There Are LOADS Of Jobs Out There, But People Don't Want To Work!

It isn't as easy to start up a business as one would think. I am self employed and when the economy hit the skids, my income fell by more than 50%. I tried for 9 solid months to get any kind of a job. No dice. So I figured I would start cutting yards in the neighborhood. I worked my way up to 20 yards per week. This brought me in about $1,000 per month. Helped out quite a bit.

So I am cutting the yards and all of a sudden the police show up and arrest me for running a business without a license. In order to get the license I would have had to undergo state testing and pay $250 plus $500 fine for not having the license in the first place. I also was required to have insurance and the best rate I found was $500 / mo. Needless to say that situation was unworkable. I was already working slave wages and wasn't going to continue at less than half of slave wages.

Sincerely, go get yourself a decent job ... or go back to school, and learn some math.

Typical American idiot ... I sincerely wish you end up broke and unemployed, and end up living in Greece.

You deserve no less.

Originally posted by 2manyquestions
It's true that it isn't easy finding a job or starting up your own business, but these are the type of things a person needs to think ahead for. When we immigrated to this country, my father's degrees and years of experience became meaningless in the American job market. He was a valuable engineer and innovator in his home country, but when he came here nobody would hire him without an American diploma. The fact that he spoke only basic English at first didn't help much either. After a couple of months of looking and looking he finally gave up and decided to learn a new trade. He apprenticed, worked for minimum wage and eventually learned the craft so well that he is now one of the very best out there. He just has a knack for taking on any task and excelling at it. After a couple of years of working for pennies on the dollar, trying to feed a family of four and taking English classes in the evenings, he started his own business. Through hard work he built it up into a six figure income.

While I agree with many of you here that you can't just go out and bid on gardening jobs when you have no clue how to garden, it is your personal responsibility to be prepared for hard times and to have a plan B. If you don't have a plan B, you need to think of one and figure out what you're good at. It's not an immediate solution, but it will get better as time goes by. People on unemployment especially have (or at least had) two years to figure things out and get some training. If a guy with a family of four who speaks no English can do it, all you natural-born citizens with your language skills and knowledge about the rules and regulations of this country should have slightly less trouble getting back on your feet. I know more immigrants with a similar story to my father's who came here with nothing, yet persevered because they knew they had to.

Your dad's story is great and all that, but the majority of people who came here and tried to build a future here failed to actually succeed in doing so. Their kids carried on, and some of them have been successful, and we know exactly who they are because their stories are pushed on all of us as if that's the normal result of being a heroic capitalist in this society. The truth is that if that were the normal result, those people's stories wouldn't be heroic at all. We wouldn't even bother with them, because it'd be commonplace for that kind of bootstrap success.

In the past, people could live on relative peanuts, compared to what it costs to live now (in relative dollar value, of course). A visit to a doctor didn't break you for years, like it does now. Jobs were located within walking distance, instead of within industrial parks that are miles from any neighborhoods in areas that don't see the need for funding public transit with tax dollars (hell, who doesn't have a car...right?). Food costed more per paycheck, but there are a lot more ways that products and service providers get their cut of your wages than there have ever been. Mom and pop stores have been largely eliminated by Walmart and Krogers and Lowes and every version of the national retail buzzsaw that line the highways just outside of the downtown of every single city in this nation. You can't even open a burger grill anymore without McDonalds dropping a location right across the street from you and shutting you down within a year.

I don't know anyone who even considers hiring a handyman that isn't a franchise employee. No one wants to take the chance on a guy who can't get a job with a national chain, and you can thank the local media for years of drilling that safety tip into our heads. "Insured, vetted, qualified, certified, it all adds up to "this guy won't hurt your wife and kids, but we can't guarantee that our competition - who's independent - (eeks, not qualified to be hired by us) won't". As marketing it's effective, but as a society-shaping psychological ball peen hammer, it's devastating for small independent business.

You father would not have succeeded in today's America. You can say that he would have, but the evidence suggests otherwise.

Originally posted by ModernAcademia

Originally posted by Kryties
Plumbers, electricians, landscapers....pretty much all trades require years of training and apprenticeship on ridiculously low wages before one is fully licensed where I come from.

What's a licensed landscaper?

