Need help
What's on my mind you ask, that is a long subject so here goes,
I was at the same company for 31 years, was let go on November 1st, and have applied to about 200 jobs, 4 interviews and 3 have already went "another way". One of the interviews, said that I was "meek", I have never been meek a day in my life, I am more aggressive than anything, and I know that could be a bad thing too. However I have never been out of work for more than 2 weeks in my entire life, and that was by choice, and now I am working towards my 3rd month and they say it can be anywhere from 6-9 months, I am getting frustrated and depressed the longer this goes. In my 31 years I did a lot of lateral moves or even some advancements or demotions, they said they weren't demotions but to me they were.
I have watched videos saying you need keywords here and here and here, I have looked up keywords for Accounting which is what spent 11 years doing. Now, not bragging, I have above average intelligence but when I watch these videos and try to figure out how to work it into my resume I feel like I have well below average intelligence. I have reworked my resume about 10-15 times and each time I get a few more views but never get any requests from recruiters or anyone else for that matter. I joined Work it Daily to hopefully help with this.
As far as cover letters go, I have not one clue as to what, when or how to do it, and I have watched videos, again feeling a lot below average intelligence on this, maybe my age? I began with every job I had with the company, then some video said if you do not want to age yourself, only put in 10-15 years, so I took it down to my last 3 positions that put me at 12 years, then I had someone review my resume and he said put blah, blah, blah on your LinkedIn profile, which I did and now have to remember how to put it back the way it was. Then hear that you need to update your profile every week so that the recruiters see that you are actively working on your LI. I am hearing so much information that I am not sure which is correct and which is not and do not know which way to go. I am not afraid to put in the work but I need someone to say "Hey this is exactly what you do and do not deviate".
Also networking I try to send out at least 3-5 a day, but not all of them are active on their LI profile so it just sits in my sent and never goes anywhere, also had one that viewed my profile but never accepted the invitation, so I don't know what to do in a case like that, and then I find out that if you get too many rejects, that can suspend your asking rights for so long????
I guess the moral to this story is that things have changed since the last time I had to look for a job and it is getting much harder to find a job, even if you can do the job you are applying for. Also the field I am looking in almost always asks for BA in finance or Accounting, I have 3 hours of Financial Accounting and 11 years of experience how come that wouldn't be enough?
Richard, I understand your situation. Just keep trying. You might want to check with your local resource center. You can have an employment specialist review your resume and cover letter. You might want to see if you can ask if you can get help writing a cover letter. If not, try to find a cover letter online to use as a reference.
Take care and good luck! Keep trying to apply, but please pace yourself.
Hey Richard Gunkel , thanks for sharing your job search experience and concerns with the Jobcase community. Some of the issues you address in your post are not uncommon among high skilled job seekers within todays digital employment community.
I appreciate the all the details you included to explain your plight. At this point my first instinct is to connect you directly with talent acquisition specialist who can orientate and advice on the best strategies to overcome your current job search challenges.
Will R is one of our senior recruiters here at Jobcase who just set up a new group (Ask a Recruiter...Anything! as support and feedback platform for recruiters and job seekers. You can use the group name link I added above to review and join the group. I'm also going to tag Will R and Marijoy Bertolini on this message and ask them to provide some useful suggestions to help turn your current job search situation.
Stay focused and don't loose hope Richard Gunkel . You're in the right place to find solutions!
In the accounting world, the keywords might be these certifications or licenses required to do certain type of work. I understand without a job for some weeks is a new and stressful situation for you, but it is quite common to take some months to land the next job, or get only small percentage of the responses. So it is not about your intelligence. I see sometimes accountants starting their own business, especially in this busy tax season. Stay put and keep it up.