Brokes populi: whats the news on your personal jobs front?

More bleak news on the jobs front: April’s national job growth was just so-so, with the US economy adding only 115,000 jobs. Even though the unemployment rate shimmied down from 8.2 percent to 8.1 percent, it’s because a whole bunch of people gave up on looking for work altogether. We’ll let the experts slice and dice that stat for you, along with what it means for Obama, porkbelly futures and a brokester in Palm Beach who would, unfathomably, rather clean up after a suicide than hang a sex swing, whatever that is. (Is the sex swing job still available?) But this is a drizzly Friday morning and who wants to start the weekend in a zero-growth economic funk? Thus begins today’s open thread, awkwardly renamed brokes populi until we come up with something better: Do you have any good news to report on your own personal jobs front? Any coups, triumphs, actual paid employment to brag about? Any exciting interviews that you don’t want to jinx by talking about? Or if you just want to bitch about your crap situation, OK, you can do that too. While we’re all chatting, do you have a better name than brokes populi? We’ll send you a Brokelyn t-shirt if you nail it.

And the top city for cheapskates is... »

« Some Brooklyn dudes are making money writing Wikipedia entries

Faye :Faye Penn is the founder of Brokelyn and publisher of the Brooklyn and Queens Beer Books, the Brooklyn Cocktail Book and other stuff you ain't seen yet. She lives in Ditmas Park. Get at her at brokelyn@gmail.com

View Comments (6)

Liz says:

May 4, 2012 at 10:05 am

The temp job I've had since September just hired me full-time. It's not a ton of money and it's not a field I'm crazy interested in, but it's security, and I guess that's really all that a Class of 2010 grad can hope for right now...
SG says:

May 4, 2012 at 10:12 am

I'm a class of 2011 grad and with the exception of a few crappy temp jobs, I've found nothing. It's hell out there.

I keep reading stats about the long-term unemployed and how a period of extended unemployment like this will take years off your life, give you PTSD, and prevent you from ever making bank.

But the best part is knowing how companies are currently discriminating against the unemployed (Google "unemployed need not apply") and getting away with it. And even if they're not doing it explicitly, they're still less likely to hire you because despite this HUGE FUCKING JOBS CRISIS, they're worried that there's something wrong with you.

My parents should've fucked 10 years prior.

faye says:

May 4, 2012 at 10:37 am

SG, can I ask what field you're looking for a job in? Because there are all kinds of situations between "unemployed" and "employed full-time," some of which you can engineer yourself. You can start your own business (looks better than nothing), or as long as you're not getting paid, get a full-time volunteer gig to gain experience until something comes through. We just did a post on killer volunteer opps in BK: https://brokelyn.com/volunteer-in-brooklyn-summer-guide/

Tim Donnelly says:

May 4, 2012 at 10:13 am

Do we know if the job numbers include freelancers and contractors and such? Because I basically stopped looking for full-time work.
Duckie says:

May 4, 2012 at 11:23 am

I am now in my 38th week of a temp job that was supposed to last 8 - 12 weeks. The not-for-profit I'm working with says they would love to hire me full time but there is a "hiring freeze." I am vastly overqualified for the work I am doing and earning half what I should. On the plus side, it's a really pleasant and low stress office, I can turn the computer off and walk away promptly at 5 pm and because the organization is located less than 2 miles from my apartment, I often walk. Two of my best friends, also in their late 40's - early 50's (like me) who were unemployed for over a year each landed temp gigs this week,one for a 6 - 9 month assignment and the other for a 3 month contract . They are thrilled.
KMW says:

May 4, 2012 at 11:39 am

I've been working with some people who have been repeatedly telling me that they're almost, in-just-one-minute, tooooottallly going to hire me, and it's for my dream position, so they've pretty much got me doing anything they want, because otherwise it would take another five years to reach this position (bar director in a fancy restaurant). Still haven't gotten paid, tho. In the meantime I've been looking for some kind of job that can help me get ready for the position/keep me from being a hobo, but apparently new york bartending jobs are only available to those with time machines, because you need two years experience in a new york bar to serve in a new york bar, in all new york bars. I've been looking for server positions too, but even that's the same kind of ridiculous qualifications for the job. Sooooo basically my life is trapped in a crappy holding pattern for the time being. Thanks, crappy economy!