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Or my previously paid tax money as i have been unemployed for over six months now. But i bit the bullet and went to the unemployment office today since i have had no luck at all. I have a bachelors degree and i am taking some IT certs and i am just a general normal guy looking for a job, and i want to work.
I don't know what i expected of this visit and talking 1 on 1 with a consultant, i didn't expect much i guess but i expected atleast something, even if a little form of help. Some insight perhaps. The woman was friendly enough and seemed like she did really wish to help me. But...
Can you somehow assist me with finding a job? - No
Do you have any contacts with companies or programs or anything? - No
How about an internship, can you help me with that? - No
Any program to help me get out in the world and work? - No
How about financial aid? I am completely tapped out of my savings at this point - No you don't qualify for anything(my fiance works, so we get by but just barely when all bills are paid)
She hands me a list of recruitment agencies and tells me that if i manage to find an internship they will OK it(what do they need to OK it for, they aren't giving me anything) and can perhaps, perhaps arrange a salary of 30€ a day. A shitty Wall Mart like job in Norway pays like 120€ a day. Yay.
So is there anything my old tax money can actually do for me - a normal individual who isn't a drug/ex-drug addict. Who has worked, paid his 40%+ taxes - no. There is nothing. We work here in Scandinavia, paying the worlds highest taxes to our wellfare society as it is called, and we do this because we think that 'when something happens to me - i will be taken care of, that is why we have these taxes and hence i gladly pay them'. But no. It appears it is all just bullshit.
Now i am not asking for handouts, i don´t expect anyone to just give me a job or for it to magically appear. But what i do wonder is, if they cannot give me any form of assistance - what is their function?Why are they there? Why are they the "unemployment agency" if they cannot do a single damn thing to somehow assist me in finding work?
I cried a little when i got home. I haven't cried for well over 5 years but having that very last resort avenue yielding squat just made me break down. I'm 26, unemployed, feel like shit, feel useless - and i don't know what to do. I am somewhat panicking and slipping into despair.
 
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United States24768 Posts
On August 22 2013 22:38 unkkz wrote:
How about financial aid? I am completely tapped out of my savings at this point - No you don't qualify for anything(my fiance works, so we get by but just barely when all bills are paid)
This is different than where I live. Whether or not you can receive unemployment payments depends only on your personal income... not your partner's/spouses/etc. Sounds like you should have somehow 'split' when you first lost your job and acted more independent, but I can understand why you wouldn't want to try to game the system. Still, as long as you are actually improving yourself (certs etc) and trying to find a job, you aren't doing anything wrong even if you collect payments.
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Things will turn around! Try to keep positive and enjoy any simple thing.
Wish there was something that could be done to help.
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On August 22 2013 22:45 micronesia wrote:Show nested quote +On August 22 2013 22:38 unkkz wrote:
How about financial aid? I am completely tapped out of my savings at this point - No you don't qualify for anything(my fiance works, so we get by but just barely when all bills are paid) This is different than where I live. Whether or not you can receive unemployment payments depends only on your personal income... not your partner's/spouses/etc. Sounds like you should have somehow 'split' when you first lost your job and acted more independent, but I can understand why you wouldn't want to try to game the system. Still, as long as you are actually improving yourself (certs etc) and trying to find a job, you aren't doing anything wrong even if you collect payments.
I don't think it's that strict in finland either and sweden can't be too different, try visiting your "Social Insurance Institution/Folkpensionsanstalten" instead of unemployment office and they might be more helpful. Anyway I'm quite sure you should be entitled to recieving some compensation for being unemployed.
If all else fails consider lowering your standards and seeking for a job you're overqualified for, trust me it beats being unemployed. You can always look for a better job while there.
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do you have any prior job experience? if not ... consider interning "for free"
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You should have asked her what they actually do. At least I would like to know.
I seriously doubt that you wouldn't get any assistance when you really need it. You have worked before and you are willing to work, and I'm pretty confident that Sweden's constitution doesn't allow the state to let you starve to death anyways.
In my opinion, a certain rate of unemployment is unavoidable in our current society (without creating nonsense jobs or excessive wasting of natural resources). You shouldn't feel useless. As long as you are willing to work and support unemployed people once you have a job again, you should not feel bad about yourself.
It's ok to rely on others.
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On August 22 2013 22:45 micronesia wrote:Show nested quote +On August 22 2013 22:38 unkkz wrote:
How about financial aid? I am completely tapped out of my savings at this point - No you don't qualify for anything(my fiance works, so we get by but just barely when all bills are paid) This is different than where I live. Whether or not you can receive unemployment payments depends only on your personal income... not your partner's/spouses/etc. Sounds like you should have somehow 'split' when you first lost your job and acted more independent, but I can understand why you wouldn't want to try to game the system. Still, as long as you are actually improving yourself (certs etc) and trying to find a job, you aren't doing anything wrong even if you collect payments.
