Unemployment Gripe

B

Bronco 212

New member
So, my sister's gym went out of business in Feb. I've been steadily looking for work to atleast match what I was getting while working for her. I've sent out resumes and applications to damn near EVERY company in this city (not exaggerating) I know atleast 40 - 50 in the past 2 months anyway. NOTHING. I finally got one phone call to come in for pre-employment screening testing. I am sure I'll do great here, I always have.

My problem NOW is going to be my credit record. It's the shit. See, we had to move back in September so our kids could go to better schools and we could live in a neighborhood where hopefully we won't be broken into or stolen from anymore. We lived in our "starter home" for over 6 years (owned it for a total of 8). Well, to move we didn't need to come up with any extra money as the higher mortgage was offset by our paying off our vehicles. If we could have just moved we would have been great. Unfortunately we needed to repair the older home which totaled over 6,000 bucks. I will again stress that this move needed to happen. The location and school situation as well as the lack of a 4th bedroom forced us to have to move as it was only really about 1000 sq feet of livable space for a now family of 5. We put off moving for years.

I also busted my ass to straighten out my hubby's credit so we could get the best financing - we did. BUT, I had to kinda let my credit score go a bit (not too bad, just a few late payments) so I could do this. So, anyway, I was able to start to repair all the loans and credit cards we had to open to be able to sell our old home when I began to work at my sister's gym. That closed in February as I stated earlier.

Now, here I sit with no job offers because I have so many gaps in employment because I CHOSE to stay home with my kids through their infant-toddler years. We did what we needed to do to be able to do this and until now, it's been fine. I was going to start work anyway when my toddler turns 2 in August. I have to now, because our finances are now the shit.

So, when I finally get a potential employer I KNOW when they run the credit report it's going to keep me from a job. I told the place I'm going to tomorrow about it a bit and she assured me that they don't just look at scores without asking me to explain. Hopefully, they are sympathetic.

I will share this though. The creditors are driving us insane right now. I've told them I lost my job and still haven't got one (because to work and pay damn near $200 per week for 2 kids in daycare I need something that pays around $10/hour). Well, being that they call every damn day anyway, I have to repeat myself, so I've stopped answering our phone (we have caller-id thank God).

One creditor's rep (who I could tell was from the mideast) made the snide comment that, "Yes maam, I see we have that you lost your job in February, have you not been looking?" I said, "Yes, I just told you I'm still looking, the job market is horrible here and I'd love to say I got a job, but I can't say that without lying". He then said, "are you sure?" Ok, I got a bit huffy, I'll admit. I said, "sir, I am looking for customer service or administrative work but I can't seem to find a job. Might I ask where you're calling from?" He said, "overseas maam, from India, Bombay actually". I say loudly, "Bombay? Oh, see, there is the reason I can't find a job! That's why there are no customer service jobs around here, because apparently you all are a lot cheaper than the people in our own country and companies now employ foreigners through other companies to do the work that I used to! See, I'm in the wrong job market. Apparently Bombay is hiring, that's where I should send my resume!" He then answered kind of chuckling, "Yes, maam, actually they are always hiring here". I exclaim, "well, that must be wonderful to have work like that I'd apply but I'm afraid the commute would kill me". He laughed and said, "Ok, Mrs. . I'm just going to put you are still looking for employment and can't make the payment. You have a nice day." :rolleyes:
 
Grrrrrrrrrrrrr. THIS is the kind of shit that really pisses me off. You know, if shit wasn't so expensive here, we wouldn't need to have higher hourly pay than they do in....Bombay, India, for example.

I'm really pissed about this job thing, illegal immigration, and whatnot today!
 
Holy shit, Honey, that's terrible. It must've felt good to blow up at him though, vent a little bit of that frustration. I totally agree with you, I think outsourcing jobs to foreign soil is destroying our economy and making it hard for us to find work.

