Layoffs, recession show ‘we’re living in a new world’

Dan Witter was confident a Bachelor’s degree would help him pursue a career.

Dan Witter

A survivor of layoffs and a recession that has crushed career hopes, the 43-year-old from Bellingham, WA, says his experiences have taught him an unsettling lesson: “I’m not convinced things will go back to the way they used to be.”

That means the days when a solid resume, good references and a B.A. meant something better than minimum wage.

Witter, working two jobs for more than 45 hours a week, just filed his taxes and concludes, “I didn’t clear $16,000.”

He says this with some amazement, as if he still can’t believe he’s back to retail after two years of unemployment, following a layoff.

“I’m disappointed that things aren’t working out the way they should,” he says. “I realize I’m living in a different world. It’s so sad to see this happen to our country.”

Witter says it’s not enough to be committed to a job, and work hard to get ahead.

“I work hard, I take pride in my work, I’m a detail-oriented person,” he says. “That doesn’t mean anything anymore. Everyone puts that on their resume.”

After applying for 300 jobs in the past two years, Witter was relieved to get a part-time job as custodian at his church, first at five hours weekly, then 10.  That was followed by a full-time job as produce assistant in a new department at Target.

“At least I have medical,” he says. “Between two jobs, I can’t afford $700-a-month rent. I pay room and board to my parents, but I have this guilt trip — I’m supposed to be out on my own. I’m supposed to be supporting myself. I should be independent, yet here I am.”

He’s quiet for a moment and adds, “There are so many people worse off than me, who have lost everything.”

Witter joined the Occupy protests in Bellingham, and removed his savings from the Bank of America to protest the bank’s role in the recession.

“We hear about all these bailouts of Wall Street … so I stood outside the Bank of America (in Bellingham), to say, ‘you got bailouts and I lost my job’,” he recalls.

“A lot of the time I was out of work, I was angry. I just didn’t show it. I was really, really angry — I had nowhere to put the blame.”

When Witter was unemployed and lost his health insurance, he got injured and was advised to get surgery at a cost of almost $20,000.

“I was livid,” he says. “I was scared.  “That would have wiped out all my savings.”

Witter sought opinions from two more doctors, who advised against surgery, so he still tries to add to his savings.

“There are so few making so much money in our country, and so many suffering,” he continues.

“It leaves you with a sense of helplessness. I don’t feel like I have a whole lot of power. There’s a certain acceptance of things — but I’m not giving up.”

Witter is writing a book about his church, Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship, as a way of channeling his writing skills.

“Writing gives me a sense of contentment,” he explains. “This a real, printed book — I can’t wait to get it in my hands.”

Witter leaves with a Mark Twain quotation he finds inspiring: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Second of two parts

Long-term unemployment ‘changed my whole worldview’

Dan Witter has the kind of passion that spurred him to take 2,000 photos of a construction project and produce a self-published book.

The project was an addition to his church, Bellingham Unitarian, in Washington state.

Dan Witter

Witter, a former journalist, wanted to capture history for the congregation of 300, so embarked on what he calls “my honeymoon book.”

The title, Building A New Hope, could be a sub-title for Witter’s own life.

At 43, Witter says he didn’t imagine he would be living with his parents again, after long-term unemployment.

Witter got a BA in journalism, worked as a reporter in California for almost eight years, then returned to Washington “burnt out” in 2007.

“I moved back with my parents, figuring I would stay a month or two, and find work,” he recalls.

When the job search took longer than expected, he got a retail job at Target and continued searching.

By fall, 2008, he landed a job that paid twice as much as retail, at Cargill Animal Nutrition, a feed mill near Anacortes, Washington. Witter became a production technician, stocking and sealing animal feed in bags on a production line.

“I asked myself, ‘Do you really want to get into this? Are you sure you want to do this?’ ” he says. “It was the worst job I ever had.”

Long hours, difficult working conditions and a tough work culture finally led to a layoff, and Witter acknowledges, “I was the wrong match for the job.”

Witter began another full-time job search, confident it wouldn’t take long.

“At first, I was happy because I knew that wasn’t the right job for me,” he says. “But it was getting tougher. Days turned into weeks turned into months — I told myself, ‘I won’t go six months’ (before finding work), but then a year goes by.

