Money Matters

Ever since I got that email stating that I requested too high a salary, I’ve been thinking about what I should do. How much lower can I go?

Some companies demand that you submit your salary requirements. If not, you will not be considered for the job. At. All. So does that mean the company is looking for the lowest bidder, and ignoring an applicant’s experience?

When I received that rejection email stating my salary demand was too high, I did something I probably should not have done. I replied that my salary request was merely a starting point and we could have negotiated a mutually agreeable number.

I know, I know. It was stupid. But I’m getting increasingly frustrated with my search for gainful employment. I’m beginning to think it’s easier to get a kidney transplant than a job nowadays.

We job seekers have so little say in the matter; the employers hold all the cards. We rarely get the chance to respond, especially when we are rejected for a job. However, it should be pointed out that my email politely stated that I was willing to negotiate a salary. What’s wrong with that?

Therefore, I decided to once again cut my salary demands, which were originally less than what I was making when I worked full time. I also now state that my salary requirements are open to negotiation.

Yes, I can live on a lower salary, thanks to a reasonable rent and no car loan. But how much lower can I go? I’d like to move to a nicer place, but I guess that’s been put on hold indefinitely.

Statistics indicate that it takes years for a laid-off employee to regain his or her financial footing and make what he or she made before a job termination. No wonder, what with employers looking to hire the lower bidder for jobs.

And how can having more and more lower-paid workers and a disappearing middle class be good for our economy?

Chances Are

The statistic flashed on the screen during the news program for a mere second, but it has haunted me ever since: Those unemployed for more than a year (like myself) face a 9% chance of finding a job. Ever. Again.

Where did that stat come from? According to this story: http://www.theawl.com/2011/01/the-99ers-may-be-the-new-tea-party#more-66962, the Department of Labor.

Yikes! Those are pretty lousy odds of ever finding a job.

Also according to the Department of Labor, 6.4 million, or 44.3%, of the unemployed workforce have been without a job for more than 27 weeks. That’s an awful lot of people that will never work again.

Of course, I don’t know how the government came up with that figure. It’s obviously a composite of all industries. So one’s chances of finding a job may be better, or worse, depending upon the particular field or where you live. What factors, such as age and educational levels, were taken into account?

Any way you look at it, this is not good news for those of us who have been seeking a job for a year or more. It’s also not good news for our country to have so many people unemployed for so long with no hope of getting a job. That will surely strain the social safety net and communal fabric of the United States.

It also got me thinking: Do I have a better chance of something happening to me—good and bad—than getting a job again? (Yeah, I know, I have way too much time on my hands.)

That led me to this website: http://www.funny2.com/odds.htm.

It lists your odds of some pretty amazing things happening to you. Such as:

Odds of getting canonized: 20,000,000 to 1. Well, I was told I was laid off to save the company. Doesn’t that make me a saint?

Odds that a person between the age of 18 and 29 does NOT read a newspaper regularly: 3 to 1. Guess that explains why I don’t have a job.

Odds of being murdered: 18,000 to 1. At least I won’t have to read those rejection emails anymore.

Odds of getting away with murder: 2 to 1. Damn!

Odds that a celebrity marriage will last a lifetime: 3 to 1. It’s all about the prenup and publicity anyway.

Chance of dying from a shark attack: 1 in 300,000,000. Would that be the sharks that swim in the ocean or the office sharks that stabbed me in back and made sure I was laid off to save their jobs?

Chance of an American woman developing cancer in her lifetime: 1 in 3. But everyone knows you can’t get cancer if you don’t have health insurance. Right?

Chance of dying in a terrorist attack while visiting a foreign country: 1 in 650,000. Whew! Good thing I don’t have the money to travel.

Chance that Earth will experience a catastrophic collision with an asteroid in the next 100 years: 1 in 5,000. Wonder what the unemployment rate will be then.

Chance of me marrying Mark Sanchez: 14,000,000,000 to 1. Hey, a gal can dream can’t she?

Okay, I made that last one up. But check out that website. It will make you smile while trying to find a job you apparently have no chance of getting.

Generation Gap

Recently, someone commented on one of my posts. In it, I said that in many instances, I was passed over for a job in favor of someone with less experience (which is really just a way of getting someone for a cheaper salary).

The person who commented, a recent college graduate, said that the opposite was true in her search for employment: People with more experience were getting the jobs she sought.

