longest time you have being without a job.

what is the longest period you have being out of work for, also what quals or experience you have before that and what did you do? Any advice?

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Comments

TheDailyMel

The longest I've been without work was six weeks, but it was planned. I took the six weeks off between my previous job and current job when I moved from Tennessee to California nearly 14 years ago. I've only had the two jobs over the past 23 years.

eljunbo809

I have been out of work for 14 months and believe me is hard .

Essendon

About 3 months is the longest I have been without an IT job. I know someone at a packaging company that helped me get a casual postion there till I landed an IT gig. I have been lucky that way.

jamesleecoleman

10 months and a few days. I worked in the warehouse part of an electronics recycling company for 99.98 part of theh time. The other part was repair, in the store, or out on pickups. I used the time to study for certifications (A+, Network+, and Project+ beta). The only really qualification that I had was to drive a highlow.

Loosing money was difficult. I had a tight budget. I went from thousands of dollars to hundreds of dollars because of school and certifications. From this I was struggling to make payments for the 08-09 school year. I did it though and got my Associates degree without loans. Booya!!

My advice is to use the time to study for certifications and look for jobs.

forkvoid

Four months. I'm a persistent guy, who tends to show up in managers offices, unannounced. I eventually get a job.

mikedisd2

1 year, 10 months from '99 to late 2000. Was stuck in a small town with only retail experience. With so much time wasted, it's easy to lose your way in life.

Got real good at the guitar though.

rogue2shadow

Almost 10 months. I used the time to push myself to the next level and get my current certs

Michael.J.Palmer

If you don't count when I was trying to be a professional gamer/journalist straight out of high school then my current stretch is the longest. I've gone three months unemployed. Hopefully that'll be ending next week... but I think that every week these days.

Mojo_666

Longest for me was 2 weeks.

za3bour

18 months it was tough time , I don't hope this will happen to anyone.

It's not a nice experience at all especially if you're married.

themagicone

August 2008 to Now... I worked for 3 weeks a few months but hurt my back so I'm on disability now.

Countryboi

10 months.....it was like a long boring vacation

neocybe

3 months and counting here; I've been using the time to brush up on mcse/mcitp related certs and the random interview when the come my way. otherwise I have not had a "vacation" like this since high school.

vCole

From age 0 - 16. Since then I've had no gaps in employment.

stuh84

Not counting my time in formal education, I'd say about 2 months after leaving university 4 years ago. Not had time without a job since.

earweed

6 months when I left the military. Was trying to find "the job" and ended up settling for crap.
I worked the entire time I went to University after high school. From high school (9th grade) to joining the miltary at 24 years old I had several gaps of 2 weeks to 1 month.

Devilsbane

Nearly 18 years.

I didn't get my first job until 2 or 3 months prior to my 18th birthday. Since then I have always had at least one full time job, and usually a part time job as well. (Along with going to school full time.) There was a short period when I had 2 part time jobs, a full time job, and 12 credits of college. That was "fun"

Bl8ckr0uter

1 month earlier this year. I actually got the CCNA:S on the day that I lost my previous job. I landed a part time job. Between full time gigs it was 2 1/2 months. Still catching up from that time period and working on some new certs and getting school done.

texasit

The longest I have been without work was 4 months when I moved from Florida to Texas.

kiki1579

My latest span of unemployment was 5 months. I got PO'd after a while of "crawling the walls", so I spent that time brushing up on my Sec+ and getting through 70-649. It helps to kill some time. On average I've been 5-6 months. It's not fun especially when you have a mortgage.

NetAdmin2436

*knocks on wood*

I've luckily always held a job or two since the age of 18.

N2IT

I once had a 2 month hiatus and a 3 month. The 2 month was planned I socked away 75,000 dollars the previous year and half and went traveling the US and other places like Jamaica. The 3 months was unplanned and was very depressing. I actually deliveried pizzas for 1 month during that 3 month span. Man it's rough sometimes.

jamesp1983

2 weeks, but I had a job lined up. I was just waiting for my start date. It has been that way since I was 19.

ipconfig.all

well i have being looking for a job since 2009 june in and out i would say. Because i managedd to find work but it was kind of volunteer and i didnt get ppaid in an on going salery i did it for the experience.i am still looking for my real on going salery based i.t job, i get so close but cant seem to get my foot in the door .

ipconfig.all

i still love my part time sys eng one i do.

ipconfig.all

i guess not giving up is da key.

RomBUS

I didnt get a job until I was probably 19-20 yrs old...it was hard for me to find a job while attending school...but since then its been currently since I lost my job since December...so going on 8 months...hopefully that ends soon

chmod

Around 2 1/2 months.

I really was in deep water at the end of the perios(2 1/2 months) i could not even afford to pay my bills or buy food.
I had a few issues working as a contractor so i started looking for a job.

I hope this does not happen to anyone here.

loxleynew

How do you guys survive such long periods without a job? Parents/wife help pay for stuff?

Also at what point do you say ok I have to get a part time job and you go out to home depot or whatever and get a part time job there while still looking for IT work? Do you guys not really care if you got a job at home depot then quit it 2 weeks later if you randomly found an IT job?

nicklauscombs

loxleynew wrote: »

How do you guys survive such long periods without a job? Parents/wife help pay for stuff?

Also at what point do you say ok I have to get a part time job and you go out to home depot or whatever and get a part time job there while still looking for IT work? Do you guys not really care if you got a job at home depot then quit it 2 weeks later if you randomly found an IT job?

if i had to guess, a lot of the time the check you receive from unemployment will be higher than what you could make working part time.