#unenployment

The Covid-19 pandemic drastically raised unemployment in America, but that impact has not been felt evenly across all racial groups, according to BLS data. In December 2020, as the recovery of the summer months started to fade, the unemployment rate was 9.9 percent for Blacks and 9.3 percent for Latinx, compared to 6.0 percent for Whites and 5.9 percent for Asians. These rates only count those who are actively seeking work, leaving out those who have given up finding a job.

I SPECIFICALLY LIVE IN NY BUT CHECK YOUR WEBSITE FOR THIS AS WELL.

THE STATE HAS PUT A REQUESTED FORUM FOR PROOF OF ID ON YOUR ACCOUNT. YOU WILL NOT GET A NOTIFICATION.

YOU NEED TO LOG IN, GO TO MY ONLINE SERVICES, ONLINE FORUMS AND THEN CHECK REQUESTED FORUMS.

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Needless to say, I got a job :-D

After 8 months out of work, and only 3 claiming welfare; after 10 hours a day jobhunting, CV writing, CV rewriting, scouring newspapers and feeling like the world was over before it had begun, I managed to get a job. I won't say what, as you never know who are reading . . . but it's directly related to my degree and is essentially at the start of what could be a very exciting ladder.

If I have learned anything during these months, and if any of it is of any use to you still in the hunt - please consider the following:-

Don't resign yourself to compromise. Why on Earth would you take up a job that you know you will be unhappy in, and eventually quit. Money is money and I appreciate that, but jobhunting is hard emotionally and financially. Hold out for the one you want.

Keep yourself and your brain occupied. I won't lie, I have spent soooo many hours watching TV and on facebook, but I've also taught myself a foreign language - which ultimately got me the job. Bettering yourself is a skill, and an asset. Never stop learning.

Ask for feedback. So many companies will just think the rejection email will suffice, but stick to your guns and request feedback. It might mean tailoring your interview approach, or completely rewriting your CV. But if you don't know where you went wrong, how can you ever hope to go right?

Get outdoors. If there is one thing that has made me suffer in this whole process, it has been the feeling of being trapped. I know the weather sucks, and you might have zero money; but a 10/20 minute walk is free and it helps you think, it helps you see there is still a world beyond your own; and most importantly of all, you don't feel quite so alone.

Talk to your friends. There is always 'someone who knows someone'. Networking is a way of life. Plus, unemployment sadly, is a way of life in the current economy. They may have some advice for you.

Amid disappointing unemployment numbers that fell 80,000 jobs short of projections, another number is raising eyebrows: the number of Americans not in the labor force has hit a record high 87,897,000.

This figure explains why overall unemployment dropped from 8.3% to 8.2%, as the Department of Labor's unemployment figure does not include people who have given up hope and are not actively seeking employment.

When the number of individuals who have stopped looking for a job and/or who are working part-time but desire full-time employment is included--a figure known as the "underemployment rate"--real unemployment stands at 19.1%.

For something a little different, shimmying away from using this blog as a personal sounding-off board, I thought I might write a post concerning a quite modern phenomenon that is affecting us all at the present economic hard time: CVs.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I HATE writing CVs. I have a specific one for each job sector when I'm scrambling my way through recruitment websites: Sales, Marketing, Sports, Entertainment/ Hospitality, Education etc etc. The thing I've come to realize over the last few months, is that none of it really matters. I can write up various experiences until I'm blue in the face, but all it takes is one quick glance at my employment history to know that I am essentially a well-worded bullshitter, who will do just about anything for a living.

The problem is: so are the rest of the unemployed 20-40 year olds looking for employment. So, how do employers differentiate? In various rejection emails that I've had, three main points have been established:

Your education beyond GCSE is irrelevant.

Unless you've had direct experience of the job you're applying for, for 2+ years, you won't be short-listed. Talk about a Catch22.

All those years building an extra-curricular aspect to your CV - neither needed nor wanted.

Employers want 3 key criteria:

Experience in the advertised role.

Conformity. Ambition is a dirty word, simply do the role offered, no more no less.

Focus on the job, alone. Play a sport? You could get injured, can't come in on a saturday, might show up with a black eye. Etc Etc Etc.

In sum, make your CV as boring and as generic as possible. Make yourself the faceless office worker. Make yourself a cog in a wheel .

It is ALL about conformity.