[TheGMan]

I have managed to live 5 years without working for anyone else. I have been self-employed and have survived but not done particularly well. The depression and SA have not helped. I have written before about being refused business because of SA, but that's not really a big. The biggest hindrance has been being too depressed at times physically and mentally to follow through on things.

Anyway, I have realized for quite some time that I probably SHOULD look for a job. If anything at least to have something steady and some forced social interactions. I have probably known this for 2 years. I did apply for something 2 years ago that would have been perfect- half days, decent pay, doing a task I already do for myself. I never heard back and thought it was because of SA or they simply didn't like me. I was told I pretty much had the job and the interview was a formality. I think they ended up not hiring anyone- so I guess that makes me feel a little better. But it really soured me on looking for anything else.

My cashflow is negative. I admit to having some private help from relatives from time to time. But there's really no chance of that going forward. I am in a position now where I HAVE to get a job. I probably need 2 full time jobs just to get by, considering I have no chance of making "real" money.

I have now applied for 102 jobs with not a single response. I have only heard from some obvious scams through careerbuilder/monster. I am not picky at all. Can't afford to be. Applied for minimum wage crappy jobs and everything else. Most of these are actively advertising and renewing their ads.

I think because of SA, being self employed ( because of SA), and other reasons I am not aware of, I am considered completely unemployable. I don't know.

I started working when I was 14 and have never had a period in my life of not at least working, going to school or both. I have above average education, MENSA level IQ. Like many with SA, I have worked in jobs that in some ways feel "below" me and I didn't seek a lot of responsibility and social interaction. However, I have done them well and have a solid history. I have had 3 jobs that lasted over a year. I worked in a restaurant for 11 years including 7 days a week 55+ hours for months at a time. Worked in retail/retail sales- 2 jobs for over a year each. Retail/Restaurant are the kind of low level low pay jobs that should be relatively "easy" and are always hiring. Can't get a response on those. I also had experience in temporary jobs like the Census and was a stand-in/extra in a movie. Everything else was long term and people were happy with my work.

I really don't know what's going to happen. Is there anyone else who is an adult who can't get a job at all and has no other means of support?

Honestly I used to be the biggest " Anyone can get a job if he wants. Stay in school. Work hard, blah blah" type in the world. But more and more I sympathize with the jobless, homeless, drug addicts, and other "have nots." I am a "clean cut" white guy with a college degree ( nothing impressive but it says something statistically), work history, no criminal history, no negative work history, never used a drug/never smoked anything/don't even drink. My SA might be apparent in some ways, but that's about it. People won't deal with me. I can't imagine how I would deal with things if I had some real disadvantages.

Unless the threat of starvation kicks in some biological response and "cures" my SA I don't know how I am going to keep going (ethically).

Maybe I just need to decide I won't get a job and force myself to be self-sufficient and effectively entrepreneurial in a sort of vacuum.

 

[Still Waters]

Wow,you seem like a perfect candidate for many jobs! The only thing I wondered about was if you're sabotaging yourself in the interview stage? They tend to be more agreeable to people that are very "on" - people that can shine so to speak. You have to project confidence,even if it's fake. This is such a terrible economy - companies can afford to be very picky. Have someone you trust and that can be objective take a good look at your resume. Good luck,wish I could offer more help,as these are probably things you've already thought of. It's amazing how little of an advantage a degree can be these day!

 

[Brightpaperwarewolf]

First off, what would you like to do? What did you major in? What are you good at? What skills you do have?

 

[TheGMan]

First off, what would you like to do? What did you major in? What are you good at? What skills you do have?

Most of my experience is in retail and restaurant type stuff, which I would be fine doing. I only graduated in "general studies" but almost completed a degree in Business, majored in Political ( yeah, I know) originally, took some IT stuff,etc.

My skills in self-employment probably don't translate that well to employment. So I would probably fall back on my previous experiences.

I am not expecting any kind of job that pays anything at all or has any responsibility. I am talking about just anything that has a paycheck.

 

[TheGMan]

Wow,you seem like a perfect candidate for many jobs! The only thing I wondered about was if you're sabotaging yourself in the interview stage? They tend to be more agreeable to people that are very "on" - people that can shine so to speak. You have to project confidence,even if it's fake. This is such a terrible economy - companies can afford to be very picky. Have someone you trust and that can be objective take a good look at your resume. Good luck,wish I could offer more help,as these are probably things you've already thought of. It's amazing how little of an advantage a degree can be these day!

