Unemployment Office

Came back from the Unemployment Office. The whole application process took about 2 hours. The people were nice and helpful. There weren't many people today, I suspect since it is a Thursday morning.

The whole process consisted of basically filling up forms and setting up a profile on their jobseeker site. I actually applied for 2 jobs while I was there through the jobseeker website. The forms were routine: name, address, last job. You need to bring ID to verify your social security number. Then there was a video you had to watch concerning what benefits you can get.

Based on my unemployment insurance, I am eligible probably for the maximum benefit which is $331 per week. I guess this would be about $1300/month which is decent. I can also work up to half my weekly benefit, or about $150 without losing my unemployment insurance.

All in all, I guess it was pretty easy to get through. There are a few requirements you have to fulfill to keep receiving the unemployment including making a record of jobs that you have applied for. This requirement is to prove that you are actively making an effort to find a job. Also, you need to phone in every two weeks to an automated system to verify that you are still eligible for the insurance.

I am planning to probably work a few hours a week just to see how the various different franchises work. Obviously, I cannot work too much otherwise, I lose my benefits.