The antonyms for "held a job" are numerous, as there are countless ways in which a person can be unemployed. Some possible antonyms include "laid off," "fired," "terminated," "let go," "unemployed," "underemployed," "idle," "jobless," "out of work," "unoccupied," and "not working." Each of these terms describes a different type of employment status, ranging from being actively dismissed from a job to simply not currently having any paid work. Despite their differences, these antonyms all share the commonality of not being able to say that one has "held a job.