So whose job-hunting travails are more indicative of what the climate is for job seekers today? Well, both are.

Much depends on the field you are trying to get hired in. Some businesses want someone with years of experience, which does make it difficult for college grads to get hired.

Other industries, like journalism, are having a difficult time adjusting to the new realities of plummeting advertising sales, competition from online sources and how to mine revenues from the Internet and social media. Therefore, media companies want to hire someone who has as little experience as possible so they can pay them the lowest possible salary.

Think I’m making this up? Just today I got a rejection email saying, and this is a direct quote: “The budget for the position was considerably less than you requested.”

Now, just for the record, I requested $4,000 less than I was making at my previous job. My salary request—which I was willing to negotiate—is in line with what someone with my experience would make. (Yes, I checked this on the Internet.) The ad didn’t say it was an entry-level position.

To be fair, I’ve gone on a couple of interviews where my experience was an asset, not a detriment. But it’s pretty obvious many companies are eschewing experienced candidates in favor of recent college grads or interns so they can pay them low wages.

Also, where you live has a direct impact on how easily you can be hired in a particular field. A software engineer looking for a job in Seattle probably has more jobs to choose from but also faces more competition.

Plus, companies can be very, very picky. With so many applicants vying for each open position, they can choose only those that have the EXACT qualifications they are looking for. Managers do not want to train anyone new in a job.

What more proof of how picky employers can be? Read this article from the Huffington Post:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/14/unemployed-job-applicants-discrimination_n_809010.html.

It details the code words and other nefarious methods companies use to weed out not only unemployed candidates, but other “undesirable” applicants as well. Yes, we know companies can hire—and fire—anyone they choose. But some of what they are doing is flat-out illegal. This has frightening implications for anyone—employed or not—looking for a job.

Still, I can sympathize with the commentator’s experience. When I started in journalism 20 years ago, I found it difficult to find work. My first job was as a news clerk, answering phones and writing obits.

Now, it appears media companies don’t want to hire anyone over the age of 35.

I’m not upset over this turn of events, even though it smacks of age discrimination. It’s just the way things are. When I was laid off, I was told it was because I was making too much money. It was obvious that the company kept only the younger, lower-paid staffers with much less experience than me. Hard not to think age discrimination isn’t at work in the job market. Isn’t that to the benefit of recent college grads?

But please don’t misunderstand me. I don’t want to see job seekers split along generational fault lines. It’s no more right for young people to resent older workers for the perception that they are taking jobs away from them (I’m Exhibit A that that is not the case) than it is for older workers to rail against college grads for possibly getting hired over them.

It’s just as disheartening to think a career I’ve spent two decades building may have come to a premature end as it is for a recent college grad to not get hired in the field of his or her choice.

Can’t we all just get along? We’re all in this together, and finding a job in any field, at any age, is extremely difficult now. Our lives are on hold until we find a job.

And until this country and its corporations start to put people—of any age—to work, then we, both young and old, are all going to be unemployed for a long, long time.

That ain’t good folks.

Clueless at the Top

Have you ever watched the show, “Undercover Boss”?

I have and it’s quite interesting. Although considering how many people like myself are unemployed, I can certainly understand why CEOs are not our favorite class of people nowadays.

The premise of the show is that a CEO of a major corporation puts on a disguise and works with the underclass of the organization for a week.

During their journey, they are shocked, shocked to find that these people actually work very hard for what are probably pretty crappy salaries. They also seemed surprised to find that these peons are intelligent are caring.

Of course, the CEOs come off as caring as well. But then I don’t think any company president would go on a TV show that made him or her look like a jerk.

Overall, the CEOs seem benevolent but clueless. Yes, there are times when they have to smack down an employee (they are the boss, after all) for doing something pretty outrageous. I have no problem with that. Other times, the employee lacked good intra-personal skills and just required some counseling from HR about how to get along with co-workers.

Yet from the few times I have watched it, I get the impression that the employees are simply following orders that have come down from the corporate office. When the CEO sees the procedures being implementing improperly, he takes it out on the employee. Why is that so when that person is simply following company mandates?

Admittedly, in some instances, the CEO realizes this and decides to change the policies. If there is any academic lesson that comes out of this show is that CEOs should get an idea of how their programs are being implementing at the ground level. What may seem like a great idea in the board room may not be so great when put in actual practice. Perhaps the procedure needs to be changed, not the employee.

