Who else is having a slow July?

[quote author="IrvineRenter" date=1247225139]No matter how bad you think your industries are doing, I assure you mine is doing worse. Revenues and volume at the homebuilders is down 90%-95%. Unemployment at the homebuilders is running at about 90%, and it does not look like it will pick up any time soon. Unemployment in the related professional fields of architecture, engineering, landscape architecture, and others is running at about 50%. There is no way to measure how bad it is for realtors and mortgage brokers, but even with the "boom" we are experiencing now, transaction volumes are down 40% from a few years ago.



In short, real estate really sucks right now.</blockquote>


You are right. Every time I go through my Linkedin list of contacts, someone else is added to the list of unemployed, and almost none of them that were laid off by last December have a job. Scary-scary-scary. I am taking small consulting work to keep myself busy, but none of the big firms I know are hiring. Every project that is supposed to begin in a few days and bring me employment gets shelved. So much that even the project that I was working probono came to a screeching halt because of funding.



Haven't dipped into savings yet, but haven't bought new shoes in past six months. If I don't get anything by September, I am seriously thinking of switching my career. Big question is "to what?". Best bet right now is work for EDD. If I am laid off there, market should be picking up outside.
 
[quote author="Cubic Zirconia" date=1247486123][quote author="IrvineRenter" date=1247225139]No matter how bad you think your industries are doing, I assure you mine is doing worse. Revenues and volume at the homebuilders is down 90%-95%. Unemployment at the homebuilders is running at about 90%, and it does not look like it will pick up any time soon. Unemployment in the related professional fields of architecture, engineering, landscape architecture, and others is running at about 50%. There is no way to measure how bad it is for realtors and mortgage brokers, but even with the "boom" we are experiencing now, transaction volumes are down 40% from a few years ago.



In short, real estate really sucks right now.</blockquote>


You are right. Every time I go through my Linkedin list of contacts, someone else is added to the list of unemployed, and almost none of them that were laid off by last December have a job. Scary-scary-scary. I am taking small consulting work to keep myself busy, but none of the big firms I know are hiring. Every project that is supposed to begin in a few days and bring me employment gets shelved. So much that even the project that I was working probono came to a screeching halt because of funding.



Haven't dipped into savings yet, but haven't bought new shoes in past six months. If I don't get anything by September, I am seriously thinking of switching my career. Big question is "to what?". Best bet right now is work for EDD. If I am laid off there, market should be picking up outside.</blockquote>


Whenever I send out a marketing email to our client database, the bouncebacks (dead email addresses) I get are almost always from our homebuilder contacts. The developers seem to be hunkering down, and some are actually actively buying properties.
 
[quote author="Cubic Zirconia" date=1247486123][quote author="IrvineRenter" date=1247225139]No matter how bad you think your industries are doing, I assure you mine is doing worse. Revenues and volume at the homebuilders is down 90%-95%. Unemployment at the homebuilders is running at about 90%, and it does not look like it will pick up any time soon. Unemployment in the related professional fields of architecture, engineering, landscape architecture, and others is running at about 50%. There is no way to measure how bad it is for realtors and mortgage brokers, but even with the "boom" we are experiencing now, transaction volumes are down 40% from a few years ago.



In short, real estate really sucks right now.</blockquote>


You are right. Every time I go through my Linkedin list of contacts, someone else is added to the list of unemployed, and almost none of them that were laid off by last December have a job. Scary-scary-scary. I am taking small consulting work to keep myself busy, but none of the big firms I know are hiring. Every project that is supposed to begin in a few days and bring me employment gets shelved. So much that even the project that I was working probono came to a screeching halt because of funding.



Haven't dipped into savings yet, but haven't bought new shoes in past six months. If I don't get anything by September, I am seriously thinking of switching my career. Big question is "to what?". Best bet right now is work for EDD. If I am laid off there, market should be picking up outside.</blockquote>
How about becoming a realtor (little up-front cost and you can get become one quickly)? I'd suggest getting your CPA but I'm not sure you have the requirements (education wise and audit hour wise). Consulting work seems like the way to go nowadays, especially when you are taking about the financial services industry. One of the consults that I work with told me that her prior employer just had their second decent sized round of layoffs (Prudential Insurance) and my former employer (Cal National Bank) had a big second round of layoffs in April and will probably be taken over by the FDIC before the end of the year.
 
[quote author="Cubic Zirconia" date=1247486123]If I don't get anything by September, I am seriously thinking of switching my career. Big question is "to what?". Best bet right now is work for EDD. If I am laid off there, market should be picking up outside.</blockquote>


Not necessarily. EDD could slow down when people's benefits run out, which will (by many accounts) be long before any rebound.



I'm really sorry to hear about your job loss - and everyone else's. :(
 
Some other ideas for new careers (watch to the end).



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[quote author="Cubic Zirconia" date=1247486123][quote author="IrvineRenter" date=1247225139]No matter how bad you think your industries are doing, I assure you mine is doing worse. Revenues and volume at the homebuilders is down 90%-95%. Unemployment at the homebuilders is running at about 90%, and it does not look like it will pick up any time soon. Unemployment in the related professional fields of architecture, engineering, landscape architecture, and others is running at about 50%. There is no way to measure how bad it is for realtors and mortgage brokers, but even with the "boom" we are experiencing now, transaction volumes are down 40% from a few years ago.



