Stupid, Pointless Rules and Regulations

[NorthernZel]

You're very lucky. In my state, they forbid you to take classes while you are drawing unemployment. Even if the class is only a day or two long, and even if taking that class will make you eligible to apply for jobs you are seeing posted.

How messed up is that? When my husband was employed some years ago, he actually had to sneak around and lie so that he could learn a computer language that would allow him to get a job. (there were tons of openings for this particular skill set) Which he did and promptly got hired.

Like I said, they don't hire great thinkers in my state to run the unemployment office.

That's weird, very weird. We have similar rules over here (2-3 applications per week, register online once a week, visit the Job Centre now and then) but one is actually ENCOURAGED to take classes that might improve your chances of getting a job.

However, there is some quirky stuff as well, such as for instance:

- It is frowned upon to apply for part-time jobs, especially jobs that are under 30 hours/week (as it makes you eligible for partial unemployment)

- If one is pregnant, one is not allowed to mention the pregnancy in the application (as it could be interpreted to "dodge" the job since no employer would hire a person that will go on maternity leave soon - yes folks, the State wants you to WITHHOLD IMPORTANT INFORMATION in your applications!)

- Even if you have been hired somewhere and are due to start next week, you still have to send out applications right until the day before you start.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I live in South Carolina. Low education, high unemployment.

My husband mentioned offhandedly at a meeting in the unemployment office that he noticed that there were all these jobs wanting to hire (I don't remember exactly) let's say Javascript or whatever it was, so he decided to take a two day class at a tech college. It just so happened that his meeting coincided with the first day of his class, so he went after class.

You know they made him drop that class? He'd already taken the first day and bought books. They told him he'd lose his benefits if he didn't drop that class. I shit you not.

I swear, it almost defies belief.

Fortunately, my husband is clever, and had learned enough already to teach himself the rest from the books he'd bought.

I get livid every damn time I think about that.

But yeah, he finished the course on his own and then promptly went out and got himself a job within a week or two.

[MaggieTheCat]

RK, I'm curious, what is the absurd reasoning or thinking behind this law your state has? Do they think that because someone is taking classes, that they won't have as much time to devote to job hunting?

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Yeah. That's exactly it. If you are in class, then you aren't out wandering around town filling out cold applications.

Because that always works so well, right?

Even though the class only took two days. Even though if Husband had NOT taken the class, he's have been on unemployment much, much longer than he was having learned a new skill. So, they were happier to continue paying him to sit around watching the soaps than they were to have him improve his skill set AT HIS OWN EXPENSE so that he could apply for jobs that available immediately.

But then, this is the same state that told a friend of mine she needed to quit her job so she'd be eligible for welfare if she wanted any help.

I should mention that at the time she was NOT eligible for food stamps because she made eleven dollars and some change over the wealth limit. And the reason for THAT was because she owned a shitbox car that was considered "weath". The shitbox was how she got to work. Sell the car, lose the job, have no choice but to go on the dole. Keep the car, can't get food stamps. Two kids, one of which was special needs.

Extremely fucked up situation here.

The economy is so bad here we've had to borrow money to prop up the unemployment benefits fund. According to the chart there, our unemployment rate is 12.1 percent. But hey, don't anyone panic and go out and do anything crazy....like, you know, increase your education and value as a worker or anything.

I'm reading things like people have frankly just given up looking for jobs. And I'm not going to kid you, I find myself applying for things I know I'm not qualified for, just to make my quota. There simply AREN'T any graphic design jobs out there now. I'm either way over qualified for stuff, or way UNDER qualified. Just nothing there, really. It's okay, I'm in a good position and it's not a real problem at the moment, but I'm very, very lucky. Most are really suffering.

[MaggieTheCat]

THAT is what I consider a "stupid, pointless regulation." Glad your husband was able to get around it, at least.

[DrFaroohk]

Wait, something doesn't quite jive here:



You're working hard at job hunting, and complaining about having to do it more than one day a week? These two statements do not fit well with each other.

Unless I'm completely misunderstanding what you're saying, in which case, please enlighten me.

One can send out an amazing amount of applications and resumes in one day if they put their mind to it. I can do between 15-20 in just a few hours, not to mention online applications I fill out when I get home, and the requirement for the benefits is like 3 a week. My god, what an impossible situation!!11!!111!!1!11!!11!!!!11

[Pedersen]

One can send out an amazing amount of applications and resumes in one day if they put their mind to it.

Which means you're working to find a one day work week job, bluntly put.

The best advice I've read about a job search is that you treat it like a job, and you work at it just as much as you would a regular job. Want a part-time fast food job? Apply at a few of them and wait a few hours. You'll at least get an interview (normally).

Want a good paying, full time job with benefits? Work full time at it. Don't treat it like a part time job, because getting that full time job (that you want) from part time efforts requires an amazing amount of luck.

And, to be even more blunt, you are part of the reason for that rule being put in place, if you're only searching one day out of the week. You actually have to do something utterly insane, and work at getting a job. Putting in this rule is specifically to force people who are only trying at this one day out of every seven to actually try a little more.

This rule actually will help you get a job. And here you are fighting it.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Well, on one hand, I agree with you, Pedersen, but if he's home with the kids because he's their caregiver now, that's a full time job.

I'm not defending playing at getting a job. I don't know what the OP's situation is. However, I do know, from my own experience and many others, that the first thing to go when you get laid off is the day care. Because you sure can't afford several hundred bucks a week anymore, especially when there is now someone who can take care of child care, at least temporarily...and that is whoever got laid off.

So it's a bit of catch 22, I suppose. I mean, they wanted to begrudge me a couple hours to round up someone to watch my three year old for the afternoon when I called them. I understand their point, but it's just a fact that child care is an issue, whether or not the unemployment office wants to see that or not.

