I haven't completely lost of my sense of humor. I see little illustrations about unemployment in my head all the time. Ridiculous situations. Like when you send a resume/application off in email it might as well be flying to the moon. I have been reading unemployment boards, ridiculous job ad postings threads and making list for a new adventure. With a couple of my illustrator friends, we are making the ABC's of "Unemployed over 50". Can you see sympathy cards for the newly unemployed? E-cards? Anyway, it is just something I have kicking around in my brain. Here is our beginning list, can you think of any better examples?
A if for …
Application to the moon (someone throwing a paper airplane application to the moon and having it circle around forever)
Age group
Anti-depressants
Ageless (yeah, don’t we wish!)
B is for
Boss
Benefits we no longer have
C is for
Career counseling
Colleagues we miss
Careers we no longer have
Competition
D is for
Discrimination
Never mentioning your “years” on a resume
De je vous (this has happened before)
Down-sizing
E is for
Earning power
Economic collapse
Unemployment extensions
Extensions (unemployment benefits, not hair)
Entrepreneurs
F is for
Over fifty
Future (what does it look like) (I like future. Chris)
Filing for benefits every week
G is for
Gender
Ghost (being invisible in the work force as an older worker)
Gray hair (does she or doesn’t she, a big discussion about dying your hair when applying for jobs)
Group interviews
H is for
Honor
Honing your resume until you can’t even understand it yourself!
I is for
Income
India (jobs going to)
Indeed.com
Interviews
J is for
Jobless
Jolted by joblessness
K is for
401 (K)
Kicked to the curb
L is for
Labor department (Un-labor department)
Labor force under 40
M is for
Managers
Managing to do with less
N is for
Negative
Networking
O is for
Over fifty
Applying for benefits online
Online applications for jobs and benefits
Openings (but not enough of them)
P is for
Pushed out due to age
Pink slip
Passion (as in “follow your…”)
Q is for
I Quit
Quiet (as in the resounding silence that follows most applications)
R is for
Recession
Resume (honing your resume with fancy words until no one can really read it)
Reinvention
S is for
Sanity
Statistics
Skill set
Social networking
Scared
School (going back to learn new skills)
T is for
Target
Being targeted
Talented
U is for
Unemployment benefits
Underemployed
Uncle Sam
V is for
Valued (or wishing we were)
W is for
Work
WorkSource
Weary
Wages
Worried
X is for
X marks the spot
Y is for
You’re fired (as in Donald)
Z is for
Zero
From Ben, co-illustrator ;), poet, artist-extraordinaire.
A
is for Applications, they lead to dead ends.
B
is for Bernanke, printing trillions for friends.
C
is for Cashless; we now do without.
D
is for Debt; its paying in doubt.
E
is for Earning, once hard did I work.
F
is for Failing, at home I now lurk.
G
is for Games we're all forced to play.
H
is for HR departments, giving us no time of day.
I
is for Interview, in which egos are crushed.
J
is our Joint account; down the toilet it's flushed.
K
is what my 401 no longer has.
L
is for Losing; blues replace jazz.
M
is for Mellifluous, I just like the word.
N
is for NO JOB, in the punch bowl a turd.
O
is for Owing, the bills never end.
P
is for Pissing, my last dollars into the wind.
Q
is for Querulous, we moan and we groan.
R
is for Real estate for which banks will not loan.
S
is for Sycophants, their bosses' butts tasted.
T
is for Talent, now mostly wasted.
U
is for Unemployed, in the wind we are twisted.
V
is for Verisimilitude, on our resumés listed.
W
is for for Worrying about aging and tumors.
X
is for X-gens, who look down on us boomers.
Y
is for Youth that's no longer mine.
Z
is for Zed; it's the end of the line.
4 comments:
All the illustration in this post are super fantastic, Kim. You are so amazingly talented.
I actually think the ABC book idea would sell. Many people feel this sort of frustration and sense of being passé, etc.
BUT don't you really think that today, with the internet, that anyone with ability, such as yourself, could have as much work as they could wish for?!
I don't understand waiting for anyone to give you a boring job. You're so creative why not make your skill available directly to projects that excite you? What am I missing?
Thank you Shelley! I totally agree which is why I am moving on the work on my own projects and seeking freelance ;) Thank you for being so supportive.
Hi Kim,
Just came upon your blog/s today and could especially relate to this posting! I, too am an illustrator/designer nearing 50! While I haven't gotten a pink slip yet - I left the company before that could happen and tried a different company, I am still feeling many of the same things you are. I am now stuck at a job that I absolutely hate, but I do have a steady salary and benefits - just not enough guts to quit and go freelance. I have to agree with the other commenter here - Shelley - use this as an opportunity!!! Seems like you are very talented and have loads of ideas - it is just a matter of time before you are successful! Your ABC's reminded me a bit of the guys that started this site (they got downsized and created these products, which I think are hilarious!):
http://www.despair.com/viewall.html
Hello Julie! Thank you for commensurating! Although I have not fully gotten my freelance legs ... I have been staying pretty busy with different projects. I have always freelanced but hand in hand with a full time job. It is taking some learning on my side, mainly to try and stop worrying. That feels like my biggest enemy. That, and not taking time off. One of my partners that I work with and I were having this discussion the other day. How we live at our computers and rarely take one day off. I am definitely trying to break THAT bad habit ;) I love the despair site! I see several T-shirts I need to have!
Just had a peak, love your work! Thank you so much for leaving your comment! And encouragement!
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