A Little Help From My Friends
On Wednesday, I will attend a job fair in Atlanta in hopes that someone will find my experience and stellar personality intriguing and feel compelled to offer me a job with pay equal to my prior job (yippee!), limited hours (11:00 am - 2:00 pm), long lunches (from 11:15 - 1:45), a large expense account, fabulous benefits (health insurance yea!!! ...mammogram here I come), a corner office with a view and of course, a bang up staff! I mean, hey, why wouldn't someone want to hire this babe?
OK, I think I may be a little tipsy from the fresh cold glass of milk I happen to be sipping at the moment. My guess is there will be thousands and thousands of qualified people all vying for a handful of jobs. Where will I fit into this room full of other eager, desperate people? Well, I suppose right in the middle.
There's nothing worse than being unemployed. The truth of the matter is, I miss my old job so very much. So much, in fact, that I dream about my old job once every two to three weeks. Yes, it is often very eerie or dramatic dreams. Lots of drama. Sometimes men have no shirts on (no, I don't know why, silly!) other times, I shut off all the lights as I walk down this long isle, saying good bye to all of the people I worked with for 22 years, then going out the back door. Door clanks shut. Rattles the building and the walls fall down. Is Dr. Freud in the house?
When a company goes out of business after servicing its customers for over 51 years and you have invested 22 years of your life working hard and doing the best damn job you ever did...it leaves you very empty. Knowing, too, that you have let your family down is all but inconsolable.
I am sorry. I am throwing a pity party for myself. I'll just put on my big girl panties and well, you know the rest...I will survive. I will not succumb. I will be triumphant! (I think Donna Summers is looking over my shoulders!)
If any of you who reading this little blog happen to look at your watch between hours of 10 and 3 on Wednesday, send me some good thoughts, good vibes, wish me a little luck and a little prayer for I will not be the only person trying to wow over a new prospective employer, but maybe I will possess a slight edge on my talented competition. After all, I can get by with a little help from my friends....
Comments
When I graduated from law school I was considered a bit old and the big firms did not want to hire some guy already in his mid 30s. That was 25 years ago - so today that seems really young to me, but everything is relative.
Any way, I have always used the job interview as an opportunity to meet some new people - get names, phone numbers, etc. and then I stay in touch with them if I can.
It is just like sales work. You build a network. John at Acme doesn't have any thing but he was talking with Mary at Big Bank who is looking for someone. Mary tells you she was talking that morning to Diane at Able and Brown and they are going to be hiring.... and on it goes.
It is frustrating. It wears you down. It is a pain in the neck a lot of the time! But persistence DOES pay off. Really, it does.
But there is nothing more frustrating than looking for work...
Good luck and be persistent!!
I have a feeling you will do great! It is just a matter of the right person meeting you....!