A slight "woe is me" rant.

[TonyH]

So I'll keep this as brief as possible.

I recently moved here to Austin to go back to school and reboot a stale life. Along the way, I encountered some infidelity in my relationship, reconciled, and made the move together. Things on that front are very good, relatively speaking.

Just before all of this happened, I quit my job as a manager with Best Buy at her suggestion. I had not been happy there for some time and wanted to pursue something new. As many of you already know, however, it's very hard to walk away from a good position making good money. I did anyway. When I left the company, I had enough stock, etc to take care of all my credit card debt and other miscellaneous expenses. All I had left was my smallish car payment.

When the relationship troubles hit, I had to move out for a while. I was working for Target at substantially less money than I used to make. The debt started to accumulate again.

We moved to Austin together, now toting more debt than I started with, only to find out that the Target that I transferred to has no intentions of giving full time hours. I went to my supervisor about this today and she played dumb. They didn't know that I needed to work full time, etc. I'm 33 years old with car payments, utilities, student loans, the whole works!

So...now I'm working 13 hours a week for $9 an hour, I have more debt than I've ever had, and even with my experience in management (10+ years) I can't get a single call back about my resume.

I feel like I'm in a downward spiral that I've finally lost control of. Huge debt, no income to speak of. No friends around in a new city. Boo hoo.

Thanks for hearing me out. I don't have too many folks to talk to these days.

 

[AndrewWiggin]

Are you taking classes right now? If so, where, and what are the work/study opportunities? I'm in a campus job right now that pays better than working at Target and they can't fire me as long as I'm a student, so I pretty much work as many hours as I want every week.

 

[luvmysuper]

Keep seeding that resume, and try as best you can to keep your spirits up.
You will get a bite with your qualifications, it just may take some time.

Best of luck to you, and feel free to rant as often as you like, you have sympathetic friends here.

 

[chris456]

It is always dark before dawn.

 

[TonyH]

Are you taking classes right now? If so, where, and what are the work/study opportunities? I'm in a campus job right now that pays better than working at Target and they can't fire me as long as I'm a student, so I pretty much work as many hours as I want every week.

I'm not taking classes yet. I'm going to try to take one or two classes over the summer and attend full time in the fall. The problem is that since I just moved, I have to pay exorbitant out-of-state tuition for the first year. I won't even possibly qualify for in-state until 9/2010. Add to that the fact that my FAFSA is based on my Best Buy income, and my ability to get any grants or scholarships (due to my time out of school) is nil. I can file a new FAFSA in February with my new income data, which will hopefully help.

Short answer, until summer at least, no campus job for me. It's a great idea though.

Keep seeding that resume, and try as best you can to keep your spirits up.
You will get a bite with your qualifications, it just may take some time.

Best of luck to you, and feel free to rant as often as you like, you have sympathetic friends here.

I greatly appreciate it. This hasn't been my year, and you guys have been here (unknowingly) for all of it. Thanks and thanks again.

It is always dark before dawn.

I certainly hope so.

 

[AndrewWiggin]

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/group.php?groupid=91

Unemployed Social Group, trying to see if anyone on B&B can network with us for jobs.

 

[AndrewWiggin]

It's not your expertise obviously, but have you tried your hand at waiting tables? I imagine if you did sales at some point (which I assume you have since you worked at Best Buy) you would be able to transition fairly smoothly into waiting. Granted, you're going to have to start off somewhere small, but cash tips are better than a paycheck.

 

[TonyH]

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/group.php?groupid=91

Unemployed Social Group, trying to see if anyone on B&B can network with us for jobs.

Thanks for the heads up. I posted a little about me on there.

It's not your expertise obviously, but have you tried your hand at waiting tables? I imagine if you did sales at some point (which I assume you have since you worked at Best Buy) you would be able to transition fairly smoothly into waiting. Granted, you're going to have to start off somewhere small, but cash tips are better than a paycheck.

I have back of house experience. I am a good cook with some Sous Chef experience. I'm very good with fish, and French style applications. Waiting is not really for me, as I'm not terribly graceful and the idea of failing at it terrifies me!

 

[WhosYerBob]

Hang in there. I've gone through similar times myself at different periods of my life and eventually came out ahead. It just took time and patience.

 

[rth97601]

There's a bunch of restaurants down on Fourth and Colorado, and the turnover in the food biz is pretty high, so your experience could work for you.

I rolled into Austin broke in late '99 (better economic times, but still ...)and I got started as a cook at Mezzaluna, and then took on a job bartending at a Caribbean restaurant on Manor. It took about three weeks to find work, but overall I ended up making pretty decent money.

After a couple months I left Mezzaluna for a job at--don't laugh--the Diamond Shamrock on Riverside. It paid $8 an hour, but with benefits and a tuition reimbursement program. I didn't stick around long enough to use it, but the tuition thing was cool--it covered, like, 80% of your costs per semester, provided you kept a B average, and then covered the remaining 20% upon graduation--all for working a mini-mart cash register. There was a post-graduation job commitment (I don't remember what) but these days that could count as a good thing.

I don't know if any of that is of use a decade later, but it could be worth checking out.

Take Care,

Ryan

 

[PCFiend138]

hang in there buddy, itll work out somewhere. though today i did get the feeling that my position was about to shift as well. i guess well see how it goes, eh?

 

[jadam318]

Sounds like tough times, man. Hang in there.

Have you contacted the school's financial aid department? There should be some scholarships for non-traditional students that you could apply for. Once it warms up, you could always try to make a little extra by doing yard work. Just a couple of thoughts.

 

[Chalko]

I know it's hard right now. Just take it one day at a time. It's hard to to do I know. I was unemployed for six months and had to take a lower paying job when the unemployment ran out, so I hear you.

 

[majorhoople]

When I was a struggling student, barely making it, I leased a cab. I sold my car and got out from under the payments, insurance, repairs, etc. and used the cab for my personal transportation. On a trip to the grocery store or wherever usually I would pick up a fare along the way and make a few bucks. I even went on dates in it. I found that sitting at stands waiting for business gave me time to study and work on school assignments. Met a few cute female cab drivers, too. It does not pay a helluva lot, but you can choose your own working hours