o/t you know its bad

there was a help wanted add in the paper a couple weeks ago in our small town ,over 600 applied for 1 job,another town not to far away has a few temp jobs,could barely get in the door to fill out an app,so many people ,I'm a construction worker looking for work in a factory.what are the odds I'll get the job,not good at all.well I will keep looking,hope something changes quick.

Good luck with your job search-What state are you in? Mark

Yup, It"s very sad. I wish you luck in your quest for a job. I wish that all your factory job"s werent south of the boder and across the pond.

northwest wisconsin

I hope you have some luck in your search.
Construction is really tight in our area now, I've had much of January off for the first time in 23 years.
Winter is usually our busy season.

Good luck in your search. It's rough here in Michigan too. With all the uncertainity, no one wants to spend any money. Money has been tight and made me very frugal--way out of my character. I need a new splitting maul--mines burried in the snow until spring--but hate to spend the money. On the other hand, I'm not getting any wood split. I'll get one tonight.

This "stimulus" package is not going to do anything for most of us. The more that comes out the more it's just a "pork barrel" program. How many jobs is 4.2 billion going to ACORN,or 50,000,000 to the arts, 200,000,000 for the DC mall, etc. going to create? And for how long? Even the road and bridge jobs are just "make work" projects. Once the work is done, those workers will be out of work too. I hope the nnalert get some balls and "Just say no."

Larry in Michigan

It's bad all over. Hope we all make it. I was not for the original Bail Out of banks. The reason was; I think you already know.......

By the grace of God and good and prudent management by our upper management, we are still running a decent week. Thankfully we are not in durable goods.
My best advice here (which I could need the follow myself at any moment) is to get signed up with a good temp agency, state your skills and willingness to work at any job at any hour of the day and for as long as it takes to get the job done. When you are placed at a job site, be prepared to do what ever is assigned to you and be prepared to get dirty. The worst 3 words you can ever say are 'Not My Job' strike this phrase for your vocabulary immediately, if not your's it will be someone else's job.
On a personal note, Make sure you are clean. If you smoke now is a good time to give it up (I'm trying to follow this advice), If you like a nip of booze, keep in only on a non-work day and God forbid you use illicit drugs, forget it pal.
Always show up at the job with clean personal hygene habits and clean decent clothes. Employers and potential employers really frown on baggy pants that have a crotch that hangs between your knees and make you walk like a penguin and any facial or other exposed "hardware" ie; body piercings should be removed. Really the only jewelery statement you should make is a wedding band if you are married, But be prepared to remove it and put it on your key ring if requested, this is a safety and sanitation concern in many jobs.
I've dealt with and lead shift crews for most of the past 28 years and have always had temporary people on shift. A good share of them just got a bad roll of the dice. On the other hand a good many of them I can only shake my head as there's little question as to why they are temporary people.
Bottom line is that is your best chance of getting your foot in the door. Keep busy at all times, Most brooms and mops need a motor and I'm certainly not above powering one myself. Learn all you can and keep a good attitude, but be humble. I've seen so many temporary folks that followed this advice end up with good full time jobs as in this day and age the temp employee route is what most employers follow. You wouldn't buy a new truck without first test driving it would you?
I wish everyone in this situation the best of luck and success. I can honestly say been there done that 8 years ago and don't perticularly want to do it again. But again anyone with the tools and knowledge to use them will never go hungry. (your tools if nothing else are your willingness to do what needs to be done no matter the job, time of day, number of hours or personal commitments) The man says he wants it done, that is your #1 priority.

I'm puzzled at the infastructure job deal, we
certainly need to improve highways and bridges,
but these projects need advance engineering, and
will be slow to get going, and who will apply,
or be quailfed? Will a laid off auto worker take
a manual job in construction, or a Caterpiller Machinist, or assembly line painter do bridge
construction, or even compete for a machine
operator against an experianced union operator.
Who will get dump truck jobs, in construction,
a laid off detriot drill press operator or a
laid off experianced semi driver. Or is it going
to be like the 30s with the CCCs planting trees.
My dad, in the CCCs, got a doller a day loading
dump trucks by hand, with a shovel. Many of the
windbreaks he/they built are now being cut down
for central pivot irrigation systems, and the
pumps are sucking down the water level in our
wells, to grow corn for ethanal, where the
vehicle mileage isn't as good, and they couldn't
make a profit without subsidies. Is there any
hope?

