Cross-posted from Don’t Cross the Streams
Today marks ten months since I was laid off from my last job. In that time, I’ve had a lot of time to reflect and the conclusion I’ve reached is not having a job sucks. I never imagined it would take me this long to find a job. At first, you enjoy the free time and the ability to spend time doing things you would be too busy to do otherwise. As the months roll on, it begins to wear on you. I’ve been unemployed before but I was younger then and more optimistic. Being unemployed in your 30s, it feels like time is running out.
I’m sure everyone who is unemployed has their own reasons they hate it but these are mine:
- Applying for a job you are perfect for and not hearing back
- Applying for a job you are overqualified for and not hearing back
- Seeing listings for jobs you applied for months earlier
- Slowly lowering your starting salary expectations as you get more desperate
- Seeing “Help Wanted” jobs at retail stores and wondering how much more it would pay than unemployment
- Filling out the same information over and over again on online job applications
- Running out of jobs to apply for
- Going weeks without even getting a phone call about your resume
- Overly complicated online applications
- Accidentally losing all the information you’ve already filled out online and having to start over
- Writing cover letters
- Trying to find creative ways describe the mundane stuff you used to do in resume
- Changing from searching for “a job you want” to “a job you’d like” to “a job you’d be willing to do” to “any job” over the course of your unemployment
- Competing for jobs with college graduates
- Not having any connections to get you job hookups
- Not even being able to get freelance/temporary jobs
- Not getting the job because you are overqualified
- Going on a great interview and still not getting the job
- Going on a great interview and not even getting an e-mail telling you didn’t get the job
- Getting stumped by an interview question
- Knowing early in an interview that you are not going to get the job
- Thinking you did so well on an interview you already start thinking ahead to what it will be like to work there
- Feeling overdressed for an interview
- Being interviewed by someone who has no time to be doing an interview
- Realizing you’ve said something dumb during an interview
- Trying not to come off as desperate during an interview
- Being interviewed by someone who doesn’t seem interested in hiring you
- Preparing all day for an interview that last less than 30 minutes
- Overhearing other people interviewing for the same position as you
- When the person who you are supposed to be interviewing with is late
- When the person you are supposed to be interviewing with ends up not being in the office that day
- Being lonely during the hours of 9 AM to 5 PM
- Not saying a single word aloud until my wife comes home from work
- When all my East Coast friends sign off of GChat/AIM around 3 PM because they are leaving work to go home
- Not being able to have normal conversations with people because you’ve got nothing going on
- Not making new work friends
- Running into people you used to work with who still work where you got laid off
- Not being able to participate in an office March Madness pool
- Not being able to afford to spend money on anything unless it’s necessary like gas, food and rent
- Missing one of your best friend’s weddings because you can’t afford a ticket
- Getting e-mails everyday for sales you can’t enjoy
- Window shopping and/or “When I get a job, I’m going to buy this” shopping
- Not being able to save money
- How much money you get for unemployment in relation to how much you used to make
- Not being able to buy gifts for loved ones
- Wondering if you’ll ever make as much as you used to
- Wondering if you’re going to have to start over career-wise
- Black Friday/Cyber Monday
- Trying to get someone from the Unemployment Office on the phone when your payment doesn’t come through
- Hearing the disappointment in your parents’ voice every time they ask about your job search
- Freaking out because you don’t know what you’ll do when your unemployment runs out
- Trying to avoid injury or cavities because you don’t have insurance
- Questioning all the career choices you’ve made up to this point
- Being jealous of people’s LinkedIn updates
- Not having a reason to get dressed everyday
- Free office lunches
- A steady supply of milk, tea and coffee from your office
- A steady supply of Post-It notes and staples from your office
- Not realizing a holiday is coming up because you’ve lost track of the days, weeks and months
- Not letting yourself make travel plans because you don’t know if you’ll have a job by then and therefore won’t have the vacation days to do it
- Not being able to afford trips back home to visit family and friends
- Having to tell people you’re unemployed when they ask what you do for a living
- Being unproductive despite having all the time in the world
- Feeling bad about having an unproductive day
- Feeling like you don’t have the respect of your employed peers
- Running out of things to look at on the Internet by 1 PM
- Hating that the monthly unemployment data applies to you
- Feeling pitied and judged
- Laughing every time you hear that job numbers have improved in America
- Cabin fever
- Losing whole days to Netflix or bad television
- Not feeling encouraged by other people’s encouragements
- When people ask you how’s it going, trying not to tell them the absolute truth because no one really wants to hear that shit
- Getting sad when you don’t win the Lotto
- Trying to remain relatively positive in spite of it all because giving up isn’t an option (unless you win the Lotto of course)
Did I miss any?