Author Topic: Looking for work (Read 3704 times)

Lighthouse · « **Reply #16 on:** June 09, 2014, 12:13:57 PM »

Quote from: soulguard

An American told me once that because she was in college that she does not have to repay bank loans, until she is finished college.

That would only apply to a small sub-class of STUDENT loans. Anyway, as soon as a student leaves, kaboom, this impending event explodes over his head.

Ursus · « **Reply #17 on:** June 09, 2014, 04:10:11 PM »

Aside from prayer, how else can we help?

I know exactly what it feels like to have this happen with people relying on you.

IT is a tough field. You're contracting work on your own or your working for someone and eventually training your replacement. Nobody is loyal. Plus you have to keep your skill sets updated on your own time to stay marketable.

If you need anyone to talk to drop me a line.

Ursus · « **Reply #18 on:** June 09, 2014, 04:14:09 PM »

Quote from: soulguard

An American told me once that because she was in college that she does not have to repay bank loans, until she is finished college.

Student loans are debt slavery in the USA. They can't be discharged in bankruptcy. In the USA younger workers actually have one of the highest unemployment rates.

She doesn't have to pay it back until she's out of school but staying in school runs up more debt. Makes no sense.

Ironically, people without degrees actually have a higher net worth now than grads, this means all the stuff you own less the debt.

ihsv · « **Reply #19 on:** June 09, 2014, 08:57:27 PM »

Matthew,

I'm self-employed and work in the web industry. What kind of programming do you do and what skills do you have? I have a few contacts and may be able to refer you. Feel free to PM me.

Matthew · « **Reply #20 on:** June 10, 2014, 02:20:35 AM »

Thank you everyone for your posts and your prayers.

I wanted to offer a few more details about myself and my situation.

First, my situation -- I'm not desperate, but I do see the writing on the wall. I have lived through many ups and downs with this client, but this particular downturn has lasted longer than the others. Moreover, I can point to a material cause as to why it's not going to improve this time (the "replacement")

I have a couple other side businesses, including an e-commerce site and CathInfo, but they don't equal half of the income we need to meet expenses.

That makes it sound like our expenses are vast, so just to clarify: Did I mention we live a very frugal lifestyle? We don't go out much and we conserve gasoline for Church and grocery shopping only. Anything else happens during one of those two trips. We don't have credit card, student loan, or vehicle debt. We get as many things second-hand or free as possible. We don't have cable or a cell phone. Our phone service is very basic; we don't even pay for caller ID. Our water bill is around $35 a month and our electric is $50 a month during the spring/fall. Our house is all-electric, too -- no gas bill. For a family of 7. Our house has honeycomb blinds and/or insulated blackout curtains on all windows to save energy. We have a newer A/C unit and a solar hot water heater (which actually didn't cost too much after all the federal, state and utility company rebates). All this frugality and simple living allows us to live on less. Most importantly, we always save any leftover money for future expenses. So if I have a good month, it might carry us for a while. My wife used to be a CPA and comes from a family of accountants with a German attention to detail; what can I say? (For starters: Blessed is the house where the husband and wife can agree on money matters!)

Regarding work -- I have a bunch of stones I have yet to flip over in search of work. I still need to write e-mails to a lot of people (including to the client in question). I'm upbeat that I should be able to find something. Situations like this can be opportunities instead of disasters, if you have the right mindset.

I'm trying to get my non-paid household projects in some kind of order so I can focus 100% on this. As I alluded to earlier, we have a certain "culture" here as a result of me working from home for the past 10 years. Part of this culture involves living on acreage, which does take a bit more time to upkeep. Not talking about making things look perfect -- we're talking about practical stuff like keeping the house area clear so we don't have snakes or chiggers jumping on us when we try to leave the house. Plus general household stuff like keeping the house pest-free, getting things fixed when they brake, keeping the vehicles and equipment in working order, etc.

