An unhappy anniversary of one year on the street

Digital Journal ^ | September 30, 2010 | John David Powell

[John David Powell]

The regulars down at Sparky’s Diner were at a loss for words, and to be frank, so was I. This past week marked the one-year anniversary of being let go from my place of employment for the past ten years. The gang at Sparky’s never thought my unemployment would last this long.

I figured it might take a few months, given my history over the past quarter century. To use a good Texas phrase: this ain’t my first rodeo.

I dropped out of the job market in the mid ‘80s to finish my college education when it became painfully apparent that employers valued a degree of any kind over experience. The head of the former Texas Tourist Development Agency pulled an offer for communication director because I did not have a degree as required. That I used to teach at a college, or that I had several years of professional journalism experience, or that I served as a political media adviser for a Texas office holder did not matter. This was a state job and the posting required a degree.

Lesson learned, so we moved to Louisiana where I finished my undergraduate degree in two years and my MBA in finance in one year by going full-time. I got out of school just as the stock market crashed and created a surplus of newly minted MBAs. I took a gig at a newspaper after two years on the hunt, during which time my wife also returned to school to get her degree.

We moved to New Mexico for my wife’s job, and I needed eighteen months to land mine. Two years later, my wife took a job back in Texas, and I was once again looking for work.

A couple of back-to-back jobs ran nine months before deficit budgets and a reorganization had me unemployed again. This is when I found my last job, which I kept for nearly eleven years, during which I survived three bosses and a transfer. The end came a year ago when I became a victim of a reduction in force. For those who don’t know, a RIF occurs when an organization eliminates a position. They do not fire the employee, they just eliminate the position.

Many organizations, particularly state agencies or universities, try to place RIF employees in similar jobs. Not mine. No, it has riffed about 100 positions in the past year, saving about $10 million of its nearly $1 billion budget. One hundred lives and families forced to face their greatest economic fears during the worst downturn since the Great Depression just to save one-tenth of one percent in salary and benefits. It is a curious thing.

As the months roll past, keeping a positive attitude and not succumbing to fear, depression, despondence, or bitterness, becomes increasingly more difficult, particularly as you watch the savings disappear while learning who gets interviews and who gets hired.

A female public relations executive in Albuquerque back in the 90s explained to me right up front that my gender prevented pr firms from considering me. As she explained, the women who ran the pr firms in town had worked their way to the top over many years. Now that they were in a position to hire, they looked for young females to bring on board at lower salaries, a practice they deplored in their male counterparts.

It seems the same today. About a dozen jobs for which I was fully qualified but not interviewed went to females between the ages of 30 and 40. And these are just the ones I know. So, for me, it seems that I hit the unhappy trifecta of age, gender, and experience.

But there is no comfort in numbers. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that of the nearly 15 million Americans looking for work today, more than 2.2 million of us are over the age of 55 and have been without work for at least six months. The unemployment rate for my age group is 7.3 percent, more than twice what it was when the bottom dropped out. Last month, older workers took more than 39 weeks to find a job, the longest of any age group, according to the Labor Department.

The number of horror stories about human resources departments that reject applications within minutes, or programs that scan resumes for key words and not applicable experience, are legion. I belong to a LinkedIn forum about hr and recruiters that has more than 9,300 comments, with nearly all of them negative. Another LinkedIn forum has nearly 2,000 comments regarding the unemployment experience, all negative.

So, what do you do? You cannot hide your age or gender and at some point you have to tell a potential employer about your experience, which will be used against you.

As of today, I’ve been in radio, television, cable, newspapers, magazines, and the Internet in a journalism career covering more than 30 years. Although I have not worked in a newsroom since a short stint in Albuquerque, I have received sixteen awards in the past ten years for Internet opinion writing, including seven first-place awards.

And that’s just the journalism side. My pr, communication, and marketing experience started in the 80s and continued up until my RIF one year ago.

So, what do you do? Well, like I told the folks down at Sparky’s Diner, I just keep trying, keep applying, and keep praying (literally) that the right fit comes along before the savings, the house, and what we thought would be a comfortable future are just things of the past.

(View the companion video at www.youtube.com/jdp1953)

John David Powell is an award-winning writer and journalist. His email is johndavidpowell@yahoo.com.

[Celerity]

I’ve been where this author was. I’ve been the victim, associating and biding my time with other hapless victims. All hating the corporate world.

I still don’t like the corporate world. Only I’m a very successful person now because .... Hold on to your hat,

I DROPPED THE VICTIM MENTALITY.

I’ve had corporations do horrible things to me. I’ve had unions vandalize my motorcycle and threaten me. wah wah wah. My complaints, plus $2 could buy me a cup of coffee.

I’m done playing the victim, thinking the world is out to get me. Done with it. Since dropping this garbage, and cleaning the poo out of my shoe, things have been great.

[VeniVidiVici]

Don’t mean to sound trite but it seems to me a career change is in order.