Here in Norway they count us as one entity since we live together and we have a child. Atleast that is what she told me, and to get financial aid we have to have under a certain amount of money left after paying rent. We are just above that limit pretty much.
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United States24768 Posts
On August 22 2013 23:13 unkkz wrote:Show nested quote +On August 22 2013 22:45 micronesia wrote:On August 22 2013 22:38 unkkz wrote:
How about financial aid? I am completely tapped out of my savings at this point - No you don't qualify for anything(my fiance works, so we get by but just barely when all bills are paid) This is different than where I live. Whether or not you can receive unemployment payments depends only on your personal income... not your partner's/spouses/etc. Sounds like you should have somehow 'split' when you first lost your job and acted more independent, but I can understand why you wouldn't want to try to game the system. Still, as long as you are actually improving yourself (certs etc) and trying to find a job, you aren't doing anything wrong even if you collect payments. Here in Norway they count us as one entity since we live together and we have a child. Atleast that is what she told me, and to get financial aid we have to have under a certain amount of money left after paying rent. We are just above that limit pretty much.
How does the amount of income you have right now compare with how much you could get from unemployment if neither of you had other income? If it's around the same then that's a horrible disincentive for her to work haha.
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On August 22 2013 22:38 unkkz wrote:
Now i am not asking for handouts, i don´t expect anyone to just give me a job or for it to magically appear. But what i do wonder is, if they cannot give me any form of assistance - what is their function?Why are they there? Why are they the "unemployment agency" if they cannot do a single damn thing to somehow assist me in finding work?
Its just the bureaucracy. They create the illusion that they are important to society and actually needed, but the truth is, they are just mooching off the taxpayer's teat.
I'm sorry for your troubles. Find anything that can pay, even if it sucks. Work your way up. I had to wait tables for over a year while finishing my Master's degree.
It still took me a few months to find something after I graduated, but I finally did! Keep your head up. You have the education that you need to be successful, just don't give up and annoy the crap out of employers until one of them says yes.
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On August 22 2013 22:38 unkkz wrote:
Or my previously paid tax money as i have been unemployed for over six months now. But i bit the bullet and went to the unemployment office today since i have had no luck at all. I have a bachelors degree and i am taking some IT certs and i am just a general normal guy looking for a job, and i want to work.
...
I don't know how it's in Sweden, but in Germany the unemployment agency pays for all kinds of certificates, courses, or any further education for that matter, when you are unemployed. I can imagine that Sweden does something similar considering that here we always hear how much more "social" Scandinavian countries are.
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Have you tried applying to Ikea? Isn't Ikea like HUGE provider of employment in Sweden?
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Keep your head up bro, don't take shitty jobs, keep searching, Things will get going. Don't give up, it's a tough world, but good things are at the end of the tunnel.
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Well, if your government can sufficiently support you, then look at it as an opportunity to train yourself on their dime. Since you mentioned IT, do some personal projects to build up your portfolio. Try and do something that you're remotely passionate about. Perhaps put together a web site from the ground up. Maybe do something on a cloud service like AWS or App Engine.
Personally, when I hire software developers, I love to meet people that have done personal projects on the side that I can pull from Github. In an interview, I think it would be great if you could say: "Yeah, I've been out of work, but while I've been looking for jobs, I've been working on these project(s) of my own. Let me tell you what I learned and why I had fun doing them."
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You should get addicted to drugs so they will give you assistance. A stimulant habit would probably help with those its certs too.
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On August 22 2013 23:14 micronesia wrote:Show nested quote +On August 22 2013 23:13 unkkz wrote:On August 22 2013 22:45 micronesia wrote:On August 22 2013 22:38 unkkz wrote:
How about financial aid? I am completely tapped out of my savings at this point - No you don't qualify for anything(my fiance works, so we get by but just barely when all bills are paid) This is different than where I live. Whether or not you can receive unemployment payments depends only on your personal income... not your partner's/spouses/etc. Sounds like you should have somehow 'split' when you first lost your job and acted more independent, but I can understand why you wouldn't want to try to game the system. Still, as long as you are actually improving yourself (certs etc) and trying to find a job, you aren't doing anything wrong even if you collect payments. Here in Norway they count us as one entity since we live together and we have a child. Atleast that is what she told me, and to get financial aid we have to have under a certain amount of money left after paying rent. We are just above that limit pretty much. How does the amount of income you have right now compare with how much you could get from unemployment if neither of you had other income? If it's around the same then that's a horrible disincentive for her to work haha.
