GIVE ME A JOB IN NYC.//let's bitch about being unemployed & on the verge of homelessness.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

I haven't posted here in quite awhile, but figured it was an appropriate place to bitch about my current situation. Not entirely serious about the homelessness part, I always have my family... but it's hard livin' in the NYC these days. No jobs, high rent, high cost of living...

850 people just laid off at MTV/Viacom. Newspaper subscriptions hit an all time low. Record companies moving piles of crap around in attempt to make money off a dying industry. Media and finance are seemingly taking the biggest hits in the city, and that's my field, media. Media, in any way I'm qualified (photography, editorial, production, film/tv, marketing, music business/A&R), no jobs. Fabulous.

After my lease is up in August, I might have to move in with my parents again and leave New York. I vowed never to let that happen, and then this economy happened. Anybody else just about to be graduating or recently graduated from college experiencing the same? This is the city I am graduating school in, there should be a place in the workforce for me here. I feel so low about it, and wish there was something I could do to help myself... but there just aren't jobs. It's hard to become attached to a place only to have to leave it because there's nothing left. It's to the point where it's really affecting my mental health.

Anybody have any cures for my recession blues?

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

1. yeah, get the hell out of NYC

it is no place to be in a recession, trust me, I have been there, done that... and lost my shirt over it

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

4. i know

The thought of leaving just breaks my heart, but I know I can't stay. I'm paying 833 a month for my share of the apartment, out of school loans. Which will be no more as of May. So, unless I have a job lined up that can pay that rent (which is actually quite low for anywhere living in NYC)... I'm going to have to get out of here. Sucks, though.

[mwooldri]

23. If you have posted Get me a Job in NC then I might have been able to assist.

but NYC? All I can do is send you my best wishes and hopes for your short career as a professional job seeker (if that's what your present career is).

Mark.

[Midlodemocrat]

2. YOUNG LADY!!!!! Check your PM.

[GOPisEvil]

3. I graduated from college last time there was a Bush in the white house.

Let me say I feel your pain.

I worked crappy jobs for 2 years before finding a "real" job.

Oh, and Seattle may not be the place for you. WaMu is laying off thousands, thanks to being swallowed by Chase. Thank goodness I have a good job in a relatively stable industry (and with one of the better companies in that industry).

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

5. hey!

Wherever there are media jobs, that's where I'm going... I'm just glad I'm not in finance right now

How've you been?

[GOPisEvil]

6. I've been good!

Made the big move to the former Zomby-land.

There are media jobs everywhere; but most of everywhere sucks.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

7. well.

there aren't as many as you'd think, unless i want to move to some small town in idaho, where i'll single-handedly put together the local 4 page newspaper.

i want to work in a city. and there are a lot of jobs in the city... that have already been filled by the people who luckily graduated last year.

[GOPisEvil]

8. Hey, Idaho is really pretty.

Sometimes you gotta do what ya gotta do until what you really want comes along.

At least you have a clue as to what you want. I still have no clue.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

9. That's a tough spot

you're in. In the old days (which seems so far ago I can't even name a year) I would have advised you to 'vote with your feet' better known as going to where the work is. Unfortunately, there is nowhere for any of us to go to find work.
However, tough times never last, but tough people do. Cinch the belt, go without and pinch those pennies......... I have to tell myself the same thing every day.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

10. that usually works, but i live fairly minimally already

there's not much i can truly cut back on. i don't dine out, don't go to movies, don't do much of anything anymore besides the odd concert or DVD rental. I haven't bought any new clothes for myself in probably six months. on top of that, i will soon have student loans to pay off. and no income. not sure what else i can do. The last thing I can do is save on rent and move to a place that isn't so expensive. *shrug* I will have a college degree in May from one of the best private universities in this country, and it feels pretty useless right now...

[Rabrrrrrr]

11. Surely there must be a NYU jobs board posting? There is at Columbia.

The economy is tight, sure - but for the fucking sake of Christ almighty, you are graduating from one of the top schools in the universe. There is NO REASON you can't have a job.

