Sinkie better brace for one as well..
http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/106428/Take-This-Job--or-Shove-It
With three job seekers for every opening, the unemployed are taking any position they can find. Even if it means a huge pay cut. Here's how people are coping.
Jarrod Posner - 70% Pay Cut
Old Job: Mortgage lender - $110,000
New Job: Enrollment counselor - $33,000
Hardest thing to give up: I miss the luxury of comfort, knowing we had financial security at all times. I wish I had been smarter.
Posner, 34, was a mortgage lender for home builder D.R. Horton making $110,000 a year until he was laid off last May. Despite applying for many jobs through job-search sites, he received only one offer through a contact at the University of Phoenix in September.
The position, as an enrollment counselor, paid $33,000 a year.
"I was actually thankful because I was getting a job but at the same time my wife and I realized we had to make a lot of lifestyle changes," he said.
Since then, the Posners, who have two children, foreclosed on their home, moved into a rental property, downgraded from two cars to one and learned how to budget.
But despite the hardship, Posner says he is content with his job and happy to be employed. "Through foreclosure and possible bankruptcy, we've realized as a family what's important." - Jessica Dickler
Nicholas Kelly - 60% Pay Cut
Old Job: Media relations, $55,000
New Job: Part-timer at Lucky Jeans, $10.25/hour
Hardest thing to give up: Not thinking about the details, like if it is worth the gas to drive somewhere.
"I was laid off in March of 2008. I was making $55,000 a year as a media-relations manager at Pace Global Energy Services. The company reorganized, and now I work part time at Lucky Brand Jeans in the mall making $10.25 an hour.
I applied online to more than 400 positions. I applied to everything and anything, and I'm still looking. I started working part time at Lucky right after Thanksgiving.
I've had to budget everything from food to when I go to the dry cleaners - if I even go to the dry cleaners. It's all those little things that you take for granted that you notice now.
Even the definition of 'splurge' has taken on new meaning for me. Before, splurging could mean a shopping trip at Saks or a weekend trip, but now it could be a cup of coffee or a full meal out.
In 2009 all I am looking for is stability in my career and my life. Just a solid income, health benefits and to not think so much about the unknown." - as told to Larissa Padden
Lisa Brake - 55% Pay Cut
Old Job: U.S. Air Force captain, $83,000
New Job: IT specialist, $36,000
Hardest thing to give up: The freedom to go shopping, take a trip or do anything without planning far in advance.
"After suffering health problems, I separated honorably from the U.S. Air Force. I was a captain, making $83,000 year.
I thought I'd find a job easily. I have three degrees, and I live in Colorado Springs, a town with a large pool of government and military-related jobs. But after an 11-month search, I was offered only one job, as an IT specialist. It was a great job with great benefits, but it only paid $36,000.
I was stunned. For my whole life, I'd worked hard to get the education I needed to be employable.
I took the 55% pay cut out of desperation. It was a hard decision, particularly because my husband is underemployed. He used to work in aircraft maintenance, but now he's a home-theater installer.
We have two kids, and we're faced with a gigantic mortgage. We're all trying to scrape by. Movie night at home is considered a splurge, because just getting to relax is a luxury.
We've learned to make do with a lot less. We led a lifestyle based on our high income. And when something happens to that pay, there is no way out. I'd tell others in the same situation to keep looking for employment even when it seems bleak. You just do what you have to do, and you learn to cut back as much as you need in order to make it." - as told to Julianne Pepitone
Charles Dybala - 25% Pay Cut
Old Job: Detroit maintenance technician - $29/hour
New Job: Maintenace technician - ~ $22/hour
Hardest thing to give up: The familiarity of life up north, where my family is. I had to uproot everything.
"I'm 55 years old, and I'm starting my life all over again.
I was working in Michigan as a maintenance technician. In December 2007 we found out the company had sold General Motors some bad parts, and the fines meant they had to cut production. I was laid off a week later, along with about 20 other employees from the 300-person plant.
At the time, it seemed like the economy was doing well. In the auto industry it's not uncommon to be laid off since its seasonal work. But it was still a shock.
I waited until the new year to start my job search. I placed my resume online, and a company called Gaffey/Allcranes called me in January. They asked me to move to Houston, but I said 'no' since I hoped to stay closer and keep my house.
But by March money was getting tight. So when the company called again in February and asked me to move to Louisiana, I couldn't turn it down. We uprooted our lives, and I started here March 10 with a 25% pay cut from my previous $29 an hour.
We tried to keep paying our mortgage up north, but it didn't work. We filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
It was great for us to file bankruptcy and start all over again financially. It hurts your credit rating, but then you can move on. When I suggested it, my wife was all, 'We won't be able to buy anything!'