Except that she would lose her job and then they still wouldn't have more money even if unkkz found a job.
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a normal individual who isn't a drug/ex-drug addict...
This is very prevalent in germany aswell. We had the jews during nazi times, now we have the unemployed, that we portrait like scum in talkshows and newspapers, but guess what, most of the other unemployed are just normal individuals like you.
But society needs a scapegoat, and we need precarous social security, so people are willing to work at shitty pays, so people can make more profit. Capitalism rules, rules you and me, and all of us.
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Would you be open to leaving for another country which has more job opportunities/less oppressive taxes?
Props for not wanting to take advantage of the system. If only the unemployed here in the US had the same mindset as you, then there would many fewer unemployed. Instead, I see so many job openings but no one wanting to fill them because a lot of people here would rather keep collecting welfare than get a job. Sorry to read about another victim of the nanny state, hope things turn out better for you.
[edit]Something to read on the topic, though it might make you feel worse about the situation: How the Welfare State Corrupted Sweden
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United States24768 Posts
On August 23 2013 01:58 SpeaKEaSY wrote:
Instead, I see so many job openings but no one wanting to fill them because a lot of people here would rather keep collecting welfare than get a job.
I definitely know that people will try to abuse the unemployment system in the USA, such as people who just pretend they are looking for work and figure they get a year of free income (albeit not very much) in the meantime.
I don't know how you have come to observe cases of what I quoted above... could you elaborate on that? What types of jobs are you seeing go unfilled? From where I sit, jobs are almost always competitive to fill for the past 6 or so years.
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i doubt a shitty walmart job pays 13/hour
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On August 23 2013 02:10 micronesia wrote:Show nested quote +On August 23 2013 01:58 SpeaKEaSY wrote:
Instead, I see so many job openings but no one wanting to fill them because a lot of people here would rather keep collecting welfare than get a job. I definitely know that people will try to abuse the unemployment system in the USA, such as people who just pretend they are looking for work and figure they get a year of free income (albeit not very much) in the meantime. I don't know how you have come to observe cases of what I quoted above... could you elaborate on that? What types of jobs are you seeing go unfilled? From where I sit, jobs are almost always competitive to fill for the past 6 or so years.
The mall. Although, they're mostly low paying, seasonal/temporary jobs. So understandably, many people choose to stay unemployed and collect a check rather than get out of bed for a low paying job that they might not have 3 months down the road. Still, it is a job and I have a ton of respect for people like the OP who would rather take jobs like these than take advantage of the system.
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On August 23 2013 02:22 FFGenerations wrote:
i doubt a shitty walmart job pays 13/hour
Aldi pays about 16 dollars per hour to the people working the checkouts in Germany.
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I regret that you feel helpless but you are clearly over-reacting and misunderstanding you own system. First there is basic support that provides every unemployed money to survive. It seems you don't have access to that since you are married (though you most likely receive a generic answer because you couldn't provide the counselor with various documents necessary to evaluate whatever he needs to). The second part of unemployment benefits is voluntary and comes as you are searching for another job or training for it. It's part of the most heralded "Active Labour Market Policy".
So here is my advice : take a week or two to play SC2/DotA2 or whichever game you want and slack like a slouch. Then spend the next week, asking around for advices, look for places that are hiring, think about your qualities and update your resume and your motivation letter. Then search away (grind like a lemmings) during a week or two and keep track of what you do, which company you ask etc etc. Then go back to the counselor and ask for support. These guys aren't here to make your life miserable, they are here to help you but sometimes you just have to put yourself in a position to be helped.
PS : And please, get your fiance to work with you on this ! Being alone isn't cool 
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On August 23 2013 02:22 FFGenerations wrote:
i doubt a shitty walmart job pays 13/hour
Ya I was going to say I would love to work at a shifty Wal-Mart over there god forbid a non-shift one.
I mean sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do right? Some people move to whole new areas for 'work' and money which is a sad reality of life how we live off this thing called currency. Maybe look into doing something online? Lots of people who have very little education and simply have a good idea and a little know how make a website and generate money through donations, ads and other services.
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On August 23 2013 02:22 FFGenerations wrote:
i doubt a shitty walmart job pays 13/hour
Working part time as a cashier at a walmart like store in Oslo when i was studying i made 135 norwegian crowns an hour, that is 16,63 euros an hour. That is 133 euros a day, 125 since you don't get paid for lunch. People who do not work part time make more per hour. Norway has like the worlds second highest wages and the median salary is like 400k NOK a year = 49.300€ = 65.000$. On this you get like 38 - 40% taxes.
