Hey - I've been at my job for one year...the place is a sinking ship...full of backstabbers... blamers and lack of upper management. I got a job in 10 days once I made up my mind to get out. Just get out. Do you have your stuff online? Contact more headhunters - let them do the work for you. Email me. Maybe your resume needs some work. There are jobs out there. You are not alone. Most of us are in hellish jobs.

One thing that keeps me making art is thinking about filling out job applications. It's degrading.

There will be something better for you. You have talent.

Dude - you just lost 9.4 pounds. That Fucking Rocks!!!! Don't beat yourself up re: job, sometimes it takes 3-6 months to land the new job, the important thing is that you took the first step- you got out there.

Today I did the leap-of-faith thing and quit my job. Granted, there is a new job waiting for me, but for every certainty about it there are sixteen more shaky-ass things that I'm nervous will collapse. Will I be good at self-employment? Will I be able to be nice to my clients? Particularly the ones who pay me a lot of money to tell them what to do and then promptly ignore my advice? What do you mean I have to get a business license? File taxes quarterly? ARGHGHGHHH ENOUGH ALREADY I WANT TO QUIT AND I HAVEN'T EVEN STARTED. Well, not really. But I am overwhelmed, and for all of that shit, there's still this: there's a hell of a lot to be said for just stepping off of the ledge and seeing what you hit on the way down. (Or maybe there's a hell of a lot to be screamed about it. Whatever. You know what I'm getting at.)

I've walked in those same shoes since November of last year. The same crushing, the same run on boxes of Kleenex, the same attempt at trying hard to appreciate a paycheck while being totally debilitated by the earning of it.

I start my new job on September 7th.

Keep the faith.

I have no encouraging words about your job, your situation. It's more like this:

Decide what is most important to you, and work toward that goal, no matter what, and you will be happy. Now, there are things like fear that get in the way. But "way" is the important word, in that you'll find one. Kevin Smith once said that when he was making "Clerks" he just kept getting credit cards to pay for more and more, and he just decided that making that movie was more important than anything else he might need or want or should be afraid of. And he did. And now people all over the world can yell "37?!?!" and other people get it. :)

I think you need to get out of that city. It's the city that's dragging you down. Go to a beach, or a mountain. Somewhere that is bright, not grey. Somewhere that is open, and not closed in. And no, the Park does not count.

Oh Deb, I am so in the same place, except I don't even have a job. I just finished a grad program and have been searching for a job since mid-June. I have sent out resumes galore and have received only one call back for a completely non-related job that in the end wasn't right for me. It is very depressing. It's getting to the point where I will have to get a non-related job just to survive while I try to find a career in my field. But, you know what? We just have to hang in there, because something good will happen. It will. Really. Right?

It really is harder to find a job then it used to be, and I think it's all the fault of the internet. It used to be that only the 'motivated' bothered to apply for jobs because it required printing, (or later then that actually typing) your resume' packaging it and sending it by post, now, any Tom, Dick or Harry who gets a hair up his butt can simply 'click' and send his resume' anytime he feels like it. It really must be a nightmare for the HR folks now a days. But, keep the faith, last I heard average time to a new job was three months. At least that's what I keep telling myself.

I feel your pain, but thank God you have a job to go back to after a horrid interview. I went through a year of unemployable hell to get the miserable job I was fired from yesterday. Apparently, I don't play well with others. Now, I'm back to sending out 10 resumes a day with no response what so ever.

I hope you have more luck than I.

Being "unemployable" is relative (as I'm sure you know) - they were literally giving jobs away in 1998 for example, but these days you could have a PhD and years of job experience, it doesn't matter, the economy's in the toilet.

Don't be discouraged from trying, but also don't believe the difficulty of jobhunting reflects on you as a person or worker, because it doesn't.

It's not you. It's definitely not you. At least, that's what I keep telling myself. I spent the whole summer jobless and it wasn't because I didn't try. I've applied at 26 places and only managed to score 4 interviews and one job offer, which I had to decline due to relocation issue.

