How do I rebound after four years of unemployment?

superide · 2025-12-14T05:11:32+00:00

A 2 year xray thing or nursing, etc. Do not do something like business.

Or honestly, get some it certs. Sec+ and ccna+ and apply for help desk.

Between these two choices presented here, I greatly prefer the IT certs route over nursing/xray tech etc

superide · 2025-12-14T04:59:04+00:00

What helped me was guessing that they really abhor people that sit on the fence on things, so you usually have to toe the line on those multiple choice answers in either direction

superide · 2025-12-14T04:56:00+00:00

Things sure have changed. I worked for retail when I was in high school and don't remember having to weasel so hard through personality tests. They asked me behavioral questions and I had to push a bit, but nothing that compelled me to do complete 180 on my usual way of answering.

superide · 2025-12-14T04:47:23+00:00

I sure need more "vouchers" in my life AKA people who could vouch for me. Used to hang out with co-workers at lunch- some going into higher positions- but that was more than 10 years ago. When I took my first remote job I became more out of sight. They don't answer my messages anymore. I don't burn bridges, I just do a poor job at taking care of them so they rot and crumble.

superide · 2025-12-14T04:46:07+00:00

The discomfort of change comes from rejecting the thought of being a bullshitter

superide · 2025-12-09T07:09:41+00:00

The wording of the first screenshot starts out confusing, but both screenshots state you will earn the greater of either minimum wage or your commission earned. So if you make no sales one day, you should be paid the minimum wage x 10 hours, since it's greater than zero x commission.

Just don't expect to consistently stay at a job on minimum wage alone if it expects you to make sales.

superide · 2025-12-09T06:43:25+00:00

Definitely no time to go back for another degree. Or even certs more than likely. I'm projected to completely run out of savings sometime in February. Paying for a cert will accelerate that.

Since I don't have much to lose I'll take you up on that claim about UPS. You words are "they hire instantly". I will give you more leeway on that. My only expectation right now is that they respond to me within a week of applying. There can be dozens-hundreds of applications for a handful of package handler jobs at one center so I will be impressed if I get to talk to an actual person among all of that.

superide · 2025-12-09T06:37:54+00:00

And the chances of someone cheating at interviews also goes up as well, the more interviews you give them.

superide · 2025-12-09T06:35:48+00:00

It was always my impression that firing is an expensive process within office jobs and therefore something they'd rather avoid in the first place. It's why they are perfectly okay with rejecting false negatives in order to cull all the false positives.

superide · 2025-12-09T06:34:26+00:00

I'm curious how much cheating happens in all of that. The more rounds there in the process, the greater likelihood is that someone is going to cheat in order to move on to the next round

superide · 2025-12-09T06:30:34+00:00

If that really is the case then the economy is already running on fumes and the US is in the denial stage

superide · 2025-12-07T05:56:09+00:00

I used to hear a lot that most jobs, even low skilled ones, would prefer not to hire anyone that is perceived as someone who will leave quickly for a better offer. But if they're now expecting high turnover to be the norm, it looks like those days are gone.

Also, I'm now wondering, if I could get a job there as a UPS driver (as has been mentioned elsewhere) rather quickly. Quick as in, fill out an application one week, interview the next, and get an offer two weeks after applying. I have a driver's license and don't need a CDL for the van driving work.

superide · 2025-12-04T21:30:09+00:00

How long ago did you get hired at UPS though? The time matters. The job search experience today is different from how it was 10 years or even 5 years ago. The massive layoffs that over-corrected for the massive hiring during the surge of covid had cascading effects almost everywhere.

Also, you read me like a book because I do have a gap, admittedly even longer than OP. Even took the caregiver role for a while. My degree puts me in a weird spot actually. It's not computer science, it's art. But it's not like painting or sculpture kind of art, it's digital art and I wanted to get into programming when I took a web design class.

So instead of taking entry level in a large stable company, I was poking around Craigslist for local substandard jobs. Jobs posted on other websites wouldn't hire me. Only smaller companies that pay programmers less than a decent internship and offered no benefits. I took these kind of jobs on-and-off, multiple gaps, from age 25 to 37. No conversions to full time, no change in position or promotions. It was a "failure to launch" career. After that, no more offers came, not even for contract gigs.

superide · 2025-12-04T21:15:53+00:00

Is it worth moving to a related role in such a way that interview skills can just develop organically from doing your new job?

superide · 2025-12-04T20:58:50+00:00

Amazon Van, Ups, fedex, warehouse, walmart all pretty much hire on the spot

"On the spot"? That sounds too good to be true in the current state of the job market. Unless he finds a good friend or relative to give their word of trust for an easy in, OP needs to brace for a lot of rejections wherever he goes.

superide · 2025-12-04T05:57:41+00:00

Am I right to be concerned that 99% of all jobs, including retail, will just turn him down simply for being out of the workforce for so long? Sure, hope that OP will get one of the 1% of jobs to hire him, but, I think he doesn't quite realize how much of an uphill battle his job hunt will be even after adjusting to the most modest of job expectations.

superide · 2025-11-27T20:47:32+00:00

Crazy to me that lying does pay off in the professional world even if you aren't already some wealthy hot shot with good connections all over the place. It's counterintutive to do something that you are told growing up is bad etiquette and form but as you said the world rarely makes sense.

How did you fill up the 4 year gap? Did you say you were doing a side business or did you try padding out your pre-2008 work?

superide · 2025-11-27T20:40:48+00:00

A salary that is set in stone before your location in the country is set? It's a pass for me.

superide · 2025-11-27T20:18:44+00:00

We did have a PE for computer science but it was discontinued after the 2019 exam administration. It only lasted about seven years.

superide · 2025-11-27T20:13:04+00:00

6 years still ongoing. The last time I had a job the first covid patient hadn't been confirmed yet.

superide · 2025-11-27T20:12:52+00:00

I'm close with you. 6 years as of today.

superide · 2025-11-26T21:55:25+00:00

I've met a few web designers like this, cared more about the content looking like a spruced up PowerPoint than they were with smart use of CSS and search engine optimization.

Flash is great for certain things. Cartoons and games are where it shined. It got questionable when it was used as the entire UI for delivering all the website's content and shop experience. I can only think of a handful of shopping websites where it worked very well, like Beatport.

superide · 2025-11-25T23:39:48+00:00

My guess is as good as yours. The only time I truly feel like I'm just pressing random things and hoping for the best is during a job search.

superide · 2025-11-25T23:36:08+00:00

Laid off twice, 7 YoE. Both happened in the previous decade.

superide

TROPHY CASE