Post in this thread!  I know a lot of PBSers are our of work or looking for a new job.  The process can be frustrating and wear on you after awhile.  Please feel free to post your troubles, pleas for support, ideas - whatever you want!  Good luck everyone! :)

(I will come back and post my personal stuff later...)

So I am looking for a job for extra pocket money and to get myself out of the house...My husband started working from home in May and it's driving me crazy (not that I don't adore him, mind you - but those who are married can probably realte...)  Also, in order to get Social Security, you have to work a certain number of hours in the 10 years prior to your retirement.  I'm 45 and haven't worked outside the home in 10 years.

Anyway, I have had a few jobs come up that I *really* wanted - one was working for the local library.  I didn't even get an interview, which sort of blew me away.  They evidently have a check-list of things they want, and if you don't fit their check-list, no interview. :/  This last job as working for the YMCA, whom I worked for long ago in another state.  The listing said the job would be open until 8-31-08, and I sent my info in on Monday.  Today I get a letter saying the job has been filled (we will keep you on file, blah, blah, blah...).  Major bummer. :/

I have a line on a job as a pharmacy assistant and have an interview with the store manager next Wednesday.  I have heard that they may fill this position internally, but I will go ahead and interview anyway.  The cool thing about this job is that they will train me to get my CPhT license, which would mean I could remain certified in the state, and possibly transfer to other states.  It's a job I could do until I retired, if I wanted to.

So that's my story - what about you?  Any ups and/or downs lately?

I'd like to post - but I have no AC tonight and I'm melting!  Will try again later when it is cooler!  good luck!

Ruth

Hi, this is a great idea for a thread!!

I'm also on the job search.  I left my job of over 8 years almost a year ago because I just couldn't take it anymore.  The job made me so sad and depressed, I figured ANYTHING would be better.  That job was in sales.  Well, my problem now is not that I can't find a job---I can; in fact I have found and taken plenty of them, about 8 since then---but they've all been dreadful and I just don't keep them.  Most of the time it is because the people at these jobs are all miserable and angry, but it's also because the jobs themselves turn out to be bores.  I mean, I didn't leave one bad job just to get stuck in another bad job.  So, my problem now is finding something I want to do.  That is turning out to be quite a challenge, and way harder than just finding any old job.  I am a college graduate and will soon turn 50. 

Any suggestions for me?  I have written two resumes---one highlighting all my sales background and experience, and the other a sort of "dumbed down version" because I don't want to be turned down for a position because I am "over-qualified".   I think my resumes are pretty good, since I seem to get called in for interviews more often than not, and like I said, I've gotten quite a few of the ones I've applied for.  I'm perfectly willing to start at the bottom somewhere, provided it's an industry that interests me.  But as I try this and that, I'm finding more of what I don't want to do, than what I do want.  Is this normal?  Does anyone have any suggestions for me?

Thank you so much.

I really got lucky.  After years and years of not working I finally decided I wanted to jump back in the game, and saw a ad for a loan company.  I'd had two other jobs in my lifetime and they were all at a loan company so since I know the business I thought I would apply.  They called me for a interview and a week later I got offered the job.  They had definitely gotten stricter with who they hire.  I had to get a police report, take a drug test, and have perfect credit, and they also did a background check that took 3 days to get back before I was hired.  I started this Monday, and so far so good.  

Stephanie- maybe it's the line of work your in that doesn't interest you.  Perhaps you should look outside the norm.  You might actually find something you love that has nothing to do with sales. 

Good Luck to all of you looking for a job.

I've been looking for a job for over 2 years. I'm currently employed as a graphic artist but I don't enjoy my job because I feel like a number and a robot to my employers. I'm bored most of the day and don't get to be as creative as I'd like to be. Most of the day I just correct ads. As an example, I change "Over 34 years experience" to "over 35 years experience". This is not exciting or challenging work. There is also the possibility of our office being laid off and we should find out in a few weeks, hopefully. We know for sure some of us will be laid off, but we don't know which ones. Morale is low and it's hard on us to have this hanging over our heads. I saw my boss typing his resume the other day, so needless to say I'm concerned.

I've sent my resume out over 30 times and have been on 6 interviews with no luck. I was offered one job, but it wasn't full time at the moment and had no insurance until it *possibly* went full time. I had to turn it down because I couldn't play the what-if game and it just didn't feel right being there.

Yesterday I had a very promising interview with a marketing firm that would challenge me and allow growth. I hope to hear back from them. I'll have to sacrifice vision and dental insurance and getting off at noon on Fridays, but I would be making slightly more money.

I've gotten my hopes up so many times only to be let down. I tell myself when I get excited that if I don't get it, at least I still have a job. This time around I don't know if I can say that to myself.

Good luck to those of us going through the job search. Keep spirits high and hope for the best!

RIght now, I am working two part time jobs to make ends meet. The surprising thing? I am making more working these two part time jobs, working less hours then any full time job I have ever had! And I love my jobs. My favorite one is being a court researcher for Judge Mathis. It's very entertaining! Speaking of which, I should get dressed and head to the court house. Did I mention I work when I want to? It's great!

