I used to be an independent consultant, and my partner worked in the upper corporate world. My work dried up after T took office since I did government-parallel work. Hard to complain, because it was unethical and I didn’t like earning income via gov. contractors anyway, but it was what I stumbled into years earlier. My partner is a POC and hit the glass ceiling, and then became promptly burnt out and had to quit for mental health reasons.
We lost our house a year later, had to sell everything, and suffice it to say we ended up in Latam, where we are now. But we’ve been looking for work for going on almost two years now, and I can’t find shit. I’m in my late 30s and I have no clue what to do. Savings won’t last forever.
So anyway, what do all of you do? Who in gods name is making livable income these days? I haven’t had a single phone interview in who knows how long. I have 3-4 friends back home who’re also out of work, and are doing basically what I am: winging it until their savings dries up. The only thing I have on track is that I re-enrolled in school, and around next summer when I graduate will shoot for an English teaching position in China. If I can survive that long anyway.
I’m an executive at BlackRock
If you provide me your address, I’d like to reward your hard work.
ditto
After a few years sending resumés and applying on job boards to hear crickets, a nice elderly neighbor happened to remember someone, in a more lucid moment. I spoke to them, they referred me, I filled out an application, urinated in a cup. The first assignments were only a few hours a week for a couple of months, then tripled, then I picked up a few more.
I live in a global south country, so chances are my experience won’t be of real use to you.
I grew up with a computer and an internet connection in the 2000s, which allowed me to learn English as well as some basic technical skills. Later, this would encourage me to take up an IT program in university/college.
Using the skills I learned from school, troubleshooting my own computer, and later watching a few YouTube playlists, I began to attend exams for public sector jobs. I was unemployed for 2 years, but now have a medium salary that I consider to be a great starting point.
Glad to hear you made it out of the weeds. It takes such a long time these days which makes it that much harder.
I’m doing gig work. I’m sick of it though, so I’m studying for the hoop-jumping, boot-licking, backwards-bending, and duct-taping interviews. Hopefully I can get a job with consistent hours where I won’t be sexually harassed, but my hopes are not high.
I hear you on sexual harassment. Favors remain the number one entrance requirement, in my area.
Yeah, that’s tough. I wish you the best of luck. A handful of people I know who have full time jobs do gig work in addition. It ain’t easy these days.
It’s luck mixed with performance. I work a white collar job with a BS in engineering in an industry so niche it would dox me to say it. It’s not defense either lol.
I’m about in the 75th percentile of individual income for my state but it took 6 months of full time job seeking to find it. The position started kind of mediocre but within a year I got 2 vertical promotions due to performance.
Oh and it’s a soul sucking industry with shitty toxic corporate culture in a role where everyone you talk to hates you and I work 13 hours a day and can never ever let the chill and friendly model worker facade fall off and I’m probably getting laid off in 3 years
But otherwise I guess it’s marginally better than unemployment, looks good on the resume, and is great STAR interview material for my inevitable next company
This is not a humblebrag. I hate my life and the money doesn’t even help because unironically 75% of my paycheck goes to my student loans. I don’t even live alone and it’s not with an SO either
Sounds about right for most niche white collar nightmares anymore. I wouldn’t ever want to be in those roles again; I’ve just been looking for roles about 5-6 positions below those types. One above or below the executive assistants. I’ll leave the salary and live frugally if I can just be remote and not want to commit suicide every morning. I’ll take an hourly rate over that. Plus like you said most of this type of BS isn’t going to last anyway, not with AI developments.
Your long-term plan is good, you just need to figure out something for the short term. Try budgeting your month and try applying anything you can get your hands on, even if it’s just stacking boxes. When I had similar issues I got 3 friends together and rented a house. It wasn’t the best situation, but at least we could afford the rent, bills and groceries that way until we figured something better.
There’s a bunch of jobs that aren’t advertised online. Just walk into shops/bars/restaurants and ask if they are hiring. It probably won’t be good pay, but at least you’ll be getting something to get by. Also try asking people you know if they know anybody hiring.
If you can teach, then you can also try tutoring. There’s always someone failing some exam or other or not doing well at school. If tutoring isn’t a thing where you are, you can also try an online platform like Preply.
Capitalism sucks… I hope you find a way forward.
Typing and proofing essays is a great way to earn if you’re in a uni area. If you can stand nights in a bar or restaurant (extremely physically/mentally demanding, can be fun, depending) tips can really help if you treat them as regular pay and don’t spend out of cash tips until normal pay period.
Never heard of Preply, thanks. I’ve considered tutoring, though a bit hard with no references and such. I’d do the bar/restaurant thing, but since I’m not a citizen where I am, can’t work for a local company. So my only option really is to run something on my own. I’m hoping that once my classes start I can build some good relationships with my professors and find some part time remote academic work.
Been trying to get a journalism job, here in the United States, but they are hard to come by when you got no experience.
honestly if you’re serious just be an independent journalist and find income elsewhere to support it. It’s the only way to maintain journalistic integrity anyway, and they’re needed.
Here in the heart of darkness I had decent luck with the postal service. They’ll run you around but I’m pretty resilient, pay is fine, benefits are honestly pretty good. There’s even a little pension thing. And they’re frequently hiring because it’s a hot physically demanding job, and because management has so little respect for your time and life that a lot of people quit before they become full time.
Local postal clerk said you don’t have to urinate in a cup, either. My problem was the timed test and the way they switch up questions before you can even sit the exam. My eyes aren’t great, and cataract surgery is expensive, so I run out of time. I know some of the postal clerks from other villages had difficulty graduating public schools, so I was chatting with our clerk wondering how they pass the timed test. Like not trying to diss or compare, just trying to figure out how to improve.
I’ve been in a while and I’m not positive what timed test you are referring to, but they stopped drug testing as far as I’m aware when Covid hit and things got really bad. If clerk is eluding you you might be able to get on as a carrier or mail handler. Once you’re in you can try to move around internally even. But running routes isn’t for everyone either.
Edit: oh you probably mean the one you have to go get proctored at a random office somewhere! I remember it but couldn’t say anything really about what it’s like now. Although if you have a visual impairment they might have to accommodate you if you bring it up. Not positive.
https://about.usps.com/careers/how-to-apply/exams.htm#exam-numbers
It’s an assessment before you get there. And now my keyboard is messed up because Windows drivers and Linux isn’t yet there. I’ve not given up, I just have to sort taking the assessment before I can get the exam for a part time clerk.
Are you still using old mail trucks with no AC? You have my sympathies if so, I’ve heard the trucks are bad. At least they were in VA where I lived.
That’s what I was using, I’m actually in the sorting facility now so it’s a lot cooler. My understanding is they’re rotating out the old LLVs though.
That’s good. Hopefully they do sooner rather than later given the extreme weather temps everywhere. I’m sure the work is hard enough as it is without that.
In the UK even people in full time work have to claim benefits because their wages are so low. What really infuriates me is that amazon workers have to do this. Amazon pays so little that the UK taxpayer has to subsidise them, meaning the UK taxpayer is subsidising Jeff Bezos so he can hoard more wealth. When people whinge about benefit claimants they never bring this up.
