A Gen Xer with a master’s degree has been looking for a job for 9 years. Little by little, he runs out of money.

• Chris Putro, 55, has struggled to find work for the past nine years.

• He has a master’s degree and over a decade of experience, but says that hasn’t helped him land interviews.

• He said he was on track to run out of savings in a few years.

In 2013, Chris Putro was fired from his position as a financial analyst at a technology company. More than a decade later, he’s still looking for work.

Despite having a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in chemistry — and sending out countless applications — Putro said he’s had little luck on the job market.

“We received a total of four phone interviews,” the 55-year-old, who is based in Los Angeles, told Business Insider via email. Three of those employers ended up “jumping” him, while the other ended the interview call early after deciding he was overqualified for the job.

When Putro lost his job, he was in his 16th year working for the same employer. After taking stock of his finances, he estimated that he had enough savings to see him through a little over a decade, if necessary.

“I did enough in those 16 years to survive another 11,” he said.

Based on his original forecast, he would have run out of money sometime this year. However, Putro said his stock market investments performed better than expected, which he believes could buy him “a few more years.”

Putro said it helped financially that she had no student debt or children. However, he said his only source of income for the past decade has been the $50 a week he gets for producing a standup comedy show in the Los Angeles area. He considers this effectively “volunteer work” that helps keep him busy, but as it stands, it doesn’t do much to slow the steady decline in his savings.

“Thinking about when I might run out of money and lose all my possessions is a very difficult thought process for me,” he said.

Putro is among Americans struggling to find work. In large part, it’s because U.S. businesses have pulled back significantly in hiring. The ratio of job openings to the unemployed — an indicator of job availability — has fallen sharply over the past two years.

To be sure, both the unemployment rate and the layoff rate remain low compared to historical levels. However, the hiring slowdown means that many people looking for work — whether they’ve been laid off, just graduated from college, or are returning to the workforce — are having a much tougher time than those looking for a job. a few years ago.

The story continues

Putro shared his job search strategies and why he’s not sure if his age is helping or hurting him in his job search.

Running out of applications can make it difficult to find a job

In the early 1990s, Putro earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from La Salle University and a master’s degree in chemistry from UCLA. He worked at a pharmacy for a few years until 1998, when he got a job in customer service at a technology company. In 2006, he started working as a financial analyst for the same employer – a position he held until he was fired.

After losing his job, Putro didn’t immediately start applying for jobs. He said it took him about two years to think about what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. Then, about nine years ago, the job hunt officially began.

Over the past decade, Putro said he has applied “erraticly” for jobs — anywhere from zero to 40 applications in a given month.

“I’m exhausted and I’m waiting a little bit and I’m hoping there’s a turnover in the HR of a company,” he said.

Putro said she generally searches for roles through Indeed, LinkedIn and the websites of large local employers such as CBS and NBCUniversal. Given his previous work experience, job boards tend to get him to apply for financial analyst roles.

“I click for jobs I’m qualified for,” he said. “People have told me to apply for minimum wage jobs, but I don’t know how to find them.”

Despite his efforts, Putro did not have much luck. He said he’s not sure if being 55 helps or hurts him in the job market.

“I keep reading that employers absolutely won’t hire anyone my age because of false assumptions, but also that they prefer people my age because millennials and younger have a bad work ethic,” he said.

Going forward, Putro plans to continue sending applications. He said October is usually the month he starts applying more aggressively.

“I applied to two jobs this week that I was a good fit for on paper, but I didn’t respond as usual,” he said.

Read the original article on Business Insider