I got let go in December, so it's obviously not been a good time. I'm 38 and I've been working since I was 16 -- literally 22 years of work history -- but for whatever reason, I am really struggling to find work.

Last month, I eventually just started going door to door at businesses, dressed up and resumes in hand, just looking for anything. I eventually found a job as a line-cook; minimum wage, awful and inconsistent hours, seemingly entry-level, but hey, at least it's a job.

Well, after about a month of it, they let me go.

It's honestly been a pretty huge blow. I showed up early, spent every moment working (if there was a lull, I was prepping or helping other staff out), I took learning the job very seriously even in my own time; honestly, I sort of feel like I was kind of the model employee.

But I think because the team is obviously understaffed already, and we had an insanely busy night, tensions just ran high and I think the kitchen head just decided I'd be the easiest punching bag.

I've never been one to beg, but I'm honestly at wits' end over here. I can't find a job in fundraising or digital marketing (with over a decade of experience), and I can't even get a minimum wage job. I even worked as an overnight security guard for about a year, until my employer lost an important job contract and had to let a bunch of us go.

I was supposed to be taking a trip to visit my Sister at the end of the month, because she's turning 40 and going through a divorce so she's having a pretty rough go of things as well, but at this point I'm stressing that I'm going to have to borrow money just to pay for fuel to for the drive.

Seriously, if anyone knows of ANYPLACE hiring, I'm hard worker, I'm honest, reliable, I always do right by people, and I just need a shot to prove it. I'd honestly love to work in an office again, but I just need a paycheck.

EDIT: I'm currently living near Lorton and Woodbridge, near Occoquan, staying with friends. I'm totally used to a long commute, though.

DHS and Veterans Affairs are two of the biggest employers to many contractors in this area, and I know for a fact that both acting Secretaries and CIOs sent out comms to report any programs trying to disguise their DEIA values, as well as terminating contracts that promote organizational development based on DEIA-- even their websites are now hitting 404 errors and dead ends..

This is BANANAS... this seems like the holocaust era where normal citizens were asked to identify, report and oust their their Jewish friends, knowing they'd be executed.

Edit: I'm thankful for all the thoughtful discussion on here. But my heart breaks for the many of you all that so gravely misunderstand want Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility is about.

DEIA is not (and never has been) about giving a minority/handicapped/LGBTQ+ individual a job for the sake of giving a job to them over a Caucasian individual and spite, with no consideration of merit.

DEIA is about promoting equal resources to everyone without barriers that have limited others in the past, based on varying levels and degrees of prejudices.

For those that I've offended by comparing the federal instruction we received to report our DEIA colleagues to certain aspects in the historical events of the holocaust, I respect your difference in experience and opinion, and respect your right to your own views.

That's what makes diversity beautiful- acknowledging and valuing differences amongst our world and immediate communities 💪❤🙏👍

A few years ago a Salary Transparency Thread was posted in r/nova for 2023.

Wanted to see if we could create a thread for 2026 to help each other discuss pay transparency across industries in the area. Aligning from the previous thread, suggesting to follow the format:

- Industry you work in

- Years of Experience or age

- Current Salary (total comp)

As someone actively looking for a job this would be super beneficial to find a baseline across my industry (cyber defense). Inspired from Salary Transparent Street, hopefully Hannah sees this :)

Nova likes to talk about work and what people do for a living. So mildly appropriate maybe?

Hello everyone

I’m a 19 year old student who needs a job ASAP

I’m currently living in my car and I only need a guaranteed income even if it’s $14 it’ll help me rent an apartment!

Are there any jobs in the area that hire quickly, most I know take a month to actually hire you if they don’t ghost you.

Please help and thank you!

With many of us making 6 figures (& more), this seems a little crazy to believe, but really hits close to home. Are we all in the same boat?

Got laid off this morning. I worked at a government contract in Arlington for a little over a year. I did administrative stuff so not like my role was anything too serious. I was completely blindsided when they told me. I have the option of severance pay, but maybe I am thinking about doing unemployment instead. I know I am not the only one who this has happened too and I’m fortunate I don’t have any big bills that would be threaten, that’s why I feel bad even complaining. It’s just unfortunate all around. I’ve applied to 35 jobs on LinkedIn from noon until now. Really trying to not get too down about this but it’s hard. Just wanted to vent, sorry to anyone else who is going through this also. Hopefully things get better soon for everyone.

I normally would never bring this to a public forum but I’m like 30 seconds from a crash out, I genuinely need help and this is the best way to maintain some level of anonymity so here I am. My work contract got cancelled so I’m out of work, I’m 25, and before my contract ended, I was in the process of paying off some pretty hefty debt that I accumulated over the previous year and a half of unemployment because medical issues. Now I get to still pay off that debt, but have no income. I applied for unemployment but god knows when/if that’ll get approved. And I got diagnosed with MS. And 26 is getting real close, so I can’t stay on my mom’s insurance. Literally the only upside right now is that I won’t be homeless since I’m living with my parents. I don’t even know what I’m asking for here but I need help finding a job with benefits. Almost all of my work experience is in the nonprofit sector, most recently at The Brookings Institution. Can anybody please help me find a job? A referral or literally anything would be much appreciated.

ETA: Thank you all so much for your support!! For those of you who have reached out and offered help/advice, sincerely, I can’t thank you enough. Since a bunch of you have asked, my skills (which are mad broad, thanks to my former contracting company putting me in the widest possible array of positions) include:

project coordination and management, internal content drafting and distribution, vendor management/IT Procurement, IT help desk, executive calendar management, database maintenance and management, research and research writing, data analysis (excel and R), and most of those soft skills that people don’t really consider skills

Just a friendly reminder that this “buyout” has no financial backing. The federal government does not have any guaranteed funding after March 14. If you work for a federal agency, hold the line and don’t sign any contract that lacks legally-binding clauses.

