# 40 years old and never had steady job



## Nick9075 (May 25, 2010)

At least for past 8 years or so. I have two degrees in Accounting and Finance and virtually unemployable due to poor choices and undiagnosed ADHD depression etc. Can't use excuse of bad economy or poor job market anymore because it is booming. 
Recruiters have told me I am unemployable for virtually anything


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## aprilb77 (Jun 9, 2012)

keep applying! don't give up something will come along.


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## Rodrigo R (Aug 19, 2015)

What about starting your own business?


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## Roberto (Aug 16, 2004)

Nick9075 said:


> Recruiters have told me I am unemployable for virtually anything


You can approach a small privately owned operation with your resume and talk to the owner or the manager. Some of those people just seem to appreciate flat out honesty. County funded job agencies too can be a good place to get help with resumes and jobs leads - sometimes even free re-training is available. If you keep working at it you'll find a job. You aren't unemployable. If a recruiter told me that I was unemployable I would ask them "WTH AM I SUPPOSED TO DO, KILL MYSELF???" Yeah they'd probably realize I was loony but maybe they would also realize that they are laying a heavy judgement down on someone in a desperate situation on a matter they really have no knowledge of or experience with. If people who've been in prison for 20 years can get jobs, so can you. You're educated and articulate and capable. You might have to start from the ground up again in something and that really sucks as we get older, it sucks as our education and experience outgrows our position and salary and the way people treat us, but if that's what we have to do. :stu


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## Bert Reynolds (Dec 18, 2013)

I recommend sitting for an exam in either of those areas. If you become a CPA you can start your own small accounting firm and work your way up.


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## ChilledMonkeyBrains (Feb 4, 2013)

I'm sorry to hear about your situation. I'm coming up to 4 years without a job, and the severity of that reality I just have to ignore so I can keep on trying to make my life better and study and deal with my faulty brain. 

That you have two degrees is pretty amazing and puts you leagues ahead of a lot of people. It's not your fault that you're in your situation, but what else can be said on here other than 'keep on trying' or, maybe you have to think about moving somewhere else or expanding your areas of expertise. 

I'm not too sure, but I hope you can find a workable direction. It truly sucks to not have a career identity, I know how you feel, but hang in there.


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## Mongoose (Oct 26, 2012)

I'm in the same boat. I have two degrees, and nobody gives a ****. I've had one interview in the last three years. I've worked a grand total of 4.5 years in my life.


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## Agricola (Feb 20, 2015)

I have had nothing but bad experiences with recruiters. Same with career counselors. They tend to only see things from the perspective of big business-type employers. I would suggest maybe trying to talk to friends or relatives and see if they know someone who could put you on just so you can get started somewhere, even if it is at a small company. Smaller, private firms seem more willing to deal with a variety of people and are less tied down by HR bureaucracy so they may be more willing to give you a shot.

Hang in there. Job searching is horrible, I know. Just don't get too down on yourself.


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## fozzibear (Nov 7, 2015)

Ignore recruiters, just don't even bother.

They will ignore you if you are *currently unemployed *- that is key. It is very short sighted, but that is how they work.

We have a number of options:

- Apply for anything just so you can get current and work experience
- Send speculative letters to companies you want a career in
- Take specialist qualifications
- Lie on your CV and state you are currently employed


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## M0rbid (Jan 11, 2011)

You gotta know ppl who can hook you up.


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## hypestyle (Nov 12, 2003)

unfortunately, it's very much an era of who you know and not what you know. I've been trying for years now to get a better job since finishing up a Bachelor's degree in 2012 and even the year before that a broadcasting diploma. For the media game in particular, it seems like people want you to have some type of high profile freelance blogging/podcast presence before you would get any kind of baseline consideration, and that sucks. I don't have the money or solitary living arrangements to do podcasts at home. Just not right now. When I get off of my day job, I'm tired and I want to relax and unwind, not jump into some other intense job that pays no money.


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## Mongoose (Oct 26, 2012)

B Wretched said:


> Everything this poster said, especially the bolded part. Any recruiter who said that was just being a jerk. Murderers and child molesters manage to find work. You may not have your pick of the best jobs around, but you can find something and build yourself up. Won't happen unless you put yourself out there though.


I've never heard of murderers and child molesters getting jobs outside of prison. Employers typically won't hire anyone with a felony. The fact of the matter is that employers won't even hire a person who has lived a moral life if he's unemployed. Employers get so many applications that they have their pick of the litter. You're not going to get a job unless you know someone, and in my case, I know nobody because of decades of social anxiety and being withdrawn. The result is that I'm going to live at home the rest of my life and rot.


