Not being too sadistic, but there is comfort in knowing you’re not alone.
I have been sitting around now for over a year waiting for a good freelance job to materialize. Preferably one that might actually last a few weeks instead of a few hours. For my copywriting job, the economy grounded to a halt spring 2008. And many in the field of advertising felt that same sting then. Who knew then of the impending flood of other job holders who would later become job seekers?
I was thinking last summer how much it seemed that my normally slow summer was far slower than previous ones. "Oh, it'll pick up in the fall" I tried to convince myself. But it didn't. So I checked the batteries in my phone. I went as far to call myself weekly from my cell, to be sure my home phone worked. One day, I ran into a friend. I don't hold my back my feelings so watch your words when you greet me. "How's it going, Bryan?"
And there it was. A pause signaled the door was open. So I unleashed a torrent of well-placed expletives and exaggeration, all for the purpose of emphasis, to let him know that my summer had sucked on a record scale. I had dug open Al Capone's vault in front of the world and it was empty. Nada. Zilch. There was nothing there and I wanted everyone to know it!
I tend to have a flair for the dramatic when describing my life. My only hope is that I embellish it enough with humor to make it worth listening to.
Then my friend began to tell me his tale of woe. At one point it was a dueling banjos version of "whose life sucks more?" He'd resorted to having Depression dinners, which is a potluck dinner prepared for a little money as possible. I had never realized the full versatility of beans and rice.
After this airing of grievances, we both sort of realized a calming effect of knowing that we were not alone and each of us was struggling.
I decided to act on this reciprocal venting. So I'd email or call friends that also worked via the feast or famine schedule. After I'd express how slow I had been, they'd feel comfortable enough to let me know that they too, were tight in the wallet and wondering what's next. Some have been fortunate enough to have a spouse or partner to pull up the slack. Others have been getting by with odd jobs working retail, or bartending, etc. Others, like me, have opted for depleting their 401k. It's funny how the future doesn't seem nearly as relevant when you're about to lose your present. I have had so many lecture me on the need to hold onto my 401k.
"Well, just take a job," they say.
Insert blood curdling scream right here.
Unless you’ve been unemployed for a year, you have no idea how hollow that statement is. I'm in Georgia where the unemployment is over 10 percent. I know Michigan's got us beat so I'll bow to their deeper misery. There are not a lot of jobs out there. It's often the ones who have steady jobs that offer the line every time. Kind of reminds me of the folks who are most vocal against health care reform.
Anyhow, the purpose of this diatribe is to let you know that this writer will keep it up. While my days seem dark, and I could probably bum out Marilyn Manson with my mood, I still remain the optimist. Sure, every once in a while, I like to put my head up my ass. It has a medical term – cranial-rectal inversion. But also know that you can't see very well from there so to improve my mood, I occasionally remove it. Then I look around. And take a deep breath.
Just know you're not alone. For many of us who are out of work and struggling, this is our great depression. And for the record, I hope it doesn't get worse! Let us support each other. If you don't have a support group of any kind, and by support, I mean friends who will listen, find them! Who do you know that's been laid off? Or whose workload has been significantly reduced? Even many of us who do work have taken a huge hit financially. Reach out to someone. Not to sound cold, but take comfort in their suffering. Then offer them a kind word and just listen. Sometimes, that's all I need.
Someone cue The Beatles.
Bryan Dodd is an occasional freelance writer. His website is freestatusupdate.com
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Kerry Lauerman
Joan Walsh
Salon.com
Comments
We just had a little fit of schadenfreude over on my post about a businessman who's unemployed (http://open.salon.com/blog/mark_pritchard/2009/08/31/the_jobless_mba), where I and others freely analysed the guy and dispensed free advice, like a volunteer job. But since I can ask you directly: Have you considered volunteering? And how else have you been spending your time?
Mad Men certainly has become the representation of the ad industry. I don't think many shows have accurately portrayed it, although many have tried. (Melrose Place, Thirty Something, What Women Want, etc).
I'm a networker. One friend said "never eat lunch alone." So I socialize a great deal with friends that I've met through my work. I am also seeking ways to increase opportunity through the internet. The challenge is our global society. I see freelance jobs where folks are getting full web sites written for less than $100. As for volunteering, I haven't made any organized volunteered efforts, but I have been helping friends with a variety of things. I tell I have the time, so I've delivered stuff, picked up stuff, served as a cab for kids and airport transportation. Thanks for your comments Mark!
late last summer and into fall i decided to hold off on freelancing as my father was terminally ill and i chose to help my mother care for him. i took three months off and in that three months the economy tanked and all agency freelance had dried up. i'll never regret caring for my dying father but it's been a really shitty year.
i've applied for hundreds of jobs and have only had three interviews. two of which were set up through working friends. it sucks, this waiting. if i didn't have my other out-of-work friends i don't know how i'd be getting along. on the bright side, i've been frosting cookies for my sister's pastry business which is at least challenging and delicious. isn't it interesting what we get ourselves up to? not always terrible to be part of this club.
so, thanks for writing this. i *know* how you feel. and someday...
http://www.xboxrepair360.com/
Your Voice is indelible here. Likeable.
