you decide to do or if you get re-hired...

Take care!!!!

[Brakie]

My employer (the state of Arizona) ran out of money, and I was officially laid off today. While I now technically have plenty of time for modeling, I need to focus my time and resources towards finding a job. Wish me luck.

Well,At least you have unemployment benifits to keep you going.

Good luck on finding a new job.

[eightyeightfan1]

Sorry to hear that. It is tough losing a job. I know. The thingthat helped me was, I didn't think about it. I just held my head up and kept telling myself "To hell with them...I'm better then they are.!"
I have to agree with that saying "One door closes..another one opens."
I was laid off last March. I tell you, the place sucked. Always had the fear of someone coming up to you with a piece of paper telling you to "Sign this..You're being written up for no reason", The place was run like a police state. You couldn't go to the bathroom without raisng your hand and asking permission. The only reason I stayed was it was paying the mortgage. The best thing they did was lay me off. The only thing I'll miss is the people that I met(but still stay in contact with on Facebook)

Week beforeThanksgiving, I got hired at another place, doing pretty much the same thing(Inspection). I got lucky. The place I'm at is hiring like crazy. They just expanded their operations. The good thing. I work by myself, no ones looking over my shoulder telling me "You're doing that wrong!" even if I was doing it right. They love when you suggest improvements, and give you credit for it.(Unlike the other place where you suggest an improvement to your superviser, he tells you it won't work, then a few days later, they make the improvement that your boss "suggested" ) I love it here. Its one of those jobs that you can't wait to get there.

What is irony?
Last week, my old boss, who walked me out, wrote me up for piddly little crap, stole all my suggestions, was walked through the shop for a job interview(I had gotten word through my FB contacts still working there he had gotten laid off, back in July)
He came and shook my hand like we were old buddies, gave me one of those "help me out winks".
Sorry pal......Not this time.

So don't ever give up. It may turn out better.

[Sumpter250]

What is irony?
Last week, my old boss, who walked me out, wrote me up for piddly little crap, stole all my suggestions, was walked through the shop for a job interview(I had gotten word through my FB contacts still working there he had gotten laid off, back in July)
He came and shook my hand like we were old buddies, gave me one of those "help me out winks".
Sorry pal......Not this time.

"What goes around, comes around".......I guess someone shouldn't have "burned bridges".

I know the old saying about never burning your bridges 'til you've crossed them, but I tend to burn them when I'm in the middle.........life gets real exciting when that happens.

Hot!! too

[iis612]

Kevin,

I feel your pain. I was without work for a while. I just recently got back into the working world. Don't take my situation as the temperature of the work world though, as we are in different areas, and I have certain criteria I have to meet to accept employment.
I wish you nothing but the best. The answer is out there. I hope you find it before losing your mind.

Matt

[nachoman]

I thought I would update everyone here how the job search is going. After over 4 months of looking, I have sent out around 60 resumes, and had a whopping 2 phone interviews and one in-person interview. I thought I would have better luck than that. It is about time to re-evaluate my approach, consider different education or certification, re-locating, or perhaps just being more patient. I don't want to waste time or money chasing a dead end or a scam - and there are certainly lots of them out there these days.

Browsing the job listings has definitely been an eye-opening experience...

[Gary S]

Kevin, I didn't realize you were still unemployed. I feel for you. Here in Houston, our apprenticeship school has had only about half the number of available spots as usual, but we have had twice as many applicants as usual. Things are quite competitive all over. Still, keep the faith that good things will come your way.

[eightyeightfan1]

I I don't want to waste time or money chasing a dead end or a scam - and there are certainly lots of them out there these days.

Browsing the job listings has definitely been an eye-opening experience...

I know that feeling. Stay away from those jobs that have exuberant wages for little skilled jobs.(Ex: $16 per hour for a stock person), and those "Employment" agencies with a Gmail addy. I fell fore that one once...Once.

I signed up for one, being un-informed at the time, that had me fill out an online application, complete with references. Next thing I know, my inbox is getting slammed with spam, robo-calls on my cell phone. A couple of weeks later, two of my references called and told me that the same thing was happening to them, and to remove them from my references.
Man..that sucked.

A couple of months later, I clicked on an email that was titled" I saw your resume on line". When I clicked on it it was the same "Employment" agency that I had signed up with before. Instead of filling out the "online application", I sent an email to the name on the addy, (Not nice either mind you. Consider it an "R" rated one), telling the guy if you saw my resume on line, why do I have to fill out an application? Why don't you want my home phone number? I don't own a cell phone(Lie). and I considered that he was scamming me for imformation to sell, and I was forwarding all his imfomation to my states attorney general. Never heard from him, but the spam slowed to a trickle, and the robo calls to my cell phone stopped. My guess is, he already had that info, and was probably hoping for some new references.

Anyway...becareful out there. Still better to go door to door.

[nachoman]

and those "Employment" agencies with a Gmail addy. I fell fore that one once...Once.

There was an ad on the TV news for a job fair. I figured it couldn't hurt to at least see who will be there, so I went to the website for the job fair. It said you had to register in order to get the list of companies, so I used a junk yahoo email account to register. Turns out, there were about 10-14 companies represented. Two were branches of the military, one was a local fast-food outlet, plus AMWAY, and AVON. Oh, and a rent a cop place, and a head hunting agency. Give me a break. They just wanted an email address for spam purposes. I am in an environmental/resources science field, and the number of jobs I see posted for Iraq and Afghanistan is shocking and disturbing...

[tomustang]

Turns out, there were about 10-14 companies represented. Two were branches of the military, one was a local fast-food outlet, plus AMWAY, and AVON. Oh, and a rent a cop place, and a head hunting agency. Give me a break. They just wanted an email address for spam purposes. I am in an environmental/resources science field, and the number of jobs I see posted for Iraq and Afghanistan is shocking and disturbing...

I think you just summed up careerbuilder.com

[sgtcarl1]

I remember, a long time ago, while still in AZ.,I was going through a period of no-job-itis. I applied through the state unemployment office, and was sent to a place in Sedona, about 12 miles away. I was told they were looking for an assistant manager, so I drove there. Upon arriving, I discovered the building wasn't even completed!! I complained to the state office, and they just said, "Really? Are you sure you went to the right address?" I assured them I had, and they just said," Sorry."

[nachoman]

I remember, a long time ago, while still in AZ.,I was going through a period of no-job-itis. I applied through the state unemployment office, and was sent to a place in Sedona, about 12 miles away. I was told they were looking for an assistant manager, so I drove there. Upon arriving, I discovered the building wasn't even completed!! I complained to the state office, and they just said, "Really? Are you sure you went to the right address?" I assured them I had, and they just said," Sorry."

DES. LOL. sounds about right.