9M American men in prime working age can’t find jobs. I’m one of them

Re:9M American men in prime working age can’t find jobs. I’m... by lj3 on Monday December 19, 2016 @01:24PM (#13213613)

There are more practical considerations. Would you want to hire a 40-year old programmer who had just spent the last 3 months flipping burgers because he couldn't find a job? The stigma is real and it's more than just pride. A fall from middle class to lower class can become permanent through nothing more than that stigma. With that comes a higher mortality rate across the board.

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Re:9M American men in prime working age can’t find jobs. I’m... by jimmywanger on Monday December 19, 2016 @03:43PM (#13214818)

> Would you want to hire a 40-year old programmer who had just spent the last 3 months flipping burgers because he couldn't find a job?

I wouldn't care, personally. You gotta do what you gotta do.

Also, that implies that you have to disclose your entire employment history. You can skip over jobs that don't directly apply to the job you're currently applying for.

> The stigma is real and it's more than just pride.

No, it's pretty much just pride. There's no stigma, at least in my social circles. To take care of your kids and your family you do whatever it is that needs doing.

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Re:9M American men in prime working age can’t find jobs. I’m... by pavel_lishin on Monday December 19, 2016 @02:19PM (#13214167)

> Would you want to hire a 40-year old programmer who had just spent the last 3 months flipping burgers because he couldn't find a job?

Would you want to hire one who spent the last 3 months doing nothing because he couldn't find a job?

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Re:9M American men in prime working age can’t find jobs. I’m... by infosecdude64 on Monday December 19, 2016 @02:30PM (#13214273)

I would sooner hire a person who is flipping burgers to support his family than I would a guy who surfs twitter like this whiner. This guy sounds like he'd be a pain to work with, I mean if you can't find the humility in working a service job to support your family and help out, then what would you expect him to do in the work place if given an assignment he felt was below him.

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Re:9M American men in prime working age can’t find jobs. I’m... by extra88 on Monday December 19, 2016 @01:30PM (#13213678)

If it was only three months, I wouldn't list the burger-flipping job on my resume. I think I'd be fine leaving any gap less than a year in duration on my resume. A year or more, I'd want to account for.

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Re:9M American men in prime working age can’t find jobs. I’m... by lj3 on Monday December 19, 2016 @01:34PM (#13213713)

What if the interviewer saw you flipping burgers a month ago?

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Re:9M American men in prime working age can’t find jobs. I’m... by extra88 on Monday December 19, 2016 @01:45PM (#13213804)

Sounds rather unlikely in SV but if they did, so what? The resume got me the interview, I should be able to demonstrate my value. If they're still going to treat me like I'm somehow tainted for briefly working a low-status job, I can't do anything about that.

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Re:9M American men in prime working age can’t find jobs. I’m... by jimmywanger on Monday December 19, 2016 @03:46PM (#13214833)

So what? What if the interviewer saw you digging ditches a month ago? What does that have to do with your resume or job performance?

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