Honestly, I've never understood why some employers think they should look at our credit scores. I'm sure that's kept me out of a couple jobs in the past. Is there anyone on your report you can contest? I was able to clear about half the negatives on my report a few years back when I finally took a look at it. I also found out that requesting a credit report more than a few times in a year will lower your score, no idea why.

Have you tried a temp agency? I've done a lot of temp work in the past and found it quite enjoyable; sometimes you even get some decent wages. That's also how I got my first permanent position, working at the San Antonio Express News newspaper. It was quite enjoyable.

I wish you the best of luck and I wish I had more to offer than just moral support, but I have that in buckets.
 
Moral support is all I really need ... well besides a job of course. :tongue:

Tostig, the credit report is only going to show the past 2 months of delinquincies. That's what's going to hurt and unfortunately, it's all valid negative marks. We can't pay anything extra than mortgage, utilities and groceries so credit cards have had to just wait. The only light at the end of the tunnel is that soon we should FINALLY be getting the money from the sell of some inherited land that would pay off atleast most of our bills when it's out of probate, hopefully in the next couple of months. We could get more from it but as my hubby's wonderful family has ensured they all liquidated their inheritances he has the only claim that could pay off the lawyer who was charged to the estate as the family were all the shits and stole from each other... etc etc. At any rate, the lawyer is going to get atleast 5k-7k from his land which is only worth around 20k.

Anyway, we're patiently (forced to be) awaiting that. It's been in probate for 6 years now and it's really only been his property that wasn't just signed over because his uncle who was the executor wanted it for himself and played dumb about knowing how to do it. Yet he made sure he got everyone's cd's cashed out and all the other properties left to him signed over and sold. Well it's the light at the end of the tunnel for us, I'm only hoping he doesn't get screwed on that as well.

Oh, and the inquiries only hurt your score very minutely. If they're just running pre-approval offers or flatout credit histories it doesn't negatively impact that much. Also, once you get pinged with inquiries there is a set amount of time from the first one that they "allow" before penalizing your score. I think it's 30 days or something after the first inquiry.

Thanks for the kind words all. It helps to know people care. I'll be ok, something will come up. Things always have a way of working themselves out anyway. This too shall pass, and all those other cliches. ;) :hug2:
 
Just wanted to send hugs HIH :hug2: and to let you know we're sending good thoughts your way.

If you haven't already done so, Tostig's suggestion about the temp agencies might work. Minimum take home is $10 per hour for entry level positions, and many have flexible working hours. Another idea would be to post your resume on something like Monsters.com. On the "gaps" in employment, you can list things like self-employed, or contract consulting, with perfect honesty. The stars above know how much you've listened to us, and offered "consulting". Even things like helping someone type up a report using Word is consulting.

I don't understand the correlation between a job application and a credit report at all, but since the only negative scores are recent, they can be explained, and, as you said, they will be on a positive note again in the near future. I'm not sure how it works in your state, but here, if a customer submits a minimum payment each month ($10), they are not considered "delinquent".

Anyways, once again, hugs, and kudos for the rant to the guy in India.
 
Honey, I wish you all the best luck with the company you got a call back from. :hug2: I know the daycare thing. I worked at one for a year and I had to work on the tax returns. Holy shit! I couldn't believe how much some people pay each year for daycare. I also know what it's like to be unemployed. I have a lot of trouble finding jobs for some reason. Good luck!
 
Thanks again all. Caffy I've posted my resume online already and I get tons of job agencies, headhunters or regional work that would require traveling over 45 miles out of town, or just plain out "WORK AT HOME AND BE YOUR OWN BOSS" crap that I know from experience always require some upfront fee or at best is dependent on how much of your time you actually can devote to it, most of the time over 60+ hours a week.

My resume is actually done quite well. What I've done is include my time at home in the chronological order of my work history to explain the gaps in a clearer format. I've stated for those times that I was a "Childhood Development Coordinator". There's a cover letter explaining why I did it this way (for the ease of illustrating the times at home) to tell them upfront rather than them figuring it out and rolling their eyes at it.

