job-seeker contacts/advice

[MilwaukeeBeers]

25 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

Don't be disheartened.  Right now, not a lot of companies are hiring.  I spend 10 years in sales/sales management in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries and it is hard to break into them.  Took me a year of applications and interviews.

Companies are always looking for good salespeople.  In addition to medical device and biotech, look into lab service providers (Labcorp, etc.), other medical supplies (think of everything that goes into a hospital - surgical supplies, sterilization/disinfecting supplies, etc.), agricultural products (fertilizers, etc.), food products/ingredients/manufacturers, and others where having a base knowledge of biology could come in handy.  A guy I used to manage just got hired as an inside sales rep at Exact Sciences, and I don't think he had a lot of sales or biotech experience.  Inside sales could be an opportunity to work from home.

If you have a good relationship with your doctor/dentist/etc, ask the people in their office to recommend any companies that supply products and services to them.

That is good advice I will ask around especially our OBGYN since we have a decent relationship with her. I should say I have 5.5 years of proven sales experience so I figured it be a tad bit easier looking lol. It is really humbling to finally break through 6 figures which was always one of my goals income wise and then come crashing down to Earth. I think that is where I feel the root of my current failure. I have an interview lined up at another insurance firm in Appleton so we shall see how that turns out. I just know I need to make some leaps forward career wise. Thank you for your response. 

[Samurai Bucky]

On 6/4/2025 at 6:58 PM, LouisEly said:

Don't be disheartened.  Right now, not a lot of companies are hiring.  I spend 10 years in sales/sales management in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries and it is hard to break into them.  Took me a year of applications and interviews.

Companies are always looking for good salespeople.  In addition to medical device and biotech, look into lab service providers (Labcorp, etc.), other medical supplies (think of everything that goes into a hospital - surgical supplies, sterilization/disinfecting supplies, etc.), agricultural products (fertilizers, etc.), food products/ingredients/manufacturers, and others where having a base knowledge of biology could come in handy.  A guy I used to manage just got hired as an inside sales rep at Exact Sciences, and I don't think he had a lot of sales or biotech experience.  Inside sales could be an opportunity to work from home.

If you have a good relationship with your doctor/dentist/etc, ask the people in their office to recommend any companies that supply products and services to them.

I'm going to add a "+1" to this.

The fact that you have been successful before the merger proves that you know what you are doing.  So from that standpoint, don't get down on yourself.  That shows me that you have good person-to-person skills.  If you would have sold ice to an eskimo, then you would be over the top... 😉

The Broker Dealer (BD) space is going through a lot of changes.  Cetera has bought a lot of companies.  LPL is always buying companies.  Heck, there are even a flurry of acquisitions happening at the fringe insurance business such as COLI and BOLI.  I know it doesn't help, but I know you are not alone.  Not sure if you could reach out to a BD to see if you could join an existing team.  Having a young family might restrict you from going completely independent (start a new firm and then say, "Hey, Ameriprise... wanna buy my assets?).

Pharma might be a great start.  Abbott and Lilly are two companies that have been a good place for my brother in law.  AI is a big deal -- I don't know if that would be something you could get into without more of a technical degree.  I forgot about Boston Scientific -- they might be a place to look at, too.

Thinks will work out for you.  Hang in there... 

[nate82]

17 minutes ago, Samurai Bucky said:

AI is a big deal -- I don't know if that would be something you could get into without more of a technical degree.

You don't need a technical degree to sell AI.  Heck I sit next to a bunch of merchant services sales rep (they sell the whole package including the technical parts API, systems and PoS) where I work and only one has some tech background.  In a sales job as long as you can sell and you have good people skills then you are good.  I have a friend who works at Salesforce and they are selling their technical properties and they can barely use their smart phone or turn on their computer.  But they can sell like no one else and they have really good people skills.  

[GAME05]

I've been avoiding the advice of "You should talk with the boss about the issues" because it would most likely turn into a talk of all the ways in which I'm terrible and I'm not anxious for that conversation, nor am I a "roll off your back" type of person to begin with. A co-worker says it would be a bad idea. But things have only gotten worse and I guess if I say nothing, than nothing could possibly change. Boss just said he's eyeing retirement in three years, which is both too long to just suck it up and deal with it, but also not so long that transferring is my only option. Had a staff meeting yesterday to introduce a new wave of nonsense and the boss asked me a few times for comment, which I declined as I wasn't going to be negative like that in front of the staff.

[CheezWizHed]

On 6/2/2025 at 1:42 PM, MilwaukeeBeers said:

Some nights go by and I feel like I am failing my 1 year old and wife (who is a K teacher) even though I am absolutely busting my rear end. 

You already got good advice on what you could look for, but I wanted to touch on this comment.  

Without knowing your wife specifically, I highly doubt she feels this way.  If you doubt that, be as vulnerable with her as you were with us and tell her that is the way you feel.  The man and father you are at home is more valuable than the paycheck you bring home.  

Certainly, there will be stress if you can't pay mortgage or other bills.  But stresses can also build and strength a marriage if you are open with her.  It can also drive a wedge if people close up. Work with her through this stress and you will see the relationship grow. 