This comes with everything being more expensive ofcourse. For instance the 30€ a day i would get if, and thats a decently sized if, i find an internship and if they are willing to pay for it, those 30€ would not even cover groceries for a day unless i really really tried cooking only super cheap stuff but i'd like for my daughter to eat some fresh vegetables and stuff so it's not really enough. We spend like 35 - 40€ on groceries a day on average. 1L of milk is around 1,5€, 400g of minced meat 6-7€.
To compare someone working with the minimum wage would make maybe 90€ in a day.
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On August 23 2013 00:23 HaRuHi wrote:This is very prevalent in germany aswell. We had the jews during nazi times, now we have the unemployed, that we portrait like scum in talkshows and newspapers, but guess what, most of the other unemployed are just normal individuals like you. But society needs a scapegoat, and we need precarous social security, so people are willing to work at shitty pays, so people can make more profit. Capitalism rules, rules you and me, and all of us.
Maybe i missunderstand you now but, what i meant is that since i am a normal individual i recieve no help. If i had been like a drug addict or something they might actually help me out with something meaning that the system is not for 'normal' people. But it was written in a more fit of anger so shouldn't be taken as serious thoughts but i do think if i was more of an actual wellfare client so to say, i would recieve more help.
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On August 23 2013 03:07 unkkz wrote:Show nested quote +On August 23 2013 00:23 HaRuHi wrote:a normal individual who isn't a drug/ex-drug addict... This is very prevalent in germany aswell. We had the jews during nazi times, now we have the unemployed, that we portrait like scum in talkshows and newspapers, but guess what, most of the other unemployed are just normal individuals like you. But society needs a scapegoat, and we need precarous social security, so people are willing to work at shitty pays, so people can make more profit. Capitalism rules, rules you and me, and all of us. Maybe i missunderstand you now but, what i meant is that since i am a normal individual i recieve no help. If i had been like a drug addict or something they might actually help me out with something meaning that the system is not for 'normal' people. But it was written in a more fit of anger so shouldn't be taken as serious thoughts but i do think if i was more of an actual wellfare client so to say, i would recieve more help.
how long did you actually work in your previous job? In Germany, if you worked more than 12 months, you get unemployment money.
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Hey man, don't feel too bad. If it's anything similar to Canada, and it sounds like it is a bit. Then a lot of these agents are trained to not hand out money. When you walk in, their goal is for you to leave without taking money. They will try and make you feel shitty about yourself, and often succeed. I could be way off base since you said she was friendly and helpful, but it happens a lot here.
Also I used to get paid 19$ an hour at Wal Mart. You can make a decent wage in almost any industry, even 'minimum wage' ones.
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Things can be so messed up with offices that deal with unemployment. My gf's aunt is on assistance as is a fair few number of her family. They are packed into a house in the boonies because it is cheaper to live 50+miles out of the cities.
Her counselor told her she would be better off quitting her job all together, she has a job but still can't make everything come together (the situation without money is completely messed imo, but that is neither here nor there). Part of me wants to think there is a logic to how these places operate that I am just not savvy to, but in certain cases, yours included, I really can't see it.
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I can't say that I know how you feel since I have never been unemployed since I finished school. Anyway let me hand you a few tips that might help you on the way around.
Take a few courses while being out of work. Study and activate yourself to keep yourself above water. In addition, a lot of student agencies offers job as academic work, student consulting and more. They all require that you study atleast 50%. Its a rather easy way to get a haf time job and work from there.
Ofc, the chances that they have work for you differ a lot from different cities. If you live in a small town/city. Move from there to a major city. If you really want to work and earn money, then move if that's the problem.
If you already live in a bigger city. Give out your CV to all places you see. Go in, present yourself and hope that they might call. It worked for my GF, sure she's a girl but hey might work for a guy as well.
Anyway, got more tips but hard since I don't know where in Sweden you live and the amount of jobs really differ a lot. Wish you the best of luck mate!
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Eh.
Ehhhhh.
I'm of two minds on this.
On one hand, you can't really fault the system for doing what it is doing here. You and your fiance make enough money to get by, yes? Your finances are being met. You probably shouldn't qualify for benefits. You don't "need" it. You aren't starving, right? Your needs are met?
On the other hand, it sucks. Finding work can be hard. I feel you on that. And an unemployment agency should be able to help you find employment, even if the job sucks.
Honestly, making 120 a day at Walmart is what...20k a year after taxes? I don't know the exact tax bracket you'd fall into in your country. But that's a good chunk of change that can certainly help, right?
You're out of work for 6 months. You need to get a job, any job, and just keep looking. Just have to man up and take what you can, even if it sucks. You have a marketable degree, you'll find something. Get a crappy job (shit that pay is still crazy high compared to the US), and keep searching. So what if you have to put up with it for a few months or a year? You'll get out, so fuck it and go for it.
