OT: officially lost my job today :(

All employees laid off. Including managers. About 9 stores out of 17 nationally have closed. I heard that the entire company may have to shut down in the near future.

The location where I work[ed] only survived 1.5 years. I participated in putting our store together, and in dismantling it. How ironic:(

I have never been this exhausted physically [..and mentally].

Retail isn't for me anyway. It's incredible how dumb and aggressive customers are [and they consider themselves "artists"]. But it was a job [8 bucks/hour] and I was thankful for having it despite the very low income and not having been able to find something better with my BA since December 2007 when I graduated from college... at age 39.

I don't know. They say things happen for a reason and I really hope it's true. Maybe something better will come my way, if I'm lucky.

English-French/French-English translation would be my dream job. Unfortunately I have no "connections".

I lived here in the US for 14 years now, and my only "achievement" was my education [9 years part-time to get a BA]. I struggled hard [learning the language, making friends, working hard, feeling alone, missing my family, etc etc]. If this economic situation remains, I may have to re-immigrate again, but this time back to my own country.

Being Arab doesn't help these days, either. Not only did my life nearly turned upside down after 9/11, but some shmuck, again, tries to blow up a plane nearly a decade later and make things worse...again, and my entire country [among many others], halfway around the world from the US, ends up on an "Alert List" in an instant. It really hurts to be stereotyped this way. I am an individual, not a group of individuals. But this is a different story..

I have hope and optimism despite all the {censored} that the fan is throwing at me.

As far as work, I hope the best for all of you here and elsewhere who have lost their jobs.

Sincerely,

Benyoucef.

Really sorry to hear this, man. Really sorry. I sincerely hope you'll get your way around these recent developments. You're a cool guy and there must be some light at the end of the tunnel for you

Somebody help this guy get that translation job! He deserves it!

WHat stores was it?

I'm sorry to hear that.

Earlier this month we had one person quit here without being replaced, and now my boss's boss quit today. This really kind of gives out signals that people are anticipating either layoffs or maybe even the shutdown of the office that I work at. I've been looking at the market in the event something happens and it's not really looking good for my field right now.

By the way, back in 2001, after the 9/11 attacks, I felt very much that everybody I knew in America didn't really trust anybody from outside the country - including me, a Brazilian, from a nation that doesn't get involved in wars or anything like that, ever... but it got better and people started treating me normally again. Hopefully, things will get better for you again, too.

to make you feel better I lost my job year ago and since then didn't have luck to find something stable. But this has good sides too - more time for playing!

Sorry to hear the bad news. Everything happens for a reason. I hope better will come out of this.

I am sorry to hear about your job loss. The times are certainly tough and retail stores of all types are going under everywhere.

I would look for a new job concentrating on your skills and accomplishments. Your retail job may have not payed a lot of money but if you have a good track record with your previous employer and have established yourself as a hard and reliable worker, then that is a plus to add on to your resume.

If you speak English, French, and Arabic and a have a BA college degree then you also have a set of skills that may be of interest in business and government offices as a teacher, translator, or business development or human relations assistant specializing in certain areas of the world. I am not sure if you are a US citizen, and many jobs may require US citizenship but some may not.

Awww, Medi I'm real sorry to hear that. The more stories I hear of folks being laid off, the more thankful I am that I still have a job. Less perks, even a pay cut, but still employed, knock on wood.

Somebody hook this man up for some gainful (and satisfying) employment!

if you want to move to peoria il, push heavy road cases around and be my overall audio bitch - feel free you won't get paid much, but you might get to meet megadeth. even live sound is struggling in this environment though.

i'm sorry to hear about the loss. i've had a company go under beneath my feet, it was very upsetting.

you should just go for broke and push hard for what you're good at.

Good luck to you. It sucks that you have to be put through this after working so hard. Coming to a foreign country, earning a degree whilst working, making friends during hostile times. Man, you have the right stuff.

I felt your pain man! I'm too an immigrant and lost my job back in 2007, just a few months before I got married . I struggled in early 2000 after the dotcom bubble burst then again in the recent fall of subprime lender both profession related. I decided to go back to school and got my degree and doing something I love. I got an internship recently and hopefully it will be permanent if they think I'm fit for the job. It's sure is suck being 40, married, with kid, and an old intern. Oh well, it's not much but still pay the bills and some used gears. Lord knows how many resumes I sent out and dodged so many family members and friends when asked of my employment status. Best of luck to you and keep on pushing!

Really sorry to hear that Mediterranean.

There's a lot of it going round, i'm losing mine end of march early april and a whole bunch of people at the centre where i work too, a couple with me and the rest probably in July barring a miracle.

Try not to let the racist {censored} get to you too. Try to remember that it's not personal, personal is about who you are as an individual, and these are idiots who believe the bollocks the media spins outand use it as an excuse for bad behaviour. Things have been {censored}ter here too i think since 9/11 and 7/7, we have asylum seekers sleeping on the streets and starving or eating garbage because they can't work or claim benefits, but the papers just cherry pick stories of 'evil immigrants' coming here to steal our money and jobs, and the dip{censored}s believe that.

