Well, I've been out of work for 2 1/2 years

I've got a good shot at a job with a grooming/kennel facility attached to a vet clinic near my house. Probably only minimum wage but I can wear scrubs and I like animals. Money is money right?

• Right.

• YES take it. 2 1/2 years is a very long time you are lucky to be getting something.

• Definitely take it. Yes, money is money and it's always easier to find a new job when you already have a job.

• Yep. You can keep looking if you decide it isn't for you or the money isn't enough but at least you have work. Good luck.

• How old are you?

• Mid-40's R5. I actually think I'm getting to an age where no corps want to hire me.

• It is harder to find a job in your 40s. Take it, OP.

• I know the feeling, OP. I was out of work entirely for 7 months, and out of full-time work for 4.5 YEARS (I am 45). I will be starting a full-time temp position with a Fortune 50 company at the end of the month; it could lead to a long-term position. Any job you can find and maintain is worthy of respect OP.

• How do you do it OP? I have a job and still can't see paying the $18 dollars to star threads.

• Savings R9 of which I am running out of. $18 is a drop in the bucket compared to mortgage, utilities, etc. Thank god my car is paid off and fairly new.

• 55 and about to be laid off -- should I kill myself?

• no, don't R11

• You can find another job, r11, and the numbers for doing so are on your side. Start networking--personal, direct interactions--right now. I know it's hard to get motivated now when you're probably worn out with fear and frustration, but it's easier when you still have a job on paper.

• I have no formal education and I have health issues too.

  R11

• You got the job you have, r11 and you managed to keep it until this point. You can get another job.

• What did you do prior to this job, OP?

• Business admin R16.

• No R11. Just retire. I would.

• Yes, OP; take the jobs. You will be doing THe Good Work. Animals are wonderful, even though you will see sad things at a vet's, of course. I'll tell you, I couldn't do it 'cause I would be emotional to the point of counter-productivity (is that a word??) In an ideal world you would be paid more than minimum wage for this, but again: I think you should take it, and know - seriously - how much you will be appreciated. To other posters: please hang in there, guys. Easy for me to say, on the "dole" (SS disability; I've posted before.) Posters on other threads have mentioned volunteer work as being good. See if there is ever anything you can sell (short of things of great sentimental value):furniture, jewelry, paintings, etc. If you lived near ME(7th circle of Hell (if there ARE that many circles??), i.e., a small town, I would totally pay you to drive me here and there. Not elderly, just don't drive anymore/can't afford a car. There might be people areound that you don't know of who could use this sort of help. (I realize if posters live in Manhattan, I'm probaby full of shit!, sorry.) My father (RIP some 17 years now), even on only $1000/month combo SS and retirement, paid a young, employed guy $20-30 to get groceries for him, take him to appts., etc. THere are often elderly people who could use help with gardening, housework (!!! eeek! I know! probably a lot of you (I used to )HIRE someone youselves. I don't mean to sound demeaning. I have a cousin who was (a) married to criminal, (b) 2nd husband, NICE guy, died (in bed, on Easter); ANYway: she was not to proud to clean house and business for a while (in Florida.) Me? I could teach piano, BASIC computer, and blackjack (probably not much demand for the latter!) TO the poster who is 55, and I ASSUME you're making a black-humored joke: no, please don't kill yourself! I'm in elderly/disabled housing and around any number of 85-90 year olds, and I'll tell you: they think they are as good as anyone else! It's the workplace(s) that are fucked-up, not you. Best wishes to all.

  Marooned in a small town and long-winded, troll

• OP, now is the time to do what you enjoy. Stop trying to regain your past holdings. Follow your passions. It will change your life.

• Whatever it takes OP

• The pay doesn't sound great, but the job itself sounds enjoyable. That's more than a lot of people have. Good luck, OP!

• take it. if you want to move on, it will be easier finding another job if you already have one.

• yes, take it.

• That depends, OP. Working with animals is God's work but the price you pay is subjecting yourself to "animal worker" peers. Depending on who you yourself are, you might just be robbing yourself of valuable social connections. Low paying animal jobs attract mostly uneducated, difficult personalities. People in the field distrust humans and have few social skills. They're in that line of work because they are considered odd slackers who dislike people. If you're above this station in life you'll only experience resentment from coworkers. Ambitious minded people stall and burn out in these environments. Don't let being out of the workforce for some time lower your bar. You'll be better off taking an entry level learning position in a field with room for advancement. Advancing to a management position in the animal field just makes you the top dog in a sea of strange birds. It is really about settling for what you feel you deserve. Unless you plan on starting your own grooming business and working for yourself eventually I say leave those positions for college kids.

• But will they give an entry level job that has a capacity for advancement to someone in his 40s?

• R25, I didn't think of that but the people I saw in there were very professional and older and the vet next door who owns it is actually a neighbor. I don't know him well but I do see him around. It's in a fairly upscale area and not cheap.