Regarding my programming expertise/experience:
I've been programming professionally since 1998, with a few years off to try out a vocation. I've used countless languages over the years: assembler, QBasic, QuickPascal, C, C++, Microsoft Visual C, Visual Basic, Visual Basic .Net, C#, ASP.net, COBOL, Java, Javascript, HTML/DHTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL, and I've even dabbled in BASH scripting, Ruby, Perl, ActionScript, and many others. I'm listing them all to give the correct impression, namely, that learning another programming language is not a big deal to me. I have a natural talent for programming (thanks be to God), and I'd be lying to say otherwise. I knew I wanted to be a computer programmer when I was 7 years old. One sign that stands out in my memory -- I was so desperate to program when I was 8, I actually wrote a BASIC program out on notebook paper, since we couldn't afford a computer until I was 15. I actually "ran away" from this career while I was at the Seminary, because I wanted to focus 100% on my studies. I even fudged the questionnaire when they asked for my skills. I put "average" for computer skills. (That turned out to be very providential, but that's another story for another day.) I guess it goes to show you that you can't thwart God's will! He really wanted me to be a computer programmer, I guess. (Maybe it was in my genes. On the German side of my family my uncle was a computer programmer.) Personally, I wish my career were a bit more post-collapse-friendly...

What languages can I still use today? PHP, Java, LibGDX game library, Android dev, C/C++, MySQL, etc. And let's not forget Linux. I've used Linux full-time since 2011. I looked up the top 10 programming languages for 2014, and it looks like I'm well represented there.

I've been doing web development because it's a kind of programming one can easily do from home. Plus that is something a lot of people need. But I'm not all that great at creating graphics or designing a great "look" for a website. I'm not much of a web DESIGNER really. I'm first and foremost a programmer. But I can alter, edit, and process graphics pretty well. I can play around with stuff that already exists. I just can't take a clean slate and draw something -- not on a computer or on paper.

Moreover, I've had a lot of bad experiences creating websites for smaller clients. Either money is a huge issue, they are too busy to do their part (yes, the clients themselves do have a part to play. For example, if I'm making an e-commerce website, the clients will need to provide pictures of their own products as well as some kind of spreadsheet with their product information.). And even when I succeed in putting together a great website -- some clients don't launch it (they just sit on the beautiful treasure I created like the dragon Smaug), while others delete the whole site after they lose interest in their movie/activity/club/etc. Some clients are un-responsive and/or need lots of hand-holding. So it can be rather frustrating.

Ambrose · « **Reply #21 on:** June 10, 2014, 02:26:26 AM »

Quote from: Matthew

Thank you everyone for your posts and your prayers.

I wanted to offer a few more details about myself and my situation.

First, my situation -- I'm not desperate, but I do see the writing on the wall. I have lived through many ups and downs with this client, but this particular downturn has lasted longer than the others. Moreover, I can point to a material cause as to why it's not going to improve this time (the "replacement")

I have a couple other side businesses, including an e-commerce site and CathInfo, but they don't equal half of the income we need to meet expenses.

That makes it sound like our expenses are vast, so just to clarify: Did I mention we live a very frugal lifestyle? We don't go out much and we conserve gasoline for Church and grocery shopping only. Anything else happens during one of those two trips. We don't have credit card, student loan, or vehicle debt. We get as many things second-hand or free as possible. We don't have cable or a cell phone. Our phone service is very basic; we don't even pay for caller ID. Our water bill is around $35 a month and our electric is $50 a month during the spring/fall. Our house is all-electric, too -- no gas bill. For a family of 7. Our house has honeycomb blinds and/or insulated blackout curtains on all windows to save energy. We have a newer A/C unit and a solar hot water heater (which actually didn't cost too much after all the federal, state and utility company rebates). All this frugality and simple living allows us to live on less. Most importantly, we always save any leftover money for future expenses. So if I have a good month, it might carry us for a while. My wife used to be a CPA and comes from a family of accountants with a German attention to detail; what can I say? (For starters: Blessed is the house where the husband and wife can agree on money matters!)

Regarding work -- I have a bunch of stones I have yet to flip over in search of work. I still need to write e-mails to a lot of people (including to the client in question). I'm upbeat that I should be able to find something. Situations like this can be opportunities instead of disasters, if you have the right mindset.

I'm trying to get my non-paid household projects in some kind of order so I can focus 100% on this. As I alluded to earlier, we have a certain "culture" here as a result of me working from home for the past 10 years. Part of this culture involves living on acreage, which does take a bit more time to upkeep. Not talking about making things look perfect -- we're talking about practical stuff like keeping the house area clear so we don't have snakes or chiggers jumping on us when we try to leave the house. Plus general household stuff like keeping the house pest-free, getting things fixed when they brake, keeping the vehicles and equipment in working order, etc.