As for the expenses of food, that's insane. Is there any way to get cheaper goods? Buy wholesale and freeze? Local markets? Discount food stores?
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The unemployment office in Sweden as you just realised is a fucking joke and it's ONLY function is to keep track of if you can get a-kassa and/or if you are "applying" (this means nothing you can send your CV in 10 times a week to phD level positons and it counts) for jobs if you are on state benefits.
They will NOT help you get a job in any way imagineble but they will waste your time if you go there. So don't.
Unless you are in some extra special category like ex-addict or newly arrived immigrant but then the help will still be minimal.
If you want any kind of economic aid you must first on paper sever all your ties to close family and then make sure to have nothing at all in your savings account and that you don't own a car or a house. It's perfectly accectable to sign over your car or house to your spouse tho and claim that you rent it, it will be fine.
I've been fortunate enough to chose a career path when where I'm never out of work but my gf is moving across the country for 3+ month long jobs trying to get into her career. She refuses to touch the unemployment office since they sent her to the same "counseling company" 3 times in a row just wasting her time. She did the exact same thing twice and they tried sending her to it again. Then she told them to fuck off since they would do nothing. We were living two persons on one persons student loan at the time btw so we had perhaps 10 $ at the end of the month after paying for pasta and the bills.
That program has since been disbanded because it paid millions to private companies and provided about 0 jobs...
Also when she finally got a part time job cleaning peoples homes (she has a masters in natural sciences) her advisor was really happy and wrote her off since she had succesfully helped her to get a job.
So FUCK THEM.
It's funny because my dad actually used to work at the unemployment office (he died a long time ago) back before they changed and he had so many contacts with different companies setting up interviews with matching candidates all the time. Then it apparantly all turned to shit somehow.
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Swedish economy is not doing very well at the moment, that is kind of an open secret. So yes, your best course of action financially would probably be to go to Norway. It's not original, but it works. Highest wages in the world, 3% unemployment. cant go wrong with that.
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This is the place to return to one of the grand exploits of economic apologetics. It will be remembered that if through the introduction of new, or the extension of old, machinery, a portion of variable capital is transformed into constant, the economic apologist interprets this operation which “fixes” capital and by that very act sets labourers “free,” in exactly the opposite way, pretending that it sets free capital for the labourers. Only now can one fully understand the effrontery of these apologists. What are set free are not only the labourers immediately turned out by the machines, but also their future substitutes in the rising generation, and the additional contingent, that with the usual extension of trade on the old basis would be regularly absorbed. They are now all “set free,” and every new bit of capital looking out for employment can dispose of them. Whether it attracts them or others, the effect on the general labour demand will be nil, if this capital is just sufficient to take out of the market as many labourers as the machines threw upon it. If it employs a smaller number, that of the supernumeraries increases; if it employs a greater, the general demand for labour only increases to the extent of the excess of the employed over those “set free.” The impulse that additional capital, seeking an outlet, would otherwise have given to the general demand for labour, is therefore in every case neutralised to the extent of the labourers thrown out of employment by the machine. That is to say, the mechanism of capitalistic production so manages matters that the absolute increase of capital is accompanied by no corresponding rise in the general demand for labour. And this the apologist calls a compensation for the misery, the sufferings, the possible death of the displaced labourers during the transition period that banishes them into the industrial reserve army! The demand for labour is not identical with increase of capital, nor supply of labour with increase of the working class. It is not a case of two independent forces working on one another. Les dés sont pipés.
edit: variable capital = you. constant capital = machine. the composition of capital = their ratio.
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On August 23 2013 03:00 unkkz wrote:Show nested quote +On August 23 2013 02:22 FFGenerations wrote:
i doubt a shitty walmart job pays 13/hour
Working part time as a cashier at a walmart like store in Oslo when i was studying i made 135 norwegian crowns an hour, that is 16,63 euros an hour. That is 133 euros a day, 125 since you don't get paid for lunch. People who do not work part time make more per hour. Norway has like the worlds second highest wages and the median salary is like 400k NOK a year = 49.300€ = 65.000$. On this you get like 38 - 40% taxes. This comes with everything being more expensive ofcourse. For instance the 30€ a day i would get if, and thats a decently sized if, i find an internship and if they are willing to pay for it, those 30€ would not even cover groceries for a day unless i really really tried cooking only super cheap stuff but i'd like for my daughter to eat some fresh vegetables and stuff so it's not really enough. We spend like 35 - 40€ on groceries a day on average. 1L of milk is around 1,5€, 400g of minced meat 6-7€. To compare someone working with the minimum wage would make maybe 90€ in a day.