Plumber or electrician sure
But work your way through it, think long term not just how will you eat today, that's irresponsible and forcing the state to cut for your slack

And as far as low wages again you are doing the same mistake I spoke about
You are waiting for a job rather than going towards it

When did I say work for a landscaping company?
Create YOUR OWN!

The whole show is coming apart at the seams, and you think training a few more electricians is gonna fix things? I don't think you appreciate the depth of the # we are wallowing in.

I was a small business owner through most of my 20's. I struggled in poverty atleast half that time. Oh, I was grossing 35k a year, but after all the overhead, plus the extra taxes I ended up making a dismal income. But, I stuck with it, knowing that eventually it should pay off. Despite my financial hardship I invested money into my company and trade.
One day I looked around and realized that I was doing pretty good. I had broken out of the poor and working class and was now middle class, if only barely.
Then the Fall of 2008 rolled around and building stopped. From October until Christmas I had managed to make less than $2000 (subtract overhead from that and it becomes mere hundreds). My employees got the axe pretty quick. Yet, I still couldn't even make ends meet. By the Spring I was ruined.
I decided to go to college and get away from the small business construction line of work. It is fraught with hardship. I know a small handfull who made it through unscathed, either by going into debt or letting go of so much of what they had worked for. Those people are now staying busy again and doing almost as good as they had before. If I would have stuck with it I'd likely be in the same boat.
I can promise you that if there were enough plumbers to show up at your door the same day you call (every time) then there are too many plumbers in the area to stay busy and they'll starve each other. Small business ownership in construction means that if you cannot earn $300 to $500 a day then you cannot even live a modest life. Fuel alone can consume $100 a week easily, uncharged consumables $100 a week easily, contractor insurance $100 a month, one employee $400 a week, extra taxes 8% of net earnings, depreciation of investments in vehicles and tools, a new set of tires every year, the list goes on and on and on. You'll gross $60k a year and be left with $30k. But 30k is ok isn't it? Sure it is for a 9 to 5 job. But where is my insurance (I had insurance on my family....$1600 a month)? And when my day is over I get to swing by a potential job or two and politic with people and measure the job. Then I go home and figure bids, then I do my paper work for the day, maybe make a phone call or 3. Finally, by 7 or 8pm the day is over. 7am, at it again. And all for an income that is only marginally better than the asst. manager at McDonalds. Then after all that you get a punch to the nose when there is no work to be had for a couple of weeks. So next month is catch up month.

Originally posted by ModernAcademia

Originally posted by Kryties
There you go again, assuming everyone has the same life and opportunities as you.

Pray tell, how did you learn programming and networking? Did you pay to learn it by any chance?

I bought a book on web design and web programming
I believe in total it must have costed me maybe 90$ in total

Originally posted by Kryties
You would have had to in order to get official qualifications to work in the field so can you please explain to the rest of us how exactly you were able to pull money out of your ass in order to pay for said training? I am sure many of us would love to know how to make free money.....

I bought a book and did contracts for web design

After a while I studied database development, SQL and database adminstration
Then I created database applications and tried selling it to local video stores and other types of stores

During this time I had no IT degree or certifications

So I guess since you learned it that way everyone can right? If that was the case everyone would get the same scores on tests and exams... I can read every damn book on a subject but it doesn't mean I will understand it as much as someone else. Your logic is majorly flawed... Sure you don't work for the Federal Reserve?

People want to be happy with what they do for a living. If not we are just slaves to the system. I say find something you are interested in and make the most of it. As long as I can feed my family, government assisted or not, and I am happy... that's what really matters.

Happy or Slave? I choose happy... to each his own...

btw right now I work @, not for because I work for myself and no one else, a company that has been on a pay freeze for the past 5 years. They are taking full advantage of the state the economy is in. Even though I have only been here 2 yrs, I have been looking for a new job the whole 2... When they told me in the interview they were on a freeze I still took it because I had to feed my family. I do other things like fix computers, work on cars, make music and buy and sell crap on ebay to make a profit too. Right now I am a slave looking for my happiness... In 2 years I haven't had a weekend off with my kids. Try dealing with that as a single parent.

My point is you have no right to judge anyone. You did what you did, great. Kudos for you, but not everyone's brain works the same and you can't teach your brain to be good at skills you just aren't. If that was the case I'd be playing basketball in the NBA... but I have no hand eye coordination...