In several of the shows I watched, the CEO has actually gone to an employee’s home and met that person’s family who are barely making ends meet. Or an employee tells them they have a disabled child.

Knowing that, I would ask a CEO this: After you have seen how these people are struggling and now that you know them personally—they are not just a name on a sheet of paper—how could you lay off anyone?

And You’re Gonna Die Sooner Too!

A while back, I read this article in Newsweek about the plight of the unemployed: http://www.newsweek.com/2010/02/04/lay-off-the-layoffs.html.

It outlined two major points: Layoffs rarely make a company profitable and the harm layoffs do to the individual thrown out of a job. Specifically, the article states:

“As bad as the effects of layoffs are on companies and the economy, perhaps the biggest damage is done to the people themselves. Here the consequences are, not surprisingly, devastating. Layoffs literally kill people. In the United States, when you lose your job, you lose your health insurance, unless you can afford to temporarily maintain it under the pricey COBRA provisions. Studies consistently show a connection between not having health insurance and individual mortality rates. Other data demonstrate that even fairly brief interruptions in health-care coverage lead people to skip diagnostic screening tests such as mammograms and colonoscopies.”

Therefore, my jobless brethren, be prepared to kick the bucket sooner. Could it get any worse? Sorry to be depressing, but these are the facts.

It stands to reason that a layoff would have a devastating impact on a person’s health. There’s the constant stress of wondering if can pay your bills, not to mention health care expenses. It’s easy to postpone—or forgo altogether—routine tests and doctor visits that could detect a serious illness in an early, treatable form if you cannot afford health insurance, or if you have health insurance through COBRA, the high copay.

This is really shortsighted on the part of our health care and social welfare system. Because if an unemployed person gets sick, he or she will inevitably go to a charity hospital for care, which places a burden on another safety net. We really do need an affordable, national health care program.

But for now, I won’t debate the need for a better national health care system. But I will say this to unemployed persons in this month of New Year’s Resolutions:

STAY HEALTHY!

Do not neglect your health. I would argue that now is the time to take the best care of yourself. Eat right, exercise and try to limit stress. Just because some idiotic boss took away your job doesn’t mean he can take away your well being.

Sounds difficult to stay healthy while unemployed? It won’t be easy but it can be done.

While it’s understandable to cancel your pricey gym membership after a layoff, stopping your exercise program is not. Put on a comfortable pair of shoes and walk for a half hour each day. It’s free and will keep you in shape. You can lose seven pounds in a year just by walking briskly each day.

Try to avoid the temptation of junk food. You can buy fruits and veggies just as economically. With the economy in the shape it’s in, grocery stores are locked in a price war with discounters like Target. That’s to our benefit.

Many hospitals and clinics offer free mammograms and other screening tests. Take advantage of them.

Avoiding those routine tests does not mean the illness will go away. I know of what I speak: When my mother was ill, I didn’t go for routine exams and it came back to haunt me later. Looking back in hindsight, it was the most foolish thing I did. I could have taken an hour to visit the doctor but I didn’t. Stupid me.

Many states have programs for uninsured residents. Look into that.

Unemployed people may also avoid going to the dentist. Again, this is a big mistake. To be blunt, do you really want to go on a job interview with rotten teeth? Many universities have free or low-cost dental clinics where dentistry students can practice. Local community colleges that offer dental hygienist programs do the same if you only need a teeth cleaning.

If the stress of being out of work is overwhelming, find a support group you can join for free.

I’m not saying you should run to the doctor’s office for every sniffle. Be selective in your health care expenses. You may have to tough out a bad cold or strained muscle.

For something more serious, ask a relative or friend for the money if you need to see the doctor. While I don’t advocate borrowing, this is the one time when they would understand and help you out.

They want to see you alive, healthy and unemployed, not sick—or worse—and unemployed.

New Year, New Beginning?

So 2010 is over, and many are glad to say good riddance to it.

For the unemployed, it’s been a tough year, one with many frustrations and unhappiness. As we look toward 2011, we see a murky horizon.

Don’t get me wrong. Unemployed workers like myself want to be optimistic, we truly do. But after being jobless for a year or more, it’s hard to muster much enthusiasm or hope for a new job in the New Year.