Your 1 year old wants one and only one thing from you: time. (but your wife will also want you to change his/her diaper too 😉).

Don't be discouraged.  Bad things do happen to good people.  But good people don't let bad things stop them. 

Sincerely

Cheez - father of 6 and husband of 1 wife for 30 years. 

[LouisEly]

Didn't have "get laid off because other people who work for another company in another country didn't do their job" on my bingo card for this year, yet here I am.  Again.

When you work for a company who is a major supplier to another company who gets named publicly in the media as a source of a parasitic outbreak from one of their products causing their sales to tank, your company's sales tank as well.  And when your company's sales are down 40%... guess what happens.

Got a whole 3 weeks severance.  Just ****-spiffy.

[GAME05]

That sucks. Sorry to hear that.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

This is the worst market I've seen. Entered the workforce in 2009 and it was very bad then, it took me about a year to find a professional job. I am fortunately still employed in tech, but my apps go 99% nowhere, interviews that I crush end up with a ghosting...it's been about a year of this. I've never seen it this bad. Guys with 6 certifications sitting there with nothing or jobs that were entry level pay 5 years ago.

[owbc]

It's bad everywhere but I especially feel for people at the entry/junior level. They've mostly been replaced by AI agents. I know a number of unemployed/underemployed smart and talented recent grads who should have employers lining up to hire them and are getting nothing. 

@LouisEly that really sucks, what an unfair way to go out. 

[LouisEly]

On 9/2/2026 at 11:09 AM, owbc said:

It's bad everywhere but I especially feel for people at the entry/junior level. They've mostly been replaced by AI agents. I know a number of unemployed/underemployed smart and talented recent grads who should have employers lining up to hire them and are getting nothing. 

The biggest reason for unemployment/underemployment in Gen Z isn't AI agents.

It's that the large, multinational corporations are offshoring the entry level college grad jobs to India, Mexico, Brazil, Poland, the Phillipines, etc., low cost of labor markets.  As more people around the globe speak adequate English and have college degrees, the more they think they can save money on labor costs by building a "global" workforce.

AI is actually reversing this a bit as you have to be very fluent in English to properly use AI.  

[AKCheesehead]

I went through this type scenario when I first graduated college in late 2000 during that mini recession. Field I majored in was hot right about up until I graduated, at which point I found myself competing with people with 10+ years experience for entry level jobs. I never was able to get in, I had to take an unrelated job, save up and go back to school. It worked out for me but there were some difficult and depressing times along the way. 

[GAME05]

9 hours ago, LouisEly said:

It's that the large, multinational corporations are offshoring the entry level college grad jobs to India,

I heard somewhere that 90% of the new jobs created in the US this past decade went to foreign-born workers. The H1B system is corrupted and it can be abusive to the visa-holders, too. I've seen a good few videos of people breaking down in tears because they'll apply to thousands of jobs, go on tons of interviews and just never get anywhere. Adding to it a ton of online postings now are scammers trying to steal your ID.

How any Millennial or GenA is going to be able to retire if things stay like this is beyond me.

[nate82]

15 hours ago, LouisEly said:

t's that the large, multinational corporations are offshoring the entry level college grad jobs to India, Mexico, Brazil, Poland, the Phillipines, etc., low cost of labor markets. 

I haven't seen much offshoring to Mexico or Poland lately.  Brazil, Philippines and India still are the three biggest with Argentina becoming a new place that companies are investing in.  

 

On 9/2/2026 at 5:47 AM, OldSchoolSnapper said:

This is the worst market I've seen. Entered the workforce in 2009 and it was very bad then, it took me about a year to find a professional job. I am fortunately still employed in tech, but my apps go 99% nowhere, interviews that I crush end up with a ghosting...it's been about a year of this. I've never seen it this bad. Guys with 6 certifications sitting there with nothing or jobs that were entry level pay 5 years ago.

Some of the jobs are regional level.  For example a lot of jobs are moving out of the major tech and corporate hubs California, Seattle, NYC and others.  These tech and corporate jobs are now moving to Nashville, Austin, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Tampa and other areas.  The tech companies that are still in California are now going remote or staying remote and hiring people from low cost of living cities instead of hiring people in California.  The cost to hire these remote workers is far less than it is to hire someone from California.  

What is even more crazy is that Phoenix has gained more than just TSMC.  Boeing and some other major manufacturers from California have now moved their operations to Phoenix.  The Phoenix area is quickly becoming a major tech, corporate and manufacturing hub.  In the west valley you have a lot of new data centers, manufacturers and tech jobs.  In the north valley you have a lot of corporate, health care and tech manufacturing jobs.  In the south valley there are a lot of manufacturing jobs.  In the west valley it is a mixture of tech and corporate jobs.  A lot of the facilities in the north and west valley are either new created in the last 3-5 years or are still under construction.

In this market if you are not willing to move to where the jobs are good luck and I hope you like a blue collar job because that is what you are going to have to take if you are not willing to move.  There are some remote jobs but the competition is just insane.  I have a friend who works in HR and whenever they post a job for remote work it automatically gets about 5000 plus applications while the in person roles get about 100-500 applicants and there is very little crossover between the two applicant pools.