Looking for a Job

This past year was not the best year for me; I lost my job—twice. I am currently receiving unemployment, but I only qualify for 10 weeks (another story) and that ends soon. I search for work daily online (which is how you must do it these days) and try to apply for at least two jobs a week—an unemployment requirement—but that is tough. There are just not many jobs out there. I hear criticism of the unemployed, adjectives such as lazy, unskilled, and uneducated. That is not true in my case and I don’t believe it is true of the majority of unemployed.

We moved to Idaho from California over 28 years ago. At that time I was making the equivalent of $10 per hour (I was salaried) working for a not-for-profit and that was not considered to be a great wage. All these years later, I see many jobs offered for $8-10 per hour, and many of these are not entry level jobs. A living wage is more than that. The sad truth in Idaho is that more than half of all jobs do not pay a living wage. I have a college degree and over 10 years of paid administrative experience, not to mention loads of volunteer experience. (I also have years of research experience which is useless in Idaho.) I have great references. I am ready and willing to work for a living wage. While I have come close to being hired, close isn’t good enough. So I continue to look and look and look. . .