Wow, it’s tough looking for work if you were employed in real estate or the mortgage business and your company imploded.

The subprime home-loan rush is history.

But its impact on the state’s work force is just beginning to play out as tens of thousands of real estate, finance and construction workers are left looking for work after a number of heady years.

A year ago, Ed Stush, a former senior vice president at a Fieldstone Mortgage office in Irvine, was earning six figures and enjoying the perks of senior management in an industry that seemingly had no growth ceiling.

Today, his former employer has filed for bankruptcy protection, and his income is zero. He can’t even get an interview for jobs paying less than half of what he used to make.

Like a lot of mortgage industry workers, Stush, 55, tried to get work in other kinds of financial services such as insurance, but he found a huge stigma attached to the mortgage industry that disqualified him from even being considered for many jobs.

“It’s unjust. If you were in the mortgage industry for a long time … employers think you’re used to making so much money that you’re not going to take $50,000 or $70,000 a year. … They also think (mortgage lenders) are all money-hungry pigs, but it’s not true. Employers are missing out on some really outstanding employees.”

It’s not uncommon to see disclaimers on Internet job postings that say: “NO REAL ESTATE OR MORTGAGE CANDIDATES PLEASE.” [Emphasis added]

Source:http://runningofthebulls.typepad.com/toros_running_of_the_bull/2008/04/no-real-estate.html

Wow, it’s tough looking for work if you were employed in real estate or the mortgage business and your company imploded.

The subprime home-loan rush is history.

But its impact on the state’s work force is just beginning to play out as tens of thousands of real estate, finance and construction workers are left looking for work after a number of heady years.

A year ago, Ed Stush, a former senior vice president at a Fieldstone Mortgage office in Irvine, was earning six figures and enjoying the perks of senior management in an industry that seemingly had no growth ceiling.

Today, his former employer has filed for bankruptcy protection, and his income is zero. He can’t even get an interview for jobs paying less than half of what he used to make.

Like a lot of mortgage industry workers, Stush, 55, tried to get work in other kinds of financial services such as insurance, but he found a huge stigma attached to the mortgage industry that disqualified him from even being considered for many jobs.

“It’s unjust. If you were in the mortgage industry for a long time … employers think you’re used to making so much money that you’re not going to take $50,000 or $70,000 a year. … They also think (mortgage lenders) are all money-hungry pigs, but it’s not true. Employers are missing out on some really outstanding employees.”

It’s not uncommon to see disclaimers on Internet job postings that say: “NO REAL ESTATE OR MORTGAGE CANDIDATES PLEASE.” [Emphasis added]

Source:http://runningofthebulls.typepad.com/toros_running_of_the_bull/2008/04/no-real-estate.html