Almost time to check out for a while
I am only 15 mins from Raleigh. Job market here is tough. I've been looking but not much in my field out there. Been looking outside my field of work also. Not sure if I will find anything soon though. I have done some small side jobs and that has helped but it has not made up for the income i lost when I lost my contract.
What exactly is your specialty? My recommendation would be to hit up the staffing agencies in Raleigh. There are several there. I found a heavy equipment mechanic job through a staffer here in Fort Worth a few years ago when I was in need of a job. It actually paid decent.
Most people dismiss staffing agencies as way to find a job. A lot of people either think they only hire for minimum wage warehouse positions, or at the other extreme, they only cater to companies looking for degreed professionals.
Staffing agencies tend to specialize. That's what most people don't realize. Find one that caters to blue collar trade workers like mechanics and electricians or whatever it is you do. They will place you, usually on a termporary basis, and it gives you the chance to see if you like working for a particular company. If you don't, there are no hard feelings if you decide you don't like that company and there's no damage done to your resume since technically, you are an employee of the staffing agency. Hypothetically, you could bounce around and work for two or three or four companies during a 12 month time period, but you would only list the employment agency as your employer during that time. It would keep you from looking like a job hopper.
On the other hand, if a particular company likes you, most of the time they'll bring you on full time. Most staffers don't have a problem with that as long as you fulfill your contractual obligations to them.
When I worked for the staffer, like I said, I worked for an equipment company as a heavy equipment mechanic. I started out as an employee of the staffing agency and it was agreed that after three months, I would transition and become an employee of the equipment company if things worked out. Well, they didn't. The shop manager turned out to be a complete jerk. At one point, I had to call the staffer to complain about his conduct. (That's another thing; most staffers are good about sticking up for their people. They called him and chewed his tail.) I ended up leaving at the end of the three month temp period, no harm, no foul. And whenever I filled out applications for other positions after that, I listed the staffing agency as my employer during that period of time.