After a brief vacation this week (more on that in another post) I got a message from a friend that warranted a phone call. She warned me she just wanted to vent. She was let go from her company a year ago after her branch was closed and the company felt it was better to give her entire branch severance packages than offer to pay to relocate any employees. She was disappointed that a company she invested 12 years into could let go of so many so easily, but she soldiered on, determined to get back on her feet. In the past year she has sent out over 1300 resumes all over the country and even to Europe. She is single, no children, no pets and willing to relocate. She has sent them for jobs like her previous one as well as in just about anything else related and even not. Her original degree was in education and she has applied for teaching jobs. She’s applied at the big box stores and fast food joints. She’s had only five interviews, zero offers, and no interviews in the last six months. She signed on with a temp agency that has never placed her.
She is, to say the least, discouraged. She’s gone through her severance and savings and is losing unemployment insurance. Her parents assured her she would not be homeless and her dad even offered to “hire” her if she moved in and could not find a job to do odd jobs around the house. But she doesn’t want to move back in with her parents after so many years of living independently and making her own way. She is heartbroken. She never thought it could happen to her.
I know her pain. I know it well. I am currently under-employed. I work for a good company, but hours at my store are slim. And they are becoming slimmer because now that school is going back in, I can’t work during the day. No, you read that right. Shelby, Joey and Jeff are going back to school. But Will did not get into the pre-K program because unlike the previous year, I had income and it pushed us over the income limit and because we are married, we speak English, and he has no developmental delays, he did not meet the eligibility requirements necessary to get into the program. We can’t afford pre-school, so I have fewer options for my working hours. And even if I were to be offered some kind of position, my entire check would go to daycare. But, I have been applying for jobs. Lots of them, hoping against hope something would work out. I’ve not gotten any interviews in the last year and did not get acknowledgement but once of receiving my resume. It is kind of soul crushing, I will admit. I’ve applied to schools, doctors offices, hospitals, small businesses, the state…and no reply. I like my job, but I can’t get hours if I can’t give the company hours. It’s all kinds of crazy catch-22 but even so, I’ve come to realize, even if I had the hours to give an employer who could pay me more, I have little chance of being considered a good candidate.
I know how my friend feels, when you need a job, either something to support you part time or something full time, and no one gives you the time of day or just an interview, you feel completely and utterly dejected.
I’m asking people with a devotion to St Joseph to please ask his intercession on behalf of the people out there like my friend who are looking for and running out of options on the job front. It is tough out there for so many and so many deserve the feeling that comes with receiving a well-earned paycheck.
St Monica's Bridge 