Hunting for jobs in my early 40s has not been a pleasant experience. When is job hunting ever a pleasant experience? Probably never. I recall it being pretty unpleasant when I was 22 years old and fresh out of college, too.
I'm starting to wonder if we shot ourselves in the foot not bringing a car to Philadelphia. The greater metro area isn't as well-served by public transportation as I expected. As I commented in an earlier entry, I've seen some great jobs for which I probably would have been a shoo-in (life insurance companies offering jobs almost exactly like what I did in my last two jobs at the insurance company), but they were out in suburbs that I can't access by public transportation. And even the suburbs that I can access, I kinda sorta don't want to. If I wanted to live downtown and have a lengthy commute to the suburbs for work every day, I would have stayed in Omaha. I'm not at the point yet where I'm so desperate for a job that I'll take something that involves a lengthy commute by train or bus, but if the time comes I certainly will do whatever is necessary. Never say never.
But ... here's to hoping that time doesn't come!
I feel a bit out of my element in today's job market.
Friends who work where I used to work, take note:
that place is not adequately training and preparing you for continued advancement in your career if you ever leave the company. Most of the places offering positions similar to what I did before also want someone who is a CPA, some even want a JD (yes! and they're not willing to pay any more than what I was paid!) or who is able to program and run their own reports in SQL or other database technologies. They'll want project-management experience in methodologies like Agile and Scrum, and maybe a PMP certification to boot. (Go look all that stuff up if you don't know what it is. If you have a chance to get trained on any of it, DO IT!)
My four industry certifications and hard-won product and process experience are not as useful outside of the old workplace, and I find I'm having to market myself as a potential employee based on a lot of general skills that may have made up just a part of some of my previous jobs.
Something that has paid off in more ways that I can count: my job at the perfume website. First off, they just gave me a 25% raise. :-) Second, having visible proof that I am a published writer, that I have extensive editing experience, that I have basic HTML skills and CMS experience is proving more valuable than I would have guessed (for all kinds of occupations), and all I will say for now is that it is prompting some possible changes in career path for me that I wouldn't have been able to consider before. (Never say never!)
In an effort to increase my visibility as a job candidate, I've had to face the reality of today's tech-driven world. I'm networking on LinkedIn. (And you all should be doing this, too, if you're not already.) I had previously thought Twitter was a waste of time, but now I have
a Twitter account, which I'm not doing much with at the moment, but never say never! I tweet when I have a new story on the perfume site, when I come across something interesting to share or when I have good coupon codes for perfume shops. I troll Monster.com, Careerbuilder, Dice, MediaBistro, indeed.com, insurancejobs.com, Greatinsurancejobs.com and Craigslist every day for possible job leads. (Those merit their own entry one of these days, oy!) I have specialized resumes prepared emphasizing my general business experience, my experience as a writer and in corporate communications and I can tweak either one to emphasize certain skills to better match a job posting. I have a series of cover letters that go with each one and are easily tweakable, too.
All of this was extremely difficult for me to do, being a humble Midwesterner and an Introvert--selling myself is not my strong point. But it's getting easier. Never say never!
