{"id":1585,"date":"2011-11-10T07:30:46","date_gmt":"2011-11-10T14:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/?p=1585"},"modified":"2012-03-22T10:52:56","modified_gmt":"2012-03-22T16:52:56","slug":"joblessthomas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/2011\/11\/10\/joblessthomas\/","title":{"rendered":"Jobless in Idaho: College Grad Starts from Scratch"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_1586\"  class=\"wp-caption module image left\" style=\"max-width: 300px;\"><a class=\"fancybox\" href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2011\/11\/JustyWEB.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1586\" title=\"JustyWEB\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2011\/11\/JustyWEB-300x249.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"249\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2011\/11\/JustyWEB-300x249.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2011\/11\/JustyWEB-620x515.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2011\/11\/JustyWEB-220x182.jpg 220w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2011\/11\/JustyWEB.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Emilie Ritter Saunders \/ StateImpact<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\"> Justy Thomas is unemployed in Idaho.<\/p><\/div>\n<h4>Name: Justy Thomas<\/h4>\n<h4>Age: 38<\/h4>\n<h4>Unemployed Since: 2007<\/h4>\n<h4>&#8220;They wouldn\u2019t even look at or consider me unless I had a four-year degree.&#8221;<\/h4>\n<p>The Idaho Department of Labor estimates nearly 70,000 people in the state don&#8217;t have jobs.\u00a0 That doesn&#8217;t include thousands more who are either underemployed, or have stopped looking for work.<\/p>\n<p><object width=\"100%\" height=\"81\" classid=\"clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000\" codebase=\"http:\/\/download.macromedia.com\/pub\/shockwave\/cabs\/flash\/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0\"><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\" \/><param name=\"src\" value=\"https:\/\/player.soundcloud.com\/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F40603777&amp;show_comments=true&amp;auto_play=false&amp;color=8d1300\" \/><embed width=\"100%\" height=\"81\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" src=\"https:\/\/player.soundcloud.com\/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F40603777&amp;show_comments=true&amp;auto_play=false&amp;color=8d1300\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" \/><\/object> <a href=\"http:\/\/soundcloud.com\/stateimpactid\/jobless-in-idaho-college-grad\">Click Play to Listen<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Justy Thomas is part of the statistic.\u00a0 She lost her job in the mortgage industry in 2007, just as the housing market started to show signs of crumbling.\u00a0 She was 34 years old then, and like so many in her situation, was at a crossroads.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Thomas had worked for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage for seven years.\u00a0 She was making a good salary, close to $40,000.\u00a0 When she found out she lost her job, Thomas decided going to college would be the best option.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wanted to do a reset.\u00a0 I wanted to change my career,\u201d Thomas says.\u00a0 She says going to college seemed like a necessity, because the jobs that were available back in 2007 all required the same thing: a degree<em>.<\/em>\u00a0 \u201cThe job requirements didn\u2019t say \u2018or experience.\u2019 They wouldn\u2019t even look at or consider me unless I had a four-year degree.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thomas didn&#8217;t even have a high school diploma.\u00a0 She dropped out after getting pregnant when she was 17 years old, received her GED and went straight into the workforce.\u00a0 \u201cSo, instead of going to college at that time,&#8221; Thomas says, &#8220;the biggest, most pressing issue for me was, grow up, do it now, and take care of this young baby.\u00a0 And I was doing it on my own.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"related-content alignleft\"><h4 class=\"related-header\">Related<\/h4><div class=\"links\"><h5>Posts<\/h5><ul><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/2011\/11\/09\/young-adults-face-big-hurdles\/\">Young Adults Face Big Hurdles<\/a><\/li><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/2011\/11\/09\/career-counselor-embraces-new-technology-network-network-network\/\">Career Counselor Embraces New Technology: Network, Network, Network<\/a><\/li><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/2011\/11\/08\/jobless-in-idaho\/\">Jobless in\u00a0Idaho<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div><div class=\"topics\"><h5>Topics<\/h5><p class=\"topic\"><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2011\/09\/WinstonDavidian_getty1-60x60.jpg\" height=\"60\" width=\"60\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/topic\/unemployment\/\">Tracking Idaho\u2019s Unemployment Rate<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<p>By age 19 Thomas was working as a receptionist at a Boise-based food distributor.\u00a0 She says she was making minimum wage and getting some benefits, and wasn&#8217;t the receptionist for very long.\u00a0 &#8220;I was able to start at an entry level position, and just continued to prove myself and move up within that organization.&#8221;\u00a0 She says hard work and solid recommendations from her managers allowed her to move up quickly, without having a college education.\u00a0 Thomas doesn&#8217;t think that kind of thing happens much anymore.<\/p>\n<p>Still, she questions the value of the Human Resource and General Business Management degree she&#8217;ll have in December.\u00a0 Thomas says many of her friends who have advanced degrees are struggling to find work.\u00a0 \u201cI wonder if I had gone back to work these last four years, and just pulled up my bootstraps and started at that ground floor again, and worked my way up, would I be satisfied, would I be more satisfied?\u00a0 I certainly would be in less debt, certainly,\u201d says Thomas.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1711\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 300px;\"><a class=\"fancybox\" href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2011\/11\/IMG_0034.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1711\" title=\"IMG_0034\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2011\/11\/IMG_0034-300x278.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"278\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2011\/11\/IMG_0034-300x278.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2011\/11\/IMG_0034-620x575.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2011\/11\/IMG_0034-220x204.jpg 220w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/files\/2011\/11\/IMG_0034.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Emilie Ritter Saunders \/ StateImpact<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\"> Justy Thomas<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Thomas attended school at Boise State University for the first two years using her and her husband&#8217;s savings.\u00a0 She took out about $30,000 in student loans to pay for the last two years.\u00a0 Now, between finishing up her course work and preparing for finals, Thomas is working on job applications.\u00a0 She&#8217;s landed a couple of initial interviews and had a second interview with Target to be an executive manager in training, but didn&#8217;t get the job.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery time I\u2019m denied that job, it kind of chips away at my self-esteem, self-worth, ambition,&#8221; Thomas says.\u00a0 Her goal is to have a job by Thanksgiving, but she&#8217;s not willing to take just anything, yet.\u00a0 She doesn&#8217;t have a dream job in mind, instead, she says it&#8217;s more of an ideal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want what I do for the majority of my waking hours to matter,&#8221; Thomas says. &#8220;Not just matter on a financial level for us, for me, for my spouse for my family for the corporation.\u00a0 As a whole, I want it to matter to society.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Justy Thomas graduates from Boise State on December 16th.\u00a0 She plans to walk in the ceremony. It will be her first graduation.<\/p>\n<p>We checked in with Justy on graduation day.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/2011\/12\/19\/jobless-in-idaho-a-mix-of-emotions-for-one-college-grad\/\" target=\"_blank\">Here&#8217;s an update<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cThey wouldn\u2019t even look at or consider me unless I had a four-year degree.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":4238,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14],"tags":[106,130,46,74],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1585"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1585"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1585\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4212,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1585\/revisions\/4212"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}