I said, 'Well, sweetheart, we couldn't anyway.'" - as told to Julianne Pepitone
Blake Harrison - 47% Pay Cut
Old Job: Telecommunications - $47,000
New Job: Alcatraz Media - $12/hour
Hardest thing to give up: Grandmother's house
"I started looking for a job the moment I got laid off in May 2008. It was the second time in five years, so I knew the routine, I knew it would be difficult.
I was making around $47,000 a year in telecommunications at Integral Choice, now I'm making $12 an hour at Alcatraz Media, a tour-ticketing agency. I chase paperwork and make sure it all gets turned in. In my old job I did management, I did quality assurance, you name it I've done it. But in my new job I'm making sure people turn in their paperwork.
There are no big luxury items anymore; no small ones either. Sometimes we go to the movies, but we hit the matinee because it's cheaper. We almost had to give up our house and fought foreclosure twice in the past year.
The hardest part is that right now we are in the process of selling my grandmother's house just to pay the bills, and we're renting out a room in our own home.
Honestly though, I'm just thankful to have a job to go to five days a week. I'm very confident that this year will be a better one now that we have a new administration." - as told to Larissa Padden
Jason Eldridge - ~ 60% Pay Cut
Old Job: Personal banker - $40,000
New Job: Cook - $8/hr
Hardest thing to give up: The hardest thing I've had to give up is the freedom that I used to have. To be able to go out and spend money and not to have to worry too much about the ramifications.
"I was working as a personal banker at Chase Bank in Peoria, Ariz., and making $40,000 a year when my roommates and I decided to try our luck and move to New York in June 2008. Little did we know how hard it would be to get a job in banking out there.
To make a long story short, we failed. And I was broke.
My roommates moved back to Arizona, and I moved to Massachusetts to stay with my dad. I thought it would only be a few weeks until I got a decent job. That was seven months ago.
I work at a restaurant, Rebecca's Place Too, making $8 an hour.
This is a vast contrast to where I was a year ago. In Arizona, I was going out every night, having fun. Now life's a lot more simple. I wake up and walk to work because I had to sell my car. I don't go to restaurants or bars anymore. I canceled my Internet, and I use the library computer. I cut back the plan on my phone.
I would tell people that if you have money, save it right now. You never know what's going to happen." - as told to Lara Moscrip
http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/106428/Take-This-Job--or-Shove-It
With three job seekers for every opening, the unemployed are taking any position they can find. Even if it means a huge pay cut. Here's how people are coping.
Jarrod Posner - 70% Pay Cut
Old Job: Mortgage lender - $110,000
New Job: Enrollment counselor - $33,000
Hardest thing to give up: I miss the luxury of comfort, knowing we had financial security at all times. I wish I had been smarter.
Posner, 34, was a mortgage lender for home builder D.R. Horton making $110,000 a year until he was laid off last May. Despite applying for many jobs through job-search sites, he received only one offer through a contact at the University of Phoenix in September.
The position, as an enrollment counselor, paid $33,000 a year.
"I was actually thankful because I was getting a job but at the same time my wife and I realized we had to make a lot of lifestyle changes," he said.
Since then, the Posners, who have two children, foreclosed on their home, moved into a rental property, downgraded from two cars to one and learned how to budget.
But despite the hardship, Posner says he is content with his job and happy to be employed. "Through foreclosure and possible bankruptcy, we've realized as a family what's important." - Jessica Dickler
Nicholas Kelly - 60% Pay Cut
Old Job: Media relations, $55,000
New Job: Part-timer at Lucky Jeans, $10.25/hour
Hardest thing to give up: Not thinking about the details, like if it is worth the gas to drive somewhere.
"I was laid off in March of 2008. I was making $55,000 a year as a media-relations manager at Pace Global Energy Services. The company reorganized, and now I work part time at Lucky Brand Jeans in the mall making $10.25 an hour.
I applied online to more than 400 positions. I applied to everything and anything, and I'm still looking. I started working part time at Lucky right after Thanksgiving.
I've had to budget everything from food to when I go to the dry cleaners - if I even go to the dry cleaners. It's all those little things that you take for granted that you notice now.
Even the definition of 'splurge' has taken on new meaning for me. Before, splurging could mean a shopping trip at Saks or a weekend trip, but now it could be a cup of coffee or a full meal out.
In 2009 all I am looking for is stability in my career and my life. Just a solid income, health benefits and to not think so much about the unknown." - as told to Larissa Padden
Lisa Brake - 55% Pay Cut
Old Job: U.S. Air Force captain, $83,000
New Job: IT specialist, $36,000
Hardest thing to give up: The freedom to go shopping, take a trip or do anything without planning far in advance.
