• Name: Vernon Bebout, 58
• Hometown: Pittsburgh, Pa.

I am a laid back, average guy -- a jack of all trades. I worked at Bayer Corporation and a subsidiary company for 23 years, holding seven different positions.

In May of 2009 my job was eliminated. I was stunned, but decided to postpone the job search and do odd jobs that summer. When I began to research the job market, it was brought to my attention I never developed a specialty.

I applied for a number of positions in logistics, but did not have any luck securing interviews. I assumed that my marketable skills were out of date and I had my age working against me. In 2010 I took a job in retail -- simply to get back in the workforce, but I had to resign after a few months due to foot problems.

I pretty much stopped looking for corporate employment shortly thereafter.

I am living off of a small pension and retirement distributions. I also have a handful of rental properties that will hopefully provide regular income in the future. At this point in my life, I cannot get my head around starting over again. I realize that whatever I do, it will have to be something independent.

About 3 million Americans say they want a job but have not searched for one in at least a year. Are you one of them? Send your story to annalyn.kurtz@turner.com.

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