Where to start:
The best place to start this journey could be the beginning of my career and how I got to the place I am now. Better than that let me start with a place that too many of our friends and family found themselves in the last few years, unemployment. In 2007, I was on contract at Ford running an incredible program that was non-essential to the core of the business. It was an incredible program but quite frankly it was a bit gluttonous (that’s another story for another time). Needless to say, our project was eliminated. Me and 450 others were now unemployed. Now was my time to take a journey that nobody ever wants to take. At one time in my career I was a headhunter. The late ‘90s were a great time for staffing. I also have experience working in the recruiting department for a large advertising agency. I should be a pro at this job search process. I have reviewed thousands of resumes. I read thousands of resumes for just one job posting. I have prepared people for interviews and conducted hundreds of interviews. I knew exactly how to do this. I was frozen in my tracks. I reviewed my resume hundreds of times but it was not a good resume. It was not a good resume because I did not want to share it with anyone because they would be critical. I would not pick up the phone to call my friends let alone an employer.
The journey is different for everyone. Each of us has our own story. Some are open to talking about it because it is part of our history because we have gotten back to work, some are reading this from their basement conducting their job search in isolation, some are not reading this at all because they are in their bed with the covers over their head hoping that this will all go away.
I welcome you to join me a few times a week to read about the job search, job market and economic development in metro Detroit.
Looking for employment at the age of 50 plus can be daunting. It was for me. I spent hours upon hours surfing and applying for jobs on sites like Monster, Career Builder, etc. I felt like I was sending my resume into the abyss to some anonymous contact person. There was less than a 1% response to the job applications I'd submitted. It seemed that all of the traditional job search skills were out dated.
ReplyDeleteThen, I found out about JVS. I scheduled an interview with a Career Development Counselor and participated in several of their workshops and networking events. They were also helpful in making suggestions on how to improve my resume. JVS's theory about finding a job is to network, network, network. Well, they were absolutely right!
I followed their recommendations. I networked to get an interview with my current employer. Low and behold, I was offered the position. Ironically, that position is with JVS. I can honestly say, they are without a doubt, the best resource in Southeast Michigan!
Anonymous
ReplyDeleteThanks for the nice words but ultimately it was your skills that landed you the job. I wish you many years of well deserved stable employment.