Chaos Cluster

General Forums => Serious Discussions and Debates => Topic started by: oarsof6 on December 08, 2009, 05:36:24 am

Title: How to find a job in a tough economy
Post by: oarsof6 on December 08, 2009, 05:36:24 am
So everyone here knows that the entire world is in a deep recession, some places are in more of a depression. However, even in the Great Depression, where unemployment reached 24.9% in the US, there were still jobs available in some areas. This is more of a discussion than a debate, so either post your experience in finding a job, or suggestions for those looking. (this is in response to a PM by GPH).

I'll start out with a job suggestion: start a blog. You don't have to be hired by anyone, if your posts are interesting enough and your adds effective enough, you could make hundreds of thousands of dollars. I would steer clear of politics though, write about something that you are good at or knowledgeable about instead.
Title: Re: How to find a job in a tough economy
Post by: 1420r2d on December 08, 2009, 01:35:38 pm
Thats a good suggestion, although I am not exactly sure how does the blog system works.
Title: Re: How to find a job in a tough economy
Post by: iggy on December 08, 2009, 03:16:41 pm
Thats a good suggestion, although I am not exactly sure how does the blog system works.

You need to know how to advertise yourself and whatever you're writing about. It works better if it's something you are truly passionate about and will hence not have problems writing about on a daily basis. You have to bring it in a way that makes people want to read more the next day basically.

Skill sets you need apart from writing:  You need to inform yourself about stuff like SEO and for ads basically constantly tweak your blog/site til you extract the most dollars per visitor. So obviously that requires some knowledge as well but it's also really a trial and error thing... you find out what works best for your site by experimenting with different ad positioning or even different ads. You also need knowledge about css and html too, unless you want to be dependant on other people fixing your site (you don't want that).

So if you're really motivated, are an interesting person that doesn't bore people, have some sort of writing skills and do not give up if it doesn't work out after 2 months than that's how the blogging system works.
Title: Re: How to find a job in a tough economy
Post by: Aamer on December 14, 2009, 07:45:20 pm
if you've got the capitol to spend... i would suggest getting yourself into the housing markets.. and rather, into renting a place or space out. no matter how bad the economy is, you have to thinkin about the things people need. one of which is housing. with this market, houses are cheap and you can find a renter pretty fast because os many people were kicked out for not paying taxes and such. also, if you're already in a good place (have a job that pays enough to take care of the bills) you should invest your estra cash in SOMETHING ... almost anything will do. stocks, gold, houses... because we're all young enough were a small enough investment now will turn into a HUGE return when the market rebounds.

now, if you're out looking for a job now, it depends on your experiences. A college grad is gonna have it hard now... you're not gonna get a good job now a days. i would suggest taking your time to get a masters now in your field. after another 2 (or so) years of school, living off of loans, the market will bounce back OR you'll be more competitive in the market. (note, you may have to take bachelors degree wages even if you have a masters...)
if college isnt yoru bag (and it isnt mine)... find a trade you're good at or like doing and just apprentice or intern with a major company. sure, you wont get paid a lot, but you'll move up faster and get paid relatively more and faster than the college job. don't waste your time working at a grocery store or flipping burgers... that doesn't get you very far. try being a cake decorator instead or a mechanic or (the recession proof) technical theatre/design.

point is, use this time to expand your knowledge and do it while working or wait till a bounce back in the economy and live off of loans.

freelancing certain jobs is very good now a days. you can undercut larger companies because you have no over head so people will be more willing to hire less experience or worse quality to save a couple of bucks. for example, if you're into web design... you can undercut a corporation doign the same thing.... if thats your bag... i would suggest that you incorporate yourself now! run all of your work through the (S class) company so you can write EVERYTHING off as a business expense... like gas and internet bills and such. and if you deal in a field were you're likely to get sued, you can always protect yourself and your credit and your money.


i'm willing to expand on any one of those ideas if you're interested :)
Title: Re: How to find a job in a tough economy
Post by: 1420r2d on December 15, 2009, 01:30:09 pm
Just a little bit of topic: my father told me that the age required for a person to retire is 68 SIXTY EIGHT years. Even if the world isn't in a crisis, where do you think young people will work?

