These are hard economic times. Banks do not lend money to people or businesses. You have very little savings. You can't afford to pay mortgage. You have young children to care for. Nothing is more devasting in ones life than losing a sole source of income.
But you can't give up. You must fight. You must accept whatever job you find. You can always find something better. Make sure there is some kind of income. To this end, do not hesitate taking a reduced pay job. Nothing prevents you from applying for better jobs, but in the pursuit of finding some position commensurate with your skills you will live in denial and not find anything at all.
Explore these possibilities:
There are recession-proof job sectors such as healthcare and education. See if you can become a tutor or teacher. There is a big demand for teaching positions in the country. There is also a demand for nursing, senior care and such personal services.
Think about going back to school if you don't have any education loan. If you are enrolled in a school with 3 subjects then you are eligible to obtain student loan. That may help you survive a couple of years.
Take the phone and call. Call your friends and relatives. Tell them you need a job. At least one of them may take extra steps to find one. Shelve your ego. Friends and family are supposed to help each other. Ego only destroys relationships. Calling for help is never wrong. Call anyone you can reach by phone. Call your congress person. Call your councillor. Mayor. Walmart. Your school principal. Let people know you are looking for a job. Be prepared to give a one line of your skill set over the phone. You will be surprised to know that someone may be seeking a person like you unless you advertise your availability.
There are jobs in foreign countries. China and middle eastern nations want English teachers. If you are a native English speaker you should see if you are adequately compensated for such a role. Make sure you go through reputed agency to find such positions in foreign countries.
If you are running a small business such a cafe, think of unique ways to generate more revenues. Keep your shop open for more hours and let people know they can get some coffee even at 11 pm at night. Identify local offices that run 24 hours (such as police/fire stations/security businesses etc) and send a stickable notice that your shop is open long hours to cater to their needs. Often people don't visit a shop at late hours because they are unsure if it will be open.
Shut off that TV. TV provides you with a distraction that costs you money. You can get news and other information through internet. A dollar saved is dollar earned.
Economy will turn around in a year or so. You must find resources to sustain yourself and your family until that time. It is important to remember that the downturn is not forever. This year (2009) is perhaps the worst of all. Economists predict that things will turn around towards the second half of 2009.
Try living in joint families. It can cut your rent by half. Put up with little inconveniences to defeat a bigger problem.
Lower dependency on unnecessary food and drinks. Alcohol is not essential for human life. If you don't drink wine after dinner nothing will change. You didn't drink wine at the age of 12. Why need it now? Save money. Say NO to alcohol. Say no to all such nonessential items. Commute on ride-share or public transportation. Ethnic grocery shops have cheaper vegetables and other commodities. Do some window shopping and identify shops that regularly price items lower. If a business advertises heavily in TV it is not going to sell stuff cheap. Hence, do not fall victim to marketing tricks.
Acquire new skills. Skills can get you a job. Most people don't get jobs because they are unable to say a few words about their skills. What are your capabilities and how do they match with the job description - is the most important criterion by which an employer select a candidate.
Children are intelligent. Talk to them about problems. They will understand. Reduce spending on chocolates or unnecessary junk food.
Call local placement agencies. Look at job openings in local government offices. There are government websites that list available jobs. Time spent in these sites are more useful than the time spent on youtube videos.
If you want to start a small business or presently running a small business, you may want to signup at the CCR datebase. Once you signup in that site, you are eligible to submit offers to government contracts. Women and minorities have special quotas too.
Two or more small businesses can combine force and form a corporation, take the corporation public and raise capital. Contact us if your small business is interested in that approach. You must be in business for two or more years to do this.
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