In a rut of sorts

BornToHula

Hey,

As of December I'll have been unemployed for almost a year. My debts are amassing and I've been shot down from over nine jobs in the past six months. Lack of experience and various other reasons attributing. I don't have enough money to get my car up and running and the interest rates on various debts are just stacking up one by one.

It's become this Catch-22, I have enough sense to know I need to go back to school. But borrowing money to do so is out of the question. I can't even get a co-signer for a loan in my own family to at least get myself to a favorable position. So it's a damned if I do and damned if I don't sort of situation. I'm really at the end of my rope guys. Help, advice, whatever would be appreciated.

I need to get out of this rut. I really do, and every little bit of headway I seem to make sends me three steps back. I just want some semblance of stability. I'm twenty-one and no closer to my degree than I was last year. The only thing I can't really do is the military, I've got a bum knee from a previous job. Anything at all outside of that is appreciated though.

The Cat

If you're getting knocked back over lack of experience, you need to apply for less skilled jobs, for starters. Get a shit retail monkey position for now, at least you can start having, you know, an active bank account. If you manage to get a better position after that, you can just walk away, but in the meantime you're building experience. The beauty of casual labour. I don't want to sound all... conservative (eeeeew!) but even in these times it should be very difficult to be young, unattached, healthy, and still completely unemployed.

OremLK

I agree with The Cat. Get a crap job and work from there; flipping burgers or bagging groceries doesn't prevent you from continuing to look for a better job, but it does give you a little income and shows prospective employers that you're, you know, employable.

Kalkino

Agreed. Doing something like flipping burgers can often give one a healthy sense of perspective, while paying the bills. In that sometimes one has to take rubbish jobs (if that is all that is on offer) in order to get to a point os stability. Plus, once you've got your degree/ideal job/cleared your debts you'll have a little bit more empathy for those doing still doing that kind of job.

At least that is what I found in my circumstance - I think I'm a nicer person for having done a wide range of low skilled, low paid jobs while at High School or University. Having a cow crap on one's head at 4AM in the morning certainly does that.

W2

Apply for a greater number of jobs, it might be just me but nine in six months seems quite a low number.

Luck3ySe7en

i noticed you said that you cant be in the military. I dont know the extent of your knee injuries, but the air force might be able to help a bit when it comes to school. The G.I. Bill is getting revamped with a whole lot more benefits when it comes to getting school done.

I came in right out of high school cuz i knew that college was going to put a hurt on my finances and as long as i am active duty, i dont have to pay anything out of pocket for school unless i decide to take some super expensive course at harvard or something.

If your knee can handle running, you can get into the air force. Our requirement is only 1.5 miles to run and push-ups and sit-ups. Trust me, i sucked at all of those and basic put me in the best shape of my life. The difference between us and the army and marines is that they're soldiers first and then they have their jobs. We do our jobs first and deploy overseas occasionally. If you can find something in the air force that you'd be interested in doing then give it a shot. You can go guard or reserve and you'll still get the GI Bill for school. Yeah, i hate it sometimes when i have to work for idiots but the free healthcare and a house for me and my wife are payment enough for the occasional deployment or crappy assignment.

If not, there's a ton of civillian government jobs that you can apply for. Those can vary from any branch of the military and depending and what type of position you get, you can get paid to move there. Just keep applying, you're bound to get something soon.

BornToHula

The extent of the knee injury is I essentially shattered my right knee. Hard to walk, run, whatever when it gets colder out.

I'll start looking for lower paying jobs, there's a pharmacy tech position that just opened up at one of the local pharmacies. I just need a fair amount of cash quick enough if that makes any sense. I really don't have anything outside of bodily fluids to part with to sell.

Thanks for the advice though, I'll look through and see what I can find.

CelestialBadger

W2 wrote: »

Apply for a greater number of jobs, it might be just me but nine in six months seems quite a low number.

It's best to apply for a job every day if you are unemployed. And spend at least half an hour on every application letter to make sure the spelling and grammar are perfect and you have sold your skills well.

Ask around your friends and family for jobs going where they work. If you have a personal recommendation you have a much better chance of getting an interview.

Get your finances back on track before worrying about college. You are young, and there is plenty of time yet.

Blake T

Ruiner999 wrote: »

The extent of the knee injury is I essentially shattered my right knee. Hard to walk, run, whatever when it gets colder out.

I'll start looking for lower paying jobs, there's a pharmacy tech position that just opened up at one of the local pharmacies. I just need a fair amount of cash quick enough if that makes any sense. I really don't have anything outside of bodily fluids to part with to sell.

Thanks for the advice though, I'll look through and see what I can find.

A pharmacy tech job isn't a lower paying job.

We are telling you to get a job full stop.

Even if you aren't earning much money you will still be earning more money than nothing.

You can look and apply for work while you are earning money.

Go out there and work for MacDonalds (though many people also recomend steel mills and they often offer a bunch of overtime) while looking for work you want to do.