7 months....Long RantI have been unemployed 7 months. I've applied to countless jobs and only had 4 interviews thus far. I was fired from my last job after 8 years there. I had a conflict with my last boss for years and it finally came to a head, I forced the issue because I was so miserable but could not just quit for financial reasons. Naturally, I try to avoid this in interviews and say I was outsourced. Which, in essence, is true as my job turned into baby sitting outsourced work. The last straw was being told to lower my performance evaluations of those doing these jobs regardless of circumstances. I thought it was unethical and dishonest and refused to do it. Two weeks later I was fired for "performance reasons". I started taking a couple of night classes in interior design a year ago and really love it but I'm afraid it repels possible employers not related to the design industry. Should I leave this off my resume? I'm not going to be able to go much longer anyway.... My former career was as a data processor. 2 weeks ago I had an interview at a small company that was looking for someone with all my qualifications. I was a perfect fit for the job and met 5 people over 2 hours. 4 days later, they called and said they found a couple of candidates that were a little more qualified but that they passed my resume on to a different dept. Ok, the dept head called me later that day and I went in the following Monday. I thought I had a pretty good interview. She said she would called by Thur (yesterday) if she made a decision. Fri she was going on vacation the next two weeks. So, I didn't get a call, I assume I'm out for that position too. Here's where I get frustrated. I saw a new posting for the job I originally applied for today! The salary was lower than last time but otherwise the same. I just don't get it. I have been steadily less selective to the point that I am now looking in market research again, which I vowed I would never go back to. I knew the job market wasn't great, but this is horrible. Any advice?? You' re making a number of mistakes. First off, getting yourself fired because you can' t afford to quit? Incredibly bad move. If things were so bad for so long you should have used that time to find a new job while you still had one. Of course that ship has sailed, but keep that in mind for the future. Secondly, you' re saying you were outsourced, which means that they laid you off (through no fault of your own). That is a flat out lie and is easy to uncover when they do the most shallow of checks of your employment history. You should immediately find out what the company will say when someone calls to verify your employment there and asks what your reason for leaving was (or if you' re eligible for rehire). Third, if you' re studying interior design but applying for jobs in data processing, you should absolutely take that off your resume. It has nothing to do with anything related to the job you want, so it shouldn' t be on there. You probably need some help revising your resume. Post it (minus name, address, phone) on the resume board for some good (free) advice. You may also need some help with interviews. If you' ve got a friend who can give you good honest feedback, do a sample interview with them and see how you' re answering the tough questions. Tess has given you good advice; nothing to add there. Post your resume & your cover letter here (each on its respective board) and have them critiqued. something is amiss if you've only gotten 4 interviews in 7 months! But, you say ...."She said she would called by Thur (yesterday) if she made a decision. Fri she was going on vacation the next two weeks. So, I didn't get a call, I assume I'm out for that position too. " This is a very defeatist attitude--first she said ,"if" she made a decision. She may not have, so that could very well be why you didn't get a call. Second, if she was leaving on Friday for a 2-week vacation, my guess is that the last thing on her list was making a hiring decision! If she's a dept head, she likely had a thousand & one things to do before going away for that length of time. Do people even realize that when a hiring manager hires, it's NOT a part of that person's regular job function, it often takes the "backest" spot on the "backest" burner, and when someone says, "if, perhaps, maybe, might," it is NOT a definitive thing? So, don't give up on this particular job yet. Wait the two weeks and a few days after that, and if you don't get a call, call her back to ask about the status of the job. Do not e-mail; call! Look, you impressed the other department enough that they referred you to this one. That's a good sign. Above all, don't let your attitude be a problem in and of itself. You are right, I may not be out of the running. You all gave good advice. And I do not say I was laid off as I know anyone can call and find out I was terminated. I just say in the past couple of years the company started outsourcing heavily (true) and that it became a difficult situation (also true). I can' t say my boss made me miserable and blamed me for some events that were out of my control. I don' t even want to elaborate on it. Let' s just say I' d rather lose my home than go back to work there. And I was looking for a job but between the 50 hour days and night classes, I guess I wasn' t focused enough. I saw the handwriting on the wall. I guess what you are saying is that if I apply for a data job to take my design education off. Not that I' m looking for that kind of thing but beggars can' t be choosers. It' s really difficult to know what to say in interviews though because I am normally very upfront and honest but I don' t think employers want to know I didn' t get along with my last boss. The ironic thing is by boss before her is one of my references. I' m pretty easy to get along with but my last situation was nuts. I will post my resume and cover letter for critique, thanks! | |
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