OT: Economy

geoschmo · #1 May 20th, 2009, 11:40 PM

Hey all, been a while since I've been here to visit. Lost my job this week. Worked for an information technology company in the automotive industry for 12 years. Unfortunately for me automotive dealerships are the companies customer base. All the dealerships closing down has caused my company to cut back, and I got the pink slip.

So you all try to send me positive energy while I hit the bricks and look for a job.

Geoschmo

Makinus · #2 May 21st, 2009, 07:39 AM

You have my support, while i never was in your situation since i´m self-employed (lawyer) i do know how hard is to be without a steady source of income... specially if you worked for a long time for the same employer...

As an aside, sometimes i find my own profession a little strange, as i notice that when the economy goes badly the number of my clients and lawsuits proportionally increase, and i do see why everyone does not like lawyers, even if all we are doing is our jobs and someone must do it...

Good luck in finding a new job!

Xrati · #3 May 21st, 2009, 10:22 AM

I've been off for quite a while now.

Still looking, but there just seems to be more layoff then hirings!

While everyone is taking a beating out here. I have yet to hear one politician talk about any give-backs!!! They do a nice job of avoiding that topic...

Captain Kwok · #4 May 21st, 2009, 07:02 PM

I was really hoping to win yesterday's $49M lottery draw, but unfortunately it didn't pan out.

Had I won, it was my intention to buy the rights to Space Empires and to get MM working on SE6 right away. Of course, he'd need a few more employees than usual under the Kwok's Games publishing banner. :P

Of course it didn't work out. I hope your efforts go better Geo!

Randallw · #5 May 22nd, 2009, 02:24 AM

Sorry to hear you got sacked. Strangely enough though I thought you were like me, a disabled pensioner. Of course unless there's call to think about it, like now, I tend to forget how different it is in the US to Australia.

I 'retired' several years ago when work dried up. I didn't get fired per se I was just informed that my boss had run out of jobs for me to do. I did hear from the people who bought his business a few months ago asking me about the website I used to manage so it seems he did retire himself. The problem with the economy now is that the returns on my varied investments are down. I'm having to look into other areas to invest in.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xrati

have yet to hear one politician talk about any give-backs!!! They do a nice job of avoiding that topic...

Here in Australia the socialist government has been giving away all the money the previous government managed to save for 10 years. I got some of that, and the latest budget would give me extra a week, but it's unpopular and it's possible there might be an election over it, in which case I'll get an opportunity to vote them out.

Atrocities · #6 May 22nd, 2009, 10:21 AM

Ah man Geo.

I know it looks bleak, but take this time to seek out the advantages its provides. Turn this situation to your benefit and plug on. Take classes, milk the system, vote libertarian, and have faith that this will all work out.

It will.

dumbluck · #7 May 22nd, 2009, 04:35 PM

I, too, voice my sympathies here. My suggestion is to get into the vices. Like alcohol. It's practically immune to market woes; you buy booze to celebrate when times are good, and when times are bad you buy it to forget. So, if you can get into the Alcoholic beverage business somewhere, you'd be golden.

Just my overpriced two cents worth.

capnq · #8 May 26th, 2009, 09:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randallw

Strangely enough though I thought you were like me, a disabled pensioner.

Until I read further downthread that you'd been thinking of Atrocities, I thought you might be confusing Geo with me. I've passed the dubious milestone of having spent more than half of my life living on disability benefits.

Says up top that I haven't looked in here since 5/16, so this is the first I heard of Geo's job loss. (I only found out about the SEV v1.79 patch today, as well.) Hope you've already found another position by now.

I'll be pleasantly surprised if the economy bottoms out before the mid-term elections in 2010 (next year already?!?), and starts to recover shortly before Obama's term ends.

geoschmo · #9 May 26th, 2009, 11:58 PM

No, haven't found anything yet. I do have a couple interviews lined up so maybe something will turn up before too long.

Randallw · #10 May 27th, 2009, 09:53 AM

Here's some advice, don't do at an interview what I did once. Back in 97/98 the state government here had a joint government/free enterprise job schemes to employ people to handle Y2K. I, and quite a few people I studied IT with, went to the interview and we had a test which I'd never encountered before. Questions such as if you are in a meeting with 2 clients and they get into an argument how will you peacefully resolve the problem. I have a tendency to get too comfortable, and the lady asking the questions face to face was being so nice. At the time my antisocial problems had not been addressed and I muttered the unforgettable line

"Oh they're so annoying. You just want to punch them in the face"

Afterwards when surprisingly I did not get the job I was informed that whereas my IT skills were excellent I needed to address my people skills

. That was the story of my job efforts. I never could ace an interview.

PS. It turned out ok (for me) from what I heard later. The scheme collapsed and the people who did get the jobs ended up not getting paid. Last I heard.