No work, What do you do?

[Massimo]

Well I have been made redundant. My pay out will be equivalent to me working till February, I by no means live paycheck by paycheck so that should last me some time beyond feb, I also have a bit of savings so that will help to.

I am 27 and have never been out of work, so it is somewhat scary not knowing what is going to happen next. But I have a to keep my self sain, so I have a plan that should do that.

Get up, have Bfast, shower, shave, walk dogs.
Do some house cleaning.
Workout
Brows the interwebz for jobs.
Go visit random engineering offices offering my services.
Looking into alternate career paths maybe start my own business of sorts.

If that fails then I suppose I could always go look for a job back at a supermarket, or fast food joint.

So that is my situation at the moment, wondering what the rest of you have done to keep your self sain when out of work?

[xAZxE30x]

get yourself on unemployment like the rest of the freeloaders! ;) edit: realizes you aren't from USA lol

I think you nailed the day to day points. If you could maybe just get yourself a fun job for a little while just to do something, different. personally, being unemployed gets old fast! Even if you have plenty of cashed stored up, just sitting around all the time gets old

[mrcheezle19]

I basically did exactly what you did or spent time working on the e30, not really buying stuff for it because I had no income just clean up what I could. I spent a lot of time at the gym or running. Luckily it was summer time here in california so I just did things around the house outside and got some sun. Then I'd go looking for jobs until I landed one at Ford.

[Massimo]

get yourself on unemployment like the rest of the freeloaders! ;) edit: realizes you aren't from USA lol

I think you nailed the day to day points. If you could maybe just get yourself a fun job for a little while just to do something, different. personally, being unemployed gets old fast! Even if you have plenty of cashed stored up, just sitting around all the time gets old

Yeh I hate sitting around doing nothing. Honestly I really don't give a shit what I do as long as it pays the bills. If it is fun then all the better.

Our wellfair system here is very generous as well, but I think there is a time limit to when I can actually apply for it after I have been made redundant.

[Jon325i]

I've been in your shoes before - not a fun situation.

If you have a financial cushion to work with, consider landing an internship or doing volunteer work with a company in a similar field. Should you find something like this, and you make solid impression with the hiring folks, it may very well turn into a paying job.

Definitely keep yourself in the loop and begin looking for a new job immediately. It'll show others you're staying motivated.

Good luck and hang in there :)

[Hooffenstein HD]

Get on the dole and smoke bongs all day. For real. Best career decision ever.

[CabbE30]

Are UGGs expensive there?

[Hooffenstein HD]

Are UGGs expensive there?

Maybe genuine ones are but there are cheap ones everywhere, like supermarkets for <$20.

[mrsleeve]

Sucks man, Take a week maybe 2 and do some stuff for your slef that you have been wanting to do. I mean look for something, but keep it casual, since you will have the means to make it a few months. Once you get some time tto chill and take some time off, then you hit the job hunt hard,

last time I was out between trades, once the work season started, I spent at least 5-8 hours a day every day looking and calling all over the country trying to find something to do.

Dont you guys have a huge demad for anything civil engineering and similar right now down there with all the mining and resource development going on???

[xAZxE30x]

:

Are UGGs expensive there?

Most of them aren't even made there

[Dermeister3]

What do you love to do? Figure that out, get a ton of experience in that area, then figure out a way to do that more.

For me, its beer. I love the culture, the diversity, the taste, the uniqueness. I worked at a liquor store over the summer at minimum wage (blows but w/e). Talked to a ton of customers about beer, gave recommendations, shared knowledge I had accrued from research I did on my own. I eventually talked to the right guy, who said he was impressed with my knowledge. Now, after I graduate from college with my marketing degree in a month, I'll be working sales and merchandising for a craft beer distributor for the next 5 years. If all goes right, I'll be hired at the brewery the guy I met is from (Dogfish Head in Delaware)

So do what you love, you never know what doors it may open.

[Massimo]

I've been in your shoes before - not a fun situation.

If you have a financial cushion to work with, consider landing an internship or doing volunteer work with a company in a similar field. Should you find something like this, and you make solid impression with the hiring folks, it may very well turn into a paying job.

Definitely keep yourself in the loop and begin looking for a new job immediately. It'll show others you're staying motivated.