Regarding my programming expertise/experience:
I've been programming professionally since 1998, with a few years off to try out a vocation. I've used countless languages over the years: assembler, QBasic, QuickPascal, C, C++, Microsoft Visual C, Visual Basic, Visual Basic .Net, C#, ASP.net, COBOL, Java, Javascript, HTML/DHTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL, and I've even dabbled in BASH scripting, Ruby, Perl, ActionScript, and many others. I'm listing them all to give the correct impression, namely, that learning another programming language is not a big deal to me. I have a natural talent for programming (thanks be to God), and I'd be lying to say otherwise. I knew I wanted to be a computer programmer when I was 7 years old. One sign that stands out in my memory -- I was so desperate to program when I was 8, I actually wrote a BASIC program out on notebook paper, since we couldn't afford a computer until I was 15. I actually "ran away" from this career while I was at the Seminary, because I wanted to focus 100% on my studies. I even fudged the questionnaire when they asked for my skills. I put "average" for computer skills. (That turned out to be very providential, but that's another story for another day.) I guess it goes to show you that you can't thwart God's will! He really wanted me to be a computer programmer, I guess. (Maybe it was in my genes. On the German side of my family my uncle was a computer programmer.) Personally, I wish my career were a bit more post-collapse-friendly...

What languages can I still use today? PHP, Java, LibGDX game library, Android dev, C/C++, MySQL, etc. And let's not forget Linux. I've used Linux full-time since 2011. I looked up the top 10 programming languages for 2014, and it looks like I'm well represented there.

I've been doing web development because it's a kind of programming one can easily do from home. Plus that is something a lot of people need. But I'm not all that great at creating graphics or designing a great "look" for a website. I'm not much of a web DESIGNER really. I'm first and foremost a programmer. But I can alter, edit, and process graphics pretty well. I can play around with stuff that already exists. I just can't take a clean slate and draw something -- not on a computer or on paper.

Moreover, I've had a lot of bad experiences creating websites for smaller clients. Either money is a huge issue, they are too busy to do their part (yes, the clients themselves do have a part to play. For example, if I'm making esan e-commerce website, the clients will need to provide pictures of their own products as well as some kind of spreadsheet with their product information.). And even when I succeed in putting together a great website -- some clients don't launch it (they just sit on the beautiful treasure I created like the dragon Smaug), while others delete the whole site after they lose interest in their movie/activity/club/etc. Some clients are un-responsive and/or need lots of hand-holding. So it can be rather frustrating.

Matthew,

I will pray for you and your family for your finances.

I will try to be more attentive in any amazon purchases I make to support you.

If I think of any other ideas that may help you improve your situation, I may PM you.

Stella · « **Reply #22 on:** June 10, 2014, 05:19:06 AM »

Matthew - Have you thought of developing and/or teaching an online computer course? Sounds like you have a lot of valuable experience, and you have a clear way of expressing yourself. It could be to a group, or to individual students.

You will be in my prayers.

pat · « **Reply #23 on:** June 10, 2014, 10:23:36 PM »

songbird · « **Reply #24 on:** June 10, 2014, 10:28:30 PM »

when my husband was w/o a job, we did the 30 days of St. Louis De Montfort total consecration. He had a job just has we were to finish our prayers. My husband still has the job after 20 years. We continue to do the total consecration every year.

Matthew · « **Reply #25 on:** July 30, 2014, 02:09:46 PM »

The situation is still about the same as in my last post.

Still looking.

The week before last I spent a bunch of time applying for a job 3 hours away "with telecommute potential". Apparently I didn't make it past the "2nd round" whatever that means.

I have also been pursuing an individual programming gig which would tide me over for several months. I even drove 2 hours (round trip) and spent several hours at the client's location. I hope I get the contract after all that trouble.

Right now I'm focusing on my home business (many of you know what it is -- if you do, please don't mention it here) and I'll be sending out an e-blast hopefully by the end of today.

Then it's back to looking for programming work as I wait for orders to trickle in.

Matto · « **Reply #26 on:** July 30, 2014, 02:15:36 PM »

shin · « **Reply #27 on:** July 30, 2014, 04:03:42 PM »