Job Hunters, Is It Time for a Career Plan B?

Uhhhhh... Reality check for the author. The recession did not "end" in 2009. Obama was just gearing up to really flush the economy down the socialist crapper. One of the best ways (for the non-Ivy League egghead) to gauge the economy, is to follow the gas prices. Pre 2008 election, gas prices dropped to nearly $ 1.50/gal. Now after 2 1/2 wretched years of this inept oaf that we call "President", gas prices are $3.70/gal. And, that's after a decine in price. The past bears out my notion as well. Do your homework... Gas prices during Carter's presidency vs. gas prices during Reagan's presidency. All of those not-so-"Smart Cars" and Chevy Volts, sitting by the thousands on storage lots (because no one wants them) have not done a damned thing to stimulate anything. Stagnant economy = little use for plan a, plan b, or plan c. If there are no jobs, there are no jobs. Taxing is not going to create jobs. Forcing over-priced, ineffective autos, cork-screw light bulbs, and other such crap, down our throats is not going to create jobs either.

Welcome to the "new" America .... the land of OPPORTUNISTS and the home of the poor. CEO's live here but the jobs and money stays overseas. There are lots of sick people here but no insurance. Plenty of doctors and hospitals but no one can afford them. We don't make anything here and even our "service jobs" went overseas. Our government doesn't exist FOR the people, but is an arm of the greedy corporations. Prisons are being built at an alarming speed and waiting for citizens to get out of line, while the guilty bankers, people on Wall street, real estate people, politicians and judges all go free for their crimes against the people. Our rights are being taken away and our Constitution trampled and ignored and misinterpreted. We are a military nation and people around the world no longer look up to us. How sad to see what we've become in what seems to be such a short time.

There are, in my mind, four major ways to create wealth in any country. I will list these in the order I believe they are historically important in the development of human advancement.

The first is to grow it. Either from the ground as food or from farm animals used for food or as in the early days, used for transportation or beasts of burden to work the land.

The second is to take the wealth from the ground in the form of natural resources...both below the ground in the form of ores and minerals and above the ground in the form of wood mostly and natural occuring medicinal plants. The wood and medicinal plants, of course, are renewable through propagation. Some of the products from below ground are renewable such as the recycling of metals and others such as energy products are consumables and are not.

The third is manufacturing and processing which is to take the ideas of our people, the natural resources from the ground and the effort of our population to create products which value is greater than the sum of all it's parts. This includes agricultural products. We have given away too much of this element of creating wealth for our population to foreign countries.

The fourth wealth factor is education. I cannot stress too much the importance of the education of our population, concentrating that focus on our children. A new idea is the possible invention of a new product or process but cannot be implemented without the education and knowledge to make that happen. Unfortunately, we have not prepared a significant portion of our young people for the way ahead in this new future our country faces.

Service jobs are trading dollars. They are necessary but they do not add to the real wealth of the nation.

sorry about the double post!

I am not telling you people anything new. The facts are in front of us. It is up to us to do what is best for THIS country so the economic problems of other countries will not impact our success in the future. We must fix our budget problems, take care of our aging population, bring our jobs BACK to this country so we can put people back to work making things we USE AND BUY every day. The only way our economy can be sustainable is if WE manufacture things we use and buy every day. This way as the population grows so does the job base. China needs to solve their own economic problems without our help. If you are afraid of a trade war...forget it..we are losing w/o firing a shot unless we do something quick!! We need to educate our children and retrain our workers if it is needed FOR THE WORK WE ARE ACTUALLY GOING TO DO! We need to bring our troops home from the Middle East and other foreign countries and have them guard our borders and seaports and cut off most foreign aid. There are people who would say this sounds like a FORTRESS AMERICA scenario....ok, can you think of a more appropriate time for it with people in radical countries all over the world running around with their HAIR ON FIRE!! What are we are going to do attack and kill all of them...which ones? For what reason?? That is going to have to be a line we cross very carefully in the future and quite possibly NOT in a full out assault unless our country is in imminent danger. No more screwing around in a ground war with thousands of our soldiers being killed and many thousands wounded! We have to watch more intently and plan more carefully using our technology to our best advantage. I am sure I have not thought of everything, and you could add to this. God bless America.

I've been trying plan B,It isn't working. Went to school to try to get a different job and still can't get nothing. October will 2 years out of work and 2 months since I've had an unemployment check.

The recession ended 2 years ago... when the depression started???

To those out of work nearly year or more, i sincerely hope you grab the first thing to help you 'get by', that is about as good as it will get as the hiring industry in conjunction with the GOPERS have written you off. It certainly will doubly hurt once you realize you have been kicked under the bus by these same repugnant republicans. They have theirs and you are on the outside looking in.... You will be a fool to vote republican again !

I would like to know who in this corupt government said that the resession is over ! Must b some loser in the whitehouse that things are well in this country !

Florida is one of the worst places right now. I get so mad when I receive a recording on my message machine from Governor Scott claiming that Florida's unemployment is improving and it just gets worse. The medical jobs are plentiful and if you are bilingual - you can find a job. Experience and skills don't make the cut like they use to. Going back to school doesn't guarantee a job either unless it's medical. Many unemployed people can't afford to go back to school. Too many jobless people, too much competition, but the bottom line is too few jobs.