What unemployed do all day

I hate to link and run, but this story about what the unemployed do all day that I wrote on WalletPop.com today really expresses my frustration with being unemployed, and that of others. No, we don't sit around watching TV, eating ice cream. It's about looking for a job and improving skills.

I'm off to SF soon to learn more about WordPress from David Cohn, and just got off phone with AOL boss about SEO. Next week I'm going to start writing for AOL's shopping web site using search engine optimization, another skill I'm happy to add to my resume and hopefully land me full-time work soon.

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Time running out

Time is running out for my unemployment benefits, at least the first 26 weeks of benefits. I've got about another month of money coming in, as my limited part-time work has allowed me to extend the 26 weeks of pay another month or so. Federal extensions are next, and I'll apply for it, but I'm working under the impression that the benefits are running out and I've got to find something. Anything. I've tried so many tactics, and am still trying more, but nothing has worked yet -- at least not for full-time work with benefits, which is what I want.

It seems that almost daily I'm adding up in my head how much money is coming in from part-time jobs, and how much longer until unemployment benefits expire, leaving us to either dip into savings, borrow or whatever other things we can think of to get by. Another part-time job that offers a steady, reliable income may be what we need now. Or soon.

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Finding a new home

It won't be official for a few weeks, but I'm going to move talesofanunemployeddad.blogspot.com to a new site. I've bought a domain name, have a site host and want to learn as much as I can about WordPress and Web site building before I unleash it.

About a month ago a Web designer who wanted to help laid-off journalist offered to help me build the site, but he got too busy and couldn't do it. So I've started it myself and I'm getting some help from a former colleague and will try to meet with other Web designers to get tips. I mainly need help with WordPress, and expect to have enough knowledge to unveil it next month. I want it to look good and be working relatively well before moving this blog there. It will be a work in progress. It will also have much more than a blog, including tips for the unemployed, interviews and stories of job seekers, my resume and clips, and much more. And, of course, it will also have the tales of an unemployed dad in search of full-time work with a 4-year-old in tow.

Meanwhile, continue checking in here to Talesofanunemployeddad.blogspot.com for the latest.

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Denied again

Once again, I'm denied a job and lost out to a guy with more experience than me. It's difficult to keep your chin up after losing in a job interview, and yes, there are losers in these things. After a month of applying for this government position, an interview and a few anxious weeks awaiting a callback, calling myself and getting the final word today, I'm getting tired of this. It's depressing.

I've written about it here before, but trying to transfer my job skills from journalism to another profession is much more difficult than I thought it would be. I even had volunteer experience in a Congressman's campaign, which was successful, but still didn't get the job. I understand that other job candidates may have the exact experience the employer is looking for, but in this case and many others I'm positive I could do the job expertly. Experience is great, but job skills are also a great way to judge if someone can do the job. I gave my references, which I don't think were checked, and I'm sure they would have been great references if called.

I'm trying not to get too down on myself for not getting this job, because a dozen years of experience will probably always trump a newcomer, but I've still got to believe someone will see my transferable skills, drive, ability to do the job, and give me a chance. I don't mind starting anew again, but after six months of this rejection, I'm having a hard time finding the ability to keep going. Tomorrow may be a lot different, with some hope. That's what I, and every unemployed worker, can strive for. To keep on pushing forward and forget the offer that didn't quite make it.

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Unemployed still have to pay taxes

For the unemployed, it's a shock to learn that the IRS wants your money, even if you didn't earn a paycheck in 2008. If you earned some money -- through unemployment benefits, part-time work or pulling money out of a 401(k) plan -- among other things, then you must file a tax return. Today I wrote about this issue for the unemployed for WalletPop.com.

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Reality of unemployment

It's stories like the one in today's New York Times that make me want to throw up my hands and not want to read it for awhile. It's about a dad who lost his job a year ago and his wife returned to work. Fine, I can relate to that. It's reality.

The story moves out of my reality, and probably the reality of many others, when it discusses families that because of lost bonuses lost an $800,000 annual salary, and have to live on $150,000 a year. And the fantasy world of this story continues. Out-of-work husbands still live in $1 million homes. The nanny is replaced by an au pair. The family belongs to a "modest" country club and continues spending hundreds of dollars a month on kids' activities, such as soccer and karate lessons. They continue shopping at Ralph Lauren.

This isn't the reality for many families where a spouse is out of work. I hate it when the NY Times, or any other paper, writes at length about a class that isn't the norm, and that many can't relate to. I'm not saying my situation is typical, but it sure is closer. We're cutting back and while I'm home with our daughter and doing some part-time work, I continue to look for a job and worry about the future. Those families have worries, I'm sure, but it's a different world. Not reality.

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Yes, I'm underemployed

I've finally found the term for my job status: Underemployed. I wrote about it today on WalletPop.com. Go here for story.

