Discouraged and desperate in OH (long)I am at my wits’ end.I have a passable resume, write an adequate cover letter and have been rewarded with a number of interviews.I’ve even made the finalist stage a few times and been told I gave a “strong presentation” or words to that effect in every instance.I have been selective in the openings I’ve submitted resumes to, mostly to improve my chances of being interviewed and perhaps even hired.When possible, I’ve researched the companies to determine fit, culture and so on well in advance of replying.For those interested in the numbers, I’ve put out 300 or so resumes, had at least 19 telephone screens or initial interviews, 4 of which progressed to the finalist stage.Every interviewer got succinct and appropriate thank-you notes every time.Not one offer. I started looking for work again in April of 2006 and I simply don’t know what it is going to take to get a job.I have 20 years of experience.I completed a Bachelor’s in June of 2006 and got a 4.0 doing it.I have been told by interviewers several times that they were very impressed with my decision to go back to school full time when I lost my last job in April of 2005.But they weren’t impressed enough to hire me. The best opportunity I had was in October with a Fortune 100 manufacturer.It was between me and one other candidate.They put us both through a wringer – a grand total of 9 interviews each including the one-hour initial telephone screen.The other guy got the job, of course.I found out later that he was the same guy that had beaten me out once before for a position with a different company.He was hired both times because he had slightly more directly relevant industry experience.Such is life, and I can understand that even though it still hurts. The second best chance was totally crazy.I’d even posted a comment about it back in early February on the old board.I won’t repeat the substance of that old post, but I will say that as I was escorted to my transportation, I was promised an answer and reimbursement for $11 of incidental travel expenses “probably by Monday or Tuesday” of the following week.I’m still waiting, and I followed up 3 times.How’s that for professional behavior from a division of a major European pneumatic coupling manufacturer? The other two opportunities I’m not even sure were actually opportunities.In one case, I wasn’t told the interview I did was actually the final interview – that company only used a one-interview selection process.I found that out just as I was being seen to the door.Makes it really easy to effectively present yourself and close the deal, doesn’t it?The last opportunity was taken away because of money.I’m so impressed with companies asking me to drive halfway across the state, jump through 64 flaming interview hoops with a dozen jagged, rusty razor blades tied to the soles of my feet, tell me what a great candidate I am and then getting all offended when I ask for a whole $35K base salary as compensation for $1 million of responsibility. Now, my Monster searches are returning fewer and fewer hits with each passing day.The other major job boards are even worse, the newspapers are empty and Craig’s List has nothing but scams.Together with predatory lenders, corporate greed and bad economic policy at the local, state and federal levels, half a million jobs have been lost and foreclosures are up 90%. I am at the point where I have to throw myself at the mercy of the Department of Job and Family Services and beg for any job I can get at any wage.Maybe, if I’m lucky, I can get something.I look a few years younger than I am, will show up to work on time, follow instructions and try to do well so maybe I can beat out a surly teenager for a retail opening.The really sad part about that is I’ll have to rely on ODJFS getting me interviews – I’ve tried to get a few of those jobs directly and they just round-filed my application as overqualified or whatever other lame excuse they make up to assuage their guilty consciences.I even tried Robert Half’s Office Team.I aced their Word and Excel tests, told them I’d do almost anything for $10 an hour and that I’d even commute 50 miles each way for it.Nothing. Maybe it' s just the wording that you use, but a "passable" resume and "adequate" cover letter isn' t going to get you anywhere. They have to be stellar each and every time in order to increase the number of interviews you get. I don' t think 19 telephone interviews for 300 resumes is a good number, and it is all a matter of numbers. You don' t hit if you don' t swing. You didn' t mention your degree or field. If you went back to get a BA in History, there' s probably not much we can do to help you. What degree did you go back for? Do you list your degree year on your resume? Don' t. It may designate you as "entry-level" even though you have experience. You have two years of unemployment going against you. If you are using a chronological resume you may want to switch to a functional resume. The one thing you did not mention, which is probably the most important thing in job seeking, is networking. Do you network? Can you tell us where each of your past 5 supervisors are right now? Their phone numbers, titles, companies? Do you speak to them constantly? Did you have them review your resume? How about other network possibilities? Attorneys, accountants, vendors/suppliers, customers, family, friends? More than half the jobs I have held in my career were won, in part, because I knew someone who knew someone,etc... As for ODJFS, if you have to get a job through them to hold you over, go ahead. Employers like to talk to someone who is already employed. My degree is a Bachelor’s of Science in Business, Management and Economics with a concentration in management.The State University of New York, a fully accredited institution very much unlike all the places