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## Drunky (Feb 8, 2015)

I haven't actually had this problem, I've been working since the age of 17, only went a couple of weeks being jobless, first job I was there for 4 years and the current job I've been here for 10 years. 

Do worry if I lose this one how easy it would be to get a new job now, think I would find it difficult.


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## longtimenolove (Oct 21, 2015)

Mongoose said:


> I've never heard of murderers and child molesters getting jobs outside of prison. Employers typically won't hire anyone with a felony. The fact of the matter is that employers won't even hire a person who has lived a moral life if he's unemployed. Employers get so many applications that they have their pick of the litter. You're not going to get a job unless you know someone, and in my case, I know nobody because of decades of social anxiety and being withdrawn. The result is that I'm going to live at home the rest of my life and rot.


This is so true. Convicted felons aren't out there grabbing up everyone's jobs LOL. They only get jobs in fast-food chains.

Have you considered lowering the bar and working in fast-food? I tried it, it was too stressful, seriously lol. My anxiety limited me to part-time before I was having panic attacks. I'd even blank out sometimes and not know what I was doing. I gave out many wrong orders and wrong change before I quit torturing myself and quit.

And honestly, convicted felons have it better than we do. I worked with some who were made managers and excelled because they were confident and could handle stress--and they weren't scared to death of people 

Convicted felons are a step above me


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## gregs (Feb 27, 2014)

Qualifications don't seem to matter much anymore. It seems you can only get a job now if you know someone in the company or have a friend there. References are also key. For those of us with SA it puts us at a big disadvantage.


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## millenniumman75 (Feb 4, 2005)

Nick9075 said:


> At least for past 8 years or so. I have two degrees in Accounting and Finance and virtually unemployable due to poor choices and undiagnosed ADHD depression etc. Can't use excuse of bad economy or poor job market anymore because it is booming.
> Recruiters have told me I am unemployable for virtually anything


I wouldn't call this economy "booming". It's been a struggle.


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## Methodical (Jul 18, 2014)

Nick9075 said:


> At least for past 8 years or so. I have two degrees in Accounting and Finance and virtually unemployable due to poor choices and undiagnosed ADHD depression etc. Can't use excuse of bad economy or poor job market anymore because it is booming.
> Recruiters have told me I am unemployable for virtually anything


You'll have to embellish your resume with qualifications that you can cover with a lie. Make a list of things you've worked on in those eights years. Say you were primary caretaker for a dying parent and learning new disciplines throughout that time, learning programming, started your own business but failed because you didn't have enough capital. Say you were traveling for two years! You went to Europe and stayed in hostels while touring western Europe. I wouldn't put both of your degrees on your resume when applying to manual labor jobs, restaurants, coffee shops and supermarkets.

I think you'll have to start as a volunteer at a soup kitchen, an animal shelter, or a race organizer for a fun run or something. In my city they take requests for volunteering in a food warehouse organizing canned goods. There's no pay but in your situation, you need a network, references and more importantly, people to socialize with. Now I don't know if you've already tried any of these tips but what I'm saying is that this isn't the end.


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## dabawz (Nov 9, 2015)

My plan is to go into medicine, software or physics. Those are jobs they can't replace...


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## ilsr (Aug 29, 2010)

healthcare/nursing is one of few fields that are still hiring older students newly trained. might have to relocate however to needed areas.



Nick9075 said:


> Can't use excuse of bad economy or poor job market anymore because it is booming.


It's hypercompetitive to get into a career now. After too long and after a certain age range, the chances of a career are shot. The "booming' unemployment numbers last week was due to low wage, low education jobs with much hiring of non-citizens. New manufacturing hires were at 0%. So it's still possible to get a minwage parttime retail/janitor/fastfood job, but that much harder for a career based on higher education.

The economy really isn't booming, it's collapsing. The conglomerate owned corporatist media is hiding the real numbers. Trump said real unemployment was 25% but he was hedging as it's really worse. The fed will just rumor to raise interest rates, but they will back out again with obfuscation like they did earlier this year. If the government told the truth, there would be panic. When it collapses, the bank runs will freeze accounts. That's how it'll start.

This link explains it better than my garble:


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## Noloman (Sep 15, 2015)

*Lie lie lie.*



Methodical said:


> You'll have to embellish your resume with qualifications that you can cover with a lie. Make a list of things you've worked on in those eights years. Say you were primary caretaker for a dying parent and learning new disciplines throughout that time, learning programming, started your own business but failed because you didn't have enough capital. Say you were traveling for two years! You went to Europe and stayed in hostels while touring western Europe. I wouldn't put both of your degrees on your resume when applying to manual labor jobs, restaurants, coffee shops and supermarkets.


