So I lost my job.

[SteakOfWar]

Hopefully the forum title caught your attention, but be prepared for a little rant/cry for help from me to our community. So my name is Erik Lauritzen, I live in southern California in San Diego county. I am currently 25 years old. I have been struggling for years to go anywhere in life in terms of a career. I do not possess any marketable traits, however that being said I am more than willing to learn. When I was able to actually afford it I took a few classes in school for networking and IT related work. I figured with technology constantly moving forward that itd be a wise choice. I sadly could not continue due to lack of funds. I feel very much stuck in a hole at this point, unable to go anywhere in life because I am always stuck working minimum dead end jobs. I have never been the smartest, or brightest, or fastest learner in the world, but Im stubborn as all get out. I suppose my point is that if anyone knows of a place that would be willing to take me on to learn a trade, whether it be in the computer field or something else, hit me up. I've been trying to pull out of this rut for years by myself, and I finally decided to swallow what pride I have left and reach out to you all in hopes that something might turn up. If not its alright. I will keep trucking along like I have been anyway. My email is [email protected] if anyone wants to contact me, and if you got this far, thanks for reading. Have a good day and God bless.

 

[mindfart]

Sadly I can't help you, but I wish you the best of luck!

 

[Adiran]

What skills are you looking into? Sometimes you have to do what you can now to do what you want later.

How is your physical health? Things like police/fire fighter or military offer great benefits and dont require alot of education. If your in SD county and dont have a criminal record the SD and riverside county sherrifs are herting bad for people.

If you want computer/it one way to learn is internships. But you dont get paid for that work. Your payment is the skills learned.

At some points in my dads life he hd to work 2 janitor jobs at once to pay the bills untill he could get a better job he wanted. Me i joined the military. Not every path is for everyone but if there is a will there is a way. Dont give up hope and keep pushing. If you need someone to talk to hit me up any time. Im stationed at camp pendleton atm so im close by.

 

[TheZekk]

Geico is always hiring auto damage adjuster trainees. Good pay, company car with free gas and repairs, and they train you up from scratch. It's customer service oriented work around cars in the outdoors. Give it a shot, its a long application process but once you're in you don't get fired unless you commit a crime.

 

[Bishop]

As said in my private message. Check out Expeditors
http://www.expeditors.com/careers/all-positions.asp

They are good at training you up and providing you with loads of skills.

 

[Canesman]

Your 25 join the Military.

 

[COUGARHUNTER]

Geico is always hiring auto damage adjuster trainees. Good pay, company car with free gas and repairs, and they train you up from scratch. It's customer service oriented work around cars in the outdoors. Give it a shot, its a long application process but once you're in you don't get fired unless you commit a crime.

This. I can't help you much. About a year ago I was in the same position as you but I'm younger. I'm 21 years old now and landed a good job doing property management full time. When I came on with the company I was part time doing filing work but they needed the help and I was there and ready to learn. When I was with them part time I was also doing pizza delivery and constantly being put down by family who expected A LOT from me. Now I'm self sufficient but trust me, I didn't see it coming. My buddy who I gave all of my pizza delivery hours to, when I got brought on with this company full time. Just got offered this job that I quoted with Geico. He didn't even give them a call back because he, "likes having a job where I can drive my car around all day listening to music". My buddy is obviously not the sharpest tool in the shed and got offered this job. Trust me I'm not either and almost didn't finish High School, but I know an opportunity when I see one. You're smart enough to know that you want to do something more with your life and that is the first step that A LOT of people don't even take. I wish you the best of luck and I would definitely recommend taking all the tests you can. I live in NYC and they have tests constantly for everything, i.e. Police, Fire Dept, Sanitation, Court Office. I know NYC is different than many other cities and I don't know what San Diego is like, but there are things out there. Just don't be picky. When I was doing pizza delivery and filing for crap money, I was constantly looking for anything else that would be better for me, I got a lucky break with what I found. I wish you the best of luck man.

 

[SteakOfWar]

Your 25 join the Military.

I do not believe the military would take me because I have Multiple Sclerosis.

I will look into everything else that you all have said, thank you for the kind words and quick replies!

 

[Canesman]

That sucks bro, sorry to hear that. Look into the Railroad They pay crazy and have awesome customer support jobs with great benefits. My wives family are in the railroad life and they live the good life lol.

 

[NeoHelios_SC]

bookmarking this; I work in IT ;p

But seriously, hindsight is 20-20, people, what worked for y'all??

here is my story:
I joined the US Coast Guard.
Served safely
Resumed civilian life in college (paid for with GI Bill, Pell grants, MINIMAL student loans <15k, retail job, and living with family again)
Got fired from retail job close to graduation
Finished BS degree in Economics
Worked another retail job
Got comfortable
Got too comfortable & got fired
<degree-focused-jobsearch> job search within top ten US metro area for 3 months resulting in 2 interviews (depleted savings and maxed out CC debt)</degree-focused-jobsearch>
Moved to another part of the country where a friend said jobs were more abundant
Arrived & jobs were NOT more abundant
Joined a temp agency doing phone work
Temp contract finished
Get another contract shortly after (yay accounttemps!)
General ledger accounting work for a few months
Company likes me so much that they decide to hire me
I accept REALLY LOW offer (at the time I thought I was asking for too much, too... man, the psychological mindfuck that job-searching does to people *ugh* therapy should be a public service for that shit)
Been with the company for almost a decade now
Still locked into a lower than average pay but the benefits are awesome as far as I know: provides laptop, phone w/ unlimited everything within reason, great friends, potential for decades of job security as long as I don't do anything illegal, extreme flextime, work from home if I want, stock purchase, 401k, relatively low stress MOST of the time, and the usual benefits like insurance

So that's how I got to where I am.

