Laid off 6 months ago -- applied for dozens of jobs. NO interviews.

[LuckyTheDog]

This is me on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesmelton

Are there no marketable skills there at all?

This is becoming discouraging.

[CurtEastPoint]

1. Do not give up hope. Discouraged, yes, but plug on.

I did it for a longer time than you and it finally paid off.
Good thoughts for you!

[Sanity Claws]

2. Are you looking for work only in Detroit?

If you are, that might be part of the problem.

What kind of jobs are looking for?
Are you looking for suggestions on other jobs/careers you might want to apply for?

[LuckyTheDog]

3. I have applied for jobs all over the country

Ideally, I'd like to get back into news. But I have been applying for PR jobs as well.

[Sanity Claws]

4. My understanding

Is anyone hiring in news? I don't think so. You might see an odd listing here and there in news but frankly they have their pick. There are far more journalism graduates and interns than there are jobs.

Similarly, are there jobs in public relations? I don't hear that term very much these days. I hear about corporate communications. Can you rebrand yourself as doing corporate communications.

Have you thought about working in the nonprofit sector? Good writing skills are required for grantwriting, donor relations, board relations. They also need people who are savvy in social media.

[LuckyTheDog]

5. PR = Corporate communications in most cases

I have applied for a lot of jobs in the communications operations of corporations.

I had a job in the non-profit sector for three years. They paid me 40% less than I had been making, treated me like crap and then eliminated my job when they had a cash crunch. Nonprofits mostly want Americorps people (who, basically, don't get paid) or entry-level people with almost no skills, but a willingness to work for next to nothing.

[Sanity Claws]

6. I work for a nonprofit

that is affiliated with a major organized religion.
I am treated well and they hired me when I had been trying to eke out a living from self-employed consulting and temping.
Please reconsider nonprofits, particularly if you are at the point where you are not getting any interviews from corporate America.

[LuckyTheDog]

7. I have looked into nonprofts

The last one I talked to was looking for a state-wide communications manager. Sounds good, right?

When they asked for my salary requirements, I asked for the same low salary I had been making at the statewide nonprofit that laid me off in November. (Remember, that had been a 40% pay cut compared to my previous job.)

The salary request seemed more than fair to them and would have just barely allowed me to pay my bills. But the request ended the conversation. They wanted someone to work long hours for about 30% less than that.

Yes, I will continue to consider nonprofits. But I need to find one that wants to pay a grown-up wage.