If we were all like you we may as well be robots...

Not to mention that companies want EXPERIENCED workers... but according to you I can just tell them I've read a few books and it should be okay... Think that will work? I didn't think so...

dup

Originally posted by bjarneorn
Sincerely, go get yourself a decent job ... or go back to school, and learn some math.

Typical American idiot ... I sincerely wish you end up broke and unemployed, and end up living in Greece.

You deserve no less.

He'll just come and take everything you think you have away from you when it gets bad enough that he sees no better idea. Do you think you can defend yourself against the typical American idiots who have decided that they're fed up with your attitude about their lot in life? Ha!!! Get your guns and bunkers and call your cops and pray to your Jesus. You wouldn't last a week.

We care about our less fortunate citizens because history has taught (some of) us that if we don't, they'll rise up eventually and slaughter us. The cops won't save you. The Tea Party won't save you. Jesus won't save you. Money won't save you. The US military won't save you. The only salvation you have is convincing the people you hate that your success isn't an insult to their own inability to succeed. And that's your ONLY salvation.

You might want to think about that as you watch Europe descend into madness over the rich in their societies forcing hardship on the rest of them. If that starts in this nation, those American idiots will school the entire human race on how to rip a societal structure to shreds. Not that you'll learn anything from that, though. You'll go in the first round. Guys like you always think they can make a stand against a tidal wave. Either that or you'll be hiding under something until they find you.

The US survives as a result of the social pact that was initiated in the 1930s, and even though the GOP tries to destroy it (and our entire society as a direct result of destroying that pact) we've survived all kinds of hellish stretches of time because even the poorest and most wretched believes that someone will give a damn about them. Once that belief has been successfully eliminated, the blood will start to flow. No empire has ever survived a hopeless underclass. Not one.

reply to post by ModernAcademia


I think the biggest problem is that it's not "easy" out there anymore, and that's what people are used to. I grew up hearing stories of the Great Depression from my grandparents and aunts/uncles of how they got by.

In today's economy, the fact is that some places have so far to adjust - to rebalabce, that if you want to get by, you just may have to move somewhere else (I.e. Detroit) beyond that, experience and monster.com, etc., aren't your best resources when its you against 100 with the same skillset.

You need to have the right personality to get that person to hire you over the other equally qualified candidates. You need to have connections or recommendations to get yoy in the door. Above all, you may simply need to work significantly harder than you ever have before. I got sick of waiting for 3 jobs to "become" what my old job was, which was a fun, easygoing, short-hours and great pay sales job. I excelled in it thanks to my knowledge, skills, abilities and relationships I'd built over my years in the industry.

The next 3 jobs were 40+ hrs/week of getting nowhere. I tried something different, a friend got me my foot in the door. I've now been there 6 months and am a top 5 earner among 40. I work from 7a-5p, and then from the road and home i'm still "on duty" coordinating and updating, popping into our system, sending emails and making phone calls occasionally throughout the night. Often, i'll get a call or email at midnight, 1:30, 330 am. That part sucks.

I used to go in at 09:30 and leave at 15:30 on average, and made good money doing it. I made crap for 18 months after that. I then decided with this job to work my bazingas off rising above to fix a situation nobody else could, and continue to improve it. Eventually, it should be under control enough that there's very little after-hours responsibilty.

Do the hours and stress suck? Yes. But I'm happy. I made my own way for myself and my family through struggle and persistence. If I keep it up, I'll rebuild my savings and pay the house I almost lost off early in 5 years.

I credit my upbringing, the work ethic instilled in me, the friendships I nurtured, both personally and in business.

It is NOT easy out there anymore, and those who have not set themselves up for success in a rough economy are going to have a rough go of it. Too many have never learned what it can be like when you're not in control of your own destiny. There is a way for everyone - for many, the road will be harder and longer than it has been for me by far, but the economy has changed, and the previous 20 years are NOT your guidestones for how to make it today.

reply to post by WarCry


banned in 5. 4. 3. 2.....

reply to post by ModernAcademia

You really have no idea do you ?

I got as far as the first page in this thread before I realized that the OP is just a straight up Asshole.

Originally posted by swoopaloop
I got as far as the first page in this thread before I realized that the OP is just a straight up Asshole.

couldn't agree more,

reply to post by Shminkee Pinkee


To summarize:

"Hey Ats People!