It's a government term that means I'm not classified as unemployed, but seek work and can't find it and thus work part-time. It also applies to people with full-time jobs who have had their work hours cut to 35 hours or less per week. As I've written about many times on Unemployed Dad, I have about six part-time jobs of varying infrequency to help pay the bills. None offer health care.

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Simplify, simplify, simplify

A comment was recently made by a WalletPop reader on my story about callbacks for job interviews. He didn't gain anything from the story, which is fine, and he made a point that I think is worth remembering in the search for a job. The full letter is linked to the story, but this is part of what he wrote:

"I've also been unemployed for 6 months, and I've found the simplestatement "I'm here to work, what do you want me to do?"has hired more people than the most elaborate resume or most timely call back."

I see the point and agree that too often job searchers can spend too much time on resumes and worrying about callbacks and other things out of their control that they can lose sight of the simple thing they're trying to do: Get a job. Granted, it's not easy in a recession, but there are jobs out there and it's good advice to keep it simple and not worry about callbacks. I, like I expect most people, try to learn from my mistakes and want to find out better ways that I could have presented myself to get the job. While I still plan on using as many methods as I can to find a job, maybe it's best to try them and then move on if they don't work. Let them fall by the side of the road if they don't work and see what else might work.

As Henry David Thoreau said: Simplify, simplify, simplify.

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1,000 profile views

My profiles view are now at 1,000 and counting! Thanks everyone for helping UnemployedDad hit this milestone. I haven't converted it to page views, or looked that up, but 1,000 profile views must mean something, right? And that's in less than four months of publishing (start date of Sept. 11, 2008, the evening after someone in an informational interview told me to start writing for the Web if I wanted to get a job writing or editing for the Internet).

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Thoughts on a New Year's Eve

I know I should be out partying on this New Year's Eve, but with a 4-year-old getting ready for bed and my wife at work, I'm home with the dog.

I had a job interview this morning, and it made me think of several aspects of the job hunt and the job I want to find. I'm not big on New Year's resolutions, but the interview left me thinking about resolutions for 2009 related to my job, whatever it turns out to be. One of the questions was about my management style, which I thought was a good question and one I'm happy to answer. And I think my answer tells a lot about what I want to do next in my career and what type of workplace I want to be in.

I last worked at a newspaper, so I described my management style in how I dealt with reporters, and encouraged the interview team to contact any of my former reporters for more information. My basic approach was to let them find the news, and to be proactive as their editor early in the reporting process so that together we answered any questions the typical reader might have well before the story got to me to edit. I was trying to prepare, and teach my staff to prepare, as early as possible for any roadblocks they might encounter in researching a story.

Another thing I tried to get my reporters to do was to have long-term stories, or goals, that they wanted to do each week. Being a reporter at a daily newspaper can be a grind, and writing short, news-of-the-day stories can numb the brain. I tried to have each reporter I was working with have at least one long-term project going that was thoughtful, analytical and would be a fun read. I wanted them to have a reason to come in to work every day with a sense that they would do some journalism that they set out to do early in their careers. I wanted them to see a long-term goal and reach it. I wanted this for their satisfaction much more than mine.

I could go on and on about how I managed my team of reporters, but the styles I used the most were to work with them early on in the work process so that problems wouldn't arise later, and to help them do some long-term stories they wanted to do. Part of both of those efforts required time. Time to get out and find what they really wanted to do, and time to report early and often. I tried to give them this time by having them either write fewer daily stories, or turn those stories into briefs so they could spend time on the big things.

Those management styles, if you want to call them styles, are what I'd like in my new workplace. To be able to spend time on quality, and have help dealing with the little things early enough so the job was done right. I realize that all work requires some mundane tasks that have to get done, and I'm willing to do those. But at the end of the day I want my work, and the work of others I'm spending eight hours a day with, to matter.

As we enter a new year, that's my small resolution: To find a job, a career, where I can make a difference. I know that's probably asking a lot, but that's what I have to offer -- the chance to make an impact. I know it will take a lot of work on my part to find that job, and I plan to find new and bolder methods.

Have a happy new year's eve and come back in 2009 to "Unemployed Dad" for more unemployment adventures. It's going to get interesting.

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Another blog

This is one of the early photos I took of Emma, and one I'm most proud of. Not only is it adorable, which I'm bound by law to say as her father, but I like it as a black and white photo. I wish I had taken more black and white. This doesn't have much to do with my job search, but has a lot to do with the other aspect of this blog, which is how the job hunt affects my time with my daughter. Partly it has by allowing me more time with her, such as the time I took off over Christmas that I might not have had if fully employed.

A great gift I got for Christmas was the Flip Mino, a small camcorder that fits in your pocket and is about as big as a cellphone. After taking too many short videos of our excursions after Christmas, I decided to bore her relatives with them by putting them on the Internet. I've now created Digital Emma, a blog linked to this one where it is mostly videos, along with a few photos and even fewer words, of Emma. I don't plan to devote much time to it, less than 20 minutes a day, as a way for her grandparents and other relatives, to see how she's growing up.