Well, I've only had one interview and that was 2 years ago. I can't even get to that stage. I agree that I don't help myself any when I get to that stage.

 

[Brightpaperwarewolf]

Most of my experience is in retail and restaurant type stuff, which I would be fine doing. I only graduated in "general studies" but almost completed a degree in Business, majored in Political ( yeah, I know) originally, took some IT stuff,etc.

My skills in self-employment probably don't translate that well to employment. So I would probably fall back on my previous experiences.

I am not expecting any kind of job that pays anything at all or has any responsibility. I am talking about just anything that has a paycheck.

You have all the tools to get not only a good job but a great job, it's just a matter of placing yourself where you can get an opportunity to do so. To get in the door in a sector at first is tough and you do have to take something low paid to start with and the first job that come along. But you should use this as an opportunity to do something you actually want to do because your current expectations is just to get a check, why not look for some kind of paid internship to get you in the door? It may suck at first, but believe me it pays off. Or else, just look for something you actually want to do. Attend job fairs, look on monster for any type of jobs, not necesarily applying for them, but reading about the job description to see what interests you. Also give yourself another advantage, I'm not sure if you exercise or not, but you should. People do judge on appearance and you have to make yourself look the best you can. You should give yourself any advantage you can get.

Also you have to be proactive and request to talk to the company recruiter and advertise yourself. Not only do you have to show you are looking for a job, but you want THAT job. Have you considered going back to the temp agency? It's a lot of hard work, but that's all you can do is keep on going for it. Read websites on how to tailor your resume to make it look better.

Anything you do, which can be mundane as surfing on the web and typing on google believe it or not can become a marketable skill. It's just a matter of finding the right industry buzz words to use on your resume and that requires a bit of research. If you want, I can review your resume and see how it can be spiced up, omit your name, address and contact information. Not saying I'm all that knowledgeable or that my assistance would get you a job, but I do want to help based on what I experienced. All I have is a high school degree and started out with no tangible, useful skills. But I managed to turn that and build experience and kept building.

 

[Envision]

Well, I've only had one interview and that was 2 years ago. I can't even get to that stage. I agree that I don't help myself any when I get to that stage.

I'm sorry to hear about your sad story. You're a very bright guy and you express yourself well.

You probably need to talk to a job counselor. Hopefully they can provide a few suggestions.

I'll state what's on my mind.

You've been self-employed for five years with some income. Make sure you're okay with the IRS. Having problems with the IRS will make your situation even worse. I assume you've been paying your quarterly estimated taxes in a timely fashion. At least before the recession.

I subscribe to the Wall Street Journal. Within the past two weeks, there was an article about placement agencies. Many major corporations and companies ( Fortune 500 companies ) have been paying major bucks to assist their laid-off employees find work. These agencies fine tune job-seeking skills, resumes, and employment interviews.

I got the message from this article that it was somewhat of a joke. Some people did say it was okay. However, many laid off employees said it was worthless. You might want to look at this article. You can see what's been helpful to laid-off employees and what's not been helpful to laid-off employees.

Have you applied for disability benefits? The process is not easy and the time frame is long. Most people are rejected the first time. Then you present your case, often times with an attorney, to the proper agency. That's an option but the rewards, if any, would be way down the road. It could be a year or two?

North Carolina has been hard-hit with this recession.

This may be a dumb question, but do you have any connections, however remote, to Elizabeth Dole? You probably don't, but I thought I would ask. You both have roots to the same North Carolina town. I did check the net briefly as to where you live. It's a fairly small town. Sometimes, you can network with friends you know to get a job. It could be a friend, of a friend, of a friend. You may not know Dole directly, but know people who know her. And she did spend some time there, when she was recently running for office.

Just to get a little income flowing, maybe you could bartend. You could learn it in a week or two. But with SA, socializing with bar patrons might be difficult.

Some unemployed people have moved to North Dakota. I guess they have the lowest unemployment rate. I know nothing about the state but you could check that out--or another state with fairly low unemployment.

Good luck to you. And luck is what you need. I really do hope things improve for you.

 

[Envision]

Well, I've only had one interview and that was 2 years ago. I can't even get to that stage. I agree that I don't help myself any when I get to that stage.

I'm sorry to hear about your sad story. You're a very bright guy and you express yourself well.

You probably need to talk to a job counselor. Hopefully they can provide a few suggestions.

