Hi. I’m a short term lurker. I’m 30 years old. My girlfriend is the long term lurker and reads this website regularly and wants to save money like crazy. This is sort of a case study, but I’m actually asking for job advice so I can help my girlfriend meet her mustachian goals. I think I would be more into mustachian lifestyle, but I’ve been in an unemployment funk.
Savings:
GF has 20k in savings, trying to build savings for new car/house, etc
GF has 10k in TSP
I have about 4k in savings
Income:
Her: $65,000/year, she is a fed employee, will go up to 77k/year in October
Me: unemployed, discussed below
Monthly Income after TSP, health insurance, etc, approximately $2500.
GF puts 1200 in TSP every month.
$1600 Rent (will try to get this lower when the lease ends)
$45/month internet
$50/month car insurance
$250/month food (including eating out)
$200/year renters insurance (required)
$300/month GF car issues, she just recently had to get a new transmission, battery, alternator and axle in the last 6 months. She should really get a new car, but she is pretty adamant about running it until the engine dies.
$20/month gas
$30/month apartment utilities
I have 30k of debt from grad school. Right now, I’m making minimum payments of about $200/month. It is not an option for me to ask my GF to help with payments until I get a job and put a ring on her finger. Right now, she is getting a little antsy, perhaps slightly resentful and scared about my unemployment situation. We’ve been together 4.5 years and she is definitely ready for the next step but won’t say “yes” until I have a job.
Right now, GF and I are not stressed out about lowering our expenses. We are trying to focus on finding me a job.
Education:
M.S. Criminology (May 2014)
B.S. Sociology (2008)
Work history
3 years in technician/sysadmin jobs before going back to grad school to make a career change into criminology
During grad school, I spent 12 months interning at police office making crime maps, andndoing research and statistics for interagency use
Job Application issues:
On a federal level, I’m not really being considered due to veterans preference. I have a disability that does not allow me to enlist in the armed services, nor perform adequately in positions that require good medical condition. I have moderate-severe sensorineural hearing loss.
On a state level – they seem to give preference to CA DoJ certified analysts, and this appears to require another year of education and money that I currently don't have. Having a hearing loss is also disqualifying me from a lot of sworn positions right now, DMV investigator, police assistant, etc.
I started applying to IT jobs and no one is contacting me. I think it is because I’m not longer “certified” enough without a MCSE or A+ certification.
I’m not sure how to change my job searching approach. Is there another career I should look into with my skills of IT, ArcGIS, statistics where hearing loss is not an issue?
I’m pretty sure my cover letters and resume are solid. My girlfriend reviews all of them and worked in the career services office during grad school (Ivy League).
My GF is thinking of using her savings to send me to one of those 12 week coding schools, I'm not really into the idea. She also thinks I should be working on A+ exams, but I don't know how much all of that matters. Should I need to look into other careers?