If you don't have a job, you can't afford day care. If you can't afford day care, you have to care for your children yourself. If you have to do that, you can't devote every hour to a job search. You can't drag your kids all over town with you, all day every day. You won't get a job like that, and it's not any kind of way for them to live, either.

There just aren't a lot of jobs out there for most folks. So running around applying for stuff you know you can't do or won't work out for you is not going to help you get a job. However, a couple hours every night, searching over the ads and making intelligent choices and targeted inquiries, WILL work...eventually. There is no need to run all over the city 24-7.

[Pedersen]

Well, on one hand, I agree with you, Pedersen, but if he's home with the kids because he's their caregiver now, that's a full time job.

I understand and acknowledge your point. Where we agree, though, is that doing a job search one day out of the week is not going to be fruitful. To quote you:

However, a couple hours every night, searching over the ads and making intelligent choices and targeted inquiries, WILL work...eventually. There is no need to run all over the city 24-7.

And to quote myself:

Want a good paying, full time job with benefits? Work full time at it. Don't treat it like a part time job, because getting that full time job (that you want) from part time efforts requires an amazing amount of luck.

Yep. He might not be able to put in a full forty each week, but he needs to put in more than one day's worth of effort. I know that even when I was doing a half-assed search, I put in two to three hours every night looking for a job (and that was while I had one, just wasn't happy with it). If I were actually unemployed, I would be putting noticeably more effort into it than that.

And yet, from all indications, DrF is putting in one day a week, and complaining about it:

One can send out an amazing amount of applications and resumes in one day if they put their mind to it.

If I'm understanding him correctly (and he's not corrected me to say he's working on it more than one day/week, not until after this new rule came into force), then I can offer no sympathy. If you want a paying job outside the home, you have to work at it, and doing it one day/week is not going to cut it. Even two days/week is going to be marginal.

And I think we'll both agree on that.

[Boozy]

Depending on your area and the kind of job you're looking for, I don't think spreading a job search out over the entire week is overly fruitful, frankly. Around here, the bulk of online jobs go up on the websites on Monday mornings. The bulk of newspaper ads go in the Saturday paper. When I was looking for work, I looked online on Mondays and in the papers on Saturdays.

During my last job hunt (which took about two months), I don't recall ever seeing anything new to apply for Tuesday through Friday. On those days, I got out and about, lived my life, kept my eyes and ears open, and mentioned to everyone I knew that I was looking for work. Networking is the best way to find a job (has always worked for me) but if I'd been collecting unemployment at the time, you can bet that I'd have been penalized for making new friends and chatting instead of dropping off resumes for jobs I'm not qualified for.

[Nyoibo]

You're very lucky. In my state, they forbid you to take classes while you are drawing unemployment. Even if the class is only a day or two long, and even if taking that class will make you eligible to apply for jobs you are seeing posted.

Here it's encouraged more than anything else, hell the government will even pay for some short courses and such, here you have a "mutual obligation" that you have to meet, now this can be met either working, volunteering studying or some other things, there's an hour ammout for each like volunteering you need to do something like 300 hours, study you only need to do 100, it's the most highly valued thing you can do.

[Pedersen]

Depending on your area and the kind of job you're looking for, I don't think spreading a job search out over the entire week is overly fruitful, frankly. Around here, the bulk of online jobs go up on the websites on Monday mornings. The bulk of newspaper ads go in the Saturday paper. When I was looking for work, I looked online on Mondays and in the papers on Saturdays.

So, in other words, you searched two days/week through the publicly accessible job postings, and not the one day/week that is being clamored for by DrF.

And that doesn't count any possibility of trying to use your social network during the rest of the week to find any open jobs.

I'm not sure where the argument here is coming from.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Here it's encouraged more than anything else, hell the government will even pay for some short courses and such, here you have a "mutual obligation" that you have to meet, now this can be met either working, volunteering studying or some other things, there's an hour ammout for each like volunteering you need to do something like 300 hours, study you only need to do 100, it's the most highly valued thing you can do.

Well, I think most states probably value education a bit more than we apparently do down here in SC.

I mean, it makes total sense that an educated workforce will be a far more self-sufficient and valuable workforce. I wouild call that a no-brainer. However, the people making our laws here apparently have no brain. In fact, they seem to have less than "no brain."

In all seriousness, I'm well convinced that that the powers that be feel far more secure with people being undereducated and dependant on government handouts. It's the only explanation I can come up with.

[Boozy]

I'm not sure where the argument here is coming from.

Sorry, I should have quoted the specifics posts to which I was responding.

I was arguing that treating a job search like a full-time job probably isn't the best use of time, since it's not likely that you'll find enough jobs to apply for to fill up 40 hours of your week. The most intensive job search I was ever involved in took only about 15 hours a week. Once you've got your resume polished up, there's only so much you can do. Obsessing over the perfect cover letter, researching the companies you apply to, preparing for interviews -- those things take some time, but let's face it, squeezing in an afternoon nap is not overly difficult even for those most intent on finding employment (unless they have kids, obviously).

The one thing I'll say is that periods of unemployment should be as productive as possible. If one can afford it, going back to school or taking some professional development seminars wouldn't be a bad idea. I suppose I'd consider that "job searching", in a sense.

[MystyGlyttyr]

It's not easy to spend 40 hours a week searching if you exhaust all your options within a few days. Sometimes there just aren't that many places out there all at once.

When I was unemployed, (and note, I was NOT on unemployment of any kind), I went out every Wednesday, when the new job ads came out in the paper, and was out all day. I had to drive 30 miles to town to be able to search because of where I live. Couldn't get an apartment because guess what, no job. Applied online wherever I could, etc.

Sometimes you just CAN'T give it more than a day at a time.