Oh and can anyone recommend the most successful blog site/system. I will see in more details how it works and since I have an imaginative mind I might try something.
Title: Re: How to find a job in a tough economy
Post by: Trerro on December 15, 2009, 10:02:55 pm
Keep in mind that the 68 is for people already in their 60s...tThe retirement age is increasing at such a rate that unless you own a company or otherwise have an abnormally high paying job, there's a good chance you aren't ever going to hit it. That makes it especially important to make sure your career is both enjoyable and something where you can feel you're contributing something of value to society. That's long term though... in this economy, the main focus is just getting a paycheck.
Title: Re: How to find a job in a tough economy
Post by: The_Black_Assalant on January 25, 2010, 08:59:40 pm
One thing i have seen,is with the resecion. more and more people are going back to the basic's. like for me as a handy man,i have seen a major decress in work for simple facute fix's and door hangings and such. people are putting good old fashined try and fail instead of highering it done. I though there would allways be work for a handyman,i was wrong  :(
Title: Re: How to find a job in a tough economy
Post by: Adenia on March 24, 2010, 02:12:22 am
Here's what I did... it may help someone.

Since we were in dire need I went to the professional staffing agencies. Go to a few of them, and recognize that there are manufacturer staffing offices and skilled/office staffing offices. I found as many offices as I could that were looking for data entry monkeys while I continued to apply independently for jobs they also looked for me. I knew that my inexperience and lack of longevity on my resume made it extremely difficult for the professional staffing agency to find me anything. I set my salary requirements low, though, and conceded to a "strictly temporary" job. Then, once I arrived at the office doing a data entry project I acted extremely professional, respectful, inquisitive, and resourceful and they scrambled to find me a position in their company. Given, it's still poor pay but it's a permanent job that I can keep while I continue to go to school. Also, it's building up my resume with that longevity that people really want to see.

Once I get my degrees in a couple of years I'm hopeful that they'll actually be worth the paper they're printed on again and I'll be wanted for an above poverty salary. <3
Title: Re: How to find a job in a tough economy
Post by: Aamer on April 01, 2010, 04:54:36 am
just as a side note... poverty line for a 2 person family is 17k a year... i dont think you can pay rent and live on peanut butter for that much with 2 mouths to feed. so i hope you're all above that fake stupid Regan declared poverty line.



btw... work for me is BOOMING! apparently entertainment never dies. or rather, some parts die while others dont and than they switch so it stays pretty even. i also think that certain forms of cheap entertainment are booming now (theatres) because no one wants to spend too much on baseball tickets or monthly on super HDTV... soo ... good for me :p
Title: Re: How to find a job in a tough economy
Post by: illuvatar10 on April 03, 2010, 03:15:40 am
1420r2d- a great blog site that I use it wordpress. Its very handy has a lot of great tools.
As far as jobs go its definitely tough to get a job as I am currently in the job search process right now but I always feel (I know this is a little bit naive) that if you work hard enough in school towards what you want and your passionate about your interests you can succeed. People do value passion and hard work even though sometimes I feel getting a job is 75% knowing someone, but a good resume can get you an interview and if you are truly passionate and dedicated it will show through in your interview.
Title: Re: How to find a job in a tough economy
Post by: SirGalahad on September 02, 2011, 09:30:35 pm
SirG unemployed atm. Signed up for expiremental drug testing work.
Title: Re: How to find a job in a tough economy
Post by: KhanCipher on September 02, 2011, 11:20:22 pm
Signed up for experimental drug testing work.

the bolded words scare me... tbh, i wouldn't ever think about doing any sort of drug testing. especially when it involves the word "experimental".
Title: Re: How to find a job in a tough economy
Post by: iggy on September 03, 2011, 08:04:23 am
Not like there are any non experimental things that need testing :P