I don't say that to make you feel bad, but to inspire you - your NYU degree is a ticket into any Forbes 500 company, as well as about the next 10,000 of 'em.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

14. There is

People won't believe me on this, but I think there have been 10 postings relevant to my studies on this job board since September.

[Rabrrrrrr]

16. So with ten postings relevant to your studies, you can't find a job because...??

I'm not trying to kick your ass here - I hope that you know, from past postings, I am a HUGE supporter of you - I'm just curious.

Anyway, PM me - I can get you into a company that pays insanely well for secretarial work and has benefits that would make you weep. It will put you somewhat on the Dark Side of the business world, but not entirely, and it's a company with a lot of NYU grads both in the support services (I was an Executive Assistant to a Partner in the Firm) and in the executive level.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

22. I should have clarified that...

I meant to say ten postings since september, that have already expired - they don't even bother deleting old job posts anymore, there's none to fill up the board!

[Connonym]

12. I'm living with my mom

and grateful as hell that she was willing to let me, my 2 kids and my 2 dogs move in. I think I was one of the canaries in the coal mine, my situation started to hurt about 2 years ago. Lost my house in foreclosure and the whole shebang. I'm working 60 hours a week now and hopefully will be able to move out on my own again soon but to tell the truth I'm almost scared to do so because I now feel a financial insecurity that I never felt before and my mom says once I move out I can't move back in. It's some scary times.

Hope things look up for you soon

[Starbucks Anarchist]

13. Check your PM in a few.

[leftofthedial]

15. it's not just graduates

I'm an old fart and I haven't had a "real" job in over 4 years.

[Zomby Woof]

17. Maggie!

I don't have any new advice for you, just the old stand-by: "when life sucks, go to the store".

(Even if all you can afford is an apple or can of soup).

[gmoney]

18. Might have to create your own opportunity...

Can you put together your skills and talents and ingenuity to come up with some new thing that's all yours?

So many self-publishing options, podcasting, blogging, photo sites, etc. Where was drudge or wonkette or fark or even skinner before they stumbled onto their particular formula and made a living for themselves? In the case of Fark and Skinner, it's largely a matter of creating a framework and finding visitors to provide all the content, then hanging advertising or membership fees or whatever off of it and making some moneys.

The good news is that you have skills, and you have at least a few months to get things off the ground.

Somebody once said that nobody ever got rich working for someone else... while I'm no convinced that's entirely true, in the vast majority of jobs a recent college grad can land, that's probably the case. I know you may only wish to "get by" at this point, but you're never going to have more freedom than you do right now.

Hell, make a new home for freepers that's an actual properly designed and functioning website, and make idiotic right wing merch for them to buy, and you could shear those sheep for the next 8 years at least.

[Chan790]

19. Two questions:

One in the way of possible advice, the other to goad some thinking.

1.) Have you considered staying in school for graduate studies? It'll keep you out of the job market for two more years and even the more conservative estimates put us in a recovery by mid 2009. Even if that were horribly devastatingly wrong (and I don't think it will be), it gives you a skills and education advantage over the other schmoes for entry level work.

2.) What makes you different from the pack? (It's an in-your-face challenge question because it's supposed to be. As a former hiring partner, it was my only question.) If you can't tell a prospective employer what sets you apart from the other 1,000 applicants in one simple sentence, you're not going to get the job. What can you alone do, what expertise or talent makes you special?

[grasswire]

20. there are media jobs in government agencies....

...and government jobs are the most secure of all. Washington must be crawling with new jobs right now. You could transfer your skills to something wonderful there. I realize that D.C. isn't NYC, but it is a beautiful and exciting town.

On edit: when I landed in D.C., there were a plethora of jobs at places like the National Zoo, the Smithsonian, the National Press Club, HQ for various NGOs, the Library of Congress, etc., etc. Every entity there has media specialists of one kind or another.

[sasquatch]

21. Move in with me in Dayton Ohio

And I have quick and easy access to handguns that we can use for our "exit strategy".