Like many others I was an unfortunate victim of bag of diarrhea inside another, bigger bag of diarrhea's cuts and have thus lost my gov science job that I thought would be a stable career for a few years after I got my PhD. Not sure where I'll end up working next, as that was my backup career and it has suddenly come to an end.
Being unemployed and not in school for the first time in about 12 years is a weird feeling. I feel like I have all the time in the world to focus on creative crafts/music but I'm currently sarding due to the stress of trying to figure out my career next step, burning my retinas on linkedin and wanting to kick every corporate influencer and fake AI recruiter in the bunger.
What do yinz do to make the most of your time during long unemployment spells?
I have chronic migraines so have bad insomnia and sporadic work hours in clients homes mostly a family fellating lover’s mom and my brother currently.
What I do on good days/nights I can’t sleep I craft. I am really into painting wooden necklace holders. Most I know who want them are older so I hand paint floral or geometric designs for them. I also do a lot of candle holders and floral arrangements since thats what people like. For myself I do richer colors and lots of book themed decor using clay. The books I make sell out when I do sell them. Again spotty with selling because my health.
If you like painting there are tons if tutorials and basics can be pucked up with a little practice. Only thing all paint is expensivr now which is a barrier to lots trying to start.
Also train my dogs I love teaching my golden new tricks and am helping a neighbor with her corgi.
Lots of hikes because this is good for the soul, free and helps to clear the mind not always viable depending where in the country you are.
luckily never have and hopefully will not ever have to deal with that - but my wife was unemployed for about 8 months a couple of years ago. she picked up a lot of inexpensive hobbies like painting, music (we already had a keyboard and guitars), meal planning/cooking, reading a lot of books from the library, etc just to stay busy and to take a break from job hunting. it was pretty fruital, north of a hundred of applications sent and most never responded - had a few interviews and even a handful of follow up interviews that never panned out before finally got something. only saving grace was that I was making enough to support both of us even though we were starting to eat into our savings towards the end. recruiters are a fucking joke and almost useless - it's probably even worse with all the ai shit now. what was your field of study if you don't mind me asking?
i have been at my job for 13 years and 4 months. if i got laid off i don't know how i would react. i've accidentally become important and we have a good client or two keeping us busy so i am very lucky. but also the burnout and tedium are at an all time high for me.
not sure what my plan would be if i had to hop on the job hunt. i think i'd reach out to the two or three connections i have and then start spamming resumes everywhere. maybe take a month or two to study and what not.
i haven't been unemployed or marginally employed in a very long time now (almost 12 years on the current job), the last time that was the case i guess i mostly just filled the time with videogames and insobriety, to the extent i could afford either one anyway. i think it would look very different now though
luckily never have and hopefully will not ever have to deal with that - but my wife was unemployed for about 8 months a couple of years ago. she picked up a lot of inexpensive hobbies like painting, music (we already had a keyboard and guitars), meal planning/cooking, reading a lot of books from the library, etc just to stay busy and to take a break from job hunting. it was pretty fruital, north of a hundred of applications sent and most never responded - had a few interviews and even a handful of follow up interviews that never panned out before finally got something. only saving grace was that I was making enough to support both of us even though we were starting to eat into our savings towards the end. recruiters are a fucking joke and almost useless - it's probably even worse with all the ai shit now. what was your field of study if you don't mind me asking?
Physics, and I was working in meteorology on the modeling side before I got laid off.
And yes I still do play guitar and have plenty of em and amps at home to jam. Now's the time to learn to lay down some drum programming with newer technologies perhaps.
I still bust out some vidya games in the evenings after gym time when I'm too tired to do much else.
do you still have your ironbird? and you've been living in the US for quite a while yes? did you ever fly back to bermuda (i think you mentioned you're from there)?
i've never been in this situation and always sort of lucked into or engineered livelihoods where i never had to work that hard
this could all change as i approach 40 and leave my current job at the end of this year
the hardest thing i think is self-esteem and perseverance. stick at it and rejections are not about about you, 99% of the jobs that don't email you back, they would actually love to have you, but the systems is what they is
Yeah automated tracking systems are terrible and I don't take it personally. Instead of mass applying to stuff I'm barely qualified for, I am focusing on really close fits and spending most my time preparing strong applications. With occasional cold emails to people from my research network in case anyone is hiring. But I foresee several months of unemployment right now.
Weren't you working with USAID at some point and lost your job because of the cuts? Or did I hallucinate it.
i work for organisations that receive funding from various sources but not usaid, my main employer is a charity registered in the u.s. and i get paid in USD, the other job is singapore based and i get paid thai baht
but this could all change if i get an australia-based job, time will tell. i'll be in the same situation as you at the end of the year applying (but still with some work and income)
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Now's the time to learn to lay down some drum programming with newer technologies perhaps.
3 official BCR six strings and two bootleg 7 stringers that I had built recently, I'll make a post about them in due time 