“I was sending out resumes and applications all the time and I was getting only rejection letters, most of the time, no response. It was like these resumes and applications were just going into a void, some black hole.”

Employers complained they were getting 200 to 300 applications for a single position, and soon, Witter started hearing about other recession victims.

“I knew other people were losing jobs and they were worse off than me because they were losing their homes — at least I had a place to stay,” he says.

As the recession deepened, so did Witter’s depression.

“I was getting depressed because I just knew it wasn’t getting better. It changed my whole worldview,” Witter says. “I didn’t know if I would ever find a job again. It just seemed so impossible and so time-consuming, so frustrating. I knew, at the back of my mind, it was useless.”

Witter said he applied faithfully for jobs while collecting unemployment insurance, starting with media-related positions, then government jobs, then back to retail.

“I did what I was supposed to do,” applying regularly for jobs while getting UI, he says. “I didn’t lie. I would apply to Costco nine times and never get a response.”

Considering Target his default, Witter finally re-applied and learned there were no positions. At least that employer offered something few bothered — a response to his application.

College degree ‘just a useless piece of paper’

After applying for 300 jobs, Witter says he investigated education options that might help.

“I couldn’t see what would lead to work in this economy,” he says. “It seemed a college degree was just a useless piece of paper.”

Witter’s church offered him a custodial job at five hours a week, then 10 hours, helping lift his confidence.

When construction began on an addition for the church, Witter says he just started shooting pictures of the work, becoming engrossed in the process.

“It was a labor of love,” Witter says, explaining that it was a volunteer project he undertook to show appreciation to the congregation.

“It was a pivotal moment,” he concludes. “It was a great accomplishment — I didn’t know I could do a book.”

Witter sold copies to church members at print-on-demand cost, estimating he earned about $40.

That seemingly minor success was followed by a phone call from Target.  The retail giant was opening new produce departments, and offered Witter a full-time job, based on his previous excellent performance.

“I finally got a job,” Witter says. “I was just elated.”

TOMORROW:  Post-recession worldview

 

 

What to do when a layoff seems like the end of the world

Marcus Tolero is about to graduate.  Again.

He was full of hope after graduating with a BA in journalism from San Francisco State University in 2003, landing a full-time job at a community newspaper after a three-month internship.

That led to another internship at one of his city’s most prominent, glossy magazines, then a full-time public relations job at a small, boutique firm.

Tolero was pursuing his passion — writing — and polishing skills, such as fact-checking.

Then the 2008 recession hit; the p.r. firm lost clients; and Tolero was among a few young workers laid off.

“Everything got turned upside down,” he recalls. “It was the first time I had been laid off in my life.”

It was such a blow, Tolero acknowledges now it was difficult to know what to do, when unemployment was climbing in San Francisco.  All his friends had jobs, were getting married, and starting families.

He was 28.

“I took a year off,”  says Tolero, now 31. “I surfed and biked, stayed healthy and active.

“Financially, I knew I had to start over again. But I just didn’t want to go back … that was the toughest part.”

Tolero spent so much time searching for work, and tapping social media, that he took a lesson from former client, digg.com.

“They were doing some really cool stuff — they were pioneers in social media — and I was looking at all these websites, to see how they function,” Tolero says. “That’s how I decided to go back to school.”

Tolero registered at City College for a certificate in web design, plunging into a field he admits was daunting.

“It was a big leap,” he recalls. “I was nervous. Could I do it? It was something I’d never done.”

While other friends were enjoying the gains of early careers, Tolero started over again, learning humbly how to be a returning student.

“I had to make a lot of sacrifices, financially and time-wise,” he says. “But my mentality was so much different. At 18, you don’t really know what you want to do. You’re at school for the scene.

“But this time, I knew I wasn’t there to party. My mentality was much different. I don’t consider myself a computer whiz. I never knew how to design anything.”

Tolero’s answer to this struggle?  “If you’re faced with something tough, you just have to do it. I’m studying really hard.”

He’ll graduate this spring with a two-year certificate in web design and multi-media graphics, in a city where dot.com jobs have led the surge in end-of-recession employment.  San Francisco’s “beta city” economy is known for such successes as Wikipedia, Twitter, craigslist and Salesforce.

