Hey Chuck I did not mean to disrespect or offend you in anyway as you have done a tremendous "job" creating this website for people to find a solution or just vent their frustrations....well done! I just think the unemployment picture is worse than the feds are telling us. Anyway I will give you a link to a person to whom I helped join this if somebody wants to use the card (or more importantly needs the card) they can go to www.spendlessonmeds.com this way that person (rather than me) can get the full credit. Thanks again!! H1

I would guess it depends more on personality and would hypothesize little gender bias if all other things are held equal (length of time at job, pay and position, level of education, future employment prospects and the like).

Coping well with unemployment comes down to staying busy and engaged in life. Both men and women are capable of those things.

Thanks for your comment because your one less person or competition for me to worry about! My dad always told me a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. It's quite obvious that you did not go to the website to see how this business works (yes it is a business that goes require an investment on your part) I'm also sure that you went to the BBB website & saw the A+ rating! I'm also positive that you checked out the website to see how much money these cards saved people! I'm sure that you checked out the testimonials not only from the people using these cards but from the written & audio testimonials from the actual reps themselves doing this. You know what Chuck I feel real sorry for you being such a non-believer. I am grateful that being a hard conscientious worker that only 6 months of my 23 year work career I was laid off & yes unemployment sucks!!I took a huge pay cut in my next job & busted my tail to rework my way back up! I put up an opportunity that I've been doing on the side & YES IT WORK$!!! Believe what you want or not I get a nice commission check deposited into my bank account each month & if I could I would love to show you how much I've thus far....I'm sure that if I started a franchise that was new & was a gold mine for others to join you would find fault with that too.It's a good thing Ray Kroc of McDonalds fame didn't listen to you nor anybody else who believes in the American entrepreneurial spirit that if you believe in something you will work hard to achieve it! For all you others out there please ignore one person's pessimist's opinion & check it out & decide for yourself, if you are of the same opinion thank you as more money is made for those succeeding & working it. If you decide to join you will find out fairly quickly what a great program this is.
P.S. I've been burned with all the "spammy scams" out there too & if I did not believe in this business I would not have wasted space on this website! regards & success no matter what your endeavors Helpful1
P.S.S. Yes I was honest that it is a bit pricey to join because I understand people reading this may not have the money to join but it is a business that gives you 10,000 starter cards to distribute, several websites, a training program second to none plus a host of other attributes to help you succeed. Finally the money you make is from the parent company that contracts with over 80% of pharmacies across the United States as each time a person patronizes that pharmacy & the card is redeemed you earn a commission from it...

If volunteering gets you out of the house and helps you feel better, hey, who am I to argue!

Best of luck to you. It sounds like you're on the right track. What would you do if you could do anything? Do that. And that goes for the lot of ya'!

... after much back-and-forth about volunteerism (from "It's great to help out and expect nothing in return!" to "Er... wait, isn't it a bit exploitative to ask people to work for nothing?" back to, "Well, it could lead to a full-time position, right?" to "Why would someone pay you if you've already shown them you're willing to work for free?") I've landed on this:

If you don't need money, (i.e., you have a job or are independently wealthy) volunteerism is a wonderful thing to do. In fact, in my experience, nothing is more gratifying than the feeling of helping somebody out. One of my New Year's resolutions was to do more for others.

That being said, if you do need money, you should concentrate on getting that situation straightened out before even thinking about volunteering. Generally speaking, you can't help others much if you, yourself, are in a bad way.

In general, I am opposed to volunteering when it comes to the unemployed, especially "unpaid internships" that college students sometimes take to pad their resumes and get their little feet in the door. For one thing, this puts poor and working class students at a disadvantage. How are you supposed to juggle a part-time job, classes and an internship? As one who worked his way through school at all kinds of cool jobs (and some not-so-cool), I would be highly unlikely to hire a kid who had the luxury of an unpaid internship. I'd rather hire the hungry kid who has real-world, paid work experience where there was real money on the line, even if it was bartending their way through school.

For another thing, it's ridiculous that multi-billion-dollar corporations should benefit from unpaid labor. If it were up to me, private sector unpaid internships would be outlawed, and more regulations would be placed on the use of volunteer labor by richly endowed non-profit entities.

Oh wow, another person with phone phobia here.

I too have always hated using the phone. Even when employed I avoid it where possible (thank god for email) and get a jittery feeling if I do have to make a call.

