Posts Tagged ‘HR: The Business Prevention Department’

The Job Search

Monday, April 15th, 2013

When I got back from the island (there is something else to post about, I could tell actual stories of the people and the island), I started almost immediately doing contract work for a local kitchen design studio. It was close to being an employee, but I paid my own taxes and could pretty much, not totally, come an go as I pleased, the usual contractor type of work conditions. Also, I used my own tools. Important stuff for the IRS these days. My own tools being primarily the laptop and associated software. On the rare occasion I was doing craft work, I also used my own tools there.

That worked dried up at the end of March.

So I’m now back in job search mode.

This is my third run through this since December of 2008.

It’s not fun.

I don’t lay out by the pool all day drinking beer (although the weather is getting nice enough to do so). I actually spend an inordinate amount of time online looking for work and other opportunities.

The job market sucks. It is dysfunctional. See the post below on HR. My experience is just as that professor from Northeastern has found. If you’ve been unemployed for more than six months, no one is going to call. Since my resume says I was last employed in Mauritius, it looks as though I’ve been out of work for almost a year. A death sentence.

So I will try to write something everyday to keep you abreast of the job search.

This is aggravating

Monday, April 15th, 2013

From the WaPo: Companies won’t even look at resumes of the long-term unemployed.

So what do you put on your resume when your formal employment ended about a year ago? Most of us in this situation are doing what we can to bring in some money, most of it rather mundane and none of it related to our last position or our current aspirations.

Of course it doesn’t help that HR is involved in the hiring process. It is rather incredible how the current HR systems in use make it almost impossible to contact a human. For those of with some rather traditional (and still valuable) skills, it is often difficult to find an address for the firm to put on your cover letter.

I have been thinking about putting up one or more posts a day was I look for work. I’ve been reluctant to do so as I don’t want things to become maudlin should this process take much longer. But like much of what I’ve put up here, I like the record of my thoughts and what has caught my attention over the years. I think it helps my kids understand me better. I pretty certain it also helps my wife understand things too. Now she can just search the blog instead of wondering, “What the hell was that all about?”