“It’s exciting, but a little nerve-wracking. I’m wondering how I’ll do, up against the guy who comes out here from Harvard with a (web design) degree,” Tolero says.  “I’m optimistic because everything is mobile — there’s such a big demand for mobile applications.

“There are definitely more opportunities in the Bay Area now. A lot of companies are looking for designers for mobile (apps), and the Bay Area is in the forefront of technology and social media.”

Tolero says his post-B.A. years have taught him to be flexible and network more, and keep building marketable skills.

“I’m still debating whether to go for more training after I graduate. Am I qualified enough? You never stop learning,” he says, with enthusiasm.

“I’m having a lot more success networking — more than I did the first time at school — and I’m hoping, I would love to, get a job in a small design studio, an intimate studio where you have a little bit more on your plate.  I want to be able to design a website, from functionality to typography …

“I pride myself on my work ethic,” Tolero emphasizes. “If I don’t understand something, I’ll try to figure it out myself. If I have a deadline, I’ll work hard to finish it early, then I’ll refine it, do the follow-up.”

Tolero’s networking already has paid off in a pre-graduation community project that has big potential beyond San Francisco.

It’s called Chinese Whispers, about disenfranchised workers who built the railroads that spurred American industrialization, and were a huge, yet unrecognized part of the Gold Rush that transformed San Francisco.

Something like young workers just getting their start in San Francisco — a city so rich, the average annual income is estimated at $115,000.

“I’m not overly optimistic,” Tolero insists. “After everything that’s happened to me, professionally, I would say I’m optimistic, with some skepticism.”

His goal, after a second graduation?

“Just get a job.”

Laid off in global sweep? Write new resume, hit Facebook

By Sharon Gill

Vic got an unwelcome surprise on his birthday last week – news that he’s going to lose his job.

He’s only one in his company’s retrenchment program that will lay off 17,000 employees around the world.

The 59-year-old senior electrical engineer has worked at the major telecommunications company for the past 15 years.  (He’s asked that his surname and the firm’s identity be withheld.)

Earlier this year, Vic’s company moved to Texas from Florida, so his family has only just settled into their new home.

After 40 years in the same industry, it would be difficult to change direction now. But if push came to shove, Vic says he would do what he had to do, even if it meant taking a job selling cars or motorcycles, or perhaps trying to set himself up in a small business – possibly with other retrenched colleagues.

However, he’s confident about finding another job through his network of contacts within the industry, before financial panic sets in.  Social networks like Facebook have already produced a few possible leads.

Vic’s optimism is matched by his wife’s practicality.  When he came home with the retrenchment news, her reaction was simply: “Let’s get your CV together, line up your contacts and start making plans.”

Sharon Gill is a freelancer based in Durban/London. 

Hire Your Neighbor pays $25 for a 200-word story about workers seeking  jobs.  Please contact us at: hireyourneighbor@gmail.com.

Related articles

• Social Media and Its Impact on Resumes (successful-blog.com)
• Some Laid-Off Wall Streeters Are Becoming Taxi Drivers And Handing Out Their Resume To Prospective Employers (businessinsider.com)

Hoover Wind on working retail, getting film degree, working at non-profit

I was laid off in ’08 from a retail store where I know my work suffered from my anxiety of having just graduated with a degree in film without any connections to that industry.

As much as I loathe the retail system (it’s wrong to mistreat and belittle people simply because they’re serving you), I don’t blame Wall St., Obama, the banks, etc. for my unemployment.

I was messed up, and trying to get myself together, after graduating, and the end of a toxic relationship.

I try to be a moderate, but after two years of collecting unemployment while I tried to stay afloat, I have to say thanks to the state.

And thanks to all my friends, who were helping me, because they’re taxpayers too — as they were all too eager to remind me.

The job search was muddled, clumsy and never all that comfortable.

Sometimes, I would wear a shirt and tie, and show up for interviews that were nothing more than promotional seminars that took two-hour intervals out of my life.

Other times, I would go to some business student’s start-up; get a vague description of the job, and a vague description of why I’d be suitable.  They wouldn’t seriously consider me for the job, but everyone was polite enough to through the motions.

After awhile, I realized I was not only resting on my laurels (which were nowhere near strong enough for leaning), but I was trying to find suitable work in an area in which I had no interest or skills.

