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As an unemployed person I am finding that the hardest time to be job hunting is while I am unemployed. I am told by my job counselor at the Outplacement firm that every week I am unemployed I become less marketable. It's a race to get hired. She told me it is better to accept a bad job and then keep looking for something better once I am working, than stay unemployed as the clock ticks.
I was told that while it is possible to get a good job after six months of unemployment, I will be swimming upstream. After a year of unemployment I am basically dead in the water, especially since I am over 55.
Put yourself in the shoes of a hiring manager. Why would he or she want to hire someone who is not being accepted by others? If others reject you, isn't that a sign to potential employers?
Or, are you more easygoing about the desirability of someone who has been unemployed for a long time?
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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As a hiring manager, I am looking for the best possible person for the position I am filling. Since most of those are very specialized, with fairly uncommon skill sets, it would be normal for someone with what I'm looking for to have trouble finding work in that field. I would, however, be more likely to look favorably upon someone that took a job below their
level on an interim basis to keep at least some of their skills current, and demonstrate that they are not content to sit at home and collect unemployment until it runs out. I would consider 6 months to be the point at which the red flag goes
up.
Not everyone that is unemployed is on unemployment. The last GOOD job I had was three years ago, after a string of bad jobs and an education cut too short, I bit the bullet. I gave up on the job market altogether and became self-employed. I've never been happier, if no one is willing to give you a chance at employment, give yourself the chance!
I've told the hiring managers reporting to me that they should consider everyone who has what it takes to do the job and not be concerned with, or take advantage of, anyone who has been unemployed for a while. Much of it has just been the climate, so good people can be out of work for longer periods of time. It doesn't speak to their competence in doing the job unless they've been out of work for a period during which things have changed, such as technology, and they haven't kept up.
Hang in there. Recruiters aren't working for you because you're not paying them. You don't always get the best advice from them. And plenty of people I know changed jobs in their 50's (including me) and were hired at equal or greater pay/benefits.
Didn't see it mentioned, but I disagree with the advice to take any job. If you need the paycheck then go ahead, but having "any" job doesn't make you a better candidate for a niche job. I mean, how does a programmer keep up their skills as a waiter? How does an accountant keep up with new software/laws as a bartender. How do manufacturing/oil workers keep their skills as exotic dancers? Etc...
But are you sure it isn't just your field that is hard on everyone and not just your age being a factor? Do you know with certainty that younger people are getting the jobs that you are skilled in? I don't mean entry level jobs, but I'm assuming you are more skilled than an entry worker, don't you have an advantage over younger workers with your experience with those more skilled jobs? If the jobs aren't there, then it isn't age discrimination, just there are no jobs. It's at the lower end that it gets messy and you should stay out of that mess if possible.
The counselor said it was better to take a bad job IN MY CAREER FIELD than wait for a perfect job because if I am unemployed for longer than 6 months I am dead in the water and basically unemployable.
Quote:
Originally Posted by eyeb
Didn't see it mentioned, but I disagree with the advice to take any job. If you need the paycheck then go ahead, but having "any" job doesn't make you a better candidate for a niche job. I mean, how does a programmer keep up their skills as a waiter? How does an accountant keep up with new software/laws as a bartender. How do manufacturing/oil workers keep their skills as exotic dancers? Etc...
But are you sure it isn't just your field that is hard on everyone and not just your age being a factor? Do you know with certainty that younger people are getting the jobs that you are skilled in? I don't mean entry level jobs, but I'm assuming you are more skilled than an entry worker, don't you have an advantage over younger workers with your experience with those more skilled jobs? If the jobs aren't there, then it isn't age discrimination, just there are no jobs. It's at the lower end that it gets messy and you should stay out of that mess if possible.
The higher the position, the less you being out of the job market will matter (to an extent).
If I was hiring a director/manager, I'm more interested in their industry/institution knowledge. Those aren't as impacted by time. An unemployed information security officer with 10 years leading business continuity and risk management teams isn't going to be as "stale" as a jr. network engineer who's been out of work for the same amount of time.
That being said, that security officer may still not look as good as his/her employed competitors that are also applying.
I spent a period of unemployment doing training in my field and I think that helped my marketability during that time. It did come up during the interview process for my current position.
The counselor said it was better to take a bad job IN MY CAREER FIELD than wait for a perfect job because if I am unemployed for longer than 6 months I am dead in the water and basically unemployable.
I would rather hire someone that was coming out of a bad job that they took to work, than someone that has not worked in years.
However someone not working is not enough to disqualify them, depending on the explanation given in the interview. If you are foolish enough to walk in and say you just did not feel like working or were enjoying the time off, as I have been told by some candidates, than I will not hire you. If you say you were looking for a decent job and you were involved in other things like improving job skills or volunteering, and not just sitting around and sending out resumes occasionally, than you may still be hired.
Put yourself in the employer's shoes. They are thinking why did this guy lose his job, why hasn't he found one so far and what the hell is wrong with him. It's an upstream fight. Get a job, any job now or you will really be dead in te water at your age. No kidding.
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