Throughout my times of unemployment, the economy was usually running well and finding my next job was not all that difficult. That all changed in September 2012. I was employed by a firm where I was the Director of Recruiting. Things were going smoothly as I had been in the position a little over 4 years and pretty much had the job on autopilot. If there is such a thing as working yourself out of a job through performance above and beyond, that is exactly what happened to me.
To say that I was surprised is an understatement. The news took a while to resonate before I really began to grasp what had happened. My first thought was (despite all my training), how will I find employment that paid what I was earning and also at my age (suffice it to say that I’m not 25 anymore and we will leave it at that.) The soft economy only furthered my concerns.
This experience evolved into an opportunity for me to counsel myself with the same advice I have given others over the years. I began to focus my attention on my resume, my exposure and my interviewing skills. Having a career in the recruiting arts has kept me current on trends and protocols, but I had not actually implemented them in over 4 years and I wondered exactly how I would perform.
For my resume, I created a basic document that could be altered, edited and enhanced, depending on the potential employment situation in which I found myself. I submitted over 80 resumes in a little over 6 weeks, no two resumes exactly alike.
As to exposure, I told most of my Linked-In network and everyone with proximity within the state that I was seeking employment. I updated my profile and loaded up on additional social networking. I called anyone who I felt could help me and informed them of my situation.
In terms of interviewing, I studied my own resume and created hypothetical questions that I thought might come my way. I created at least 100 different questions and answers for each one to be as prepared as possible. One time in my youth I had an interviewer ask me what I thought my weaknesses were. Obviously, I had some, but that was a question that I had not anticipated and that led to an awkward moment in the interview. I wanted to be sure no such moment occurred again because I truly did not know how many chances I might have.
Toward the end of October 2012, I found employment, but not exactly at the level from which I came. I went from a Director of Recruiting to a Recruiter, so I had come full circle. But I had the opportunity to earn the same compensation through a smaller base plus commission. My preparation, confidence in my ability and faith in God had truly been the answer to the question.
Proverbs 3: 5-6