"After suffering health problems, I separated honorably from the U.S. Air Force. I was a captain, making $83,000 year.
I thought I'd find a job easily. I have three degrees, and I live in Colorado Springs, a town with a large pool of government and military-related jobs. But after an 11-month search, I was offered only one job, as an IT specialist. It was a great job with great benefits, but it only paid $36,000.
I was stunned. For my whole life, I'd worked hard to get the education I needed to be employable.
I took the 55% pay cut out of desperation. It was a hard decision, particularly because my husband is underemployed. He used to work in aircraft maintenance, but now he's a home-theater installer.
We have two kids, and we're faced with a gigantic mortgage. We're all trying to scrape by. Movie night at home is considered a splurge, because just getting to relax is a luxury.
We've learned to make do with a lot less. We led a lifestyle based on our high income. And when something happens to that pay, there is no way out. I'd tell others in the same situation to keep looking for employment even when it seems bleak. You just do what you have to do, and you learn to cut back as much as you need in order to make it." - as told to Julianne Pepitone
Charles Dybala - 25% Pay Cut
Old Job: Detroit maintenance technician - $29/hour
New Job: Maintenace technician - ~ $22/hour
Hardest thing to give up: The familiarity of life up north, where my family is. I had to uproot everything.
"I'm 55 years old, and I'm starting my life all over again.
I was working in Michigan as a maintenance technician. In December 2007 we found out the company had sold General Motors some bad parts, and the fines meant they had to cut production. I was laid off a week later, along with about 20 other employees from the 300-person plant.
At the time, it seemed like the economy was doing well. In the auto industry it's not uncommon to be laid off since its seasonal work. But it was still a shock.
I waited until the new year to start my job search. I placed my resume online, and a company called Gaffey/Allcranes called me in January. They asked me to move to Houston, but I said 'no' since I hoped to stay closer and keep my house.
But by March money was getting tight. So when the company called again in February and asked me to move to Louisiana, I couldn't turn it down. We uprooted our lives, and I started here March 10 with a 25% pay cut from my previous $29 an hour.
We tried to keep paying our mortgage up north, but it didn't work. We filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
It was great for us to file bankruptcy and start all over again financially. It hurts your credit rating, but then you can move on. When I suggested it, my wife was all, 'We won't be able to buy anything!'
I said, 'Well, sweetheart, we couldn't anyway.'" - as told to Julianne Pepitone
Blake Harrison - 47% Pay Cut
Old Job: Telecommunications - $47,000
New Job: Alcatraz Media - $12/hour
Hardest thing to give up: Grandmother's house
"I started looking for a job the moment I got laid off in May 2008. It was the second time in five years, so I knew the routine, I knew it would be difficult.
I was making around $47,000 a year in telecommunications at Integral Choice, now I'm making $12 an hour at Alcatraz Media, a tour-ticketing agency. I chase paperwork and make sure it all gets turned in. In my old job I did management, I did quality assurance, you name it I've done it. But in my new job I'm making sure people turn in their paperwork.
There are no big luxury items anymore; no small ones either. Sometimes we go to the movies, but we hit the matinee because it's cheaper. We almost had to give up our house and fought foreclosure twice in the past year.
The hardest part is that right now we are in the process of selling my grandmother's house just to pay the bills, and we're renting out a room in our own home.
Honestly though, I'm just thankful to have a job to go to five days a week. I'm very confident that this year will be a better one now that we have a new administration." - as told to Larissa Padden
Jason Eldridge - ~ 60% Pay Cut
Old Job: Personal banker - $40,000
New Job: Cook - $8/hr
Hardest thing to give up: The hardest thing I've had to give up is the freedom that I used to have. To be able to go out and spend money and not to have to worry too much about the ramifications.
"I was working as a personal banker at Chase Bank in Peoria, Ariz., and making $40,000 a year when my roommates and I decided to try our luck and move to New York in June 2008. Little did we know how hard it would be to get a job in banking out there.
To make a long story short, we failed. And I was broke.
My roommates moved back to Arizona, and I moved to Massachusetts to stay with my dad. I thought it would only be a few weeks until I got a decent job. That was seven months ago.
I work at a restaurant, Rebecca's Place Too, making $8 an hour.
This is a vast contrast to where I was a year ago. In Arizona, I was going out every night, having fun. Now life's a lot more simple. I wake up and walk to work because I had to sell my car. I don't go to restaurants or bars anymore. I canceled my Internet, and I use the library computer. I cut back the plan on my phone.
I would tell people that if you have money, save it right now. You never know what's going to happen." - as told to Lara Moscrip
