When do you start settling in job search?

[cj25]

At what point in your job search, when unemployed, do you just start settling for things you really don't want?  DH got laid off a month ago and we desperately wanted to him to get a job in another area and we could relocate.  We wanted to live somewhere where we would could be better off financially and have less horrid commutes.  It's been a month now and while he has got several bites, nothing is the works.  Because I'm starting to panic, he's starting to consider to apply to jobs in downtown LA, which would be 1.45- 2 hour drive each way.  Is it too soon to settle for what we absolutely do not want?   There are no software dev or sdet jobs in our area and moving to downtown is not an option.  We don't even want to stay in Cal.  We for sure have enough money for last 6 months, maybe a tad more if we stretch it, although we really wanted to use it to pay off debt.  Our car just also took a crap, so for now, we only have one car.

I'm getting so frustrated because every time we get things lined up to pay off debt, some other disaster hits and end up in more debt.  Every time we try to work towards creating a life/lifestyle we want, it falls to shit.  Why is to easy for some to do and others just can't do it at all?

[mm1970]

At what point in your job search, when unemployed, do you just start settling for things you really don't want?  DH got laid off a month ago and we desperately wanted to him to get a job in another area and we could relocate.  We wanted to live somewhere where we would could be better off financially and have less horrid commutes.  It's been a month now and while he has got several bites, nothing is the works.  Because I'm starting to panic, he's starting to consider to apply to jobs in downtown LA, which would be 1.45- 2 hour drive each way.  Is it too soon to settle for what we absolutely do not want?   There are no software dev or sdet jobs in our area and moving to downtown is not an option.  We don't even want to stay in Cal.  We for sure have enough money for last 6 months, maybe a tad more if we stretch it, although we really wanted to use it to pay off debt.  Our car just also took a crap, so for now, we only have one car.

I'm getting so frustrated because every time we get things lined up to pay off debt, some other disaster hits and end up in more debt.  Every time we try to work towards creating a life/lifestyle we want, it falls to shit.  Why is to easy for some to do and others just can't do it at all?

I don't know about the area or industry.  It's going to depend.  What do his coworkers say?

I'm in my mid-40s in Santa Barbara.  Typically people in my industry (semiconductors) are unemployed for 6-10 months.

Not always, though, it really varies.  A couple of local companies have been hiring, so when another closed their doors, my two long-ago coworkers were snapped up in about 3 months.

[wenchsenior]

I agree you need to know the trends for your field. I remember in the late 90s, during the period of extremely low unemployment with help wanted signs in every storefront in the city I was in, it still took about 1.5 months of consistent daily job hunting to land two low(ish)-skill, part-time jobs...one was a sales clerk, and the other an admin assistant.  We were broke and it was the longest 45 days of my life LOL.  At the same time, I was also applying for some career-type positions (Bachelors required, Msci preferred) and THOSE positions took about 3-4 months to pan out from initial application through interviewers to the offer I eventually got. That was in a booming economy.

In today's economy, DH has been through the process with several academic positions and also high level research positions with the feds. From application to final decision, those job hunts typically take 6-12 months.

So, I'm not sure a month is remotely of concern (other than your money crunch, of course), but you would need to ask people in that particular field/industry what is typical.

[Slow&Steady]

I think it depends on not only the field but also the personal circumstances. 

Is SO working? 
Are there kids?
How far are you from where you want to move?
Do you own a house or rent?

Personally, I would hate to use my emergency fund and  I would start applying at retail/fast food if I had to until something came up.  I know the pay will not be great but I see it as dollars I don't have to take from savings.  I have never been laid off but my DH has several times before we had kids.  The rule is always that you get a week to recover from the fact that somebody thought you were not worth keeping around, after that your full-time job is applying for new jobs.  If it gets to the point that we start eating into savings either lifestyle changes need to start happening or the job search needs to move from "dream job" to "temporary job until I can land a job in my field".  This worked before kids because we both worked and could squeeze by on just 1 income for a while if we needed to.  Now that there is a kiddo, he only works part-time while he tries to build a business and is able to pickup/drop off the kid from daycare.  If I was to be laid off now we would both start immediately looking for full-time work, he would probably get a job faster as he has a CDL and has never had a problem finding a job and I would probably find something part-time until I could get back in my field. 

[marielle]

I've heard as a general rule that it takes about a month for every 10k in salary. So for a 50k job, it can take 5 months to find that job. Of course this is a lot shorter if you network/know someone.

[fuzzy math]

Apply in LA. Apply in NC, Seattle, Portland. Apply for telecommuting. Apply in St Louis.

The worst that can happen is in a months time you'll know how desperate you really are then. And your DH might have up to 3 offers to compare. Maybe commuting will seem better or worse at that point.

[ImCheap]

Because I'm starting to panic, he's starting to consider to apply to jobs in downtown LA, which would be 1.45- 2 hour drive each way.  Is it too soon to settle for what we absolutely do not want?

For the love god don't do a 1.45-2 hour commute, you will be back at square one in short order. Not sure about unemployment in your state but  he may not last enough to start the unemployment benefits before the commute gets the better of him!

[Laserjet3051]

I concur that as a rough estimate, for every $10K you earn ,expect a month of lead time to get employment. Of course, many other variables impact this timeline. Last time I was laid off (in socal) it took me 15 months to secure contract (non-FTE) work. And since i was desperate, I drove 1.5 hrs each way. It was what I had to do to survive and care for a family of 4. After a while, I ended up moving closer cutting the commute down to 20-30 min each way which made it much more bearable.

1 month out of work? Thats a heartbeat. But good luck with your employment seeking efforts.

[Spork]

It really depends on what sort of storm you can weather.  Do you have the FU cash to float for a year?  2?  5?

Personally, it took me almost 3 years to find my last job.  I have a very niche skill set and I moved to a small town where the jobs were slim.   I saw about one opening in my field every 6 months.  I applied/got interviews for pretty much all of them... and got a few offers that I turned down.  But: I had FU money.  I will say that at 3 years, I was beginning to feel a little worried.  I was about to get an apartment a couple hours away and commute home on the weekends when a job popped up.