Sorry, you spend 40 euros a DAY on food? For you and your daughter? And fiance, or no? That's batshit insane. Like, insane. is that eating out? Or groceries, like from a store, than you make your own food?
You're talking...oh, 1600 USD a month in food. That's fucking unreal. That's more than twice my monthly rent. I can't believe food in Sweden is THAT expensive. It sounds like you might benefit from some serious frugality approaches to food. Reddit's eat cheaply and frugally subreddit is great for that sort of thing.
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On August 23 2013 06:06 Elegy wrote:Show nested quote +On August 23 2013 03:00 unkkz wrote:On August 23 2013 02:22 FFGenerations wrote:
i doubt a shitty walmart job pays 13/hour
Working part time as a cashier at a walmart like store in Oslo when i was studying i made 135 norwegian crowns an hour, that is 16,63 euros an hour. That is 133 euros a day, 125 since you don't get paid for lunch. People who do not work part time make more per hour. Norway has like the worlds second highest wages and the median salary is like 400k NOK a year = 49.300€ = 65.000$. On this you get like 38 - 40% taxes. This comes with everything being more expensive ofcourse. For instance the 30€ a day i would get if, and thats a decently sized if, i find an internship and if they are willing to pay for it, those 30€ would not even cover groceries for a day unless i really really tried cooking only super cheap stuff but i'd like for my daughter to eat some fresh vegetables and stuff so it's not really enough. We spend like 35 - 40€ on groceries a day on average. 1L of milk is around 1,5€, 400g of minced meat 6-7€. To compare someone working with the minimum wage would make maybe 90€ in a day. Sorry, you spend 40 euros a DAY on food? For you and your daughter? And fiance, or no? That's batshit insane. Like, insane. is that eating out? Or groceries, like from a store, than you make your own food? You're talking...oh, 1600 USD a month in food. That's fucking unreal. That's more than twice my monthly rent. I can't believe food in Sweden is THAT expensive. It sounds like you might benefit from some serious frugality approaches to food. Reddit's eat cheaply and frugally subreddit is great for that sort of thing.
Everything in Sweden and Norway is ridiculously expensive. A friend of mine lived in Oslo for a while and she said that a takeout pizza is the equivalent of $40-45, and it's not that outlandish to them. They make a shitload of money themselves. If you could work in Norway and live in the US, you'd be golden.
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On August 23 2013 06:06 Elegy wrote:Show nested quote +On August 23 2013 03:00 unkkz wrote:On August 23 2013 02:22 FFGenerations wrote:
i doubt a shitty walmart job pays 13/hour
Working part time as a cashier at a walmart like store in Oslo when i was studying i made 135 norwegian crowns an hour, that is 16,63 euros an hour. That is 133 euros a day, 125 since you don't get paid for lunch. People who do not work part time make more per hour. Norway has like the worlds second highest wages and the median salary is like 400k NOK a year = 49.300€ = 65.000$. On this you get like 38 - 40% taxes. This comes with everything being more expensive ofcourse. For instance the 30€ a day i would get if, and thats a decently sized if, i find an internship and if they are willing to pay for it, those 30€ would not even cover groceries for a day unless i really really tried cooking only super cheap stuff but i'd like for my daughter to eat some fresh vegetables and stuff so it's not really enough. We spend like 35 - 40€ on groceries a day on average. 1L of milk is around 1,5€, 400g of minced meat 6-7€. To compare someone working with the minimum wage would make maybe 90€ in a day. Sorry, you spend 40 euros a DAY on food? For you and your daughter? And fiance, or no? That's batshit insane. Like, insane. is that eating out? Or groceries, like from a store, than you make your own food? You're talking...oh, 1600 USD a month in food. That's fucking unreal. That's more than twice my monthly rent. I can't believe food in Sweden is THAT expensive. It sounds like you might benefit from some serious frugality approaches to food. Reddit's eat cheaply and frugally subreddit is great for that sort of thing.
That's for all of us and includes you know, soap, washing powder - everything to live. And i live in Norway, been meaning to update my profile for a fear years but, swede living in Norway. And that's the weird part, unemployment is stupidly low in Norway. When i lived in Oslo i got my previous jobs within 1-2 weeks of searching. Here(Trondheim) i have been to two interviews in over six months - and that's with a degree. I have applied for just about anything except for cleaning toilets pretty much as well so i feel i am at least not reaching too high.
And if you think the food prices are high you should hear the gas prices 1,2 - 1,3€ a liter pretty much. So a full on our car is in the 45€ area.