• Let's see - the first decade of the 2000's has been pretty pad. I've spent a total of 49 months throughout the decade without work. So I did some consulting - kept us afloat. But all I can find for jobs lately is consulting gigs of six months, 12 months, etc. It's ridiculous. Nobody is hiring full time.

• OP you can even branch out into this business. Professional pooper scooper. they are making big bucks! See link to the article below.

  http://www.thegridto.com/city/people/knock-knock-poos-there/

• I would love to retire, but need $$$ to live. Not to mention mega-millions for health insurance.

  R11

• Seriously.. is it STILL this bad in the US? We have an unemployment rate of less than 3 % in my country.

• R25, I can't believe you'd paint 'animal people' with such a wide brush! Yes, there's some odd. social misfits, but that's not true of most... I'm a pet owner, and I'm thinking of pet store employees, vets, animal rescue people, trainers, I've known... None were weirdos!

• Go for it. And good luck.

• r25 is a real Debbie Downer. And scary.

• Yes it is still that bad in the US. I was out of work for 9 months, turned 40 during it. I took a job doing technical support for a non-profit, because they hired me, and the pay is better than anything else I interviewed for. I had been a system admin for 15 years, but I had to start at the bottom again. At least there is room for advancement. Good luck. And R11, do not kill yourself. Even if you are a troll, I still have to say it.

• Aw R35, keep your spirits up. I know it's hard, but people like me are rotting for you.

• But, how do you find your passions, R20 ? I got laid off about 5 years ago from a job that I had for many years. Got a nice severance package and I thought, "Great, now I'll find something that I really want to do." Yeah, I took all those silly "what color is your parachute" type of tests, but test results do not equal experience. So, I found NOTHING. So, I ended up finding another job in the same field that I was in before. Happy I have a job that pays well, but not really happy.

• R18, what do you suggest the 55 yr old who is layed off live on from now until death? One cannot even collect monthly Social Security until age 62. Are you assuming he has a pension he can suddenly live on? Many people do not have a decent pension from their company and need to live on Social Security in retirement. And a 401(k) only stretches so far.

• Good luck OP!

• [quote] I know it's hard, but people like me are rotting for you. Oh, dear.

• Why is R11 Bogarting OP's thread?

• Edrusgays!

• I've thought that I might kill myself if I were to lose my job. I don't think I could easily get another job that pays so much as the one I have, so it just doesn't seem worth it to try to hold on. On the other hand, I'm not wanting to check out otherwise. My career strategy is the same as the game of Survivor, and I've been very successful in outplaying (i.e. outlasting) plenty of people around me. My advice to others (as long as they are not co-workers) is to make sure every day that if everyone but one were let go, you're that one they'd keep. The game never stops.

• OP,since you're bright and you have work experience, I bet you'll find a special niche at/through your new job. It may be something related to animal companions for the elderly (a growing market) or special pet products or something that will improve your employer's business practice. Just keep an eye out, read a lot, and stay positive. This time next year, your life can be much better than you ever imagined.

• I know the feeling, OP. I'm in my early 30s and have been looking for permanent work for over 5 years. Unfortunately I made the mistake of going to law school and got laid off from my firm after less than a year. I took some temp work to stay afloat for a bit and then the crash happened. Now all these years later I can't get another legal job because I have no real experience, the temp work is drying up, and I can't get a permanent job doing anything else because my law degree has employers thinking I'm "overqualified." The reality is I'd take literally any entry level job at this point just to get a foot in the door. I have no interest in going back to law, but no one will hire me or give me a chance.

• OP learn the grooming business and then think about starting your own grooming service. If you live in an area with fairly affluent people, I find they will spend just about anything for services for their animals.

• R37 really knows how to rub it in.

• R47, I'm sorry. That was not my intent. My post was a serious question about R20's response to OP of, "Do what you enjoy ... Find your passions, it'll change your life". Well, that's a whole lot easier said than done because employers want experience, not someone who wants to do something new. If it makes you feel any better, I lived on unemployment & that severance package for years before I found my current job. Even though it's in the same field, I do not make nearly as much as I did before and I'm working longer hours.

  R37

• The OP fails to mention his last job 2 1/2 years ago was at Taco Bell. He was let go for molesting the teen aged boys.

• I think the whole "find your passion" thing is New Age crap. I can't think of a single thing that I'm truly "passionate" about (well, dislike of Republican politics, but that's more anger than anything else...!) I guess I could force myself to fake a "gung ho" attitude about something, but I've just never been that kind of person. Most people are never going to have a job they're "passionate" about -- those that do are very fortunate, and few.

• R50 Yeah, that "find your passion" shit is easier said than done. Sure, we all have passions, but how many of us have passions that are profitable or that we can earn a living from? Not many.

• I agree that "finding your passion" doesn't apply to most people. I took one of those aptitude tests when I was in my 30s, trying to find my passion. It said I was perfectly suited to be a forest ranger. I stuck with the business I was in. I can find my passion on the weekends. I love to play golf and fish, be out on the water, at the beach. Work allows me to do this. I am also saving as much money as I can because I think we're in for another crash.