Now, back to work. I wrote two blog posts for WalletPop.com, one which I think is interesting to job applicants everywhere. It's about a short, two-page application for the federal bank bailout, and the five-page job application for a barista in Portland. Look for it online by 8 a.m. Monday at WalletPop, an AOL personal finance Web site I write for.

And with the help of a webmaster I met through this blog, I've added a tagline below to help readers get back to the blog if they only get to this post.

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Leave the driving to them

As far as commutes go, I've been spoiled my entire working life. Except for two years when I drove 20 miles to Antioch, from home to office I've driven five to 10 minutes each way since my first job out of college. I get home while many others are still driving or taking public transportation. I'm sure it has relieved a lot of stress in my life.

And I've said to myself many times while stuck in traffic for whatever reason, that I'd do everything I can to take public transportation if my job allowed it and was far from home.

Today, I made a decision I may come to regret as job prospects lessen, but for now I've decided to stick to my mantra of a short commute and turned down a job interview in Sacramento. Driving there, one-way, would take about 90 minutes for 75 miles, and about $5 in gas. The potential worksite isn't near public transportation, which would still be a haul, and three hours in a car each day is a lot of time.

I felt bad about declining the offer for a job interview. I think it would be a great job that would use all of my talents. I don't want to sound ungrateful for the chance, but lifestyle has to factor in, and losing three hours from my family each day is a lot to give up.

At some networking meetings I've been to, new members are asked how far they're willing to drive for work. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and most say 30 minutes or less. For me, that leaves out San Jose and San Francisco, although San Francisco is easily accessible by BART. I'm willing to battle other commuters for a BART seat, but to battle over a highway lane is something I'd like to avoid unless I absolutely have to. At least on BART I can read or listen the radio. Or get something done, like work.

Unsuitable for children

A warning: Some of this post may not be suitable for children.

Fuckyoupenguin is now one of my favorite blogs to read. Not so much for what it's about or the content, (The subhead is: "A blog where I tell cute animals what's what") but because of the way it's written. Very funny. It even has a tipline: "Do you know an animal that needs a good talking to?"

I bring this up here because it has 1,394 followers and could be a potential goldmine. Call me a sellout, but I'm looking to try to make a little cash from this blog if possible, and try to do that by providing insight into the world of an unemployed dad and attract readers and thus advertisers. I have seven followers, who I'm all thankful for, and get a fair amount of page hits. But if I had 1,394 followers, I think I'd be getting mass advertising to get some cash money.

As I've noted in a few recent posts, I'm looking to expand this blog with more useful content and possibly start another blog on a yet-to-be-named subject in an attempt at bringing people to it. I've just got to figure out what my passion is and go from there. I enjoy writing, so I'm trying to determine how to work that in. One idea is a site devoted to storytelling. We'll see what develops.

In the meantime, read http://fuckyoupenguin.blogspot.com/ and find out why anyone would cuss out a prarie dog.

Another unemployed dad

I've found my Internet equal, another unemployed dad with a 4-year-old at home: unemployeddad1. From reading his blog, it looks like he hasn't been laid off as long as I have, but deals with the same types of problems at home with his child underfoot. Best of all are the cartoons he draws and writes on the blog. Funny and full of meaning for other dads out of work, and anyone else too who wants a good laugh. His site doesn't have a bio or an e-mail address to contact him, although I did leave a comment on his latest cartoon and will see if he replies.

After a few reader comments on the issue, I'm going to start beefing up this blog a little more to help make it a resource for the unemployed and people who have been laid off recently. While I still plan to focus on unemployed dads and my place in that world, I want to try to give readers a little more help. While I haven't found a fulltime job yet, I hope that my endeavors and hard work are an encouragement to others to continue looking during this recession. So if you have ideas of what more you'd like to see me cover, please leave a comment or email me.

Wednesday looks to be a full day: A job interview in Sacramento, then back home and a career seminar for out-of-work journalists near my old place of work in Walnut Creek.

And speaking of my former employer, a daily newspaper, I'm now getting telephone calls from a collection agency, seeking $12 for a newspaper subscription that I never wanted to continue after I was laid off in June at the same newspaper. When I first started working there a daily subscription was free. Then they got cheap and decided against this employee benefit, forcing us to pay for something we could grab for free at work. The cost was half off, and I normally didn't come into work until late afternoon, so I ponied up the money so I could get the paper at home in the morning. Well, after I was laid off, I never really wanted to read the paper at home much anyway, so I didn't renew. But the papers keep coming, so now I'll call and cancel. Do they know that everything in the newspaper is free online?

