• You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community, you will have access to additional post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), view blogs, respond to polls, upload content, and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free, so please join our community today! Just click here to register. You should turn your Ad Blocker off for this site or certain features may not work properly. If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us by clicking here.

How do you cope with being unemployed/underemployed

Such Irony

Honor Thy Inferior
Joined
Jul 23, 2010
Messages
5,059
MBTI Type
INtp
Enneagram
5w6
Instinctual Variant
sp/so
So many people I know right now are either unemployed or underemployed. I'm wondering if there is a type correlation as to how one copes with the situation.

So if you're unemployed or underemployed, how are you coping with it? Or if you know others who are, how are they coping? Also how does your coping method tie in with your MBTI or enneagram type?


I'm underemployed. I work two part-time jobs at a total of about 25 hours a week. I'd love to have full-time hours. My situation could be alot worse, at least I am employed.

Sometimes I get down on myself about my work situation. I'm tired of applying for jobs and going to interviews only to get rejected. It's discouraging. Yet, I try not to let it get me down too much.

Introversion works against me because I'm not a natural networker. I'm not much of a self-promotor either. I prefer to wait to let others notice my strengths.

Intuition helps me see various alternatives. I see how my skills could fit various jobs even if they are different than my educational or work experience. It also helps me in gathering alternative perspectives on things. I may only work part-time but I have a whole lot more free-time than many people, which I love. I come up with creative ways to get by on less money so I don't have to sacrifice my standard of living too much.

Thinking helps me not take the situation personally. Not getting a job I want has nothing to do with how good or bad I am as a person. Companies hire who they think will be the best fit for that particular job. Sometimes they already know who they'll hire before they even interview and are just going through the motions. Thinking also helps me see the pros and cons of applying to different jobs. A job may "feel" just right for me, but I have to have something that will pay me an affordable wage.

Perceiving isn't helping me out too much. It's hard to be motivated to do job searching and set a timeframe. I like my free-time alot and searching for jobs doesn't feel like free time. I feel indecisive. I prefer to work in the library field but jobs are few and far between. Do I look for something else? I am flexible and open to many different options and willing to relocate.
 

Zukram.

New member
Joined
Sep 27, 2010
Messages
40
MBTI Type
ISTJ
Enneagram
1w9
I'm fairly young(19), a student, and I live with my parents, so they take care of my basic needs. Also, my class schedule keeps me from actively seeking employment; there's nothing out there for a kid with just a HS diploma but minimum wage jobs folding shirts, or something like that, anyways.

I'd say that for me type has little to do with my unemployment situation. The basic reason why I'm not really out there searching is simple comfort. Like I previously mentioned my parents take care of me, so why should I even bother looking for a job? The motivation just isn't there. I don't really need the money, (except to have extra spending cash for stupid, unnecessary things.) and having to work leaves less time for studying and other activities.

Unless a drastic change in my living situation like my parents throwing me out or something occurs, I don't think I'll be worrying about employment for another year or so --however long it takes me to graduate
 

Amargith

Hotel California
Joined
Nov 5, 2008
Messages
14,717
MBTI Type
ENFP
Enneagram
4dw
Instinctual Variant
sx/so

Nijntje

Warflower
Joined
Jun 7, 2009
Messages
3,130
MBTI Type
CRZY
Enneagram
4w5
Badly either way.

At the start of the year i was over-employed, working 3 jobs (combined total of about 50 hours a week, over xmas/new years in one job alone i put in 47 hours, and STILL worked the other two) AND went to summer school at Uni at the same time.

Needless to say after 3 months of this i burnt out and became an emotional/mental wreck. It also triggered an episode of bipolar that i've been trying to come out from for most of the year.

Now i've cut back on Uni (no classes till December) and am working 1 job part time (17 hours) and 2 casual jobs (getting between 10 and 15 hrs a fortnight between them) and am utterly bored out of my brain.

I've been really lucky in that i haven't actually had to apply for jobs, they've all been offered this year so my natural introversion doesn't become a liability.

But yeah, either way, over or under, i don't cope well.
 