I'll state what's on my mind.

You've been self-employed for five years with some income. Make sure you're okay with the IRS. Having problems with the IRS will make your situation even worse. I assume you've been paying your quarterly estimated taxes in a timely fashion. At least before the recession.

I subscribe to the Wall Street Journal. Within the past two weeks, there was an article about placement agencies. Many major corporations and companies ( Fortune 500 companies ) have been paying major bucks to assist their laid-off employees find work. These agencies fine tune job-seeking skills, resume, and employment interviews.

I got the message from this article that it was somewhat of a joke. Some people did say it was okay. However, many laid off employees said it was worthless. You might want to look at this article. You can see what's been helpful to laid-off employees and what's not been helpful to laid-off employees.

Have you applied for disability benefits? The process is not easy and the time frame is long. Most people are rejected the first time. Then you present your case, often times with an attorney, to the proper agency. That's an option but the rewards, if any, would be way down the road. It could be a year or two?

North Carolina has been hard-hit with this recession.

This may be a dumb question, but do you have any connections, however remote, to Elizabeth Dole? You probably don't, but I thought I would ask. You both have roots to the same North Carolina town. I did check the net briefly as to where you live. It's a fairly small town. Sometimes, you can network with friends you know to get a job. It could be a friend, of a friend, of a friend. You may not know Dole directly, but know people who know her. And she did spend some time there, when she was recently running for office.

Just to get a little income flowing, maybe you could bartend. You could learn it in a week or two. But with SA, socializing with bar patrons might be difficult.

Some unemployed people have moved to North Dakota. I guess they have the lowest unemployment rate. I know nothing about the state but you could check that out--or another state with fairly low unemployment.

Good luck to you. And luck is what you need. I really do hope things improve for you.

 

[Envision]

I'm sorry to hear about your sad story. You're a very bright guy and you express yourself well.

You probably need to talk to a job counselor. Hopefully they can provide a few suggestions.

I'll state what's on my mind.

You've been self-employed for five years with some income. Make sure you're okay with the IRS. Having problems with the IRS will make your situation even worse. I assume you've been paying your quarterly estimated taxes in a timely fashion. At least before the recession.

I subscribe to the Wall Street Journal. Within the past two weeks, there was an article about placement agencies. Many major corporations and companies ( Fortune 500 companies ) have been paying major bucks to assist their laid-off employees find work. These agencies fine tune job-seeking skills, resume, and employment interviews.

I got the message from this article that it was somewhat of a joke. Some people did say it was okay. However, many laid off employees said it was worthless. You might want to look at this article. You can see what's been helpful to laid-off employees and what's not been helpful to laid-off employees.

Have you applied for disability benefits? The process is not easy and the time frame is long. Most people are rejected the first time. Then you present your case, often times with an attorney, to the proper agency. That's an option but the rewards, if any, would be way down the road. It could be a year or two?

North Carolina has been hard-hit with this recession.

This may be a dumb question, but do you have any connections, however remote, to Elizabeth Dole? You probably don't, but I thought I would ask. You both have roots to the same North Carolina town. I did check the net briefly as to where you live. It's a fairly small town. Sometimes, you can network with friends you know to get a job. It could be a friend, of a friend, of a friend. You may not know Dole directly, but know people who know her. And she did spend some time there, when she was recently running for office.

Just to get a little income flowing, maybe you could bartend. You could learn it in a week or two. But with SA, socializing with bar patrons might be difficult.

Some unemployed people have moved to North Dakota. I guess they have the lowest unemployment rate. I know nothing about the state but you could check that out--or another state with fairly low unemployment.

Good luck to you. And luck is what you need. I really do hope things improve for you.

I made a mistake. You're from Salisbury, Maryland. Not North Carolina.

I couldn't see the state abbreviations. All I saw was Salisbury and Berlin. I assumed it was North Carolina.

There's two towns in North Carolina: Salisbury, and NEW Berlin. I couldn't remember the "New" part, though.

I'm sorry about the mistake.

 

[Futures]

I feel your pain man. Since earning my Bachelors degree 6 years ago, I've done nothing but spin my wheels ever since. I'm either unemployed or underemployed.

I'm so fed up with my situation that I'm strongly considering going back to school for some kind of certificate in a niche. My communications degree didn't exactly give me any skills.