Hang in there. Something bound to come up sooner or later. I got a call today for an interview. I'm hoping this one will be the one, even if it pays a measly $12/hr.

just keep going. i am so in the same position, wanting a new job, hating this one, asking why i can't get a new one. everyone just says it takes time - and it seems to! good luck, xox.

Nothing lasts forever. Believe it.

Keep your chin up hun, we're all pulling for ya. I know what its like to really hate your job, so I hope it gets better for you soon. Just be happy that you have such a wonderful man to stand by you. That helps... a lot.

it was your first interview. chin-up! Try another technique--tell them you are unemployeed next time.

I know what you mean. I have a degree in Electronics Engineering, I have used a small army of programs and programming languages, I've worked at the extremes of manual labour to McDonalds to actual (dare I say it) engineering work. And I'm still unemployable. I also hate my job, which is only remotely applicable to my field.

The only thing you can do is start applying, and try to tell yourself that if you apply to enough places eventually you'll be interviewed, and after enough interviews eventually you'll be hired.

Why not write a novel? Talk to an agent? You def have talent. And loads of great stuff sitting in your blog-archives. It won't take the bad out of today, but who knows down the road? In the meantime I'll wire you money for wine, margaritas and whatever. No problem. Say the word.

Oh god, job hunting is truly the soul killer. It makes you feel small and gives power to wretched people you don't even like but they are on the other side of the desk and it is all so so so demoralizing. PLEASE keep the faith. It will turn around. You will find a job that works for you. You will.

not much longer at all sugar, not much longer at all....

I gave myself a 6 month deadline (which happened to be my 29th b-day) and if I didn't find another job in 6 months, I'd quit my current job, rent out my condo and move back home to my mother. That was my worst case scenario. Knowing that it was all or nothing made it better, b/c I had an escape plan (I found something with 24 days to spare). Sit down and think about what the absolute worst case scenario would be if you up and left your job tomorrow. And then seriously think about if you can live with it. As someone else said, it's the fear that will hold you back. Allowing yourself to just give up, confront the demons and move on could open up a world of possibilities that you never considered b/c you were always thinking what if...?

Or you could just beg and plead and cry. I did that, too.

I feel your pain. I was fired last December. I couldn't find another job (apparently I'm "Overqualified". Except for when I apply to more challenging positions. Then I'm "Underqualified.") Stinkin' New York job market. PPPPHHHHHBBBBTTTT!

SO, I did what so many do - started something for myself! You have skills & you're creative. You'll figure something out.

At one point I had 9 headhunters working for me. I went to so early morning interviews that somehow my secretary was convinced that I was preggers and doing the morning upchuck routine. It took a little bit to get the ball rolling, but eventually, I found myself one step closer to my dream job... now I work at a distillery... mmm... free boozies. Good luck. It does get better.

Sales. Try Sales. Maybe you shy from it ... you think of used car salesmen that you once met who made your skin crawl as you saw the gleam from their too-white teeth as you walked into the showroom. But really ... it's a great way to gain marketable skills, learn a new industry (interested in pharmaceuticals? Nuclear power? Fashion? They all need sales people) and step into something else. Also, you don't generally need experience to do it, just a winning personality and a helluva thick skin. You seem to have both. Go get 'em.

I finally landed a job a few weeks ago, and it took me a year and a half to get it.
And I'm not even talking something in my own field, or all that great paying. I'm talking *a* job, any job. A year and a half. (I've now gone from a swanky IT position to a crappy customer service job. But, it pays the bills I guess).

Trust me, it's not you, it's the job market.

But don't give up looking - sooner or later you'll land something.
Here's hoping it doesn't take you as long as it took me.

I understand how you feel! I found myself in a similiar situation years ago. The awful ache that you feel inside will not go away and it will only get worse. Don't listen to anyone who is telling you that you should stay in your current job ... well, at least for the long term. Recognize that you need to follow your passions - look for a job that embraces all the things that you love. Yes indeed, there are jobs out there that can fulfill you. If you are having difficulty figuring out what your passions are, then I suggest that you consult with a career coach.