I get a lot of questions/comments about my husband’s unemployment and the length of time he has been unemployed.
In case there is anyone else wondering, here are some answers to the questions and comments that I hear almost daily:
Yes my husband IS looking for a job (This is by far the most common and stupid question I get).
Yes he has his resume listed on 4 different websites.
Yes he spends hours a day every single day looking for a job. He applies for between 20-40 jobs per week.
No he does not like sitting on the couch at home while I go out every day and work two jobs.
Yes he is applying for jobs outside the teaching profession (of course he is).
Yes he has applied for jobs that pay much less than he was making before. Retail jobs. Restaurant jobs. Grocery store jobs. Sales jobs. Gas station attendant jobs.
Yes we realize he may not be able to be a teacher here in the state of CA for a very long time.
Yes we have seriously looked into moving to another area/State. He has been looking. Without a job that would be pointless.
Yes he has put ads on Craigslist offering his services as a private tutor. So have the hundreds of thousands of other teachers that have been laid off in CA.
Lest you judge us, let me ask you these questions.
Have YOU looked for a job in the area that I live, in the last year and a half?
Do you have the same experience/qualifications that my husband has? If not then please don’t compare your job hunt to his.
He has been a teacher for 15 years (with a short stint in retail). In this job market when he applies for a job that he doesn’t have experience for, chances are they are going to choose a candidate that does over him. We have looked into him taking classes and/or training for another job. The difficulty lies in discovering what career he could pursue education or training in that is actually hiring in the area we live. (He has a Master’s Degree in English).
This has been a long hard week and I am tired of answering these questions.
Comments have been turned off. If you have any more questions please feel free to e-mail me at scrappermg@att.net.
Thanks
