It is here I want to describe stories of myself being homeless on and off the last four years. It is often enough a sort of forced lifestyle that most people are unfamiliar with where here I wish to put a spotlight upon.
From time to time I wish to share stories here of my various expiriences.
The Wisconsin winter of 2009
It was during the winter of 2009 within Kenosha that I came upon a homeless encampement under a highway where seven individuals were sleeping and residing.
It was the day after a horrible ice and snow storm from the night before.
While everybody in the surrounding neighborhood were warm and smug in their houses by that of a regulated thermostat it was here that seven individuals kept warm by a fire in open metal containers fed by the local brush.
I met once such individual out of the seven where one of his hands was missing two fingers.
I asked him how he lost his two fingers to which he replied by the two winters before where he layed over exposed during one night.
Being homeless that winter I took heed to the warning of the man and kept guard against frost bite on my hands.
Most of the individuals there were homeless because they couldn’t afford a living on their retirement pensions.
Pretty much. Hard work does not matter in this country anymore. It is all about working smarter as that is the familar catch line anymore where those that are successful can watch their impoverished unemployed neighbors and local community from their luxory cars driving by on the road.
You’re smart enough to get a job. There is an emphasis on having a professional resume lately because of the competition that’s out there with respect to how many applicants are applying for certain jobs.
If you think it would be helpful, if you would like to E-Mail me a copy of your resume as a Word Attachment, I will look it over and send you back the original and a, “Corrected,” version. From there you can keep whatever changes you want or do not want.
By the way, at the hotel I manage, I have taken in four applications THIS YEAR, so your 450 applicants for one job opening excuse sucks.
Smart I am, however lucky or financially well to do definitely I am not where in this world that is all which matters.
It is also about who you know too where I don’t know many to alleviate my situation any.
That certainly is the case anymore with the competition of trying to get simple menial low income jobs because there just isn’t that many job openings anymore.
You have to fill out a damn cover letter for Mcdonalds or Starbucks anymore.
The fact that low income menial jobs is the only thing available anymore only describes the decline of this country.
I will think about it. Since I have not been able to keep a steady job the last five to six years my resume looks like a train wreck.
I have had to re-invent myself in lies over and over again on the resume just to make myself look presentable.
I of course would alter it a bit to where you would not be able to track my identity.
I doubt it would do any good but maybe a big shot hotel manager like yourself could give such a simpleton like myself some pointers that I haven’t thought about already.
I live in a big city. Where do you live? A small town of four hundred?
I see you live in Ohio. Cleveland? Cincinnati?
You will find that the situations and problems are more complex in larger population densities.
I strongly disagree with your assessment. I haven’t had any, “Ins,” at any job at which I have ever worked with exception to the hotel in Kansas City, but even that was just me bullshitting with the guy a few times when I stayed at that hotel. Technically, my Father and I worked at the same location where he was a night manager and I worked day shift. However, where I started out there they hired all-comers and I eventually made it up to supervisor. He eventually became the general manager for that location and that prevented me, actually, from becoming day shift manager because he could not be my direct superior. So, having him there actually prevented me from advancing as much as I would have!
It’s not the only thing available, again, it’s just a matter of knowing where to look. For example, we have a number of natural gas drilling rigs coming in relatively close to here, and in order to get a job on one of those, you just have to have a High School Diploma or G.E.D., know your head from your asshole, generally speaking, and be willing to work around eighty hours a week. (Six days, and includes you getting paid one hour just for driving to work and back home)
Furthermore, the coal mines around here are constantly hiring, and all you need to do for that is take a two-week class for $400 to get your certification and actually be good at making it LOOK like you’re doing something. The only people that get fired from the coal mines get fired, not because they’re not doing anything, but because they’re not doing anything and don’t look like they’re doing anything!!! Basically, if you’re six hours into your shift and your face is clean, you’re fucked.
Don’t lie about anything falsifiable. In fact, come up with some service that you’re good at and say you’ve been doing it independently the entire time, one service. Tell them sometimes you make enough to live on just by doing that, and other times you have needed to supplement your income by taking a part-time or full-time job.