Employer gifts

Once again, I give thanks to United Reporting for being such a kind employer. One of the bosses there sent me a box of candy with a Christmas card, note and best of all, a $50 gas card at Arco. While that may not sound like a lot to Google employees or others, it's a lot to someone like me who has spent his entire career working at newspapers. I won't again go into the meager Christmas thanks I've received at newspapers for a year's labor, but it was rarely this good, and not even close in recent years.

Working for United Reporting was the first part-time job (now at 6) that I found after being laid off at the Contra Costa Times in June. I've said it here before and I expect to say it again, but UR has treated me well and gone above and beyond in letting me know they appreciate my work.

I wrote a blog for AOL's WalletPop.com recently about gifts for the unemployed. Check it out if you want ideas for other things to give the jobless this holiday season. And take a look where yours truly ranks on WalletPop's bloggers.

My first tri-mester

Saturday, Sept. 27, will mark three months since I was laid off at the Times. It's a milestone for me because it means the end of my severance, the end of my healthcare coverage (unless I want to pay the full COBRA cost), the start of my wife working full-time to pay for healthcare, and is longer than I thought it would take me to find full-time work. Even in this lousy economy.

I guess I was naive or at least hopeful, but three months ago I thought I'd find something by now if I worked as hard as I could in my job search. I joined one of the biggest networking groups in the Bay Area, quickly got my resume together with the help of an HR professional, and attacked the job postings by applying for jobs I thought I was qualified for. I've since learned that my resume needs to better showcase my skills and how they apply to writing or editing for something other than a newspaper. I know in the grand scheme of things three months without work doesn't seem like much time, but time crawls.

I've heard the reality: Finding a job after losing one can take a year, six months, 18 months, whatever. It all adds up to much more than three months. A lengthy study that is at least 20 years old points out that eight months after the unemployment rate peaked during the 1981-82 recession, the mean unemployment figure reached 21.2 weeks, or five months. In October 1986, 47 months into the recovery, time spent unemployed dropped to 15.2 weeks, or almost four months. In other words, today's economy isn't near a recovery yet and I'm only at 12 weeks of unemployment, meaning another two months of looking if this recession is at its peak. So take the poll at the top of this blog and let's see how long blog followers have been out of work; or comment below.

I still want to beat the average, and even if I don't, I think the best way of finding the best job is to continue aggressively looking for a job.

Emma smiles, and I melt

I know, this has nothing to do with being unemployed and looking for work, but part of the blog's mission is to show how my job search affects her. So far I haven't talked about that, and I will in future posts. For now, only a video.
Oh, and congrats to Ryan Huff, who accepted a job as an ACE at a Colorado newspaper! I worked with Ryan at CCT and it's great to see him find a job in newspapers.

Part-timing it

Like that old "Saturday Night Live" skit about a Jamaican family where everybody has at least five jobs, I'm hoping to get somewhere near that until I find a full-time position. I need at least a few part-time jobs to keep money coming in while my unemployment checks continue to arrive for awhile longer, and definitely after the unemployment money stops coming. And I hope these part-time jobs, along with volunteering, can lead to full-time work. Even when I do find full-time employment, some of the part-time work I'm doing may continue if time allows.

The first part-time job I found was with United Reporting. It's easy work and interesting. I get arrest logs from local police departments and fax them to United Reporting's office in Sacramento. It's only about 5-10 hours per week, but it's a start.

I've also blogged about writing biographies for the elderly, or anyone who wants to have their life story down on paper to pass along to their family. I'm still waiting for my first contract for that side job, and exploring ways to get the word out on it.

I'm also trying to find a way to blog/report on some issue and get paid for it, but so far no takers. My freelance writing hasn't taken off yet either, and I'm trying to promote that as much as I can. Ghostwriting for bloggers is also an option I'm exploring.

And lastly, I'm doing freelance writing/reporting for city newsletters. More on that later.

Who knows, I may be on the side of the road picking up aluminum cans by Christmas.

And just for the heck of it, since I'm trying to learn new job skills through blogging, I've posted one of the few videos I have online. Back when I was on paternity leave and had some spare time to put such things together...so here's some 40 seconds of Emma at about 6 months old.

Intro to Tales of an unemployed dad

This is my first foray into blogging, and I hope it will be a fun trip as I detail tales of unemployment in this lousy economy and of the people I meet in my search for a job. And I'll throw in daily dispatches in being an unemployed dad and and how that affects a 4-year-old, not pictured here but coming in a later post.

First a quick bio of me:

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and was laid off June 27, 2008 at the Contra Costa Times, a daily newspaper in Walnut Creek, CA. I was an assistant metro editor, meaning I worked with reporters on formulating and editing their stories. The job search has been humbling and encouraging at times, and this blog's aim is to document it and hopefully share some insight into finding work, and into raising a kid during the turmoil. After all, she, and my wife, are why the job hunt continues vigorously.