All these horrible feelings are magnified when isolated and depressed. I know I suck at phone calls and I know I can't sell myself. It all boils down to fear of rejection and failure.

Mine has extended beyond phone calls now though. In the context of unemployment and constant rejection I now find it hard to fill in job applications or even email people without waves of anxiey coursing through me. It's a curious mix of apathy, anger, panic and fear to the point of paralysis.

Might be a good idea to create some online marketing partners, who would be willing to create a link to your website from their website and vice versa. An example could be seminar / events companies, which may promote a public speaker, etc and beyond their regular advertising methods rely on referrals from businesses and / or individuals to steer traffic to their events. Should any referral result in a ticket sold or an actual business deal, they should pay you a commission or some kind of compensation and vice versa. The vice versa would be if from that particular marketing partner's website, there is a company or individual steered in the direction of your website, which for a fee might want to use your website for the purpose of advertising their event(s), etal. You establish credibility; and before you know it, there will be others seeking you out to do business with you. Using your own business experiences write articles on businesses', organizations', etc websites and within that article establish a link to your website. If you had attended a university reach out to alumni, who may through sentimentality want to help out a fellow alumnus, who truly believes that the service provided through his or her website is a viable one indeed. Hopefully this all makes sense....Also don't be shy about picking up the phone to initiate the kind of contacts, which will result in the results you desire...Power To You !

Hi,

Good for you for sticking it out with the EO case. Even though it didn't lead to financial compensation, it's a personal victory you can refer to when you're feeling down.

I hope your interviews went well. Hang in there.

Best,
Jen

I totally agree with that. i graduated 3 years ago and am currently unemployed. I was working at a solar power company, but i got fired (i was looking for work for MONTHS before i landed that job). Im currently looking for work though, and its been about 4 months since ive been fired. Something that's really helped me is being flexible. I have to keep my bills paid so i do as charlie says: i do what i can and what im good at. I have been doing gardening gigs, heavy lifting, and even collecting aluminum cans and bottles. ive taken to dumpstering with great gusto ( i can get orchids to sell on ebay, food to eat, and depending on what day i go to the thrift store free clothes they just throw out). I know its not a very glamorous life, and i didint go to school for way too long just to do this. The thing is, it gives me something to do aside from sending out resumes and filling out applications. Ive been excercising alot too, i figure if i excercise im healthy if im healthy im less likely to get sick and if i dont get sick and or have to go to the hospital, ill be happier. It can be tough to find the silver lining sometimes, and listening to the same cliches about "its going to get better" or "this is temporary" can be frustrating. They are true though. at the risk of sounding like a motivational speaker or a scientologist, If you dont have a purpose in life because you dont have a job, find or make your own purpose. youd be surprised how much better youll feel if you are doing something constructive/ purposeful. Even if you dont feel like it has a purpose, do it, youll soon discover it does. I hope we all are able to get jobs, and soon!
-Jesse

... honesty is the best policy. On the "Have you ever been arrested?" question, just tick off the "yes" box and offer a short explanation. Be sure to mention that the conviction has been expunged because of your successful completion of the sentence (community service and all that jazz).

People have come back from pasts checkered by far worse than expunged DUI convictions. Don't give up!

By the way: If your girlfriend tells you you're worthless, get rid of her. You're better off alone. That kind of BS becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.

I hear a lot of negativity from you, and I fully "get" where it's coming from. Take it from one who's been there: You need to throw it out like the garbage that it is. Put in a new playlist, one that says, "I'm good enough and getting better all the time. Everything will be OK for me."

Best of luck.

I got an email with my home address in the subject line. The link to digg.com was not clickable but wanted to check it out. It said I was eligible for a tax return. Needless to say, I won't go to the website.

Chuck,

I can relate to your post. I have been doing everything I can to find a job or temp work. I went to a second interview for a temp job this week and am on pins and needles because I can be rejected yet again. I have signed up with two other temp agencies and done their testing with good results on the basic stuff and less so on the more advanced Excel functions (no middle ground in testing). My husband looks at me like I have two heads or like there's something seriously wrong with me. He said, "I thought temping was easy to get." People keep questioning my strategies and my mother-in-law keeps asking me if I got a job.

I'm so sick of the judgement from all angles and feel alone and depressed. This has been bad enough but I lost my mother this year too.