Nemus's Journal: Save money on toilet paper; use your diploma

My professors used to tell me there were two phrases that you never heard: unemployed statistician, and broke statistician. So while my degrees are in philosophy and neuroscience, I was confident that my strong statistics background (useful for any scientist) would land me a job while I waited to start med school. Then, the semester before I graduated, the financial sector imploded, and all of a sudden, the phrases unemployed statistician and broke statistician became a lot more common.

Now, I find myself in a place I've only been once before, and swore to never arrive at again: extreme poverty. I have no income, but plenty of bills. My bank hammers me with a $37 dollar charge for going over by $1. Grocery prices, gas prices, utility prices: every month the go up, and every month I have less and less. I've sold most of my possessions: I have a computer, a car, and a bed. Next to go will be the car, even though my section of GA (Athens) has virtually no public transportation. My parents have been heroic, helping me out all they can, but my mom is a teacher and my step-dad is a magazine editor: they're crunched, and I'm only adding to it. I tried to go and find a place where I could live communally: a monastery, a commune, an eco-center; anything. But for various reasons, that plan was cashed.

So now I find myself, only a few months into the job hunt, with utterly no hope, and no options. Every day I turn in 20-30 job applications, and send out 20-30 resumes. None of it seems to be worth a damn, however. Half the jobs I'm overqualified for; they know I'll leave as soon as I can find something that pays a livable wage (i.e. not minimum wage). The other half I'm under-qualified for: my competitors are in their late 30's and 40's, with Ph.D.s and work histories and everything that I just don't have and can't equal.

Most of my friends, and all of my family, have no idea that I frequent this site, so this is where I'm going to kvetch. Unfortunately, I think this journal is going to be as about as eventful as my life. Wake up, get bad news, shower, go apply for jobs, come home, get bad news, go to sleep.

Here's to hope: R.I.P

It sucks

[tqft]

"Half the jobs I'm overqualified for; they know I'll leave as soon as I can find something that pays a livable wage (i.e. not minimum wage)."
Here is some feedback I got in writing
"Upon careful consideration of your application your level of qualifications and skills are above those required for this particular position."

What really pisses me off is the dead silence, no answer whatsoever. Do you ring them (and maybe annoy them) or let it ride (and show you have no initiative)?

Sent one recruiting guy at a ma