Our state talks like they want people working but puts up roadblocks at every chance. I'm a master electrician, and we just went thru a state licensing ordeal that took 18 months and resulted in a lot of qualified people saying it ain't worth it and changing careers. New license alone was $375 plus your insurance and bonding plus another 18 CEU's in 3 years. I was fortunate my company said do whatever it takes to keep your license, but some of the younger guys with new families working by the job had it real tough.

They're doing it to the other trades now, all in the name of safety. Guys who get laid off when a big contractor gets slow used to pick up small repair jobs to get thru the winter. Now they can't (or have to do it cash and under the radar) or get busted for no contractor's license. Plumbers and HVAC the same way. And these guys are'nt fly-by-night fellas either, good techinical people who do the job right. It's a bad deal and the politicians don't have a clue.

I'm puzzled at the infastructure job deal, we
certainly need to improve highways and bridges,
but these projects need advance engineering, and
will be slow to get going, and who will apply,
or be quailfed?

=================================================

I'm puzzled too. I never knew that abortion providers and ACORN helped build the infrastructure of the country.

Didn't read anything about a single bridge or highway getting built in the $800,000,000,000 spending bill. Although some museums and sports center/community centers are buried in there.

There was a dairy farm here in mid Michigan looking for a few people to milk cows and scrape manure a couple of years ago. A guy who had worked for the previous owner went over the second day that they were taking applications just to see what was going on. He said they had already had 735 applications. The rest of you are finally catching up with what Michigan has been up against for years.

The infrastructure jobs are important because they help your incumbent Congressmen get re-elected. (

One of the best posts I've ever read. Couldnt have said it any better. Been fortunate in my life, work has always come and found me....and have several different ways of earning a living. This too....shall pass, but I'm afraid it's gotta get worse before it gets better.

(quoted from post at 10:49:37 01/28/09) I'm puzzled at the infastructure job deal, we
certainly need to improve highways and bridges,
but these projects need advance engineering, and
will be slow to get going, and who will apply,
or be quailfed?

=================================================

I'm puzzled too. I never knew that abortion providers and ACORN helped build the infrastructure of the country.

Didn't read anything about a single bridge or highway getting built in the $800,000,000,000 spending bill. Although some museums and sports center/community centers are buried in there.

Click to expand...

Can anyone say short-term "pork"? Even if they dump the money into the economy, it won't be a long-term fix.

The problem is our lack of confidence that we will have an income tomorrow or the next day. As others have said, we, as a nation are tightening our belts and eliminating discretionary spending almost out of fear. (When someone questions buying a splitting maul, you know things are tight. See other post) My wife and I are both employed and would probably be classified as upper middle class (not exactly sure where the boundaries are). However, we live like we will lose our jobs tomorrow, car-pooling to work, brown-bagging with leftovers, no credit-card debt. We're trying to build our savings in case something does happen. What this means is that the restaurants we used to frequent and the other stores we shopped at are not seeing our dollars. Retailers and other businesses are closing their doors or laying off people in record numbers.

I figure we'll have to make it through another 4-5 years of this. But just as our parents/grandparents came out of the Great Depression with very fiscally conservative atttitudes, I think this will teach us a good lesson and be healthy in the long run

I worked on Air conditioners part time for 40years, mostly for people who couldn’t afford to pay. State came out with licensing requirements. I could pass the test without a problem but you had to prove steady employment for three years with HVAC Company to get the licenses. Guy across the street has a license. Doesn't have a clue. When he has a problem, comes and asks me how to fix it. If we just had more government, they would solve all the problems.

No place, and nobody is immune from job loss.
Indianapolis Star

Hope? Hang a few Dem politicians, take their own money and assets to pay back their vote getting pork programs. Very old Roman practice, corrupt but capable politicals survived by personally paying for the plebian votes, too big raiders of public moneys were killed and estate taken by state(rival politician got a cut). If a referendum was taken- Madoff might be crucified.

Spent a week on the job in Duluth the summer of 83. Really hospitable people in Duluth and Superior. When Customs and INS boarded the salt water ships in port the prostitutes would board at the same time and wait in the ships day room for ships hands to make a deal. Suppose the world oldest profession is not cutting back on work in Duluth?

If you want to make a good wage BUT work hard--come to N. Dak. and work in the oil fields. Now that the oil price is deown they aren't hiring as many. They couldn't find enough help before. But like I said if you want to work--hard work. Lot's of hours and good pay but man that would be cold job this winter (30 to 50 below windchill.)