that advertise on the Web, conferred it.I am (mostly) a technical sales professional, although I spent 9 years as the Vice President of specialty tool importer.I also ran my own retail operation for 3+ years.Those experiences were in upstate New York, which was then and still is in even worse economic condition than Ohio. If you had read my entire post (and I do appreciate that it is a long one that most people wouldn’t have the patience for), you would have noted my comments about networking.I have been in touch with former employers, vendors, customers and friends, all to no avail.The only potential blight on my background other than being unemployed was my last employer.I lost my job through the infamous “change in corporate direction” kiester-covering.In reality, the company was under investigation by the Department of Defense and the FAA for using unapproved rework methods on critical engine accessories and violating hazardous chemical storage regulations.I objected about these things prior to the investigation being started and lost my job as a result.And, before you say it, there is no whistle-blower protection in that situation because I did not instigate the investigation.Since I have ample documentation of everything that went on and I can use both the DoD and FAA site inspectors as references, I’m not overly worried about what those jerks might say.It probably doesn’t matter anyway since they closed the factory last month.They claimed to be moving to California, but I note they haven’t resumed production. As for my search performance numbers, there have been precisely 3 openings in my primary industry since April of 2006 and grand total of 5 since April of 2005.I don’t want to belabor the “woe is me” refrain, but the fact is that quality assurance and test instrumentation have never recovered from September 11.Coupled with the demise of value added manufacturing in North America, the industry is less than a third of its former size.Accordingly, the approximately 297 remaining resumes I have sent out were sent to openings in other industries.I use a chronological resume that does indicate the dates of my recently completed education to cover the employment gap since April 2005.I had tried a skills based resume that one of my network associates greatly preferred and got zip-zero-zilch for response.Given the situation I’m in, I can’t afford to waste a single response. With respect to the quality of my resume and cover letters, I can only point out that where I’ve hit a 90%+ match rate on the stated requirements, I have scored interviews at least 75% of the time with some of the most highly regarded companies in their fields.This is in spite of having only peripherally related experience to the actual position.As an example, I sold specialty pneumatic tools for packaging and landed that nutty interview series with the major European manufacturer.The Fortune 100 position I was beaten out for was with a company that makes a product whose name is now generic in the field, much like Q-Tip or Kleenex. If there is a truly dismal side to my resume performance, it is with the recruiters.I am well aware that I am not alone in that particular lament, but it never ceases to amaze me how I can hit 99% of their stated requirements and still not be contacted.I often wonder if humans even read the resumes anymore, or if those companies just use keyword OCR software.I also note that many of the positions are either bogus or the client is so anal that the position is continually posted for a year or more. I say again:I’ve done everything I can think of, tried everything I’ve read or been told and still I get nowhere.Are competence, professionalism, integrity and intelligence that out of fashion in today’s business environment?Should I “invent” a position pushing crap on Ebay to cover the past year of employment nothingness since I graduated?What other stones are there to turn over? It is possible that your industry is just too tight, there are just too few openings and although you do very well, each time someone does a little better. Eventually, you should be the one to get the spot, but it sounds like you may not be able to hold out that long. My field is similar. It can take 2-3 years to find the right fit for me, especially if I limit my geographic zone. That leaves you with a number of choices however- -Continue to search for "your" spot. Perhaps take a temp or much lower rung job in the meantime. I did 2 part-time jobs for a while there in a similar situation. One was in my field, albeit at a much lower level and a little off on a tangent and the other was $8 an hour at the fabric store. -Look at a career shift. You' ve got a 20 year background in technical sales, what other jobs does it lend itself to? You' ve got a BS in business, that' s going to support pretty much anything you want to do. You may have to look below the VP level to get your foot in the door depending on how different the field is. -Look at a location shift. Ohio is what Ohio is. Are there more opportunities elsewhere? Are you willing to go to "elsewhere"? It is ok if you' re not, that' s your choice, but it might open up more possibilities. On another note- I often wonder if humans even read the resumes anymore, or if those companies just use keyword OCR software. Many companies DO just use software for initial screens. Be sure that you tailor your resume to include words from their posting. One of the things I’ve been trying to do is get out of sales entirely. A big reason I was so disappointed with the failure of the skills based resume I tried was because everything I’d read indicated that it was the best format for changing one’s career path. I burned up 25 or 30 opportunities with it, half of which I was fully qualified for. It became pretty clear after 6 weeks of deafening silence that now matter how well