I knew I could write.

I knew I could write, direct, and act, but my skills seemed so anemic, I never bothered to pursue a career in the entertainment industry.

I finally took an internship at a film production company in Philadelphia.  I learned various skills about being assertive and polite with people on the phone, networking, data entry, promotions, merchandise distribution, and DVD copying.

It was character building, and I got to live in an actual city.  (I live near Atlanta, Georgia.)

However, I was painfully lonely, never felt connected to anything, and acquired the general malaise of my old paying job.

I currently freelance for my family’s non-profit, no one hungry, and I do things I could never do in retail or as an intern.

I collect food from the market; take it to our house for sorting; then deliver it to churches, food banks and food co-ops, for women, children and families in transition.

I’m proud that we move a ton of food a week.  I’m the only paid worker (part-time), among a dozen volunteers.

I work as many hours as I want, but I also try to work as many hours as I can, because it never feels like an assignment or a mandate.  It’s just something I should be doing anyway.

Sometimes, I have to make small talk with people, and sometimes I have to play a Honda Civic-sized game of Tetris by figuring out how to get x amount of food in my car.

But it’s always rewarding, because I believe in the cause for which I’m working.  I mostly interact with my family and friends, and I always feel pride in what I do.

My real goal is to be paid to be funny in any capacity and in any medium.

In the meantime, I’m hoping to work full-time at no one hungry or for a company of equal purpose, friendliness and organization.

Voice of a renaissance worker, after one year of unemployment

Hadi Dadashian is a true renaissance man, the kind who doesn’t fit neatly on resumes.

Hadi Dadashian

He’s multilingual, having learned new languages wherever his family went.  He taught himself Italian, for instance, after moving to Rome at age 13.

He enrolled in art college, like his older brother, but switched to electrical engineering because “all the other students were like Michelangelo.”

Job prospects were limited, so the family moved to the U.S. when Hadi was 24.

He worked as an electrical engineer, as a subcontractor with an older brother.  They worked on projects from the Pentagon (where he advises there were a lot of rats, real rats to deal with, from the kitchen to man-sized heating ducts), to mega-mansions in Virginia, and restaurants in Washington, D.C.

Then he worked with another brother as an offset printer in Virginia.

Hadi changed careers, becoming a freelance news photographer so he could accompany his wife, Kathleen Kenna, to India, after she was promoted to South Asia bureau chief for her Canadian paper.

What happened next doesn’t fit on any resume.

Hadi saved Kathleen’s life, after she was badly wounded in an alleged al Qaeda IED attack in Afghanistan.  (They were returning from a day of interviewing villagers when attacked.)

You will not hear about this from Hadi.  That’s not how he wants to be defined.

After supporting Kathleen’s return to school in San Francisco, Hadi went back to school there too.  He graduated in 2008 as an optical assistant.

When San Francisco became too pricey, Hadi landed “the best job of my life” in Las Vegas, in 2009.

He worked in optical sales and soon led the team, logging the highest sales numbers, month after month.

Hadi said it was the best job, because he was following a long-time career dream — optical — and was learning a lot, with a close-knit, supportive team.

The job ended in 2010 when the employer cut all workers’ salaries 50% to 70% without advance notice.  Hadi left the state before the store closed.

Q:  Did you collect unemployment insurance?

A:  No, never have — always have a “Plan B”.

We lived on our savings; figured other jobless people needed UI more than me — people with children.  We left the city, because it had the highest unemployment rate, and the highest foreclosure rate in the country.

Q:  What should prospective employers know about you?

A:  I’m resilient.  I’m not afraid of hard work.

I’m a good listener, a fast learner; I’ll work any hours; and I’m not afraid to ask if I don’t know how to do something.

Q:  Any observations about American unemployment after a year out of work?

A:  People are afraid of hiring.  It’s getting worse; it’s like they’re afraid to spend money. The system doesn’t want to give benefits; they want everyone to work full-time for part-time pay.

The most frustrating part is, you apply for jobs and never get a response — nothing.

It’s as if they don’t care.  It’s almost like a joke.

Employers are giving jobs to people who are employed already.  What about people without jobs, mothers who have kids to feed? They’re supporting aging parents, and other family members too.  What are they supposed to do?