In short, real estate really sucks right now.</blockquote>


You are right. Every time I go through my Linkedin list of contacts, someone else is added to the list of unemployed, and almost none of them that were laid off by last December have a job. Scary-scary-scary. I am taking small consulting work to keep myself busy, but none of the big firms I know are hiring. Every project that is supposed to begin in a few days and bring me employment gets shelved. So much that even the project that I was working probono came to a screeching halt because of funding.



Haven't dipped into savings yet, but haven't bought new shoes in past six months. If I don't get anything by September, I am seriously thinking of switching my career. Big question is "to what?". Best bet right now is work for EDD. If I am laid off there, market should be picking up outside.</blockquote>


I really do see it on linked in. I can't believe how many well qualified people that I know are unemployed and NOT finding a job after months and months. I've passed around so many resumes in the last 3 months and there are only a small handful who have found something.



If I lose my job, I'm thinking about changing careers too. I'm almost certain that I would be able to do something in my industry, but it wouldn't be a step up and most likely would be a step down. So where does that lead you? I am seriously considering getting my teaching credential if I lose my job.
 
teaching? with the way the CA budget (as well as many other state's) is, I doubt that there will be many new teachers hired for quite some time. I'm guessing class size is going through the roof over the next three years.



of course, the same can be said of most industries, I suppose.
 
[quote author="freedomCM" date=1247567036]teaching? with the way the CA budget (as well as many other state's) is, I doubt that there will be many new teachers hired for quite some time. I'm guessing class size is going through the roof over the next three years.



of course, the same can be said of most industries, I suppose.</blockquote>


Well, I had originally planned earlier in life to go to law school, but I don't think that's going to be an option now. The other big consideration is getting entrepeneurial in something related to the green stimulus dollars. I'm really frustrated right now. I work for-have a contract with- a foreign company where the CEO isn't exactly a rational business man. I've been doing this for many years but the CEO is increasingly behaving even more paranoid and irrational than ever before.



With the economy where it is, I can't launch myself into a step up. In fact, I'd most likely be forced to take a job doing something that I didn't want to do and then I'd be even further from the step up job. So, I'm just thinking that this may be the time to go do the plan b that I was thinking of much further into my future because I want to enjoy what I what I do and it would be nice to be a big earner for the next 10 years, but maybe that really doesn't matter as much. I think we might actually be better off if I earned less, but it was something that that I was driven to do rather than by what I made.
 
When my consulting project comes to an end and I dont land a full-time at the bank that I'm doing the consulting work, I will seriously consider moving to another location like Dallas because California will be a tough place to land a job for several years.
 
[quote author="stepping_up" date=1247569231]Well, I had originally planned earlier in life to go to law school, but I don't think that's going to be an option now.</blockquote>


I'm curious why you say this is no longer an option? Is it time? I know it would suck to have to work and go to law school, but I know people who are doing it. Granted, I don't see them very often, but they are doing it. Are you just not as interested? Or is it a money thing... not that you can't afford it, but that you have paid the student loans off and you don't want to have to do it again?



I too toy with the idea of law school here and there, especially with the MBA/JD combo degrees out there, and with UCI's new law school having some amazing profs and ton of money being thrown at it. I just see the big fat, ugly, smelly, wretched basketball playing, gorillas in the mist traveling, gun toting schlep of an attorney I am friends with make as much money as he does, sometimes just to eat pizza from CPK, and it really tempts me. I don't know what law I'd want to practice, because RE attorneys right now are begging for change. BK attorneys ebb and flow. Doing stuff with private equity/hedge funds/M&A is slow now too. If I could specialize in all three it would be perfect, I could help them get started and help them with their BKs. BTW, what law would you consider practicing?
 
[quote author="usctrojanman29" date=1247572400]When my consulting project comes to an end and I dont land a full-time at the bank that I'm doing the consulting work, I will seriously consider moving to another location like Dallas because California will be a tough place to land a job for several years.</blockquote>


It is interesting to see people considering a career change or even possibly considering moving out of state for better job opportunities. Is the job market really that bad for every industry in OC/LA? It seems clear that financial and real estate jobs are hit hard, but what about tech and new green technology jobs, etc.? Trojan, if you are considering Dallas, you should also look into Atlanta as the job market is looking healthier there too, especially if you are into being around a lot of Asians like Irvine.



So why is it that Dallas is the most popular destination for Californians during deep recessions. I've read this in several articles and books. I just don't get what makes Dallas an attractive place to live. I personally would never live there.
 
[quote author="stepping_up" date=1247569231]. I think we might actually be better off if I earned less, but it was something that that I was driven to do rather than by what I made.</blockquote>




Now this is a great reason to go into teaching. I'm firmly in the camp of doing what you love, and it is a bonus if it pays an ok salary with benefits.



But the important thing is the feeling of *wanting* to go into work every day.
 
[quote author="freedomCM" date=1247567036]teaching? with the way the CA budget (as well as many other state's) is, I doubt that there will be many new teachers hired for quite some time. I'm guessing class size is going through the roof over the next three years.



of course, the same can be said of most industries, I suppose.</blockquote>


If you do choose to get a credential, make sure it is a single subject math and/or science credential or special education. Math, science and special ed teachers have been exempted from current layoffs and some districts are still hiring, but only in these three areas. Remember that all laid off teachers will be re-hired prior to even interviewing new candidates. It has been a bitter pill to swallow for the many social science student teachers we have had the last few years.
 
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