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On August 23 2013 03:17 Rimstalker wrote:Show nested quote +On August 23 2013 03:07 unkkz wrote:On August 23 2013 00:23 HaRuHi wrote:a normal individual who isn't a drug/ex-drug addict... This is very prevalent in germany aswell. We had the jews during nazi times, now we have the unemployed, that we portrait like scum in talkshows and newspapers, but guess what, most of the other unemployed are just normal individuals like you. But society needs a scapegoat, and we need precarous social security, so people are willing to work at shitty pays, so people can make more profit. Capitalism rules, rules you and me, and all of us. Maybe i missunderstand you now but, what i meant is that since i am a normal individual i recieve no help. If i had been like a drug addict or something they might actually help me out with something meaning that the system is not for 'normal' people. But it was written in a more fit of anger so shouldn't be taken as serious thoughts but i do think if i was more of an actual wellfare client so to say, i would recieve more help. how long did you actually work in your previous job? In Germany, if you worked more than 12 months, you get unemployment money.
It was part-time while i was studying, but first job i worked for two years and then i swapped to another and worked there for 12 months. Getting the first line of unemployment money in Norway is based on how much you earned in a year, you have to earn X amount to qualify for it and i didn't earn that much as i mostly worked weekends and nights when i could. I made enough to get into a higher tax bracket then the "student limit" but not enough for unemployment money.
Then there is the second line, which is pretty much wellfare, which we do not qualify for since we are counted as one entity. Funily enough when it comes to taxes we count as a separate entity but when it comes to benefits we count as one. So we get screwed over double time since we aren't married. If we are married we get a small tax break and are counted as a single entity in the tax declaration for tax breaks. We are however just talking about walking down to city hall and getting married just for the tax break, which would suck since she wants a decent wedding but we simply cannot afford one.
I guess this is what sucks the most. Not that i suffer and become depressed as hell about being unemployed, but all the shit she gets because of it. I feel so bad about it. We can't move to something bigger, we can't get the wedding she wants, we can't really buy anything to treat ourselves and i can't treat her the way she deserves. Breaks my heart.
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On August 23 2013 05:05 CuddlyCuteKitten wrote:
The unemployment office in Sweden as you just realised is a fucking joke and it's ONLY function is to keep track of if you can get a-kassa and/or if you are "applying" (this means nothing you can send your CV in 10 times a week to phD level positons and it counts) for jobs if you are on state benefits.
They will NOT help you get a job in any way imagineble but they will waste your time if you go there. So don't.
Unless you are in some extra special category like ex-addict or newly arrived immigrant but then the help will still be minimal.
If you want any kind of economic aid you must first on paper sever all your ties to close family and then make sure to have nothing at all in your savings account and that you don't own a car or a house. It's perfectly accectable to sign over your car or house to your spouse tho and claim that you rent it, it will be fine.
I've been fortunate enough to chose a career path when where I'm never out of work but my gf is moving across the country for 3+ month long jobs trying to get into her career. She refuses to touch the unemployment office since they sent her to the same "counseling company" 3 times in a row just wasting her time. She did the exact same thing twice and they tried sending her to it again. Then she told them to fuck off since they would do nothing. We were living two persons on one persons student loan at the time btw so we had perhaps 10 $ at the end of the month after paying for pasta and the bills.
That program has since been disbanded because it paid millions to private companies and provided about 0 jobs...
Also when she finally got a part time job cleaning peoples homes (she has a masters in natural sciences) her advisor was really happy and wrote her off since she had succesfully helped her to get a job.
So FUCK THEM.
It's funny because my dad actually used to work at the unemployment office (he died a long time ago) back before they changed and he had so many contacts with different companies setting up interviews with matching candidates all the time. Then it apparantly all turned to shit somehow.
My dad had a pretty similar story as your GF. His real-estate business went under during the crash, he sold restaurants and people ate out way less coupled with a crack down on tax evasion and income evasion which according to him, was how they actually made the restaurants break a profit. So profits took a nosedive, many many restaurants went under and there were nobody to invest in the market again since it wasn´t as lucrative and simply too risky.
They tried to send him around to various crap like you say, but he put his foot down pretty early and chewed their ears of and they simply backed off.
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If you mean: be really good at what you do, have 15+ years worth of experience with a sick project resume(including an academy award project) and the connections that come with it - then why yes that would be awesome Sadly i am not quite there yet.
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Maybe I missed this, but why exactly haven't you taken a Wal-Mart esk job? Is it a pride thing? Isn't making any amount of money better than making nothing?
I find that having a job, any job, usually positively impacts other areas of my life as well. When I'm not working, I feel depressed a lot of the time and a sense of hopelessness sort of sets in.
For whatever reason if you can't find work, I suggest doing something that gets you moving. Start something at home that gets your brain in gear and sweat on your brow. Learn a new skill, build some shelves or something, do anything that gets your juices flowing again.
