YAJobT: Jobless rant

[LanceM]

My first "real" job in my field quickly gave me responsibilities that were straying a little too far from where I was wanting to go with my career. In short, my heart is in digital graphic design and technical communication, yet my employer had me creating dozens of forms in Word all day long.

Then, a glorious thing happened: my wife got a heck of a job. We made the decision that I should leave my then-current employer and train myself in a few new technologies (college obviously does not provide you with enough skills), in the hope of finding a new employer closer to home (both my literal home as well as my field of choice).

Today marks only the third week that I have been sitting on my butt, and I can't stand it anymore. I'm trying to commit myself to reading books and tutorials for as many hours as my eyes and brain can withstand, but it's not enough.

How do people do it? It's not the money that I'm worried about; rather, it's my sanity. I need to be busy and I need structure to my day. What the hell was my mom doing all of those years as I was growing up? Oprah only came on once per day, the house was dirty, and her cooking sucked. So again, what the hell was she doing?

How do the rest of AT's unemployed cope with the boredom? I expect to be without any job prospects for at least a few more weeks (my experience is limited and I still wish to use this time to learn a few new tricks), so WTF am I supposed to do with my time? I need to hear about other people's misery so I can feel better about myself.

I realize that I am lucky in that this unemployment is self-imposed. Still, it may be months on end before I find something else.

Cliffs:
1. Wife got a new job...
2. ... which allowed me to leave my old job.
3. Now I am training myself in my time off.
4. I'm bored!

 

[Hyperblaze]

Best way to learn is pratical experience.

Get involved in projects which involve the tools you want to use.

Take night class?

 

[jadinolf]

I've only been out of work one time, for about 5 weeks.

I spent my time looking for a job.

\thread

 

[LanceM]

So you seriously spent 8+ hours per day searching for a new job? There are only so many jobs out there at any given time.

 

[jlbenedict]

Find some local non-profit organization, and donate some of your time and expertise

 

[imported_Zeke]

Your mom had kids. They are tme consuming.

 

[LanceM]

Originally posted by: jlbenedict
Find some local non-profit organization, and donate some of your time and expertise

I have actually been doing this. Unfortunately, none of them need help at the moment. I will be working on a large project for a county fair association in a few months, but I'm bored today!

Originally posted by: Zeke
Your mom had kids. They are tme consuming.

I was far from time consuming, and my sisters were out of the house by the time I was in elementary school.

 

[ArchCenturion]

Working sucks. I go to the beach when I am bored.

 

[DurocShark]

Originally posted by: ArchCenturion
Working sucks.

Sucking works!

 

[RKS]

Should have kept your old job until you found a new one.

 

[SCSIfreek]

Originally posted by: LanceM

Originally posted by: jlbenedict
Find some local non-profit organization, and donate some of your time and expertise

I have actually been doing this. Unfortunately, none of them need help at the moment. I will be working on a large project for a county fair association in a few months, but I'm bored today!

Originally posted by: Zeke
Your mom had kids. They are tme consuming.

I was far from time consuming, and my sisters were out of the house by the time I was in elementary school.

Just to give you a reality check, babysitting is a 24/7 job. I for one, will not be able to watch over 2 kids......so stop complaining about your mom not doing sh|T.


Back to the subject, if you're bore there are tons of stuff you can do. But above all you need to improve yourself in every possible way. you could exercise, take classes, get a master's degree, learn AutoCAD, C++ programming, etc....

Another thing, job searching could take lots of time and planning. Especially, formatting your resumes and cover letters. Prepare for interviews and questions to ask certain employers......It really boils down to how serious you're in getting a job.

 

[ViviTheMage]

some people dont even feel the need to get off their butt

 

[iroast]

Originally posted by: RKS
Should have kept your old job until you found a new one.

 

[Cal166]

Originally posted by: RKS
Should have kept your old job until you found a new one.

 

[DaShen]

Take a class/review, go to a training program. That is basically the easiest way to learn the curriculum.

 

[nakedfrog]

Not all people get bored.

 

[Lorax]

buy WoW.

 

[cKGunslinger]

Play WoW.


edit: Dammit.

 

[randay]

Hobbies, but then you spend money you dont have, and don't get any real sh!t done.

 

[HombrePequeno]

Find a hobby.

I haven't had work/school for the past few weeks now and I'm starting to get a little bored. Half the time I've spent reading up on material for next quarter but that's starting to bore the hell out of me as well. The amount of time I spend playing video games has skyrocketed as well from pretty much zero to a few times a week.

 

[Descartes]

Kudos to finding a woman reasonable enough to work while you hang out around the house

 

[Kilgor]

How long have you been working? I'm 35 and have been working for 20 years. I wouldn't get bored if I didn't have a job, I'd find something to do with my time beside deal with asshole bosses and customers that think you can provide miracles on demand.

 

[PingSpike]

Do what I did...get a job with tuition reimbursement as a benefit! I'm planning to flesh out some skills I don't have but I feel are very marketable by taking 1 class a semester.

On a side note, I'm really excited to start my new job. I'm also really proud of myself because my job hunting efforts worked so well.