 

[BeNice]

I pretty much gave up a long time ago. Even though I have long-term part-time employment and I currently have a weekend job (don't like it much and some people would kill for it -- beach umbrella and chair rentals), work/wage-slavery is something I don't take too seriously. The only part that gets to me is the guilt. It's that deeply ingrained Puritan work ethic in Americans. Free time is bad, idle hands... I'm not lazy. I just don't like doing any one thing for 8 hours a day. Actually, I almost like being bored, things being random and spontaneous, figuring out ways to occupy myself Some would say that's human. When you put anxiety on top of that 8 (or 8+), I just say forget it. Why bother? What happened to automation? Didn't humans at least kind of want to make it so everybody didn't have to work so much? Where is my margarita? Where's the party? Why is it 2009 and people not only still work 40 hours a week, they work even longer? Hell, I don't want any of that. I'll pass. It will be tough for me thinking the way I do, but I don't think it's ever going to be that great no matter what. I think my philosophy has actually helped me, though. Some may think it's immature, that I'm misinformed or ignorant, but I find comfort in it. I'm not like everyone else, part of that being socially anxious, and I surely don't want to be. I don't ever want to be "successful" if that means having to work all day, every day, for months at a time or, heck, even weeks at a time. I have nothing much to prove to this world. Continue on, everyone else. I'm just doing my thing.

 

[letitrock]

The suggestions I'm about to give you are far fetched and kinda depend on luck, but there is a possibility of getting money.

So, I have to get a job too but I am barely qualified for one. I plan to get one anyway, but one thing I'm hoping for is luck-as in finding money on the bus luck, winning monopoly luck-In terms of luck, it may seem really far-fetched and a pipe dream and so on and I totally get why you'd think that esp since you need money, like, pronto.but-like if you try long enough, you gotta win something sometime-I'm not saying play the lotto everyday, but maybe once a week or something, when the McDonald's monopoly thing comes around, try it-there's actually even a a woman who I saw on Oprah who made a living by doing sweepstakes type ****, no other income-but don't fall for any scams

Another thing that's far-fetched is going back to school, but not to get a degree that will eventually gain you money-no, what I mean is that if-well let me use myself as an example-there's a community college that I went to and since my parents aren't married and my mom doesn't make a lot of money, the school said our "Estimated Family Contribution" was $0, so I didn't have to pay for any of my classes thru Pell Grants and so on that I was awarded automatically cuz of my financial need, and I was given a check of like $1000 cuz of excess aid per semester-but that's not enough to survive on-so what I think you should do is while you're a student, get an on campus job-I mean they really shouldn't give a **** about your personality, they'd just want someone who could do their filing, and faxing or whatver the job is-that's how I got my first and only job, and there wasn;t even an interview process, all she said was are you eligible for work study status and I got the job-And you are highly skilled so even if there was an interview I doubt there's be any hesitation to hire you just because of your SA-Going back to college may seem like a stretch, but what are your options, and also it might be a good thing to have classes-I mean, really, w/your SA, I doubt you have much of a busy life no offense.

But then again, this might all be pointless if your parents are well off because then you'd probably have to pay for schooling out of pocket which would cancel out the benefit of getting a steady off campus job.

Another far fetched idea is finding a valuable coin, even a valuable American coin-go to the library and find a book on valuable coins and sort thru your pennies nickels or whatver on the off-chance you have something valuable.

 

[TheGMan]

You have all the tools to get not only a good job but a great job, it's just a matter of placing yourself where you can get an opportunity to do so. To get in the door in a sector at first is tough and you do have to take something low paid to start with and the first job that come along. But you should use this as an opportunity to do something you actually want to do because your current expectations is just to get a check, why not look for some kind of paid internship to get you in the door? It may suck at first, but believe me it pays off. Or else, just look for something you actually want to do. Attend job fairs, look on monster for any type of jobs, not necesarily applying for them, but reading about the job description to see what interests you. Also give yourself another advantage, I'm not sure if you exercise or not, but you should. People do judge on appearance and you have to make yourself look the best you can. You should give yourself any advantage you can get.

Also you have to be proactive and request to talk to the company recruiter and advertise yourself. Not only do you have to show you are looking for a job, but you want THAT job. Have you considered going back to the temp agency? It's a lot of hard work, but that's all you can do is keep on going for it. Read websites on how to tailor your resume to make it look better.

