JCC Walmart & Tunick... finito!

That's great Tunes!

 

How's your toe fungus?

 

Tunick, for the love of all that is holy, MILK THAT WAIVER FOR ALL IT IS WORTH!!

 

I know it's kinda late to reply to this but I can't help myself:

When do you bathe, you filthy hippy?

Also, congrats Tunick on the waiver. Hopefully this is a sign of more good things coming your way. And take care of that toenails fungus.

 

So, I'm either going to take -all of this assumes there's space in any of these classes for them to add me- a T/Th Speech or a M/W Speech class & a Thursday Cinema class. As my claim/case, etc, continues to gets processed, all I have for now is that fee waiver.


It's slightly unnerving, but the majority of family & friends I know seemed puzzled or are against this idea, while the majority of folks here support it. Oh well.



And, until I get a definitive answer/amount, etc, about any financial aid I could get, I'm not giving up on my job search.

 

I edited this thread's title to make it compliant with the new era.

 

Never stop searching for a new job. Even when you have one.

 

Tunick, the waiver has fine print around maintaining the grooming standard at all times. Adhere to it. Look like the person you want to be. And if that person has a neckbeard, then aspire to look like a better person than that!

 

When you consider the fact that the current unemployment rate for the Los Angeles area is 8%, a full point and a half higher than the national average, you will need every bit of help you can get. A degree will work in your favor and open many doors which were previously closed off to you, especially after your year and a half of being out of a job with very few prospects on the horizon. I'm just as puzzled as to why your friends and family would be so confused about this.

 

It's not they're confused, or ignorant about it... its just that they'd prefer I get a job -whatever job that might be- first, earn & save my own money for a time -after paying off my ever-increasing debt- , and then go back to school. Yeah, yeah, the search has been long & exhausting, but they don't want me to give up on that.


And for what it's worth, to give a little context here: some members of that camp never finished college themselves, but managed still to find work & careers, and have lived their lives nicely, raising families & the like. So, duh, they're bringing in their own biases here.

 

That's all well and good, but still...make your own decisions based on what you want and need. Don't let anyone - be it family, friend or foe - influence those decisions.

 

That I can understand. I'm in IT and at least half of the industry either dropped out of or never bothered with college. But many of those same people have mad skills which many college grads don't have, it is much like a trade in a way. With that being said, your situation is pretty grim at the moment. Being out of work for a year and a half is a giant strike against you in the eyes of most employers. Unless you have a damned good excuse, most folks would thank you for coming in and never give you the time of day again. Now if you can turn it around and put a different spin on your time out of the workforce and say "I was going back to school" then many employers will look at your time out of the workforce in a wholly different light and be willing to extend you some breaks which you may not have received otherwise, especially when they look at your background and realize that it is just Wally World for a decade and not much else.

 

You can go to school and work at the same time. I worked full time and did five college classes for some time. College is not a get out of work card.

 

yep. i got my bachelor's degree while working two jobs the entire time.

 

Obviously.. hell, I did it for 5-years ('04-'09) when at Walmart. But, thus far -especially with many, if not all the retail jobs I've applied to/have interviewed for- this summer, having that complete & open availability helps. Yeah, I know I have struck out thus far, but limiting availability right-off-the-bat doesn't sit well with many (but not all) employers; though not because of school reasons, back in the spring, I lost a chance at a job because I didn't have complete/open availability on the application.



Kyle Katarn I realize this is more of a philosophical question, but shouldn't my 8 1/2 years at Walmart count for something to someone eventually? I mean, that's no easy feat (yeah, there's enough folks at my old store who've been there for more than 10+ years, but there was also a lot of turnover with other co-workers during that same time).



PRENNTACULAR , Diggy That's very commendable, and I greatly admire anyone who can accomplish that type-of-feat, but not every person can mentally go through all-of-that.

 

I worked 15.87 jobs and literally juggled my textbooks! I had it hard and so should you.

 

The problem is that it can be both a pro and a con. On the one hand, it shows that you can stick it out in a job doing grunt work. On the other hand, it only really counts if you want to continue doing more grunt work, something which won't pay the bills over the long run. I could have very easily stayed in the job I had in high school (about 15-16 years ago) working at McDonald's. But it paid just above minimum wage. The loss I incurred from those years spent in college and then not working at Mickey D's pales in comparison to the decade and a half I have spent in IT and is blown away by what I make in the job I have held for the last year and a half. What you're doing with school is making a short term sacrifice for a long term benefit. Any gains you may reap in the short run (say finding another retail job) will very likely be overshadowed by any gains you make in the long run (going to college to get a degree and a better paying job). The difference between the two would be like comparing a firecracker to a nuclear warhead.

 

When I was in college (many moons ago) I lived on campus and worked in the cafeteria as a cashier and table cleaner. It was minimum wage but gave me spending money and I didn't have to commute to it since I was already there. When you start school don't overlook jobs that might be going there - even if it's only something part-time it still means money and another notch on your resume.

 

Hey, Darth Tunes™, guess what?

 

You never guessed what, Darth Tunes™.

Well, guess what? It's happened again!

 

I found a second job today.

 

congrats dave! what are you doing? i guess it's a pretty good time to be looking for work, or better than it has been at least. since this thread was posted the unemployment rate has dropped from 7.9% to 5.9%. in 2009 it was around 10%.

 

I'm working with kids at risk. Volunteering opened a lot of doors. Hear that, Darth Tunes™?

 

As has always been the case with drops in unemployment since the recession, part of the drop is that people give up looking for work. And most of the jobs "added" are low-wage jobs that are replacing the medium-wage jobs that were lost.