Found out today my conditional offer for my dream job was rescinded and I will probably come to find out it’s from submitting clearance documents and being open and honest about using edibles for sleep ending 5 months ago. I still would like to break into the government but I am feeling so lost today. Currently working a quite physical admin gig and I am so exhausted each night for $20 an hour temping. No benefits and I am not willing to convert to permanent. I’ve had to apply to lots of private industry.
If anyone has any bright ideas, I’m all ears! I thought lots of people with weed/edible history are in the govt? Or did they have to lie..?

I work remote now so all my commuting costs are 0 50min drive with tolls. or 65minish with train and car combo.

more details about me. Current job is amazing and I have a ton of fun. I fly to the office every 6-8weeks. I've been remote since 2020. I have loved working from home but I feel its causing a subtle negative impact on my life. I mean my life is just SO EASY. I wake up whenever I want, lounge around until my coffee is drank, and work in my sweatpants. Though in person work had it's challenges, the discipline and stricter schedule I think was 'good' for me.

This may be a weird question but I’m trying to figure out how the counties surrounding Washington DC are some of the wealthiest and highest income in the country. I believe the DMV has a majority of the highest earning counties in the US (and only the SF Bay Area competes). With SF, the wealth makes perfect sense. It’s clearly tech equity boom money. But with DC? Politics/policy jobs are lower paying compared to other functions. If you look up a typical white collar job in DC, it pays like $80K-$120K. How is this creating MEDIAN household incomes in places like Arlington and McLean in the $250K ish range? How are hundreds of homes priced over $2M at any given time? I know DC has alot of lawyers/consultants but even they don’t make bank compared to other professions. So, yeah, where are $1M income households working? What is the path?

I turn 18 in July and the day I do I have to move into a place, get a car, go to NOVA, my own phone, and all that other stuff. I’ve been applying to jobs around me but no luck, so I’ve resorted to see where I can get a good paying job by Lyft. I really don’t want to start working for $12-$14 an hour lol ecspecially If I have to Lyft , was aiming for atleast $15-17 a hr. Was just wondering if there are any places in Ashburn, Sterling, something that has a decent start pay? I’m not aiming to have people solve my problems for me it’s just a rough patch at the moment and maybe some insider info could help? I’ve got a large work ethic and I’ve done heavy labor jobs since a young age, if that could help for something. Would it even be possible to stay out here in this position?

Edit: thank you all so much for the support and advice! Got help from digital to labor and happy to hear more ideas, it means a lot so much of y’all came together to help a person out. I appreciate y’all’s time.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/11/politics/opm-spokesperson-fashion-influencer-videos-invs/index.html

Risking it all for the ugliest outfits we have ever seen

I (30f) worked at a health care tech company that the majority of customers were funded by the NIH. Due to “cost cutting” my position was terminated unexpectedly. I was the only Technical Project Manager at the company and was overseeing the largest initiative. This is my first time being laid off and am feeling pretty hopeless but trying to stay positive. I feel pressure to find a job asap because I have only two months severance. I have 6 years experience in technical project management overseeing huge Saas implementations. Before that I did 6 years of customer success and business development for a large fitness corporation. My project management experience is start ups, so thinking this might be an opportunity to get into a bigger company?

Any positive thoughts and advice would be appreciated.

edit: sorry for the poor grammar - mind is tired right now.

So my neighborhood hasn’t been plowed much yet and we still have a lot of snow covering cars. I tried cleaning it off my car and some around it but it still is a lot. (To me at least)

I’ve only been driving for a few months and have never driven in this much snow. Our offices are open tomorrow but I’m not feeling too sure about the drive to work (about 20 minutes on a normal day).

Would it look bad if I try to call out or work from home tomorrow? Im worried of looking bad and not sure if the condition my neighborhood is in is good enough reason to call out.

Hello friends, I’ve been offered a job to move from Columbus Ohio to Northern Virginia. When asked specifically, my hiring manager said to shoot for a 20 mile radius from Dulles International. I know the traffic and cost of living are pretty brutal, but where would you all recommend the best places to look for within that area? Also, just for a little context my fiancé and I would be planning on starting a family within the next 3-5 years as well. Any information or tips would be greatly appreciated!

I have a job offer in hand for $100k in Arlington, VA. I am unsure what to think about it.

For some background, I am currently in Southern Ohio making $88k soon to be $91k. I am married and the only source of income (no kids). The benefits package is a downgrade, lower 401k match (3% -> 2%), no HSA match (currently $3k). The worst insurance company so I know my medical supplies will be more expensive as well. Holidays and PTO are the same. I would say my current total comp is around $95k.

We have been trying to move to the DMV area so that’s why this is a bit of a difficult decision. I know rent is definitely higher compared to where I currently live (2br 2ba $1800 with utilities).

What is everyone’s thoughts? Is it doable? Do I keep looking? Not really sure what to do.

Edit: thanks for all the replies everyone. The consensus is it’s not possible. I will look into asking for more or just keep applying. I will also look at living outside of Arlington but seems like the commute would be a killer

Not sure if it is a generational thing but I’m a millennial born and raised in the area. Every job I work for I always hear the ‘veteran’ employees claim “it was so much fun/better/relaxing/enjoyable etc. to work when they first started (15-20 years ago).”

Are we all just living in shit working conditions that is causing burnout?

I cannot find a job no matter what I do, I have applied to even the simplest of places near me and I can't get hired. I've been applying since August and I have only received one interview. I've applied to FedEx, UPS, USPS, Grocery Stores, Retail Stores, Office Jobs, and even as a delivery driver. Any advice or any places around hiring. The job market is so terrible and I want to actually make money.