Need help Im broke

[TickTock]

I moved to new York from the UK at the start of the summer and haven't been able to find any work. The cost of living has almost wiped me out, I don't have enough of the next months rent. I did come over with a substantial amount (inheretance, it breaks my heart it's almost all gone) but being in a new place means you don't always know the cheapest way of doing things. I have been trying to stay calm and positive, and it has been working but I am starting to really panic now. I am a bartender and there is nothing around. I'm not asking to be rich I just want enough money to eat and have a roof over my head. Does anyone have any advice? In the UK there is the doll, and there are temping agencies that always have work. And if you're wondering how they let me in to begin with Im dual.

 

[Charmed Justice]

Sounds like my life in college. Can't borrow any money from friends or family?

 

[JAVO]

There are no bars in New York?

There are temp agencies here too. You could probably get a waiter/waitress/host job with your experience until something else comes up.

 

[TickTock]

Well I've probably been to every bar in the city. There are no jobs I meant to say. Where and how do I go about temping agencies? I've tried finding out but have yet to come up with anything useful.

Haven't told family I'm so fudged. But the only realistic help they could offer would be moving back... Not something I want to do.

 

[Alwar]

The U.S. is in serious economic recession, consider selling weed.

 

[Alwar]

Seriously, can you get back to the UK?

 

[TickTock]

At the expense of someone in my family. But then what I've spent 4 months away looking for a job while I burnt my way through a round the world trip worth of money. I go back to nothing, this move was supposed to be my launching pad and I've taken five stepsback. I keep telling myself something will give... There must be something...

 

[JAVO]

Just throwing out ideas...

• Talk/network with other bartenders
• Get feedback from them: maybe your strategy, approach, or presentation is wrong and that's why you're not getting hired
• Look in yellow page phone book for "temp agency"
• Head out to the suburbs if the hunting in the city is no good
• Try applying at some chain restaurants: Olive Garden, Max & Erma's, Applebees
• Just get any job you can to get some income
• Hospitals and universities seem to always need some kind of help
• See if there's a friend who will let you stay for a month for low or no rent

 

[TickTock]

The U.S. is in serious economic recession, consider selling weed.

The world is... There are no jobs in the uk either. Friends of mine who have graduated are doing telesales or teaching.

 

[Alwar]

Well, so long as you aren't going to end up on the streets. This is happening to a lot of people, it happened to me last year in California.

 

[OrangeAppled]

I'm sorry . Seeing the savings drain when jobless is such a bummer.

Try the temp agencies, and apply at every business you see. Even minimum wage jobs are hard to nab lately though.

 

[TickTock]

Just throwing out ideas...

• Talk/network with other bartenders
• Get feedback from them: maybe your strategy, approach, or presentation is wrong and that's why you're not getting hired
• Look in yellow page phone book for "temp agency"
• Head out to the suburbs if the hunting in the city is no good
• Try applying at some chain restaurants: Olive Garden, Max & Erma's, Applebees
• Just get any job you can to get some income
• Hospitals and universities seem to always need some kind of help
• See if there's a friend who will let you stay for a month for low or no rent

Universites and hospitals sounds good... The thing with applebees and that king of thing my resume is too good. I've given it to some bars and they tell me to hit the upper east side, where there is zilch. I am rewriting my CV and blitzing it tomorrow. I would do anything, but I even saw a job advertised as a 'sandwich artist' wanted. ' : /

 

[OrangeAppled]

Universites and hospitals sounds good... The thing with applebees and that king of thing my resume is too good. I've given it to some bars and they tell me to hit the upper east side, where there is zilch. I am rewriting my CV and blitzing it tomorrow. I would do anything, but I even saw a job advertised as a 'sandwich artist' wanted. ' : /

Create several versions of your resume. You need to "dumb it down" for the little jobs, or else, yeah, they know you're overqualified and will bail as soon as a better opportunity comes along. Some jobs, don't even bother with a resume. Just fill out their application; that's all they expect.

Keep in mind, this is coming from another unemployed person

 

[JAVO]

OrangeAppled gives good advice. I was going to post the same thing. Even at higher levels, people "dumb down" their resume. I have a friend who casually omitted her PhD from her resume and application because she wanted a job where she didn't need her PhD!

 

[TickTock]

Just throwing out ideas...