I'm going to a job agency if this one doesn't work out. I am fairly certain I can get work that route, but not one I'll be too happy with and the pay is never over 9/hr, atleast not in this state. There are very rare instances of positions for that pay, but like I said, rare - so rare I have yet to see it. Any way I am planning on going there if this job doesn't work out, actually planning on going on Monday whether I hear back on this company or not. Well, unless I get the job for sure. I just don't want to accept work at the temp agency and the next week get the job I wanted.

Even if I get this job the hours really aren't good as I won't be able to cook dinner any longer for my family and my hubby will have to learn, but knowing him he'll just make our 14 yr-old do it, which she can, I just feel guilty about it. Of course this is entry level in a GREAT company and I'm sure I will advance and hopefully gain better hours in the near future. The hours now would be 11am-8pm. Oh, and this company has the daycare facility that I want to use at a good discount as well. So, I'm really crossing my fingers and PRAYING for this one.

Oh, and the paying on delinquent accounts, from what I can recall as long as you're paying something you can't have legal suits taken against you but you're still considered delinquent and fees and all the other stuff still commence, even the phone calls (within legal rights). They just can't pursue you legally is all. I'll check on it, we try to pay something but we really over-extended our loans to get out of the old house (while I had my job of course) so it's very hard to pay everyone something. It's amazing what that $10/ month can do. I never thought I'd be back in a financial situation like that of my college years. It'll pass though I know. Things like this don't last forever, unless I choose for them to. ;)

Again, thanks guys. You're all the best! :hug2:
 
it always works out in the end.

Oh, and the next time you get a creditor, do one of these fun things I do:

Speak in another language---pig latin is fun.
Scream insanely that there is an elephant in your living room.
Tell them you were abducted by an alien race that probed you and if they know the number to secret service.
Laugh. That it, dont say anything, just laugh at everything they say. dont even give them your name...

Of course I only do this too sprint, and most of you have heard my sprint rant anyways.

Good luck honey!
 
Jesus Christ, that sucks ass. We just moved for the first time in our life sans debt back in 2002...

I've moved twice I can remember as a kid when we couldn't afford shit. It sucks, trust me.

Just remember this:



I've always found that line to be very true. Humans as a species tend to dislike suffering of any kind. Remember how we kicked Nazi Germany's ass?
 
H I H, do you still want to work in a Gym or do you have other skills? May I suggest looking into a Small Business Loan. They're usually easier to get then standard loans. The Government feels it will get much of its money back in revenues that your company will generate.

I've thought of opening a jewelry shop but in the form of consignment sales. I could make as much if not more with that then those guys who sell other peoples furniture that takes up a whole showroom of space. But the one store I looked into wanted a 5 year lease agreement and when they found out what I wanted to do, it was like I was going to turn their little strip mall into a ghetto mall and rejected my idea.

Some realitors are real bitches. anyways, do your homework and try and work for yourself. Im having problems with my ideas, but hopefully I will get off the ground one of these days.
 
No, the gym only worked because it was my sister's and the hours worked well because it was only 2 hours a day and 4 on Saturdays. I didn't have to pay daycare because it was evening work. There was no over time, or wierd hours. I got to fix dinner and go to work and get back in time to get the kids to bed (it was less than 2 miles from my house).

It would be near impossible to find something like that again. The gym was fun but definitely not my usual line of work. I am an ex-programmer (mainframe-aka deadend job). I really don't want to program again, it just isn't my cup of tea. So, I've been doing customer service and admin-type work. I even worked collections for 6 months (ironic huh).

So, today I went for the pre-screening testing and damn near screwed myself. I somehow thought I was fiddling around with the "practice" test on the online testing system they had, when in fact it was the actual 70 question test I had about 6 minutes to finish. By the 15th question, I started thinking that it was too long to be practice so I clicked a "review" button which threw me to another screen asking if I was sure I wished to exit the test. I cancelled that and it put me back to the test. I began to panic and clicked to the last question (it had an option to jump to certain question numbers). When it showed me question #70, I knew I was definitely in the test. I then had 45 seconds to finish the test. I raised my hand and the administrator of the test came and basically said there was nothing I could do and if I didn't pass all 3 tests (typing, proofreading, and coding) that I couldn't even continue the hiring process for that position - or consequently any position that coding would be a required test for.

