May

29

Does anyone ever hear back from craigslist job ads?

Posted by Dan

May 29, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Maybe it’s just me. I consider myself to be fairly skilled at what I do. After all, I’ve written for the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, BusinessWeek Online and a host of respected magazines and newspapers.
Yet, whenever I reply to a help-wanted job for writers at craigslist — even when I reply to some of the [...]

May

28

Desperate? Try a LaidOffCamp

Posted by Dan

May 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment

If you’ve been out of work for a long time, you undoubtedly need to vent. I understand that. That’s why I think the LaidOffCamp is a neat idea.
The Wall Street Journal ran an interesting story today about these camps, which are held across the country. Basically, they offer the unemployed a chance to network, learn [...]

May

26

What are you resorting to in this down economy?

Posted by Dan

May 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment

I used to scoff at freelance writers who would take crummy assignments for low pay. It seemed demeaning to me. Writers are professionals, and we should be paid like it.
Well, these scoffing days are now officially over. For the last two weeks, I’ve joined the ranks of what are known as online content writers. Think [...]

May

25

Back to the land of garage sales and no jobs

Posted by Dan

May 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment

This Memorial Day weekend, I traveled back to Southwest Michigan to visit my wife’s parents. It’s always an experience traveling to Michigan: In April, the unemployment rate in Michigan hit 12.9 percent. That was the worst in the nation.
So it’s a bit depressing traveling to Southwest Michigan. The state is in terrible shape, and this [...]

May

22

Does misery love company? Not when it comes to job losses

Posted by Dan

May 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment

I hate hearing from my neighbors or friends about their job struggles.
As a freelance writer, I’m struggling to meet my monthly financial goals. My print-magazine clients are all going out of business or cutting back on their budget for freelance writers. The online sources I’ve replaced them with pay far, far less.
This means I’m working [...]

May

21

What do unemployed people like? There’s a blog with an answer

Posted by Dan

May 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Back when the recession was first gaining steam, the mainstream media wrote a few stories about the ranks of uemployed people blogging about their experiences. It was a fun story on a rather grim topic.
I visited some of these blogs earlier today and found that many of them hadn’t been updated in months. I hope [...]

May

20

And what am I doing during the downturn?

Posted by Dan

May 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment

I’ve written a lot about how other folks are holding onto their careers — or not — during the economic downturn. But I’ve not shared a whole lot about how the economy is hitting me, and what I’m doing about it.
So here’s a little bit: Before the recession, I specialized in writing about residential real [...]

May

19

Age can work against you in today’s job market

Posted by Dan

May 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Are you too old? How about too young? Either way, it might work against you in today’s job market.
At least that’s the news from the Wall Street Journal, which recently ran a feature story about the challenges that both younger and older workers face today. Guess it’s best to be about 35 or so these [...]

May

18

Taking on more work. Not taking on more pay

Posted by Dan

May 18, 2009 | Leave a Comment

This bad economy is causing employees to make decisions they normally wouldn’t make. I’mseeing more workers, for instance, willing to take on extra assignments without even the hope of some sort of financial bonus.
I’m not criticizing. With the national unemployment rate continuing to rise, it’s natural for workers to do whatever they can to ingratiate [...]

May

15

Something about this story really made me nervous

Posted by Dan

May 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment

These are uncertain times. No one’s job seems to be truly safe.
But sometimes you just want to forget about that fact. Then you grab the morning paper — in my case, the Chicago Tribune — and you read a front-page story that really gives you the willies.
The story describes how quickly a family can fall [...]

keep looking »