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Hi Everyone,
Like many, I was a very successful high-end real estate sales person, selling new homes. My project went under and I have not been able to find new employment since. Tons of resumes out, no interviews.
When I looked outside of my specific industry (fine jewelry was one ), I was laughed at. Yes that is pretty sad.
I have an impressive sales track and an impeccable work ethics. People I know have not been keen on discussing jobs, maybe they too are afraid to loose them. I'm not sure who to turn to anymore. My friends were my competitors and they have not been helpful so far. I even thought that I should take my sales and closing skills elsewhere, but where? Do any of you have any ideas as to what a person with my background could do for living, if I can't find new home sales? Because I used most of my savings, I'd like to find something with some salary or a draw against commissions. I don't think I can do straight commission right now. Any Ideas?
Thank you!
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hamellr
When I was unemployed recently, I was getting hit up for a lot of insurance jobs.
I had that experience too, and they were people that charged you a lot of money for training and materials then you'd sell for commission only, not really a job.
Selling new homes does not give experience that is considered relevant to other jobs, unfortunately.
For example, when we hire commercial real estate property managers we require 5 years experience in commercial real estate so you would not get an interview. From what I hear of your area even those selling pre-owned homes are having a hard time. You could consider relocation to an area where new home developments are starting again, like here, but there are already plenty of others
that were let go over the last 4 years that will be competing with you. You might look into sales in the healthcare industry, there may be significant growth there in the next year or two.
Maybe it's your actual resume (and not what's written on it).
My SIL recently sent me her resume, to forward to my boss. She'd been out of work for more than 2 years, before landing a job through a friend (sans resume).
Her resume was a mess - 2 pages, most of it just air space (formatted with a "column" appearance) and full of sentences like, "I utilized my great work ethic to..." or "I used my attention to detail when ...". My favorites were the misspellings and the grammar issues in her opening statement. Her degrees (yep, she's got TWO) were the last things listed. I bet no one else got that far into her resume. I 'tweaked' it before submitted it to my boss, and sent her the revised copy, so she'd know what I did. Her response, "But I paid a LOT of money to have that done by professionals. Please send him my ORIGINAL resume". I did.
First of all, don't beat yourself about - there is a recession and hundreds are going through what you are every day.
Now for the good news!
By figuring out the best way to do a "career change" - you will be able to combine all of your past skills with some new skills. It took reading Nicholas Lore's The Pathfinder last year for me to finally figure this out after being laid off in 2008 in my fifties. For 3 years, I struggled with the fact that I was not able to find another 9 t 5 job after my unemployment and savings ran out in 2010. Now in 2012, I am on a very exciting career path and thoroughly enjoying the journey.
Keep in mind that you will find an income source - be "creative" and look around to see what other folks are doing. And tap into multiple income sources - this is the secret to surviving these days.
Thank you very much for the words of encouragement. I see you and I have a very similar story... Would you mind sharing with me what was it that you were able to get employed at? I thank you very, very much.
It's definitely the resume. You can sell high-end houses but if your resume doesun't sound like it like then its worthless. I'm not saying its your experience, it's the way the resume is made. Don't sweat it, resume building sucks but I did a lot of research and even had a recruiter help me out. After that, I got calls.
My apologies, but I'm going to jump on you for a moment. If your resume reads like your OP, then perhaps this will be of assistance. It sounds incredibly boastful; yet says nothing. All fluff and no substance.
For example:
'I was a very successful high-end real estate sales person, selling new homes.' - How many homes? How far above quota, or average, were you? People like to see hard numbers.
'I have an impressive sales track and an impeccable work ethics.' How impressive? Numbers? How did your work ethic translate in to sales, customer retention, etc. What did you working harder than your co-workers bring to the company?
Numbers speak for themselves. Putting your opinion on how great you were does not convince people.
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First of all, don't beat yourself about - there is a recession and hundreds are going through what you are every day.
