Job search hell- help

Parent Cafe
1

Please excuse my initial venting but I have reached a point of complete frustration. I hope that any one who has some good advice will share.

I am currently in job search hell at the most inconvenient time of my life to do this. Middle age with a kid in college. Despite, my very good performance and experience, someone in senior management decided to redefine my position with requirements I cannot possibly meet. Thus, I have been kicked out to look for something else internally and am also searching externally. I still have a couple of months but the internal search is crawling along because of political reasons as well as delays in other job openings. Though, I have some internal interest from other managers, there are many obstacles that put a damper on any optimism.

What have I done so far:
Network,network,network- but this,I found also has its limits and in many cases relies on others to buy in and sometimes many moving parts. For example, I applied to one external job,two months ago, with my contact there and my resume was selected but now everything has come to a complete stop. No one knows why. Budgets?

HR- not much help. In fact, one application I submitted fell through the cracks. No updates. Return communication is spotty.

I have offered to work on small projects for the managers showing interest so they can see my work but this is also exhausting as I continue to do my own work plus their projects.

Online search - my first attempt was immediate rejection. I think it had something to do with salary range. I tried to match all the requirements on my resume by using same words so the optical scanners don’t reject it,but they did.

Should I upload my resume to Indeed? I am active on LinkedIn.

Should I just get a recruiter/head hunter? If anyone can refer someone in the New York area, please inbox me. I work in the service/financial industry.

I have not seriously searched for a job in 15 years. I have poked around during this time and even interviewed for some jobs but never found anything of interest to make me want to leave. I have kept up to date with my resume and have even helped other people find jobs but cannot seem to do it well for myself.

Thank you for any advice you can provide. Maybe I am missing something.

2

I don’t have any tips . . . it sounds like you are doing many things correctly. Just wanted to wish you luck!

3

It sounds like you need to take a week off from this frustrating job hunt to relax. Treat yourself to something fun that will take your mind off of it. Go in to work and just do your duties and don’t worry about who could help you find another job internally. Who knows, but they might notice you seem content with your fate and are planning to leave. If they value you then this may lead to someone doing the work for you.

Go on Indeed.com and post your resume. Sign up for daily emails listing suitable jobs in your area. My sense is your current employer may not be where you belong anyways. Use some personal days to go to local job seminars and job fairs etc. Good Luck!

4

One day at a time. Try to accomplish one thing each day wrt to your job search. Feel good about yourself. My 59yo H was laid off from a high level job in January. He has changed jobs 2X in the previous 10 years with much success. He networks, belongs to technical organizations, etc and that always paid off before. We are coming up on almost 5 months and he just got 3 job offers at a rate he was willing to consider. So hang in there. I have also been looking for a job internally where I have been employed for 37 years because I hate my boss. I should have done this 10 years ago, but got complacent. Anyway, despite raving reviews, people asking me to apply for certain jobs, etc, I cannot get an interview to save my life. Even from hiring managers I have worked well with (I am in a service org and work with many people). It didn’t dawn on me til a couple of months ago what was the problem til someone told me I am too old and make too much money. No one wants to train someone who may leave in 5-10 years or who makes as much as I do. I think it gets more difficult to even get considered the higher up the ladder you move and the more you make.

Is there anything you can do to update your skills? Any courses your company offers internally? If so, take them. And just hang in there. Good luck.

5

Thank you for the best wishes and support. I will try to lighten up but there are days!!! Mamon, I think you hit the nail on the head with regards to the age. I am sure this is part of the reason, but hard to prove. I hope you find something else as well. It is stressful to go to work for someone you don’t like. I have a friend who continues to reprimand me about staying too long and not having a plan b. I also got complacent but I really enjoyed what I was recently doing.

I can’t get any internal training as my boss is now questioning every single thing, even the free training. This year, we are losing many people with many years of experience. Many are retiring and I don’t blame them. It’s funny that they would not want to train and keep someone another 5 to 10 years when most people these days leave after 3-5 years. With no incentive to stay, they follow the money. At least the older people would probably stay.