It isn't an eating-out-all-the-time, roadster-driving rockstar lifestyle before my midlife crisis, but I support a family, can afford to save for a modest retirement depending on the market (~30k in 401k), I drive a rusted out piece of crap Grand Prix that I am not making payments on, and my job isn't out to kill me. What more can you ask for? (these days...)

Hope this helps!

Edit: Apologies, I only just read the part about MS. Have you tried talking to temp agencies? Not that my word is worth much, but I can vouch for AccountTemps... I mean at least ten years ago, they helped me out. You might be surprised what a temp position leads to.

 

[BOX3R]

Hey man, first of all, sorry to hear about your struggles. Your local UPS / FedEx / DHL will be hiring seasonal help very soon if they aren't already. This doesn't necessarily mean you will be slinging boxes and driving trucks all day, they will need help with dispatch, pick-up, customer service. Great opportunity to get your foot in the door and if nothing else, grab some holiday cash and pad your resume.

 

[NeoHelios_SC]

Hey man, first of all, sorry to hear about your struggles. Your local UPS / FedEx / DHL will be hiring seasonal help very soon if they aren't already. This doesn't necessarily mean you will be slinging boxes and driving trucks all day, they will need help with dispatch, pick-up, customer service. Great opportunity to get your foot in the door and if nothing else, grab some holiday cash and pad your resume.

Yes, that reminds me; I did this one Christmas season, too. Funny story: worked for about two weeks as I recall, and saved up a decent amount. Yet on the last day, as I was leaving the car lot, I ran into the concrete base for one of those huge parking lot lights.

Something about driving diesel all night, and being tired as hell. The best way I can explain it is the gearshift on those trucks is kind of backwards (at least, back then; I don't know about now). What would be first gear on a regular car is actually reverse; or maybe it was, what is reverse on a car is actually first gear on a UPS truck.

I don't know, anyway I was practically asleep--probably should have slept in the car--but I guess I thought I was "putting my car into reverse" and off I went, FORWARD, slamming my front end into the light. Talk about FML, the amount I made from working there JUST covered my deductible for repairs. I think I might have had a small handful left over, but I might as well not have not even worked there that season. But at least I learned how to drive diesel (apparently a blessing AND a curse................)

Anywho, that was over a decade ago, and remains anecdotal at this point. Point is: "Smoke crack and stay awake, kids! You never know when you'll need to drive diesel!"

(Obviously a joke. Drugs are bad, mmmmkay?)

 

[COUGARHUNTER]

I drive a rusted out piece of crap Grand Prix

I just got rid of mine! It was a hand me down I drove for 5 years and I LOVED that car. 2005 GP. I just bought my first car last month.

 

[Metal-Muffin]

I joind the army at 25 to pay off culinary school. I ended up staying in for the last 12 years because benefits are good (free medical, dental, room and board, and I spent 4 years in Europe on the government's dime) and if you retire you'll have medical and a pension. Also, if you just do your 8 years (4 active, 4 Inactive Ready Reserve or IRR) and are discharged honorably, there are lots of companies that'll want to hire you.

 

[NeoHelios_SC]

I joind the army at 25 to pay off culinary school. I ended up staying in for the last 12 years because benefits are good (free medical, dental, room and board, and I spent 4 years in Europe on the government's dime) and if you retire you'll have medical and a pension. Also, if you just do your 8 years (4 active, 4 Inactive Ready Reserve or IRR) and are discharged honorably, there are lots of companies that'll want to hire you.

This is a great idea for many people, however OP claims to have a condition which will most likely result in disqualification at MEPS. Best I could recommend was temp agency work, but we really should reach out and solicit advice from others who have more direct experience with this condition.

 

[DiamondDogActual]

I would suggest trucking but you have to pass a DOT physical to get a Class A license. Dunno if MS will screw that up or not.

 

[RipVanDan]

Get a job with a university, any job. They usually have good benefits, like free classes.

 

[ThomSirveaux]

Best I can do is this little tidbit of advice: an education makes all the difference, but it doesn't need to be from a University. Trade Schools are amazing when it comes to specialty, well paying jobs (not suuuper high paying, but they great paying positions). Many of them offer IT certs, though you can always go to a state Uni to get a Bachelor's in IT, which are typically better regarded in the industry.

Anecdotal evidence: Buddy of mine has an IT degree from Cal State Channel Islands and works IT Security for NASA. After 8 years there, he's into a six figure salary, and keeps getting promotions and pay bumps due to his field.

Second anecdote: Electricians typically start at about $40k annually, but after 10+ years, can earn close to 6 figure salaries. Highly specialized, especially if you get all your certificates, and work for a company that pays to maintain that sort of thing.

 

[ThomSirveaux]

This is a great idea for many people, however OP claims to have a condition which will most likely result in disqualification at MEPS. Best I could recommend was temp agency work, but we really should reach out and solicit advice from others who have more direct experience with this condition.

Let's face it, EVERYONE has something that would disqualify them at MEPS. The trick is just saying no to everything. I learned that the hard way :(

 

[NeoHelios_SC]

Let's face it, EVERYONE has something that would disqualify them at MEPS. The trick is just saying no to everything. I learned that the hard way :(

Interesting. I hadn't thought of it that way. Admittedly, however, my experience with MEPS was about 20 years ago, so maybe things have changed.