I don't have much advice but I can feel your pain.  I have been a SAHM for about five and a half years, and have been thinking about getting back into the workforce.  We really could use the money, since we own a small bar and the economy here is absolutely terrible, and the fact that we have no insurance.  I ended up getting a temporary position for our local Farm Service Agency, which is part of the USDA.  It was great work, although since it was temporary I got no benefits or anything.  But I got my foot in the door.  That was from late February to mid-June.  Then here in August I was able to go to another branch in my own county and do the same type of work.  But that was only for a limited amount of hours.  I have 8 more hours of work there.  I have been applying for jobs posted on the State of Michigan website (I worked for the State before decided to stay at home).  My resume is from a format that I got from a program in college, and I've been updating it ever since.  The thing is, it goes chronologically from oldest to newest position, and the format here on my Word program is the opposite, with the newest job first.  Should I switch it all around or does it really matter?

I'm trying to motivate myself to look for a new job.  I have a MBA with a concentration in marketing, and just this year, I realized I really hate marketing.  It's a thankless, stressful job, especially where I'm working now.  I wish there was a way to default on your student loans after you don't want to work in your field anymore - LOL!

So I need to figure out what to do next.  But I'm also selling a house and possibly building one next, so that's taking up a lot of my time, too.  Sigh.

Lauren - what's an informational interview as opposed to a regular interview?  And congrats on the new job!!

Val, most recent employment to oldest is the standard format I was taught. So it would be:

2006-2008 (or whatever)    Job 1

2003-2006                         Job 2

etc.

I'll come back and comment more later.  I need to get some stuff done so I can go out today and circulate my resumes...

Haha! I love suzanne's suggestion. I got to the third year of my Journalism major before getting burned out and realizing I couldn't spend the rest of my life doing this. Congrats Lauren - that's exciting! Valerie - I've always heard that employers like your most recent experience first.

I have been trying to figure out some good stay-at-home work for myself for a while now but so many things require some kind of training that I can't afford. I'm trying to convince the disability people that I can qualify for retraining even though they won't give me Social Security but who knows where that will go.

I'd like to look into medical transcription and book indexing though, but the coursework is pretty pricey.

Lauren---wow, your experience gives me hope!!  I know that jobs can come from anywhere, which is why I keep plugging away.  But your story gives me the hope for a happy ending!!  Thanks.

And Valerie, I agree with what a few others have posted about your resume.  Current or most recent jobs should be listed first, then go backwards from there.

Seems like a lot of us are in the same boat: we can't seem find what we want.  I wish there was a better way other than trial and error.

Thanks everyone for the  input.  I'm going to do some rearranging on my resume, which is past overdue anyhow. 

I'd love to have a job so I could have more "spending" money.  But I don't really need to get one.  Maybe when my youngest is a bit older I will start work again.  (I do attend births, but not regularly enough to be considered a full time job)  :)

I'm in the process of job-hunting.  I had a thread complaining about it before, but I hope people don't mind if I vent about it again: Job Hunting is the worst, most boring, stressful, exhausting job there is!  I love the job I have now, but its not meant to be a "career" its just a lab tech position, and has no benefits, so I need a full time job.  Badly.

Glad to see all the great faces here! :)  Hope your searches are going better this week.

I am back to square one.  Both positions I was interested in last  week were already filled. :/  I can always go back to science but I don't want to.  I want to do something more people-oriented.

Lauren, thanks for the great book rec - I'll check it out!

L.G., sorry to hear that both those jobs you were interested in ended up being already filled.  That is such a bummer!!!!    Maybe both places will keep your resume on file for the future?  I hope so.  I feel like I am at Square One right with you.  Today I'm going to drop my resume at 2 local businesses that interest me, one of which has a "Help Wanted" sign up.   Wish me luck!!

I'll ask a general question.   Do the rest of you have an "interview suit"?   That is, the outfit you automatically put on when heading out to a meet-n-greet, because it looks good and professional, plus it's comfortable and makes you feel presentable and strong?   I do.  And I always make sure it's clean and ironed and ready to go.  That way, I don't add to all the stress that an interview can cause wondering what to wear.  Sometimes, that can just really throw you for a loop.  So, I thought I'd just mention it as a tip for today---if you don't already have one (or 2!), try to find an interview suit that you like and look your best in, and keep it ready.

Well, I was turned down for the job. I don't know what to say other than I'm very disappointed and sad. If I didn't have the threat of losing my job hanging over my head, perhaps I'd bounce back better.

I just wanted this job so badly because I want to love what I do again. I want to look forward to going to work. I want to feel like my coworkers are my family. I used to have this kind of job, so I know what I'm missing.

Do the rest of you have an "interview suit"?  

Sure do.  In fact, its the only really "professional" outfit I own.  I bought it last year to interview for my current job, but since my current job has me out in the woods in white coveralls or in the lab in casual clothes I never had to buy a work wardrobe.

Brook, I'm so sorry.  That just sucks!!  Keep your chin up and your ear to the tracks...something will come along eventually.

Stephanie, I got a really nice rejection letter from the YMCA.  I have hope that someone there will quit and that I'll be a shoe-in because I used to work for them (in a different location) years ago.

I don't have many professional clothes that fit any more.  I am 20 lbs over where I was when I quit working 10 years ago.  I keep them around hoping I will drop the weight. :/

Good luck with the two places you applied to - keep us posted, ok?