As the long-term unemployed juggle between the choice of not enough work versus receiving unemployment benefits, government agencies are keeping tabs, causing many to rethink their decisions. In a perfect world, we would all get full-time permanent jobs that would allow us to not live off of unemployment ever again! It sucks that taking any work jeopardizes the amount of unemployment insurance you receive if the job is short-term. Because if it’s between taking short-term job or part-time job that pays less than what I receive in unemployment, I would definitely think twice before taking the job.
March 30, 2010
Underemployed or Unemployment Benefits?
March 29, 2010
Overqualified, but Employed
The New York Times ran a story about an overqualified financial analyst who took a job running a claims department of a moving company after six months of unemployment. I know these types questions have come up a lot during the recession. Would you do a job that you’re overqualified for? to If I’m so overqualified, why didn’t they hire me? It’s sort of a double-edge sword. People don’t want jobs they’re overqualified for and employers don’t want to hire people who are overqualified, so what to do when there are so few jobs at your level?
March 28, 2010
A Job Interview that Made Me Go Hmmm…
I went through the most bizarre experience this week. I applied for a job Monday night and got an e-mail from the employer at 4 a.m. the next day asking me to call her in the morning. Unfortunately I had to work from 8:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. and I had a meeting at 1:30, which meant I wouldn’t be free until around 3 p.m. I wrote an e-mail telling her that, and she responded by telling me that she wanted to speak to me that day, and that she was busy at 3. I replied and told her I would try to call her.
I called her and left a message, she called back, but I wasn’t around to pick up the phone. Then she called again around noon and I pick up. Immediately she started interviewing. “I’m sorry,” I interrupted. “But this isn’t a good time.”
March 25, 2010
Senate Puts Voting on UEI on Hold…We Anxiously Wait
TGFUE I like to say—Thank God for unemployment extensions. Without them, I’d pretty much be penniless right now as technically, my unemployment is supposed to be up. Unfortunately, the Republicans are stalling the vote for another extension, and I’m sitting tight hoping the Senate will pass another one, or even better—I get a full-time job! How are you feeling about extensions?
January 10, 2010
Early Bird Specials Are Back
Can’t afford to eat out as much as before? Just head out to restaurants a little bit earlier. Discount dining is back in style, with several restaurants offering discounts before 6 p.m. Early bird specials are no longer just for senior citizens looking to be thrifty, but for anybody who is willing to save a buck.
January 5, 2010
Survey Says: Americans Not Happy at Work
The Conference Board research group conducted a survey that found 55 percent of Americans dissatisfied with their jobs—the highest rate in 22 years. Okay American employers: I have an assignment for you. Figure out how to make your employees happy! I promise you’ll get higher productivity!
December 23, 2009
The Fashion World Mourns Phi
Yesterday Phi announced it was shutting down due to the Great Recession’s economic climate. Most of you probably don’t know of Phi, the high-end luxury label founded by Susan Dell, wife of Dell founder and CEO Michael Dell.
I remember admiring Phi’s architecturally sleek, sexy and tough designs when we used a dress and those booties on the left for a photo shoot I worked on. Several celebs and fashion editors revered and wore the label, which was founded in 2003. Apparently critical acclaim didn’t translate into sales for the company, and the recession got the best of them.
It doesn’t surprise me, considering most could never afford the clothes (the boots retailed for $995), especially not those out of job. Fashionistas everywhere are in mourning. Hopefully the label will come back in another incarnation in the future.
(See the a photo from the shoot I used those shoes in after the jump)
December 23, 2009
Do I Attract What I Put Out?
I was thinking about this just now. The last four guys I’ve dated have been underemployed or unemployed—unstable, basically—just like me. One guy was unemployed and bounced through traveling, friends’ apartments and his parents’ home; another lost his job and couldn’t pay rent; another was underemployed, doing odd jobs and had just moved back in with his mother—a boomerang child; and another waited tables at a dead-end restaurant and got fired during our stint. I freelance here and there and collect unemployment while crashing in a friend’s spare room. All that leads to the question:
Am I attracting what I put out?
Or are there just a lot of un(der)employed people roaming around New York?
