Goodwill Hunting

[fatrockstar]

I have discovered that about 80% of the jobs listed on Monster.com and Indeed.com, among other places, are jobs I have already applied to. I have been searching since February. At the beginning of April it became clear that my usual collection of agency recruiters would be unable to help me and I stepped up applying directly to employers. Not too long ago I even ventured into searching-in-other-cities territory. Nothing ever came of that, which is disappointing.

I keep my job log for the unemployment office pretty full, and have a few weeks where I applied for ten times the number of required job contacts to collect my UI check.

My options are to keep looking for a management job or slide back into test. Those of you who have worked with me know why I left test. Coming home every evening to fight the urge to shoot myself in the face was only one of the reasons I decided to take my career in another direction. Retaining the will to live is extremely important to me. That said, I am also looking outside of tech to keep my head above water.

It would help if the companies out there posting jobs were better about their "no thank you" responses. I appreciate acknowledgment of my submission, but I'd rather hear "no thank you" before seeing the job posting reappear. Nothing is more annoying than seeing a job posted that I know I'd be perfect for, only to realize I already applied for it more than a month earlier. How long does it take to fill a position in this economy anyway?

I am a good manager. The only thing I lack is industry management experience. I have managed engineers, artists, volunteers, and teenagers, while organizing and documenting processes, resources, and plans. My early job titles may not reflect this, but I'm not going to put an outright lie in bold type. What good would that do? I risk being kicked out of an interview before I even get to explain why.

I remain hopeful, though. There's no reason not to. I have friends who have landed work recently, and I'm feeling good enough to continue trying. Only now, the search has become a little trickier as I sift through all those jobs I'd be perfect for but was declined an interview. There are new opportunities out there, I just need to find my glasses...

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

The universe will give you your answer for a job, your territory in it will be expanded, and you will be guided to where you need to be, reap the blessings that each day gives you.

[mcfnord.livejournal.com]

If industry-experienced managers are unemployed, they will be chosen over you. Only when that supply is lean would you be considered.

Think of an application as a message in a bottle. Throw it in the ocean and forget about it.

[winifred.livejournal.com]

That's pretty much the base of the matter: With the candidate pool flooded, there's bound to be way more qualified people out there than me. I just wish I'd had more time to accumulate the required experience before everything went to hell in a handbasket.

[(Anonymous)]

Have you tried LinkedIn? It's a great way to get your name out there. I have hired a number of people (including Project Managers) through it.

[winifred.livejournal.com]

I'm actually on LinkedIn already through my rocketmail address. It hasn't gotten me anywhere yet.