thought of that format may have been, it was getting tossed by everyone I sent it to. If you have any interest, I’ve posted both the skills and chronological versions (suitably sanitized, of course) in the Resume forum for public critique, since my network may not have done me any favors with their advice. As far as my vice presidency goes, I stopped using that title on my resume shortly after that position ended (the company was sold and the new owners swept the management slate clean). I toned it down to sales and marketing manager because I knew there was no way I could ever get hired with an executive title hanging like the Sword of Damocles over my head. Companies anywhere would have seen that and immediately thought “way too expensive” even though I only made $40K. Leaving Ohio has often crossed my mind for any number of reasons, not the least of which being the economy. However, when I was transferred here I made the mistake of buying a house, so now I have a huge financial albatross around my neck that the present economic troubles have only made bigger. I’m just thankful I have an affordable mortgage payment. The final issue is my spouse’s work. She has a real chance to go someplace where she is and I already derailed her career path twice – first by leaving upstate NY and second by taking the transfer here (the waypoint was Washington DC). I can’t do that to her again. So, my alternatives beyond finding a so-called career position are limited. I went down to ODJFS this morning and registered for a couple of hourly positions and will commence old-school pavement pounding of the retailers Monday. ODJFS was demeaning and not terribly likely to produce results since every position they have has already been advertised on the job boards and in the newspapers for weeks. I’m grasping at the straw the state agency moniker might add to the faxed resume in that scenario. Beyond that, I have started looking for potential positions in regions with more solid economies. It would mean leaving my spouse and dog for a number of years, but it wouldn’t be the first time that happened, either. I had to do it twice before. It really stinks, too. Some of my friends have mentioned that I could go back to school again and polish off a Master’s while I wait for the economy to rebound. The notion is largely anathema to me. Making an even larger investment in an education that has yet to pay off strikes me as supremely foolish at this juncture. I have even looked into starting my own business, but then the economy crashes my dreams back into the mud. It is really difficult to maintain my equanimity at present. I think I’m going to turn the computer off for the weekend, watch the Final Four and try to forget that I’m unemployed for a day or two. Thanks for your input! I' ve really had good results with using a private employment service rather than Job & Family services. I got to know the person working for the service & have worked with someone i' ve felt comfortable with, They knew what I was capable of and had always tried to fit me into a situation where I could go further than just a temp. Temp agencies are a great way to get in the door, find out what the company atmosphere and opportunities are there. Often times companies will hire from within or when something does come up they already know what you' re like and will consider you for the job. Besides, temp jobs are a great way to try a field or company you would never have considered working for. Good Luck. I have been an user of temp or contract agencies. I would rather apply direct and 99.99999999999% of the workers that need a job are forced to do it this way. As long as the current administration is "Stuck in Iraq," nothing done about the working person' s health care benefits and other greedy tactics by the overly rich CEOs most of us are STUCK WITH AGENCIES!!! I too live in Ohio, really not much different then any other state except we were laugh at loosing our jobs before the rest of the country in the late 70' s. I hope with the new governor things will be different. My question is how many times is it acceptable to anyone to accept contract work. When you know it is only about not paying health care benefits or paying enough to afford the benefits on your own. If you have the experience and knowledge then agencies should not be BLOOD SUCKERS! Long term use of employment agencies is wrong, unless it can get you a higher wage. Openwheel you are right about The Ohio Employment Source, if you have a college education, the jobs are a joke. The agencies see that they have control of the good jobs. April 1, is a start of a new business quarter and new year for some businesses. It is time to update the resume to the the best current revision. Do a new "SURGE" in sending your resumes out to the front lines. I wished I could give a hiring authority a deadline and many want one too. Illegal immigrants, get back to the end of the employment line. I offered you some suggestions on your resume in the other forum that might help you with either the Skills based or the Chronological. I think that this would be a good place to start for you. I know you are frustrated and I am sympathetic. Here are a couple of other thoughts;
Just some simple thoughts. You might also want to try LinkedIn for networking. Broad base of people including international representation. Just find one or two that you know and start building a secondary network. Thank you very much! I really appreciate the resume comments. They enabled me to take another stab at a skills based resume that seems better to me, at any rate. Let me know what you think if you have a chance. I’m mulling over the other things you mention and I’ll get back to you later. | |
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Career Tips
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