Dear Silver Unpolished:
“I am so disgusted with what goes on in this town to get a job. I was working with a recruiter who told me that she couldn’t even get my resumé in front of a Fortune 500 company in Boca Raton because I hadn’t worked for a year. Are you kidding me? My entire professional experience and skill set is dismissed because I wanted ONE year off from the rat race? Even though I am completely qualified for this position with basically the exact skills and experience they are looking for, I’m considering a No-Go. I can’t get past the guard gate to even get myself in front of the decision maker. Let the company make the call; not the recruiter that can’t even speak properly to decide my future. She actually said, ‘alls you need to do is….’ SHE controls my career? There’s so much to be angry about starting with the damn politics and the so-called discrimination against someone who wanted to try to be a full-time Mom. How do we get back in? One year or ten years off; are we all doomed because we changed our minds about climbing the corporate ladder? Are we all just supposed to keep climbing and never come down for air?
Sincerely,
I’m Mad As Hell And Can’t Take It Anymore
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Dear Mad As Hell And Can’t Take It Anymore:
I feel you sistah. Your letter surely resonates with me. It’s discouraging to hear you’re having such a tough time. As I too attempt to get back in the game, I’ve found myself positioned behind the eight ball. I wish I had the unpolished answers; but sadly I do not. In a perfect world, un-pausing the pause button we agreed to press be it one year or a decade ago shouldn’t be this difficult.
While I spend the majority of the day attempting to navigate through the minutia of online job applications without having my frustration levels skyrocket, it was probably a smart choice of yours to go the route of finding a dedicated recruiter. However, based on your description of this ever-so-eloquently-speaking professional you’ve had the pleasure of dealing with, it would appear she is the real No-Go; not you! And let me guess, she’s probably fresh out of college too, right?
Damn.
Why does it seem like finding a job is a full time job in itself? I’m fairly convinced keeping a job once you get it can’t be nearly as hard as landing one in the first place!
Are you familiar with Indeed, Outsource, Hired Board, Monster and Contena to name a few? Just creating an account on some of these websites can be enough of a royal pain in the ass. It’s not uncommon to get hooked in for free, that is of course if you can handle inputting the same personal details into their system sixteen different times. Then, as soon as you think you’ve come across a hot opportunity, you’re prompted to upgrade your profile in order to see the full job posting.
Upgrade = Pay Money
WTF.
Even LinkedIn requires a membership fee to access premium information when trying to narrow the search.
So basically, the unemployed must pay to play work? This concept really bothers me.
Call me stuck in 1994 but isn’t the whole idea of looking for a job to make money not spend money trying to find one?
And…..Don’t even get me started on the merits or lack of a resumé. As if anything typed on a single sheet of paper is indicative of what a person is truly capable of. Come on.
As our unpolished quest continues to find the right job which allows us an opportunity to flex our brain muscle while also giving us the latitude to do the heavy lifting with the kids, I wish a few of the working Moms out there would chime in and give us both some well needed advice!
Soooooooooo,
JUST TO LET YOU KNOW…. If any corporate or not so corporate soldiers out there are willing to share their thoughts on how Moms like us can ease back into an old career or even successfully find a new career without losing our minds, we’d LOVE to hear from you. We NEED to hear from you!
We’re ready to un-pause the pause button!
What tips do you have for us? What online job sites work best? Which ones should we steer away from? When looking for a job, is it more about who you know rather than what you know? How long did it take to dive back in? What can we expect of the job search? What additional advice can you share?
Its all about the recruiter! The best recruiters will have the best opportunities, which likely will not be posted on a job board somewhere. A good recruiter will know how to cut through the noise and put the right candidates in front of the right opportunities. While any amount of time out of the workforce is an item to be explained to a potential hiring manager, it’s certainly not a deal breaker unless somehow the technology or approaches in that specific discipline evolved at such a pace that the candidates skills got stale beyond retooling. Kick that recruiter to the curb!
It’s about networking to someone who works at the company and will be an advocate. You network when you don’t need it so when you do it’s there. Start by connecting to people you know and it will magically grow. Most recruiters do not understand the job just the basics, especially in a technical job. You need to find the hiring manager.
Someone in her position should be “shaking the trees” in her own circle of friends and contacts. Ask around in your sphere of influence if they know of any openings where they work.
Going through recruiters at this stage is probably a waste of time. Remember while you all bashing recruiters that they answer to the clients ( the companies) that pay them, not the candidates. They have to be very careful who they submit or they loose credibility with that client.
Some recruiters do “temp to perm” and that may be another good place to start.
She needs to have positive and grateful attitude. No one owes her a job just because she decided she wants one.
After staying home with the kids for almost 11 years, I decided to go back to work a little over a month ago. I sent my resume to a few places and found that I wasn’t considered at all. Not even for an entry level position. Why? Either they felt I’ve been out of the workforce for too long or they felt I was over qualified and would not stick around. I did land an interview, but was only called in because a friend and former colleague works for the company and had my resume’ pulled. The interview wasn’t about me at all, but rather about the manager who was conducting it. She told me all about her accomplishments and commented several times that she wasn’t going anywhere and would most likely die there. Yeah, I didn’t get the job. This woman’s insecurity ruined any chance I may have had. What do you do? Move on to the next opportunity. I called the office, applied online & submitted my resume’. I was told the recruiter would review my information. Recruiters? They weren’t around when I first joined the work force. Back in the day you walked into a place and filled out an application. Simple. So after a few days I decided to go “old school” and walked into the place, resume’ in hand. The manager told me he never received my information from the recruiter and added that he probably never would after he looked at my resume’. 11 years as a stay at home mom and over qualified. Well, he hired me. My advice…..go “old school”. Don’t rely on your information to be forwarded. Walk in off of the street with your head held high.
@Dani Thank you; that’s great advice for someone like me considering my resume truly is a piece of paper; nothing more nothing less. I am allowing your words to sink in and keeping my head held high.