Savage Idealist

Permabanned
Joined
Aug 17, 2010
Messages
2,841
MBTI Type
ENFP
Enneagram
6w7
Instinctual Variant
sp/so
Yeah, being unemployed is depressing ofr me. I mean I'm lucky as is to still be living at home with my family (I'm 21 btw), and almost done community college, but having no means of income makes me feel both useless and bored. I keep filling out online applications, and yet I never get any response back from other employers, it's like no one is willing to hire me. I guess in short the only way that I manage to deal with unemployment is the fact that I'm still living at home, so being unemployed isn't necessarily a bad thing, financial wise, for me.
 

Gerbah

New member
Joined
Oct 6, 2009
Messages
433
MBTI Type
ISTJ
Enneagram
5w4
I keep filling out online applications, and yet I never get any response back from other employers, it's like no one is willing to hire me.

Have you tried going to an employer in person and introducing yourself and expressing your interest in a job face-to-face? It can make a much bigger impact if you "push" the employer (in the right way) into wanting you.
 

INTP

Active member
Joined
Jul 31, 2009
Messages
7,803
MBTI Type
intp
Enneagram
5w4
Instinctual Variant
sx
i raise my hand vigorously while yelling fuck yeah im free! usually i do this 1-3 times a day until job finds me and takes away my freedom
 

Beargryllz

New member
Joined
Jun 7, 2010
Messages
2,719
MBTI Type
INTP
I'm told that nurses can easily obtain many hours of well-paid labor, so it doesn't bother me too much. In the meantime, the lack of income is a limiting factor for me, but not something I dwell on. I do want to move though...
 

FDG

pathwise dependent
Joined
Aug 13, 2007
Messages
5,903
MBTI Type
ENTJ
Enneagram
7w8
Unemployed - pretty badly, I start panicking about my future, how I will manage not to starve. Underemployed - as long as I can manage to meet my current basic expenditures, I actually "love" being underemployed, because I can finally be free from all the obligations that people involuntarily shove over me.
 

skylights

i love
Joined
Jul 6, 2010
Messages
7,756
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
6w7
Instinctual Variant
so/sx
stop eating and stop doing hobbies, and attempt to get web design jobs in my free time.

and be depressed, but hey, at least i lose weight without having to work hard. :shrug:
 

Thalassa

Permabanned
Joined
May 3, 2009
Messages
25,183
MBTI Type
ISFP
Enneagram
6w7
Instinctual Variant
sx
I have never seen the economy this bad, EVAR. When I lived in NC in the
90's the economy was probably the best it has been in my lifetime...too bad I was a teenager then. :dry: When I lived in L.A. the first time, the economy was good. Even living in Vegas after 9/11 we weren't hit as hard as other places in the country because of constant tourism. Then in WV I was in college for most of the time, anyway, and the standard of living is so low there it doesn't matter much at any given time.

I must have been insane to move to L.A. in the middle of this recession (my mother certainly thinks so). I've never been in a major city and called a strip club and had them say "we're so dead we aren't hiring right now." I've never had this much trouble finding and keeping a job.

I was extremely lucky to end up in a nice house in the Valley with a bunch of roommates, and a steady part-time editing job for a kind old man. However, I've had a series of horrible part-time jobs in the mean time (to make up for the fact that editing is part-time)...right now I'm working on straight comission on the Intertardz doing something I'm not sure I would have turned to in different circumstances, though it's really not so bad. One of my roommates is trying to get me a part-time serving job where she works.

Through the worst periods I learned to live off of peanut butter, ramen, beans, and oatmeal. Yum. Although I will say being poor in CA beats the hell out of being poor in WV, it just does. Of course, I wouldn't be saying that if I was on the street...but fortunately, that's not the case. :)
 

Rebe

New member
Joined
Nov 15, 2009
Messages
1,431
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4sop
very badly

i am underemployed not in terms of hours but in terms of the sort of job i am doing. sure, i haven't graduated college yet so it's realistic and i am lucky to make a good amount of money but i work long hours. and i hate dealing with these people who complain that the ice cubes are 50 cents...ZOMG...or that the bottles are 2.05 instead of just 2...ZOMG...or whatever stupid, stupid thing. ugh. hard time dealing. but i do enjoy my money and i think i'm a bit spoiled and grandiose in my thinking. but still...meh.
 