This guy is write. You're gonna have to lie your way out of the situation. The truth is it doesn't look good to a potential employer if you haven't had a stable job. They want to minimize the risk of employing the wrong person. So unfortunately, you're going to have to lie yourself out of the situation.


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## hypestyle (Nov 12, 2003)

ilsr said:


> healthcare/nursing is one of few fields that are still hiring older students newly trained. might have to relocate however to needed areas.
> 
> It's hypercompetitive to get into a career now. After too long and after a certain age range, the chances of a career are shot. The "booming' unemployment numbers last week was due to low wage, low education jobs with much hiring of non-citizens. New manufacturing hires were at 0%. So it's still possible to get a minwage parttime retail/janitor/fastfood job, but that much harder for a career based on higher education.
> 
> ...


the job market is horrible for us middle-aged folks who are trying to change careers or trying to "elevate" up the ladder. It's just outright awful, overall.

Depending on your skill sets, entrepreneurship is certainly more attractive than ever, but it can be difficult to wrap your head around how to monetize the things you can do. For example is there "real" money in resume' creation? I'd do that.


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## Deadguy (Aug 19, 2011)

Having read all 40 Volumes of Gawker's Unemployment Series, I would say that your lack of employment is not entirely your own fault. I would say, however, that your gap in employment and your age will make it very difficult, if not impossible, to find a salaried position with benefits.

Your only chance at this point is a government job. They don't really care about how fancy your resume is or your age. Lack of experience or employment gaps would still be a problem, however. There is also a major push to reduce government jobs. If the agency is not laying people off, it is downsizing through attrition. People are retiring and they are not being replaced which is why there aren't many job postings.

Have you taken the Postal Service Exam (473E)? It's fairly simple and the Postal Service is aggressively hiring at $15-16/hour. I took it, even though I have a job, and was getting interviews within a week or so of taking it. I turned them down, but hiring is almost completely based on your score. If you score high enough and pass a drug test, you can get hired. Check out Indeed and Glassdoor to see descriptions and employee reviews.

These are carrier positions, which are not career positions. However, it will give you a chance at bidding on a career position later on.

Your other option would be to drop your degrees from your resume and apply for retail jobs. My brother-in-law is a manager at a retail store and he will not hire people with advanced degrees. He has been burned too many times by people who have been trained and then left after a short period if time. They want people who dont have a lot of options and will stay. That is you, without the degrees.

These are hard, low paying jobs without benefits, but they are jobs.

If you have money and are entrepreneurial, you may want to buy a small business. The risks are numerous and the downsides are plenty, but it is something to think about.

I've looked at vending machine businesses with ESTABLISHED ROUTES. They are not that expensive, you have no employees to worry about and you don't have to worry about rental or lease expenses since you can run it out of your home. The downside is that the cash flow is not large, you have to service the equipment yourself and if the route was that great, the owner wouldn't be trying to get rid of it. There are other issues like how you get the products, how do you transport them and how long the location contracts are good for. The locations would be the main concern, along with the number of machines, since you want enough cash flow to live off the net income, which will probably be half your gross.

I've just looked at these opportunities, however, and it is too risky to quit the job that I have, otherwise I would try it.


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## Deadguy (Aug 19, 2011)

ilsr said:


> healthcare/nursing is one of few fields that are still hiring older students newly trained. might have to relocate however to needed areas.
> 
> It's hypercompetitive to get into a career now. After too long and after a certain age range, the chances of a career are shot. The "booming' unemployment numbers last week was due to low wage, low education jobs with much hiring of non-citizens. New manufacturing hires were at 0%. So it's still possible to get a minwage parttime retail/janitor/fastfood job, but that much harder for a career based on higher education.
> 
> ...


One thing people are overlooking here is that baby boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964, are retiring at at rate of 10,000 a day. The oldest baby boomers are 69 and don't have to work. This is how jobs become open and and job creation will become less and less important as time goes on. What Trump is saying is patently incorrect.

Otherwise, I agree with you post. The aging population makes the healthcare industry a more viable choice for a job.


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## victoriangirl (Jan 2, 2009)

I have had 14 jobs in my life so far and I am in my mid 30s. The longest job was for 4 years and it was the best job, but even there, things were getting boring and I needed to move on. 

I currently working freelance - which I have to admit I love. I do miss having the option to socialise and knowing that there will be a few interesting people out whom I will meet. I am now all alone at home, working hard, but only go out and see faces when I have get some groceries and that's it. I know most people would say that it is not healthy, but I would prefer this over a horrible office setting, like the one I had in my last job. What a nightmare that was!!!

