I lost my job in late May and STILL have not been able to find a new one, despite glowing references and letters of recommendation. I have a Master's degree in Education too. My morale is at an all-time low. We're talking severe bouts of depression, sleepless nights, panic attacks, etc.

There seems to be a lot of competition out there and some age discrimination. (I am 43 BTW.)

best thing you can do is volunteer work.......its better for you to be doing soemthing than nothing while you look fo rpaid work..............and you get more credibility and extra references...plus your out of the house.........socialising and you wont have time to ruminate on being 'unemployed".

it is hard but your dillegence will pay off.

cheers

Max

I haven't worked fulltime since being laid off in 2011 (after 18 years at the same company). I get freelance graphic design work through 24seven, an agency for artists & designers.

Another possibility is staffing agencies. I work for the state and it is a Medicaid based program. We have provider companies that provide the services for our participants. These provider companies contract with the state to provide a particular service, whether it is aide work, supplying incontinence supplies, meals, etc. What these aide (and case management) provider companies are, are essentially staffing agencies. You don't have to have a nursing degree or social work degree to act as a case manager or an aide. It's not exactly in the field that you want to be working in, but it would be a job and a pay check, and you could always continue to look for work as a teacher. And, who knows, you may find the job just as rewarding as teaching.

By the way, when I took my job as a case manager (originally) through a staffing agency, I was 44. I worked with the staffing agency for 2 years, when the state office I worked out of as a case manager, began looking for a Social Worker III (Case Manager II), and the head of the office asked me to apply for the position. She had seen my work and was impressed with the work I would do, and wanted me on her staff through the state. The good thing about doing the job I was doing was that I set my own schedule. If I needed to work from home one day because the kids were sick, I could do that. If I needed a day or two off, I could do that, and just ask one of the other case managers to take my phone calls for me on those days. It was the MOST flexible job I've ever had. I only went out and did visits one or two days per week and worked from home the rest of the week. With the state job, I have to be in the office 3 days per week and telecommute 2 days per week. Still has a little flexibility, but not as much as I had previously. I really didn't have a "boss" per se, when I was doing case management through the staffing agency. It was good work, and there are times when I miss the level of flexibility I had. I could finish my visits in the first two weeks of the month and the last two weeks, stay home every day and work from home. Yeah, I miss that flexibility. But I love what I'm doing now.

and then some...bought on by the powers of satan with a side of wiccan