• Talk/network with other bartenders
• Get feedback from them: maybe your strategy, approach, or presentation is wrong and that's why you're not getting hired
• Look in yellow page phone book for "temp agency"
• Head out to the suburbs if the hunting in the city is no good
• Try applying at some chain restaurants: Olive Garden, Max & Erma's, Applebees
• Just get any job you can to get some income
• Hospitals and universities seem to always need some kind of help
• See if there's a friend who will let you stay for a month for low or no rent

Universites and hospitals sounds good... The thing with applebees and that king of thing my resume is too good. I've given it to some bars and they tell me to hit the upper east side, where there is zilch. I am rewriting my CV and blitzing it tomorrow. I would do anything, but I even saw a job advertised as a 'sandwich artist' wanted. ' : /

 

[Athenian200]

There's not much work in the U.S. right now. You might have been better off staying in the U.K. and going on the dole while you sought work. It's a lot harder to get on welfare here (our equivalent of the dole) than there, from what I've heard.

I'd say, first of all, drop your standards and expectations. Don't limit yourself to looking for jobs you want, or jobs you have experience with. Be willing to accept minimum wage, and find a way to live on it. In other words, if you've been paying $1000+ for an apartment in New York, you've got to find some way to quit doing that. I don't know how, and I don't know what the heck New Yorkers do, but you'll have to. It's a horribly expensive way to live, and it's not feasible unless you have a *good* job.

First of all, try to get on some kind of welfare program. Your situation might be desperate enough that you qualify. It's worth a shot.

It might be cheaper to use UPS Mailbox service (an improved P.O. Box) as your "permanent mailing address," and free yourself up to sleep wherever you can find. If you're bad off enough, you might need to get a gym membership with a gym that has a shower and a locker as well, so you can store your essential belongings and shower after you've slept in the street (though I'd think surely someone out there would be willing to help so you wouldn't have to). In this case, you'll want to get library memberships so you can do research online, in the newspapers and such, etc. The biggest priority is making sure you have access to a shower and a change of clothes. That's actually more important than having a safe place to sleep, or even food (it's water you can't live without, and water is free) despite what your instincts might tell you, because that's what you need to get hired.

New York is an unreasonably expensive place to live, from what I've read. There's not an apartment there that costs less than $1000, not even a cockroach-infested one that's been horribly maintained. It's too bad you didn't come to a cheaper area that wouldn't have eaten your money so quickly.

Good luck. Humanity is a completely unfair and screwed up thing during bad economic times. They force and hold you backwards, prevent you from getting ahead. I personally think the people who already have jobs and experience have used their positions to conspire to keep new workers from entering the workforce.

 

[Spamtar]

A lot of good stuff has been said make note. See if a friend can hook you up with a job, even part time or handyman, cash lasts longer while money coming in.
Check out craigslist for new jobs as they appear. See if you can find a headhunter to assist you. Go around in person to places that are hiring, with a bunch of resumes and a stapler, don't spend time filling out the application just staple your CV and move on to the next.
Mediate and focus and write out of list of what you are going to do to get a job and the longest you can before you run out of cash. Have a bail out date to leave you apartment and head back to UK without blowing your renter history credit in the U.S.
Consider telling your parents or close relative. Everybody fucks up or gets some point in their life, fear only messes it up more. It is common courtesy if the worst case scenario happens and most likely they will want to help you/mitigate your damages because they love you.
Stay positive and outwardly detached like it was a game. Write a diary so when you get the cool job and have a bad day you can look back to this time and say whew!

God Bless

 

[TickTock]

Didn't mean to post that twice. Will nothing go right !!!! :'

Thanks OA good advice, that did cross my mind. I'll see what I can come up with on the rewrite.

On another note, I did wonder if my Latino surname a could hold me back because in the UK it's exotic but here it's a different story. I don't know, I'm not up on that kind of thing here. Ps I don't mean to offend anyone with that, I'm just being pragmatic.

 

[JAVO]

On another note, I did wonder if my Latino surname a could hold me back because in the UK it's exotic but here it's a different story. I don't know, I'm not up on that kind of thing here. Ps I don't mean to offend anyone with that, I'm just being pragmatic.

Might be a mark against you some places with some people. Maybe try using it (and your ethnicity?) to your advantage at a Mexican or Italian (or whatever) place which tries for an authentic image?

 

[TickTock]

Where would I go for welfare advice?

I would have come over here or gone to a different part of the globe had I know, but the time seemed right to leave, Ive always wanted to be here and I listened to all the heresay of how east I'd find it...

Thanks Athenian and Spamtar. What I need to hear.