I have heard normal healthy people tell 'a job is just a job' so many times and that makes me so jealous! A job is never a job for me. It is facing my fears & anxieties every single day, coming home exhausted and feeling like a loser and never ever forgetting the mistakes I make. A job is a nightmare for me...


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## benj009 (Jan 11, 2014)

Play the lottery. 

Might be your only shot. : (


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## ilsr (Aug 29, 2010)

victoriangirl said:


> I have had 14 jobs in my life so far and I am in my mid 30s. The longest job was for 4 years and it was the best job, but even there, things were getting boring and I needed to move on.
> 
> I currently working freelance - which I have to admit I love. I do miss having the option to socialise and knowing that there will be a few interesting people out whom I will meet. I am now all alone at home, working hard, but only go out and see faces when I have get some groceries and that's it. I know most people would say that it is not healthy, but I would prefer this over a horrible office setting, like the one I had in my last job. What a nightmare that was!!!
> 
> I have heard normal healthy people tell 'a job is just a job' so many times and that makes me so jealous! A job is never a job for me. It is facing my fears & anxieties every single day, coming home exhausted and feeling like a loser and never ever forgetting the mistakes I make. A job is a nightmare for me...


I had the same experience. Always making social mistakes at work. Then being exhausted after work. Sometimes I feel it's far too late to learn and improve. I wonder if I should try to get on disability (probably won't have a chance) and wish I was skilled enough to do some freelance work or self-employment. Even so, I would still be doing the same thing, only seeing people when going out for groceries or errands.


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## inker (Nov 16, 2015)

gregs said:


> Qualifications don't seem to matter much anymore. It seems you can only get a job now if you know someone in the company or have a friend there.


Depends on what you do. For example I have no qualifications but I am passionate about something. I always got hired with my portfolio.


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## hypestyle (Nov 12, 2003)

inker said:


> Depends on what you do. For example I have no qualifications but I am passionate about something. I always got hired with my portfolio.


 what kind of work are you seeking with a portfolio? what industries?


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## Chasingclouds (Jan 7, 2015)

Nick9075 said:


> At least for past 8 years or so. I have two degrees in Accounting and Finance and virtually unemployable due to poor choices and undiagnosed ADHD depression etc. Can't use excuse of bad economy or poor job market anymore because it is booming.
> Recruiters have told me I am unemployable for virtually anything


That's not necessarily true, the fact is, is that the job market is only booming for people who have tons of experience. A college degree will get you into the door, but experience is what's going to let you hold down almost any job. What's sucks even more is that most positions require that you have experience in areas that younger people don't have experience for and no one wants to hire older people because they think they're incompetent. So you can in fact, use it as an excuse. I know that's not what you're aiming for, but that's the truth about the job market right now.


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## inker (Nov 16, 2015)

hypestyle said:


> what kind of work are you seeking with a portfolio? what industries?


Web design, graphic design, illustration, print, animation, things like that.


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## twitchy666 (Apr 21, 2013)

can't hold down a job

all friends do

and marriage & kids


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## twitchy666 (Apr 21, 2013)

Nick9075 said:


> At least for past 8 years or so. I have two degrees in Accounting and Finance and virtually unemployable due to poor choices and undiagnosed ADHD depression etc. Can't use excuse of bad economy or poor job market anymore because it is booming.
> Recruiters have told me I am unemployable for virtually anything


would find it easier if a recruiter told me I was worthless with big fat real reasons

they just bulk mail me job adverts tailored for me. I get hangups


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## stewartmays1 (Dec 6, 2014)

its a tough job market i live in the uk im 38 and i still cant get work but your luck might change because you never know whats around the corner maybe find something that will get you the job skills company's want


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## twitchy666 (Apr 21, 2013)

*no no no no no*



aprilb77 said:


> keep applying! don't give up something will come along.


the agents have no scope of any job the advertise. They blanket to see results. Bean counter.

1 application refused = that person never allowed work

1 interview not successful = that person never allowed work

any more of those take you lower

Must be star-spangled Energy Wizard! 1 try = dea†h

1 day off = dea†h


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## twitchy666 (Apr 21, 2013)

fozzibear said:


> Ignore recruiters, just don't even bother.
> 
> They will ignore you if you are *currently unemployed *- that is key. It is very short sighted, but that is how they work.
> 
> ...


knee-deep oppression

we become obsolete lemons
foul old onions

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3040821/Technology-skills-threaten-older-worker-s-long-term-unemployment.html


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