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What's your degree? Did you intern in college?
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On August 23 2013 08:50 unkkz wrote:If you mean: be really good at what you do, have 15+ years worth of experience with a sick project resume(including an academy award project) and the connections that come with it - then why yes that would be awesome Sadly i am not quite there yet.
I don't think anyone expects 15+ years worth of experience from a 26 year old. Of course if you just sat on your hands the government can't help other than to give you money, and that's preposterous over someone who is actually in physical distress like a drug addict. Otherwise, go around and sell yourself.
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On August 23 2013 14:21 Soap wrote:
sell yourself.
I find it amusing that in an economic system predicated on the notion that "we are not slaves," one can go around saying things like "sell yourself" without a hint of irony... It's funny sometimes how things bubble up in our way of speaking :D
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On August 23 2013 14:24 sam!zdat wrote:I find it amusing that in an economic system predicated on the notion that "we are not slaves," one can go around saying things like "sell yourself" without a hint of irony... It's funny sometimes how things bubble up in our way of speaking :D
A slave does not sell himself, he is sold by others. Big difference.
Actually we are very free to live off the land, but I guess that doesn't sound attractive versus the "economic system".
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it's not unknown for people to sell themselves into slavery: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voluntary_slavery. To be sure, most people are sold into slavery by their families.
i think there's a very real sense in which every person who takes out a student loan sells themselves into slavery. is an indentured servant different than a slave? it all sort of depends on what you mean by slavery. an Enlightenment contract theorist would not look upon an indebted wage earner as a slave, but Plato would have.
On August 23 2013 14:44 Soap wrote:
Actually we are very free to live off the land, but I guess that doesn't sound attractive versus the "economic system".
not really. there's always property tax, which sets a minimum bound to the amount of commodity value you have to produce with the land. it's not like this is back in the 19th century, when my great-great-great grandfather could drive a wagon out west with his cousins and get some free land to live on.
plus, this means largely dropping out of your society. Is it really fair to say that some social arrangement is just because one always has the option of voluntary ostracism, and that therefore one has made a choice? I think this is a liberal sophistry
edit: the point is, why should we go around talking about how we are "selling ourselves" like prostitutes, when we could go around thinking about how we can work productively for the common good in ways that are equitable, just, and appropriate to human dignity? a ridiculous idea, I know
edit: I know it's a grumpy old man thing but the words we use are important, they reveal things that we do not know that we know. just think about the ridiculous things we say... "human resources" good lord
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Ask how to get hired to do what they do all day.
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I really want to know your degree as I find it somewhat hard to believe that you can't find a job with a degree if it's at all realistic and if you're at all trying.
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On August 23 2013 03:07 unkkz wrote:Show nested quote +On August 23 2013 00:23 HaRuHi wrote:a normal individual who isn't a drug/ex-drug addict... This is very prevalent in germany aswell. We had the jews during nazi times, now we have the unemployed, that we portrait like scum in talkshows and newspapers, but guess what, most of the other unemployed are just normal individuals like you. But society needs a scapegoat, and we need precarous social security, so people are willing to work at shitty pays, so people can make more profit. Capitalism rules, rules you and me, and all of us. Maybe i missunderstand you now but, what i meant is that since i am a normal individual i recieve no help. If i had been like a drug addict or something they might actually help me out with something meaning that the system is not for 'normal' people. But it was written in a more fit of anger so shouldn't be taken as serious thoughts but i do think if i was more of an actual wellfare client so to say, i would recieve more help. Sounds similar to unemployment offices in NA... they're aimed at educating outsiders up to the point where they can, for example, write a resume/CV. (I use the word outsiders, cause I think it fits without being too insulting... I'm referring to people who have no experience with the system and really have no clue how to find a job).
Now it might seem really bad that the government spends all this money on these dregs of society who can't even write a resume, and none on helping people like you. But you have to think of the parable of the prodigal son. Sure, you can't find a job. But at least you are lucky enough to know how the system works... you can submit a resume and get rejected. The job centre is aimed at people who don't even know how to get rejected.
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I know what you mean. A few months ago I went to a place my mother pushed me to go see because she heard on the news that they helped people find jobs out of college. The second I stepped into the place I knew it was going to be a waste of time.
"fill out these fields on this website so you can search for jobs on it"
"let me see your resume"
We then did a "mock" interview and she told me my interview skills could be a bit better. A bit better? No sh*t. It's hard to give a good interview when you're not applying for an actual job at an actual company.
"well it seems like you're ready to apply for jobs"
Duh, I've been working part time for almost a year now.
"So now you can search for jobs, and if you hear back you can contact us if you need help practicing interviews or writing a cover letter"
Not connected to an agency? Waste of time.
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EPT