Try guru.com. I know, but it has worked for us for 5 years or so. A few BIG projects, even. And they have dedicated ad/marketing copywriting category, too. PM me if you set up account there and I will give you my success tips, as it were.
I was planning on teaching at two universities this summer.One of those two fell through. Every day I would get up and scan the want ads and apply for anything I thought I could do, that I could work around my teaching schedule. Nothing.
Still, I wasn't too worried. I am a fairly strong individual, and I have always been able to find construction labor jobs at the drop of a hat. When the summer session ended July 20, I went to the local temporary labor agency. I have never before gone there and not gotten work. They had nothing. I went back the next day. Again nothing.
I went to the employment agency. I have never before gone there and not found a job immediately. Again, they had nothing. Some of the jobs they had listed were three years old(!)
I put a thousand miles on my car, just driving around looking for work. Everywhere I went I saw housing developments and office parks that looked like they had been slapped together yesterday, but I guess they're finished slapping. And they all had signs up saying "Homes for Sale" or "Office Space For Rent." The few places that were till doing some construction weren't hiring.
I am 48 years old. I have never seen it so bad.
It was hideous, the never knowing what or when or how I was going to work. So my heart is with you. I'm retired and I'll never be back but man oh man, I feel your pain and everyone else's who's responding here. Reading your post brought it all back. Just that fear, that pervasive ugly scariness. ugh.
Just know it will end. You have to be there, be on top of it, be the one who just called to "say hi" when it breaks, which is mostly luck, but perserverance, too. Don't give up if this is your business. You're doing exactly the right thing, all this networking. good luck to all of you and I mean it from the bottom of my heart.
- Keeping a positive attitude
- Staying busy
- Networking
If I hear of any promising leads, I will PM you.
I feel your pain brother. But, have you stayed within your professional network or have you "sunk" to replying on the aid and support your state gives to job seekers? I was encouraged by state employees in New York, in my decision to change careers. But, where does that first foot in the door job come from in a depression? Well, sir, have you tried the online job boards? Ha! They want 20 years experience for entry level pay, if the position is valid at all. Temp agencies ditto. Only there you have the perk of an attractive young lady lying to your face about finding the "right" position. And on it goes.
The practice of pirating amongst online boards means that a single opening is reproduced on dozens of job boards and HR receives thousands of resumes which are mostly redirected to that circular file in cyberspace. "Received your resume. We'll keep it on file should a suitable position arise." Not!
I bet resumes are literally a dime a dozen on the World Wide Web.
When I confronted a job board emplyee in another forum. He didn't want to approach the issue of pirating. Instead I got copy of an article he had written espousing the Horatio Alger myth.
Just venting! What choice do we have? Well my choice is retire.
And good luck to you sir!
strength, endurance and good fortune to you, my friend!
my 2cents--ct
Ha, ha, ha. Just kidding. I couldn't resist. Its coming up on a couple years myself. Funny thing is that when I say my job was shipped off to a half dozen Indians, the witless seem to conclude that I must have been in a call center. "No imbeciles," I inform them,"Those half dozen are all college educated Unix programmers, Oracle DBAs, and software developers." The fact that India and other developing economies have invested for the past 25 years in the technical education of vast numbers of their citizenry appears to ellude most of us here at home. We just assume that the jobs lost to off-shoring are unskilled and menial. No, they're lost because the educational system at home is dysfunctional, defective, over-priced, under-funded, and produces a second rate product. Whenever I hear that recurring litany, "This counrty has the world's greatest (fill in the blank)!" a red flag goes up. I realize that such remarks are meant to have the same soothing effect as a little boy who whistles in the dark.
Seems like a market failure to me.
Best of luck on your job hunt, and I agree with Cary--it does seem as if jobs come and go without rhyme or reason.
In my opinion, free trade with Mexico was a mistake. How can we compete with people who make $1500 per year and consider themselves middle class? Those are my monthly expenses, and I expect not that different from many of you.
It does piss me off that so many companies ask for such specific skills (usually software related) and list them as 'must haves'.
I believe that the true unemployment rate is closer to 20%, but that would scare the living crap out of people if it was made public. One good note. I have had 3 interviews until this week. This week I had two more. Slowly, it seems, things are coming back, just as I decide to go back to school to upgrade my skills (actually, switch fields entirely).
Good job on the post! Keep 'em coming.
But those days are long behind me. It was a delicious conceit at the time, and now embarassing to look back on, but I knew at the time that I was highly marketable and desirable, and I used that dumb-assed ploy to ensure that I'd hook up with a group of writers and editors that were cool and would be hip to work with.
Them were the days.
arrrgggghh!