Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Father's Day Delivers

Father's Day Delivers

Pizza........

and other Italian food!

Josh has been trying hard to find something stable since he got laid off at the end of September. He spent six weeks in a commission only job. Too many hours and too little money meant it wasn't a good fit. He was working seven days a week. That ended in early December.

Last week he started delivering pizzas for some income. Unemployment had run out and there isn't an Unemployment extension anymore. So at the start of last week he went to our regular pizza place and got hired. The owner knows us well and knows that he's still job searching. It might not seem like an impressive job, but it provides something big:

Current Employment!!!

A lot of places won't even look at your resume if you are unemployed for more then three months, more then six months, or at all. That means he's applied to a lot of jobs where he would be a good fit, but they weren't looking at his resume. Because he wasn't currently employed. Now that he IS currently employed, his resume will be seen by more people. This might improve his chances of getting a good job.

The hours means he's available to job search and go to interviews. That makes a big difference. It also helps that he has signed up with two recruiters. He's working hard to find a good job. But some of this is out of his control. That's the part that is scary for everyone that in unemployed or underemployed. At least he's working over 30 hours a week with a base pay and tips. It would be nicer if tips weren't $2 or $3 on average, but it's better then nothing.

He did have to work on Father's Day. But they let him out early. They also gave him a Chicken Parmesan Sandwich. The owner knows and likes Zach. He's an awesome guy! Josh did get to spend some time with Zach on Father's Day. This year, Father's Day for us was the Saturday before.

He was very lucky to have this option. He has known the owner for years and the owner was hiring anyway. It bothers me when people don't like that some people need government assistance. Some people will read this and think:

"Good, I'm glad that there isn't an unemployment extension. Just get a job!"

This is my response to them:

"It's not easy to get a job. This truly is one friend helping out another friend. But this isn't as common a situation as most people think. Don't blame the unemployed for needing help, blame the people who aren't creating jobs or don't pay their employees enough. Blame the people not looking at the resumes of the unemployed!"

Josh has been working hard but it's been good for him to have co-workers again. He feels good providing for us again, at least partially. It's been good for him to feel capable. Remember, he broke his hip in January. Because of that, he has two limitations:

1. The job has to be able to do from home in dangerous weather

2. He can handle being on his feet 60% of the work week. He can handle more in a rare week but too much extra can be very bad!

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