Will this be the year employers expand and hire more workers? Will HR people finally realize that laid-off employees were the victims of a poor economy, bad management decisions and didn’t lose their jobs because of some fault on their part?

I used to be one of those people who actually wrote down New Year Resolutions, things like, lose weight, find a new apartment, and yes, even get a new job (too bad I didn’t do that sooner, it would have saved me a lot of heartache).

Alas, 12 months would pass and none of those resolutions came to fruition. But why do we only think about making changes on New Year’s Day? We can make changes in our lives anytime.

Yes, I would love to get a job in 2011, one where I can use my writing and reporting abilities while learning new skills. A job where my bosses and co-workers will treat me with respect and not denigrate my work. (Of course, I will be respectful to them in kind.)

Yet so much depends on the economy and the whims of those doing the hiring. I also cannot dismiss the possibility that my career in journalism and publishing may be over if I cannot get hired within the year. Sometimes I think I have a better chance of dating Mark Sanchez than ever getting a job again!

I don’t know what career path I will take if that comes to pass, but I do know I will keep writing in some capacity.

But let’s get back to 2010. I know it’s year so many would rather forget, but I don’t think it should be dismissed so quickly. Even in harsh times, you can learn much about yourself. I know I did.

I learned I can pay my rents and my bills on a paltry weekly unemployment check and some occasional freelance assignments. Never once did I get a call from a creditor. Of that I am proud. Now if I still don’t have a job next year...

I learned I don’t need to buy clothes every week at Macy’s. Both Macy’s and I will survive if I don’t.

I learned I can make it through a year of joblessness, a major health scare and intensive physical therapy with my sense of humor and sanity (mostly) intact.

I learned that even though my former employers thought my talents were no longer needed, other people, like the website I freelance for, did. Seeing my byline published after I got laid off did wonders for my self-confidence.

I learned I can live on less and do without and that’s a good thing.

I learned that even though I got depressed at times, I still managed to go on job interviews and write freelance articles.

I learned to whine less about my jobless situation and be a sympathetic friend. This experience has definitely made me a more empathetic person. No one wants to be around a person who talks ceaselessly only about him or herself or his or her problems.

I’ve learned that I can live with disappointment and still not give up.

I learned to job hunt in a digital age. No small feat for a technophobe like me.

I started this blog and even though I haven’t gotten many comments, the ones I have gotten have been encouraging. It’s good to know we are not alone. I’m glad I’m expressing feelings that others in the same situation can relate to with a little humor and advice. This blog was never meant to be about just me, but all of us in unemployment land. I want to know about your experiences trying to find a job in a recession.

Looking back, could I have done things better? Sure. I wish I had handled my exit interview in a more professional manner. I become too upset when I just should have left the building without saying anything. Nothing then or now would have changed their decision and I just have to accept that.

New Year’s Day is time for making bold predictions and resolutions, but I’m not sure I will do that this year. Okay, I see the Jets in the Super Bowl and the Mets having a winning season. How’s that for bold predictions?

John Lennon said it best: “Life is what happens to you while you’re making other plans.” Did any of us think at the beginning of 2008, 2009 or 2010 that “This is the year I’m going to get laid off”?

We do not know what the next 12 months will bring, let alone the next hour. And that’s not a bad thing. Sure, unfortunate events can befall us, but unexpected joy can also come our way. We have to be prepared for both.

Better to take each day as it comes, make the best of it and seize any opportunity that is presented to us both personally and professionally.

So I’m keeping it simple this year. I definitely will ramp up my job hunt with more networking and possibly attend job fairs. I will also look into a new career path if that is what I need to do. I’ll go to my local job training center and try to get more freelance assignments.

Oh, yeah, I’ll try to lose weight and clean out my email inbox more often.

Am I worried? I’d be lying if I said I didn’t worry about my finances and health insurance if I don’t get a job. All I can do is keep looking for a job or find a way to rebuild my career and life. When my COBRA benefits expire, and I still have no job, I must find a way to pay for my health care, and I will. I cannot let those fears overtake me.

Most of all, I’m grateful for the support of friends and family during this past year. They’ve been understanding of my occasional moodiness and have offered invaluable advice. They are golden and are to be treasured. Because, sadly, there are some people out there who have no sympathy and are just as happy to see you fail.

So I say that those of us who got through 2010 should be proud.

I raise a glass of Prosecco to you. Here’s to a great year in 2011 for us all!