So, I'm on unemployment now. I can't tell you how long it has been since I even qualified for unemployment...
I get form in the mail and they tell me I have to come see them and fill out this questionnaire. Cool! 'Cause I have a whole lot of questions and am not having much luck getting them answered.
First question on the questionnaire:
List your usual occupation/ Length of experience/ Last rate of pay
Usual occupation? Length of experience? Okay … well, I’ve been working as an accounting clerk for about 2-1/2 to 3 years, yet that isn’t my “usual” occupation. My usual occupation is homemaker.
So I wrote:
List your usual occupation /Length of experience /Last rate of pay
Accounting Clerk -- 3 years -- $18.00 an hour
Homemaker -- 26 years -- $ 0.00 an hour
Now I know that isn’t what they really asking and yet…yet it is the truth and they can do with the truth what they will. Perhaps it will serve to make a point. I am exhausted from attempting to be something that I am not so that I can pay my bills and not live on credit because I can’t find a job that will pay me for my skills.
One of those other questions was what kind of job was I seeking. I wrote that I was seeking a job in the field I have a degree in--Human Services.
I obtained a degree in human services because that is where my skills are. I have a wealth of experience and education in human services. I just haven’t been paid for it since 1982 or thereabouts. When I was putting those jobs on my resume (before bookkeeping) I had to laugh, or cry, because the people who an employer might have called for references and recommendation are no longer around. The facility I worked in is no longer around. Even the supervisor I worked under with the State Department of Mental Health is no longer around.
I’m in a real “don’t mess with me” mood about employment and experience and all that stuff today. I’m fired up. They want to make sure I know how to look for a job. I know how to look for a job. I was looking for a job before most of them were out of diapers.
What I want to know from the Employment Development Department is this—how do you get someone to hire you for the job you are good at and trained at. So yes, I put down my usual occupation as homemaker because that is where my experience lies and it makes a huge point that cannot be ignored.
It's funny TK...when they ask you what your job is and you tell the truth they don't want to give you unemployment benifits...take me for instance. Up until 10 yrs ago I was a Teacher...I taught first in headstart and then preschool and finally kindergarten. I moved often because of my husband being a Marine and never once did they tell me that I qualified for unemployment. Now as you know I have back issues and really don't qualify for disabilities even if my doctor deems me unable to ever work again because for the last 10 yrs I have been a homemaker. When I get my statements from Social Security about my beifits it basically says I will get about $200 a month...who can live off that? I wish they recognized homemaker as a real job because I sure do a lot of work every day with no pay except the love of my family which is all that matters to me.
ReplyDeleteReba, you are so right! Before I started working again I didn't even qualify for social security because I didn't have enough "points". I had worked and put my money into social security and then I got pregnant and became a mother and homemaker.
ReplyDeleteAs homemakers, we not only do a whole lot of work, valuable work--we also raise the next generation.
When I started doing job interview again, they would ask me--well, what have you do you are most proud of. The responses I wanted to give were: 1) I raised a child, and 2) I build a house. And then I wanted say--and what have you done?