Walking Tourist

it's tea time!
Joined
Nov 11, 2008
Messages
1,452
MBTI Type
esfp
Enneagram
7
I am definitely underemployed. I am just doing a variety of little part-time jobs... gardening, housecleaning, a little office work... and I'm going to be a part-time companion to an elderly lady. My degree is in journalism, but there are no jobs. My most recent freelance journalism job bit the dust more than a year ago. I think that my journalism career is deader than a doorknocker. It is time for a career change.
It can be discouraging. I'm trying not to let this employment situation get me discouraged, though. I have plenty of free time for music and art, however. Since I am doing all freelance type of work, I get to set my own schedule. That is a huge benefit.
 

nolla

Senor Membrane
Joined
May 22, 2008
Messages
3,166
MBTI Type
INFP
I have quite a different situation, since I live in Finland and we get to study free and so on, but I've been on welfare since my studies started seven years ago. I've had a couple of projects, but mostly I've been unemployed after the school. I don't have to worry about starving, so I can be a bit picky and not take jobs that are not my field... so I guess I don't have it too bad.

It seems that the long time poverty has made me shape my life to fit the amount of money. I don't really worry about it too much. This is in a way good thing, but then again, if I am too comfortable I am not trying too hard either. So, the P doesn't help me get jobs, but it helps me not to freak out about my less than ideal situation. My introversion is the thing that does the most damage. I hate "bragging" myself, and I am perfectionist, so I will always say what I could improve. Apparently they don't want to hear negative stuff in the interview. Not that I often get to go to an interview. My F is giving me trouble as well, since I don't see any point working for assholes.

I don't have any problem with N. That one is good.
 

Tamske

Writing...
Joined
Oct 22, 2009
Messages
1,764
MBTI Type
ENTP
I'm unemployed at the moment. Hate it.
I can write all day now. Writing is my passion and technically, I should be as happy as pie because I've got my dream life: even if I don't earn anything with it, I can act as if I'm a professional writer! I've got two problems with it.

1) I don't want to be the poor and hopeful writer who depends on her husband (and on the social security) for ever. Always promising a masterwork, always writing badly and never improving and never getting a "real" job. This is a nightmare. I don't want to be like that. That's why I want a job. As long as I don't earn enough money with my writing, I want to see it as a hobby. Something I don't need to pay the bills.

2) I need the interaction. I need the regularity of a job to get out and get my daily dose of input. I'm both an E and a P - I need external pressure to function at my fullest.

How do I cope? My husband gives me very short deadlines for my story. Daily ones. Or I set them up myself and tell him "This is what I want to get done today". Just the fact that somebody else knows of my goals, helps me to reach them! This takes care of problem #2, but problem #1 still is there. I'd prefer a job. But. As long as I'm jobless, I don't want to idle. Not writing because I'd like it too much and need to do something boring instead of work - that's nonsense. The time is there to be used.
 

October Rust

New member
Joined
Nov 18, 2010
Messages
77
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
4w5
Badly. Sitting around not doing much except the things that I am required to do by the government in order to find work (which takes up enough time in itself). I find that at least if I have something to do, I don't end up thinking negatively as often and am happier overall. I keep imagining that any job I do manage to get will be something I hate and that I will be stuck doing it forever! :( I hate interviews and the idea of "selling myself" so it's pretty hard for me to get something :/ Also, I'm 17 and I've never had a job before.. and everybody wants experience...
 

Synapse

New member
Joined
Dec 29, 2007
Messages
3,359
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4
Its amusing, I am overdeveloped yet underemployed. :D

This'll change but its like twigging my feet at the inflection of phlegm.
 

Synapse

New member
Joined
Dec 29, 2007
Messages
3,359
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4
The amount of underemployed options I'm accruing at the moment, mind boggling, its like I have to buy a broom.
 

Robopop

New member
Joined
Mar 28, 2010
Messages
692
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
5w4
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
I think things like retirement(at like 65) is going to be a thing of the past, austerity might be coming to america, it's already shown it's ugly face in europe.
 
Top