An adventure in job hunting

After 19 years with my last company, I took job security for granted. I have my three jobs in for this week. The state requires this or three approved job-search activities (workshops) each week in order to collect unemployment. Today's effort yielded five jobs I feel I might be able to do.

Over the course of eight months I have become adept at spotting trends in the employment market for the Puget Sound area. When all of this started for me in February, 2009, the state listed up to 1200 jobs on their job source website for the Tacoma area. Today that has dropped to about 700. A majority of jobs are in healthcare. My early experiences at St. Mary Hospital as an orderly and at St. Elizabeth trauma informed my decision that I didn't want a career in the health field.

I maintain three different versions of my resume on the state's unemployment website. One for my extensive 36 year mapping career, one for computer technician and the other for risk management (security services). The one for security services I rarely give out because most of those jobs (rent-a-cops) are union and pay minimum wage.

I have nothing against unions (I was a union member for 10 years) but they are hurting right now due to the economy. And I feel they don't have the clout they used to have. Boeing (Seattle) is opening another factory in South Carolina because it is a non-union shop. I didn't understand the union's reasoning for striking last year when the economy was going to hell. They cut off their nose to spite their face.

My unemployment runs out in January unless Congress extends it for a third time. I can survive being on unemployment (no debt) but this isn't a way to live. My only consolation is I'm one of fifteen million others, including cousins and nephews in the same leaking, sinking boat.