Yes, alter the resume, of course. I don’t really care about your identity, though. I’d only be doing it because you seem to be a genuine enough and entertaining guy on here that it would not be a waste of time to help you out to whatever extent that I can.
I’m not a big shot at anything. I manage a medium-sized name brand hotel just like thousands of people in this country do. My income is sufficient to provide for my needs and for me to own a house, but I’m almost certain I make less than you would think I do, especially given that I work 60-70 hours per week.
I’ll do my best to give you a few pointers, though.
1.) Streamline Your Application
-Basically, if you apply to a company with multiple locations in your vicinity, then you can apply on-line (and usually it’s for a specific location), but through the company’s website you can also submit your application at any other location without having to re-type it. Basically, five minutes and a few clicks of the mouse can take you from applying at one location to applying at ten.
2.) Double-Up Your Applications
-You never know whether a manager prefers to look at on-line applications, or whether the manager prefers physical applications. For example, you can only apply to this hotel physically as I don’t care to go through on-line applications, and therefore, have no system by which you can do that. One way to double-up applications is to apply at the same location both on-line and physically.
-Another way to double-up your applications, if you think it is a location that takes many applications, is to request two applications. What you will then do is fill one out and submit it on the spot, and then you will fill another out and submit it a few days later. Obviously, for a place that gets a ton of applicants, the manager is not even going to look at every single one, so having two in the stack simply improves your odds of having it looked at.
3.) When it Concerns How Much You Get Paid
-The best thing you can do with this is to call a location anonymously, or give a fake name, and inquire as to what people in a certain position that has been advertised start at. On your application, you can then request a LOWER starting salary. You will end up getting paid whatever the starting wage for the position is regardless, but if you request more money, then you may not be called because management may be concerned that you will be unhappy with what the job pays or will refuse. However, if you request a lower (not much lower) amount, then management will be under the impression that you will be very satisfied to find that you are actually going to be getting more money than that and start off with a good attitude with the company.
4.) Grammar
-Do not misspell words on your application or resume. Do not make grammatical errors of any kind. Do not use stereotypical words, “Hard-working, motivated, dedicated,” be specific about what you can bring to the company. I could give an example for everything, but obviously, every applicant is going to say that he/she is hard-working, so that doesn’t do shit for me. In jobs where attendance is important, specifically state that you have an open schedule, do not miss work, and are willing to be the go-to guy in case someone calls off.
-The spelling/grammar is most important. If you misspell something that anyone breathing should be able to spell, I’m putting your application in the bottom of the stack. I’ve had people that have misspelled the names of companies that were their alleged previous employers…I’m not ever going to call you if that happens.
5.) Request a Manager (Menial Jobs Only)
-After you have filled out your application, ask if you can speak to the manager. I would say that, maybe 1:5 times, your initiative will get you an interview. Another 1:5 times, the manager may not be able to talk to you, but your initiative will get you a scheduled interview. Always ask for an interview time if the manager is not able to talk, but do it casually, “Would there be a better time I could come and discuss this position with you?” I would say that 2:5 times it has no effect, and only 1:5 times does it actually annoy someone. Fuck them. If it annoys them, you don’t want to be that person’s subordinate anyway.
-I always interview people that ask for an interview when they apply. I don’t always hire them because they are often idiots, but it’s a break from the monotony.
6.) One Week Before Follow-Up
-If you apply, wait at least a week before you follow-up call. If someone were to call me today about the status of an application that person submitted yesterday, I’m probably never going to speak to them again, “Bottom of the stack.”
7.) An Assumption to Make
-Always assume you’re talking to the manager! Always dress well, even if you’re just filling out an application. Behave professionally at all times. I’ll have girls come in here in sweats, cut-off shorts, whatever, and fill out an application. Bottom of the stack it goes. Actually, screw bottom of the stack, I’m legally bound to hold applications for ninety days and I have a seperate folder titled, “People I Will Never Hire,” that’s where it goes. There are people that do not say, “Please,” and, “Thank you,” and otherwise are rude, condescending, and do not behave professionally. It’s a mid-size hotel, so I’m almost always working at the desk, simultaneously, when I’m here. 90% of my shift I’m the only employee in the building!
