Ok, I knew that being laid off would make me feel down but this is ridiculous!
To make things worse I don't have a car which makes doing something about the situation extremely differcult.
Thanks for letting me vent.
Anyone in the same boat?

Actually, I am laid off also. Our situations are a bit different though. I found out in mid-March and my last day wasn't until this past Friday. Also, I hated it there so I am pretty happy!! I posted in Jerzee's journal, not sure if you saw it but told you that I was sorry!

Have you looked on the Internet for jobs to apply to??

Take care!
Linda

Its midnight and I can't sleep. Tomorrow marks a week since my lay off and it suddenly hit me like a brick. I've look through papers and at the unemployment office but no CAD jobs. I know that these aren't the best places to look for said jobs because I remember that CLD used other resources. I'm asking the marketing person who is a friend of mine if she would give me those sources so I can have a better chance of getting a job.
What sites would be good to check out on the internet?
Have you looked, Linda?

I am trying to finish up my semester at grad school before I focus on looking a lot. In the month that I knew, I sent out a few resumes but nothing. I am trying to switch fields so it is going to be a bit harder.

Job sites I can think of off the top of my head:
www.monster.com
www.flipdog.com
www.hotjobs.com
www.headhunter.net
www.jobvertise.com
www.gotajob.com

These are just general job sites. I would suggest doing an internet search for any kind of sites that cater to your profession. I have a few that are only sports/exercise related.

Best of luck!
Linda

Hey Lassara- I'm sorry that u're feeling so down Hang in there, we're all rooting for U!

Hey Linda-

regards,
Bebe

I am very nervous that my husband is going to get layed off. they sent him home from work because there was no work for him to do. We cant afford that to happen too often. Right now our bills and our income are fairly equal. I dont know what we would do if our income was cut. I feel for all the people that have been effected by cut backs and I would like to find a wey to help. I hope that the economy picks up soon! This is way too scarry! All I know to do is pray and hope that there is a guardien angel looking out for all of us! God Bless and good luck!

I got two personal references from work as well as two seperate work references from my work (Two engineers I worked with). I also got help from the marketing person who gave me the job sites she uses to look for technicians. I just hoped on one site and saw 6 more jobs to send a reseme too.
Which I'm doing tomorrow.

its sad to see more and more people getting retrenched esp. in the midst of the gloomy world economy.

have you all tried getting contract jobs? right now its the trend in Singapore. Employers get to save more money and lesser employee benefits. At the same time, people get to earn their income, thought it means not stable each month.

Right now I am a freelancer. My income only comes after each project is done. Its rather tough because my first project took me 5 months to get my full payment, and it is only close to a thousand bucks. I am also teaching tuition to supplement my low income. But on the other hand, because I work from home, I dont have to spend so much. And thanks to being a freelancer, low-carbing becomes very easy and comfortable.

I was in the same position last year when the buses went out on strike. And me with no transportation. I hitchhiked for the first month which made me really nervous for the first few days. Then I realized that only the really nice, helpful people stopped and I met some very nice people so it turned out to be kinda fun. After that I got an opportunity to buy a scooter really cheap. This motorcycle guy had been given a scooter that needed some work so he fixed it up and sold it to me for about 1/2 of its value. Do a search on the internet for Honda Elite 250 scooter to see what it looks like. It's great because it uses about 1/5th the gas of a small car. Needs hardly any maintenance and can do freeway speeds. Also don't have to pay for parking - usually just park it on a sidewalk. Really cheap to run.

I was going to suggest that you look into doing temp work. Temp agencies are often in need of people with CAD experience. You might even be able to work from home on a project. Have you ever considered starting your own business? You can advertise on the internet or locally for work on a contract basis. Being your own boss is great.

I was doing temp work last year when the bus strike hit so I couldn't even arrange transportation with co-workers since the work was all short-term. I love doing temp work because I never get bored with the 'same old routines' or get into 'co-worker conflicts' or office politics or 'gossip'.

Hi Lessara!

I too am a CAD person, here in Massachusetts. I was laid off last year but found a great job immediately. I was lucky!

Anyway, one word of advice. Besure the recruiter's you deal with, understand the type of CAD work that you do. I'm a Printed Circuit Layout Designer, and many recruiters confuse this with being a Circuit Design engineer. They'll end up sending you out for an interview for engineering jobs, thereby wasting your time.


Good luck!

Jim

Our company is still struggling. Last year we cut 50,000 people and there are rumors going around this quarter about laying off another 5 or 6 thousand.

I may be looking for a job soon myself if things don't pick up. Keep your chin up Lessara. In time all things work themselves out. We just have to learn patience to endure them.

Great big hug

What is it with the economy that so many jobs are disappearing? I work in HR for a grocery chain. We didn't get a raise this year. Hours have been cut back for SOME of us- I can't pay my bills!!! Some of our senior people at corporate have lost their jobs- the entire advertising department!!! We can't hire any more people at store level to replace those who leave, the company can't afford to train. In HR, I'm seeing many more applications recently and applicants are not as "choosey" as they were before. I'm worried....