Ironically, this is the first time in my life, I will have unlimited flexibility to travel work late, etc. With the kids grown, I don’t have to run home or worry about scheduling.

6

@lia_b . . . me too. I’m trying to think of a graceful way to say “I’m mid 40’s with grown kids, and no more on the way - so I have time to devote to this job!” :stuck_out_tongue:

7

There is really no graceful way. When I get to the interview level, I openly state this fact, because it is not obvious. Many women in their mid 40s still have kiddo obligations.

Good luck, lia. Job hunts stink.

8

I have no other advice but to hang in there. Job searching at this stage in life is tough. H was laid off from mid-level engineering position and it took 6 months to find another position. Even then it was a 10K paycut at least and then the company shut their doors within the next 6 months!! arghhhh! Then it was another 8 months before he was finally offered a position in the ballpark range of what he felt his position was worth. In the meantime he was offered more than a few jobs at almost 20K less than his current salary.

Is there any way to have a consult with a career coach? H had several friends who did this and found it very helpful. The coach brought them more up to date as far as interview lingo, modern resume tips, using LinkedIn and honestly one of them was sent for a makeover! It was kind of crazy but very helpful overall.

Good luck and know that lots of us have been in those trenches.

9

Maybe you should look to get some credential to update training or some sort of skill - does that apply in your field? Like a PMP cert or some sort of training? Remove jobs beyond 10 yrs and take put degree dates might also help get past prescreening. I was in a different position having to reenter at 50 after 14 yrs out…there are a number of nyc financial firms that have new programs to have older professionals reenter at midcareer (vp) level - but most have some sort of requirement for being out of work x yrs. Just an example how some age-ism is being broken down a bit.

Another option is whether you can apply your skills to a smaller co or nonprofit - might not pay as well but age seems less a barrier there.

10

Just a suggestion. Have you looked at government jobs like the VAMC system where if you put in 5 years and retire at 62 you get a small pension with benefits- medical insurance at 1/3 cost etc. I do not know your age but this has worked out well for us.

11

@lia_b - When applying for jobs make sure you find a way to include key words from the job description on the app. . Many times the applications are first “read” by a computer and it would be unfortunate for a strong candidate like yourself to be passed over.

If you upload to Indeed, be prepared to to be on the receiving end of many emails, but among them just might be the perfect job!!!

Stay strong!

12

When you do job search on Linkedin, look for the recruiter name on right hand side, and contact that recruiter directly instead of submitting your resume through their website. They get so many resumes that they don’t read them all. I was looking for a job 2 years ago. I had a lot more succeed by contacting the recruiter directly. If the recruiter doesn’t have an email listed, you can easily google his/her company email. Most companies have very standard email format, so you could also figure it out fairly easily if it is not listed.
It took me 6 months to find a new job 2 years ago because I made a career change, but now I have recruiters contacting me on regular basis because what I am doing now is in high demand.
My old boss was let go last year, it took him 6 months to land another job.

Don’t get discouraged

13

As we get older, we have more experience, more senior with higher pay. The job market is a pyramid, there are a lot more lower level jobs and fewer jobs as we go up the pyramid. It is not your age or lack of ability that’s making it harder for you to get a job, it is due to lack of jobs commensurate with your experience and pay.

14

Good morning. Such great tips and suggestions!.

15

depending on your skill set…I would recommend going to an agency like kelly services or ranstad. they have temp to hire positions and direct hire positions they fill (not just temp jobs) .if you are a cpa or m.d. than a recruiter is better. other than that t many agencies do have a wide variety of jobs including higher end positions they fill. (with temp to hire the company pays a mark up on the “probation” period and sometimes a conversion fee if you are hired after the 3-4 month trial period) direct hire is a flat fee. recruiters for finding a new ceo for a hospital that is another game all together.