Anything you do, which can be mundane as surfing on the web and typing on google believe it or not can become a marketable skill. It's just a matter of finding the right industry buzz words to use on your resume and that requires a bit of research. If you want, I can review your resume and see how it can be spiced up, omit your name, address and contact information. Not saying I'm all that knowledgeable or that my assistance would get you a job, but I do want to help based on what I experienced. All I have is a high school degree and started out with no tangible, useful skills. But I managed to turn that and build experience and kept building.

Really, I need some kind of steady income from an external source. I am not too picky right now, but am thinking long-term as well.

As far as working out/looks, I have lost around 20 lbs lately and am in better shape than I had been for awhile. Objectively, I think I am pretty average/"normal" looking but with SA it's hard to for me to really know. Then again, when I see people who are considered successful many of them look out of shape to me.

I do have skills and things I do that I just have a hard time relating to more traditional employment stuff. So I may let you see my resume or job descriptions and if you have any input.

 

[TheGMan]

I'm sorry to hear about your sad story. You're a very bright guy and you express yourself well.

You probably need to talk to a job counselor. Hopefully they can provide a few suggestions.

I'll state what's on my mind.

You've been self-employed for five years with some income. Make sure you're okay with the IRS. Having problems with the IRS will make your situation even worse. I assume you've been paying your quarterly estimated taxes in a timely fashion. At least before the recession.

I subscribe to the Wall Street Journal. Within the past two weeks, there was an article about placement agencies. Many major corporations and companies ( Fortune 500 companies ) have been paying major bucks to assist their laid-off employees find work. These agencies fine tune job-seeking skills, resumes, and employment interviews.

I got the message from this article that it was somewhat of a joke. Some people did say it was okay. However, many laid off employees said it was worthless. You might want to look at this article. You can see what's been helpful to laid-off employees and what's not been helpful to laid-off employees.

Have you applied for disability benefits? The process is not easy and the time frame is long. Most people are rejected the first time. Then you present your case, often times with an attorney, to the proper agency. That's an option but the rewards, if any, would be way down the road. It could be a year or two?

North Carolina has been hard-hit with this recession.

This may be a dumb question, but do you have any connections, however remote, to Elizabeth Dole? You probably don't, but I thought I would ask. You both have roots to the same North Carolina town. I did check the net briefly as to where you live. It's a fairly small town. Sometimes, you can network with friends you know to get a job. It could be a friend, of a friend, of a friend. You may not know Dole directly, but know people who know her. And she did spend some time there, when she was recently running for office.

Just to get a little income flowing, maybe you could bartend. You could learn it in a week or two. But with SA, socializing with bar patrons might be difficult.

Some unemployed people have moved to North Dakota. I guess they have the lowest unemployment rate. I know nothing about the state but you could check that out--or another state with fairly low unemployment.

Good luck to you. And luck is what you need. I really do hope things improve for you.

I am personally OK with the IRS. I do have some things to take care of, but nothing major. Currently having a negative income actually makes that easier in some ways.

I have never considered disability benefits for a number of reasons. A major one being that I know several people with physical/medical disabilities including close relatives who have what I might consider "more real" disabilities who have been denied benefits- even after contracting diseases from hospitals, being on private disability, having the use of company provided attorneys,etc. I haven't even been to a doctor or treated for anything for several years and the SA prevents me from really dealing with that or having much documentation. Even if this were a possibility, I don't think it would be enough to make it. So I would rather just deal with the unpleasantries of long term employment.

I am from Maryland but do not live there currently. Relocation is probably not an option. It is something I considered earlier but decided would ruin my life more than being unemployed here.

 

[TheGMan]

I feel your pain man. Since earning my Bachelors degree 6 years ago, I've done nothing but spin my wheels ever since. I'm either unemployed or underemployed.

I'm so fed up with my situation that I'm strongly considering going back to school for some kind of certificate in a niche. My communications degree didn't exactly give me any skills.

I'm going back for a more technical/career oriented Associates Degree at a community college. I wonder if it will be enough to even get me in the door.

