Career Dreams

For many people a job is more than an income - it’s an important part of who we are.  So a career transition of any sort is one of the most unsettling experiences you can face in your life. ~Paul Clitheroe

Well, let’s take a moment to look at some of the things going on in my life right now.  I could have cancer again so, that’s a bit unsettling.  There’s my husband, if you read Saturday’s post and besides wanting to hurt him, it’s unsettling.  Then there is this career transition I’ve been going through…it’s been nothing short of most unsettling.

Currently I’m working for pennies because I took a job out of necessity on the fly.  I had to go back to school because I can’t afford to pay back my loans.  The second I stop going my loans go into repayment.  I owe $100,000 in student loans and you can’t pay that back making $10.00 an hour.  However when you work full-time and go to graduate school it doesn’t leave time to look for another job.  Well, it doesn’t leave any energy.

I never score the big job interviews anyway.  And the two that I did score recently resulted in no job offer.  Those two interviews have shattered my confidence.  Plus the only reason I got those two interviews was because I knew someone.  Today it’s all about who you know.  Very rarely does anyone get a good job because of their resume and cover letter.  I’m not being pessimistic…it’s just the way it is.

I’m a realist and with that I don’t believe that anyone would hire me for an executive level position.  In believing that some might say that I’m making it a self-fulfilling prophecy.  No, not at all.  I’ve never had an executive level position, never made a lot of money and never applied for such a position.  When someone in my graduate class asked me if I need a job and basically begged me to come interview I wasn’t going to consider it.

I asked my classmate to send me a job description because I didn’t want to embarrass myself if I wasn’t qualified.  He sent me an email that he couldn’t find it on their intranet.  So, I played with the idea of sending my resume all weekend.  I stared at it.  It looked pathetic.  It just didn’t tell the story of my career.  It didn’t sound like me.

After an hour of rewriting it was done.  It’s not the resume of someone who should make six figures because let’s be honest…I don’t have that kind of job experience.  Could I do the job?  Most likely.  Hell, I took a chance and emailed him my resume.  At worst he tells me that I don’t have the experience and skills he’s looking for.

But at least tonight I can dream about what it would be like to make six figures, what it would be like to pay off my debt, and what it would be like to save for my kids’ education.

Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (8)