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So I'm doing this job hunt thing. Which is tedious, and goes against every instinct I have about self-promotion. Plus, nothing like job-hunting to make my question my actual competence--for any job I'm interested in, my first thought is, "I don't have the skills," and my second is "I won't be able to do it." Regardless of what my past experience is (generally, if I don't have the skills, I acquire them). Plus: while I'm a hard-working sort, I'm not wildly ambitious. "There's unlimited growth potential" sounds great if it means I get to keep learning stuff and adding to my responsibilities, but I have no yearning to be a manager (I've been a manager. It was not All Fun).
So I'm doing this job hunt thing. And I'm trying to figure out how to position myself. The best functional description of my skill set is "stage manager/cat herder, with extra points for tact and communication." This does not work well with HR search engines and HR people in general, at least not until you get them on the phone or in person. My current headline on my resume is "Editorial and Program Specialist", which says nothing much (the outplacement counselor suggested it as a placeholder--apparently "administrator," "coordinator", and "professional" are all overused, be they never so true). And that's another thing: it seems that the best way to do a resume in these degenerate times is to write headlines. No paragraphs, because everyone is reading resumes on their phones while waiting for a train or a latte. I find this a little daunting, 1) because I am not sure I can compete with a latte, and 2) coming up with bullet points about my accomplishments and skills makes me want to hide under the bed.
What I want, really, is a job I can do well, that has room for expansion and learning, that I can do for the next 5-10 years. With a decent cohort of colleagues, and a product or service that I believe in. What I'm getting is calls and emails from companies that think I'd do a hell of a job selling insurance. Of all the things in the world that would grind me down, it's working on commission (plus: insurance. No).
So I'm doing this job hunt thing, and eventually I will find a job that works. In the meantime, I'm using my writing to motivate my getting out of bed in the morning, and as the bonbon at the end of a couple of hours of job-search and resume wrangling.
I promise, this is the last kvetching on the subject I will do here. Really.
So I'm doing this job hunt thing. And I'm trying to figure out how to position myself. The best functional description of my skill set is "stage manager/cat herder, with extra points for tact and communication." This does not work well with HR search engines and HR people in general, at least not until you get them on the phone or in person. My current headline on my resume is "Editorial and Program Specialist", which says nothing much (the outplacement counselor suggested it as a placeholder--apparently "administrator," "coordinator", and "professional" are all overused, be they never so true). And that's another thing: it seems that the best way to do a resume in these degenerate times is to write headlines. No paragraphs, because everyone is reading resumes on their phones while waiting for a train or a latte. I find this a little daunting, 1) because I am not sure I can compete with a latte, and 2) coming up with bullet points about my accomplishments and skills makes me want to hide under the bed.
What I want, really, is a job I can do well, that has room for expansion and learning, that I can do for the next 5-10 years. With a decent cohort of colleagues, and a product or service that I believe in. What I'm getting is calls and emails from companies that think I'd do a hell of a job selling insurance. Of all the things in the world that would grind me down, it's working on commission (plus: insurance. No).
So I'm doing this job hunt thing, and eventually I will find a job that works. In the meantime, I'm using my writing to motivate my getting out of bed in the morning, and as the bonbon at the end of a couple of hours of job-search and resume wrangling.
I promise, this is the last kvetching on the subject I will do here. Really.