Sometimes i think about getting out too, my own 'countrymen' scare me more than 'terrorists'

sorry to hear the news Benyoucef.

best wishes finding work.

hopefully in january 2011 you'll be able to look back on this as a positive step forward in your life.

Sounds like you're downplaying this. Why? According to the 2004 US census, only 28% had attained at least a bachelor

It's true losing a job you don't like can help to get your life more on the right path. It's like a loving kick in the ass.

At that same time I don't think EVERYTHING happens for a reason. I mean there is such thing as meaningless tragedy.

exactly, the only thing matter is good health anything else is just a illusion.

Mediterranean - First of all, congratulations on getting your college degree, especially at that age. That shows quite a bit of persistence and determination. I envy you in that regard.

Unfortunately, my guess would be that the most amount of work for French-speaking people in the US involves teaching others to speak French. You don't say what your degree is in, but perhaps you could combine that expertise with your language skills.

It's unfortunate that you lost your job, but as you well know, you are not alone. I was basically laid off from my employer in early 2008 in a management re-org, after a 17-year career with the same company. Other than doing some freelance consulting, I was unable to find a suitable full-time job until last October. I am 52 years old and have no degree.

These are difficult times here in the US and around the world. The job/economic situation isn't likely to improve significantly for quite a while. If your degree from an American college holds more value in your native country, it may make sense to return there. Otherwise, I believe that there will continue to be more opportunity here in the US, regardless of race or heritage.

Employ the same determination to find new work as you did to attain your degree and you'll be ahead of most everyone else. Good luck to you.

Sorry to hear- Mediterranean and Purity

Benyoucef - to be honest it sounds like you've been putting a lot of effort in already and overcoming problems that lots of people never have to worry about. I hope you find a way to market your French skills. It has to be worth applying for as many jobs as possible in that area. Just the experience of trying is good - presenting yourself well needs a bit of trial and error.

Good luck.

As for the race issue, no one you should care about will judge you by your race.

Based on your skill set the most obvious choice is to enlist. Not sure if they would take you given your age. Either that or you should be researching international companies that do a fair portion of their work in france or back home, maybe something like an international airline stewardess where the multiple language thing is a plus. Dunno. My advice to anyone has always been to get a technical degree if your going to get one.

If your local I could get you a job starting within a week but it wouldn't pay much.

BA's are pretty worthless, they are too easy to get in most cases. BS is a different story entirely. With a BS your often more markettable than if you have a masters. I generally don't hire masters as they want more $$, usually have less experience, and just don't end up being as effective of an employee as a BS is. Less than 10% of those working for me have a BA, most have a BS. If someone doesn't have a degree they don't get an interview.

But yes, this whole situation does suck but it's all of our faults. Very few people could afford what they actually bought in the last 10 years and now it's time to pay the piper. The amount of overspending on this forum for stuff people don't need is rediculous as it is.

That is so not true. You need your health obviously but you need other things as well.

Hang in there Mediterranean. Apologies for our small-minded, fearful culture.

I really have to disagree on the race/stereotype thing to an extent. Stereotyping is a survival instinct pure and simple, it's always going to be with us.

If you eat something that taste terrible you stereotype it and tend to avoid eating it again even though it may have been how it was prepared, etc. It's the same with people and races. Have a bad occurance with a particular person of a certain race and a stereotype forms.

Often stereotypes are true, but there are always exceptions. For example you go to McD's and get a burger, the girl taking your order is a certain race that isn't the primary race in the given country. Your stereotype that the person is uneducated and living at or below the poverty level is most likely true.

Stereotypes allow us to make quick decisions based on previous experience. If we didn't have and use them our species would have died off long ago. You can even see stereotypes in animals such as cats and dogs. If a cat or dog has been abused they will avoid other people as well as the abuser, a.k.a. they have stereotyped people.

It's just a reality we all have to deal with.

like what? There are so many unhappy rich people out there that we should know by now money will not give you happiness. Once you have good health all you is ...

[YOUTUBE]NzJ2NKp23WU[/YOUTUBE]

I'm guessing your degree isn't in English.

You'd have to be absolutely insane to enlist in the military. I wouldn't be afraid of getting killed by "terrorist insurgents". I'd be more afraid of dying by the hands of my superior officers.

US admits to 50 secret tests of bio weapons on troops

Biological weapons testing on unwitting military personnel

US Soldiers unwittingly exposed to radiation during nuclear weapons testing

Gulf War Syndrome

Also, just type these phrases into Google:

"GI's denied military benefits"

"military recruiters lie"

Sure not everyone has these experiences, but with a track record like that would you really trust them AT ALL with your safety and your life? I wouldn't. Especially if I had a wife and/or family to provide for.