I trick people. My nametag just has the hotel’s logo and my name and does not say, “Manager,” partially for that reason. I want to see how people are going to act when they are NOT right in front of their potential manager, then I know what they intend to do when I am not around!
The population of this county is between 50,000-100,000. The population of the city in which I work is between 5,000-10,000. The population of the Census-Designated Place in which I live is between 0-2000. All told, if you put a dot on the map where I work and drew a circle that went 20 miles at its most extreme points, the population density would be around 300/square mile. That’s a little over half the density of Kenosha. However, it would seem that Kenosha has higher Median House Value, Lower Unemployment, and less individuals below the Federal Poverty Line than this general area, percentage-wise.
On a side note, I used to be a really stereotypical Socialist, straight Party-Lines, to the extent that we have them. I was incredibly forgiving, but then I have spent years looking at all of these people that just don’t want to work, and it’s ridiculous. In the summer, when I desperately need housekeepers, I’ll only get a handful of applicants, few of them worth a shit, and I can’t get myself to full staff levels when I’ll hire from all but the absolute bottom of the barrel, it’s crazy! 60% of everyone around here is on some kind of Government Assistance, and nobody wants to actually do anything to make any cash.
I’ve determined that the problem is not necessarily with the entitlement programs, though, it’s with the amount of money people make. It’s mathematically pointless for some people to have a job because once it gets factored into welfare, they basically work for four hours to see better money as though they had worked one hour. The food stamps they lose often equate to about 75% of what they take home from the job, so really, they’d often be working for $2.50/hour, effectively. The only types of single-mothers you really see applying get minimal state assistance because the child support is pretty good, so it’s actually worth it for them to work, they might still lose all of the food stamp benefits, but they could be working four hours to see three hours pay after that’s considered.
It’s fucking stupid. You wouldn’t even need entitlement programs if people were simply paid fairly and couples would remain married, or never get married (or have kids) in the first place. We live in a throw-away society, though. You can throw away your kids, you can throw away marriage, nobody has to commit to anything anymore…
made some very practical and productive points there that are even helpful for me. for instance, I think I blew my chances at a job once because I fucked up the part about what I desired to be paid. my dad was telling me to give a higher number to the company when I interviewed than I originally wanted to. I originally reasoned similarly to you and was going to give a fairly conservative reply (even or slightly less than what I assumed they would be willing to pay me), but I took my dad’s advice after they already said they wanted to hire me and told them I had a higher pay in mind because I had come from a higher paying job. …that was a mistake. I never got a call back after that or got the email they were supposed to send with my contract details… though, I might be better off not working there after all.
anyway, lots of good practical points and suggestions.
Thanks again, Fuse, and you’re absolutely right about what happened with that company.
The problem is, from a manager’s standpoint, you would have an employee who is starting the job unhappy and disenfranchised with the company because he (seems to) think the company is fucking him compared to the money he is supposed to be getting. He’s not eager to have the job, he’s pissed because he’s working for less than he should be. It can also be presumed, that if he’s working for less than he thinks he should get, most of his attention is going to be focused on trying to get a different job still instead of the task at hand!!!
Sometimes, you also have to underplay your qualifications. I took that call center job when I first moved back to this area because the base wage was OK, the bonuses/commissions were great (and I know I can sell) and you could work all of the overtime you wanted. I would decide what my paycheck would be every two weeks, basically, because if I wasn’t going to commission very well, I could compensate for it by working more hours than usual! Oh yeah, and the job was, EASY!!!
In any case, I was also offered a job at two different distribution centers and a dairy manufacturing plant. Even though I had a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics, do you think I mentioned that when applying for, “General Laborer,” or do you think I went ahead and knocked myself down a peg mentioning only my Associate’s Degree or sometimes H.S. Diploma only?
I wasn’t entirely truthful about the work history, either. You know something about work history, though? If you fill employment gaps or, “Replace,” jobs with other jobs, all you really have to do is know what single-place locations around you have closed! If I say that, three years ago, I worked at a place that’s been closed for two years, and therefore, has no phone number or independent records, how could you prove me wrong? They’d have no reason not to believe me!
I know how to take a piss and wipe my ass too.