Q:  What do you say to critics who blast people without jobs as being lazy?

A:  I’m not lazy — I’ve worked since I was a teenager (as a barista in Rome).  I’m working as a freelance photographer — you use any skill you have — because I have to be working.  I’m glad to have the opportunity, and glad to still have good contacts.  Being unemployed, you find it’s all about networking.

Hadi also has a photoblog, because he’s teaching himself online publishing.  Kathleen and Hadi share a travel blog, which showcases his photos too.

Q:  Any advice to employers?

A:  Don’t be afraid.  I think everyone’s so afraid, wages will drop to $5 an hour –they don’t want to pay real wages.

Why is there so much fear?

You come out of school all excited and you don’t get hired.  It’s not fair to younger graduates. We need them to be working for the economy to improve.

NEXT:  Another graduate, Hoover Wind

Message from a jobless job counselor: Get Occupied!

My name is Kathleen Kenna and I’m a recovering job counselor.

Kathleen Kenna, recovering job counselor

I’ve helped dozens of people get jobs, from Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans to laid-off grandmothers.

Today, after two years and more than 200 applications, I am officially no longer looking for a job.

It isn’t there.

I’ve worked for income since I was 17.

I have a strong resume — two degrees, post-graduate clinical training, national awards, two careers — and a solid volunteer work resume.

As a rehabilitation counselor working with people with disabilities in two states over the past few years, I’ve helped others write resumes; coached them on interview strategies; helped them research career options; and much more.

But I don’t have any ideas anymore for anyone about how to get a job in this economy.

I’m not spending any more money on job applications.

I can’t afford the background checks, fingerprints and drug tests that applicants must pay, in a bid to get ever-shrinking social service jobs.

I can’t afford to waste any more time on futile job searches, either.

I need to stay healthy, because when we lost jobs, we lost our health care.

So today, I’m doing the best thing I can for my mental and physical health:  I’m creating one job in the United States of America.

MINE.

I join my husband, Hadi Dadashian, who lost the best job of his life last year.  (It was, BTW, close to minimum wage.)

Hadi Dadashian

Hadi is creating a second job in the United States of America.

HIS.

And our nephew, Hoover Wind, also under-employed, is joining us in launching a national venture:  Hire Your Neighbor.

This is not a political campaign.  We’re not endorsing any political party.

But this is a campaign.

A serious, loud, in-your-face campaign asking Americans important questions.

Like this one:  What kind of country do we want?

This is not an anti-government or pro-government campaign, nor an anti-business rant.

It’s a conversation.

Our mission is to put a face to the people who are out of work across America.

Like the three of us.

Hoover Wind

We’re not lazy; we’re educated; we have a strong work ethic; we can’t get work; and — message to Herman Cain — IT’S NOT OUR FAULT!

Let’s stop blaming each other.  Stop the name-calling.

Stop the noise that goes nowhere.

Let’s have a national conversation about what we ,the people, are doing to help we, the people, become fully employed.

We’re journalists and artists — on stage, online, and more — and we’re determined to stay positive.

We are positively determined to Get Occupied!, creating jobs in this country, one little job at a time.

We don’t have much money.

But we have enthusiasm, ideas, and lots of determination.

Hire Your Neighbor is on WordPress because it’s an international platform for sharing stories.

We’ve been using it for months to showcase our freelance work and our daily blog of thanksgiving.

We like WordPress because it has helped us connect with lively, engaged citizens across America, and all over the world.

Hire Your Neighbor will share stories of unemployment, and dispel some myths.

Myth No. 1:  It’s not 14 million out of work in America; it’s more like 25 million.

That’s the size of Texas.

(Trust me on this; I used to be a job counselor.)

Consider how much better the economy would be if the three of us and the other 24,999,997 had living wage jobs.

So, if you have an income — especially a high income — ask yourself this question after Thanksgiving dinner today:

What am I doing to help my neighbor?

Because, after all, we’re neighbors, and this historic unemployment is our collective burden.

If you’re part of Corporate America, sitting on more than $2 trillion in capital, what are you waiting for?

We really want some answers.

TOMORROW:  Hadi Dadashian, after one year of unemployment

… With thanks to Trader Joe’s, for the brown bag we recycled …