[dfwright]

My thought exactly. Considering the issue has been persistent throughout his career, it would seem that his career choice is not a high-demand one.

Time to learn a new trade.

[HIDEK6]

Attitude adjustment required here.

Stop the whining.

[albie]

We all have to “re-invent” ourselves every now and then. I was a radio dj bouncing around the country for 25 years. When I got fired in 2003, I had (then) 9 and 6 year old girls. I went into Real Estate and worked hard and am doing quite well. Didn’t whine about it and take half a day out writing about it...I just did it. Suck it up and put on your big boy britches!

[stylin_geek]

The author casually mentions 100 people going out the door, saving 10 million.

That gives an average wage and benefit cost of $100,000 per employee.

[pabianice]

The author is unable or unwilling to credit a hard fact: current long-term unemployment is a structural issue, immune to such things as degrees and qualifications, and is certain to last a long time. Obama has simply made it far, far worse, but older workers are, simply, being written out of the workforce. My last full-time job ended in 2002, when I was 56. I then worked for the next four years in that profession as a contract employee for poor pay and no benefits. My dad, a brilliant mechanical engineer with a key patent to his credit (later stolen by a large company), had put all his eggs into one basket. When he was fired and black-balled by the Society of Professional Engineers for fighting for his patent, he had to leave his profession at age 37 and spent the rest of his life working in his dad's (and then his) grocery store. To me, the lesson was clear: cross-qualify! I am qualified and licensed in several professions and thus have always been able to find work. I also own my own corporation. I have never been unable to find some real job. My Navy pension and medical coverage are a lifeline when things get tight, but that was part of the plan when I joined the Navy. If you have not gotten the message in the past, you are partly to blame for your predicament. All US citizens can find work. However, we are not guaranteed a job at a high level in any particular industry.

I don't want to sound preachy, but articles like this sound more like whining and less like taking responsibility. Be forearmed. Be flexible. Look to your family.

[Califreak]

“Overqualified” is code for too old.

[Mr. K]

"...riffed about 100 positions in the past year, saving about $10 million of its nearly $1 billion budget. One hundred lives and families forced to face their greatest economic fears [...] just to save one-tenth of one percent in salary and benefits..."

He should also maybe take a math course

[Kartographer]

“My complaints, plus $2 could buy me a cup of coffee.”

WOW MAN! Where are you getting coffee for two bucks? ;-)

[Stentor]

One hundred lives and families forced to face their greatest economic fears during the worst downturn since the Great Depression just to save one-tenth of one percent in salary and benefits. It is a curious thing.

Maybe the tiny violin czar could help. He can be found in the huge building made of crumbling concrete just down the street from Red Square. If you're a party member maybe you can bribe him to put the evil capitalists in their place.

[Gator113]

I would love to give you words that might help you with all of this, but as bad as things are today, words are failing me.

About all I can think of is to suggest that you quickly change your career. You need to be willing to move anywhere and do anything.

As trite as this may sound, it’s the truth. If you want to shoot ducks, you have to go where the ducks are.

Best to you....

[doodad]

Don’t mean to sound trite but it seems to me a career change is in order

That is exactly what I am doing starting tomorrow. I am six months out and a perfect fit local job did not pan out. So I am going to do what I love instead and am going to the place I want to work with an offer I hope they can't refuse.

[thulldud]

We all have to “re-invent” ourselves every now and then.

I have done that twice (so far). Got a B.A. in a field in which I have never worked, and maybe never will.

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

One hundred lives and families forced to face their greatest economic fears during the worst downturn since the Great Depression just to save one-tenth of one percent in salary and benefits. It is a curious thing.

Stopped reading right there. Businesses don't exist to provide jobs to whiny nanny-staters like this guy. Stop being a "victim".

[To Hell With Poverty]

My dad went through this around 92, the last recession. He was in his early fifties. Found employment fairly quickly but lost his edge (sales) because he knew just what you did, that age and experience were making him more expensive a hire than some young hungry kid. He couldn't get over that psychological hump, so to speak, so he had a face lift! In the end, though, it was a career change for him that fixed his situation. Went from software sales to headhunter/contract agent for programmers. He liked to joke that the only difference was that now his "product" could say "no" to the sale.

Have you considered technical writing? I used to work at a geospatial imaging company that employed technical writers for industry, sales and publicity purposes.

Good luck on your endeavors. Think creatively and don't let the turkeys get you down.

[John David Powell]

Or maybe you should. Let’s see: if insurance, retirement, and other benefits add about 30% to salaries there, and RIF employees averaged about 75K (some less/some more), then, uh, let’s see 75 + 22 = 97, which is “about” 100K x 100 = “about” ??

[Hoosier-Daddy]

How about “Stop Trying to Get a Job, and Start Your Own Business”.

[Mr. K]

$10 million out of $1billion is ONE PERCENT, not 1/10th OF ONE PERCENT