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I live in a mid sized town in PA called Erie. Because my spouse has a job we are surviving but I am unemployed. It use to be that there was jobs advertised in the newspaper that paid under $10.00 and if you would go to a fast food or retail spot they were always looking for people, not any more. I have noticed that things have got just plain desparate in the last few months. I have gone to almost a hundred places to fill out an employment application and nearly every employment agency and temporary help spot in town and no one will hire me. I have been looking non stop for months now. There are just no jobs out there. I have a good appearance, am told I interview well and up to recently a good job record. Is this the start of the economic depression?
I'd start my own business....lawn maintainence is big, and you can make great money.
But it is very competitive at least here in the south. I'm sure the OP has no lawn care exp so how will he know what to do to be able to compete if he has no past exp? Although if you know something that alot dont and it is in demand go make a business. Even if it is $100 a week. Thats $400 extra a month.
The story is the same everywhere. I live in Florida, near Orlando and looked for a job for a year and found nothing. I went to a few interviews but no job. The economy sucks everywhere, companies are not hiring if they can avoid it. The only jobs I found were about an hour's drive away, and would pay minimum wage- part time. Not worth the trouble, not a real job. Maybe if I had a place down there that cost me nothing it would be tempting.
Get out of Erie! Go to Pittsburgh. Or go South or West.
I think that's the best advice, sad but true. The Rust Belt has nowhere to go but down, and our political leaders (and the general populace) seem to have no understanding of basic economics (just read the opinions pages in the Erie Times-News).
Just be careful of areas in the South and West (like South Florida, Las Vegas, California, etc) which were hit by the housing boom and are now getting hit hard by the housing bust. And don't even think about buying a house in some of these places until prices come back in line with historical norms, you'll only lose tons of equity in a hurry.
No minimum wage jobs? For real? That just sounds unbelievable, but I suppose having not been to Erie in quite some time things could be really rough there.
In the OP's position of seeking out and not finding a minimum-wage job, I'd do one of two things: 1) start up a business such as landscaping/lawn cutting... you can easily earn more than minimum wage doing that with just a lawnmower and a trimmer, or 2) I'd move. I guess lastly, I'd explore either getting some education in a trade or something else quite marketable, and with Internet access I'd also look at low or supplemental income opportunities available online or for stay-at-home people.
I find it remarkable that someone so articulate and online at a forum like this would find themselves in the OP's situation. How old is the OP? What level of education do they have? How is he or she supporting himself right now? Boredom is a state of mind, anyway, if his or her name really reflects how the OP feels today, then they need to do some self-work in general.
But it is very competitive at least here in the south. I'm sure the OP has no lawn care exp so how will he know what to do to be able to compete if he has no past exp? Although if you know something that alot dont and it is in demand go make a business. Even if it is $100 a week. Thats $400 extra a month.
I think everyone knows how to mow and weed eat, if not, it's not too hard to learn.
The competitive part is the fun part....you have to offer a better deal than the next guy.
I think these days you need ingenuity to make a living.
I did it...anyone can do it.
If you're good with animals, you can start your own business as dog walker. My colleague's husband has his own business as dog walker and he charges $15 per visit, per dog. I thought it was a great idea when I heard that.
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