I'm a complete Douche! I have a stable job and did this, this and this to get it. If I did it, that means that anyone could easily do it and if they don't, they're not as good as me!"



This is the OP

Am I the only one who smells troll here?

reply to post by Shminkee Pinkee

Don't forget delusional...

'wish I knew where you lived....you'd have a visitor or a thousand.

What a insult....youre lucky we are considering the source...and writing you off.

Originally posted by NorEaster
Your dad's story is great and all that, but the majority of people who came here and tried to build a future here failed to actually succeed in doing so. Their kids carried on, and some of them have been successful, and we know exactly who they are because their stories are pushed on all of us as if that's the normal result of being a heroic capitalist in this society. The truth is that if that were the normal result, those people's stories wouldn't be heroic at all. We wouldn't even bother with them, because it'd be commonplace for that kind of bootstrap success.

Planning ahead and struggling to learn a new trade is not "heroic", it's common sense for those with survival skills,....something we all need to have. The theory is that you look around you, see what's lacking in your community and then work toward providing a solution to that need. It's not always stuff you'd want to do, but it's stuff that will put food on the table. As an immigrant I happen to know a lot of other immigrants, and nearly all of them have been able to start their own businesses within a few years of immigrating to this country. I can't say that every single one is as determined, but they found a way to live and survive. Sure they had to buy food at the $0.99 store for a while, drive crappy 80's cars, live in crappy neighborhoods and wore 5 for $5.00 t-shirts, but their sacrifices eventually paid off.

In the past, people could live on relative peanuts, compared to what it costs to live now (in relative dollar value, of course). A visit to a doctor didn't break you for years, like it does now. Jobs were located within walking distance, instead of within industrial parks that are miles from any neighborhoods in areas that don't see the need for funding public transit with tax dollars (hell, who doesn't have a car...right?). Food costed more per paycheck, but there are a lot more ways that products and service providers get their cut of your wages than there have ever been. Mom and pop stores have been largely eliminated by Walmart and Krogers and Lowes and every version of the national retail buzzsaw that line the highways just outside of the downtown of every single city in this nation. You can't even open a burger grill anymore without McDonalds dropping a location right across the street from you and shutting you down within a year.

You're right that ten or twenty years ago a dollar bought more than it does now, yet wages didn't go up by much at all. It costs more to afford living expenses now than it did years ago, but this is exactly even more reason for why a person needs that plan B. People can't afford to NOT have a plan B. You think it's bad now? What if it gets worse? What are we going to do when it does become worse? Don't wait. Act now. Do whatever you have to do. Use your brain and think of a way out. My father's business has somewhat suffered due to the current economy, and that is why he's already got five ideas to replace it. If one idea fails, he's got another one to back it up. Don't just think local, think National or even International. I admit he does have this special ability to survive, but we have to hone our abilities to do so too. You can't just give up and say "Well, there's no jobs out there, nobody is giving me a job so I'll just sit here and rot."

I don't know anyone who even considers hiring a handyman that isn't a franchise employee. No one wants to take the chance on a guy who can't get a job with a national chain, and you can thank the local media for years of drilling that safety tip into our heads. "Insured, vetted, qualified, certified, it all adds up to "this guy won't hurt your wife and kids, but we can't guarantee that our competition - who's independent - (eeks, not qualified to be hired by us) won't". As marketing it's effective, but as a society-shaping psychological ball peen hammer, it's devastating for small independent business.

Look, I know it takes money and time to get trained, certified, licensed and all that bull. It's one more reason we need to vote in an intelligent way,... but..... don't just think "handi-man", think of the thousands of other professions that exist in this world. Nothing is 100% certain or fool-proof. Diplomas worth thousands are now worth crap and you have to reinvent yourself. You have to be willing to do the jobs you were not willing to do before to survive. It's not permanent misery, it's a stepping stone toward something better as long as you plan ahead. If you keep trying to find jobs where there aren't any, you're not going to find one. Feeling sorry for yourself isn't gonna dig you out of a hole.

You father would not have succeeded in today's America. You can say that he would have, but the evidence suggests otherwise.

edit on 5/20/2012 by NorEaster because: (no reason given)

You're wrong. Trust me.