Nineteenth Week-How to Reinvent Yourself

This week my main focus has been how to reinvent myself. I've gotten really discouraged by the results I've received so far from my job search. I had a difficult time the last time I was unemployed too, but this time it is worse. The last time I at least had some face-to-face interviews. This time I've had none at all. Yes, I know what you are thinking...why? I thought about this a lot too. I guess that's why I have thought long and hard about how to reinvent myself. Am I willing and able to take a contract job? Scary thought to put yourself out there for the vermin to pick on and tear apart. I know being an independent contractor means a lot of hard work, instability and competition. It also means that you would have more control over when and where you work.

There are some avenues I can pursue to get the job I need. Am I willing to go down those avenues? The authorities tell you that you must research before taking the plunge. That is a smart move. Then you need to connect with those people that are doing the job(s) that you want to pursue and ask for advice. This is where I'm at now. By networking with these people I will gain a better understanding of what I need to pursue the avenues laid out in front of me.

Eighteenth Week-Too old to work?

When you get to a certain age, so some say, society decides that you should stop working. That's funny. I would have suspected that when you reach a certain age that people would be begging you to continue or at least utilize the knowledge you have. During this past week and in the previous weeks I met some fascinating seniors that were suddenly let go without a safety net to fall back on. It scares me because I could be in that same situation the way things are going. I don't want to think about it, yet I know I must. This is another huge barrier to work, one that few are addressing now. Yet I know that there are literally thousands trapped in poverty, too old to work (some say) and unable to break in the job market because of this.

A good number of these older citizens have unique experiences that could be utilized, but are being wasted. I mourn for that waste, because it creates a burden on us all to not have those experienced workers still eager and willing to share those experiences. Yes, I do know that there are a chosen few that have broken that barrier and have enriched the lives of those around them. I also know that there are scads of young people willing to work and have the required skill sets. Yet I can't help thinking of how good it would be if businesses would pair the old experienced worker with the young worker....just as it used to be before seemingly all the jobs were either eliminated due to technology or given to foreigners in a foreign land. Not that I'm knocking the global economy....but there is definitely a loss when you decide to go a different route with your business due to monetary cost.

So why aren't businesses and corporations doing this? Why are they complaining that there are no workers when the "field is white with harvest?" How can we put this "disconnection" between willing workers, both young and old and businesses and corporations behind us? I do know the first thing to do is to rehire the experienced workers back, reinstate pensions and have them train young workers. I believe that the problem lies in the sad and true fact that nowadays workers are expected to know too much and do too much. A better solution would be to hire more workers, and stop the practice of hiring qualified workers overseas until (if it happens)everyone here has suitable employment. Do I believe it will happen? I'd like to think so, but knowing human nature I have to suspect that it won't.

Seventeenth Week-Looking for Answers

Where has the time gone? Some days it just doesn't seem that long. Other days it seems like I've been in this state forever. When you're feeling like this, the best thing you can do for yourself is to step back and reevaluate where you're going with the job search. It does get very confusing when everyone has their opinion of what you should or shouldn't be doing. Then there are the doomsayers that tell you to give up. You can't listen to them. You have to pick yourself up and move on.

There are people out there that are willing to help. The first thing you must do is reach out to them. Let them know that you are struggling with this and allow them to help you. I learned in this past week that there are services out there for the unemployed. Some are good. Others are not so good. Some you have to work for to get, and others you need to meet a certain criteria to get. I have been looking for answers to questions that have bothered me about how the disenfranchised (those that have no access to computers) find work. The best answer I found is that the person has to go door to door and actually meet the owner. It makes sense. Yet I can't help wondering about how to approach someone like that without seeming pushy and/or desperate. I don't know the answer to that one. Some would say that you need to focus on some sort of "elevator speech" that tells the person who you are and what services you can provide them. It sounds like a good idea in practice, and there are some that have gotten jobs that way, but here's the rub: What if the person refuses to even speak to you? I don't know about you, but I still feel a bit uncomfortable speaking to a complete stranger unless it is about something I'm passionate about like writing.

I believe that this is the key. Finding something that you're passionate about and then doing it. Unfortunately in my case, my career so far isn't paying the bills. I need something else that will.

Sixteenth Week-Trying to find work in a Global economy

I learned a lot this week about what it means to be in a global economy. It first means that you are not just competing with people in your own country for work. You are actually competing with people all over the world for the same positions. Not only that...you are struggling against being left in the dust by those who swore to help you but can't even help themselves. It is funny when you stop and think about it. You are, for better or worse, judged by some unseen person that you don't know from Adam to do work that you can't possibly achieve and do it better than the thousands of others who are clamoring behind you for the chance to take your position away from you.

When you are unemployed, this pressure to conform and achieve is stronger because now you're one of the many thousands clamoring behind the few that are fighting tooth and nail to hold onto their jobs. I know I'm not painting a rosy picture. There is no room for dreams in a world where the few hold sway over the masses of ragged and hurting people. Yes, I do believe that there are some dangerous precedents that most tend to ignore to our country's detriment in the way most companies in the US conduct business. Because we are now a global economy, we must now fight for workers' rights not only in our country but around the world. Only then we will see some break in the high unemployment numbers we're seeing both here in the US and around the world.

I know for my own sanity that I have to start thinking of how I can serve globally, and not locally. As much as I hate to say it, most of the good paying jobs are going overseas. Companies claim that the people they bring from Asia are smarter and more willing to work. I disagree. I believe that there are literally thousands of people just as smart and are just as willing to work. How to prove this is another challenge.

Fifteenth week-Trying to find answers

I am reminded that anything that is worth having takes time and effort. Nowadays it seems as if everything and everyone is going way too fast. Sometimes this is a good thing, while other times it isn't so good. You definitely lose perspective when everyone around you pushes you in different directions. I am trying to find answers to the questions that are bubbling out of me. Questions like how did it get so bad? Why are companies and businesses complaining that there are no good people to hire? Is it because the education system has failed us or are there other factors at work here?

I may be a Luddite here when I say that it shouldn't be this hard to find work. Yet unfortunately it is. The career counselors and advice columnists seem to say the same thing about finding meaningful work. I know the economy has gone "south" but that's only one factor in the equation. I can't help thinking about how it used to be not too long ago. Back before the Internet and maybe even back before the personal computer, businesses remained loyal to both their customers and their employees. This showed in the fact that there were literally thousands of jobs available for those willing and able to work. This isn't the case today, nor was it the case during the Great Depression of the 1930s. I do believe that we are going through something similar to the Great Depression now for the simple reason that more people are unemployed or underemployed now than anytime since the Great Depression.

Yes, I know what you are thinking. How did I come to this conclusion when everyone has access to technology. This is actually not true, but this myth has been perpetuated until most of the government believes it to be true. Yes, I also know that technology makes things easier. Unfortunately technology also replaces a lot of good hard working people doing quality work. This combined with the fact that most of the non-complex jobs have already gone overseas to people willing to do the work for less money. These people work under horrible conditions which corporations don't want to acknowledge. It makes my stomach twist just thinking about it. To answer those companies and businesses that are complaining about not enough experienced workers, I say train the people that are here in the US and stop hiring overseas.

There are other factors at work that can't be seen but are relevant nevertheless. Some I discussed in an earlier blog and others that I'm just beginning to see. One of these factors is the solidity of the industry that you are planning to join. Being in the situation thousands of others are in tempers my anxiety over my current crisis. It does help to have support.