No, my mother's experience is not the universal experience. But she was my personal experience that solidified my current views on the topic.
Perhaps the people you know who are so worried about an extension should retrain themselves and maybe consider moving back in with family (if they haven't already).
Have them take a lesson from my mom, ask them to consider a certificate at a vocational school. The tuition is quite affordable (6K for a medical coding and billing), the loans are easily available (even with bad credit), the training period is relatively short (6 months for the stated certificate), and job placement is guaranteed. Coders make about 35-40K a year, which is better than working at McDonalds and damn better than being totally unemployed.
A person's only option is not unemployment checks.
Mkay, I must step in here and correct some misinformation.
I have a 4 year college degree from a very respected university here in my state. It's not in basketweaving, it's in finance and insurance, the college of Business at my school, when I graduated, had the highest number of required reports of any college of business in the entire nation. With 6 400 level COB classes, I was doing roughly 5 reports ranging from 5-20 pages, every single day. I graduated making deans list the last 2 years of my 4 year college stint.
I was unable to get a job out of college. The economy had taken that long ride to funk after Clinton left and the dot-com bubble burst. I briefly worked at a home health agency putting in apps. But being as how I didn't know **** about **** about that ****, I ended up quitting/losing my job within a month and a half.
It was almost a year later before I finally got a very low paying job working at the local airport. I worked there for 5 years saving up enough money to pay to go BACK to school and get a license to work on airplanes. 5000 dollars and 2 years later, I get that license. Never, in the history of the school, has anyone really had much trouble finding a job in this industry. After 4 months, I finally found a job.
I had 3 months to go from "never worked on an airplane for hire before" to "on your own, on commission" in 3 months working on 200 passenger Airbus A-300 series aircraft. The first month I got 2 job cards (the average mechanic does 8-10 a DAY). I wasn't being trained. He had me push brooming the hangar floor. He had me waxing the airplane as an airplane mechanic, with apprentices hired a month or two before me (apprentices have NO license, they work under the repair station's name) working on the plane. I was basically being abused. Then on top of that, I had to fight for over 22 hours of pay in just one week. They were not paying me as they were supposed to. I didn't spend 5000 dollars on schooling to work for free.
For YEARS, people coming out of my school were making 40-50g's a year starting out. I was barely making 36 if I hadn't been put on mandatory commission only after 3 months. I had horrible hours, a long drive, and a boss that wanted me gone because I went in there knowing a lot and he wanted a bunch of little "bitches" under him which I refused to be. The place I worked for had a 50% turnover ratio because they don't pay their people and their hours are horrible.
I am now unemployed once again in an industry, in an area, where an unemployed mechanic, 5 years ago, was sucked up like a speck of dirt into a vaccum. I've applied to ever location in my state, and every single one says no openings available. I can't get a job anywhere doing anything. When I try to apply to "anywhere" places, I'm so overqualifed for everything they flat out tell me, your qualifications are too high. That will cost you a job as fast as qualifications being too low.
So while I don't agree with unemployment benefits going past 26 weeks, please do not say "Oh I put my resume on Career builder and nobody will call me back." Because I've done that, and a whole lot more, AND gone to college, got a bachelors degree, a vocational school, basically obtained an associates degree (it was paperwork only keeping me from actually obtaining it) and a license to work on any civilian aircraft in service today, and I CAN'T EVEN FIND A JOB.
So yea, it's a tough damn world out there right now. When you have multiple connections all over the state and everyone comes back with, "Sorry dude, I can't find anything for you" that is a problem that is OUT OF MY CONTROL AND NOT MY FAULT.
If you gotta solution for me, please let me know. Because applying for "anything" jobs isn't working. My qualifications are biting me in the ass because they KNOW as soon as an airplane mechanic job opens up I'll be gone. So whos gonna hire someone they know will leave at any moment?