 

[TheGMan]

I pretty much gave up a long time ago. Even though I have long-term part-time employment and I currently have a weekend job (don't like it much and some people would kill for it -- beach umbrella and chair rentals), work/wage-slavery is something I don't take too seriously. The only part that gets to me is the guilt. It's that deeply ingrained Puritan work ethic in Americans. Free time is bad, idle hands... I'm not lazy. I just don't like doing any one thing for 8 hours a day. Actually, I almost like being bored, things being random and spontaneous, figuring out ways to occupy myself Some would say that's human. When you put anxiety on top of that 8 (or 8+), I just say forget it. Why bother? What happened to automation? Didn't humans at least kind of want to make it so everybody didn't have to work so much? Where is my margarita? Where's the party? Why is it 2009 and people not only still work 40 hours a week, they work even longer? Hell, I don't want any of that. I'll pass. It will be tough for me thinking the way I do, but I don't think it's ever going to be that great no matter what. I think my philosophy has actually helped me, though. Some may think it's immature, that I'm misinformed or ignorant, but I find comfort in it. I'm not like everyone else, part of that being socially anxious, and I surely don't want to be. I don't ever want to be "successful" if that means having to work all day, every day, for months at a time or, heck, even weeks at a time. I have nothing much to prove to this world. Continue on, everyone else. I'm just doing my thing.

I know exactly how you feel. That is part of why I have tried to make it on my own, on my terms at my own pace, the last several years. I probably should have supplemented with a part time gig this whole time.

 

[TheGMan]

The suggestions I'm about to give you are far fetched and kinda depend on luck, but there is a possibility of getting money.

So, I have to get a job too but I am barely qualified for one. I plan to get one anyway, but one thing I'm hoping for is luck-as in finding money on the bus luck, winning monopoly luck-In terms of luck, it may seem really far-fetched and a pipe dream and so on and I totally get why you'd think that esp since you need money, like, pronto.but-like if you try long enough, you gotta win something sometime-I'm not saying play the lotto everyday, but maybe once a week or something, when the McDonald's monopoly thing comes around, try it-there's actually even a a woman who I saw on Oprah who made a living by doing sweepstakes type ****, no other income-but don't fall for any scams

Another thing that's far-fetched is going back to school, but not to get a degree that will eventually gain you money-no, what I mean is that if-well let me use myself as an example-there's a community college that I went to and since my parents aren't married and my mom doesn't make a lot of money, the school said our "Estimated Family Contribution" was $0, so I didn't have to pay for any of my classes thru Pell Grants and so on that I was awarded automatically cuz of my financial need, and I was given a check of like $1000 cuz of excess aid per semester-but that's not enough to survive on-so what I think you should do is while you're a student, get an on campus job-I mean they really shouldn't give a **** about your personality, they'd just want someone who could do their filing, and faxing or whatver the job is-that's how I got my first and only job, and there wasn;t even an interview process, all she said was are you eligible for work study status and I got the job-And you are highly skilled so even if there was an interview I doubt there's be any hesitation to hire you just because of your SA-Going back to college may seem like a stretch, but what are your options, and also it might be a good thing to have classes-I mean, really, w/your SA, I doubt you have much of a busy life no offense.

But then again, this might all be pointless if your parents are well off because then you'd probably have to pay for schooling out of pocket which would cancel out the benefit of getting a steady off campus job.

Another far fetched idea is finding a valuable coin, even a valuable American coin-go to the library and find a book on valuable coins and sort thru your pennies nickels or whatver on the off-chance you have something valuable.

I have never left college, actually. I have just gone on/off and taken medical leaves, withdrawn, been kicked out ( scholarships to being kicked out in 1 year originally because of SA) or withdrawn, and transferred several times.

I am an old pro at the financial aid thing. Being 30 I don't have to be concerned about my parents. I can also take out higher loans because of my status, but at some point that has to be re-paid. I have selected "work study" on my FAFSA every year but never been offered.

I really do have a busy life. I just don't seem to make very good use of my time as far as being "productive" goes.

Thanks for the replies/suggestions.

 

[TheGMan]

I was hired for a job today. I am still looking. It is understood this is a part-time entry level deal. I might not mind keeping it as a 2nd job depending on how it goes and what else I can find.

 

[woot]

hey congrats man, thats a start

 

[TheGMan]

Well, I got 2 hours of work from that job and no hours for the foreseeable future. 2nd interview, I did the best I could. The guy kept saying they would definitely have me back for another interview, but nothing.

I had some productive brainstorming and a burst of energy on the self-employed front and am giving it sort of a last hurrah to see what I can do. I guess I'll get around to applying for another 100 jobs and see if anything happens.

When I got the interviews I started feeling great, even though I was obviously nervous. I felt like I did what I needed to do and kept coming back with responses/questions and carrying on the conversation,etc. But after feeling good about things I just end up feeling worse than before since I am no closer to eating and had to spend money on going there,etc.