Good luck and hang in there :)

Cheers yeh I am thinking about doing some free work might land me something.

Sucks man, Take a week maybe 2 and do some stuff for your slef that you have been wanting to do. I mean look for something, but keep it casual, since you will have the means to make it a few months. Once you get some time tto chill and take some time off, then you hit the job hunt hard,

last time I was out between trades, once the work season started, I spent at least 5-8 hours a day every day looking and calling all over the country trying to find something to do.

Dont you guys have a huge demad for anything civil engineering and similar right now down there with all the mining and resource development going on???

I feel like taking a bit of a break but it is close to Christmas and I would like to work up till the 24th dec. Then maybe take a few weeks off.

Not any more South Australia is 30 billion in dept, BHP olimpic dam mine that was going to become the world biggest open cut mine has been shelved, the department of transport literally has no work for anyone. Pretty much applies to most of Australia. Tough times at the moment. My now ex employer said there maybe some work for a 4 to 5 months in Bangladesh, so that is still a possibility.

I also have a few people who know me in the industry and have tried to recruit me before so I will give them a call and see if they are still keen.

At the end of the day I am happy to do anything untill the Civil Engineering field starts to grain ground again.

Cheers.

What do you love to do? Figure that out, get a ton of experience in that area, then figure out a way to do that more.

For me, its beer. I love the culture, the diversity, the taste, the uniqueness. I worked at a liquor store over the summer at minimum wage (blows but w/e). Talked to a ton of customers about beer, gave recommendations, shared knowledge I had accrued from research I did on my own. I eventually talked to the right guy, who said he was impressed with my knowledge. Now, after I graduate from college with my marketing degree in a month, I'll be working sales and merchandising for a craft beer distributor for the next 5 years. If all goes right, I'll be hired at the brewery the guy I met is from (Dogfish Head in Delaware)

So do what you love, you never know what doors it may open.

Yeh I have thought about this. There is a formula 3000 team here that only hires people when they are racing, thought I might see if they would like a hand for free. Might lead me in to a race engineer career something I would love to do forever.

Honestly this redundancy feels like a breath of fresh air, I feel free and there are so many possibilities out there for me. I am actually really excited. Off to rewrite my resume.

Cheers

[ncbrock]

disc golf, nuff said. Honestly it keeps me from spending money lately. You can pick up 2 or 3 discs for dirt cheap and play for free and keeps you entertained for hours on end.

[mechdonald]

I have been in this situation a few times. Not fun indeed. I'm sure that the unemployment insurance you may get is not enough to live on... usually just enough so you can survive long enough to find something else.

A bit of advise for your daily routine. Look for job leads first thing in the morning before breakfast even. It will get that out of the way and not get put aside by all the other unproductive things that fill the day.

How many contacts did you make during your regular job? Do you have a good rapport with them? Consider doing contract work if that is applicable to your skills set. Split the difference between what your company got paid and what the company paid you.

I don't know about Australia, but usually if you have your own company, you only pay corporate taxes on your profit. Corporate tax rates are usually a lower rate than the personal income tax rates. Deduct your allowable expenses (car, rent, utilities, etc) and there you go. I think I got that correct anyways :)

[Massimo]

I have been in this situation a few times. Not fun indeed. I'm sure that the unemployment insurance you may get is not enough to live on... usually just enough so you can survive long enough to find something else.

A bit of advise for your daily routine. Look for job leads first thing in the morning before breakfast even. It will get that out of the way and not get put aside by all the other unproductive things that fill the day.

How many contacts did you make during your regular job? Do you have a good rapport with them? Consider doing contract work if that is applicable to your skills set. Split the difference between what your company got paid and what the company paid you.

I don't know about Australia, but usually if you have your own company, you only pay corporate taxes on your profit. Corporate tax rates are usually a lower rate than the personal income tax rates. Deduct your allowable expenses (car, rent, utilities, etc) and there you go. I think I got that correct anyways :)

Yeh I have a few contacts, there were are few people who have tried to get me once or twice when times were good. Now I need to see if they are still keen when there is no work around.

Payout for redundancy is a little different here. For every year you work you get a 1.5 months worth of your usual salary, so I will be getting 3 months worth as I said I do not live pay check to paycheck so that 3 months of pay should last me 6 months if I only spend money on the necessities.