Cant find work...
I saw this Vent topic and thought maybe I would post here.
I just cannot find employment. I have an account with Monster.com, with Career Builders, put in apps with temp agencies. I just cannot find employment. It's got to the point where the stress is affecting me in other ways.
A little about me.
I am currently clergy. In my denomination, and "outside" committee determines if you are "fit" for ministry. This outside committee does annual reviews of clergy. Before my interview, they sent me a 9 page document entitled "Behavioral Health Patterns for Ordained Ministers." Included in this document was that candidates for ministry should not be considered if they are not physically fit (overweight, etc) because it is a sign of psychological disease and that it maximizes health costs. Also, the document stated that no one should have a traffic violation in the past year on their record, since it denotes problems with authority.
All that aside, I had my interview with this outside committee. It is a well-known fact my denomination wants to "fire" 45% of clergy in the next three years. So they find excuses to do so. I was one of the targets. The committee voted not to continue me as clergy, but none of the reasons directly or indirectly violate their "polity" (or policies).
I hav e been looking for work now for over a month, and there is absolutely nothing that I can find. I have put in applications, I have gone to temp agencies, I have filled out applications for basically anything. No calls, no interviews, no leads. I have a bachelor and two master's degrees, and spent those 10 years of education preparing for this career path. I do not have any resources to "improve" my chances. For example, I do not have money to pay out for a professional resume. I do not have money to pay for other services such as this.
Just needed to vent about the situation. Any response would be appreciated.
Broaden your horizons. It may take a long while to find the perfect ministry job, but you can "minister" in other ways. Social services agencies should be a great fit for you. Children, Teens, Seniors, HIgh Risk, Addicts, Low Income... .there are thousands of agencies and organizations. Your credentials should fit right in.
Secondly, post your resume (minus name, address, phone) over on the resume board. You'll get good (free) help there.
Finally, you need to let go of all this resentment over being fired. It happens. You weren't the right fit for their flock or they wanted to cut staff or whatever. Don't obsess over it. Turn the other cheek and move on. It is probably dragging down your interviews (or it will when you get some), so, let it go.
Tess
Well this is a new one. But you are clergy and I asume that you followed this path for a reason that had nothing to do with money and everything to do with a desire to serve God. With that in mind seek outside of your current denomination, they are not serving you very well. Seems they are treating those who wish to serve as cattle (sounds like a business to me) and not like ministers of God.
There are so many other places that need ministry. Social Services, Prison Systems, Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force - keep looking outside of direct ministry and start to look at the possibility of indirect ministry services.
"We have jobs for them that don't need jobs."
One thing you haven't said is how long you've been looking.
You need to be proactive, call, e-mail, and fax. When you see listings on job websites like this one, Monster, or Careerbulder. Don't just click on web page buttons and hope someone calls you back, look for phone numbers on the listing.
Type in the company's website address and look for their street location, address, phone number, or other e-mail contacts, send them your resume' directly along with a greeting that you are looking for work.
I can't stress that enough, be proactive, not reactive.
First, I want to make it clear that I have not done any research, my comments are based upon some things I "know" and information I have heard from others, including the news. Some of the figures you hear about allude to a reduction in new claims for unemployment. New claims only include the newly unemployed. Existing claims "automatically" go down when one's UI benefits expire. Obviously, just because one is no longer receiving unemployment, does not mean that person spontaneously found a job and returned to the workforce. Also, some people who have been seeking employment in vain (like me) give up; consequently, they are no longer jobseekers included in the unemployed stats.
I agree with you, the jobs we hear about and/or "newly created" jobs are likely low paying. New walmarts are popping up everywhere. I also agree about the immigration controversy. I typically characterize myself as politically moderate overall, but I tend to lean to the left. With regard to immigration, I fall to the right of gwb. I am tired of finding ads for jobs that I am qualified for just to see the bilingual--Spanish speaking requirement. Some of the companies have been running the same employment ads for a few years. I could have learned Spanish during the time they have been seeking a qualified bilingual applicant. I abhor discrimination. But what is so wrong with making English the national language??? Yes, I would like to learn to speak Spanish, if I ever have the pleasure of visiting Mexico again, it would be wonderful to speak the native language. But I live here, in the United States of America. What happened to assimilating? Before someone attacks my views, my best friend is Mexican-American. She doesn't know as much Spanish as me. I encounter people every day that I would love to get to know if only we could communicate.
Someone needs to start caring about how an enormous group of displaced Americans are going to survive. The trend is for employers to structure jobs so they can avoid providing benefits, and those that do are significantly increasing the amount that comes out the employee's pocket. How does someone pay for gasoline to get to work earning minimum wage? It is impossible to find affordable housing close one's place of employment in most cities. I believe that we are facing a serious crisis that the "haves" either don't know is impending or just don't care because they don't believe it will affect them.