Job Hunting

No...not me.  I'm actually very happy with my job right now.  It's the hubs.  He's been retired since we moved to this area and has been the best stay at home dad EVER.  He drives my sight impaired where ever he needs to go and just generally takes care of the house.  I haven't cleaned a toilet in five years.  Not to mention having dinner ready every night and not having to do the dishes (I offer...he says no).  Oh and the laundry?  Done.

But we knew that eventually he'd have to get a job because we need to pay off debt that we incurred while I was out of work.  I'm glad we had the availability when we did, but now it has to go.  I weighs on my mind like a 2,000 lb elephant and while I love elephants, I don't want the sucker sitting on my head.  Not to mention the fact that the interest rates are of the 2007 variety vs the 2013 variety which just plain pisses me off.  I hate paying other people to use their money.

For the past two years, my man has applied to every job on the planet.   He's on CareerBuilder, Monster, Indeed, Snag-a-job, and any other job site you can imagine.  The problem is, as we see it, he's too old and too overqualified.  I'm sure people are looking at his "professional" resume and thinking, "He'll never be happy here" or "He's too old.  He won't be interested in long term potential."

These people and companies are missing out on the find of the century.  The hubs will do ANYTHING.  Nothing is beneath him.  And he can sell ANYTHING.  Besides, we just need a little extra income for awhile (because after the debt is gone, I want my 1950's style wife back - he's the best).  Plus, he needs to get the hell off FaceBook and FoxNews and talk to other adults for awhile.  I swear the way he rants and raves about politics, I'm expecting the Secret Service or FBI to bash down our door any day and take him away in cuffs!

But...to date there have been no takers. 

I know it's a tough job market.  Until I got laid off I had never had to interview for a job...ever.  All my jobs were either as a result of someone reaching out to me or me getting promoted.  I had to learn the skill of the interview from scratch and position myself in the job market so that employers would even LOOK at my resume, much less schedule an interview.  There are so many applicants for so few jobs out there that getting noticed is the name of the game.

A conversation with someone else in the job market got me thinking yesterday.  A good way to get your resume back to the top of the pile is to take it off the internet, tweak it a little, and then upload it again.  That way you look like a new applicant and the recruiters start calling again. 

So today that's what I did.  Here's how I tweaked it for him...

Old resume lead-in:

Self-motivated, results driven, problem solver who possesses excellent sales, marketing, negotiating and management skills.  Extremely knowledgeable sales professional with extensive experience in anticipating, uncovering and capitalizing on client needs.  Proven ability to significantly increase company revenue by quickly developing positive client rapport, establishing solid business relationships and fully developing new and existing accounts.

New resume lead-in:

Retired (since 2008) salesman/banker/business owner who is just trying to earn some extra income and keep busy.  I come armed with a deep sales and business background to help your company reach its objectives; a strong work ethic; no lofty goals about where I want to be in 10 years; and completely negotiable salary expectations.

We've tried everything else...maybe a little honesty will be the ticket.

Namaste