I’m getting nowhere fast in my own job search. I’ve got 25 years experience and really an excellent resume, and I barely get interviews.
I don’t know if it’s me, the fact that I’m older, or the economy.
But, psychologically it’s starting to drive me nuts. I thought the one thing in life I could do was get a job and work.
Anybody needs a bookkeeper in the NYC metro area, freepmail me!
Unless you play down your experience or otherwise indicate a willingness to work for less than your experience calls for, you’re not all that likely to get a response unless you’re known to the company to which you’re applying. It’s who you know that would be willing to give you a chance that will land you the job. Anonymous online job sites are notorious for lack of interviews across the board, but especially for older males.
Have you taken full advantage of LinkedIn to create as large a network of contacts and associations as possible? A lot of the professional hiring occurs via LinkedIn these days.
It's the communism. I've been laid off twice since Obama took over. Never before. I've spent half of the last five years looking for work.
On the plus side, I've been getting more responses lately, so it looks like hiring may be picking up a little.
I got laid off in June of 2013 and with 25+ years of machine maintenance and production work I got turned down for all sorts of jobs, including 3 different janitorial positions. So after all of those years of working in a high tech fast-paced production environment I wasn't even considered good enough to push a broom. There were plenty of part time minimum wage jobs available and I even took one, hoping to show that I was good enough to be considered for a full time position but that turned out not only to be a waste of time but it also got me kicked off of unemployment (That's a story for another time. Bottom line, though, is that government works best when you are dependent on it. Don't take anything less than full time as long as you have benefits or they will punish you for trying.) For a while it was so bad that we seriously considered selling everything and leaving the country for some place where our savings could be stretched enough to keep us going until I was old enough to tap into my IRA money without penalties. I finally found something in November, good pay but through a temp agency but I am interviewing for a direct hire this coming Tuesday and I'm very optimistic about my future.
It is very tough out there in spite of the propaganda you hear through the media. You have to be willing to try anything that will get your foot in the door. Even a crappy job looks better on your resume than long term unemployment. In fact I even applied for some positions that wouldn't even talk to you if you were out of work longer than 6 months. So be flexible and don't give up.
I counsel a lot of high-school kids and encourage them to look at IT jobs. Some great entry-level (well-paying) jobs can be had for just a bit of effort and incentive. Trouble is, they are lazy and don't want to be bothered (Having too much fun hunkered down with mommy & daddy, who pay all expenses).
It's pretty frustrating...