Bit,
 
I'm really sorry to hear about your situation. Here's what I'd suggest.
 
1. Build up your LinkedIn page. Include all the technologies you've worked with so you show up in searches.
2. Let all your contacts know you're looking.
3. Have a nice resume ready to customize for various jobs.
4. As already suggested, put a resume on Monster. Be ready for calls from agencies. But that's OK, because
5. Most IT hiring nowadays seems to be through agencies. Aim for contract-to-hire.
6. Don't be surprised if you get rejected by some companies because you lack that one specific technology they need.
 
Your posts in this forum tell me that you're a highly skilled and experienced tech guy with deep knowledge who happens to be amazingly sensible and clear-headed and a good writer. You have a lot going for you.
 
Mitch I.

I haven't searched for a job in the traditional sense for well over a decade and that was usually for just grunt/subsistence work. However I'm all over the net interacting with all the modern hip kids of different stripes and it seems that a useful tool to have is a linkedin profile.
 
It's basically Facebook for professionals seeking/providing work. It may not get you a job directly (but it might) however this seems to be almost a prerequisite thing to have for many companies. Like say you are inquiring somewhere it is very likely they will ask you for your linkedin profile. If you have one it may give you the edge over others who don't simply because you are aware of the site which lets them know you are a modern type fella.
 
Best of luck to you bit. I do not envy anyone having to toss themselves to the proverbial wolves in the modern job market. You're a smart dude though. I'm sure you'll land something decent. Hope your back is feeling better. Cheers.

Ah... I see now linkedin has been mentioned a couple times already. It really couldn't hurt to get something up there. However if you are like me having all shown to the world might seem a bit unsettling but that's unfortunately where we're at. I've heard of some places requesting that applicants hand over their Facebook passwords so they can check you out. Ridiculous. How did we get here?
 
Edit: I was just looking over how linkedin actually works and it looks like they have a lot of rules and procedures in place to avoid abuse. Perhaps if you get one set up you could create a starter network from some of the folks here with accounts. Who knows... maybe that way your skills as a musician/engineer could land you a more fun/interesting gig than you'd find otherwise.

Dave,
 
Don't overlook the fact that you have first rate communication skills, as you have amply demonstrated here again and again.  It's rare enough for a software developer to be able to string a series of words together in a grammatcially correct fashion.  It's even more rare when they can construct a document that communicates what is needed with clarity.  Be sure and emphisize that skill to whomever you contact regarding employment.
 
Best of luck.

Sure glad the recovery went so well for you Bit.
 
Let me see..
Look for work..?
Cash in pennys and not buy software..?
 
Cash them in!
Working sucks and that starts when one has to start looking for it.
 
Best for whatever you choose.

That is wise advice, Spacey. Not always practical if someone is already overextended but if there are other options to ease the pressure until things even out with the current situation as they are or to give a little more breathing room to not make unpleasant commitments to less than desirable employers that tends to work out better.
 
I equate my gear to those proverbial pennies. In many ways I look at my gear as an emergency fund. Sure I may take a bath on some stuff but if it means becoming homeless or having to hock something... well it's a lot less expensive to replace a guitar, amp or computer than it is to have to go through the insanity of setting up in a new place. Besides if I don't have a home where the heck am I gonna keep my junk? Before that I'll look into personal loans from people who have vested interested in keeping me afloat and know I will do everything I can to square things up (good credit with friends/family is far more valuable than corporate credit... at least for small short term amounts).
 
Sometimes/many times all a desperate situation needs is time to sort out. A small influx of cash can provide that time. I'm not sure if this would apply to bit's situation (and I know it's a hot topic issue so the suggestion is not meant to bring up politics... at all) but perhaps with the new healthcare stuff that's going on there is a solution to ease some of the medical bill burden on the horizon. Frankly I don't know how you guys do it. If I had to pay for all the medical crap I've been though the past few years... well my financial life would be over. $600 per month just to be kind of covered... as a healthy person? Cripes! That's almost what I pay in rent and have peanuts left over as it is.
 
Anyway... I'd scan through anything I have of value that isn't absolutely imperative to survival and sell the frack out of it. Any time I've done that I've always managed to keep afloat and found I didn't really need that stuff anyway and found much better things to replace it which then ends up going back into the "penny" fund for future raiding.
 
The only times I've been TRULY screwed is when all the gear was gone, the rent was due and the wolves were at the door. But somehow, someway someone always came along and gave me some work or other opportunity to keep me going.
 
The universe... it's funny that way... which is why I will never fully discount the possibility of a higher power. Just wish he'd stop by sometime so we could have a beer and chat about this mad thing we call existence.
 
;-)

And then there is the time issue Beepster....
If I could get any of it back that I'm having to spend at the workplace and still be able
to meet my family needs....they'd see the dust trail and ask what the hell was that?
Of course there's the age factor. Maybe ones time becomes more valuable to them with age?...which
also means that my salary isn't increasing as fast as my time value LOL!
Damn....I'm going in the hole working!
Cash in Bit! Cash in!
 

Indeed. This is something I keep trying to express to people I care about but it tends fall on deaf ears due to how we are all conditioned to operate.
 
Quality of life must be included in any cost/benefit calculations and quality of life does not necessarily equate to more money/stuff. Sometimes dropping a few items and cutting a few things from the budget for... well let's give it an arbitrary value of say $200 a month... meaning between the things you cut like buying the no name brand versions of your favorite food, eliminating a couple nights out and opting for popcorn/movies at home/buying the less expensive guitar strings and making them last longer or essentially anything you can get away with and the added per month value of selling a $1000 piece of gear over 6 months. Now you have an extra $200 a month. If you had to drive to a new job, pay for the gas, get accustomed to how everything is and sacrifice your time and happiness for that extra two hundred bucks (or say $400 which gets widdled away to $200 after the aforementioned expenses) would it be worth it?
 
Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. Many times though putting yourself through all that and degrading your quality of life (true quality of life as in happiness) just isn't worth it.
 
Life will provide especially in prosperous countries such as ours. Things are indeed bleak out there but still far better than they could be if we were in some third world hellhole. When I'm feeling crappy about my life I think about folks who've got it REALLY bad and shut that negativity down immediately. I have a place to live, some food in the fridge and some fancy things to make fancy noise. In the grand scheme of things I'm living like a freaking king.
 

My advice... try to find a job that pays well and does not require work. Jobs that require work never pay very well.
 
J

jbow
My advice... try to find a job that pays well and does not require work. Jobs that require work never pay very well.
 
J

We have guys who do those jobs over here. They are called supervisors or something like that and you see them at road works. There will be about 3-4 of them supervising one guy doing all the shovelwork. It's like a chaingang where the numbers are reversed between the guards and prisoners.