After pretty much pleaing with the girl I convinced her to let me speak to her supervisor who told me the same thing. They couldn't let me retake the test for another 12 months because it would open the floodgates for others' bitching. Anyway, I told the man that I never clicked "start test" but "practice test" and somehow was sent directly to the test. He logged on his id and tried to replicate my claim. Of course it worked for him. I then asked if by chance he might be actually seeing a different test than what is actually viewable to potential employees, because of his administrative logon id. He said it was the same test. I asked him if he was sure that he didn't access a different database or server that mirrored what the live tests would look like. (I know I didn't blackout and actually do the one practice question then accidentally go to the next screen and click the "begin test" button without noticing). He looked very confused but still tried to assure me it was the same. I have a feeling it's not and they're going to have others have the same problem I did.

Anyway, I think when I said what I said he was pretty convinced that I could have passed the damn coding test. Oh, by the way "coding" was department codes and such. The questions were asking, "given the above codes for each dept, what code would you need to access the customer service dept?" not programming code. ;) So, he decided to let me take the series of tests required for administrative assistant work- which he claimed was the same pay as customer service- which were Microsoft Word, Exel, and PowerPoint. I passed all of them (typing which I already passed for the other position as well), which earned me an interview tomorrow. So, basically, if I had stopped at the first girls statements and accepted things, that would have been the end of my hiring process. Pushing her to speak to her supervisor actually produced an interview. SO..... atleast I got that far. Keeping my fingers crossed.
 
I'll keep my fingers crossed for you as well.

Nice gig with the older job. I've done alot of things in my life, from working at Avis at SFO to being a maintenance worker and fixing crap in a hotel to Retail.

Im a good sales person and i love electronics. Im always toying with things. But for some weird reason, I cant even get a damn pizza delivery job. Wich im hard up enough to take since Im a stay home dad.

I think what is happening is all these companies like Fry's Electronic and Best Buys all use the same background check. I dont have a criminal background (Other then DUI but that was 9 years ago) but no one calls me back. I do take medication for depression and some other crap, but I doubt they would be in the background information. At least I hope it isnt. :(

Good luck, I live in California (bay area) and its one of the most expensive places in the USA to live in. I think places like Tampa, NYC, LA and Boston are just as bad.

I would have gotten into Real Estate, since most of my family is into construction and I've learned alot about construction and real estate, but I cant do construction work, thanks to my back and Real Estate in California is way to saturated to even bother. to many people competing. My stress level couldnt handle that kind of pressure.


Im wondering if me claiming UnEmployeement and Workmans comp is one of the reasons people wouldnt be hired :(

otherwise, I have no idea why. Unless I just have crazy eyes and people think im going to go on a killing spree. I've been told that, but its just my nature, I dont do it on purpose. Over the phone, Im really good with people and have worked Cust/Serv. I used to work at Wells Fargo at the corporate office in Concord Cali. I also worked at Bank Of the West but had a real dick for a Boss. he just kept messing with me. The irony of it was, I think it was race related. I was white and he was black and he seemed to treat all the black people like family and a few of us White people he would always come down on. I just told him to fuck off and walked out. But, Thats what us white people get for 400 years of opression on them. So I wont trip on it, I just enjoyed telling him to fuck off just because he was being a dick. Maybe he didnt realize he was being racists. :tongue:
 
I got all dressed up (looked pretty damned nice too :tongue: ), go to the interview, wait in the office for over 30 minutes so that the interviewer can run out in a huff and apologize but "things have come up that required all these impromptu meetings, could we please reschedule". Dammit, I wish he did this through the receptionist and didn't see me in the only kickass professional attire I own. Now I have to come up with a different outfit by Monday! :mad:
 
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